Reconciliation and Revenge

Before I recount this story I need to give you a little background information. I am Jim Samuels. I'm a widower and had botched the job of bringing up a very smart and independent minded daughter, Jody. Things were mostly o.k. until about her sophomore year in high school. She developed the attitude that I was incredibly old fashioned and not overly bright. I hate to admit it but she took after me, except she thought faster than I did. Now, I'm no slouch. I have a master's degree in physics and a PhD in mathematics. My advanced degrees had been paid for by the U.S.M.C (United States Marine Corps). But I know very little about teenage girls, and what I do know about them scares me half to death.

My world collapsed part way through her junior year of college. Somehow I found out something I wasn't supposed to know. Specifically, Jody had moved in with a guy instead of staying in the dorm. Not only that, the guy was a high school dropout and into all sorts of things I had tried to keep my little girl away from.

I must admit that there was a shouting match and Jody told me to "shove it" in just about those words. She left the house and through much effort on her part she stayed under my radar for several years. I had even gone to the expense of getting a private investigator to try to locate her. That was to no avail. I was to find out later that she gotten a new social security number and name. She was effectively lost to me.

Now to the story. Several years had passed. My current employment is with a "national lab" that does weapons research. As such I had to have a security clearance. The work required a clearance that was a step or two above top secret. It was mostly code word stuff. On the outside it looked like I had everything under control. In reality I was praying for her safety on almost an hourly basis. I couldn't just forget her.

I was sitting at home watching Fox News channel when one of those "around the nation in sixty seconds" types of spots showed up. I was only half way watching until I briefly saw what I was sure was my daughter's face on the screen. The newscaster said that her pimp had been arrested for beating her, almost to death. She lived in one of our major septic swamps that pass for cities these days.

I immediately got on my computer and contacted Fox News with a desperate plea. I explained my situation and asked them to find out exactly where the bust took place and what my daughter was calling herself. Over the next few days I obtained all the information that I needed to find her. I had confirmed much of the information with detective Reed, who was supervising the investigation to build the case against the pimp. One of the prime witnesses was a street patrolman who had witnessed part of the beating and had arrested Seshawn Brown, the pimp.

Once all things were ready I was on a plane headed to where she was, with all of the documentation needed to prove that she was indeed my daughter. I went directly to the police headquarters. I found out that she now called herself Jody Abrams. After an hour with the lead detective he gave me the information regarding the pimp who had hurt my little girl and then drove me to the hospital where my daughter was staying. She was heavily sedated when I arrived. She was not conscious. I spoke to her doctor, showing him the proof that I was her father and asking when she would be safe to move to my home. He indicated that a week and a half ought to do it. I told him that a first class ticket would be sent to him for her and that I would have traveling clothes delivered for her use. I asked that he make sure that she got on the plane, which was a non-stop flight.

The detective then took me to what Jody had been calling an apartment. It was a horror story all by itself. She didn't have any pets and there didn't seem to be much of anything worth keeping. I was about to leave when I spotted something under her pillow. My heart almost broke when I found it to be a picture of her and me during her freshman year of high school. I checked what few clothes my daughter had and noted the sizes.

After her apartment I went to a local mall and picked out decent traveling clothes and shoes for my little girl. These were dropped off with the doctor for Jody's use when she was fit to leave the hospital.

After thanking the detective for his great help I returned to the airport and went home. I had work to do.

When I arrived home I had several tasks lined up. First, I provided my best friend (Ed Smith), the head of security for the lab, with the information I had on Jody's attacker. (He and I had been in the Corps together.) I told him I wanted all the information on Jody's pimp that could be gotten without raising any suspicions. The second item on my list was to get Jody's room ready for her. My last task would be spread out over the next week. I spent every night that week either on the target range with my 1911 Colt semi-auto, in the dojo freshening up my hand to hand combat skills, or doing some minor machining in my basement.

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

I was a nervous wreck on my way to the airport. I recognized her as she came into the terminal from her plane. She was bandaged up, black and blue, and sad looking. I found her before she found me.

"Hello sweetheart, I've got your room ready for you."

She tearfully wrapped her arms around my neck. She looked worried.

"How much do you know, daddy?"

"Enough! For right now all I want to know is that my little girl is safe and will have a place to recuperate. There are no strings attached. I have no demands. I am just overjoyed to have you home with me again, even if it turns out to be for a limited time."

"You aren't going to give me a lecture?"

"No, do you need one?"

She sort of smiled at that.

We made our way to my car and headed home. When she got to her room she immediately noted that she had a wardrobe of new clothes and shoes all in relatively current styles.

"How did you know what to buy me?"

"My secretary at work is about your age. I had her join me in shopping. I followed her suggestions."

"You've changed, dad. In the past you never took advice very well."

"I've grown up a bit in the meantime, daughter of mine. What would you like to eat for supper?"

"What do you have?"

"We have all the traditional foods and there is a wonderful Chinese restaurant just ten miles from here. What is your pleasure."

"Tonight, please let's just have something simple to eat. The flight has exhausted me. Just surprise me."

Well, I did that. I ordered in a wonderful Jerlando's sheet pizza for delivery and made up a tossed salad.

We ate in relative silence. Towards the end of the meal I told her:

"Sweetheart, I want to make sure you noticed that I put a good strong lock on your bedroom door. When that door is closed and locked it is good protection. You can rest assured that you will be safe. The same goes for the inside grating on your bedroom window. It opens from the inside only. You will be safe. Please just set whatever schedule you are most comfortable with for the next month or so."

"Why are you being so kind to me? I made all the wrong choices and I know you should be very angry with me."

"I love you Jody. You are, and will always be, my little girl. You remember the story of the Prodigal Son. His father didn't give up on him even though he did all that he could to break his father's heart. I love you the same way."

"Now, there are two other things. First; nobody, but me, knows where you have been or what kind of trap you've been in. Nobody will be looking at you and judging you by anything but what you do now. Second; you will be safe here. I have people watching the man you were associated with. This house is not a place he knows about and is definitely not a place that he would want to visit."

The next few weeks were uneventful. I started to bring Jody to the pistol range and the dojo with me. At one time she had gotten up to a green belt and was a relatively good shot. It was time to get her familiar with self defense again. However, this time I taught her some other self defense moves. I taught her like the Recon Marines are taught. Now she would learn how to kill, if need be.

During this time I also brought her to church with me. One of my friends, another ex-Marine, is also a first rate clinical psychologist. He agreed to see Jody a couple of times a week until she managed to resolve the issues in her past. I also got her to the doctor and dentist to have her checked out and repaired where needed.

It was six months later when I got a courtesy call from Detective Reed. There had been a major problem with the case. The street patrolman who had witnessed the crime had been found dead and Seshawn Brown had dropped from sight. There was no longer a living witness against him, except for my daughter.

I couldn't just wait for him to show up, something needed to be done quickly. I went back to Ed Smith, at the lab. He had friends in both the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) and FBI. He called in a few favors to get his friends to have a look for Mr. Brown. Off the record they were more than happy to oblige. They, as it turned out, called some of their friends with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). It turned out that the DEA knew Mr. Brown and kept close tabs on him through a deep undercover agent who worked for his drug supplier. It didn't take long to learn that Mr. Brown had tortured the street patrolman (before killing him) and had found out what city my daughter had gone to.

None of these facts sat well with me. In fact I almost hoped that Mr. Brown would try something. It would probably be the last thing he ever did. I added a few things to my daughter's room. A 12ga pump shotgun with 00 buck shot, and a 1911 Colt .45, both of which she knew how to use. The other thing I added was a 1/4" steel plate on the inside of her door. The glass in her window was backed up with three inch thick urethane plate. It was essentially bulletproof. Nobody was going to ambush my little girl in her own room. Now it was time to wait.

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

Seshawn Brown was pissed off! That damn hooker, Jody, was causing him way too much trouble. If she got away with it the other girls might start thinking about the wrong things. He had to find her and make an example of her. If the other girls were forced to watch him slowly kill Jody that should keep them from even thinking about leaving his profitable business. Well, it was sort of true, it was very profitable for him and the girls didn't matter. Some of them he had hooked on drugs others were just so afraid of him that they wouldn't think of trying to get away.

Seshawn knew what city Jody had been taken to. He put out the word to some known associates in that city that he wanted to know where Jody Abrams was. He put out the word that his associates should check with their favorite crooked lawyer to find out if anyone by that name had petitioned the court to modify their name. He also sent a photo of Jody's face. He offered a finder's fee of $1000 if she was found (and they provided him a picture of her that was obviously not the one he sent to them) and $10,000 if they also had her picture as well as the street address where she was staying.

Now it was Seshawn's time to wait.

***********

Within five weeks Seshawn's wait was over. He made arrangements for a nice hotel room, in another name, and set up a meet with the guys who found Jody.

He met up with the guys to pay them their finder's fee. Then he asked them about renting some "muscle". He wanted backup in case of unforeseen difficulties. He didn't expect any problems, he was just cautious.

The day after he arrived he was given a ride to look over the house Jody was staying at. He was surprised to find that the house was in a rural area and located on what could be called a "secondary road". The road was paved with "oil and stone" but only in front of houses. The house was well off the road. This pleased Seshawn, this provided some privacy. Maybe they could just slowly kill her right here while making a video of the party. The video would be enough to teach the other "girls" in his stable.

They noted the mail box number and the name on the box. Then Seshawn went back to his room and did a reverse lookup to find out about the man who owned that house. All he could find out was that Mr. Samuels worked at a lab of some kind. He also learned that this Samuels guy wasn't known for hiring prostitutes or doing drugs. Well, that was o.k., what they really needed to know, they now knew. He got out of work at somewhere between five and six. He also was known to drive directly home on most evenings.

Tomorrow would be a Friday. If they got to the girl on Friday they could work her over and be gone before Mr. Samuels arrived home. If they couldn't get her, they'd pay Jody and Samuels a visit mid evening. Yeah, that would work out well.

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

Ed Smith, the security guy at the lab, dropped in to talk to me mid afternoon on Thursday.

"Jim, I've got some news for you. The pimp has surfaced. He flew into our local airport in a commuter jet. He was met there by a couple of thugs who took him to the local Best Western motel. He's registered as Frank Jones. He's also wearing fake glasses and has an Afro wig on and is sporting a fake beard. Whoever did the makeup work could well be a professional. I only recognized him because of the description that I was given through some back channels that I have been using. I think that they have found out where you live. Be careful. Do you need backup?"

"I don't think so, Ed. Thanks for offering though. I've made a couple of changes in my house. My front entryway is now a sally port. If I want, once they are in they cannot get out and they also cannot enter the house itself. It will slow them down a bit. I think I'm good to go."

"You inetalled a sally port? Man, you tend to go overboard, don't you?"

"Hey Ed, you know the old saying 'an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure'. I turned my entryway foyer into the sally port. The main structure of my house is reinforced concrete. I had it designed to be tornado proof. I even use those new high strength windows. They are even bulletproof until you use something heavier than a 9mm parabelum. All I had to do was replace three interior doors and fasten the steel frames in with a heavy stud gun. It isn't even obvious that it is a trap until you can't get out."

"O.K. guy; it sounds like you are on top of the problem. Give a yell if you need some help when the party starts."

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

Seshawn and his "Rent-A-Thugs" had arrived early Friday to try to get into the house. Just a close look at the house told them that they were not going to break in easily. Instead they arrived mid evening on Friday. My outside motion detectors spotted them and turned on the small lights next to the sidewalk that leads to the front door. From the delay in their arrival at the door it appeared that the lights spooked them a bit.

When they got to the front door they tried to just walk in and found that the door was locked. Then they tried the doorbell.

On the closed circuit t.v. I could see them jump when my voice answered the door on the little speaker that they had not noticed.

"Hello, I can't come to the door right now, but I'll unlock it so that you can wait inside. I'll be with you in a couple of minutes."

I buzzed them in.

The four of them walked into the foyer. What they saw was a nice room with half a dozen chairs around the edges of the room and a flight of stairs that went up somewhere. The room was nicely appointed with paneled walls and Berber carpet. They walked in and the door shut behind them.

I phoned for the police at this point. I told them that they didn't have to hurry; I had things under control.

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

Jody was sitting beside me in my den. She was shaking nervously.

"Don't worry sweetheart, the bad guys can't get to you. Keep watching you are going to see them become much more frightened than you are."

She looked at me but her eyes were saying that she didn't completely believe me.

I hit the microphone button again and spoke to them.

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

"I'm sorry I can't join you, and your associates, at the moment Mr. Brown. Please sit down and enjoy your wait for the police. In the case of Mr. Brown I believe that the FBI will be picking him up since he is an interstate fugitive at the moment, aren't you Seshawn?"

The shocked look on their faces quickly was replaced by a mad dash to the front door. They discovered that it was locked. Seshawn took out a pistol and shot at the lock and was surprised when the bullet didn't penetrate the "wooden door". Rapidly two of the others tried to force the door while two others ran to the doors from the foyer into the house. They discovered that those doors were made of as good a material as the front door was.

One of them ran up the stairs and tried to force open the doors up on the top landing. Again, the doors didn't budge.

"What are you doing man? We just came in to talk to you. Why are you treating us this way?

By this point Jody had a large smile on her face. I keyed the mike again, "Well, for starters you mistreated my little girl, second you murdered a perfectly good cop. Third, if you had forced your way into my house you would all be dead by now. How's that for a reason.? What do you say to that Seshawn?"

"Man, you've got it all wrong. That cop was trying to kill me, it was self defense. As for your little girl do you want me to tell you what she's been doing for me? Do you want to know all the things we've done to her? She may have been innocent at one time but now she's just a two bit whore."

"Seshawn, I suggest you shut up regarding my daughter or I'm going to make it unpleasant in there. You have no idea what you have walked into."

"Oh, shut up man, you can't do anything to us."

I grinned at Jody and told her "watch this".

I pushed a button on a remote control box on my desk and adjusted the dial to one (out of ten).

At first nothing seemed to be happening. Then Seshawn and his hoods started to take off their coats and hats.

"Hey man, it's getting hot in here. What did you do?"

"Nothing compared to what I could do. Do you want me to heat the room up for you a little bit more?"

"You're bluffing man, you probably just turned on the furnace."

I turned the knob very briefly to four and then back down to one. The men could be seen to be screaming in pain. And then just breathing hard.

"Again, do you want me to heat the room up for you?"

"No, man, what are you going to do with us."

"Ah, you're talking sensibly now. First, do you see that little metal door on wall under the stairs?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"First you will all open the door and drop your guns into the slot in the box. Second you will strip naked. Third you will all put on the handcuffs that are on the hooks in the box."

"Go to hell! No way on earth we're going to do that."

I, again turned the knob up, but to five this time, and then back to one again. This time they were all screaming in pain.

"Are you sure you want to tell me to go to hell? I can send you there permanently if you want. I can bring you up to the point where you will start to see your own flesh start to cook and then char. Or, I can remotely kill all of you. What is your choice?"

"O.K. man, what did you want us to do again?"

"Let me ask you a question Seshawn. Now that you know I can kill you, remotely, if I want; why did you kill that cop?"

"Hey man, I had to find the girl. That was the only way to do it."

"Just that simple, huh? If you need an address, just kill someone?"

The men were quiet then.