Stormcrow: Book Two: Birds of a Feather

by N. C. Reed

  And they would, she promised herself as well. She would not die here in whatever rat-trap building this was, held by pond-scum that had murdered a woman as close to her as her own family. She would not.

  Resolve hardening, Lucia went back to work on the ropes around her wrists. It wasn't like she had anything else to do, anyway.

  As she worked, she wished with all her heart that her brother Antonio was still around. He would come for her. He would kill these people for what they had done. He would save her.

  But Antonio was far, far away. Sailing the stars on his absurd 'walk-about'.

  She would have to save herself.

  -

  Freddy Parmano was having a bad day. Not as bad a day as several other people in the mall, but a bad day nonetheless. Having been wounded during the kidnapping, he had been taken to the nearest medical facility where a trauma doctor had taken one look at his wound and pronounced him fortunate, ordered an intern to dig the bullet out of his leg and sew the hole up, then abandoned him to work on whatshername, his co-worker.

  That was exactly what was wrong around here, he told himself firmly. Too many people who thought they were better than everyone else. It never occurred to him that the trauma surgeon knew what he was talking about and there was no need for him to treat Freddy when someone with much more serious wounds was dying in the operating room.

  And it never occurred to Freddy to care about the woman he had worked side-by-side with for the last five months of his life. A woman who had been kind to him, smiled at him every day even when she didn't really feel like it, and had taught him to do his job.

  Of course, he hadn't really cared about that job, now had he? He'd only been there to set things up for the big day. Now that was done and all he had to do was go home and wait for his pay off. He'd known going in that he'd be 'shot', so he wasn't mad about that. He'd be well compensated for it after all.

  He didn't know what the woman's issue with Delgado was but it was vitriolic. She hated the family with a passion that Freddy didn't have for anything at all and couldn't seem to come up with for anything either. He'd never seen so much venom from one woman. Every time she spoke about it, you could almost see it drip from her fangs. He shuddered slightly as he recalled the woman's icy warning about keeping his trap shut. It had occurred to him more than once since this morning that she could just as easily have shot him dead and tied up a loose end. That she hadn't told him she was probably going to come through with the money, too.

  All he had to do was wait.

  He took the pain medicine they gave him at the hospital and signed the forms the intern put in front of him, then the nurse, smiling and thanking them the whole time when what he really wanted to do was slap them out of his way. Stuck up assholes with college degrees, always thinking they were better than people like him.

  He was still thinking that as he stepped through the automatic doors of the Emergency and Trauma center of a hospital that, ironically enough, had been financed in total by the Delgado family.

  “Mister Parmano?” he heard a voice call out. Turning he saw two men, one lounging on a ground car, the other smiling at him.

  “Yeah?” Freddy grunted.

  “We were assigned to take you home, sir,” the smiling one said, indicating the car. “Just a precaution I'm sure, but better safe than sorry. Not to mention that in your condition there's no sense in you walking when we can drive you.”

  Now this was more like it, Freddy decided. People seeing his worth. That's what Freddy craved. He'd gotten that once already and now here it was again.

  Maybe his day wasn't so bad after all.

  “Thanks,” he smiled at the other man. “That's awful thoughtful,” he added in his 'aw shucks' voice.

  “Just part of the job, sir,” the man assured him. “Please, just have a seat and leave everything to us,” he opened the rear door.

  Freddy smiled again and stepped off the curb and into the back seat. As soon as he sat down the other man, the one lounging on the car, slid in beside him forcing Freddy over against the far door.

  “Just sit real still now,” the man's voice was calm and chill. Freddy turned to see a very large knife pointing at his groin. “I'm a little nervous,” the man was obviously lying. “No tellin' what I might do if you spooked me.” He dug the point of the blade into Freddy's pants to prove his point.

  “Everyone buckled up?” the smiling man was now behind the wheel. “That door's locked tight for your safety, by the way,” he mentioned. “Just for you, grease ball.”

  A different chill crept over Freddy as the car pulled away.

  “What do you guys want?” he tried to calm himself. “I ain't got any money,” he added, hoping to fool them.

  “Hear that, man?” the driver said. “He ain't got any money.”

  “I heard that,” the man with the knife said softly. “Good thing we aren't after money, isn't it?”

  “Then what are you after?” Freddy asked.

  “Oh, we'll get around to that,” the driver promised as the car negotiated its way into what was generally known as the industrial district. “First we're gonna go somewhere more. . .comfortable. Private like.”

  “What do you guys want with me?” Freddy whined. “I already got shot this morning!”

  “Yeah, right in the fleshy part of the outside of your thigh,” the driver nodded. “Bloody but not life threatening. And powder residue on your pant leg too, Freddy. Mind if I call you Freddy? There was powder residue on your leg, Freddy,” the driver repeated. “Like the gun was really close to you when it fired.”

  “Yeah?” Freddy sensed a trap but couldn't see it.

  “Only you told the cops that you were shot from several feet away,” the driver reminded him. “Too far away to note any details about the attackers, in fact.”

  “I. . .I musta mis-spoke,” Freddy stammered.

  “That's what we thought,” the driver nodded. “Wasn't it partner? We thought he must of just misspoke, right?”

  “No question,” the icy cold man next to Freddy replied. The knife hadn't moved a millimeter the whole time.

  “Now look, fellas,” Freddy lifted his hands only to 'eep' in fear as the knife point dipped further into what, for him, was bad territory.

  “Don't make me nervous now,” the man warned softly. “I'm scared enough as it is.” Freddy could see or hear absolutely no fear whatever in the man but decided not to point that out. The talk had distracted him during the drive, but his attention was pulled back to their surroundings when the car pulled inside an abandoned factory well out of the city proper.

  The kind of place where people like Freddy were always found murdered.

  “What are you guys gonna do?” he asked, his voice cracking with fear as he trembled slightly.

  “We just wanna talk, Freddy,” the driver told him. “That's all.”

  “What about?” Freddy asked as the car pulled to a stop inside the factory building. Rather than answer, the man with the knife opened the door and exited, dragging Freddy with him.

  “About how you helped set up my sister's kidnapping, you piece of shit,” the driver wasn't smiling anymore.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  -

  “Where could those two be?” Meredith asked. The crew were all gathered around the galley table aboard the Celia, Meredith and Lincoln having brought the two up to speed on Linc's condition, and Jessica presenting her 'sister' with her newly minted piloting license.

  “Just said he had something he had to do, Cap'n,” Faulks shrugged. “Didn't say what.”

  “Did he say how long it would take?” Meredith demanded.

  “No, Cap'n,” Faulks shook her head.

  “It's not like we can leave,” Linc told her. “We'll be here at least three days, I'm sure. More like a week if I have to have a follow up exam.”

  “I know that,” Meredith nodded. “But there's work to be done while we're idle and we still need to eat!”

  “Well, there'
s a lot to celebrate,” Lincoln smiled. He was too relieved at his good news to be upset by Meredith's over-reacting today. “Why don't we go out? Enjoy some of this famous cuisine that Tony was so proud of?”

  “Well,” Meredith frowned. “We do have reason to celebrate. That is true. Not only are you better than we had feared, but Jess got her license too.” She paused again, not missing the hopeful looks on Faulks' and Jessica's faces.

  “All right,” she sighed in defeat, more for show than because she was really feeling it. “Let's do that then. We'll check the net and see what's supposed to be good here and head out. I assume that's okay with you two?”

  “Yes Cap'n!” Faulks nodded enthusiastically. Jessica's head was bobbing right along with her, a megawatt smile on her face.

  “Well, let's get looking then,” the Captain ordered.

  -

  “I'm tellin' ya I don't know nothin'!” Freddy Parmano nearly screamed. He was having a pretty bad day after all, it seemed. “I got shot!”

  “Uh huh,” the man with the knife nodded, looking at him idly.

  “You can't do this!” Freddy tried again.

  “Sure we can!” the driver told him. “Just like you and your friends could kill my people and take my sister.”

  “They ain't my friends!” Freddy shouted. “I barely know. . . .” he trailed off, suddenly aware of what he was saying.

  “Yeah?” the driver asked.

  “Nothin',” Freddy said quietly.

  “Now, now,” the driver chided. “That ain't no way to be. Is it Sean?”

  “No way at all, Tony,” 'Sean' agreed.

  Freddy went cold at hearing their names. It was bad enough he had seen their faces, but now he knew their names, too. They meant to kill him!

  “Hey, you can't kill me!”

  “We can't?” Tony asked. “Listen to me, grease ball. You bastards killed my people and took my sister. I can do any damn thing I want to you. Understand that?”

  Freddy was hanging from a crane hook by his feet, pulled high enough that he was almost looking them in the eyes. Just upside down.

  “I didn't kill nobody!” Freddy blubbered, crying a little now.

  “But you damn sure set it up, didn't you?” Tony shot back. “And you're about to tell me everything I want to know about what happened and why. Cause if you don't? Well, Freddy,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small case. “I flunked out of med school, Freddy,” he continued as he opened the case. “Learned a lot of stuff before then, though,” he added, pulling a small cylinder from the case before closing it and returning it to his pocket.

  “Things like which parts of the body can be hurt the most, for instance,” Tony looked at him. “Like how much blood a man can lose and still live. Or stay conscious. How bones can be broken so that they can't really be repaired. Did you know, Freddy,” he asked as he walked behind the dangling thug, “that if I were to hit you right here,” he put his finger into Freddy's spine, “with a thin blade, or,” he re-appeared, holding the cylinder for Freddy to see, “this laser scalpel, that you'd be permanently paralyzed? Did you know that, Freddy? Cause I know that.”

  “Don't do this,” Freddy pleaded. “Please.”

  “Reckon my sister's governess pleaded with your friends not to kill her in cold blood, Freddy?” Tony asked calmly. “Think that Melinda wouldn't have begged not to be shot in the head so she could take care of her little boy? Or the other folks that died this morning?”

  “Who?” Freddy asked.

  “Melinda?” Tony repeated. “You know, the woman you worked with?” Tony grabbed Freddy's hair suddenly and pulled his head up.

  “You worked with her for nearly six months and don't recognize her name?” Tony asked, his disgust clear. “You took the job all along just to set this up, didn't you?” he demanded, releasing Freddy's hair and letting his head fall back down.

  “I. . .I just forgot her name for a minute,” Freddy stammered. “That's all!”

  “Whatever,” Tony waved his free hand as if pushing the comment aside, walking back behind Freddy again.

  “So, I'm gonna start with something simple, Freddy,” Tony told him. Freddy heard a whine and felt himself being lowered slowly. Suddenly there was a burning sensation on the back of his left leg, just above his ankle.

  “AH!” he cried as he felt a snap in his leg. “What are you doing to me!”

  “That was your hamstring, Freddy,” Tony came back to the front to look down at him. “I just burned your hamstring in two. Probably never heal, they usually don't. Made you a cripple, I guess. You'll walk with a limp the rest of your life. Of course, that may not be long if you don't tell me what I want to know. Who took my sister, Freddy? And where is she now?”

  “You son-of-a-bitch!” Freddy screamed through his tears. “You cripple me and think I'll tell you shit?”

  “Oh, I know you'll tell me sooner or later,” Tony assured him, not impressed with Freddy's sudden outburst of courage. “Let's see what else we can do, here,” Tony walk behind Freddy again. “I could go for the other hammy right away, of course. Probably leave you on crutches or in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. But. . .let's try something else first, I think.”

  Freddy felt his left shoe and sock being taken off, and tried to hit Tony, swinging wildly with his arms, which had been left free. He didn't come near to accomplishing anything, however.

  “AH!” he screamed again as a searing pain hit his left foot. Tony came back from behind him, now wearing gloves and carrying something in his hands.

  “This is your big toe, Freddy,” he said calmly, holding up the severed digit for Freddy to see. “Great thing about laser scalpels. They cauterize the wounds. I can carve on your ass all day and you won't lose hardly any blood. And now, you're down one toe,” Tony said, casually tossing the flesh over his shoulder. It flew through the air and landed on the factory floor where Freddy could see it.

  “What next?” Tony mused. “I'm thinking either a finger, or an ear. What do you think, Sean?” he asked.

  “I'd go with the ear,” Sean replied easily.

  “Really?” Tony asked. “Why?”

  “It'll hurt more,” came the reply.

  “You bastards are crazy!” Freddy screamed. “You can't do this!”

  “We've already established that I can do this,” Tony snorted. “I can in fact 'do this' all day,” he assured his victim. “But my sister might not have all day, so. . .I'm going to have to cut this short, no pun intended. An ear, you said?” he looked at Sean.

  “Just my opinion,” Sean shrugged.

  “Ear it is, then,” Tony nodded. Freddy screeched as Tony activated the scalpel again.

  “WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!”

  “I don't have time to wait, Freddy,” Tony shook his head. “My sister doesn't have time for me to wait.” He moved the scalpel toward Freddy's head.

  “I don't know where she is!” Freddy promised. “I swear I don't know!”

  “That's too bad, then,” Tony sighed, hesitating. “If you don't know how I can find her, then your usefulness to me is at an end, Freddy. I don't need you if you can't help me.” He stood, shutting off the scalpel.

  “Yo. . .you're letting me go?” Freddy asked incredulously.

  “In a manner,” Tony nodded. “I only kept you alive this long because I needed you to find my sister. Since you're no good to me for that, well. . .I can kill you, instead.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “Why keep you around if you can't help me?” Tony asked, shrugging.

  “That's not fair!” Freddy screamed. “Killing me because I can't help you!”

  “Was it fair that your friends killed my people just because they worked for my family?” Tony shot back. “You lay down with dogs, you get fleas, Freddy. You should have chosen who you associated with better. Not my fault, man.”

  “They ain't my friends!” Freddy yelled. “I just worked for 'em!”

  “And who might 'em' be, Freddy?” Tony ask
ed.

  “I. . .I can't tell you,” Freddy suddenly remembered. “They'll kill me.”

  “Oh,” Tony nodded. “Well, I guess that should be a concern since they aren't here, and I am, and I am most certainly going to kill you for not helping me. But I admire loyalty, Freddy. You stick to that, hear? Be loyal. Great quality to have.” He reached into his jacket again and pulled out a pistol, then into a pocket for a suppressor. Freddy watched in horror as Tony screwed the suppressor onto the barrel.

  “Please don't do this,” Freddy begged again.

  “Got to, Freddy,” Tony sounded almost regretful. “You attacked my family. Can't have that.”

  “I didn't do it!” Freddy objected. “All I did. . .” he trailed off again. He couldn't win this one.

  “Was set them up,” Tony nodded. “I know. And you gotta pay for that. It's simple. You should always know who's yard you're playing in, Freddy.” He lifted the pistol and looked down the barrel as if checking the sight.

  “I don't know where she is,” Freddy was weeping now. “I swear I don't.”

  “I believe you,” Tony assured him.

  “I can tell you who hired me!” Freddy tried to bargain as Tony turned the pistol toward him.

  “Won't help me will it?” Tony asked. “Knowing who they are won't help me if I can't find them, right? See my problem, Freddy? I just don't have time for this,” he shook his head, almost speaking to himself. He lifted the pistol.

  “WAIT!” Freddy screamed, trying to move himself around to ruin Tony's aim. “I can tell you where I used to meet with them! I can describe them to you and tell you what they look like! Even what names they used! It ain't probably their real names but that. . .that's something! Ain't it?”

  Tony paused, looking at Freddy for a moment before semi-lowering the pistol.

  “I'm listening.”

  -

  “What is this shit about cutting off her fingers?” the electronically disguised voice demanded. “That isn't part of the deal!”

  “Can't care less about the deal,” the woman said coldly. “Delgados hurt my family. Might have been a long time ago, but we Falcones, we remember. Got long memories. So when I get whatever it is you want outta the old man, the girl gets cut up. Payback.”