The Girl from the Ouachita Ch. 07

When the first officer entered the room he saw the barrel of a gun being sighted on him from beyond the bed; he immediately aimed and fired twice, striking the gun wielder in the chest; the pistol fell out of his hands onto the floor.

The other officer left Chris and entered the bedroom. He surveyed the situation, checked his partner, and then checked Jo's pulse. He pulled a sheet up to cover her, and returned to Chris.

The third officer came out of the other bedroom, said there were three men and a woman inside, and that all were unconscious. He keyed the communication device on his shoulder, gave a report, and asked about the location of the EMTs. When told they were a few minutes out, he urged all possible speed.

Chris spoke up. "As I said, I'm Chris Alexander, the homeowner. The woman in this room is my girlfriend, Jo Kennedy. My sister Donna is in the other bedroom and our friend Kate Ellison is downstairs; they all live her.

"I flew in from Denver earlier tonight. When they hadn't returned home from a fraternity Halloween party by the time they told me they would, I called each and got voicemail. I called for an Uber so I could go look for them. I began walking to the gate to meet the driver, but two cars arrived and entered the property so I walked back toward the house. As I was walking, I saw the boys drag Jo out of my Jeep and carry her into the house.

"They were loudly talking about what they were going to do with her, so I knew she was in danger.

"The other boys pulled Donna, my sister, and Kate out of the other car and half-drug, half-carried them into the house. The first group had entered the house without disabling the security, so the contact, Rick, called me. I stayed in the shadows to make a report, and heard my contact told by the 9-1-1 operator that it would be ten minutes or so before police could get here.

"Having heard what the boys planned, I knew ten minutes was too long, so I armed myself with the club and pistol, which I keep in the barn. I entered the house, incapacitated the two rapists molesting Kate, and proceeded up the stairs. The security cameras showed Donna was already being raped, so I went into that room first and incapacitated the three perpetrators without any problems.

"When I entered Jo's room, I was able to quickly disable the nearest rapist with the club, and I hit the naked man on the bed with the butt of the pistol. He fell off, but was still conscious. The man at her head, who was trying to rape her mouth, held a knife; I ordered him to drop it, and he did.

"The fourth man reached into a pair of pants laying on the floor near him and pulled out a pistol. When he trained it on me, I shot him in the shoulder. Had he been farther away I would have shot him twice in the chest, as I was trained, but since he was so close, I felt confident I could shoot him in the shoulder and minimize damage.

"The one I knocked off the bed grabbed the gun off the floor and aimed it at me, so I shot him in the near shoulder. He dropped the gun, so I waited for you guys to get here.

"I know you have your cameras recording, so you have my statement, freely given. The security footage will verify everything I've said, and my contact, Rick, is prepared to provide a copy upon your request. I have already given permission for the release of the security video and audio.

"Now, please release me and let me check on Jo, my sister, and Kate. I'm not a threat, and I'm sure you know that by now!"

The three men exchanged looks and nods, and his handcuffs were removed. He hurried into Jo's room, checked her pulse and breathing, and then did the same to Donna and Kate. Only Kate showed signs of coming around; the condition of the other two had not changed.

Sirens could be heard coming closer, and then the house was flooded by red and white flashes joining the blue and red of the police cars. In all, six ambulances responded, taking up all of the parking area.

****

The three women and the two men who had been shot were examined and transported to the nearest ER. The remaining seven men were revived, examined, and tested for signs of concussion. Three were deemed to be more seriously concussed. They were handcuffed and transported to the ER in the back of one of the six police cars that were now on scene, along with a CSI van.

Chris wasn't allowed to leave until the lead investigator finished his preliminary examination, so he went outside to call his parents and then the Ellisons. It was just after 3 am in Texas and Tennessee, but he felt he needed to let them know. They were distraught, but Chris asked an EMT who had remained on site to speak to his parents about the girls. He assured them they did not consider their situations life threatening, but they would be carefully examined and tested.

His parents assured Chris they would be on the first available flight and would have the Becks pick them up. The told him to direct his concern to the girls and he agreed to keep them updated via texts.

The Ellisons were next. It was after 1 pm in Seattle, but Mrs. Ellison answered and greeted him by name immediately. He could hear noise, like a party, in the background. He began to describe the situation; she listened for a few seconds, said wait a minute, and screamed BE QUIET to the room. He heard her call Ed, and when it was quiet, she asked him to continue.

Given his new audience, he backtracked and retold the story, sticking to essential information only. When he finished, Ed said, "I don't know why you're in Fort Worth instead of Denver, but I thank God that you are always in the right place at the right time! We'll be on the plane within the hour, but we will have to fly way south to avoid the storm, so it will be awhile, Chris. You take good care of yourself and the girls until we get there!"

****

The girls had been given Rohypnol, which was slipped into their soft drinks while Kate was getting them at the bar. One of the boys distracted her while another added the roofies to their drinks. They fully intended to rape all three, repeatedly.

They knew that, because the knife wielder, facing multiple felony counts that would put him away for decades, told the police everything in hopes of some of the charges being reduced. When he spilled, three others asked for similar consideration, and they spilled. Among the four admissions, they felt they had the full story.

The boys were actually from a small college in Oklahoma that was infamous for providing "second chances" to troubled athletes. Eight of the men were playing football at the "outlaw school" after being kicked out of one or more colleges for disciplinary reasons.

The other was a rich kid who had attended TCU for the spring semester before flunking out. TCU was John Edward the Thirds fourth college in four years, but he was still classified as a freshman. He had unsuccessfully chased after Kate and Jo last spring, and remained determined to have them; Donna was just a pleasant addition.

As ringleader of the conspiracy, he had convinced the others come with him to carry out his plan. He provided the Rohypnol, and he put it into their drinks while one of the football players jostled and then apologized to Kate.

A gaggle of Daddy's lawyers showed up, but they encountered an irate judge, an immovable ADA, and an ironclad case, including audio and video of the crimes committed at the house. They responded by moving to suppress everything, which the judge quickly ruled against, and backed his opinion by citation of both law and recent court decisions. Third's attorneys then filed a civil lawsuit against Chris for everything they could think of.

With the financial backing of his parents and his employer, Chris' attorneys responded by suing John Edward the Third for everything they could think of, and by a myriad of discovery motions to unearth all the crap he had done since birth.

Daddy's money wasn't going to save his ass this time, anyway; the prosecution was out for blood, the judge was obviously unsympathetic, and the police had video, audio, drugs, fingerprints, admissions from his fellow perpetrators, and DNA. But the choke hold that ended the foolishness was Trey Beck's order to review every contract with Second's business for the purpose of cancelling all, or as many as legally possible, immediately, and to cease doing business with the company.

Since Daddy had a wholesale building supply company that did millions in business with Beck, and losing it would close his doors, the aggressive "not guilty" defense was stopped in its tracks, and the lawsuit against Chris was withdrawn.

J. E. III was released on $500,000 bail, and his father placed him in an alcohol and drug rehab center that included a program for sex offenders. When he got out, he pled guilty in consideration of a reduced sentence if he came clean about the crimes and apologized to the victims.

His apology was well rehearsed but unpersuasive to Chris, who quietly told John Edward the Third that he would be waiting to carry out the rest of his sentence when he got out of prison. The fury in his eyes caused III to blanch, which caused his guard to chuckle, wink at Chris, and say, "You know, they don't like rapists in prison. By the time he gets out, if he makes it out, he will have a very different outlook on forced sex!"

****

Jo and Donna remained confused and lethargic until Friday evening, but Kate came around that morning. With the parents and the Becks providing company and support at the hospital, Chris returned home Friday at five to check on the status of the investigation and the situation at the house. It was still surrounded by yellow and black tape, but the investigation was far enough along that he was allowed to get clothing for himself and the three girls -- with a police escort.

He returned to the hospital in his parents' rental Yukon, distributed the clothing, and sat with Jo, who was now lucid and smiling. She didn't remember much after they put on the costumes and drove to the party, and Chris didn't fill in many details beyond, "You three were drugged and brought to the house by a group of men from another college. I was there because we had to close the worksite due to a severe winter storm, and I was able to stop them from doing whatever they had planned to do to the three of you."

She knew that wasn't the full story, but her headache was still bad, she was still confused and sleepy, so she held his hand, said she loved him, and went back to sleep.

She awoke Saturday morning with a clear head, no headache, and a burning desire to know why she was in the hospital. Chris was having breakfast in the cafeteria with the Becks, but his parents, Kate, and her parents came in to check on her, and they told her the whole story.

She was flabbergasted by what had happened to them, given all the precautions they took, and astonished by her hero subduing nine men to save them. Kate's hero worship rivaled Jo's, and her parents weren't far behind.

Chris and the Becks stopped by to see Donna, but she was being examined by the doctor so they moved on to Jo's room. Kate and her parents assaulted him as soon as he came in, and offered up abundant thanks and praise.

Jo lay there with tears in her shiny emerald eyes until he broke free and came to her bed, and then she asked the question she had asked before, "So how many times are you gonna save me, Sir Galahad?"

"As many as it takes," he replied again, before kissing her.

Having been cleared by the doctor, Donna was pushed into the room in a wheelchair just in time to hear the question and answer. Ignoring the protest of her orderly, she vaulted out of the chair and wrapped Chris and Jo in a hug. "MY HERO!"

****

They gathered that night over a catered meal at the Becks home. After eating, they adjourned to the massive living room, where Ed Ellison reviewed the unlikely events that had resulted in Kate and Jo being saved from harm at Park City, and in Chris being in Fort Worth to save the three girls Thursday night.

Debora Alexander added the story of how Chris and Jo met, and Sandy Beck told the story of her mother and step family trying to kidnap her.

Ed Ellison listened, shaking his head repeatedly in astonishment. When Debora finished, Ellison said, "Chris, I'm not the most religious man, but there is something besides chance or good luck at play here! You are in the lives of these young ladies for a reason!"

Dan Alexander looked at his son with pride, and with a twinkle in his eyes said, "The odds, Son, the highly improbable odds! Las Vegas would laugh at the odds of all this happening!

"I'm afraid it's fate at work here, and fate is bigger and tougher than you. It might be time to accept your fate and move things along."

"And make me a grandmother!" Debora exclaimed.

****

If you're still following this story and care, the next chapter takes them all through the holidays and the first months of the pandemic.