Family Needs Me Pt. 02

She smiles at me, "I have lived here my entire life, and I loathe that place. Try asking me your questions first. If I don't remember the details, I can get you close to the date."

I take out my notebook and pen.

I start with, "Was the bar always corrupt?"

She laughs at me, "Oh no. It used to be the best restaurant, the best bar, and the best music in town. Everyone went there. Naked women do nothing for me. Several married couples went there to eat, drink, and hang out. Funny, it also worked out that those were some of the best nights of my life. My husband was always horny when we got home. I think all the wives liked that part. It was February, seven years ago that things changed. The two owners had a fight, one killed the other in the parking lot. He never did go to jail.

"After that, there were more fights and more beatings. People showed up at the hospital barely alive. Employees would disappear. Prostitution started in the side rooms, and the girls were just eighteen. The place went south and looked like shit. Everyone stopped going from town. Girls would show up dead on the edge of town, or their house burned down with them in it.

"Five years ago, the bitch showed up. She runs the place now. I thought she was a decent woman, but she is the one that is enslaving the girls. Nobody lives long enough to testify. Her two girls went right to work."

HOLY SHIT! That could be my mom and sisters.

Trying not to sound excited, I ask with a smile on my face and my heart beating 200 beats a second, "What happened to the sisters?"

She shakes her head, "Never saw them again. Like most girls, they start off in prostitution, then move to strippers. Those two were flat-chested, they may be in the kitchen or elsewhere behind the scenes. Hell, they may have escaped or been killed. I only saw them once. I met the mother twice. I don't know, but I think she was married to her brother or cousin. Something always weird there."

HOLY SHIT!

She continues, "Since the bitch took over, she doesn't come out much, she sends her thugs to do her talking. They have a bunch of them. Way more than your tiny jail."

I ask, "Are Paul or Bill part of it?"

She seems genuinely hurt at my question, "Bill is my husband. There is no finer man. He won't take that bunch on, but I reckon you and your friends aim to do just that, don't you?"

I give her my cute smile, "I am the one asking questions here."

She continues with a smile now, "Two years ago something changed. They started killing the Sheriff and his deputies. That's when the ordinary people began moving away. Most people that are left owe the bar money, work at the bar, and owe them money, or make money off the bar like the diner and the gas stations. If they keep to themselves, they are left alone.

"They don't trust you. Your story sucks, yet you check out. Nobody here by your name. You might be surprised at how much goodwill there is here. But beware, if you stir up a hornet's nest, it's hard to not get stung. They will single you out until you're dead."

I hand back the box of pictures.

I say as my phone rings, "This has been most informational."

I answer my phone to an obviously scared Sin saying, "Um. Edi. Do you think you could stop by the bar? We have a situation here."

+++++

For the first time in my life, I get to drive a police car with the flashing lights on, and people move out of my way. Next time, I will turn on the siren. DAMN! I feel stupid! I pull up to the restaurant with a skid of the tires and slide into a handicapped spot. I run inside; no music is playing. In fact, no lights are on. I slow down.

I turn on my radio, "I was summoned to the bar, no music, no lights, I don't like this."

A single spotlight is turned on, and it's right in my face. I run back out the front door. There could be twenty people in there with guns.

Sin yells out, "Edi, please help me?"

FUCK! I am smart enough to not walk in.

I do yell inside, "What's going on here?"

I hear a female voice yell out, "You're fucking my girls for free and threatening my operation. I thought we should meet. Don't worry, I won't kill you here. You have audio and video on your body armor. Come inside, I want to see you."

What the hell, I holster my weapon and walk into the bar. The light is on my body and not in my face. I can't see who I am talking to. I do see two guys trying to slowly get behind me.

I use my angry and commanding voice, I am both, "If those two want to live, they better move away from me. I am facing an overwhelming force; deadly force is permitted."

Two lights in the back come on, I can see that there is the woman, my four stripper neighbors, six other strippers, and four thugs. I relax, I can take those four. Sin has a black eye and some bruises on her face.

I yell at two of the thugs, "You two, take Sin in back. Get her some ice and then take her to the hospital. If those eyes puff up too much, she will lose her eyesight."

They look scared and run off with Sin and Crystal.

I yell at the woman, "There was no need to hurt her, I would have come."

The lady laughs hard, "You like my girls. You want to protect them. I own them. I can treat them any way I want to. You fuck with me; I fuck with them."

I am mad, "You have no idea, what I am capable of. I have spent the better part of twenty years in foreign countries fighting heavily armed trained troops. You don't fucking scare me. You're a cartoon character."

I am slowing working my way closer to the group. I am within six feet, and my heart drops to the floor. Within six feet of me is evil incarnate. She should be hung by a rope for what she has done. Yet, I know that face, it's my own mother. She has no clue it's me.

No surprise there. When I left home, I was a boy and looked oh so much different. Nobody recognizes me. Obviously, not even my own mother. I lunge for mom, grab her, and throw her over my shoulder. My weapon is drawn.

I say in a steady voice as they are reaching for their guns, "Freeze! First one to unholster their weapon dies, a bullet through the heart. The second one dies, two through the chest, third is a headshot. I am just going to borrow your boss for an hour or two. We are going to chat, and then I will bring her back.

"There is a new law in this town. I am, in fact, fucking four strippers. It's pretty fucking awesome, I don't want it to end. The next asshole that hurts any stripper will find themselves in jail with me pressing the charges. Guess what? You can't intimidate me into dropping the charges. I am very good at writing. I will exaggerate any injury to a class 3c felony, you will do hard time. If you do go stupid, tell Paul to arrest you. Your body may not make it to jail with me."

I handcuff mom and throw her in the back of my patrol car and take off without lights or siren. My radio is still on. I want everyone to hear this next conversation.

I am taking you to a beautiful park, and we are going to talk. I promise I won't hurt you, and I think you will like our conversation.

I take her to one of the more remote parks in the immediate area, and then we go hiking for a while. I break off the beaten path, and we end up on a pleasant hill where we sit down to talk.

Mom starts off with, "You have no idea who you are working with. I have friends in high places."

I smile at mom, and I cut her off, "Oh, I know exactly who you are, and I am very interested in your high friends. In fact, I want to know everything about them, who they are, what they do, and how I can bring them to justice.

"Let me first start off by explaining who you are, because I think you forgot who you are. I know you because I too have a mother."

She is confused now. She doesn't understand my words.

I smile big as I say with warmth in my voice, "You are Lynn Stevens." Her jaw is on the floor. She is crying. "Mother to JoAnn and Tammi Stevens. Your husband was murdered roughly five years ago. You have a son that was in the US Army. He later moved on up to become a Ranger and just last week, he retired with full honors."

Mom still has no idea who I am. She is crying at hearing those names after so long. I thought for sure saying Ranger would do it. I use my pointer finger to lift moms chin up, so she can see me.

I hold her shoulders with both my hands and then say in a little boy's voice, "Mom ..." My voice is back to normal. "... it's me, Oliver." She is stunned and can't comprehend the words. "Your son. I am back. I survived. You sent me an email five years ago, 'Help!', but I was using my military email, and never saw it."

Mom now has that hiccup sobbing going. She is happy, sad, and surprised all in one. She lunges at me and squeezes me tight. I let her hold me until she is all cried out.

Mom's story is long, so here are the cliff notes. When dad died, they went to her brothers in Washington state. One brother kills the other one. Seth, the evil one takes over. He fucks mom and my sisters. He makes mom and my sisters' prostitutes; they work in the side rooms screwing men. There are several other murders, and the police are all over Seth. He hides and puts mom in charge. She moves my sisters to stripping. That is the first inkling that I am going to learn something awful.

Mom does shield my sisters from men, but there are too many, and some are still controlled by Seth. Many have tried to take him done, and they are all dead. He paid a lot of money to the Governor to keep him and his people out of trouble. We know where he is now. We know all his contacts. She has all the goods to put him in jail for a long time.

She then drops the bomb on me.

Mom finally turns serious, looks at me lovingly and then says, "Oliver. There is no good way to tell you this. Sin is Tammi, and Crystal is JoAnn. I am sorry. You all were too small when we last saw you. Hell, even your own mother had no clue. It's not their fault. It's not your fault. Fate just happened."

What the fuck? I am literally ill right now. I turn to the side to throw up, but nothing comes out. I am sad, I am angry, and I disgusted with myself.

Mom tries to help, "If it makes you feel better, they both talked on and on about how wonderful you were. Oh my, this morning Crystal was over the moon in love. That poor girl has had a rough life with my brothers. I am glad she had fun. What happens now?"

I don't even want to talk anymore, but I do spit out, "I can't see them anymore. I will move away. There is enough help here now, they don't need me. Hell, I am only an average Ranger. Everyone one of those men is better than me at something and some, several things. I will get you three to the safe house, take out Seth, then I will stop bothering you. You were better off without me messing up your life. We are done, let's go."

Mom starts wailing, "Nooooooo. I don't want to lose you again. I want my son. I don't care if your average, I want my son back. For twenty years, I have worried about you, and I thought you were dead for the last five."

I yell, "Mom, you don't understand. I committed incest, I slept with both of my sisters. I can't look at them again. I can't look at anyone in this town. Right now, all my buddies are listening to my radio and know I fucked both my sisters. How am I supposed to live with that?"

Mom shouts at me, "Did you not just hear me tell you home much they love you? Both of my babies were forced to get boob jobs and other surgeries to look better. Their uncles, their friends, and paying customers have done awful things to them. You are the only ray of sunshine in their lives. If you leave, it will kill them sure as you use a bullet yourself."

I say with a cold voice, "We are done here. Get up, let's go to the safe house."

+++++

At the house, the Major is outside and several others. They all look sad. I help mom out of the car and push her in the direction of the guys. They want to talk to me, I don't. I ignore them, only the Major and I go back to my place. Since mom is gone and the bar is shut down, everyone was sent home. There are four happy looking women on the picnic table in between our houses. I ignore them and go to my place. I haven't got much stuff; I can pack in thirty minutes. In five minutes, I have four women scouring my place, looking for me. I am in the washroom, packing. Misty finds me, she can tell what I am doing.

Instantly, the waterworks turn on. That attracts the others, and now all of them are crying as I pack.

Crystal asks me between tears, "What did I do? Was I that bad?"

Like everything is about her! I don't have time for this. I don't want this discussion. I don't want to see them. I know, I will distract them.

I say much louder and angrier than I intended, "I want each of you to go home and pack enough stuff for a week or two away from home. I am taking you to a safe house. We leave in thirty minutes, get going!"

Sin, Misty, and Amber start to walk away, but Crystal refuses to move, and that means the others won't as well.

Crystal questions me, "Why are you packing everything? You aren't coming back, are you? You are dropping us off and then running, aren't you?"

With venom on my breath, I give her a look that could kill, "Yes, something came up, I need to go. Nothing to worry about, there are plenty of great guys here. There is no doubt how this will end now. Your mom gave us everything we need to nail them. Someone is talking to the feds right now. I plan to kill Seth and then yes, I must go."

With a trembling lower lip, Crystal meekly asks in a soft voice, "Why? What did I do wrong?"

I couldn't help it, I hug my sister, my poor unlucky sister. She cries hard now.

While hugging her, I softly ask her, "Why does Sin have a flagpole in her front yard? Nobody else does."

The tears are still flowing while she gets out, "To honor our late brother, who was in the army. I don't hardly remember him."

I say with a grin, "In the Army, some people try out for specialties like the US Rangers." She still doesn't have a clue. "I spent twenty years in the military before I decided I had enough and retired. I decided to look for my family, but they disappeared. I find out my dad was murdered on the day my twin sisters turn eighteen."

Crystal turns solid, frozen, understanding has been achieved. I hear a scream behind me, and then a pair of superior breasts slam into me, and a couple of arms wrap around my body. Now a second woman is crying.

I break up this love fest, "Hey, we need to get going. I need to get you safe before Seth comes looking for us. Go! All four of you. Go!"

Reluctantly, they did walk off. No way we are leaving in less than an hour. What can I do? They don't seem to understand the danger. I am taking down Seth's whole operation, he isn't just going to sit back and take it. By now he knows mom is gone and he knows the information she has.

He doesn't know my connection, but it doesn't matter to him. I am taking him down and a whole lot faster than even I expected. A call comes over the radio that there is a disturbance at the bar. Paul answers that he will take it. He asks me to swing on by for backup. Unknown to him, I call my own backup, about ten of my friends. I took my time getting there, so my buddies get there about the same time as I do. On seeing me, I see Paul open the bar door, and as he does, he is shot by a gun.

It looked like it hit his chest and vest, but I saw some blood splatter, and he went down to the ground and is in the doorway. I sprint from my car to the doorway and pick up Paul by his arms. I drag him out the door and around the corner. I heard bullets whiz by me, they missed.

Immediately, my training kicks in, and I am doing first aid to possibly save his life. I don't know how bad it is. I see blood, but I can't find a hole. Realization his me, they did hit his vest, he is using a Hollywood blood pack. As I start searching for it, he reaches for his gun. I am much stronger, and he has bad leverage. I punch him in the face to dull his will to fight.

In a quick flip, he is on his stomach, and my handcuffs are on his hands in a flash. He gives up fighting.

Paul apologizes to me, "Noting personal. I like to gamble, and I owe him a ton of money. He is inside with eight girls and six armed men. You can't go in there."

I am disgusted with Paul, "Well, that's my problem now, isn't it?"

I say to my radio, "You guys think they are smart enough to cover the back door? I bet he isn't expecting me to attack him through the back. I will buy some time. I will open the front windows to open some firing lanes as well."

There are some large garbage cans, fifty-gallon steel drums. I dump out the garbage in the parking lot and throw the can through a window. It breaks the glass and takes the blinds with it. This adds light to the room, and my guys can now see in. The side benefit is a lot of noise. That's great for guys sneaking through the back door.

One by one I throw the cans in. I slide along the ground under the windows so I can get back to the door. That took much longer than I expected.

I yell out, "Seth, are you in there?" Nothing. "Let me try again, Seth, what happened? How could you treat my family so bad?"

Seth has a gravelly voice, "So, the little mother fucker didn't die. You fucking piece of shit. You don't know anything. Your mom loves me, always did. She married your pansy-ass dad because he had a respectable job. I owned a strip club.

"You can't touch me you piece of shit. I took your dad out, knowing your mom would run to me. We had several good years together. Wow, them sisters of yours sure do scream a lot. They were so much fun. My brothers and I had some crazy-ass parties with my friends. Your sisters were always the hit of the party."

I have had enough of this shit, "Mom has been talking for the last few hours with the FBI. An arrest warrant went out just minutes ago for your friend the Governor. It's over, you're done. Do you walk out, or do we wheel what's left of your body out?"

I hear in my ear, "Edi, we are ready."

Seth replies to me, "I have hostages in here. Maybe I just start having fun cutting them up."

I reply, "I have concussion grenades out here with twenty friendly Rangers, ready to run through the doors with gas masks on. Who do you think wins that one? Maybe you want a shot at me in the parking lot. One on one? Bring a knife."

I step out into the parking lot and holster my gun. He wants a piece of me, I can feel it.

I yell out, "Come on, Seth, be a man. Don't stand in there behind a woman with your dick in your hand."

I see Seth stand in the doorway. He has a knife in one hand, and a pistol in his other.

He laughs at me, "I don't see anyone."

I smile at him, "Look at the center of your chest."

He looks down, and there are four red dots there.

I tease Seth, "These are quite proficient this close to the target. Me men are not outside by the windows. Then went in the back door and are now arresting your men and putting the women in a safe place."

Seth drops the pistol, stores his knife, and then removes his shirt and jacket. He wants speed, reach, and flexibility, all great things to have in a knife fight. You see, knife fights in real life are nothing like Hollywood. Most have maybe a deflection and a stabbing in the first attack. Often both draw blood although only one is life-threatening. We are taught to grab the wrist and then kill. The order doesn't matter, take the first that is presented.

There are other rules and suggestions. In the end, it's mostly some strategy and some luck. I may hit his knife, and it either deflects away from him or straight into his heart. There will be a lot of posturing and then when the real fight begins, it's done in less than five seconds.

Seth comes at me quick, surprising me. When I side-step, he slows down. I showed my quickness, that's an advantage to him now. We circle each other sliding my feet, never crossing over. He is crossing over. Rookie mistake. However, he is watching my eyes. As I look down, he thrusts from the right towards my ribs, a kill strike. I drown in my own blood.