Hard Case IV: A Violent Life (John Harding Series Book 4) Read online

  “About that. When are you going to let me in on this new technique of yours?”

  “It’s a shocker.” Lynn grinned over at Clint. “I want to see if even you get squeamish when I introduce Danessa to it. By the way, you have to help me get Jesse.”

  “No I don’t. He was right. You can dish it out, but you can’t take it. It’s eating you up. I can tell. Too bad. Learn how to take it, babe.”

  “How dare you side with a Snow White.”

  “Jess is not a Snow White. He still retains some of his human compassion – something you and I have already lost. We cut people a little slack here and there, but let’s not kid ourselves, we don’t give a shit. It takes something like this ‘knockout’ travesty to stir us up. Dev’s family. This Danessa targeted someone Dev cares deeply about, and had her put in a coma. I doubt anything even you could come up with will make me squeamish, but I am a little curious. He’s been spending everyday over at the hospital. I think Rosalie means a lot more to Dev than he lets on. John has him psyched about the way you remade the school bomber.”

  Lynn giggled. “Hon, that was one very fulfilling moment. We had a whole school at risk, and the son-of-a-bitch responsible in our hands with time to stop the threat. When I finished with him, I owned his ass. He’s sitting in a prison cell right now praying to God they don’t let him loose while I’m alive. I may have let him in on what I’d do to him if they ever did let him loose. Let’s just say… he was impressed.”

  Clint ran his hand over Lynn’s thigh as she sat in the driver’s seat. “You are something else, baby.”

  Lynn turned into him. “Then you’ll help me get Jess?”

  “Nope, but I might help you pass a little time here on stakeout.”

  Lynn felt the familiar rush of desire washing over her as Clint moved his hands over her body with slow deliberation. Since becoming pregnant, Clint wasn’t the only one with an obsession. Her hormones raged at his touch, and even the smiling glances of attraction between the two could set Lynn’s pulse racing. Lips met in soft caress at first, urgency turning the moment into a writhing storm sweeping away all other thought. The slight noise of a car alarm being turned off launched Lynn away from Clint in time to see Danessa strolling toward them. Her feet met the road a moment later. Lynn waved with her left hand, her right clamped on the Taser.

  “Hi Danessa. Long time, no see.”

  Curiosity followed by a sullen, narrow eyed curling of the lip, flowed across the teen’s features. “You don’t know me, bitch!”

  “Yeah, I do.” Lynn fired the Taser as Clint leaped out of the passenger seat. She cranked up the juice for five seconds of hell for Danessa, who flopped on the sidewalk in a grotesque jittering dance of pain.

  * * *

  Picked up and thrown into the open side hatch of the van, Danessa tried to cry out, but duct tape sealed her mouth an instant later. Her hands were restrained behind her back as she felt a sharp prick at her neck. Grainy darkness descended over her consciousness in seconds. From the blackness, Danessa recovered slowly. She groaned, feeling cold metal at her back, head throbbing. Squinting against the glare of a spotlight shining directly into her eyes, Danessa realized she was naked, restrained on a metal gurney. Her legs, in stirrups not unlike a birthing table were forced wide apart by the restraints there. A wide strap held the middle part of her body immobile. A mewling cry of utter panic came out in a high pitched hum behind the duct tape over her mouth.

  The spot light intensity dimmed. The blonde woman who had confronted Danessa earlier strode to her side. She ripped the duct tape off, prompting a cry of protest.

  “Who…who are you? Let me go!” Danessa twisted in panic, but could do nothing more than cause herself more discomfort. She ceased her struggle, seeing the blonde smiling down in a speculative way. “You can’t hold me here! What do you want?”

  “Hi there, mean girl. We found out you like to make movies, horrid movies of people being terrorized, and a particularly bad one of an innocent woman being punched into a coma. I bet you thought that was just the funniest thing you ever saw.”

  The sullen look returned. “I don’t know nuthin’ ‘bout no movies. You’d best let me loose, bitch! This ain’t no game!”

  The blonde patted Danessa’s cheek. “Oh my… there’s the brave little mean girl. You are so right about it not being a game, Danessa. You like that word bitch. Well, in the next couple hours, if you live, you’re going to become my bitch. By the time we get through here, for the rest of your life when you think about doing something naughty, you’re going to think of me and our time together. That naughty thought will shoot out of your mind like a rocket. I know you’re too arrogantly stupid for a meaningful conversation right now, so let’s get to know each other.”

  Danessa watched the blonde walk out of sight. “Hey! Get your skanky ass back here and get me off this table! Where are my clothes, you perverted ‘ho?”

  When the blonde came back, Danessa’s eyes widened. The woman held a red hot poker, half an inch in diameter, about two feet long, with a dull point at the end. She leaned over Danessa, staring down at her with the iciest blue eyes Danessa had ever seen. They stared into hers without blinking. A dead zone of emotion, where no feature on the woman’s face gave even a tiny inkling of human interest, formed a horror mask without mercy.

  “Let me introduce myself, girlfriend. My name is Lynn Montoya. I don’t give a damn if your Mommy abandoned you, your Daddy beat you, or your brother raped your ass. In other words, I don’t give a shit about you at all. I only care about what you’ve done, and what you will do in the future. See, I have a friend. He’s like my brother. He’s black like you, but he’s not a white hating racist who lives to terrorize everyone around him. You and your pathetic friends put a wonderful schoolmate of his into a coma with your ‘knockout’ game.”

  “Well, honey, you have to pay for what you’ve done.” Lynn held the still glowing poker up for Danessa to see. “I know a cool ass bitch like you who thinks their shit don’t stink probably has no knowledge of history. That’s okay, girlfriend. I’ll give you a little lesson. Back in the Middle Ages and before, human beings were very elemental concerning their torture methods. Those folks back then played the game without rules. Ever hear the word ‘impalement’, mean girl?”

  Danessa began to cry, whimpering for mercy, ignorance, and incoherent items even she didn’t understand. When she saw only a slow, tight lipped smile spread over Lynn’s mouth, she began to scream in panic.

  “Oh honey,” Lynn said. “You think that’s a scream? Let me show you how much better of a screamer you are.”

  Danessa blubbered uncontrollably, her head twisting side to side in terror as Lynn moved back. She gasped in tight staccato yelps when Lynn gripped her groin area. Pain so intense Danessa stopped breathing, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, rocketed through her. She passed out. Danessa became conscious in complete agony, screaming - the smell of burned flesh permeating the area around the table.

  The woman named Lynn returned, smiling down at her again. Danessa’s whole world was pain. She attempted to speak, but only pieces of words and screams burped out of her mouth in nonsensical form. Lynn made a shushing noise at her, finger to her lips. “I know that hurt, girlfriend. The woman you helped put in a coma has two kids. They’re hurting right now, wondering if they’ll ever see their Mom alive again. Their pain hurts me. Your pain makes me kind of happy inside. I’ll be right back.”

  Danessa kept up a gasping gulp type crying, the intense burning pain not subsiding for an instant. Then she screamed with abandon. She screamed for mercy, her momma, and God in heaven at the view of Lynn returning with the poker again glowing bright red. Some moments transcend human understanding, moments so horrific time seems to stand still. Without a word, Lynn gripped Danessa’s groin once again. This time Danessa nearly fractured her wrists as the poker entered her body. She again passed out.

  A blurry vision swam into view along with pain so excruciat
ing, Danessa vomited bile, choking on it, until a bucket of water was dumped on her face. When she stopped coughing up water and bile, Lynn again smiled down at her, the poker held for Danessa to see, still glowing red with flakes of blackened skin clinging to it. Danessa cried out, no longer capable of attempting to form words. It felt as if her body’s center was on fire.

  “Now that I have your attention, I’m going to give you a chance to reform,” Lynn explained. “Would you like to know what you can do to reform forever, or do you want to continue our lessons?”

  Danessa tightened her hands into fists so tight, her fingernails drew blood. “Don’t! Never… I…I’ll do anything! Anything!”

  “Ah… that’s so sweet,” Lynn replied. “You’re going to be my good little mean girl now, aren’t you?”

  “Yes… oh God yes!”

  Lynn gripped her chin, cold blue eyes and expressionless face hovering within six inches of Danessa’s. “When you address me from now until eternity, you will say ‘yes, Ms. Montoya’. Do you understand?”

  Danessa sobbed, but bit her own tongue to stop. “Yes! Yes, Ms. Montoya!”

  “That’s good. I think we understand each other a bit better now, don’t we?”

  “Yes, Ms Montoya!”

  “I’m going to repair some of the damage our lesson caused today. You’ll be hurting for a while. Don’t give it a thought, mean girl. Only think good thoughts, and what the real pain feels like if I have to reach out and yank your ass back in here. Do you understand?”

  “I do… I mean yes, Ms. Montoya!”

  “I’m going to give you a local anesthetic, so I can work cleaning you up a bit, and making sure it won’t be impossible to have your natural bodily functions. When I finish, I want you to scrub down this area to a spotless shine. Once you complete that task, we’ll discuss what your duties will be then.”

  “Yes, Ms. Montoya!”

  Chapter Five

  Knockout

  “We’re in position, Lynn. We have a guy on each one of the hoodies. Are you sure you want to be bait for this guy?” Lynn’s plan to catch these guys in the act was solid. She owned the camera girl. We had all the names, addresses, and the upcoming point of attack. Clint would be shadowing Lynn. Dev had the guy who put Rose in a coma. We knew he wouldn’t be the guy doing the deed this time, but camera girl would rat out everyone after this hit: in the area of Champ’s Sports. During the takedown, I figured accidents happen, and Dev might break something on Rose’s hitter.

  “Clint’s backing me up, Hamburger. Everyone else has their guy in sight. I just have to sell this. I’ll have bags in both hands, alone, and with a smile. Your only duty in this is to take on any extra thugs invited in to watch this bullshit. My girl Danessa says they get an audience sometimes of assholes ready for a group stomping if they think there’s no time for the mall cops to catch them. Let’s play this out as planned. Denny already pulled some strings to get your cop friends, Taylor and Rodriguez with you as consultants to make the arrests official across city police departments. Both cops have friends on the San Leandro force too, and they’re all in for breaking this ‘knockout’ shit up.”

  “Earl and ‘Rique are already here with me in the security office the police have at Bayfair mall. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was doubting your gig, Cruella. You accomplished what we could no way have done without taking them all out on the boat, which would have really launched the local media, worried about the disappearance of so many stalwart community youths.”

  Lynn snorted. “My vote would have been a sea cruise for the whole bunch. God knows how many lives we would save in the future.”

  “You may have turned Danessa from the dark-side. No way in hell is that girl ever going back to her old ways. I hope her confession, and setting up this sting helps her get a reduced sentence. I’m under no illusions she played a big role in this crap, but we have to be careful about how many shark meals we make of locals in our area.”

  “I know. Bending a key element like Danessa is about all we can do if we want to keep up some kind of civilized façade. Forcing the issue is extremely addictive as you well know, Hamburger.”

  She was sure right about that. The more we did it, the more we wanted to do it. This kind of occasional police interaction on a societal problem helped immensely with our public persona. Like I told Dev, we can always take them out one by one later. They were on Laredo and Jafar’s private Murderer’s Row database, and we keep track. “Hey, while we’re waiting, is it true you have Danessa staying with you and Clint until this goes down? When Laredo mentioned it, I nearly went into a brain lock.”

  “Yeah, I have to pay attention to her healing after my interrogation. We also keep her out of touch except by cell-phone with the other idiots. She’s bonded with Tonto. If he’s not following her, she’s following him. We’ve even let her take him on walks. God knows I would have killed the bitch in a heartbeat before, but she’s growing on me. Danessa knows we’re death incorporated. I’m teaching her how to interact with the human race as a productive individual rather than a cheap piece of shit. Maybe I should open a school.”

  Okay, that cracked me up. “If any method in the world worked in about a hundred percent of the cases, my money would be on yours. I don’t suppose Clint thinks too highly about operating a halfway house for gangbangers though, huh?”

  “You’d be surprised. When Tonto took to Danessa in a relatively short time, Clint was impressed. Dogs are human Geiger counters. I admit it. Danessa may have a little gold inside. This is a weird paradigm you’ve built up here, Hamburger. It may be my Mommy hormones kicking my ass, but I’m digging the rehabilitation stuff a bit more.”

  “Me too, Lynn. That’s another addictive part of our Murderer’s Row on the West Coast. We do manage to turn more than a few from the dark-side. Kev and Kensy set a date. I’m going to be best man, and you’ll be the maid of honor. In what universe could that have happened?”

  Lynn started laughing uncontrollably. I was right along with her, feeling the same thoughts that probably surged through her head at my mentioning the thug Tommy and I apprehended a couple of times, and turned. The thug has to be a receptive vessel to get turned, and Kevin was ready after a taste of prison.

  “I’m getting to be a regular ‘Dear Abbey’ with my touchy feely moments now,” Lynn replied finally. “Clint sure turned my life around. Well… it’s time to go stroll into the dead zone as bait. You ready?”

  “Yep. I don’t much like this ‘knockout’ shit. It’s tearing Dev, Jesse, and even Tommy apart. They know when these all black crews pull this shit off across the country, it makes a general statement cliché about the participants and the race they have no right to represent. If this goes down the way we hope, I want Dev, Jess, and Earl right out in front of the sting when the media hits. Earl already wants to make a statement, calling for this absolute travesty to end if we can bring this sting into the light. It’s your lead. I’m backup, and believe me, I don’t give a shit about public perception. Any outside bunch keying in on our sting will be screaming for their Mommas when I get done.”

  “Jafar just texted me our crew is shadowing all of them. They’re making their way to Champ’s Sports right now, hoodies in place. See ya’ after.”

  “Have fun.” I nodded at my Oakland police friends, Earl Taylor and Enrique Rodriguez. “I have to get moving for backup. It will be going down at Champ’s Sports real quick. You’re both on with Jafar. He’ll clue you when to come collect the bad guys. There may be some outsiders waiting to brawl. I get them. It may get a little messy, but we’re going to end this ‘knockout’ bullshit before it begins.”

  “We’ll give you as much space as you need, John,” Earl agreed. “That chicken-shit putting Dev’s friend in a coma was obviously only the beginning. They went right back at it.”

  “Sucks to be them,” ‘Rique added. “Go get ‘em, John.”

  “On it.” I left the security station and threaded my way toward the escala
tor, sticking close to the stores while trying to make myself small – no easy task. I had a ball cap on, black windbreaker with butterfly knife and stun-gun in the pockets for minor adjustments. I packed my Ruger 9mm for hard takedowns. We wanted no shootouts in the mall, which was why we had every thug covered. I had to contain any outsiders to make sure they didn’t disrupt our party.

  From the escalator landing at the top, I could see the area clearly. The mall had a pretty good crowd for a weekday night. I caught sight of a few hoodies going past the bottom of the escalator toward Champs. I began riding down too when I caught sight of my crew following them. They were spaced perfectly. Casey and Lucas had to be called in, because we had seven thugs to cover. Even Denny had to take one, because Clint would be with Lynn at all times. This was the first time Samira and Jafar would work together. They would be able to stroll right next to the one they picked out. When the signal was given Samira would zap the hoodie, and Jafar would restrain him. Yep. She was hanging out with Lynn too much. Anyway, domestic stings like this were a rough sell for the local police. Since we had a stake in it, we would be running point all the way.

  I window shopped my way to the Champs Sports store, mixing in with people whenever I could. I saw Lynn standing at the store next to Champs with bags clutched in both hands while gazing through the store window. The hoodies came together nearby with Danessa, who was already in position to film the strike. They did a quick jive ass consultation while eyeballing Lynn. The moment Lynn turned from the window with a big smile, bags in hand, one of the hoodies broke away from his pack. He ran right at Lynn, swinging from the heels at the last second. Lynn dropped the bags, ducked under his haymaker, and straight punched him right in the nuts. Clint was next to her in a split second with the hoodie screaming from a fetal position with hands clutching his package. Showtime.