“No need to hope, Mike,” Denny cut in. “Two guys, medium height, dressed in doctor’s outfits just walked out of the warehouse. They’re getting into a gray Toyota Camry. They looked good. Groomed hair, clean shaven, immaculate white coats with shirt and dark tie. They’re wearing black pants and shoes, nothing distinguishable. I’m sending you both full face shots I culled from the video.”
“I’ve memorized all the names and faces of the medical personnel on staff right now. I’ll show them my FBI credentials and let them know I’m guarding Ms. Alvarez. I have Alisha for them to call if they have questions.”
“You look twenty-five, Mike, especially with those scars,” Sandy said. “They won’t give you a second look. Do you have restraints?”
“Yeah, but I’m thinking of making them over a bit into repentant criminals, who only want to confess and pay for their many sins.”
“Perfect,” Demon said. “Juice ‘em. They’ll be okay eventually. It will make Alisha’s arrest case go smoothly too. They can rat out the guys in the warehouse migrant mill and make everyone happy.”
“I’ll keep you updated. Go ahead and start your rounds, D.”
“Do I really need to wear a collar and have Mongo holding my leash? It’s like Einstein being led around by Gomer Pyle.”
Mongo shamed him instantly. “Bad Bluto!”
* * *
“What is bothering you, Ray?”
“I do not like this.” Ray Lupe, the driver, told his companion, Frank Perez. “I have a bad feeling about this. This teacher could have been let go and ignored. She was scared shitless when she asked to leave the network. Mano saw it and still contracted the kill with Pep and Damian. Now, they are dead, and no one knows how.”
“What would you have Mano do, genius. We built this factory from scratch. Protecting it comes with the turf,” Frank replied. “This will be fine. We look great. Our IDs are the real deal. We’re consulting surgeons from Mexico City. We get in her room with smiles, add a dose to her IV, and we leave. No one knows about our operation. She suspects we do more. Her death will be a warning to the others.”
“She would have been no threat if let go. This…this is messy.”
“Keep your head down inside, checking your clipboard. No one will give us a second look except for the women,” Frank replied with a grin. “Relax. Enjoy being a surgeon.”
“Pep and Damian thought this Alvarez would be a joke hit. Instead, she meets them at the door of her house with hand on the butt of a gun, makes sure they are unarmed, ships them into their rooms, and locks herself into her bedroom until she leaves for school. If those dunces had any sense, they could have played along until getting another chance tonight.”
“Taking her at the school was stupid,” Frank agreed. “Now… we are stuck with cleaning their mess, and making our own. Follow my lead. I saw every episode of ‘Chicago Med’.”
Ray glanced over at Frank with a disgusted look. “You watch that? The one with the redhaired dork, Dr. Halstead? He is so annoying, I would rather eat broken glass than watch any show with him in it.”
Frank shrugged. “Yeah… I need to fast forward through his parts. Anyway, I know how to play the part tonight. We will be in and out in seconds. Park in the emergency room lot. Doctors come and go there constantly. The rest of the staff are too busy to even notice. If one of the nurses tries to grab us for a consult, just continue walking, only faster, waving them off.”
Ray checked his rearview mirror. “I see Mano. They know to be there in case we get followed from the building hot, right? Dodging bullets or being chased by a squad of armed security guards will end in a mess even we cannot clean up.”
“Mano knows exactly what to do. They will not screw us over. He has Abdur and Kasson with him. Those two will open fire on anything.”
“Fine… if we get clear of the lot, no one will find us. Maybe I am worrying too much,” Ray admitted.
Ray parked in the lot, directed to by Frank. The two men exited as Mano’s Ford Expedition drove alongside.
With clipboards in hand, the two men strode through the emergency room, speeding their gait until clear of the area. They paused only to confer in a professional manner when being noticed by hospital personnel. When they arrived on Tierra Alvarez’s floor, they launched into a finger pointing ploy at each other’s clipboards while speaking in Spanish. Upon reaching Alvarez’s room, they went directly to her bedside with Frank retrieving a syringe from his white coat pocket. As Ray held her IV steady, Frank started to insert the syringe. Then, his hand froze in midair. He used peripheral vision to see Ray also stood stock still.
Inside their heads a voice said, “hello, boys.” A weird cartoon like snicker accompanied it. Black tendrils burned through brain synapses, ripping through thoughts, memories, and tearing asunder all impulses of past criminal lives, leaving only repentant sadness. The solution brightened in their minds, showing salvation lie ahead in confession of their crimes, and friendship to new best friend, Mike Rawlins.
* * *
Denny reported the progress from warehouse to Eden Hospital, warning when the two vehicles he recorded leaving the illegal immigrant processing factory, entered the Eden Hospital Emergency Room parking area. “They’re entering the ER parking area in a gray Toyota and a black Ford Expedition. Are you and Mongo close by, D?”
“We’re rounding the corner. Mike’s relaying a remote viewing of Alvarez’s room to us. She’s sleeping peacefully. I see the targets now.”
“The bad guys parked only two cars to the right of us, D,” Nazer reported. He kept his small range finders zeroed in on the area where passengers would be exiting to and from their vehicles to the parking lot surface. “Confirmed - they brought a gray Toyota Camry and a black Ford Expedition. Two men in white coats exited the Toyota, dressed professionally as doctors. They are playing their roles to the hilt with clipboards and arrogant unapproachable stares. They walked by in front of the Buick without noticing us at all.”
“You and Mongo can move in on their other guys, D,” Mike said. “I suggest Mongo materialize inside the Ford, subdue the bad guys, and let you in to hold them while he restrains them for Alisha. I’ll bring the other two down once I’ve adjusted them.”
“Mongo wants to get inside and go Baby Groot on them,” Demon replied.
Mike chuckled. “Okay… but don’t slice and dice them, Mongo. Remember, we need to hand them over to Alisha in one piece.”
“I am Groot.”
“He understands,” Demon translated comically. “Moving on them now.”
When Mongo and Demon reached the Ford Expedition, Mongo changed into full Haunt form, shooting into the interior of the Ford. Changing to a ferocious Baby Groot, Mongo yelled Baby Groot’s outraged battle cry from the movie, leaping around the stunned passengers. He smashed limbs into bodies, beating aside weapons, while pummeling his targets into submission. Mongo opened the rear door, allowing Demon to leap inside, ripping sleeves and head butting the men into curled balls on the floor of the Ford. Demon and Baby Groot then leaped on their prisoners as if they were trampolines.
“Change and go get some restraints from Naz. I’ll keep these guys company.”
Baby Groot did one last stomp and exited the Ford, while changing into his human persona. “I am Groot!”
The prisoners didn’t move a muscle with the sound of Demon’s terrorizing growl sounding at each one’s throat, saliva dripping on them from exposed fangs. Mongo returned in moments. He restrained each man with hands behind backs, while still in his human form, positioning and seat-belting them into place.
“We’re done, Ripper. The gifts are wrapped and ready.”
“Thanks, D. My guys entered the room this second. They’re not pausing for anything. Leaving the bathroom now. I’m going in. When I finish, I’ll bring my buddies down.”
“Be careful in there,” Demon warned. “They’ll need to testify against the others. They can’t if you rip their minds apart.”
&nbs
p; “I’ll have you guys with me.” Mike invaded the assaulting Frank and Ray. “Hello, boys.”
When Mike withdrew from their minds, Frank looked at the syringe in his hand with horror. “Mike… thank God you got here in time. Ray and I were doing something terrible.”
“It’s okay, Frank. You and Ray follow me. I’m taking you to meet my FBI contact. She’ll take you both to a place where all the heinous deeds done in your lives can be told.”
“Thanks, Mike,” Ray said with relief, as he and Frank followed Mike. “Finally… we will be shed of these awful feelings.”
“Alisha’s only minutes away, Mike,” Denny told him. “Manny’s with her in a second car. They’ll keep the two redeemed killers separate from the three Mongo and D captured.”
“Great. We’ll be waiting by my Buick. Are you and Mongo okay, D?”
“Yep. The prisoners are barely scratched. A couple of them had accidents so Manny may want to throw a plastic bag over his rear seat. Hey, Naz… we have some black plastic leaf bags in the glove compartment from Mike helping with the leaf raking at his folks’ house.”
“I see them.” Nazer retrieved the bags and met Mike on the sidewalk. “We did good, Mike.”
Mike accepted the bags. “We sure did, Naz. My friends, Frank and Ray, will make Alisha and Manny very happy.”
FBI Agents Navarone and Ruiz parked their black vans behind Mike’s Buick. The two agents joined Mike on the sidewalk. “Are these the two ordered to kill Alvarez, Mike?”
“We are, ma’am,” Frank answered for Mike. “I have the syringe in my right coat pocket. Ray and I want to confess to our crimes.”
“We will testify to imprison everyone connected to the terrible illegal immigrant processing factory we helped create,” Ray promised. “Mike told us you can help us do it.”
Alisha traded knowing looks with Manny. “Will I need restraints for these two gentlemen?”
“Nope. They understand at some point they will be restrained, but you won’t need to, right guys?”
“Absolutely,” Frank stated. “We will not do anything to hurt our chances to confess and testify to the horrible things we have done.”
“Good enough. I’ll tell my contact on the surveillance team to raid the warehouse. Denny already provided video to us of their vehicles leaving the warehouse and arriving here,” Alisha said. “Come along, gentlemen. I’ll take you with me across the Bay.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Ray replied.
The two men followed Alisha and her assisting agent to one of the vans. Manny turned to Mike. “I guess you have the not so nice ones ready for transport, huh?”
“They’ll be nice, Manny, but… ah… you’re going to need these plastic bags to cover the backseat. When Mongo and D disarm guys for restraining purposes, sometimes they have accidents of a natural origin.”
Manny sighed and accepted the bags. He handed them to one of the two agents with him. “Thanks, Mike. Spread these over our prisoners’ seat, Charlie. Okay… lead me to them.”
At the Ford Expedition, Mike put Manny on his network with Demon and Mongo, warning him silently. “D and Mongo are on with you, Manny. Don’t acknowledge. They will hear and react to your thoughts.”
“Hey, Manny,” Demon greeted the FBI agent. “How’s life with Alisha?”
“Good, D. Wow… these guys came with AK47s.”
“We didn’t search them. They’re restrained, but they may have hand guns,” Demon said. “Mike told you a couple of them had an accident… just number one. It’s safe to take them. They’re seat-belted in and unhappy because I explained moving would be very bad.”
“Understood. Thanks, D.” Manny and his assistant helped each of the subdued men from the Expedition. Demon growled at the men as the assistant led them to the waiting FBI van.
“I’ll help your guy herd them into your van, Manny.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“I assume you can take charge of the vehicles too?”
“Sure, Mike. We’ll handle everything from here.” Manny shook hands with Mike and Mongo. “You guys spook me, even after all these months working together. I’m glad your teacher, Ms. Alvarez, had Demon Inc as friends. Otherwise, she’d be dead, along with an unknowable number of students. God knows how many more months the sting operation would have lasted without this breakthrough. I’ll say one thing for Alisha: when she gets put in charge of a team, she doesn’t let up until the case closes.”
“We wondered about the length of time those operations last,” Mike agreed.
“I heard all the news about an overnighter with Lucifer and his demons. How real is that?”
“Lucifer taught Rayden Kirk how to summon demons,” Mongo answered. “We have defeated them in combat.”
“I saw Mike give him an attitude adjustment. I’d say easy money, but after what Demon Inc did to Kirk and his crew, I wonder how stupid this Lucifer guy is. He should be in hiding. Instead, he chooses to challenge Demon Inc, the same entity he should be hiding from. What’s wrong with this picture?”
“Same crap, different day, Manny,” Mike said. “We’ll spend the night locked and loaded. We won’t underestimate Lucifer. I’m certain he has something he thinks can destroy us. I won’t let that happen.”
“My money is on Demon Inc. Thanks for this bust, Mike. Colemeyer follows Demon Inc’s adventures daily. He wants to know what you all are doing, even if it means looking like a fanboy to the rest of us. The Assistant Director watched the entire school happening from beginning to end. The raw hostage video stunned him. He sat in on all the hostage interviews. Colemeyer knows what he saw was real. I don’t think he likes you taking a chance spending the night in the ruins though.”
“Tell him I appreciate his concern, but we need to do what we do best. I won’t say money doesn’t matter to us. It does.”
“Colemeyer wants your team compensated. He pushed through a payday for the hostage rescue. I’m certain this Arroyo High School teacher and student rescue, tied to an illegal alien document factory bust, will earn another one. I need to go. Take care of yourselves in the ruins.”
“We will, Manny.” Mike watched Manny join his men in the FBI van as Demon returned. “We finished early, D. There’s no school for a couple days. Want to play some ball at the park? It’s early, so we won’t need to share Bonaire Park with any gangbangers. We’ll visit Ms. Alvarez tomorrow morning.”
“I doubt there are any gangbangers left, yearning for another night party at Bonaire,” Demon replied. “That sounds great to me. Denny and Joanie will want to go too. Denny’s tutoring tonight and then goes with you to MMA practice. No sipping the good stuff today.”
“You need to detox anyway, dog,” Mongo said.
Demon padded toward the Buick. “Moderation, Bird-toes, moderation. You look good in the suit Mike, like an MIB. Wear it to the park. I want to see the reaction of all the young moms when they see you.”
“No thanks, dog.”
Chapter Nine
Slouching Toward Bethlehem
Bonaire Park, busy for a Monday afternoon, entertained many kids and adults escorting them. Nazer and Sandy stayed at Demon Inc while Mike and his group from the night confrontation with gangbangers returned to the park. Mike stayed in his suit at Demon’s insistence, championing a formally dressed adult’s appearance would discourage their usual bad element attraction. Mike and Mongo took turns throwing the ball, while Demon fetched it at full speed, checking for Abby the Irish Setter availability. Denny and Joanie walked comfortably around the park, confident there would be no threatening presence to short circuit their walk.
Mike noticed Mongo acting strangely as Demon streaked after his throw. He switched levels of concentration, attuning his senses with that of his Haunt brother. Mike felt the wavering hint of evil, lending a slightly odorous quality to the air around them. Mike added more intent to his sense of direction as Demon checked on his companions after dropping the ball near Mike. Demon sensed it too.
Mike hurled the ball in the direction of Abby the Irish Setter’s yard. Returning his attention to the playground, Mike noticed a mid-twenties man with a chin beard and a scowl on his face. Waiting for the man to show signs he had a child at the park, Mike turned to Mongo.
“I’m picking up vibes from the guy on the bench with the half beard, brother.”
“Yes,” Mongo whispered. “I am sure of it. What do you want to do?”
“D’s on a date, so we’ll wait to see if he has a kid here at the park, or if he’s trolling.”
A man in his early thirties walked over to where Mike and Mongo sat on the bench. Mike had spread a blanket from his Buick over the table top to keep his suit unmarred.
“What are you two guys doing here?”
Mike stood away from the bench. “I’m Mike Rawlins. My folks live a couple blocks from here. I’m playing ball with my dog. He sometimes takes a while bringing it back. He has to sniff every inch of the fence over the hill by the aqueduct.”
“We don’t like guys like you without kids hanging around the park. In that suit, you don’t look like a guy on a dog outing.”
Denny and Joanie arrived in time to hear the last part.
“Hey mister! My brother Mike’s no pervert,” Joanie said. “Our folks live in the Manor. We’ve been coming to this park since we were old enough to walk.”
“Easy, Sis, the man was checking because we don’t have a kid here and Demon’s been investigating the back of the park for a while.”
The man backed away. “Sorry… my mistake. I have three little kids playing here nearly every day. It’s just that there was a gang here the other night, and the cops found three of them dead in a car across the street from the entrance to the park.”
Demon VII: Disciples of Darkness (Mike Rawlins and Demon the Dog Book 7) Page 15