Kate Pt. 01

"Okay then," I convincingly smiled, "How about we plan the ground breaking ceremony for Wednesday afternoon of next week, then?"

"That sounds good to me," Bobby grinned, suddenly walking into Jakes office grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Hi, Mark;" Jake grinned, "How're you doing today, my friend?"

"Hello, Jake," I smiled, shaking his hand, "I'm well, thank you for asking."

"You're welcome," he graciously replied, "It does my heart a world of good knowing that you're going to be handling this project for us. Everyone around here is very excited to be working with you, Mark."

"Please," I humbly smiled, "You give me too much credit."

"And why not?" he chuckled, "I've heard some very good things about you from both Mike and David."

"Is that right?" I teased them, "Those guys talk way too much ya know."

"Yeah, we know," Jake laughed, "But we still have a lot of faith in you, regardless."

"You honor me, fellas," I modestly smiled, "I promise not to let you down then."

"Good enough," Bobby chuckled, "I guess we'll see you on Wednesday then?"

"You can count on it," I agreed, "In the mean time, I guess I'll see you then," and then I turned and left Jakes office, dreading the fact that I was going to end up disappointing, and probably deeply hurting these two nice guys when I brought both Mike and David down.

~~~~~~

Later that evening, per my grandmother's instructions, I met my Uncle John at a private airport that belonged to the DEA that no one knew about but them. Of course I'd taken the rental car to pick him up, which he agreed was a good idea.

"Hi, Mark," Uncle John smiled, hugging me when I met him, "It's good to see you, kid."

"Hi, Uncle John," I grinned, glad to see him, "It's good to see you, too, sir."

"I hear you've got a new girlfriend," he teased, "I can't wait to meet her, boy."

"She's my fiancée," I told him, "She's waiting for us at my house, and she can't wait to meet you either."

"I look forward to it," he replied, "In the mean time, we need to get to your house as soon as possible because there are some things I need to tell you about your two friends, Mike Dodge and David Linder."

"I'll bet so," I said, as we got into the rental car, "I probably already know what you're going to tell me, but we'll wait until we get to my house so that Katie can hear what you've got to say, just in case I don't know."

"Okay, Mark," Uncle John smiled, "Let's get going," and as I drove back to our house, I filled him in on the things that I didn't dare mention over the telephone

~~~~~~

"Wow, Mark told me that you were really pretty," Uncle John grinned when he met Katie for the first time, "But he didn't tell me that you were so beautiful, Miss Meyers."

"Please," Katie giggled, her cheeks turning bright pink, "Feel free to call me, Kate, okay sir?"

"What's with this sir stuff?" Uncle John playfully smiled, "Mark tells me that you two are going to be married one of these days soon so; I want you to call me Uncle John like Mark does, or just plain old John."

Okay, Uncle John," Katie proudly smiled, as she gently hugged him, "Thank you."

And this is my adopted little sister, Miss Sarah Dawson," I smiled, placing my arm around Sarah's shoulder, "Sarah, this is Uncle John...the guy I told you about that is a DEA agent."

"Oh, gosh," Sarah smiled, "I sure am glad that you're here, sir, and it's also nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too, little lady," Uncle John grinned, "But you can call me just plain old John."

"What if I called you Uncle John instead," she sweetly asked, "Would that be okay with you?"

"Sure," he chuckled, winking at me, "I don't mind at all, little lady."

~~~~~~

"I was right, Mark," Katie said, after Uncle John relayed to us the information that the DEA had on Mike Dodge, "I told you that Michael Dodge was a dangerous sociopath."

"I know you did," I told her, "Why do you think I called Uncle John and got him to come here?"

"I'm afraid, Mark," she began to sniffle, placing her arms around my waist and holding me close, "What're we going to do?"

"You two aren't going to do anything," Uncle John told us in no uncertain terms, "You're going to let us (The DEA) handle things from here."

"I'm sorry Uncle John," I adamantly replied, "But I can't do that. Besides, how else am I going to get my hands on the cocaine that it's going to take to get him busted and sent up the river?"

"We've got undercover agents who specialize in this kind of thing," he explained, "And I'm not going to let you take any further risks, and that's final."

"Ok, that's fine," I told him, "But I'm telling you now, that the first time Mike Dodge smells a rat, he'll disappear for God knows how long, and then you'll never find him, not to mention that not only my life, but Katie's, her mother's, and Sarah's lives will all be at risk...and that's something that I'm not going to take a chance on. Now...you can help me, or I'll do it on my own, but either way, I'm going ahead with the plan to go to Colombia, the risks to me be damned. Do you understand?"

"You're not going to budge one damn inch on this one," he sternly replied, "Are you, boy?"

"I love you very much Uncle John, you know that," I told him, looking directly into his eyes, "But I love Katie more, and as long as her life is in peril, then I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure that she's safe...regardless of the danger to me...Now, are we clear on this matter?"

He stared back at me for a couple of minutes, not saying a single word, then he smiled, and laughing, replied, "It's a good thing you're father isn't alive to see this. He'd be kicking your ass for this one, Mark."

"You're right...he probably would, but he's not here," I emotionlessly said, "So, are you going to help me, or not?"

"Shit," he exasperatedly spat, "You leave me with no choice."

"That's right," I triumphantly grinned, "So, what's the plan?"

"Here's the plan," he chuckled, "You don't have to go all the way to Colombia to get the cocaine; we've got more than enough of that crap locked up in an evidence container that we can use to take this asshole down right here in our own country."

"That's all well and good," I sarcastically replied, "But what's he going to do when his contacts in Colombia call and tell him that I never showed up?"

"He won't do a thing," Uncle John flatly told me, "Especially when you tell him that you got a better deal from the Cali cartel from their contact in Panama."

"But I don't know anyone in Panama," I said, "Who am I supposed to tell Mike that I got the coke from?"

"There's guy that is down there right now," Uncle John explained, "He's a well known runner for the Cali cartel, and the best part about it all is, he's an undercover DEA agent."

"That's just great," I discontentedly said, "What am I supposed to do if Mike calls down there to find out."

"He won't, trust me," he replied, "This asshole is sending you down there to have you killed, remember? He's not going to give a damn about checking up on the prices, especially when you show up with two hundred keys of coke that cost half the price of what's he's been paying for years now. Hell, if anything, he's going to be tickled shitless, and all thoughts of killing you are going to be washed completely out the window...and his greed is going to be his downfall, believe me, Mark."

"Holy shit," I smiled, when what I suddenly thought came to mind, "And when the Colombians, well, Pablo Escobar, because we all know who runs things in Medellin, finds out that Mike double crossed him, he's going to send his goons up here to kill him."

"Oh shit," Kate suddenly said, a dreadful look crossing her face, "What about my Aunt Linda, what's going to happen to her?"

"Don't worry, pretty girl," Uncle John reassured her, "We've already got her covered."

"I'm sorry, Uncle John," Katie plead, "But you're going to have to tell me more than that. With the exception of my mother, Aunt Linda is my only living relative and I can assure you that she knows nothing about what her shit head of a husband is up to."

"We also know that, too, sweetie," he reassured her, "That's why when all of this goes down, a team of people who specialize in this kind of work are all going in to snatch her from the premises just before the shit hits the fan so; please try not to worry...oh, and just so you know, there are five of our people who are shadowing your mother aboard her cruise ship right now so, she's safe, too."

"Holy shit," Katie gasped smiling, relief clearly on her face, "You people don't do anything half-assed, do you?"

"No, we don't, Katie," Uncle John affectionately grinned at her, "We're all professionals, and that's why we're the best at what we do."

"I'm very glad," Katie sweetly giggled, hugging Uncle John, "I feel very safe with you and Mark around."

"I'm very glad that you feel that way," he grinned, returning her hug, "And it's also nice to hear coming from someone who's as beautiful as you are, sweetheart."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Kate said, "What about the pervert partner of Mike's, David Linder?"

"What do you mean?" Uncle John asked, "What about him?"

It was then that I explained to my uncle about David, and his inclinations towards underage females; and when I was finished, I looked at him with pure contempt and asked, "There is something that can be done about him, isn't there?"

"Hell yeah," Uncle John disgustedly replied, "I've got a friend who works for the F.B.I. that can take care of him post haste; and when I say post haste, I mean before the sun sets tomorrow. That also gives me an idea, too."

"What do you mean?" I asked, "What kind of idea?"

"Don't worry, kiddo," he knowingly grinned, picking up the phone and dialing a number, "You just leave everything to your old Uncle John, okay Marky boy?"

"Aw man," I groaned, while Katie and Sarah profusely giggled like a couple of teenagers who'd been caught someone doing something naughty, "You just had to say that in front of my fiancée, didn't you? Thanks a lot, Uncle John."

"Chill out, baby," Katie sweetly teased me, kissing my blushing cheek, "I think it's as cute as it can be...Marky boy," and then she and Sarah fell into another fit of girlish laughter.

"Go ahead and laugh it up, you two," I playfully warned the two of them, "But remember; payback is a bitch."

"Oh, please," Sarah giggled, "Don't even try that with me, Mark Powers, besides, we both know that your bark is a whole lot worse than your bite."

"Uh, huh," I grinned, "And you've both been warned so; I don't want to hear it when the rain comes falling down on the two of you."

"Yeah right," Katie giggled, climbing into my lap, while my uncle was on the phone, "You wouldn't hurt either one of us, baby; it's just not in you to do something like that."

"You're right about that, my love," I smiled tenderly kissing her lips, "But who said anything about hurting either of you? I'm simply talking about a little payback for busting my balls the way you two have been doing lately, that's all."

"But we were only teasing you, Mark," Sarah said, a sudden look of fear crossing her face, "And it was only a little bit of harmless fun, I swear."

"Oh, I know that," I calmly told them, "And the payback that I have in mind for you two will be equally as harmless, too...I swear."

"I don't trust him, Katie," Sarah immediately began to fret, "He's going to do something really fucked up to us...I can feel it."

"Oh, he'd better not," she suddenly replied, hopping up from my lap with a touch of fire in her eyes, "That's all I've got to say; he just better not..."

~~~~~~

Okay," John satisfactorily smiled as he hung the phone up, "That will take care of David Linder's perverted ass."

"What do you mean," Kate asked, "And who were you talking to on the phone just now...that is if you don't mind me asking?"

"No, I don't mind at all," he began smiling, "That was a friend of mine who is not only the head of the National Department of Child Welfare, but she is also the head of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Trust me when I tell you that David Linder is about to go down...and very hard, too."

"Good," Kate disgustedly spat, her voice saturated with hatred and revulsion, "I hope they crucify that sick fuck."

"Katie," I said, making her turn around to face me, a sick feeling beginning to grow in the pit of my stomach, "Please tell me that he didn't..."

"No, he didn't touch me, my love," she softly interrupted me, "But like I already said, he made several suggestive comments to me when I was about fifteen or sixteen."

"I'm going to make him pay," I said aloud, "And there's nothing that anyone is going to be able to do to stop me."

"Oh, no you don't," Uncle John expressedly replied, "Otherwise I'll be forced to take you before a judge who will definitely send you to jail, no question about it."

"Oh, no he won't," I laughed.

"Is that right?" Uncle John sarcastically inquired, "And just what on God's green earth makes you think that you'll get away with First Degree Murder, because that's exactly what you're talking about doing, Mark?"

"Because, I'm not going to kill him," I willfully replied, "I'm going to beat him so badly that he'll wish he was dead, and don't you dare try to stop me either. Do you understand me, Uncle John?"

"Is that right," he laughed, "And just how do you plan on explaining his injuries to the federal agents when they arrive to arrest him?"

"That's easy," I knowingly chuckled, "People fall down the stairs all the time...especially someone whose messed with the wrong redneck's daughter...do you understand my meaning?"

"Yeah, right," he calculatingly laughed, "You just be careful...do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"Come on, Uncle John," I chuckled, "You know me, right?"

"That's the trouble," he grinned, "I know you a little too well sometimes."

"It'll all be fine," I told him, "You just have to trust me, okay?"

"Uh, huh," Uncle John cautiously replied, "We'll see about that, too, now, won't we?"

~~~~~~

I went to David Linder's house that evening; staying out of sight and peeping through the windows of his house to find that his wife, Madeline, was not there. However, as I peered through his living room window, I was almost in a state of shock to discover a girl who couldn't have been any older then sixteen at the very most without a stitch on.

"Oh, my God," I whispered in disgust, and then began to silently pray "Please grant me the strength of will that I'm going to need to keep from killing this monster, I beg you, oh Lord."

It didn't take long before David had his clothing off and he and the girl were having sex. That was when I got on the radio and let Uncle John know that the time to strike had come; and less than a minutes after I got off the radio, police cars had silently surrounded the house, and a tactical squad was rushing through the door, catching David Linder in the act of having sex with that girl.

Needless to say, I crept back away from the scene undetected so as not to alert him to the fact that I had anything to do with it, because I didn't want Mike Dodge to suspect anything. After all, he and David were partners, and if he knew that I'd had something to do with busting David, then there was no way he was going to trust me, especially as far as the supposed cocaine deal was concerned.

I was going to beat David' ass for him, but after truly giving the matter some thought, as well as the fact that Uncle John told me that the other inmates in prison would beat David to a bloody pulp when they found out that he was in there for statutory rape, I decided to back off and leave the son of a bitch to his own fate. And I was right, because Karma always has a way of taking care of these matters, especially when it comes to doing someone wrong.

~~~~~~

David's bust was all over the evening news that night, as well as the following morning; and that next morning when I showed up at Mike's office for the scheduled meeting I was supposed to have with him and David, I walked into the building feeling more than satisfied that justice was going to truly prevail once Mike's ass was gone, too.

~~~~~~

"Holy shit, Mike," I said, acting astonished when I was standing before him, "What the hell happened to David? I saw on the news this morning that he'd been caught having sex with an underage girl."

"I know," Mike disappointedly replied, "I saw it, too, and I'm just as surprised about it as you are...well, shocked would be a better word to use in this case."

"I heard that," I said, "I'm quite sure that you knew nothing about his, uh...his propensities for that kind of thing."

"You're damn right I didn't know anything about it," he suddenly barked, "And I don't appreciate you even thinking along those lines."

"Don't you dare snap at me," I angrily seethed, "It's not my fault that your partner is a fucking pervert? Besides, this kind of puts the eye on you, now, doesn't it?"

"The eye," he asked, "What're you talking about?"

"I'm talking about our deal," I told him, "You know...our Two Million Dollar deal?"

"Of course not," he evilly laughed, reaching into his desk drawer and withdrawing a stack of one-hundred-dollar bills, handing it to me, "Here, be sure to buy your airline ticket with this. That way the airline can say that you paid for you own ticket and it won't come back to me in case you get popped."

"Popped," I asked, "Don't you mean busted?"

"Of course," he spat," What else could it mean?"

"I better not get busted," I told him, "Because it will be your ass as well if I do, and I don't mean that I'm going to snitch on you."

"Oh, no," he angrily asked, "Then what do you mean, you little motherfucker?"

"I'll tell you exactly what I mean, asshole," I quietly barked back, "If anything, and I mean anything happens to me while I'm gone, there will be no place that you can hide, because I assure you that you will be found with your fucking throat cut, and your forked tongue pulled out and left hanging on your chest. I believe it's called a Colombian necktie."

"Bullshit," he laughed, "I know for a fact that you don't know anyone who's that vicious."

"You can say that all you want to," I grinned, "But are you willing to bet your life on it?"

"Look, Mark," he said, suddenly smiling, lowering his defensive attitude, "We're just trying to make some money here, that's all. Besides, I know that you and Kate could use a couple of million dollars to build a beautiful home to raise a family in, huh?"

"Yeah, we could," I smiled, "But I've got something I want you to hear," and then I played the tape I'd recorded for him.

"Now, wait a minute, Mark," Mike fearfully replied, "Let's not get all worked up over this, okay?"

"I'm not the least bit worked up," I calmly told him, "I just don't trust your fucking ass. Oh, and just so you know; if you still decide to double-cross me, Kate will receive a copy of this tape, as will the DEA so; what's it going to be, motherfucker?"

"Okay, okay," he finally said, "You'll be able to leave Colombia unmolested and unharmed...but you'd better damn well come across with the product, or I will fuck up your world, God dammit."

"Fair enough, but I want half of the money before I go," I said, "And then the other half upon receipt of the product, or the deal is off. Do I make myself clear?"

"Damn you," he growled, "You've turned into quite the mercenary, you little snot nosed bastard."

Not only did that comment thoroughly piss me off, but it also made Mike a not so proud recipient of a spinning wheel kick to the right side of his face, after which, when he hit the ground, I shoved the muzzle of the Walther PPK .380 handgun, which was a gift from Uncle John, with the hammer drawn back, up his left nostril. Then I calmly told him, "The next time you call me anything other than Mark, you can rest assured that I will blow your fucking brains all over the floor of this office, as will I do the same if you even so much as think about approaching Kate. Do you understand me, asshole?"