Hard Case 12: Climate of Chaos (John Harding) Read online

  The pug’s eyes got bright and shiny. He released Julie and Tommy sat her down next to him. “Yeah, we’ll see. I don’t like your chances.”

  I looked back at my brothers. I didn’t like his chances either. “It’s best if you and I stay silent until we find a quiet place outside where you can explain your grievances. I could tell Julie hasn’t been sane and off drugs for a long time. I’m willing to discuss all of that, Bronk. We can’t even hear ourselves talk in here. Too much noise.”

  Bronk grunted an affirmation of sorts. We walked out the rear of the MGM away from the lights to a dark backstreet and found a quiet spot. Bronk reached the moment he stopped. I had my Colt barrel up against his chin before his hand touched a handle. I plucked his Glock out from its holster.

  “Now, Bronk… that’s no way to start a discussion. Let’s reason together.” I stepped away and put aside both our pistols. “There… now you don’t need to worry about me shooting you in the head. What’s the bottom line? How much did you let Julie ding you for?”

  Bronk stomped his feet. I could tell Julie really hit him hard. “Fifty…fifty big ones. Fuckin’ bitch took me for everything.”

  “Good talk. I can work with that, Bronk. I’ll give you the fifty grand, along with ten in interest. You need to leave Julie alone. I’ll give her a way back to reality if she’ll take it. All you need do is agree to terms here and now, never to bother her again.”

  Bronk got that stupid look on his face. “I can take Julie and Kade, get twenty grand a month from you for the rest of our lives, and ain’t nothin’ you can do about it.”

  “Are you stupid? I offered to pay Julie’s debt off with interest. You will never touch my son or his mom again. I know for a fact you will never get near Kade again. If I ever not hear from Julie, I will hunt your ass down. It will take you three days to scream for death, and then I will feed you to Captain Hook.”

  “You don’t scare me, Harding. Let me show you why.”

  Bronk dropped into an excellent leg swipe scythe. I broke his ankle as it went by. He screamed… I didn’t scream… and we all didn’t get ice cream. Bronk shut up and writhed around on the cement for a time. I tucked a card into his breast pocket.

  “Call me when you come to your senses. I’ll live up to the deal I offered and take care of tonight’s medical expenses. Remember your end of the deal and everything will be fine. Show up in our lives again and I’ll snatch your heart out and make you eat it.”

  “I…I need a doctor.”

  Nick’s Dr. Muerto, how can I help you flitted through my head. “You have a cell-phone. Call 911 for an ambulance. Tell them you tripped and broke your ankle. Otherwise, you get nothing from me.”

  I retrieved my Colt and his Glock. I stripped out the magazine, cleared the chamber and stuck the empty Glock into its holster on his waist. “You can bill me for the magazine too.”

  I did a quick and expert frisk for more weapons he could shoot me in the back with but found nothing. I handed him his cell-phone. I returned to my crew and brand-new son. Lora and Al were already there, spoiling the shit out of him.

  “I figured you would want Lora and Al to join us,” Tommy said.

  “Right as rain. Give Julie another thousand, T. I’m tapped out. Did you introduce everyone?”

  Tommy gave her another thousand. “Yep. I also explained to Julie about binding agreements. She understood her part right away, right Julie?”

  “Yes! I’m sorry! I would never have come back, but I didn’t get away in time. Bronk caught me packing.”

  “Bronk and I came to an understanding for now. He’ll be in the hospital for the time being. Get your things and leave. We’ll start everything else once you get clear. Is your bank account separate from anyone else?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. File online with the transfer link my bank sent you. The transfers will continue as we discussed. If you use them to get well, that would be wonderful for Kade and you. If you don’t… then… via con Dios.”

  Julie glanced at Lora and Al obsessing over Kade and left without another word. Lora turned to me in tearful questioning features. “Is…is this true?”

  “I believe so. Julie never said a word. I think you can tell Kade belongs to me.”

  “Oh, hell yeah, he does,” Lora stated, hugging the little boy. “He looks like a clone of you. Al and I will go out with him tomorrow and buy him all new things that he needs.”

  “I’ll go with you. I don’t want to take any chances until we can get home. Bronk will not be a problem. I need to make sure there are no other problems, right, Kade?”

  Kade turned solemn. “Yes… Dad… Mom can say stuff… and then take it all back.”

  “Not this time, little man. I think we should retire to our spacious suite for the night. It’s not as I pictured it this evening, but you can bunk in with me and Lora tonight, Kade.”

  “Do… you have a separate bed, Dad?”

  “Sure. The suite we’re in has pullout beds and Al has two single beds. Would you like to sleep in one of them in your new sister’s room?”

  “I’d like that. I had to sleep with somebody else a lot. I don’t like it.” Kade saw the dark shadow that passed over my face as I pictured dismembering Bronk. “I…I mean… a lot of times with other kids, and Mom most of the time. We always had to… ah… share.”

  “I understand. You will have your own room at my house. Al will show you the ropes as far as rules go. Lora and I will simply enjoy having you, no matter what our part in it will be. Does that make any sense to you at all… I mean, do you understand?”

  “Yeah, Dad… it means you want me.”

  I smiled as the rest of my booth confederates enjoyed his humorous response. “That is exactly what it means, Kade. I’ll see all you guys for the press conference tomorrow morning. It’s not until noon. Keep your ears open to any word about tonight. I don’t want any misunderstandings with the press, or anyone else. Kade will be with us forever. Anything trying to get in the way of that will be sorry… in graphic terms.”

  “We know that, pug,” Tommy said. “Go get used to the new family member.”

  “Should we check on Bronk?” Jafar asked.

  “Thanks. We better not lose track of him.” We let Al take Kade’s hand and lead him. “Wow… that was a heck of a night. I’m glad the guys called you.”

  “This is the best, John! It’s almost like being a grandma. I can spoil the crap out of Kade and blame it on you.”

  “That’s just mean.”

  “Heh…heh…”

  * * *

  “It was a compound fracture, DL,” Jafar said. “No way was Bronk leaving the hospital last night. He’s awaiting a doctor on the best course of action.”

  “Thanks, little brother. I hope this press conference goes smoothly. There are way more people here attending it than I thought there would be.”

  “I hate to add this,” Tommy said, “but you will need to carry the show. They needed to keep Henry overnight on a concussion watch. Luckily, they didn’t release him early. He had to be transferred to intensive care. Henry had a subdural hematoma. Danvers will be on Henry’s side of the table during the conference, but the press won’t want to question the loser’s manager much.”

  “I’ll fill in for him. Henry fought a great fight. We’ll keep tabs on him and make sure we get him anything he needs. That sucks… T. I don’t care if we need to bring in a brain surgeon for him, I want him to get everything we can provide.”

  “Hell… we know that, DL,” Tommy retorted. “You’re top notch with the press and Lynn already volunteered to sit with us at the conference as the Hard Case complaint department. She’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  “Outstanding. It’s always fun having Cruella Deville on our side during a meet and greet. Usually, the opposing side endures her dagger like verbal stabs. This should be a cakewalk.”

  “Anything with the media can be a mine field,” Dev said.

  “Yeah, Dev…
if we get into a hassle, bring the Latin, brother,” Jess directed. “Afterward, we’ll just say amen and leave. We need to enjoy our time in Vegas.”

  “I like it Jess,” I agreed. “Timing is everything though. We need to give the MGM Grand their money’s worth. I’ll handle the press with Lynn’s help.”

  “How was it waking up with a son, DL?” Tommy asked.

  “Kade talks and acts like a ten-year-old. It’s funny as hell. Lora and Al keep trying to do things for him and Kade keeps waving them off. He eats like Captain Hook, so we need to work on that. I’m escorting everyone on the buy Kade new stuff excursion this afternoon. I’m certain that will be fun. From the time he could move around, Julie has been putting responsibility on him, living in and out of shelters with her getting wasted. He survived. Kade knows right from wrong. Julie taught him manners, because she never wanted Kade to get her thrown out of whatever dive she was in. He told me whenever they were on their own, Julie taught him to pick up and clean things no matter if it was their room or not. I asked him because he got up this morning and started policing the area. He embarrassed the hell out of Al. Here’s a three-year-old picking up and folding her discarded clothes.”

  We all enjoyed my word picture of Kade’s actions. Martin Danvers arrived to sit on the opposite side with Henry’s cage crew. We all went over to express our concern and that we would do anything it takes to get Henry well again. Danvers was appreciative and promised to contact us if he needed anything. The MGM hosts motioned for us to get into our seats. For the next forty-five minutes I answered all the training and fight strategy questions with detailed descriptions. I praised Henry’s fight skills and his ambition to be the champ.

  Then, the low-ballers began to ask non-fighting match questions. A woman in the front asked, “Rumor has it you have been in multiple slayings outside the octagon. Would you like to clear the record on those rumors?”

  Lynn popped up with a laugh from her seat. “Are you stupid? This press conference is about the fight between John Harding and Henry Clovers. John Harding is a decorated Recon Marine and an FBI agent. What the hell are you lady… other than a fake news infiltrating bitch?”

  The woman fled the premises to stifled amusement. “Please folks,” Lynn added, “do not call into question FBI Special Agent John Harding’s career in law enforcement. I answer all those questions. You’ve seen the demo just now of what happens when you do.”

  Lynn’s insertion ended the superfluous crap, causing a lot of interested chatter about Captain Hook. That was when the news conference became fun and engaging. We played our Captain Hook tapes showing only his physical side. The videos were hits as usual, with me narrating them, and keying the episodes into my training. The bad side of being public happened in a frightening and surprising form. Lora, with Kade in her arms, and Al striding next to her, streaked into the press meeting.

  “John! We’re being chased!”

  I didn’t dwell on the fact I told her to stay with the kids until I returned to the room. I leaped off stage and raced through the aisle to where Lora entered. I streaked past her with the Monsters joining from all over the seating. The hoodie closest in pursuit got his face smashed in with a one-two causing enough damage even his own mamma wouldn’t recognize him. He dropped ten feet back from us, bleeding from every orifice. An avalanche of black masked pukes hit the single entrance, knocking down security and manhandling anyone in their way. I plowed into them, jamming the entrance with flying bodies. I pulled no punches. Masked hoodies dropped like I was playing whack-a-mole, only never missed a shot. I broke faces, heads and teeth until I cleared the entrance.

  That gave my Monsters enough room to catch up with me. The hoodies tried bringing to bear pepper-spray and other weapons, but Casey, Clint and Lucas assumed the job of picking off vital threats. We batted down masked snowflakes without mercy, running them into the building across the way, where they were trapped against a cement raised walkway. They broke and ran. We did not pursue. I knew we had enough downed snowflakes to learn what this was all about. Lynn, who had been smashing and poking with her stun-gun nightstick, began interviewing suspects.

  “Who created this mob?”

  Hesitation. Crue zapped the hoodie until well-done and moved on. It only took three demonstrations of the alternative to get an answer, while the rest of us showed our IDs to arriving police. We shielded them from the Cruella Deville’s initial interrogation with details of what had happened. We knew best case scenario, Crue gets a name to question. I turned away from the police when I heard a name barked with crying pleas not to zap her.

  “Smiley Pyrus!”

  “Excuse me, officer. We have been questioning the mob to learn who created it. I think someone has a name for us.”

  She smiled and nodded in the affirmative. Officer Callahan gave me her card. “Nice approach. If you have anything to share now, rather than later when one of the weasels gives up the name under questioning, call me, even if you’re only a few feet away. Since that mass shooting, we’ve been ordered to keep everything bottled up, if related to a mob occurrence.”

  “Understood. I will call you directly.” I gave her my card. “You can share with us. We will never throw you under the bus and we can back the Blue from far away. Our FBI strike-force can arrive at a reported event within hours, anywhere within the United States.”

  “Thank you. I will keep this with me always and spread the word. We were shut out of the mass shooting near here within hours of the event. Any light you can shed on this attack would be much appreciated.”

  “I will contact you personally, Officer Callahan. You’re a sergeant and in charge of this scene, so if I conduct any investigation revealing a suspect, I will call you. A few of these idiots tried to draw weapons of the chemical and gunpowder form. They were stopped. We do not take casualties to our agents.”

  “I believe in that, Agent Harding.”

  I joined Crue to hear what she learned as ambulances arrived. “I heard the name. What the hell does Smiley Pyrus have to do with us?”

  “Seriously… she’s listed in the top list of celebrity Illuminati, John. Smiley owes her entire career to the Illuminati. She’s a no-talent attention whore. I know you don’t know much about celebrity dumbasses, but she’s one of them.”

  “Understood. I don’t want to take any of these morons into our custody. We’ll investigate Smiley’s connection with us, or the MGM Grand, on our own. I talked with one police officer I’ll give the name to. It probably won’t amount to much since she told me all of the Las Vegas Blue are sworn to silence after the mass shooting incident near here.”

  “No shit? I wondered why everything of detail disappeared from the media like the terrorist camp they covered up for in New Mexico and our FBI buried. We’ll go lowkey, but I want to know what this was all about, John. I can’t stand the sight of that tongue waving slut pretending to do new age music.”

  “This Illuminati crap gets more mysterious with each incident we’re drawn into. I don’t believe in coincidences. Lora had Kade with her. We need to pursue that angle.”

  Lynn chuckled while patting my shoulder. “You ordered her to stay inside until you ended the press conference, right?”

  “Right as rain, but what’s the use of doing an I told you so spiel. That just puts me on the couch for the night… and to what end? Lora’s no dummy. She knows this has to do with Kade in some way… and Julie for bringing him to us so abruptly.”

  “I guess questioning Julie at this time would be out of the question, huh?”

  “Nope. If we can find her, now would be a great time to question her.”

  Lynn patted my shoulder again. “Let Clint and I handle the Julie part of the case. We’ll track her down and learn what added features were connected to Kade. How hard do I go?”

  Lynn was my sister, not by blood, but by combat. “As hard as you need to. Thanks, Lynn.”

  “She must have meant something to you in the past… and now… with you gett
ing Kade. I will be as light a touch as I can.”

  “I know that. You handled Lora’s ex-husband just right when we got him out of trouble. I hope this will be the same type wakeup call for Julie. Al’s biological dad has never tried to connect with Al since then. What an idiot!”

  “I hear you, but Al has you. The Dad turned away from Al because of his stupid dealings and relationships. Once cured… all he had left were excuses. He hasn’t wanted to reach out since then.”

  “Lora and I haven’t pressured her to. She knows what her dad did and how we protected them. It means a lot to her. That’s all that counts in this crap. Al knows I had nothing to do with her dad’s transgressions and everything to do with his saving. That was a great thing.”

  Lynn grasped my wrist. “Al knows what you did and how you did it. Kade will know you didn’t abuse his mom to correct this problem. How the hell did this Julie thing start?”

  “With an interview. Once she thought she knew what my nature was, she fled. I explained everything to her… within reason… because we shared a real attraction. Julie left of her own accord, and she was nice enough not to broadcast my past on her newspaper tabloid or in video interviews. I know Julie is a junkie now, but she sure wasn’t then. I don’t know what happened to her, but at some point, she decided to bring me Kade. It would have been nice if Julie had filled me in on the myriad problems she was having.”

  “I think we better get back inside.” Lynn replied. “We’ll finish the press conference and maybe pick up some clues from the MGM people. Hey… how’s your… never mind… I can see.”

  I looked down at my bloody hands. They felt good though, so the adrenaline and tightness degree I clenched them must have saved any long-term damage. “I’ll wash up inside and see how much of the blood is mine.”

  “I’ll call the meeting to order. I want to bring Lora and the kids on stage with us. I may be able to spot something in the crowd.”