Deliver Us From Evil Ch. 02

Kevin looked sad at that news and new revelation (pun not intended), and I said "The perps may have looked for you to kill you, but never found you. Then the Police did find you when they arrested you. To be honest, I'm surprised they didn't try to kill you in prison."

"I was going by an alias at the time." Kevin said. "I had a fake ID and everything. In fact, that's the name they used through my plea deal and while I was in prison. It wasn't until you two came to visit me that I heard my real name for years."

"Then how did---" Teresa started, but I cut her off.

"Let me ask you this." I said quickly. "Were you ever fingerprinted before you were arrested?"

"Yeah, for the Fingerprinting Merit Badge when I was in the Boy Scouts." Kevin said. "They were put in the Federal database, supposedly to identify us if we got lost and died on a hike or something."

"Yeah, I'm the Merit Badge Counselor in my area for that one." I said. "Okay, you need to get some sleep. We've got to be at the Courthouse at 8:00am...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kevin took a long shower then went to sleep in one of the bedrooms. Teresa sat with me on the sofa and we talked quietly.

"What is this place?" she asked. "And how did you know about it? Molinari?"

"Right you are." I said. "Molinari developed and built several of the buildings in these neighborhoods, and some of them have tunnels like this building, kind of like University Hotel and Tower Condos in our Town & County. These apartments are short-term efficiency apartments, and the ones on the upper floors are nicer and more like homes. The tunnel was built for the same reason we just used it, to avoid detection or throw off pursuits."

Teresa said "You sure know a lot about Molinari's business, and probably Cerone's. I hate to think of what you're having to do or give them in exchange for this knowledge, and getting to use this place."

I said "It's not as bad as you might think. I do give Cerone and Molinari information at times, though much more to help them in the Legislature than their former criminal enterprises. They know I won't cross the line nor give them anything that would get someone hurt or killed."

Me: "Also, they're afraid of me. Cerone once said he retired from Mob Life and got into the much more dishonest but more safe business of being a State Senator because he couldn't beat Pastor Westboro, the Consultant of Crime. He and Molinari were scared to death of him... and then they watched me put Westboro down like the rabid dog he was. So they know I could bust their chops if I wanted to, and they know if we help each other out on occasion, we both will be the better for it."

Teresa said "And about Kevin... his real name is in the database as the convicted felon, but he says he was using another name. I can see that, and see that if he was using an alias, O'Leery might not have found him and so didn't get the shot to kill him..."

"But his real name is in the database." I said. "And Alison, Keith, and Geiger did find it. Something of an enigma there, n'est pas? But we can figure that out later. Why don't you take the other bedroom and get some sleep?"

"Okay." Teresa said. "You going to sleep out here, or should I spell you in a couple of hours?"

"I'll wake you up in a little while." I said. Teresa went to the other bedroom to get some sleep. I did not wake her up to spell me, and I did not go to sleep. I stayed on guard, watching the overnight news, which informed me that Pope John Paul IV was very ill, and that the Cardinals around the world would soon be summoned to The Vatican...

Part 15 - No Greater Love

7:00am, Thursday, August 5th. After a shower and shave, I felt ready to go. Kevin put back on his khaki clothing and armor, khaki Town & County Sheriff's Department armor, which said 'SHERIFF' on the back. Teresa and I put on our black civilian clothes and armor, and I had my Tilley hat and light trenchcoat... and the red crowbar.

We left and went down to the black State Prison SUV and drove back through the tunnel to the other building and drove out. We went to a nearby McDonald's, went through the drive-thru for breakfast, and parked in the back of the lot. A City Police SUV and an unmarked car parked next to us. The State Prison guard took back his black SUV, and left to take it back to the Prison.

"Good luck, Kevin." I said as we shook hands. "When we get though this, I have some positive things lined up for you."

"Thanks, Mr. Crowbar." said Kevin. "Let's get the bastard." He got into the shotgun seat of the City Police SUV, which was being driven by a City Deputy Sheriff that was assigned to the Courthouse. In the back were three more Deputies, the one in the middle having volunteered to play the role of 'Kevin' being escorted into the Courthouse.

City Police Detective Tony Long was driving the other vehicle, and Teresa and I got into it. "No drones." I said as scanned the sky. Teresa and I kept careful watch as the vehicles drove into the City Center, blue lightbars blazing, which cleared traffic most effectively.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
--- The Gospel according to St. John 15:13 (American Standard Version)

At 7:55am, the City Police SUV pulled up to the Courthouse. More Deputies were there, and as we pulled up we saw almost three dozen people in black shirts and blue jeans converge and surround the vehicle. On their shirts was the logo of the Wrangler Circus. I saw Johnny, the redheaded woman I'd seen before, and several others that had attended George Aurus's funeral. (Author's note: 'Vengeance Is Mine', Ch. 02.)

There was one problem: City Cathedral, the main Catholic church and where the Cardinal's office were, was almost directly across the street from the Courthouse. The roads were closed off in the immediate area, so there was no traffic. Tony Long let me out of the car and I went to the other side of the street while he and Teresa parked in the Courthouse parking lot, then came around to join the crowd in front of the Courthouse.

The two Deputies in the front seat got out and walked seemingly nonchalantly to the Courthouse, and it didn't really seem that they were being purposefully surrounded by Wrangler Circus alumni. They went inside, and only then did the three people in the backseat get out. They were surrounded by more people. It looked to the world like Kevin Thomas was being escorted into the Courthouse...

Time slowed down.

A young man in all black and a clerical collar suddenly appeared, running down the walkway on the side of the Catholic Church. He wound up and threw a round object at the crowd, yelling "DIE, NARC!"

I was already in motion and was running up to tackle him. He turned to face me and fight me, and exposed his shoulder joint. You know how that ended up: I had him slammed on his chest on the ground with a deft move, and had pulled his arms behind him and affixed handcuffs before he realized he was even on the ground. And then I looked across the street, and watched in horror at what happened next.

"GRENADE!" yelled Teresa and Johnny at the same time. Johnny leapt forward and caught the grenade in the air, and pulled it to his abdomen as he fell to the ground.

*POW!*

The explosion lifted Johnny's body off the ground, and spun him over so that he landed on his back. Teresa got to him first, followed by the redheaded woman and then others, and they saw what had happened. In pulling the grenade to his body, Johnny had trapped it against his lower abdomen. The explosion had ripped open his lower body, including his femoral artery, and blood was gushing out in steady pulses.

Teresa knelt beside Johnny, seeing that there was nothing that could be done for him. There was nothing there to press against to stop the flow of blood, though the redheaded woman was desperately trying to.

"Teresa..." Johnny gasped as she knelt beside him. She looked at his face and his eyes locked with hers as he said "Sing to me... like you sang... to Sarah..."

Teresa did not know from where it came, but before she realized it, she was singing as she looked into the dying man's eyes. Not the Catholic Ave Maria, but Amazing Grace:

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see."

As she sang, she saw Johnny listening to her, then his eyes looked past her as if seeing Something behind her. He smiled as his head fell back to the ground.

"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come,
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
And Grace will lead me Home..."

Teresa finished singing the verse, even though Johnny's eyes had opaqued and the flow of blood had stopped pulsing. Then she moved back as paramedics rushed up, only to find that their services were no longer needed.

Johnny had made the supreme sacrifice, and given his life for his friends. He was gone.

To be continued.