Hard Case: Boxed Set Books 1,2 & 3 (John Harding Books)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Listen here, Putz, you don’t want to say anything else and start annoying me. When I get annoyed, I start tearing things off of you. You don’t want that, right?”

  Tears were starting at Putz’s eyes as he shook his head no as much as I allowed him. I released him and patted his cheek while Adrian looked on in open mouthed fear. “We’ll be done soon, so just relax a few moments longer… silently of course.”

  It was only five more minutes before Lynn guided a very subdued Noonan out fully dressed. Lynn was smiling at us. “Let’s go, boys. We’re all set, right, Cinnie?”

  “Yes, Lynn,” Cinnie mumbled with head down.

  I gave the two Cinnie peeps a final warning. “Okay, folks, we’ll leave you to the rest of your day. Take some advice. Don’t follow through on whatever Cinnie had in mind for you. I’m going to be watching you two, so you better watch out, or I’ll be coming here for the two of you one early morning.”

  Lynn guided Noonan out with Clint close behind. I had their backs. My hand was on the butt of my Smith & Wesson 9mm auto as they loaded up in the already running car with Jafar behind the wheel. I backed the rest of the way to the car and got in on the front passenger seat. No sign of anyone charging out the front door with a gun so Jafar started us toward my house.

  “Did you find out, Ms. Montoya,” Jafar asked.

  “Yeah, Cinnie has been guilty of a few more atrocities she’s not being accused of.”

  I was sitting in the front seat, watching the interview replay. “This is great, Lynn.”

  I uploaded it to Lora, who I had standing by with a text Noonan was in route. She would in turn contact our clients up North, and let them know the details. We now had a complication, and one simplification. The confession makes it plain Cinnie killed her first in Oakland. That complicated our taking her up to Seattle, because she would have to be charged here for the killing in Oakland. The other three were committed in Seattle. This all mattered in that we wouldn’t have to transport. We’d get credit for the apprehension, and Oakland would handle incarceration and charging. Seattle would probably send someone down to transport Noonan. By the time we arrived at my house, Lora had news and directions.

  Lora met us as we exited the car. “I put in a call to Earl first. He and Enrique are working the morning shift. They’re on their way over. I told him we’d make it a joint deal where they were made aware of our plans for apprehension, with them as the official arresting officers. You can imagine the happy feet those two got hearing that.”

  I nodded. “That was good thinking. How did your idea go over with the firm in Seattle?”

  “They loved the confession and apprehension. They promised to handle the details with the parents up North. I knew the delay in Seattle getting Noonan wouldn’t bother them. With the confession the way it was done, the chances of her ever getting out will be slim. Do I want to know how Lynn got that confession?”

  “Nope.” I glanced back at Lynn having a personal conversation with Noonan. She owned Cinnie. Some things go to an elemental level. Whatever happened in the room had changed Cinnie forever. Until today, our murder suspect thought she was a monster. As Denny had envisioned, Noonan met a real monster. No contest. I watched the former monster looking down at her feet, with tears streaming down her cheeks, while enduring a final bit of advice given by the real monster. “No need for management to get involved in details. Thanks for making all that happen in a short car ride back home.”

  Lora gave me a little hug. She knew the players and the perps. She was still a little foggy about why some on our team were still running around loose, while the perps who in many cases had killed fewer people, or did less horrendous things, were sent to prison – mainly through our efforts. That she could live in our world, organize it, and deal with it on a separate plain of existence was a mystery to our crew and Denny. To our credit, we didn’t question her ability, we rolled with it. With me, I loved it. I knew talent. First and foremost, she loved me – not an inconsequential endeavor. Earl and Enrique rolled up as Lynn gave Cinnie a shoulder squeeze that the former monster cringed at.

  Earl, Enrique, and I huddled up for the moment of transfer. “John… you look like shit.”

  “Gee, thanks Earl. Listen, can we get around my mug and go straight to the details of the arrest we’re handing you two slackers?”

  That got some laughs, accompanied by fist bumps by Earl and his partner. “Sorry, John. ‘Rique and I won a couple grand each on your set to in Las Vegas. Your favorite waitress over at The Warehouse went all in on you and came away with ten grand. You, my friend, are a very popular man amongst your friends. Now today, you hand us a gift like Noonan?” Earl stopped, sobbed, and continued my send up, “I love you man.”

  “I actually had very little to do with the apprehension.” I gestured Clint and Lynn over while making eye contact with Jafar. He took charge of Noonan. “This is Clint Dostiene and his partner Lynn Montoya, both in our employ, and with active FBI credentials.”

  They all shook hands with the proper respect. This is the way this shit should go down. It seldom does, but once in a while we get a win the way we want it.

  “We have it from here, my friend,” ‘Rique said, helping Noonan into the backseat of their squad car. He pointed at Lora. “Thanks for the gift, Lora. We won’t forget it.”

  Lora went over and patted Enrique’s arm. She said exactly what was needed. “We need you guys. You know that, and so do we. I sent all the particulars of the apprehension to our client in Seattle, but I dubbed a copy and put it in your e-mail.”

  Earl gestured at the very docile Cinnie Noonan. “Why do you figure Noonan confessed and gave up so easily?”

  “She seemed ready to bare her soul,” Lynn replied with an award winning speculative look. “I think she needed to tell someone, so we helped her out.”

  Earl smiled. “Okay then. Welcome to the neighborhood.”

  We watched their squad car pull away with Cinnie. I liked the way that one worked out. “Thanks to you two, we had a very fulfilling morning. Go enjoy your new house, and we’ll call when something else pops up on the screen. I guess you’ll be tying all the loose ends on the Harvard bunch until you finally get to fix them up with permanent quarters in a gray bar hotel somewhere.”

  “Clint and I like to keep busy, so give us a call if anything comes up, Lora. I’m not too sure how the Harvard problem will end up, John. We haven’t figured out what ending we’d like to have for that story.”

  I liked that. It’s always best to keep all your options open with murdering psychopaths. “If you need special backup at anytime for the gigs you two handle with the FBI, we have the best backup in the world.”

  “Let me factor that into my thinking, John,” Clint replied. “It opens up a couple of options if I had a team.”

  “Then consider it done, brother,” I told him. Hell, I’d go gut them for him. What the hell do I care about three murderous shit-heads? “I guess you already know I’d go with you and fix these three up. Hell, we’ll bury them in Canada.”

  Clint laughed. “If they’re dissolved into a liquid form, we wouldn’t have to go far at all.”

  Yeah, I laughed because Clint and I, along with Lynn come from the same deep dish pizza. I noticed Lynn giggling at our exchange. “It’s nice to have so many monsters in our employ.”

  “What about you, Lora?”

  “I go where John goes… always. It’s nice having you here, Lynn.”

  Lynn looked around with a big grin. “It’s nice being here in monster land.”

  * * *

  For a split second I woke up in the Afghan mountains, wind howling like mad, freezing cold, pitch black, and a single sound out of place. Like then, I moved. I sealed Lora’s mouth, taking her scantily clad body up with me. She struggled at first, before realizing who had her. I carried her toward Al’s room, put her on the floor outside the bedroom, and whispered shushing sounds while releasing her mouth. We have a safe room inside Minnie-me’s bedr
oom.

  “Take Al and get in the safe room. Hit the alarm in there we have to everyone else’s place. We’re probably not the only ones under attack.”

  Lora didn’t argue or say a word. She ran in to Al’s room to gather her up. I went back to our bedroom and retrieved my Heckler Koch Mac-10 machine pistol, night vision goggles, and a flash-bang from my spring open safe. I didn’t know how many, but I knew they were pros. They disabled my alarm system, which was state of the art, while barely breaking stride. Not knowing the inside of my house would work in my favor, but only for seconds. Once they acquired a target, this would be a war. I had no doubt they brought enough firepower to turn my house into wood dust.

  I didn’t give a crap about what they did or didn’t do in the lower part of the house. I knew they would have to come upstairs to get at me. Right now, these guys figured we were sleeping like babies or they’d be storming around with a full out attack. This wasn’t a social call. Whoever sent them wanted a statement made. My little family was meant to die bloody in our beds. I’m thinking they’re hitting at least Jafar’s place. He also has a safe room. I made sure Jafar knew never to take even a whimper from Samira’s dog Naji for granted. The kid knew to get Samira and Naji into the safe room and hit the alarm - nothing else.

  I didn’t have a dog like Naji. They’re terrific, but no matter how hard we try, having an early warning system like Naji blunts us. We depend so much on the animal, we forget our own senses. My house is sound proofed. I heard the single click made while they entered. They came upstairs silently, inching with precision up each step. When the first guy cleared the stairs, I shot him in both shoulders, and lobbed the flash-bang in amongst them. I whipped off the night vision goggles and hugged the wall as my military grade flash-bang blew out eardrums and blinded them.

  In seconds I was at the stairwell, protecting my wounded guy while executing what turned out to be four other black clothed guys behind him. Then I waited out of sight with my buddy. No need to go rushing around getting myself shot. I either got them all or I didn’t. I listened for an escape out my door. When I didn’t hear anything, I dragged the unconscious survivor toward my bedroom. After getting him trussed up so he couldn’t move, I dressed quickly and carried him to the stairs. I threw him down the stairs over his dead comrades’ bodies. He hit with a satisfying crunch. When his landing didn’t attract gunfire, I followed him down, collecting weapons as I went. I don’t leave live killers behind me. I made sure each had journeyed to hell before moving on.

  I knew they had a driver. I left my house through the back, circled around to the street, staying near my neighbor’s trees. Lora always kids me because I know when there is a different car or truck anywhere on our street. The black SUV parked two houses down with the engine running and a very nervous driver made the discovery pretty easy. My sound proofing the house had limited the noise, but a few lights were going on around my house. I put three grouped shots through the SUV windshield which pulped the driver’s head. Did I worry about killing an innocent person as I ran up on the SUV? Sure, but sometimes you have to take the shot. Luckily for me, the driver was armed and outfitted like his compatriots. I turned off the engine, and retreated into my house.

  Dragging my criminal associate into the kitchen, while he screwed up my carpet with blood, I stuffed some towels into his clothing to stop the flow a little. I wet one towel and worked on waking him up while calling into the safe room. The crunch I heard when I threw him down the stairs originated from the way his right ankle was bent.

  “John?”

  “I’m fine. Don’t come out of the room until I come get you. Did anyone get through to you yet?” Our crew is supposed to call in immediately after they make sure everyone is safe at their location.

  Lora’s voice was cracking, but she held it together. “Everyone has called in. Jafar was the only one who has intruders. Lucas and Casey are on their way over to him now. Lucas just called and said ETA in five minutes. Denny said to call him the moment you can talk.”

  “I better do that now. I’ll call you once I sort things out.”

  “Okay, John.”

  Next up, I had to contact Satan’s Spawn. Denny answered on the first ring. “Five down here, and one live one, Den.”

  “Did you get the driver?”

  “Starting out with an insult is a bad beginning, Spawn.”

  Denny chuckled. “Lucas called. Jafar told him the attackers found the safe room and were in the process of finding a way to get in. Lucas and Casey killed the driver on their way in, and threw flash-bangs to disable the very surprised bunch getting ready to blow up the house in order to get at Samira. We have some live ones. I briefed Clint and Lynn just in case we needed them. How’s cleanup?”

  “Messy. I’ll drive their getaway SUV up to the house and load them all. Want me to meet you at the house of pain?”

  “That’s the plan. Lucas and Casey will be headed that way shortly with their bunch. I made sure Tommy, Dev, and Jesse were okay. We’re lucky. They restricted their attacks to old news. You were best man at Jafar’s wedding, and the one assigned to guard Samira at first. Everyone knows now. This is war until we find out who issued the order. Then we clean house. This was a failed statement. We’re going to make one they won’t ever forget.”

  “See you in a few.” I hung up. It only took fifteen minutes for me to load the bad guy’s van. I told Lora to stay put. No way I wanted her and Al running around the house until I had a chance to clean things up a bit. By the time I made it back out to the van, it was still quiet on the street, as the lights had gone back out. Thankfully, no one had called the cops. Clint and Lynn pulled up behind the SUV.

  “I’m pissed, John,” Lynn said, hands on hips. “You had a party and didn’t invite us? What the hell? We’ve only been here a couple weeks and you’re already shunning us?”

  Yeah, she’s been here cracking us all up for a couple weeks. Her and Lora have bonded, with Minnie-me mimicking them both now. “I didn’t want to freak you out. I know how faint you get at the sight of blood.”

  I got her and Clint with that gem.

  When she could speak again, Lynn gestured her acceptance. “O…okay, you got me on that one. We’re here to clean up and watch Lora and Minnie-me until you get back.”

  Clint had been inspecting the leftover carnage with professional interest, peering up the stairs and my spatters in the stairwell landing. “You should get a dog, John. The Rock was a long time ago. Besides, he died with his boots on.”

  Rock was a dog we had with recon back in the ‘Stans. He died saving our butts. “I know, but I have Samira’s Naji, and now Tonto. Besides, although I didn’t hear them like Tonto, I still sniffed them out in time to welcome them properly.”

  Clint shrugged. “You’re going to need a little reconstruction here. We’ll clean things up a bit and let your family out of the safe room.” He slapped his forehead comically. “Sorry, Lynn. I’ll be cleaning up a little. I nearly forgot about the fact Lynn doesn’t clean up anything.”

  Lynn gasped, but then giggled. “Fine. Maybe I’m not a domestic chore Goddess. I’ll give you a hand here, honey-pie. In return, I don’t want you whining about my shortcomings for at least a month.”

  “Whining… whining? I’ll have to buy a month’s supply of paper plates and plastic silverware in case I have to be gone for a month, so I’ll still be able to find the kitchen when I get back.”

  I was already laughing my ass off as the Bickersons were still trading shots. My wounded buddy was probably getting lonely out there with his dead friends. “Thanks, you two. Keep this up and you’ll have your own radio show. I think it took Lora and I at least a month before we were at each other’s throats over domestic chores. It wasn’t actually a fight though. I’ve always cleaned my place myself. Lora thought it was her job to clean the house. It was resolved pretty fast when she decided it was okay with her if I cleaned it.”

  “Only one problem with that solution, John,” Clint s
aid. “I can’t clean as fast as Lynn trashes the place.”

  Lynn giggled again. I began to think she was playing Clint. The look in his eyes when he grinned, convinced me he was remembering all the little tells she probably left him.

  “Oh, you dirty… no good… rotten…”

  Montoya was laughing so hard she nearly collapsed on the floor.

  “Take off, John. I believe my partner and I are about to have a breakthrough.”

  “I’ll call with an update, you whacky kids you.”

  * * *

  By the time I reached our homemade house of pain, I only needed to drive right into our unique warehouse. This is where we bring special guests when we’re out of options or time. It’s not sanctioned, on any of the expense sheets, or acknowledged by people at the Company. Those who arrive here for interrogation will eventually wind up in disposal, because the people who interact here know we only have one purpose – protect the United States of America and each other at all costs. The quick and the dead meet here for the last time.

  Casey met the van while closing up the door behind me. “Hi, John. Thanks for the wakeup call. You know of course everyone in the kid’s neighborhood will think he and Samira are terrorists, right?”

  I shook my head sagely as I left the SUV. “Like Clint says, into each life a little rain must fall. How much of a remake will we have to do on his house?”

  Lucas joined his partner. “We hardly scratched it, unlike the last time I allowed Casey to join me on The Sea Wolf.”

  Casey launched into hands in the air exasperation the moment he recognized the melody from that familiar tune. “Oh for God’s sake! I knew it! I knew you’d bring up the knocked over beer. All joking aside, John, we need to have an intervention here. The next time Lucas mentions that spilled beer… there will be blood!”