Maxine's New Life Ch. 15

I was about to make the call, when I had second thoughts. The problem wasn't the GBI, it was the local cops. The GBI would not get involved without the locals being first on the scene. The locals could spin it anyway they wanted, and we could come up looking like crap. Still, moving bodies and all the rest was bound to come back and bite us on the ass.

I went inside where I had enough light to dial the phone. It was like 1AM Monday morning. But I called the number Anna gave me anyway. It rang a bunch of times before a man finally answered.

"Agent Hall," he said.

"Agent Hall, my name is Maxine Stone. A friend at the FBI gave me your number. She said I could trust you."

"I like to think everyone can trust me." he replied.

"I'm in Haymarket Georgia, and the Atwood brothers just sent four men to kill me and my companions. We managed to kill three of them in a firefight. We let one of them get away. Now I know the local cop here is in Atwood's pocket, so who can I trust up here?" I asked.

"The Atwood's huh, just stay put, I'm going to call the state police to investigate. Just don't do anything else till they get there. If that local cop shows up tell him the state police are on the way and if he touches anything there is going to be hell to pay. You got that?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think I can handle that." I said.

"Don't anyone touch anything else out there." I said as I turned the coffee on. It was almost finished when the state police came roaring in. "Martin are all the weapons secure?" I asked.

"Yeah everything is cool. I know this drill." he said quietly. I could tell he didn't like the way I was handling it, but he went along.

"This is going to be a cluster fuck," I said.

"You know they won't be able to tie this to the Atwoods," Martin said.

"Probably not, but we aren't finished by a long shot." I replied.

The cop naturally walked to Martin first, "What happened here?" he asked.

"For sure, all I can tell you is these four armed men drove up in that pickup truck. They got out and started for the house. Maxine and Mike had been to the local tavern and happened to come home at the same time. They drove the SUV into the truck and spread these guys out. A firefight ensued. In the fight I think I shot two of them. Maxine shot one of them for sure."

"Why did these men come here to attack you people?" the cop asked.

"The short answer is, I'm not sure." Martin said.

"How about the long answer?" the cop asked.

"The long answer is I'm still not sure, but it could have something to do with the man who assaulted Maxine last night. She kind whipped his ass, and he didn't like it. I think he sent these men to kill us all.

"Officer, if you don't mind, I need to get to a doctor I think." I showed him my coat which had been set on fire by the muzzle blast when I killed the man behind me. "I think I have a nasty burn, at least it is starting to hurt like hell."

"You should have called the ambulance first. I'll call for one now."

"I don't need an ambulance. I just need a ride to the hospital. We have two undamaged cars here." I pointed to them.

"I can't let you just drive away, you killed a man."

Then have one of the officers here drive me to the hospital." I thought it was a reasonable request.

"Tell you what, that is against the rules, but I can get you a ride in a nice new ambulance. I can also have one of our men ride along to be sure you are alright. I'll try to get a detective to meet you there." the sergeant suggested.

"Fair enough," I said in disgust. I turned to Martin, "Don't leave this house unless you are under arrest," I said to him. Talk to them here."

"I know the drill hon, and unless they are going to squeeze my ball with pliers, I got nothing to say." Martin was all smiles. Hes's enjoying this shit, I thought.

"I don't think they do that any more," I said with a laugh. I was in real pain by that time the ambulance arrived. I was indeed ready to go to the hospital. I needed heavy drugs and quickly. I was light headed and about to pass out from the pain and the let down after the combat rush.

I made it to the back of the ambulance on my on, but just before I would have gone down. I managed to stay with it, until I laid my ass down on the gurney. I was quite ready for a nap. It appeared that I was the only injured person, who survived. I was more than a little surprised by the outcome, but I should not have been.

Martin was a pro and he had the cover. The cowboy rednecks did a gunfight at ok corral thing. But instead of the Law Dogs, they got the Apaches. Okay, I was out of my head and my mind was wandering all over the place.

My burn phone rang while I was in the ambulance. "Just in case they take your phone away and try to give you shit," Martin said. "Gwen got the whole thing on film."

"Good for her, she might prove to be an asset after all." I suggested. "Somebody call Jen in Aster. She might as well lose sleep along with us.

"I'll let you know how Gwen's assets are after the cops leave." he said. "And yeah we might need your shyster friend.

"Remember, tell them nothing but the truth, but no more of it than you have to," I said.

"I hear, they are going to change the name of the show to vigilante justice," he said with a laugh.

"Don't give those pricks any ideas," I said.

"So the state police guys have been real efficient. They are out there picking up the dead leaves," Martin said. They must have every cop tool in the state out here."

"Good, we just want the truth to come out. This time we don't let the Atwoods manage the story." I said it just as I felt the need to throw up. "I got to go." I hung up and tried to relax, so that the bile would go back down.

We pulled into the parking lot with me feeling like shit. "She is going into shock. We need to get her inside and let them deal with it." The EMT said as she opened the rear doors from the inside. We were at the ER loading area of some hospital. I didn't have any idea what the name was, nor did I care. I just knew my shit was about to go rank.

"Stay with me, don't you go to sleep on me," The EMT said. I nodded.

"Good girl, don't you quit," she said as I was rolling down the hall. I nodded again. Then there was the sound of those automatic doors opening and closing. Seconds later more hands pulled from the gurney to an examining table.

"Get some fluids into her," a woman in a lab coat said. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"So, so," i said.

"I am going to have to get you stable before I can give you anything, so just stay with me. I promise I will take care of you."

I knew I was mumbling when she leaned forward to make out what I said. "If you take care of me. I'll take care of you later sweetie," I said and forced a smile.

"Promises, promises, I get that all the time." She laughed and listened to my heart. "Hang another bag of Ringers and get a second line started."

The nurse gave her some numbers and the doctor smiled at me. "You are stabilizing. so I'm going to give you something local for the pain. Then I'm going to take a good look at that burn."

I lay still, but in a great deal of pain, while they cut my clothes off me. I stayed awake, because I knew that it was the thing to do. Suddenly there were pin prick added to the pain from the burn.

"That's going to take a few minutes to numb you up. How did that happen," the doctor asked.

"My own stupidity." I said not really wanting to go into detail.

"How about the split lip and black eye. You don't have a violent husband or boyfriend do you?" She asked again.

"No, but I did get in a fight with a guy a couple of days ago." I said.

"It ain't much of man, who hits a woman," the nurse said.

"Got that right," I agreed.

I wasn't going to elaborate until she asked, "Did you report it?" the nurse asked.

"I think you guys did. They brought him here," I said. I was feeling much better by that time.

"Are you the one that beat Thomas Atwood half to death," the doctor asked.

"I don't know about half to death, but we went a couple of rounds." I said.

"Then that would make you the preacher lady," the nurse suggested.

"Yes that would be me," I agreed

"So why is there something that looks like gunpowder stippling on your clothes and around the burn?" the doctor asked.

"Like I said, just a stupid mistake." The pain had gone by that time. "I am feeling a lot better now."

"Good, it's the fluids. You just had a overdose of sensations and your body went into overload. You should be fine. We will get this cleaned up and get it covered to keep the air out and you will be as good as new in a week."

"You aren't going to admit me are you?" I asked.

"No, you seem to be doing fine. I want you to hang around for a couple of hours, then you should be able to leave, if you have someone who can drive you home. They need to bring you something to wear. I think that your clothes are trash now. At least the coat and sweater are," she said. Don't get that area wet for a few days. No showers, ok?"

"Okay, You probably need to save my clothes. The cops are going to want them I expect. Oh yeah, what should I take for the pain?" I asked.

Anything OTC that works for you should be fine." the doctor said. "I'll give you a script for Tylenol with codeine. Don't fill it unless nothing else works."

Two hours later the nurse came in leading Gwen. Gwen had a plastic bag from the grocery store with a sweater and jeans in it. She was also carrying the insulated Parka that I had seen Martin wearing earlier. I noted that Gwen looked a little out of it. It was late and a lot had happened to her in one evening. Quite possibly one of those things was Martin.

"The cop out there is taking your clothes, so I brought some of your things," she said.

I nodded. I got dressed then we went to the check out desk. I tried to give them my credit card for the bill, but Gwen had already given them a card. I didn't even ask whose card it was. I knew for sure that it wasn't hers.

"So the cops aren't going to stop us leaving?" I asked.

"They are waiting for the Detectives to come up from Atlanta. They keep asking questions but no big deal yet." she replied.

"That's going to change, when the heavy hitters get here," I said.

"So how do you feel?" she asked on the drive back to the house.

"I feel okay, they gave me something for the pain and that was the big issue. Burns are the most painful injuries, I'm told." I replied.

"How do you feel about killing a man?' she asked. I knew then that her car had a hidden camera. "Killing people always upsets me. It should upset any rational human being. In this case it was kill him, or have him take me back to the Atwoods. Their plan was to torture and then kill me. I didn't feel that I had any choice."I replied. Then I turned the table on her. "How did you feel watching it all happen, knowing that if Martin and I failed, you were likely to die a very unpleasant death? You did know that didn't you?"

"Yes, I had a pretty good idea that when they said they would kill us all, it meant me and Mike as well."

"Oh it most definitely did. They need to make sure there is no one left to testify. Now it might be a little harder for them to do, but that is still their desired outcome to all this."

122 new Marshal in town.

During the time Gwen drove, and when she didn't try to film for TV, I tried to decide on my next move. Actually I tried to decide what my next move might be under several different scenarios. We were most likely going to stay out of jail on this one. What else we did was up in the air. I was determined to make the Atwood bothers pay for my pain, as well as their past sins.

When we pulled into the yard, I saw the Georgia State Police car, complete with it's driver, sitting at the end of the drive. Martin's SUV was in the yard as well. The two wrecked cars were gone. Most likely to a crime lab somewhere.

I struggled from the rental car Gwen had brought from Aster. It was one of those compact economy things. "Hey Max, I see you survived the ER visit," Martin said as I stepped onto the porch.

"Yeah thanks for the loan of the coat, but it's a little too big for me." I suggested.

"Well, first chance we get, we will pick you up something. We can put it on my expense account," Martin suggested.

"Hell not, it needs to go on Mike or Gwen's account. They are the real reason we are her and therefore the reason for all this carp," I said accusingly. Once we were in the house, I made the bic lighter signal and he killed the audio feed. "Are there any other cops?"

"Just the one, by the way I got your toys out into the woods," Martin informed me, with a big smile.

"I think they need to stay there a while. We don't need to try to explain the arsenal to cops who are working on three dead bodies. Besides they have my .38 and the derringer that's enough cooperation." I said.

"I know they have my M4 as well." Martin said.

"Well, I do hope it's legal. If it is, you will get it back eventually." I thought about it a minute then added, "Surely that's not the only weapon to which you have access?"

"Well let's say that it is my favorite. We can also say, they are going to need a warrant to search my SUV."

"With three bodies in the morgue, I'm sure they could get one, if we give them any reason. Let's try to be cool till the GBI agents get here. Then we will try to work a deal with them." I suggested.

"Yeah, I can see that's as our best bet, to keep this from going to a criminal indictment," Martin agreed.

"If we can get the cops to back off, we might be able to get the Atwoods to come out and play again," I suggested.

"I still want to find out what the deal is on that lab in the woods," Martin suggested.

"I'd bet someone else is cooking in there. The brothers probably have all kinds of criminal associated down here," I suggested.

"I would suggest we trust no one, not even the cops," Martin said.

"We need to use the cops, but maybe trust would be taking it a bit too far. They are going to have their own best interest at heart." I said in agreement.

I drank coffee and popped the pills supplied to me by the hospital before I left. It would be impossible to buy anything anywhere until morning. I might could make a run to the next largest town. I might even find an all night convenience store, but I doubted it. The cop in the drive most likely had orders to keep us all locked in safely until the GBI arrived.

"Martin I am knocked out. I need sleep. Call me when the GBI guys get here," I said that as I stood to wobble to the bedroom and then crawl into the bed on the floor. Too much had happened, even so those little pink pills made everything seem less urgent. I wanted sleep not sex and Martin could tell.

I woke up to his voice at the doorway. "Maxine the heavy hitters are here," he informed me.

I walked into the living room, where I got my first look at the GBI team. "I'll be right back, I need to pee. I took care of that while I processed the group. There were two men and two women all of them looked just average. All except one man that is. He was tall and heavy. Not heavy like fat, heavy like blocky muscular. he had to be at least 6' 3" probably more even. He was a giant of a man.

The second man was about 6' probably 200 pounds just very average. He even looked rather bookish. The two women were standard issue police women detectives. One thirty pounds over weight and one very light in the ass. I stopped in the kitchen for coffee before I went back to the living room to face the inevitable interrogation.

"I'm Marshal Hall," the giant said.

"Of course you are," I agreed.

"So what happened. Don't hold back and don't pull any punches. Anna says you are connected and damn good at what you do."

"Let me get a little of the coffee down and I'll tell all. At least all you need to know." I said.

"I need to know it all, if I'm going to help you," he said. "You know that this doesn't look good."

I actually laughed. "Are you seriously trying to intimidate me. Obviously Anna didn't tell you enough." I thought she must have changed her name to the more American version of Anya.

"What is it you find amusing about this?" he asked.

"Let me see, first of all we were attacked and defended ourselves. The fact that we have a better gunslinger than the Atwoods, doesn't make us guilty of anything. So if you threaten me again, I call my lawyer, Jen in Aster, and we all shut up till she gets here. Now Agent Hall do we understand each other."

"Yes I think we do,. You are under arrest for the murder of three John Does." He said.

"Cool, call Jen," I said to Gwen as I stood and turned my back to the GBI agents. I even went so far as to put my hands behind my head. I waited but didn't feel the cuffs.

"Let's start over." the big man suggested. "Tell me what you know about The Atwoods please?"

"How about I tell you one, and then you tell me one?" I asked.

"Fair enough," the big man replied.

"Thomas Atwood is a lousy fighter. He slapped me and I kicked his ass. He went to the ER in his brother's car. Earlier tonight the brother came to talk to me. He threatened to kill me, and all my friends?

"I don't suppose you can prove all this?" he asked.

"Mike set up a little show and tell," I demanded.

"My pleasure Maxine," Mike said as he sat his laptop on the folding card table. First he set up the video of Thomas Atwood slapping me hard across the face. Then there was the close up of the blood on my face. He kept the camera running while I kicked the shit out of Atwood.

A couple of adjustments and it was Blain Atwood telling me how he suggested his brother do a drive by shooting, but Thomas wanted to make it personal. Then telling me they would be coming for me.

"Okay they are stupid and it's enough to put us on their trail for tonight's shooting." The big guy said.

"Since they didn't pull the triggers, they might be able to squirm out of it," The heavier of the two women suggested.

"So now, you tell me something I didn't know," I demanded.

"You know the Atwoods as thugs and general pains in the ass bullies, but obviously there is more, if they can get a crew to come try to kill you." the big guy said.

"Actually I think it was a kidnap plan, but tell me what they are into besides the pain the ass things." I demanded.

"We think they are distributing drugs for some Mexican cartel." The big man suggested.

"It is more likely they are selling to them, than that they distributing for them." I suggested.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"We think we stumbled on a Chrystal Meth lab on the Atwood farm. They could be trading Meth for rock," Martin said. "I hear Meth is getting to be a hot commodity in Mexico City."

"That's a lot to digest. We are going to need time to work this information into our profile of the brothers."

"They obviously don't like strangers. That is the real reason they gave us such a hard time," I suggested. "They didn't want us to stumble onto anything."

"Probably true." the skinny female said. Most likely only because she hadn't offered anything to the conversation.

"So what do you have in mind," The big man asked.

"Maybe we can get rid of the Atwoods and take their place. Just long enough to find out who you are looking for. then we all just disappear."

"Why would you do that?" he asked.

"We are here to take down the Atwoods. So help us, or at the very least don't get in our way." I said it and watched the reaction of the Big Guy. He was obviously in charge.

"Well if there was something I could charge you with, I would. Those tapes make it obvious what happened, so we need to look into the Atwoods,"

"Good, while you are playing with that, we are going to pin another tail on the donkey. The more shit we put on the wall, the more likely it is something will stick. It's probably going to be confusing for a while."