Starting Over Pt. 07 Ch. 01

Starting Over VII, Chapter 1.

This is the seventh section of the continuing saga "Starting Over". In Part I, LTC (Retired) John Jackson had moved to Seattle after being widowed. He ran into some trouble and some decent people (okay, and a few strippers), while working towards getting his private investigator license. That took place between Sep and Dec 2012.

In Part II, he got involved in a ring trafficking in young women. The main perpetrators were captured, but the hired gun/enforcer slipped away. That took place in Apr and May 2013.

In Part III, which took place in 2013 and 2014, John managed to find the enforcer in Key West and was planning to kill him, but changed his mind. He really didn't know if he could kill someone in cold blood, but the man was living with a woman and had decided that he was retiring. John let him go with a promise to do intelligence work for him and returned to Seattle, where Maggie gave indications that she wanted a serious relationship. Then he used that enforcer from Key West to assist in capturing an assassin. The assassin had been hired to kill him and the detective who helped him break up a leg of a human trafficking chain.

In Part IV, it's 2019. John and Maggie couldn't work things out and now John was working on a case that, at first, involved someone who had assaulted Luke's wife Maria. John then had two men try to break into his apartment to attack him. The authorities caught the two men by tracking them to a strip club, but John got beat up by them before the police got there. When he woke, he found that Vanessa, his waitress at the strip club, was an undercover officer. There were several events that were taking place and it was being done by an anarchist group. However, funding for these events was tracked to someone in human trafficking in Singapore by a hacker that John found through Bob in Key West. He returned to Seattle with the information on a thumb drive, and the FBI and others started tracking him. Finally, the master of the human trafficking ring had his son try to soft sell John's daughter into visiting Asia with him, primarily to kidnap her. John found out, he and his buddies stopped it, and then John, feeling the rage, flew to Singapore and, with the backdoor assistance of a government person, was armed and killed both the leader and his son of this trafficking ring.

In Part V, Yvonne, the young hacker came to live with John. She had nowhere else to go and felt so alone during the pandemic that she was craving human interaction. She also admitted that she was attracted to John, even though there was 19 years difference in their ages. A bad guy was hired to hit him due to his involvement in some operations being run by a rogue CIA manager and some disenfranchised CIA members. John and company got them in the end and Yvonne got shot in the leg. She decided to stay with John.

Part VI involved a woman, going by the name Julie, who had been "hidden" by a woman called a "guide". She had been given a new identity and moved to Seattle to get away from a potentially fatal relationship. That was back in Tennessee. This led to the woman's guide, Dani, discovering that the brothers of the husband that Julie had killed, were running meth labs out of the woods of the land that Julie and her husband had owned. They were worried about losing the land and the labs. This ended up with the labs being pointed out to the FBI, and then one of the brothers and one of their dealers coming to Seattle to get revenge on John and the FBI agent in charge of the case back in Tennessee.

Recurring Characters

LTC (Retired) John Jackson, 5'11", 180, 55 years old.

Marie Jackson, John's dead wife, 5'8", 140, 44 years old, died 15 Jan 2012

Angelica Jackson (Angel), John and Marie's daughter, 5'5", 125, 28 years old.

Mary Bradford, bartender, 5'5", 120, 48 years old.

Margaret (Maggie) Bradford, Mary's sister, 5'6", 115, 44 years old.

Samantha (Sam) Walker, 5'6", 130 pounds, 48 years old, John's former neighbor.

Joyce Walker, Sam's daughter, 5'4", 120 pounds, 28 years old, and now an exotic dancer using the name Lily

Marion Walker, Sam's daughter, 5'4", 115 pounds, 26 years old.

SFC (Retired) Craig Smithson, 6', 190, 55 years old, NCO from John's Army unit.

Captain Jeff Smithson, 5'11', 185, 53 years old, SFC Smithson's brother and a captain in the Seattle Police Department.

Luke Cole, 5'10", 180, detective in the Seattle Police Department.

Maria Cole, 5'6", 135, Luke's wife.

Jeanne (aka Jasmine) Welch, 5'5", 110, 30 years old, exotic dancer.

Olivia, 5'4", 120 pounds, 30 years old, called Livy, exotic dancer.

Max Meridian (real name Harold Johnson), Mark's lead kidnapper and enforcer. Now changed his name to Bob Thomas and is married to Susan. They own and operate a bar in Key West.

Susan Thomas, Bob's new wife.

George Watson, a new member of the detective agency.

Vanessa Williams, 5'6", 130, detective in the Seattle Police Department.

Yvonne, 5'2", 105, illegal hacker who helped find the human trafficker who had funded the anarchists in Seattle.

Danielle (Dani) Parker, 5'8", 120, known as a "guide". She takes cases where an individual is in mortal danger and "hides" them by giving them new identities and teaching them how to lay low.

Benjamin Smothers, Deputy Director of the FBI.

Previously

---------------------------- Wednesday, October 13, 2021, Bradford House, Seattle, WA -----------

John arrived at the Bradford House at about 5:30pm. The birthday party for Maggie was supposed to start at 5pm so that most could make it home on a Wednesday night before it got too late. When John got there, there were probably about 20 people there. He walked out into the back yard and saw that it was set up similar to other parties he had been to here. There was a small table for smaller children to the right, a large table to the left with a bar and a table just past that with a birthday cake and some presents.

"John!" Mr. Bradford came over to John and shook his hand. "Good to see you. I understand that you and Maggie are on again."

John chuckled. "Yes, it looks that way. How are you?"

"Good, good. With the pandemic almost out of the way, things are looking up."

"That's nice. Is Maggie here somewhere?"

"Yes, but I think she went inside to talk to Mary about something."

"Mary doing well?"

"Yes, she is. Her latest relationship didn't last, but she is working hard and now owns that bar over by you."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. Oh! There they come now."

Mary and Maggie came strolling over. Maggie sidled up to John and gave him a nice, full kiss.

"Hello, baby." She grinned at him.

John chuckled. "Hello." He turned to Mary. "How are you doing, Mary?"

"Great. Business is booming and I appreciate your patronage."

"Well, it's a long 300-foot walk, so I try to make it often."

"Thanks. And good luck with this one, again." She poked at Maggie who gave her a playful scowl. "Gotta go."

Mary wandered off and Maggie took John around to introduce him to some of the folks he didn't know. She introduced him as her "friend". Most people took it correctly as meaning they were in a relationship.

The party went well and then Maddie showed up with friends. "John!"

Maddie ran over with her friends trailing her, and gave John a big hug. She turned to the others. "This is Mr. Jackson. He's my mom's boyfriend." And then she and the others were off to other things, probably worried about how they would look to boys. She was at that age.

The party was a success and John got home around 11pm, Maggie following him in her car. She came in with John and they were just starting to get ready for bed when John's cell rang.

"Hello?"

"John, need help, I5, Pilot Travel Center, exit 99. Please hurry." The phone disconnected.

John looked at the phone. The phone number was not in his list, but he thought he recognized the voice as that of Dani Parker, the guide. Whoever it was, they had called him for help, and they sounded like they were in major distress.

"Maggie, just got a distress call from Dani. She's down I5 south of here. I need to go get her. She sounded like she was in serious trouble." John was grabbing everything he needed as he headed toward the door.

Maggie stopped him. "I'm going, too."

John didn't have time to argue, so they left in a hurry, getting into his new Jeep. They took off down the road and John asked Maggie to call Luke, the detective that he worked with a lot.

She used John's phone to call because it was Bluetooth-connected to the vehicle.

"Hello?"

"Luke, it's John. I have a friend in some kind of distress south of here. My GPS says it's at Tumwater, the Pilot Travel Center. I'm thinking she may need medical assistance. I need to be able to take her to someone who will not report it. Can you help?"

"Roger. Will call you back."

John and Maggie exchanged looks as John blasted his way down I5 as fast as he dared without getting pulled over.

About 20 minutes later Luke called back. "I have a friend, Dr. Williams, who lives about 2 miles from you. I'm texting his name and phone number. He said to call 20 minutes before arriving and he will be waiting for you."

"Roger. Thanks. I owe you."

"Never, John. Never."

When John and Maggie got to the Pilot, they crossed over the highway and drove into it. They had discussed where Dani might have parked to stay inconspicuous, yet in a place where they could find her. They looked around. It was now midnight and they found a car that looked dirty and road weary parked in the last slot to the right of the entrance to the main facility. John parked next to it and gout out to look in the car.

--------------------------Thursday, October 14, 2021, Pilot truck stop off I5, south of Seattle, WA --------

It was her. John saw that Dani was curled up in the back seat, appearing to sleep. He rapped lightly on the window and she jumped, startled from sleep.

Dani reached over and pressed the unlock button and John opened the door. John had parked right next to this vehicle so that they were shielded from the main entrance. He leaned in and Dani gave him a wan smile.

"Sorry. I'm not doing well."

John took in the sight of her. She was dirty and bedraggled. As she sat up into more light, he could see her better; her face was bruised and her nose had been bleeding. She must have been beaten. Then she sat up and moaned. He could see now that she was barefoot and one foot had blood all over it. When she started to scoot over, he also noticed that she was holding a coat against her side and it was covered in blood.

John started helping her. "Are you shot?"

She seemed a little out of it, but answered. "Yes, right side, just below the ribs. Beat up, one toenail removed, and I believe that that toe is broken, too." She tried to grin, but it came out as more of a grimace. "But I'm tough."

"Yeah, not tough enough to avoid going to the doctor. I've got one set up in Seattle. We'll get you there soon. Can you stand?"

"No."

John asked Maggie to also get out. He then opened the back of the Jeep and grabbed the blanket he kept there. He threw it over the back seat. Then he and Maggie basically picked Dani up and got her onto the Jeep's back seat.

Maggie got into the back and John handed her the first aid kit. "Start helping her and I'll get whatever I can from this car."

Dani spoke again, groaning as she did so. "Used car I bought today, leave it. Suitcase and purse. Purse has two phones." Then she collapsed back flat against the seat.

John saw the suitcase in the back seat and the purse on the front passenger seat. He grabbed the suitcase, opened it in the back of the Jeep, and quickly, but methodically removed everything. He tried to see if there were any tracking devices in the few clothes and the money that Dani had in there. He emptied it into the Jeep and threw the suitcase back into Dani's junker.

John moved on to the purse. He took out the phones and shut them off. He then kept them and walked around to the driver's seat. "Stay here. Be right back." He walked into the convenience part of the store and bought a box of zip-locs and roll of Aluminum Foil. He went back to the car and wrapped both phones in one of the zip-locs and then several layers of foil. That should prevent any tracking of them of any kind. He dumped the rest of the purse out and verified there were no obvious tracking devices. He tossed the purse back into the junker, too. Then he made sure all the doors were closed and got in.

While John was in the convenience store, Maggie had manipulated the seat belts around Dani to provide some protection in the event of an accident and checked her more closely for her wounds. She had tried to apply some gauze to her wounds.

John got in the car. "Ready? Let's go."

John took off and tried to get back up I5 as fast as possible without getting stopped. It was almost 1am and they were just reaching the outskirts of Seattle. John had Maggie call the number Luke had provided and the doctor answered right away.

"Yes?"

"Luke told us to call. We have a woman who looks like she was tortured. She's been beaten, a toenail has been removed from her little toe and that toe looks like it was smashed with something, then she escaped and took a bullet to her right side just under the rib cage. It's only about an inch in from the side and I can see entrance and exit wounds. She's not bleeding badly from it."

"Your place, 20 minutes. Text me the address." And the doctor hung up.

Maggie looked at John as she took his phone and started texting John's address to the doctor's number. "That was interesting."

"We'll see."

They got to John's apartment almost exactly 20 minutes after the phone call. John parked and he and Maggie worked to get Dani out of the back seat. She was almost completely unconscious, only muttering at times.

Just as they reached the door to the apartment, a man walked up with a backpack. "Let me help you. I'm Doctor Smith."

He assisted John with carrying Dani and Maggie rushed ahead to open the apartment and then the door to the adjoining one. John and the doc carried Dani straight into the bedroom of the apartment. Maggie had stripped everything off the bed down to the sheets. They put Dani there.

The doc turned to the two of them. "Someone has to stay and assist."

Maggie volunteered. The doc nodded.

John started to leave. "Anything to drink?"

Maggie shook her head no, but the Doc asked for coffee, and said he would get it when he was finished tending to Dani's wounds.

John went next door to make some.

It was almost 45 minutes later when the Doc and Maggie came back. The doctor walked over, picked up a mug next to the coffeepot and poured himself a coffee. He then added two sugars. John just waited.

"So?" John finally asked.

The doctor took a sip of the coffee and then started talking. "She was beaten mildly about her face. No broken bones, just something to get her attention. That should heal in a few days. Her right pinky toe had the nail removed and then was struck with something like a mallet. I don't think there are any broken bones, but it looks like the joint is sprained and the nail will take a while growing back. The gunshot wound turned out to be very minor. It was a through and through just between the major organs and it didn't hit the pleural sac. That will also heal, but it will probably take a couple of weeks."

"Do you have anything to give her for the pain or infection?"

The doctor pulled his backpack around front. "I have some Tylenol's with codeine and some penicillin, but nothing major. She'll have to do with the codeine." He pulled out two bottles and put them on the table.

"She's tough. I'm sure she'll recover fine." John stared at the doc. "And your fee is?"

"A favor. I'll need a favor some time and I will call on you for it. It won't be a simple, easy one."

"That's fine. I'm used to complicated and difficult."

"Yeah, Luke said so."

"Okay, Doctor Smith, anything else?"

"No. Oh, and my name is not Smith, but you will not know the real one unless I need that favor."

"Agreed." John didn't mention that Luke had called him Doctor Williams.

The doctor turned and left. John turned to Maggie. "How you doing?"

"I'm good. But I'm going to stay in the other room with Dani until tomorrow. Okay? I want to keep an eye on her."

"Good idea." John walked over and kissed Maggie. "Interesting birthday, huh?"

"Yeah, but that was yesterday. Most of this has been today." She grinned and turned. "I'll see you tomorrow."

John watched her go and then turned and left. He really needed some sleep after this night.

It was about 6am and John had just gotten out of bed. He couldn't sleep just then and wanted to check on Maggie and Dani. He had just put his clothes on when someone knocked on the door. No, actually, it was more vigorous than that. It was almost pounding.

"Open up! Police!"

John frowned and shook his head. He was known to most of the police in the area, so he didn't think they'd act like this. He took his phone and looked at the video feed. Two large, bulky guys in suits were outside his door. They looked impatient.

As he was putting on his shoulder holster and then his rain jacket to cover it, the door to the adjoining apartment opened and Maggie stood there, looking disheveled.

At slightly more than a whisper, John said to her. "Call Luke now and tell him we have unwanted visitors pretending to be police. Then close the door to the other apartment so that they don't know it goes through. I'm going to see what they want."

John walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. He wanted them to see that. He waited until he knew that Maggie had completed her call to Luke and closed the door.

"Yes? What is this about?"

"Open up! Police!"

"Let me see your badges."

The one in front held up his badge. John couldn't read it, but it was obviously not like the Seattle badges he had seen.

John made sure the extra heavy safety chain he had installed was affixed and turned the deadbolt. He slightly opened the door. "What is this about?"

"Open up. This is a police situation."

"Let me see those badges again."

"Just open up, asshole. Resisting arrest can get dicey." He gave John an evil grin. Obviously, they had no idea who he was.

John thought about it. What should he do? Luke would take a few minutes to get here with any other policemen and these guys didn't look like normal policemen. Okay, time to play it a little straight. What could they want? Surely, they didn't know that he had picked up Dani, right? He had covered all the possible tracking devices. Unless they were able to ascertain something by the security cameras.

John closed the door and removed the chain. He opened the door and the two barged in rather rudely.

"I need to see your badges again."

The first one flashed it quickly. "There, you've seen it." He motioned towards the door that led to the bedroom and the second one went over there.

John started pushing back. "Hey, you can't just start looking around. You don't have a warrant. What are you doing here and what do you want? Oh, and by the way, I know that was not a Seattle police badge."

"Yeah? What else do you know? We are looking for a woman and her accomplices, who killed two police officers in Portland last night. We know you picked her up. Where is she?"

"Whoa, whoa. I have no idea what you are talking about." He noticed the second guy continuing to look around. "And you'd better stop looking around. I have no connection to what you are talking about, you guys are out of your jurisdiction, and you don't have a warrant. I suggest you leave immediately."

The first guy smiled. "Smart guy, huh? Well, we'll see about that. I want you both to turn around, put your hands on your head, and be prepared to be cuffed. We are taking you in."