Family Business

[Ron Caliburn]

I’m sure a few of you have figured out what I’ve been up to, but I’ll get some of you up to speed.

When I saw the way Sarah’s body had been cut up, I figured whoever did it had to be familiar with the Compound and their procedures. That immediately gave me two possibilities. One of those, I could only deal with by getting Hannah to a small list of people who could protect her. The other, I needed to get Hannah to protection while I went to neutralize the threat.

In either case I had to get Hannah out of DC in a hurry, fortunately I had some plans set up for just such a situation and off she went.

The next step was to find out which enemy I was up against. For that, I went and found that psychic who sometimes helps me in the Blight, Becky. After letting her check out the scene, she didn’t come away with anything conclusive.

I called Ted after I dropped Becky off and got him to start the legal process regarding the criminal investigation. Then I went to my office, packed my kit and got ready for the long drive in front of me.

My family doesn’t fly. We want to stay out of airports where security cameras might capture our faces. So, I figured that if the killers came from the compound, they would be going back by road. I also figured they would still be around for a few days, hoping to take a shot at me or to grab Hannah.

To keep their attention firmly focused in DC I hit the club that Wie, Willie and I busted up a couple years back. Also, knowing I’d be out of town for a while, I was hoping to give the local scum a good scare and make them keep their heads down for a while.

With that done, Mr. Fluffers and I piled into the RV and headed for Montana.

[Ron Caliburn]

I parked the RV a few miles from the compound, collected the kit I’d need and skied my way into the forest around the compound. My father had insisted that I be a good skier. A handful of men on skis were able to block the advance of the entire Soviet Army, so dad had been a firm believer.

It worked out in my favour, as I was able to pull enough gear to set up my hide and live there for nearly three weeks without having to go back to the RV. I was even able to bring enough food to keep Mr. Fluffers fed too.

The camouflaged hide I created was a lot further into the compound than the one I had used when we sprang Hannah. This was made possible by a few factors. First, the desertions from the compound the last couple years had left them understaffed, forcing them to reduce their perimeter. Second, when Robin Goodfellow had his rampage a while back he’d done some serious damage, especially to the outer perimeter. So, I had a few large gaps to go through.

Going in during a snowstorm also meant that I left no tracks behind and that my shelter was quickly covered by a layer of fluffy white camouflage.

I watched and I waited for about three weeks. I figured that I’d gotten back ahead of any team sent to DC. I wanted to figure out who had done the deed, since they would be at the top of my to do list.

After three weeks and still no sign, I figured either they’d gotten back before me, or the answers I needed were elsewhere.

I was going to have to go inside.

[Ron Caliburn]

I waited for a Sunday morning because that was when everyone would be in the chapel. This was important for a few reasons.

First, having everyone in one place meant I didn’t have to watch my back.

Second, only the day’s Sergeant at Arms was allowed to carry weapons in the chapel. That meant I only had to neutralize one potential shooter.

From my hide, it was pretty easy to observe everyone heading into the chapel. It was a new structure; apparently, its predecessor hadn’t survived the rampage of the enraged forest spirit.

Once I was sure all were inside, I slipped out of my hide and made my way towards the door.

One of the advantages of breaking into your home is you know where everything is and what everyone is going to do. I knew the Sergeant at arms would be stationed near the door. I also knew that he would be distracted when the children’s choir was singing, as the Sergeant was always one of the men with children.

I gave the children’s choir a couple of verses before I swung open the door and jabbed the taser into the base of Zeb’s skull.

There was the expected screaming, but a few rounds into the ceiling convinced everyone they should return to their seats and not make any sudden moves. I grabbed Zeb’s weapons before making my way to the pulpit, a fully automatic Glock 18 covering one side of the room and a Taurus Judge loaded with .410 shotshells covering the other.

“Melissa,” I addressed to Sarah’s youngest sister, “. . . would you be so kind as to take all the children into the anteroom and lock the door behind you?” Apprehensively she obeyed.

It was a bit of a risk, with their kids in the line of fire, I could be sure none of the men would make a move for me. Now, I didn’t have that protection. Still, I couldn’t risk harming them.

Zak half stood, but was soon looking down the barrel of the Glock, so he decided to sit back down. “Don’t worry folks; I’m only here to talk with my father.” I moved to the stairs up to the pulpit. “I just hate being interrupted.”

“This is an outrageous blasphemy!” My father was practically frothing as I made my way towards him.

“Well, we’re going to talk about blasphemy and heresy and a lot of other fun things like that, dad.” I moved around to put him between me and the congregation. “How’s the knee?”

A puzzled look crossed his face. “Fine, why?” I fired the Taurus into his right knee, forcing him to spin as he dropped

I let him howl and curse for a while before I reminded him “Such language in a house of God is clearly a sin.” I pulled him up into a sitting position and crouched down behind him. I pushed the still hot barrel of the Taurus against the old wound near his kidneys.

“Now Dad, before we get to talking, I’m going to give you a very important job. You have to hold this.” I thrust a grenade into his hand and pulled the pin. I tapped the pistol against his back again. “If you drop that grenade, it’s history for you and me and a fair number of the elders in the front row. Of course if someone decides to rush the stage, my Brazilian friend here,” I prodded him with the gun again,”. . . will make sure you do drop the grenade.”

“Now I am going to ask some questions and you’ll need to answer. Keep in mind that as this is a house of God and the entire congregation is present, you’re going to need to tell the truth. If God tells me you’re lying, well . . . things get messy.” I pulled myself close and got comfortable. “Of course, I you decide you don’t feel like answering questions, all you have to do is drop the grenade. Do you understand?”

My father nodded.

“Good, so seeing as this is church, it’s time for confession. I’ll make it easy for you. I’ll even tell you the sins I’m thinking off and you get to say if you’ve committed them or not.”

We spent almost two hours like that, going through the list of my father’s crimes. He agreed to everything, though he did need the occasional poke to remind him of the need for honesty. Finally, we’d come to the meat of the matter.

“Okay dad, almost done now. Just a couple more and I promise to leave you alone if you leave me alone.” Between the blood loss and the strain of holding the grenade, my dad’s head had begun to nod. “James Grant, are you the father of Hannah Grant?”

He shook his head. “No, you are.”

Good, he was too tired or scared to lie at this point. There is no way he would have admitted it otherwise.

“Why am I here? Why am I making you do this?”

He wavered a bit. “Because you hate me.”

“Why do I hate you? Be specific.”

“Because I took the woman you loved and your daughter from you.” The hand holding the grenade was now resting on his good knee.
“More specific. Why did I come here now?”

“I . . . I don’t know.” He tensed, waiting for my gun to end it.

“Did you know Sarah had been killed?” Sarah’s mother gasped and started sobbing.

“She’s dead? When?” I could see his fingers around the grenade were beginning to weaken.

“Last month, someone broke into our place and killed her. They also inflicted the punishment for an unfaithful wife.” It was time for the final question. “Do you know who might have done that?”

“No, but if I did, I’d thank them for getting rid of that cheating bitch.”

I almost pulled the trigger then and there, but I knew my father and I knew there was no way he had lied. He was tired and sore beyond caring. He said things that he knew would get him killed without hesitating. Neither he nor anybody at the compound was behind Sarah’s death.

But, I couldn’t just get up and walk away from this.

“This is your leader folks.” I called out to the congregation. “I know a lot of you have no love for me, but you also know me. You know that I wouldn’t have gone this far without a good reason. You also know, deep down inside, that my father has been using you for years now. I may have had a gun to his head, but each of those things he admitted to, he has really done. I know, he knows it, and now you know it.”

I shoved my dad forward off the pulpit, forcing him to land on his mangled knee. The grenade popped loose and everybody started diving for cover.

Me, I exited stage left and dove through the window.

I’m pretty sure I was back at my hide before they figured out the grenade wasn’t live.

As soon as I could, I got the RV going and went for the highway. It looked like I was going to have to find a way to destroy the imaginary me once and for all.

[Grace]

Way to tweak their collective noses with the dud grenade.

Although I suspect it was more because you didn't actually want to hurt any of them.

Apparently they knew the old you better than who you are now.

Advantage, yours.

[Ron Caliburn]

I just hope they listened and opened their eyes.

[KonThaak]

I hope so, too, Ron.

Good luck with Mordecai...