Fury

by Llewellin Jegels

  “Thanks Mel,” I said, hugging Shelley.

  She smiled, and for a little while we were at peace. But after a moment, the gravity of the events at hand hit home again, and I let go of Shelly to grab my leather jacket, covering up my own shoulder-holstered Beretta.

  “Time to go, people,” I said.

  Shelley nodded, “Let’s do this.”

  Mel grinned, and we headed out.

  The place looked innocent enough from the outside, rather attractive actually. Pleasant. A very small cottage with a little front garden sitting on a heavily sloped road and looking all dainty and peaceful.

  I don’t know what to expect, but not this. Perhaps something a bit more sinister, I’d guess. Dark red paint, maybe. And a chimney in the shape of horns. Or a medieval styled castle, complete with heads on poles. But this place seemed pleasant, with no visible signs of turmoil.

  But then, perhaps, nothing much was going on inside. Just a father and his kid, staying with a friend.

  I tried to keep that in mind as Mel and I drove further down the road, leaving Shelley standing at the gate. She didn’t look particularly comfortable, but she had an unmistakable, steely resolve to her. She’d be fine.

  We parked a few houses down the street and got out.

  “We need to move fast,” I said, checking the place out. SEAL training kicking in, I guessed. Looking for possible ambush points automatically even though we were in a peaceful neighborhood. The only danger could come from Don’s friend but an even more dangerous man, Mel’s friend, tailed him.

  “Indeed. So stop talking and let’s get going,” Mel replied, already heading for the tiny entrance that passed one of the little houses and led to the back alley. We took it at a run and slunk into the back alley without slowing.

  “This is the place,” I said, and we stopped.

  Mel cased out the garden while I checked out the windows. They were all covered with heavy curtains. No looking in. But no looking out either.

  Good so far.

  I reached out and tried the gate. Unlocked, which did not surprise me considering how peaceful the village of Tyre seemed to be. The real trick would be the back door. I glanced at my watch. Time was running out, we needed to move, and we needed to move fast.

  I motioned for Mel to move to the back door, covering him from a small garden statue that didn’t look at all out of place despite it being in such a small garden, and despite it appearing to be modelled on a cross between a gnome and a zebra.

  Mel tried the door, looked over at me, and raised a hand. I stayed put. He reached into his jacket, pulling a lock pick set quickly from inside, worked with it briefly, then checked the time and held an ear to the door. I checked my own watch, and when Mel turned and nodded at me I moved up to join him at the door.

  Shelley arrived exactly on time.

  She straightened her hair, took a deep breath. “I know you’re in there, Don,” Shelley said loudly. “It’s me. Please open up so we can talk.”

  Silence.

  Suddenly the delightful squeals of a little girl pierced the air. I have to admit hearing her again after all we’d been through made me want to cry with a mixture of relief and joy.

  “Mommy!” she cried. “Mommy’s at the door! She’s come, just like you said!”

  “Yes, Rachel. Let’s open the door for her, ok?”

  “Yes!” she shouted in excitement, followed by the scamper of little feet as Rachel shot off toward the front door. We heard the front door open.

  “Good morning, guys!” Shelley said from the front doorstep.

  That was our signal. We slipped inside, into a tiny kitchen, made our way to either side of a doorway leading into the living room and front door, and stayed put, listening.

  Rachel squealed again, a truly beautiful sound, obviously throwing herself into her mother’s arms.

  “I missed you!” Rachel said, by the sounds of it almost in tears. “I missed you mommy!”

  “I missed you too, honey,” Shelley replied, herself close to tears, yet keeping a tight rein on her emotions. “I missed you very, very much.”

  “Daddy said you would come to join us here,” Rachel said. “But I waited for so long!”

  “I know sweetie,” Shelley said. “I had things to take care of, but I’m here now.”

  It sounded like they were involved enough for me to risk a glance into the living room.

  Shelley and Don were standing inside the living room, by the front door. And I had been right, Rachel was in her mother’s arms, holding on for dear life.

  “You want to talk?” Don asked. “Honey?”

  “Yeah, let’s talk. And don’t honey me,” Shelley replied, trying to keep calm despite the mixture of emotion she felt. Don nodded, “Angel, why don’t you run upstairs and give mommy and daddy a few minutes to talk, then you can come down and show her all the new presents you have?”

  “But I want to stay with mommy,” she replied.

  “Just a few minutes, honey,” Shelley said, trying to reassure Rachel. “Adult talk, you know? I’ll see you soon.”

  “You’re going to kiss, aren’t you?” Rachel said with a tone of disgust. “I know you are.”

  “You brat,” Shelley said with a smile and an affectionate ruffle of her hair.

  She placed Rachel back onto the floor and she ran up the stairs to her room.

  The sound of footsteps as Shelley and Don moved further into the living room.

  “Can I make you some coffee?” Don asked, attempting to be casual.

  “Fuck you, Don! I’ve come to get my child back, not to drink your coffee.”

  “I figured as much,” he replied. “You have quite a mouth on you nowadays.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Shelley retorted. “So here’s how this is going down. I’m going to tell Rachel that we’re going home. Then I’m going to leave with her, and you are going to stay the fuck here. Understand?”

  “Be reasonable, Shelley-”

  “What?” Shelley shot back. “Be reasonable? You kidnapped my child.”

  “She’s our child.”

  “She’s my fucking child, you bastard. Mine! And I’m leaving here with her. Now.”

  “You can try,” Don said. “It would be amusing to see.”

  “Just as arrogant as ever.” Shelley said. “Well, I guess we’re going to have to do it the hard way then.”

  Our signal to move in.

  Mel and I, Berettas at the ready, came through the door as one.

  An explosion to our rear!

  The front door exploded inwards, with the soft CRUMP sound of suppressed breaching charges, and everything went to hell.

  The force of the explosion hurled Mel and myself into the living room just as the guy in the suit walked in, brandishing a silenced pistol of his own.

  He saw us immediately and opened fire. Don ducked behind the sofa and Shelley, because of her position, had no choice but to dive behind a table beside the window near the front door.

  Mel and I split up and opened fire on the guy, but he had already assessed the situation and swung around to where Shelley kept her head down, grabbed her by the shoulder, keeping her forcefully down.

  Mel and I ceased fire, afraid of hitting her, which no doubt the guy in the suit hoped for.

  “Lower your weapons,” he said to Mel and me. “Do it now!”

  “Lower yours.”

  “Very well,” and the man in the grey suit lowered his weapon, placing the barrel neatly against the top of Shelley’s head. “Now then. Lower your weapons if you’d be so kind.”

  We did as requested.

  “I just want Don Abaid,” the guy continued. “I don’t care about you people. Let me take him or I’ll blast this bitch’s brains all over the fucking wall.”

  We felt tempted to let Abaid go, but Mel and I didn’t work that way. No matter how much of a bastard Don was, he didn’t deserve to die, something the man in the grey suit no doubt, had in mind. And if we hande
d him over, it would be exactly the same as if we’d pulled the trigger ourselves.

  So, a standoff.

  A movement to our left.

  Rachel.

  At the bottom of the steps, a look of shock on her little face. She looked around at all of us in a kind of dazed fashion, her eyes resting on Shelley.

  “Mommy!” she shouted and ran toward Shelley and the man in the grey suit.

  I dashed sideways and grabbed her in my arms. She struggled to get away, but I held on firmly.

  “It’s ok, Rachel,” I said, attempting to sooth her. “It’s me, honey.”

  “Let my mommy go!” she yelled at the guy in the suit, not registering anything other than her mother’s immediate danger and need for help.

  “I’m not a monster,” the man in the grey suit said, looking at Rachel. “I won’t hurt the girl or her mother. Just give me what I want. But don’t fuck with me or I won’t hesitate to kill them both.”

  I feared for the worst.

  “What do you have in mind?” Mel asked.

  “I’m leaving with Shelley,” the guy in the suit said. “I’ll phone here later to arrange a trade. Shelley for Don. Simple and clean.”

  We didn’t have any options. The guy had Shelley, and we couldn’t fire on him without the possibility of his finger tightening on the trigger. He pulled Shelley up by her hair, and the two of them backed out of the room and disappeared, leaving us with a screaming young girl.

  “Fuck,” Mel said.

  “Who the hell was that?” Don asked, coming out from behind the sofa, his eyes riveted on our Berettas.

  “The man who wants you dead, and we, ironically,” Mel said, “are the only ones keeping you from certain death. And the jury’s still out on that one.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Don, Mel and I sat on the couch, with Rachel on my lap. She needed the comfort right now only a ‘parent’ could give.

  Abaid only knew me from pictures Rachel had in her room. He’d never met me in person before. Not that I could call this a meeting. I’d dropped off Shelley’s radar by the time they’d become seriously involved.

  We explained who we were professionally, to a degree, while managing to avoid some of the details which no doubt would have added to Rachel’s already traumatized state.

  “So you found the link,” he muttered. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

  “You’re not as smart as you think,” Mel muttered, and I nudged him, gesturing with my head to Rachel.

  “Yeah, well,” Don said. “It wasn’t exactly expertly planned.”

  “Tell us about your friend,” I said. “The guy you’re staying with here.”

  “You already know about him,” Don said. “You read my Darknet account. You need no more than that.”

  “I need more,” I said. “I need to know how soon we can expect him back. I need to know if he’s going to make life harder for us, because personally, that’s exactly what I think he’ll do.”

  It wouldn’t pay to tell Don that if his friend came anywhere near this place, he’d be taken out nice and quietly, without any fuss. Giving your plans to the enemy was never a very good idea, not until it was too late to make a difference, anyway.

  “If I tell him some lunatic has taken Shelley, he’ll help us,” Don said, looking down at Rachel, who had fallen asleep out of nervous exhaustion, allowing us to talk a bit more freely.

  I hated the guy, but I admitted to myself that he played more of a father’s role in Rachel’s life than I did in the last few years.

  “Like hell he will,” Mel said. “All you give a damn about is yourself and Rachel. You couldn’t care less if Shelley lives or dies, you son of a bitch. Don’t try to sell me the good guy routine, I’m not a fool.”

  “I may not be a good husband, but I don’t want her to die,” Don said, shaking his head. “I just don’t want to be in her life anymore.”

  “Which means you don’t get Rachel in your life anymore either,” I said, barely restraining myself from resorting to physical violence only because of Rachel’s warm body in my lap.

  “Like it or not,” Mel agreed. “You leave Shelley, you lose Rachel. And that ship has already sailed, so here we all are.”

  Silence.

  He probably hoped his friend would upon arrival, draw his own conclusions from the mayhem we had caused, clearly visible through the blasted-in door, and call for some backup of his own. But we had that covered.

  And, as if on cue, Mel’s phone rang.

  “Yes?” he said, listening briefly. He listened briefly, then said. “Okay, take care of it. But non-lethal and make sure he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I don’t feel like unwanted guests.”

  “Who the hell is that?” Don asked, looking at Mel but talking to me.

  “Shut up,” I replied.

  Mel listened some more, then said, “Yes, ok. You know what you’re doing. Good man. Got to go.”

  He hung up, and I said, “Our guy on the ground?”

  Mel nodded. “Don’s friend is on his way back. He’s being taken care of.”

  Don looked shocked. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Relax,” I said. “He said non-lethal. But it’s safe to assume he’ll be out for a while, and when he comes to he’ll be in a place far away without any windows and lots of chains to keep him warm. We like to be thorough. And we’re thoughtful to boot.”

  “But he harmed no one.”

  “Yet,” Mel shot back. “He hasn’t done anything to us yet. We know about this guy, and we know all too well he’d do whatever it takes to get you out of this situation.”

  “And we can’t have that, now, can we?” I added. “This situation is so nice and cozy.”

  “No, we can’t,” Mel agreed. “It wouldn’t do at all. I like cozy.”

  The blood drained from Don’s face. He obviously just realized the backup plan had misfired, which left him at our mercy.

  “And what do you think would have happened when your buddy rocked up, guns blazing, anyway?” I asked him. “You think they could have taken us by surprise? Please, he acquired a tail the moment he left this place this morning. You’re in the deep end here, Don. You might want to play nicely.”

  “I wasn’t expecting him to come in guns blazing. I rather hoped he’d call the authorities.”

  “The authorities?” Mel said. “Are you insane? You’re a damn kidnapper, you idiot.”

  “And you two have silenced firearms,” Don retorted.

  “Besides, I just need to tell them what I told the airport officials when Rachel and I first got here; we’re on a holiday. I don’t want a firefight here. That’s not the type of man I am, no matter what you think.”

  “A holiday?” I asked. “I think Shelley would beg to differ. Oh wait, she’s not here.”

  “This shit is your fault, Don,” Mel growled. “All of it. The only thing stopping me from smashing your face in right now is Rachel. You can be absolutely certain of that. Just like I can be absolutely certain if we weren’t here at this point in time, you’d simply take Rachel and leave Shelley to her fate without giving it a second thought.”

  “So why don’t you hand me over then?” Don asked. “Now that my backup isn’t coming, why don’t you just trade me for her?”

  “Because for some reason this guy in the suit wants you dead,” I said. “And as much as I would like to see that myself, it’s not in my nature. Handing you over to him is the same as killing you myself.”

  Don nodded, “Thank you.”

  “Fuck you,” I replied.

  “So what’s going to happen now?” he asked, ignoring the expletive.

  “You’re not part of the team, Don,” I replied. “You’ll more than likely make a run for it as soon as we try something. So we have to work around you.”

  “Yes,” Mel said. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

  “It never is,” I said with a sigh.

  “Well, we’d better figure out something now,” Mel said. “The
guy in the suit could call any minute now, and the only option we have is the one he gave us. Which, thanks to our own good natures, we can’t do.”

  Mel’s phone rang. “Good work. Your work is done. Expect a nice little bonus in your bank account shortly.”

  He listened some more.

  “Yes, well, you’re getting it anyway,” he said. “Enjoy, my friend.”

  He hung up.

  “Taken care of, I assume?” I asked.

  “Taken care of,” Mel replied, and looked at Don. “And yes, he’s still breathing.”

  “Mel, we need to speak in private.”

  “By all means,” Don said. “My bedroom is nice and quiet. Take your time.”

  “Yeah, thanks for the offer,” I replied. “But I’d just as soon not give you the opportunity to do a runner.”

  “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he replied.

  I gently put Rachel down on the sofa. Mel and I got up and moved to the kitchen doorway, and I dropped my voice. “Something else is getting in the way of things.”

  “What?” Mel asked.

  “Rachel,” I replied. “Every moment she’s here she’s in danger.”

  Mel nodded, “You’re right. We need to figure this out.”

  “I already have,” I replied. “And you’re not going to like it, I’m afraid.”

  Mel stared at me as I explained.

  “No,” he said at last. “Not a chance, Tom.”

  I nodded, “Yes. It will get Rachel to safety. It will allow me to control Don a bit more forcefully if needs be.”

  “You’re sending me home?” His tone sounded almost hurt.

  “Somebody needs to protect that little girl,” I replied.

  “Why can’t we let-”

  “No,” I interrupted. “His job is done here, you said it yourself. You’re the only person besides Shelley I trust with Rachel’s life.”

  He looked at me for a long time. I looked back, not backing down on this.

  “You’ve done so much for us, Mel,” I said. “And now I need you to do the most important thing of all. Get my little girl to safety.”

  “Shit,” Mel muttered.

  “I can handle that CIA bastard,” I said.

  “I know,” Mel replied. “But… damn.”