by Myles Knapp
“Fortunately, the little creep had money. I stole every dime and gave it to Peggy for therapy, a new house with a state-of-the art security system, and a nice long vacation.
“But stealing from him wasn’t enough. I got him disowned. I got him fired. It only took two months to turn that little fool into a mess of bruises and bandages. With my bare hands and my high school Louisville Slugger I broke his bones. And for the first time since that little slime ball hurt Peggy, I felt good. Peggy felt safe. The only hard evidence was the baseball bat, and that I cut it into little pieces and used it to grill a steak. It was the best steak I ever had.
“Couple weeks later I set up RevengeSchool.com to help people get even. And a while later I found some videos by a guy named Larry Wick. He teaches the cops and military practical self-defense techniques. Says martial arts are a great sport. Good for exercise and a calm mind, but useless for self-defense because they take too long to learn. His ‘Split Second Survival’ videos gave me some of the ideas behind our training.
Pay was finishing his double espresso when Richard’s head jerked back and his eye’s grew wide. “See that guy coming out the front door? That’s MacDonald.”
“Medium-sized guy with long, black hair? Needs a shave?”
“He looks like one huge scary nightmare to me.”
“Good thing you and Brooke didn’t take him on. He’s packing. Two. One shoulder; one ankle.”
Richard gulped a ragged breath. “Oh shit. The fat man just came out the door right behind him. Does he have guns, too?” Flop sweat broke out on his face.
“Shit.”
Richard trembled. “What?”
“That fat man is one dangerous motherfucker. Vinnie Morano. He’s like me.”
“Like you?”
“He doesn’t need a gun.”
“We need back up.” Pay pulled out his cell. “Chase, the fat man is Morano. Richard and I need you up at North Beach Restaurant, now.”
“Morano, like Vinnie Morano? Fuck.”
“When can you be here?”
“Fifteen.”
“Richard will be waiting for you.”
Pay hung up and turned to Richard. “You keep watch. If Morano shows up, text me. I’ll bail out and meet you guys back here.”
“What if it’s just the mugger?”
“Once Chase gets here, come meet me.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Depends what I find inside. Have your zip ties and duct tape ready.”
For ten anxious minutes Richard squirmed and waited. He tried the deep breathing technique he’d learned in yoga class, but couldn’t focus. His heart pulsed and his mind kept flashing to Morano killing them all.
So he sat, nervously scanning the street; a text message to Pay cued up and ready to send.
Chase dropped into the chair alongside him, fear blowing out the whites of his eyes. “Should have killed Morano a long time ago. Where’s Pay?”
Richard pointed down the street. “That’s my mugger. Pay said if he came back alone, I should follow him in. You watch our backs. If Morano shows, send him a text. We will meet back here.”
Richard closed his eyes, examined his soul, and asked it if he really wanted to get even. Something inside him said ‘yes.’ Heart racing, pepper spray in hand, Richard raced across the street toward MacDonald.
The bastard recognized him, smirked, and ignored him like he was no threat at all. Richard followed, staying about fifteen-feet behind. When MacDonald stuck his key in the door Richard slunk past him, shoulder rubbing the far wall.
Richard knew getting in front of MacDonald would make him even more relaxed. Not that the bastard looked the slightest bit concerned. The team had taught him people were afraid of being attacked from behind, but almost no one was scared of someone who’d started behind them and then moved in front.
When the lock clicked open, Richard reversed course and ran full speed into MacDonald, slamming him through the open door into Pay’s waiting arms.
Pay tossed MacDonald to the floor, laughing. “Pay Back’s gonna be a bitch.”
The creep rolled away and Pay kicked him in the kidney. “Keep moving and you’ll be pissing blood for a month.” He tossed rubber gloves like the ones he was wearing to Richard.
“Time for you to prove we got the right punk.”
Richard jammed his knee into Ray’s back and wrenched his right arm up between his shoulder blades. Pain flickered across MacDonald’s face as he twisted to relieve the pressure.
Richard rammed MacDonald’s arm farther up his back. “I’ll rip this arm off. You stole from me. Today I’m getting even.” Richard threw his body weight into the joint lock. MacDonald screamed. “I’m taking back my Rolex. And enough of whatever the hell else you got, for me to be even.” Removing the watch, Richard tossed it to Pay.
“Says here, ‘Congratulations Richard! Love, Mom & Dad.’”
“It better.” Richard kicked a pile of discarded pizza boxes off a kitchen chair and zip tied MacDonald to it, wrapping duct tape over the ties. “Why do I have to use both?”
“Tell you later. Just do it.”
MacDonald looked like he was going to scream. Richard grabbed a filthy sock from the floor and jammed it in his mouth. “Shut up!”
“What you wanna do?” asked Pay.
“Take enough to get even for my time and trouble.”
“And?”
“This guy didn’t hurt me. He just stole my stuff.”
“And has some scam going with drunks outside his club.”
“That is not my problem.”
“True.”
“So, I’m just going to take enough stuff to get even.”
“Just take what you want and split?”
“That’s what I planned on.”
“I found a safe in his room. Probably got some cash. Maybe drugs.”
“Let’s flush the drugs and take the cash, I guess?” Richard asked.
“Leave the drugs for the cops.”
“Ok.” Richard tugged a folded hunting knife from his pants pocket and a Taser from its belt holster, setting them both on a side table. Jerking MacDonald’s chin up and back with his gloved hand, he glared into his eyes. “Listen, I’m not the same stupid, scared little boy you stole from. The big guy thinks I should steal you blind, beat the crap out of you, then cut off a few critical body parts and leave a bleeding carcass for 911 to find. And I’m pretty sure if he thinks I don’t have the guts, he’ll do it for me.”
“Nah, you can do it all by yourself.”
Richard’s maniacal look had MacDonald on edge. Richard softened his gaze. “You didn’t hurt me. I won’t hurt you.” He paused and took a long slow breath.
“Much.”
Richard slammed his fist into MacDonald’s nose. Blood dripped down his chin. Richard stroked MacDonald’s cheek, pressing his left thumb against MacDonald’s right eyeball, as he glared into the open one. “Here’s the deal. I see you again, I break all your fingers and toes. Then, I cut them off.” Grabbing the knife from the table he plunged it into MacDonald’s crotch, slicing a ragged hole in his jeans. The knife quivered, its razor sharp edge rubbing against the mugger’s femoral artery. “Then, I castrate you.”
MacDonald pissed his pants.
Richard pulled the sock from MacDonald’s mouth. “I need the combo for the safe.”
Quivering, MacDonald whispered, “Can’t do it.”
Richard pulled the knife from the chair and stroked the edge slowly up MacDonald’s thigh toward his wet crotch. “Thank God for the gloves.”
MacDonald shook his head and frowned. “Huh?”
Richard unbuckled MacDonald’s belt, unbuttoned his jeans, pulled the elastic top of his boxers away from his belly, and grinned. “They make cutting off your penis a lot more sanitary.”<
br />
MacDonald screamed, “Combos on a note under my sox. Under my sox!”
Releasing the elastic with a snap, Richard ruffled MacDonald’s hair. “If I were you, as soon as I recovered I’d move. Maybe to Bakersfield.”
“Recovered?” mumbled MacDonald.
And Richard tasered him. Right in the balls.
Pay was so startled, for a second he stopped breathing. “Looks like you’re a better student than I thought.”
They left MacDonald in the chair, whimpering.
In his safe, they found over twenty grand. Richard knew he wouldn’t get to keep the cash, but he figured he’d get enough for a new Mac and cover some of the costs of helping Mary Ellen. The rest would go to the team, and charity.
They walked out the door with Richard’s Rolex, the cash, several flash drives, and nineteen computer CDs they found in the safe.
More important to Richard, he left with his pride. “Why are we taking the drives and the CDs?”
“Morano’s never into anything good. Whatever is on them, taking them could make things better for a lot of people.”
Pay hit the speed dial on his cell and called Chase. “We’ll clear the building in about thirty seconds. Scumbag is gagged and tied to a chair. He’s in no danger unless his friends kill him before the cops get here.”
“Could that happen?”
“Morano’s not gonna be happy.”
“Until you called, I thought Morano was doing life in Pelican Bay.”
“Me too. Something bad is going on. Richard’s punk had a lot of cash on hand.”
“While I was watching your backs, I used my cell to create a message with synthesized voices. I’ll send it to the cops from a burner phone, then ditch it.”
“Good.”
“Pay, won’t the cops come after us?” Richard’s voice quaked with adrenaline.
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“Between our gloves and being careful, we didn’t leave any real obvious evidence behind.”
“He saw our faces and he knows my name. Plus, I’m sure he knows where I live.”
“Be an idiot to come after you, though. He knows you can take care of yourself now. And he knows you’ve got me. ”
“Won’t he just give the cops my name?”
“Morano won’t let him. He’ll want the cops gone ASAP.”
“So that means we’re home free?”
“Only if the cops put Morano away for a long time.”
“Huh?”
“If the thumb drives or the CDs are for a big score, Morano’s gonna want ‘em back. And that’s not gonna be good news.”
CHAPTER 56
Pay, Richard, and Barbara Jane headed to the hospital to see if they could learn more from Mary Ellen.
Chase went back to HQ to explore the stuff they’d taken from MacDonald’s. Knowing the CDs and thumb drives could hold hours of video, watching them was going to be a full-on marathon.
He watched two of the discs beginning to end at quadruple speed. Both were high definition video with crystal clear audio taken in the VIP room of a club he didn’t recognize. Recessed lighting, rich leather booths, designer furniture, exotic hardwoods and a rotating selection of gorgeous women set the scene.
Whoever produced the videos had spared no expense. Multiple high-resolution cameras recorded every detail, from the moment a gentleman turned his car over to the valet until he left.
Beautiful women arrived every hour. As new ones appeared, unattached women were discretely handed an envelope by one of the tuxedoed waiters. Moments later, they departed.
The remaining women sipped Cristal champagne, while men took slugs from large tumblers of Glenfiddich single malt.
The crowd was unique in its age composition. The women were all between twenty and thirty and looked to be doing ok financially. When they didn’t leave with a man their choice of rides were a Lexus SC 430 hardtop convertible, or one of the medium-sized Mercedes.
The men were all older and wealthy. Most were overweight, balding, and seemed to fall in the mid-to-late 50s. Without exception, the men drove high-end luxury cars. Chase saw Lamborghinis, Bugattis, Bentleys, a couple of classic Porsches, and two brand new Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG Roadsters. Their jewelry was designer platinum and gold. They didn’t wear merely upscale watches, like Rolex, Baume & Mercier and Longines; they preferred Vacheron Constantins and antique Patek Philippe’s.
Chase hit Google and found one of the guys was wearing a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillion. It had sold at auction for $1.49 million, which made it the most expensive wristwatch in the world.
Prior to entering the club, each gentleman had a quiet word with the doorman, who in many of the videos was the recently encouraged to relocate, Ray MacDonald. During the conversation each man slipped the doorman several bills. After he entered the club, MacDonald or one of his counterparts carefully fanned the bills—always hundreds—so they could be recorded by the security cameras.
At the end of the evening, gentlemen would tip generously and pay for everything, mostly with cash, but occasionally an American Express Centurion Card came into view. The sophisticated black cards were the delight of club owners around the world; they were available exclusively to the rich, and went without a spending limit of any kind.
Some men left alone. Some drove away with a beauty. Others left with one or more women in a club limousine. Later there were explicit videos of them having sex in opulent bedrooms.
Two hours after midnight, Chase quit. The last thing he did after shutting down the equipment was send Amy an email asking her to come in after the morning class and give him some help.
The next morning, Chase was munching a bran muffin when Amy arrived with a huge, pink ice pack Ace-bandaged to her shoulder, and a massive black eye that seemed to swell as he watched. She looked like she’d gone a couple of rounds with Pay. “Either the class is getting better or you’ve lost a step.”
She slumped into a chair. “Damn vegan dude nailed me this morning.”
“How the hell did that happen?”
“Turns out he’s a Buddhist. All his religious beliefs are about being grounded in the fundamental universal values of peace and love. He actually told me, ‘We Buddhists believe there’s tremendous power in non-violence. Violence comes from the hearts and minds of human beings.’ Then he got mugged at the ATM. In his head he wanted to fight. But in his heart he just couldn’t cross the line.”
“And?”
“It’s my job to move him into our world. Pay said to push him until he either quit or hit back. I did all the usual stuff and got no response. I started calling him vile things I’d never ever say to anyone. Poofter. Asswipe. Limp Dick salad-eating homo. I shoved him. Tripped him. Hit him when he wasn’t looking. Spit in his lunch. I was starting to make myself sick.”
“What finally did it?”
“I pelted him with raw eggs.”
Chase burst out laughing. “That did it?”
“Apparently, he considered it egg abortion.”
“World is full of all kinds.” Chase shook his head. “Good thing you didn’t wring a chicken’s neck. Dude might have destroyed you. Doesn’t the idiot know that store bought eggs are infertile? What a goofball.”
“Goofball with a good punch.”
“Apparently.”
“So what do you need my help with?”
“We’ve got lots of video of a blackmail operation.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The usual—rich, older men, gorgeous women, and lots of clandestine sex videos.”
“So what are we supposed to do?”
“Scan everything and ID the men if we can. Then warn them, if they don’t already know, that they could be the target of a sophisticated blackmailer.”
“Do we try and
turn them into clients?”
“You know Pay. He doesn’t believe in hard sell. If they want help, we’ll help. I’m hoping they all decline.”
Amy looked up, eyes wide. “That’s not like you, Chase.”
“Did Pay tell you we think the blackmailer is Morano?”
“Oh, Christ!”
“Oh, Christ, is fucking right.” Chase dropped his eyes to the floor. He looked miserable…and scared.
“All that Morano stuff happened before I joined the team. Didn’t he put you in intensive care?”
“Me and Pay.”
“Why didn’t he kill you? He must have known you’d kill him.”
“Peggy shot him. Twice.”
“But Peggy’s blind!”
He shrugged. “What can I say? Sometimes God is on your side.”
“Why isn’t he dead?” Amy asked.
“Guess Peggy’s not that good a shot.”
“Or God wasn’t that much on your side.”
“Ouch.”
“Chase, why didn’t you get rid of him permanently? It’s not like Pay or you to let something like that hang out there.”
“By the time we got out of the hospital and found out Morano was still alive, he was back inside. Pay wanted to kill him. So did I. In fact, I never wanted to kill someone so badly in my life.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“You know how Pay is. He believes in personal vengeance. That’s personal with a capital ‘P.’ There is no way he was going to pay some felon to off Morano.”
“How’d he get out?”
“There’s a rumor Morano flipped on somebody. All we know for sure is he’s out. And he’s hooked into these videos.”
“Has Pay said anything about what he plans to do?”
“Just if anyone deserves killing, it’s Morano. And Morano’s not going to leave either of us walking upright for long. Not much scares the crap out of me. And I’ve never seen Pay scared. But Morano freaks us both out. There’s no way I’m taking him on without help. And I don’t think Pay will take him on mano a mano, either.”