Betrayal Ch. 05

Tim, Jeanie, and Joe took the Power Wagon and drove to the gate, where a small dozer was parked. A big sign posted by the gate said NO TRESPASSING -- INTRUDERS WILL BE PROSECUTED -- ARMED INTRUDERS WILL BE KILLED. There was a new banner beside it said, in English and Spanish, Do you believe in Heaven and Hell? If you go past this sign, you will know for sure.

Tim could see the tops of the portable light towers, but knew they would be invisible if you entered at night. When they got to the small creek before the hill the ranch house was on, they saw a mix of water and crude oil running slowly down stream to the earthen dam to the south. The dam backed water up all the way to the northern edge of the property, so the road was built up and there was a pipe five foot in diameter under it.

"It's all in place," Joe said. "We've done the planning and preparation, we're as well set up as we can be before the party starts. Have you heard the saying, 'Men plan, the gods laugh'? That's why we've run so many scenarios, despite being confident we can force them into Plan A. Now we have to see what happens and adjust. Whatever happens, Tim, our first responsibility it to Jeanie, then our troops, and then ourselves. Now, you two need to change into clothes you don't mind burning, just in case the fight comes to us."

Tim merely nodded; Jeanie hugged his arm harder and frowned.

***

The waiting was difficult, but the radios were greatly helpful for dealing with last minute questions and issues. As dark settled over them, untold stars appeared in the moonless sky. The sky in south Texas at night is more like the sky the early explorers saw; unpolluted and with little humidity, allowing you to see stars and features of the Milky Way most people have never seen. The west Texas sky was incomparable in Texas for stargazing, but the Brush Country was second.

Tim, Joe, and Jeanie sat in the wooden chairs around the fire pit, gazing at and discussing the clusters and creatures in the sky. There was no fire because they couldn't allow themselves to lose visual acuity from staring at a fire, but they enjoyed the mild weather and the starlit night.

The radio cackled, warning that the sheriff's department had spotted a convoy of four vehicles on the farm to market road, about 15 minutes away. Everyone was ready, everything was in place; they offered a prayer, and continued talking, albeit with faster heartrates.

They saw the headlights on the county road, and watched them turn in and proceed to the ranch entrance. They spent some time at the entrance, cutting the chain and talking, it appeared, before driving forward. They disappeared into the low area where the creek ran, and the lights disappeared.

Joe picked up his rifle and two spare magazines and moved to his station, behind a mound of dirt to the south of the house. He had a clear view of anyone approaching the house from the east, where the ranch entrance road ran, and the west, which was an unlikely entry because it would require walking three miles though the brush. Tim and Jeanie went inside and turned on lights.

Tim turned on the mic, activated the stand-mounted speakers outside using the amplifier, and, using his most threatening voice, repeated the warning posted at the gate in Spanish -- Advertencia! Si ingresa sin invitación, no se irá! After a moment, he repeated it in English. Jeanie keyed the tape, and the haunting strains of Deguello swept over the hillside and across the ranch. The gringos wouldn't know the call, but the Mexicanos would understand the meaning: No Mercy!

The bugles and drums continued playing the music Santa Anna played at the Alamo, but the night began to come alive. First a glow rose from the crude oil filled creek, which Daniel and Chuy had set afire. The light towers along the 'killing field' the intruders had been lured into turned on, bathing the area and the men creeping through it in light. Some turned and fired at the light towers, which brought a barrage from the closest battle stations. The vehicle in the back exploded, blocking any possible exit via the road.

Some invaders fell as bullets tore into them; others began running forward toward the house on the hill, only to encounter deadly fire from the next stations on the north and west. Some tried to fall back, but the Ratones from the first stations had closed in behind them and were firing from the flanks, forcing the survivors further into the funnel that was the planned battle zone, which had become the killing field.

More and more invaders fell as the firing from both sides intensified. Three made it past the final battle stations and ran toward the house, firing through the windows at the silhouettes they could see behind the shades. A single shot rang out, and one fell; the other two kept running and firing at the house.

They entered the fence without resistance; one ran to the front door, the other circled around the north side toward the back door. Larry Barnes threw the front door open and spotted Jeanie standing across the room in the bedroom doorway. His semi-automatic rifle was pointing toward his helpless wife as he advanced on her.

"You worthless whore! I'm going to beat you senseless, rape every hole, and then sell you to a whorehouse in Mexico!"

Jeanie cried, "NO YOU AREN'T, you piece of shit! You're going straight to HELL!" He stopped when an automatic shotgun hidden behind the bedroom wall appeared in her hands; he raised his AR to his shoulder, but Jeanie fired from the hip. A bloody hole the size of a volleyball opened in the area if his groin. The AR dropped beside him as he collapsed onto the plastic sheeting covering the floor. Shock and agony spread over his face as he lay on the floor trying to contain the blood and hold his remaining guts in place.

The back door burst open, and JW entered with AR extended, searching ahead and to each side for a target. He spotted Larry, jumped into the room and turned to his right. A machete appeared from behind the door and cut deeply into his bicep just above the elbow. He screamed and dropped the weapon. Tim stepped from behind the door, swung the bloody machete with the flat side striking JW on the nose and knocking him onto the table, where he lay sprawled in a daze with blood running from his nose and mouth.

The AR fell on the floor and Tim kicked it under the table. He sliced JW's other bicep, and then laid the sharp machete blade on JW's belt, across his crotch, and between his spread legs. He looked into JW's terrified eyes and dispassionately proclaimed, "You are responsible for all this, you know. You just HAD to seduce every woman you came across, married or single. The ones you couldn't seduce you drugged, and then bragged about it. You filmed your conquests so you could blackmail them, and so you could show it to your friends and admirers.

You invited the scum you wanted to impress or use to join in. You found a criminal gang stupid enough to buy your trashy pornos, featuring fat guts and pathetically small dicks, and to buy the women when you were ready to discard them.

You and you alone are responsible for what has happened to your friends and compatriots tonight, and for what is about to happen to you." Tim pulled the machete downward quickly, slicing into JW's pants and the top of his dick; he screamed in pain and fear, begging for mercy but seeing none in the eyes of the man he betrayed, tried to humiliate, and attempted to kill.

"I will extend to you the same mercy you offered Jeanie, Dana, Karla, Jennifer, and the others -- none at all! Oh, you will scream, you will beg, you will cry, you will piss and shit on yourself, and then you will beg still more! At some point, you will beg me to kill you, but I'll keep you alive and suffering as long as I can. I want you to announce your arrival in hell wearing a grotesque mask of pain so the devil can see what a piece of shit you are!" Tim sliced JW's left thigh deeply; he screamed and blood flowed freely.

"Don't get excited, Piece of Shit; that hurts, but it will take an hour to bleed out, and by then it will be the least of your problems!" He placed the machete inside JW's right calf and drew it toward himself slowly, causing another scream.

"Tell me this, Piece of Shit -- what the fuck made you think turning my wife into a gangbang porn queen was a good idea? You used to live in south Texas; didn't you hear the stories?"

"No, man, I swear!" JW promised, "If I had known you were the man behind the legend I'd have kept a hundred yards away from her! When I did find out it was too late, and then we had to kill you before you could kill us!"

Tim looked at Jeanie, who was watching and listening, her shotgun still trained on Larry. He was weakly staring at the stone face of his wife. He saw no mercy in that face, but begged anyway. She coldly replied, "What mercy did you show me when you beat me? You last time you gave me a bad concussion, fractured my eye socket, and bruised my ribs and kidney. Did you get help for me? Did you let me call for help? Well, Larry dearest, now you know how I felt!

The problem you have is that no one will come save you as Tim saved me; no one will care for you, heal you, and help you become stronger than ever! No, Larry, you will die here on this floor, your body will be buried in a mass grave in the middle of nowhere, and you will roast in hell for eternity!"

"Jeanie, step outside and call your dad. We need to make sure he is all right, and check the status of the others. He's got the radio." She stepped out the door and called, only to hear another scream from JW, whose right cheek was now laid open, blood pouring down his face onto his shoulder.

Joe took her in his arms and hugged her, made sure she was all okay, and then told her to stay outside and calm down. He started inside, and heard another horrible scream. JW's pants were sliced from asshole to this ball, and blood was pouring out.

Joe spoke to Tim, and then put his hand gently on the arm holding the machete. "There are things we need to know, Tim, and he can tell us. Give me the machete and step outside for a moment; Jeanie just shot her husband and she needs you."

Tim looked at the old soldier, nodded, stepped out the door, and took Jeanie in his arms. He could hear Joe speaking calmly to Rodgers, telling him they needed answers from him, but would let Tim take over again if he didn't tell the truth.

Nate's truck drove up the road and stopped; he, Daniel, Chuy, Jesse, and Jose stepped out, and Chivo climbed out of the back. He said, "We have another one of yours in the back, Teo. The fat pig was hiding in the brush, sobbing like a little girl. He smells like piss and shit, so don't bring him inside."

Tim looked over the sidewall at Barry Benton, trussed up like a wild hog. He turned to Chivo and Nate, "Back up to the hoist where we skin deer and hogs. We'll pull him up, hose him off, cut his clothes off, and then start slicing him up piece by piece until he tells us everything we need to know. Joe is interrogating JW, but I think I may have cut him a little too deeply too soon. We'll let Chivo cut this fatass up; he's better with a knife than I am with a machete."

Tim turned to Chuy and Daniel, "Is everyone okay?" They both smiled broadly, and the response came from Chuy, "Nothing but a few scratches on our side, but the enemy lost all but this pig and three of the devil's angels, and those three were wounded. What happened here? You know we didn't want to let those three go, but you insisted. Still, it looks like you, Jeanie, and Joe are all uninjured..."

Jeanie appeared beside him, put her arm around him, and answered, "We're fine. Larry is gut shot and dying, and Rodgers is wishing he could die. My shotgun nearly tore Larry in half, and Tim was using his machete on Rodgers." Chuy, Daniel, and Nate studied Jeanie carefully, and then Tim. Jeanie didn't blink or change expression when she continued. "I know you're all worried about me, but I'm okay. We tried to do things right: I pressed charges for wife abuse; Tim took Karen to court to get custody of their kids. We laid out our cases, the courts agreed; Karen then conspired with the seven men to kill Tim and get their sons, and tonight it all came to a climax, way out here. My only question is, what now?"

"Now we clean up the mess!" exclaimed Jesse as he walked up to them. "The cleaning crew is on their way up here; I'll oversee them. A crew is loading the pieces of the blown-up pickup on a flatbed trailer with a front loader as we speak, another crew is loading bodies on another flatbed, while the others gather the weapons and all the brass we can find. Their brass and weapons will go into the grave with the bodies and the pickup remains. We'll decide what to do with the vans after I talk to Tim.

What are your plans for the tub of shit you have strung up on the hoist?"

"We plan to find out all we can; if he tells us everything we want to know, we'll decide what to do with him. If he doesn't, he will be buried with the others in an hour or two, after he stops suffering and dies" Tim answered.

Two sets of vehicle lights came up the interior road from the barn, and four women got out of each. The cleanup crew went directly inside carrying supplies, while the two nurses checked Tim and Jeanie, and then went inside to check on Joe.

Moments later, Joe called for help; Chuy and Daniel, drug Rodgers outside, sobbing. There were now dozens of slices, nicks, and shallow stab wounds, plus the big cuts Tim inflicted. Joe flatly stated, "I don't think he knows anything else, so, Tim, he's yours."

Tim grabbed him by the mop of curly black hair he was always so proud of, and began dragging him to the hoist: he screamed and twisted, but couldn't use his arms or legs to fight back. Daniel and Chuy grabbed his legs and lifted him off the ground; he screamed louder. They dumped him in front of the hoist, where Chivo had hung Benton and cut off his clothes.

Chivo shined a light on Benton, and then on Rodgers. "See that, Fat Bitch? That's how you're going to look in 15 minutes, unless you tell us everything you know. The names of everyone involved, the roles they played, and where the rest are now."

The look of terror on Benton's face was satisfying to Tim, as was Rodgers's pain. "Take your time with this fat bitch, but make sure he tells us EVERYTHING. I haven't decided yet whether to kill them both, or cut off their tongues and balls and sell them as kathoey to the gay whorehouses in southeast Asia or south America, so keep them alive if you can. However, if they won't cooperate, kill them as painfully as possible and we will go on from there."

***

Two hours later the house was immaculate, although there was a bleach smell. Jeanie and Tim had blood splatters on them, so they showered, changed, and their old clothes were added to the burn pile. The remains of JW's pickup were gone, as were all the bodies. Neither Rodgers nor Benton survived interrogation, but both sang like canaries for the recorder. Ranger Boyd was going to be VERY interested in the names of others involved.

The two deputies had spoken to someone, and all three vans left the property soon after with the surviving Devil's Angels. Jeanie and Tim had stayed outside, out of the way, while the work crews did their things. Everyone else except Joe was gone; the three of them built a small fire and sat around the pit. Little was said, but the silence was comfortable.

The fire had burned away by mid-night, and so did their energy. Each retired to his/her own bed, and each was surprised at how quickly sleep came.

The final chapter will be posted later his week, assuming this gets approved and published.