Just a walk in the Woods - Ep5
Dafydd and Sarah continue their stay at the cabin, thinking over a bad case.
I woke up and my treacherous mind pulled me right back into where I had left off the previous evening. Sarah was still asleep on my shoulder and I didn't want to wake her so I just stared at the ceiling and let my mind go where it wanted, back into the basement where I urgently needed information from the badger we'd captured the previous night.
"So Dale. Let's have a little chat about that operation we took down last night. Before we start I need to give you some important information. You need to listen very carefully because it makes a huge difference to how likely you are to survive this. Got that?"
He nodded and started to open his muzzle. I held up a finger with the claw fully extended and he froze.
"I can see you're starting to get it. For this part I'm talking and you're listening. You'll get the chance to talk all you want later. I am going to ask you questions and if you cooperate and answer them as fully as you can you will leave this room undamaged and alive. If you do not cooperate then I'm going to hurt you. Once we cross that line there's no going back. I won't stop until I'm certain that I have all the information you can give me and even if you do get out of here still breathing you'll be leaving a few pieces behind. To quote the movie 'they will be pieces you will miss' - are we clear on that?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Now, of course I'm hoping you'll cooperate but I'm going to have to be prepared for the possibility that you won't. You can start demonstrating cooperation by doing as you're told, right now. Get on your hind-paws, cub-fucker." I allowed myself a smile that never reached my muzzle as he struggled to stand upright even as he started protesting.
"Hey, I never touched any of 'em. I didn't even want to run that trade, the drugs were profit enough for me but it wasn't my call."
"You stayed with the outfit running that trade and you helped pass them on to those who would do more than touch them so yeah, as far as I'm concerned you are, and always will be, a shitty little cub-fucker who really deserves to die slowly. Now I'm in a position to see that you do, so make it worth my while for that not to happen, ok?"
I put a hook on the chain between his wrists and hauled it up to an eyebolt in the ceiling until he was forced to stand up straight with his hands over his head. Extending a single claw I ripped the front and back of his shirt top to bottom and let the pieces hang from his arms.
"So, first question. Where do you get the kids?"
"Mostly they arrive by plane. Always the same two bring 'em. There's a warthog goes by Akanni - he's the pilot. The muscle and cargo guy is a fucking huge rhinoceros, looks like he eats barbells as snacks. He goes by Eboagu. Don't know if those are their real names but their accents are Nigerian. Every drug run has at least one or two kids with it."
"What about this one?" I held up a photo of Anne Willis.
"She was brought in by the boss one evening. Dunno where he got her but he's only done that twice before. Both of the others were a snatch to order. Somebody wanted something specific and he went out and got it."
"Who was she for?"
"No idea, man. She was picked up a couple days ago. The boss took her out himself."
"Kparsi."
"Yeah."
"Tell me about him."
"Shit, man, I can't... If you don't kill me he'll never stop hunting me." I hooked a claw into the waistband of his pants.
"You've got about 30 seconds before the first thing I take is your balls. I'll crush 'em before I cut 'em off. Work with me here and you walk out able to run from Kparsi, in here you can't run from me. Your choice."
"He's a mandrill. Older guy, most of his fur is white. Drives a tricked out F150 pickup. No idea where he lives but it aint in the cities. Nobody on the streets here knows jack about him. Knife dude but he carries a nickel plated Desert Eagle too. That's all I know, I swear!"
"Keep your nuts. This time. Next time the stakes go up a bit."
I watched him sweating there for a few seconds before moving on to my next line of questioning. Somehow we had to track down this Kparsi guy and maybe put him where Dale was now to get the right information.
"So, tell me about the drugs - I know you're more into that side of the business than the cubs. I want to know who you are selling to and how the money is handled."
"Anyone the boss vouches for, we hand them the goods. The boss turns up and pays us later."
"I want names, Dale. All of them you can remember. You already proved you know the streets here, who are you supplying?"
He reeled off a list almost faster than I could write them down but one name leaped out at me. Red Freddie. I knew this lowlife real well, he was a descendant of the old Irish mob that used to pretty much own Minneapolis and he had ambitions to get it all back. Better yet, he owed me. Bigtime.
I kept grilling Dale over the next couple of hours, filling in details and cross checking. He'd kept his side of the deal I offered now it was my turn to honor mine.
"Ok, Dale. I'm going to put this bag on your head and let you down. Then I'm going to drive you out to a small town in Wisconsin. Once I let you go it's up to you to vanish. You know that if Kparsi finds you it isn't going to end well. If your path and mine ever cross again, if I even find a hint you're anywhere in something I'm involved with, I'll put a price on your hide so high that everyone in five states will be looking to turn you into a rug. Got me?"
"Yeah.. Got ya. It's a fair deal."
"I keep my word, you'd better keep yours. Disappear, Dale. Vanish as thoroughly as you can, because if I get one sniff of your foul ass again, anywhere in the world, I swear on my life I'll fucking bury it."
It was early evening when I rolled back into the garage at home. Sarah and Adam were at the kitchen table and Caroline was zonked out on the couch. They'd obviously had a full day. Both adults turned around and looked at me as I walked in. It was Sarah broke the silence.
"Well?"
"Bad news, the boss kept himself distant from this crew and Anne was a snatch to order he handled himself. Good news, one of the contacts the boss deals with directly is Freddie Monahan."
"And the badger?"
"Gone. How, you don't want to know."
_Sarah sighed and snuggled a little closer as she slowly woke up. We lay there in the early morning light for a few more minutes until I rolled myself out of the bed and started breakfast. There was sausage in the solar-powered freezer and I scrambled that with eggs, veggies and beans before wrapping the mix in a tortilla. By the time I was done, the coffee pot was too. I turned around to see Sarah watching me with a huge grin on her muzzle.
"See something you like?"
"Just waiting for Murphy's law to hit the guy making a mostly fried breakfast without a stitch of clothing."
"My fur is a little denser than yours and I wasn't looking at you so no danger of any tender skin being exposed."
"Well, you sure were concentrating - your phone's been sounding off for the last five minutes."_
"Shit. Throw it over?"
I grabbed the phone as she tossed it across the room. As I suspected there was only a reply to my late night email. Fortunately it was the reply I wanted to see. I made a mental note to hit my mailbox right after we got back to the cabin.
After breakfast, we walked the back trail a lot slower than we had run it the afternoon before. I guess we both needed time with our own thoughts. About half way back I froze, focused on a rabbit in the pathway. I resisted the impulse to pounce as it bounded away. Sarah had caught the twitch in my muscles.
"Was that bunny nearly supper?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, catching food for your mate. You must be serious about me after all."
We both laughed, the grim mood temporarily broken.
"Hey Freddie"
As he turned to get away from Sarah's voice he ran straight in to me.
"Probably not your best move, Freddie."
"Aww, shit. What the fuck did I do to get the pair o' youse gobshites on my arse?"
"You bought from somebody that's on our shit list, Freddie. We want him."
"We can deal if you want. I buy from a lot of guys. Who you after?"
"Kparsi."
"Crap, man. He's really bad news. Got the purest stuff though."
"Not any more. We just took down his hub. Did you know he was cub-smuggling through the same place?"
"Fuck, no! I had no idea he was into that shit."
"Didn't think you did, Freddie. However, you're a good catholic boy and I know what Father McGee would say about you being linked to a cub-smuggler. You want to give up that shit now or later after we fuck up your entire crew?"
"Dafydd, you're not saying.. "
"Yep. Sorry Freddie but this time I am. You give me everything you and your guys know about this dude or I bury them all. No do-overs, no second chances. I want him and I'm going to get him with or without your help... and after I talk to McGee, not one of them will ever rest in consecrated ground."
"Yer shittin' me..."
"Fuck, no. McGee is a kiddy-fiddler himself. He'd cut your guys loose to fall straight into Hell if he thought it would get the spotlight off himself. He's a bishop already and up for a cardinal's hat in the next few years. You think he'd give that up?"
"Shit."
"Yeah."
"Ok, I give, Dafydd. I don't want you destroying my entire crew, and I know you could."
"I want Kparsi, and I want you to tell me where he is or how I can set him up. We'll handle the rest."
"He lives in a big place in Brooklyn Park. I've been there once."
"Address. Then fuck off out of my city until this has had a chance to cool down some."
Sarah and I were back in our blacks, back in the tactical rig. Kparsi's place was not going to be an easy nut to crack. We'd been watching it a few hours and finally had a feel for where his security patrolled, how often and where the cameras were. We had a real limited time to get in if we wanted to do it before anyone started noticing gaps in the security coverage. Right now there was a guard a few feet from me where I huddled under the bush in Kparsi's front yard. I needed to wait for him to be looking away from me at the same time as he was out of view of the camera that swept this area every 30 seconds. I'd had at least two marginal opportunities in the last fifteen minutes but I was prepared to wait for the right one. Eventually my patience was rewarded and I was out of the bush, grabbing the guard and slamming my paw into his throat, putting him out as I dragged him backwards to the hedge line where Sarah was waiting. He was still struggling as we vanished into the thicker cover, but that didn't last long.
With the guard safely down I returned my attention to the house while Sarah searched him. I turned my head hearing a few ripping noises. Sarah wasn't leaving the guy free enough for an easy search. He was trussed up with zip ties like a chicken but that didn't stop her. She was using her claws to methodically shred his clothes and simply going through what spilled out.
"Jackpot, Dafydd."
She held up two items. An access badge and a radio with an earpiece and lapel mic. I rummaged in my belt kit and grabbed the two leads I needed to plug the bad guy's radio into the secondary connections of my own gear. Thank the gods for standard connectors!
"Ok, we'll have less than fifteen seconds to make it from here to being flat against that wall, outside the cameras view."
"Shouldn't be a problem."
It wasn't. Our target was to the right along the same wall, where a balcony sat outside a darkened window. Right next to it, a downspout had looked climbable but didn't feel too sturdy when I tested it. I looked up at the balcony, mentally judging how far out from the wall I'd have to step to have a chance of getting a hook onto it, then Sarah rested her paw on my shoulder.
"I'm a lot lighter than you. I'll give it a try." I boosted her up on my shoulders so she'd have less far to climb then leaned against the downspout to stabilize it and looked up as I felt her weight lift.
"Bet you wish I was wearing skirts right now"
"Can't blame a guy for admiring the view."
"Keep your mind on the job, you filthy old lech."
I did have one nervous moment and tensed to catch her, but she made it to the balcony ok. She dropped me a rope and I went up the easy way. Both of us settled into the shadows and started examining the sliding door that led onto the balcony. I was betting this house was wired more thoroughly than Nixon's office ever was so I could pretty much guarantee that there would be a sensor that would trigger if I simply opened the door or pried it off its rails. Sarah and I started plastering the window with tape. When we'd done the best we could, I fished a spring-loaded center-punch out of my pocket and cracked the glass, the tape sagged but held firm.
Pulling on some work gloves, we carefully started removing broken pieces of glass from the frame, carefully laying them down to avoid the telltale sound of them falling and shattering. You'd be amazed how far away you can hear that sound. It seemed to take forever, but checking my watch it had been less than four minutes after we'd broken the glass until we were able to step through into the darkened room.
A few bucks in the paw of a mouse that worked in the building permits office at city hall had got me the drawings from when the master bedroom was remodeled a year ago. It was two doors down from the room we were in. I slid a borescope under the door and stared looking around for cameras. Didn't spot any. Carefully opening the door I looked down the hall. There was the light switch, about three feet away. I flipped it and the hall went dark. I quickly pulled the switch plate while Sarah crouched beside me, gun up and covering the darkened hall. Three wires. That means there's at least one other switch somewhere controlling these lights. I snipped all three, making sure these lights wouldn't be coming back on tonight.
The master bedroom wasn't locked or bolted, so we quietly slipped inside. Once were in we did bolt the door. Didn't want any interruptions.
Snoring in the bed was Kparsi himself, a heavy-set Mandrill, and a couple of feline women. When I prodded him awake, he had a nice view of the suppressor on my pistol two inches from his left eye. He obligingly froze.
"Good lad. Now let's be clear on one thing. If you or the girls try anything, hit any panic buttons or shout for help, do anything at all apart from what I tell you to do, you die first. If by some chance you do manage to take me down, my partner over there hoses down the entire room with automatic fire. Got that?"
"You're dead meat, man."
I snarled inside my ski mask.
"So are we all, sooner or later. Are you really all that anxious for it to be sooner for you?"
The two women were starting to stir and as they began to sit up and saw me, Sarah chimed in from by the door.
"Just stay put ladies. We've got no interest in killing you but that won't stop us if you cause any problems." I think they could tell she was deadly serious, because they did as they were told.
"You. In that chair." I backed off a little so I could keep my gun on him and not block Sarah's lines of fire. He did as he was told, but couldn't stop running his mouth. I put up with it for now because we wanted him to talk after all.
"I'll find you. Whatever it takes I'll find you and kill everyone you care about before doing you. I might even make you watch, fucker... "
I ignored him and handed the nearest woman a pair of zip ties, without taking my eye or my aim off Kparsi.
"Put these on your friend here. Wrists behind the back and ankles. Do it right, because if I have to tighten them I won't be gentle about it... Good girl. Now this one on your own ankles." As soon as she was done, Sarah switched her aim from covering the room to focus on Kparsi.
"On target."
That freed me to turn my attention to the woman who still had her wrists free.
"Ok, you know what happens now. Give me your wrists." I secured her wrists, checked all the ties and then linked wrists to ankles on both of them, leaving them hogtied on the bed. To spare what little modesty they had left, I dropped a sheet over 'em. It served the additional purpose of preventing 'em from seeing anything more of what happened in the room.
"You can stop blustering threats anytime you like Kparsi. Your op in this town is blown and you've started to attract attention from some very nasty folk indeed. If I were you I'd start worrying about my own hide instead of fantasizing about what you'd like to do to mine. I've been threatened by experts and frankly you're beginning to bore me."
"What the fuck do you want?"
"Anne Willis."
"Don't know her."
I slowly unscrewed the suppressor from my gun and holstered it before continuing. I reached up to where the katana was strapped to my back and slowly drew it. For some reason he seemed to find that a little more intimidating than the gun.
"Let me refresh your memory, you cub-smuggling turd. Malamute girl you snatched to order and delivered to somebody recently."
"Shit, man, she's long gone. Probably been starring in her own live stream more than once by now..."
He trailed off and squirmed back in his seat as I rested the point of the katana between his legs.
"You sold her to somebody making cub porn. Who and where?"
"Wolf named Daniel. Duluth. All I know, man!"
"Not enough. Start by describing this wolf..."
Kparsi was nearly shitting himself with fear at this point. He couldn't answer me fast enough. Daniel was a wolf he's dealt with before, recognizable by a distinctive white streak down one side of his muzzle. The meets always take place in Duluth, at different places in town. He always contacts Kparsi from a different email address, using a code phrase to authenticate the message. Kparsi has no way to initiate contact with him. I got the list of where they had met, the last two email addresses he'd used and the numbers of the last two burner phones he'd used too before Kparsi's memory ran dry. I checked my watch. There was just under half an hour before the guard we'd taken down was due to go off shift.
"Ok, Kparsi. Time for us to leave."
"Watch your back motherfucker. You'll regret the next time we meet, I swear."
Enough was enough. Time to send a little message.
"Yeah, I probably will regret it if we meet again. Because the only place I'll see you again is in Hell." The katana came round in a flat arc, neatly separating his head as I stepped smartly back out of range until the body stopped spouting. We left the same way we'd arrived, in silence. I left his head propped up on the dresser, with his severed genitals stuffed in its mouth.
As we drove away Sarah was the first one to speak.
"That was a little extreme, even for you, but I have to say I approve."
_After we got back to the cabin, Sarah headed straight for a shower and a change of clothing. I walked up the path to the mail box and as I had hoped, there was a hand-delivered package in there. Attached to it was a note.
'Here you go, Dafydd. As we discussed last week. I had to make a minor change to the design to correct a weak point but I trust you'll approve. Drop me an email if it's ok and I'll send the bill to your office. - Donna.'_
I stuffed the package in my pocket and hurried back down the path. Sarah liked to take long showers. If I was lucky I might be in time to join her.
To be continued...