“I can do this though.” Mike made a woman spin with her sign, striking the most vocal man in the group, dead center in his face. Mike spun her the other way, causing the sign to smack a woman in the side of her head. In seconds, no one in the group paid any attention to Demon Inc.
“Oh my,” Denny joined in Mike’s thought only network. “The media kept filming. I am recording at all angles available to us. Are you keeping the woman with the sign going, Mike?”
Mike made the woman dangerous to everyone around her. She screamed and tried to drop the sign as the others sought to attack her. Mike used her to bat and poke her attackers until they gave up trying to get to her. The devil’s prayer meeting drifted apart with many nursing wounds. Mike allowed the woman to drop her sign. She looked around in confused horror as the cameras stayed locked on the scene. The woman then walked away unsteadily.
“Bring out a couple of garbage bags, Den,” Mike projected.
“Be there in a moment,” Denny answered.
“Good thing she has a head to toe slave costume on,” Demon remarked. “I think your work here is done, Ripper. Strike that… here comes the media.”
“Nazer Rahal! Are you being held at Demon Inc against your will?” The woman reporter with CNN cameras behind her invaded Nazer’s air space with her microphone.
Nazer retrieved a sign off the pavement, holding it for the woman to see – printed in big letters were the words ‘Free Nazer Rahal’. “I am free. I am a member of Demon Inc and the people who brought the media here are liars.”
“Is it true you renounced Islam of your own accord?”
“Yes. I now consult with the FBI as an interpreter. Islam rips apart nations from the inside out, wherever it migrates to. Please go away and leave us alone. We must clean this mess before leaving on a case for the FBI.”
“What case? You people are not police officers. What gives you the right to work on anything dealing with law enforcement?”
Mike showed her his FBI credentials. “All of us have been vetted and credentialed by the FBI as special consultants. We’re done here, ma’am. Please go away. Your news van is blocking our driveway. If you don’t get it out of our way, I will call the police.”
Denny joined his friends, holding open a garbage bag while Mike and the others began picking up signs, prayer rugs, and miscellaneous garbage left behind. They ignored the reporter completely until she gave up and left with her crew.
“I hope we don’t get blasted by the ‘Fake News’ station,” Denny said.
“It won’t matter, Den,” Mike replied. “I have more people locked in my closet than they have viewers. It’s incredible having a national news organization spreading one lie after another daily. We’ll keep apprised of what they say and release our own videos of the incident on the Demon Inc YouTube channel.”
After cleaning the area, Denny returned to his computer duties with Nazer assisting. Denny sent maps to Mike’s iPad with the locations of where the missing people were last seen on the Pantoll Campground hiking trails. Mike, Mongo, and Demon left in the Buick, hoping to cross the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge without getting stuck in a traffic jam. Mike paid the eight-dollar parking fee at the Ranger Station entrance. After parking the Buick, the three found the trailhead for accessing the Matt Davis trail. Fifteen minutes later, passing a moderate number of hikers already on the trail, they slowed at the same time near the spot where the latest hiker went missing. Demon padded off trail into the dense brush to a beautiful clearing.
“Feel it, Ripper?”
“Oh yeah,” Mike replied, closing his eyes and allowing the tendrils of darkness within him to flow, grasping at the familiar feel of evil.
“Something very bad happened here, El Capitan,” Mongo agreed. “As I am sure Bluto senses, this place reeks of Rayden Kirk. His essence permeates this clearing. More than one person was drawn here.”
Chapter Four
Rayden Returns
As if responding to Mongo’s statement, a lone woman hiker noisily joined them. Mid-thirties, lean and angular with cropped brown hair, she wore tan shorts, boots, windbreaker, San Francisco Giants baseball cap, and day-pack.
“Hi. Not many people know about this clearing. I usually eat a snack here before continuing on the trail.”
“We’re investigating a missing person’s case,” Mike replied. “I’m glad you stopped to say hi. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”
“Not at all.” The woman slipped off her day-pack. “I’m Cindy. I heard about hikers going missing. If you don’t stay on the trail, it would be easy to get lost.”
“I’m Mike. That’s George, and my canine friend is Demon.” Mike showed her his FBI credentials. “How often do you hike the trail here and stop at this spot?”
“A couple of times a month. Except for the scars, you look very young to be an FBI agent.”
“My group are consultants for the FBI.”
The woman’s face brightened. “Of course! Demon Inc… right?”
“Yes. Demon Inc is the name of our consulting firm.” Mike knew what would come next.
“You do those SyFy Channel special effects videos where you kill monsters from other dimensions. They look so real. It must cost a fortune to create the special effects.”
“Mike received the scars from the monsters called Haunts,” Mongo explained. “They are real. The battle was real. Mike and Demon have found kidnapped children and helped bring two kids out of comas at the hospital.”
Cindy shrugged and smiled. “Okay… if you say so. There aren’t any monsters around here, unless you count that creepy guy with the dark hair ponytail.”
Mike showed her a picture taken of Rayden Kirk when Demon Inc freed the young woman, Theta Crossman. “Is this him? His name is Rayden Kirk.”
“Yes,” Cindy acknowledged in surprise. “You guys are the real deal, huh?”
“We think this man is involved. We don’t know how he does it yet,” Mike replied. “Is he always alone when you’ve seen him?”
“I’ve seen him three times. He’s always been accompanied by a huge guy, nearly seven feet tall, wearing a hoodie and long black cloak, pale as death, white skin and sunglasses. The creepy guy has strange symbols tattooed on his forehead. I figured the poor guy is an albino. He smells funny too. When I pass him, he gives off the odor of a wet riverbank. You’re thinking they’re the ones taking people. God… that’s frightening. The Rayden guy always stares at me real weird and waves when we pass each other. His friend keeps his eyes on the ground.”
“When did you see him last?”
“Two weeks ago. It was late afternoon on the last Saturday in September.”
Mike checked his iPad. The dates matched with the disappearance of a young woman hiker, Carolyn Pantene. Mike showed Cindy the picture he had of Carolyn. “Have you seen this woman on the trail?”
Cindy gasped. “That’s Carol. We hike the trail together sometimes. Is she the one that’s missing?”
“She was reported last seen here in the park on the last Saturday in September,” Mike replied. “Were you supposed to hike with her that day?”
“No… we don’t really know each other socially or anything. If we spot each other at the trailhead, stretching for the hike, we go together. This is horrifying! I’m going home. You…you wouldn’t be walking back to the trailhead, would you?”
“We don’t need to stay any longer, Ripper,” Demon projected silently. “We freaked the woman out, so we should walk her back.”
“We’ve found the information we were looking for, thanks to you. We’ll take you back to the trailhead with us.”
“Thank you,” Cindy replied, relief obvious in her voice.
The Demon Inc paranormals accompanied Cindy to her car. After she drove off with a wave, Demon turned to his companions with purpose. “Do you still think we should wait and bring the team with us to Kirk’s warehouse, Ripper? He may be thinking of taking another victim any day.”
“I n
eed to get Denny’s take on this. I promised Jerry and Stan I’d be at the game. This will be Mongo’s first football game from the stands. My first impulse is to jet over there and wipe out his entire warehouse. According to Cindy, he has a new demon familiar. We can take the team to his warehouse tonight after Stan and Jerry get some rest from the game.”
“Agreed,” Demon replied. “We need to go back tonight though. Denny can interact with the now ‘Unholy Grail’ and see if her dad would be on board with a filming. She has tickets for the game too, right?”
“Yep. Gail asked me to get her and Grant tickets. She has them. Denny’s going to the game too, along with Naz and Sandy, so it’s a good time to compare notes on who can go with us tonight. We can always count on the Frog Brothers, Brandy, and Aunty Em. C’mon. We need to get back to headquarters.”
* * *
Mike could tell Mongo was excited beyond belief. He stared at the thousands of people in the stands with utter joy. “Are you okay, Mongo? D is on our network, so he’ll be able to communicate at any time.”
“I am fine, Mike. This is wonderful.”
Janis hugged him. She sat next to Mongo, with Connie, Laura, and Tom filling the seats beside her. Laura held little Mike. Nazer, Sandy, Grant and Gail sat next to Joanie on the other side of Mike, with Denny next to Mike.
“I can feel the excitement flowing from you, Mongo,” Janis said. “We’re playing the Sac State Hornets. This will be a good game. It’s a sellout because Sacramento State is so close. You know football from when we watched the 49ers, before that butthead Muslim started the disrespect for our nation. Did you and D watch any college football?”
“We watched every game televised with Jerry and Stan,” Mongo replied, never taking his eyes off the field now as the two teams lined up on the opposing sidelines. “I know there are a few small differences in the rules.”
The announcer projected over the stadium speakers to ‘please rise for the national anthem, sung by Marine Lieutenant Bret Chavez’.
Everyone in the stands stood with hands over hearts. Players on both sides of the field began to kneel, only to find themselves standing with hand over heart, helmets under their left arms. Lieutenant Chavez delivered a tenor version of the Star Spangled Banner unrivaled in recent memory. As he concluded the Anthem in striking form, the stands erupted in applause, going on for far longer than a cursory cheer. Mike smiled. He didn’t let go of the players until Lieutenant Chavez left the field with a salute and wave. The players all stared at each other. Stan and Jerry fist bumped and pointed at their brother Mike to the consternation of fellow players.
“Well… that ends the controversy of kneeling players for this week,” Gail observed. Grant, who knew first hand either you stood for the anthem while with Mike, or he would make you stand, only lowered his hand from heart after everyone else did.
“That was great,” Grant said. “The Marine can really belt it out.”
Gail bopped Grant in the back of the head. “You do know Mike forced those players to stand and cover their hearts, right?”
Grant grasped Gail’s hand. “Mike made me stand for the anthem too the first time we met. He will never need to again. Did you see Stan and Jerry? They loved it and so did the fans.”
Mike shook Grant’s hand. “Welcome to America, my friend.”
“I will be an American from now on, Mike, thanks to you.”
Mike stared directly into Grant’s eyes. “You’ve accepted everything we are at Demon Inc. You respect America, the flag, and our anthem. You’re a brother to all of us at Demon Inc. We don’t turn away from you either, no matter what happens in your relationship with Gail.”
“Thanks, Mike. I won’t ever forget.”
“Nor will we, brother.”
“We have a job to do tonight,” Denny said. “I texted all the details to your iPads. The paranormals would do this on their own if the rest of us want out of it. Glance over it and let me know if you want to come with us. Naz and I are going. Laura and Joanie already agreed to monitor, record, and warn of danger from Demon Inc Central Command.”
“Sack and Infidel in,” Sandy stated, grasping Nazer’s hand.
“Aunty Em is in. Stan and I need to keep the money flowing,” Connie said. “The parents have not been able to say a word about us because we have our own place, paying for our own college, and we’re still in love.”
“Brandy in! Jerry and I are in the same boat, only more so. My parents bring up the interracial couple business every time they see us. We go over there, and the first question is ‘did we suffer discrimination yet’? Jer says no, and I say no. They act like we’re thrown out of restaurants or get beat-downs in the street.”
“HG in,” Gail said. “My Dad explained the facts of life to me again today. We need a hit and this seems to fit the bill. How can we handle the disappearance of Rayden? If he’s been sacrificing people, I know Mike and Demon well enough to know Rayden’s heading for hell.”
“D and I are in discussion about that. He’s on with us right now.”
Demon chimed in. “It will be good to have all of you with us. We can make a tactical film collecting Rayden. Ripper and I spoke of possibly handing him over to the FBI since we have a deep connection now. The problem will be evidence to make sure he goes to prison for life or gets the needle. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m not enthused about a Charlie Manson type dying at eighty-three in prison. If need be, we can send Mongo in to slice and dice him right in his cell.”
“I have read ‘Helter Skelter’ to Bluto. I know what that Manson monster caused,” Mongo added. “I will gladly send him to hell.”
“I think we’re in agreement,” Mike said. “The coin toss is over. Let’s enjoy the game. This is Mongo’s first game inside a stadium. We don’t watch the National Felons League and their kneeling thugs, but Mongo knows the game.”
UC Davis won in a scoring shootout, which Mongo declared lacked any defense at all. “Great game though.”
“Winning will take some heat off Jerry and Stan,” Janis said. “Some of their supposed teammates talked about fragging them, allowing full force hits, instead of blocking.”
“I will be here for every game,” Mike stated. “I’ll travel to the remaining away games too. That will not happen.”
“That’s another reason for us to do the Demon Inc business full bore,” Connie replied. “When they feel like this anti-American crap takes hold for real, they want to leave the team. They’ve admitted the hostility against players not wanting to disrespect the flag is close to coming to blows. Anyway… let’s go collect our two winners and coordinate the hit on Rayden.”
Outside the locker room exit, no one exited the team’s site. The Demon Inc crew waited patiently, thinking the celebration of a wild win went longer than anticipated. Mike turned to Janis and Connie. “Maybe I better put them on the network.”
“Do it, Mike,” Janis said. “This is weird.”
“Let’s back against the wall,” Mike directed. “This will take more of a delicate touch.”
Mike, eyes closed, concentrated on finding Jerry and Stan inside the locker room. When he did, it meant war.
“Mikey! Help!”
At Stan’s plea, Mike broke into a run to the exit. “Stay back… all of you. I’ll handle this,” he projected on the network.
The locker room door slammed open against the wall. Mike ran inside. Players had coaches corralled in their office, while other players threw Stan and Jerry into lockers, screaming at them. Mike understood he would either need to do this straight or risk Middle Earth and Sauron. He launched in between Stan and Jerry, throwing their attackers into the grouped teammates. Two huge teammates, Mike figured to be either defensive or offensive linemen, tried to grab him. Mike broke the first reaching arm at the wrist with a vicious knife-hand strike. The second man received a pulled chop to the throat which would have broken his neck at full force.
“Back away now! No one else needs to be hurt. Keep a
ttacking my friends and I let loose. Believe me, you don’t want that. Everyone’s clothed, so let us walk out of here without anything else happening to prevent it.”
Jerry and Stan braced Mike, their own faces showing a beating. They had fists up and deadly determination emanating outward. Jerry muttered to Mike. “We ain’t ever playing another game with these assholes!”
“There you have it,” Mike reiterated. “Jerry and Stan are done with you anti-American canker-sores. Let us pass in peace or we will pass with most of you in the hospital… your choice.”
“I rip you apart. You don’t scare me, cracker pussy!”
Mike smiled at the huge black player, flexing in rage. “I’ll play. How about if I can make you cry, your idiot companions will let us pass - one on one, big guy?”
A hum of approving cheers echoed throughout the locker room with the networked Demon Inc expressing wild amusement. “Thank God… Denny put a cam on you, Ripper,” Demon projected.
The big man’s eyes narrowed into hate filled rage, his huge hands knotting into fists. “If this Goober get past me, let him go.”
“Last chance,” Mike stated solemnly. “Move your crew aside and let us pass – no one else gets hurt.”
“I put a hurtin’ on you, boy.” He rushed Mike with the intention of tackling him to the floor, where he could overwhelm him with weight and strength.
Mike hip threw him, using his momentum to send him crashing on his back into the lockers. Mike kept his eyes on the rest of the team. “Swarm me and I open up into the darkness. You chicken nuggets don’t want that.”
His hip thrown victim raged to his feet, charging at Mike full bore. Mike waited to the last second and slipped to the side, clotheslining the big man. He rebounded to his back where he writhed in agony. Mike knelt over him, turning him so Mike could see the rest of the team. Mike bitch slapped him in slow hurtful smashes until the big man began to sob. Mike straightened away from his victim.
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