I accessed the video surveillance of my loft on my Television.. Four goons came in guns drawn searching my apartment. I am almost insulted that there are only four but since it will make this easier on me and I really am tired, I decided not to be offended. My phone popped up a question with a green yes and a red no. Do you want to initiate Sleep Protocol? I waited a beat to make sure no more were coming in then I hit the green button. A metal sheet came down sliding into the door jam of the front door as well as the door leading to the stairs to access the roof. As soon as the room was sealed the stove released nitrous oxide into the room. It is colorless and odorless so they did not see the danger until it was too late and they lay unconscious all over my floor. At that moment, I was very pleased that I chose to spend my money on the security of the place rather than the decor.
I stared at the four bodies on the screen. I probably should have thought this through more. I wonder how much they each weigh. I wonder how I am going to get them out of my space. I wonder where I should put them to send a message-not a I'm-starting-a-war-with-you message but more of a stop-bothering-me-it-is-a-waste-of-both-our-times message.
I went down the stairs making use of the gas mask I had stashed in the cabinets up on the roof. I decided to put two of them at the front door of the warehouse that is in the alley beside my place. That should not be too hard to get them there. I was wrong. These guys were solid and big and it is worth saying again-solid. Using a tarp and a pulley system off my "balcony" I managed to get them both lowered to the ground. After disconnecting the outside camera, I used two skateboards to roll the bodies one by one down the alley. I zip tied their hands and feet and leaned them up against the door.
The other two I decided to take to the safehouse that Suit and I were held in earlier. I am sure the police would love a reason to enter the premises. The problem was I did not have the Rover. Even if I wanted to go get the Rover, I would have to deal with the car bomb and that was just too much right now. I pulled out my phone.
Me: Hey girl, can I borrow your car?
Sally: Sure, do I want to know why you need my car?
Me: It is better if you don't
Sally: If you get blood on my car you are paying for it to be detailed.
Me: Deal.
I looked down at my attire. Great! Now I have to get dressed again. I decided on black combat pants and a black long sleeved t-shirt. I pulled my hair down from the messy bun and put it in a ponytail. I got my motorcycle boots on, checked my glock, added a clip, grabbed my stun gun and then called Tank down from the roof.
I jogged over to the Golden Dragon. When I walked in Sally gave me a once over and then threw her keys at me. I nodded and headed back out the door. Like I said earlier, great customer service. I pulled the car into the alley and lowered the final two goons down like I did the first two. They were too big to put in her trunk and I could not lift them by myself so I just shoved them in the back seat. I am pretty sure they will both have some bruises from that journey. Tank jumped in the front and we took off to the safe house. I didn't pay that much attention in our earlier flight so I drove up and down the street until I saw something familiar. The driveway went beside the house back to a detached garage set back on the property. I backed in as far as I could.
I looked at the goons, they were still out cold for now. I jumped out and shut the door to Sally's Camry as quietly as I could. I approached the back door like I owned the house. No lights were on, that is a good sign for me right now. I turned the knob in the off chance that it was unlocked. No such luck but not a huge deterrent. I pulled out my tools and made quick work of the lock opening the door slowly listening for an alarm beep to let me know if I needed to put in a code or not. I heard the tell-tell beep. I found the panel quickly and put in the usual ---1-2-3-4, That did not work. I thought back to what might be important to Mikey. We graduated in 2011 so I tried that --also a no go. I had one more chance and 15 seconds. I panicked and put in 1111 and the code worked. I let out a short surprised laugh. "That was easier than I thought." I said to Tank. After much struggle I had the two goons on the couch not zip tied but rather casually sitting as if they were watching TV. I decided to turn on the TV to a soccer game. I went to the refrigerator and pulled out two beers, popped the tops off and poured half of each into the sink. Then I got four more bottles out and completely poured their contents down the sink. I placed the empties on the coffee table and put the half full bottles in the hands of the goons. I looked and my handiwork then picked up one of the bottles and poured some beer on their lips and dribbled it down the front of their shirts. That should do it. Tank and I reset the alarm, well Tank did not do that part, and locked the door. We drove a few blocks down the street then I pulled out a burner cell and called 9-1-1. I waited for the operator then in a ditzy female voice I said, " OMG! OMG! I think I just saw a dead man get carried into a house." then I made a crying sob sound.
"Calm down miss, where are you?" the operator said in a very soothing voice.
"I'm on a street." I answered. I can't give too much information or appear to be in any way intelligent in case they try to track down the good citizen. I imagined the operator grinding her teeth but she kept her voice very even and non judgemental. This woman needed a raise.
"What is your name?" She asked.
"Oh no no no no. I don't want to tell you my name. What if they find out who called and come after me?" I said in a slightly hysterical voice.
"It's okay. You don't have to tell me your name, honey. Can you tell me what street ?" She asked.
"I, uh, it's Ellis Ave."
"Do you know the number of the house on Ellis Avenue where you saw the man being carried?"
"Oh Gosh, I don't know. It was 2650 something, maybe one or four." I said still in my frantic scared ditzy voice. "Oh gosh, what if they see me. I gotta get out of here." I said and disconnected. I opened my car door and dropped the phone on the ground then smashed it with my foot. Then I bent down to pick up the pieces. I drove another block until I found a house with hedges. I dug a hole in the hedges and buried the smashed phone.
I arrived back at the Golden Dragon about an hour after I had snagged the keys from Sally. I wiped her car down and sprayed some smelly-good stuff in it.
Sally being the amazing person she was or maybe she just valued privacy, took her keys with only a raised eyebrow. She then held out a carryout container to me.
"Wontons." she said with a smile. "It seemed like you might need some tonight as well."
I smiled back as I took the container. "You are not wrong, sista. You are not wrong at all."
I was thankful I remembered to run the "clean air" protocol when I left earlier so there was no chance of me being knocked out when I entered. As I was unlocking my door yet again, I heard a knocking sound.
Troy: Where are you?
Me: At home eating wontons.
Well that was almost true, it would be completely true in less than five minutes so I did not consider that a lie.
Troy: How long have you been there?
Dang. I did not want to answer that question truthfully at all. I decided to give a bit of information and let Troy infer the rest.
Me: Idk, since I left the bond office.
Troy: So you have nothing to do with the call that just came in over 9-1-1?
Nothing? He is making this tricky.
Me: What 9-1-1 call
I decided to play dumb.
Me: I have been watching TV.
Me: Trying to avoid all men
Me: I have less than 2 hours to go
Dots moved then stopped. I smiled. Crisis averted.
I had once again dressed for sleep and was sitting on my bed reading a book waiting for the time to tick down. It was 11:15 pm when I heard my front door open. I looked at my phone, there was no security breach warning. It could only mean one thing. No, no, no. not yet anyway. I closed my book and put it on the night stand then rolled to my stomach and pretended to be asleep. Maybe he would see me sleeping and leave. I heard soft footsteps coming closer then the bed dipped. I felt his hand on my hip and his lips at my ear.
"I know you are not asleep." A familiar voice said. So much for that plan.
"Go away. Just because I am not asleep does not mean I don't want to be asleep." I said into the pillow. He put his hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. He locked his laser blue eyes on me and then bent his head to kiss me. Lost in the tracker beam of his look, I let him. He was a good kisser. A really good kisser. We were getting into it when I decided to roll on top of him. He was barely on the bed since I sleep in the middle so when I rolled over him we kept going and landed on the floor. I let out a yell as my head hit the corner of the end table on my way down. I also heard Suit let out a hiss as he landed on top of me. His ribs were still tender I guessed. I lifted my hand to my head checking the severity of the bump. My hands encountered wet and sticky. Suit turned on the bedside light and let out a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush. He grabbed my head and looked at the damage.
"Um, Jones. You are going to need stitches or staples or whatever they do to head wounds these days."
"Forty-five minutes!" I yelled and winced. "All you had to do was wait 45 minutes."
"Get. Off. ME." I punctuated each word as I pushed at his shoulders. He got off me and went to the bathroom coming back with a rag. He helped me up and dove me to the emergency room.
He did not drop me off and leave as I did to him earlier. He was annoyingly attentive.
Clara the nurse on duty saw me and looked at her watch. "You almost made it." She stated. I just glared at Suit.
We were sitting in an exam room after I came back from a CT scan waiting for the doctor to come close the wound on the back of my head that was now madly throbbing.
"Clint." Suit said out of the blue.
I looked at him confused. "What?" I asked.
"Clint. My name." he said. "I figured you should know it." I started laughing.
"Did they give you pain meds?" he said looking worried at my reaction.
"Not yet." I laughed some more. "Your name." I paused laughing again. "Is Clint Westwood." I doubled over laughing again. I am pretty sure it was not as funny as I was making it out to be but I was tired, I had just hit my head. "Your mom has a great sense of humor." I said.
"You just made my day." I said dissolving into laughter again.