Best try on Chrome browser.
Junction City
A text, “In my office, now.”
I got out of my cubicle and walked towards Lt. McConnel’s office. My resume needs two years in narcotics to get promoted and assigned to homicide. I want to be there for my twentysixth birthday. I have six months left.
I stepped into the Lieutenant’s office.
“Close the door.”
I sigh and close the door. Assuming I’ll get another verbal assault over some contrived failure on my part, I ignore the chair in front of her desk. No need to sit and have her physically lord over me. She can’t hurt me, I’ve got a mentor who watches out for me.
Mary McConnell gets up. She’s big, almost six feet tall, and a former college swimmer; that was ten years ago. She’s kept at it, so she’s in excellent shape. Tough to tell with the uniform on, but I’ve had the other detectives describe her—in graphic detail.
She walks around the desk and into my space. This is new. She stands, nearly touching me. We’re eyetoeye.
“I’ve got another shit job for you. This one’s a doozy.”
“Whatever you want, Lieutenant,” I reply flatly.
She gives a halfsmile. I feel her hand on my thigh, moving towards my center.
“Now we both know that’s not true.”
I back up, out of reach. The smile leaves.
“You’re a goodlooking man, in great shape. Your time here could be a lot easier.”
Just what I need. To have the whole force believing I fucked my boss to get promoted. Nobody will look at my ability; they’ll assume. I know she’s the guys on the squad. They talk. But this is their endpoint; they’re happy here, and Mary likes her little stud pool. She handpicked every one of them. She didn’t want me; my mentor played hardball to get me here, and she’s been trying to corrupt me or drive me out for over a year. I get every garbage case. Don’t care. Everybody knows, and it’s enhanced my rep, so bring it on, lady.
“I’m learning a lot about the narcotics unit and our work.” That’s not a lie, I know a lot more than I ever would have asked. Nobody’s corrupt; it’s just, well, you can figure it out.
Mary goes back behind her desk, which she had put on a riser, so you’re always looking up at her. “Well, you’re not gonna learn shit from this one. I tried to ignore it, but the Chief got involved. Shit flows downhill, and you’re my favorite toilet.”
I shifted my weight to one foot, telegraphing boredom. She glared. “Some rich girl got into a cult and now claims to have escaped and has proof that the cult is dealing fentanyl and killing people. I’ve seen this so many times. Spoiled princess, looking for attention. Go get her and bring her back so I can interrogate her, get her to cry, admit she made the whole thing up, and send her home to her mansion. rich cunt.”
Mary McConnell, champion of women’s rights.
Me, practicing my poker face, “Where is she? When do you want me to go?”
‘Mistress Mary,’ as I’ve heard the other detectives refer to her, is poking her phone, “Here are the deets,” Her trying to be cool.
I check my phone, “That’s Warrenton, the other side of the national forest. That’s six hours away. Why are we involved?”
“She claims she was abducted here. The Chief likes the humaninterest angle. That’s all you need to know. Get going.”
“Department going to pay for a room?”
“Only on the way out. You wanna play with her on the way back? It’s on your nickel.”
I put my phone in my pocket. “Only you would think of that,” I said, turning to leave.
“Coulda been you,” she said.
Not in this lifetime.
Hour Zero 08:00 AM Day 1
Warrenton, the name is bigger than the place: a main street, a few side streets, and a lot of logging equipment. I stepped out of the only motel in town, got in the car, and headed for the Simpson’s.
The house was a small ranch on a heavily wooded lot on the edge of town. I stopped my marked but very wornout cop car in front. A biker filled the small front porch. I knew that because he looked like every biker I’d ever seen. He got up and walked over to my window.
“Can I help you?”
I don’t know what the fuck is going on. I pull out my badge and ID; he takes them, looks between the picture and me, and hands them back. “Mr. Simpson said you’d be coming.”
I’m not interested in why this guy is here. I see three more in the yard and a few hanging out in the woods.
“May I go in?” Always best to be polite when you’re the only cop and there are twenty bikers.
He backs up and turns, “Yeah, sure, you check out.”
I got out of the car and shifted my belt. The weight of my SigSaur nine and the two extra mags pulls my pants down. I’m wondering what tale this brat told to get all these guys ‘protecting’ her.
I look at my phone to get her name and age as I ring the bell: Jade Manning, twentyfive. The door opens.
“Oh, Detective Scott. We were expecting you yesterday, your lieutenant called.”
Just like ‘Mistress Mary’ to ding me from two counties away, “She was incorrect. Where is Ms. Manning?”
Harv, according to my notes, looks around like a cartoon spy, “I wanted to speak to you in confidence, not upset the young lady.”
Oh fuck, another cop show addict, “What information do you have?” I pretend to look at my phone, ready to take notes.
“I’ve emailed our statement, but I’ll give you the highlights. We stopped at the Walmart in Junction City for the night. Jade came out of the dark and begged us to take her away. I sent you a picture,” Harv pauses, “I blurred her face, you know. The internet and all.”
I tapped my phone, and a picture came up of an average height and weight twentysomething girl wearing, I guess you’d call it, a dress, crudely cut out of rough grey cloth. She was filthy, and her hair was long and ragged. Gotta hand it to her; she has some act. Her face was blurred to obscure it. I looked up, Harv wasn’t done.
“She had a backpack, no phone, no money, no ID. She begged us to get going, so we did. As we drove, she told us about the drugs and murders. She was drugged, and her rambled. She was sure they’d come after her. I saw a truck behind us; I made a few turns, and he stayed with me. That’s when I called the guys. I’m a biker, you know, we stick together. These guys came out and escorted us home and have been guarding us ever since.”
Holy shit, what a circus. “Have there been any problems?”
“A car full of guys drove by the house, but when they saw the brothers, they took off. I’m all for helping, but I’m glad you’re here.”
I faked, looking interested, “Okay, good to know. Um, where is Ms. Manning?”
I assumed the filthy tart was in the garage; Harv turned to the small hallway and raised his voice slightly, “Marge, bring her in, please.”
Harve explained, “Marge cleaned her up and got her some clothes and underwear. She only had that raggy dress thing on. Marge did her hair, and we’ve been feeding her water constantly to wash the dope out of her.”
“Jack?”
I looked up from my phone into my sister’s eyes. “Jade?”
She’d changed a lot since I’d seen her last. That raggedy dress had concealed her body. She was tall now, probably fiveeight, thin; a little too thin but still had a shape that would keep a man’s attention. The nicely trimmed, clean blond hair and green eyes helped. She had grown into a beautiful woman.
Jade dropped her backpack and ran to me, not slowing down until we collided, nearly knocking me off my feet. I hadn’t seen my sister since I was ten. Her face buried in my neck, sobbing, mumbling, “Never thought I’d see you… missed you… so happy.”
We stood in that modest home and hugged. Jade felt good in my arms. When we were together, I was her protector. We shared all our kid secrets. When she went away, I cried for a week, and then anytime I thought of her, I cried again. I swore to myself that, no matter what, I would find her.
Jade released me, and we looked at Marge and Harv staring at us. Jade blushed and held my hand. “This incredibly handsome man is my brother. We were fostered out at age five. We were in the same families for a few years, and then, at ten, I was adopted. Jack was a discipline problem, and my family didn’t want him.”
I picked up the thread, “I bounced from family to family, finally aging out. I joined the Marines. They cured my attitude problem. I did one tour, got discharged, and joined the police department. I could never remember the name of the family that adopted Jade; I have been searching for her since I got on the job, with no luck.”
Jade was flexing up and down on her feet, smiling from ear to ear, “Until now.”
Marge smiled, “Wow, we are honored to be responsible for bringing you two together.”
Jade stood next to me, squeezing my hand. I looked at her, “Well, Jade, you ready to go?”
The smile left. Jade bent over and picked up her backpack. “Yes, we need to get out of here.”
Harve waved me to him, whispering, “Would you like the guys to go with you?”
I patted him on the shoulder and said, “Thanks, Harv, but with a marked police car, we’ll have no problems.”
We said our goodbyes and walked to the car in silence. Jade slung her backpack in the front seat and got in, buckling up.
“You want to put that in the back seat?” I asked.
“No.”
Jade’s initial joy was gone. I handed her my phone with Mary’s information. “Is that accurate?”
Jade took my phone and moved it around, examining the whole thing. “I haven’t held a phone in almost a year,” she said.
She scrolled the screen, her face tight. “Yes, that’s what I told Marge and Harv. I have a list of their dealers and suppliers and their routes.” She kept my phone and poked buttons as I drove. Stopping, her finger ran over the screen, and a tear formed at the edge of her eye. She wiped it off, put the phone on the seat, and stared out the windshield.
I sensed more, “And?”
Jade took a deep breath. I’ve witnessed three murders—executions, and I know where the bodies are buried. Jack, I can bring them all down.”
This was real. Like Mary, I had assumed this was a runaway daughter, wife, whatever.
Now it was my longlost sister, and she was in genuine danger. After all these years, I was back in the role of her protector.
“Do they have the ability to come after you?”
Jade stared out the windshield. “They have a huge amount of money and some very violent people, plus a geek, so, yes, they do, and yes, they will.”
I got on 174, a curvy road through the forest but still the fastest way back to Junction City. I checked my watch; we’d be there by five.
“Well, we’ll be in Junction City before you know it.”
Jade sighed, “Not soon enough, and do not underestimate them.”
We had the road to ourselves. I had a question posed when Jade spoke.
“This car stinks like coffee, sweat, and farts.”
We both laughed.
“Yeah, that’s a long about my hedonistic boss and her stable of fuckstud detectives.”
Jade stared at me, “What? Oh, you have to tell me,” She reached over and squeezed my bicep, “Oh, tell me, you hunky muscular man with his wavy brown hair and gooshy blue eyes. Stud cop.”
I blushed, “That’s enough of that.”
I told the tale, and Jade laughed throughout. I had forgotten how much I loved hearing my sister laugh.
“It’s not funny, Jade. She is a hedonistic Amazon dominatrix.”
Jade, giggling, “Well, that’s different, a man that can use his dick to get OUT of trouble.”
I turned my head all around searching, and Jade noticed, “What are you doing?”
“Looking for a place to turn around. I’m taking you back for being mean to me.”
Jade leaned over and grabbed my arm, her voice a fake plead, “No, no, dear brother. Do not forsake me.”
“Ohhhhh, alright, if you’re gonna beg.”
Our conversation died. By then, we were inside the Millard Filmore National Forest.
A thousand trees later, I asked, “How did it happen?”
Jade pointed to the phone, “I saved the ; there were witnesses. I was grabbed in a supermarket parking lot. They had been cruising the lot for days. It wasn’t random; I was selected.”
“What do you me…?” I was trying to form a reply when a huge pickup raced up my butt, swung into the other lane, and blew by. Just as I saw the guy in the truck’s bed, another one slammed into the rear corner of the car—a perfect Pit maneuver. As we shot off the road, I saw the first truck stop, and backup lights went on.
The car flew off the road, down a steep hill, crashing through small trees, headed for the big ones.
“Put your arms down!” I yelled at Jade, her hands up in front of her face. The airbag, when it let go, would break both. The car went another twenty feet and stopped—no airbags deployed. Then I remembered what the guy in the other truck was holding—a rocketpropelled grenade.
“Get out! Get out! Get the fuck out of the car!” I was screaming.
Jade grabbed her backpack and rolled out her side.
“Get away!” I yelled as I rolled down the hill. I heard the whoosh, and the car exploded into a fireball.
I quickly worked my way around and found Jade on the other side.
“Let’s go.” I moved away from the flaming car, using it to blind them. The gas tank exploded. We got into a pine forest with no brush.
“Run, jog, whatever, we need to put distance between us and them.”
We ran for five minutes and stopped, hiding behind huge pine trees. I watched, missing the infrared headset I had as a Marine. Jade was panting, her eyes wide.
After a minute, I got out from behind the tree and said, “Come on, let’s walk.”
At that point, I had no idea where we were, and my phone was on the car seat. Other than that, it was a great day. I saw a rise with a cluster of boulders. We settled behind them. I had a view behind us between the rocks.
“What are we going to do?” Jade asked.
I had a forest map in my mind from pictures I had seen, “This forest is vast. We can’t go back to the road; it’s lightly traveled, and they will be watching it. My phone is gone. We’ll have to walk out of here on a different route.”
Jade looked around, “How? Every one of these trees looks the same.”
I smiled, “Well, my sister, fortunately, your brother was a Marine scout.”
Jade stared at me, “Really? I never would have thought.”
Then she hugged me, knocking me over and laying on top of me. That’s when it started.
She felt good. It had been almost a year since I kicked Beth out, and we hadn’t had in three months before that. Now, a hot curvy girl was lying on me, even if she was my sister. I didn’t get hard, but I sure had mixed feelings.
“Just like when we were kids, you’re my protector.”
Jade got off me, and I missed that feeling, “Yeah, I remember. So, this forest is on a mountain; we’re about halfway up. At the bottom is a river that leaves the forest in the town of Willing at the southeast corner. That’s our objective.”
“How long will that take?”
I sighed, “More than one day. I’m not sure where we are, but I know the general layout. The water in the small streams is potable, but we have no food, shelter, or way to make fire. It’s going to be a tough walk.”
Jade smiled and smacked her backpack, “Not to worry. Let’s get going.”
It was summer, hot and humid, but the forest was cooler. We were on a mountain, but the grade was mild. I heard a stream in the distance.
“Head for the sound of water. We’ll follow that stream to the river.”
Jade was leading. Her backpack was old, worn, and stuffed.
“Tell me about it. If you want,” I asked.
Jade took a deep breath, “Yeah, I should. It’ll help.”
This is her , for now.
I was on my way home from work. I stopped at the store to get what I needed for dinner. I was putting the bags in the trunk when this white van roared up with the side door open. Two guys leaned out and grabbed me. I was on the floor with a towel over my mouth before I knew what happened.
I’ll try and keep this short. I was kept on an old farm. My hands were taped when they brought me in.
Maybe ten or twelve people lived there. Youngest was probably eighteen, the oldest fiftysomething. Some of them were nude. I knew it was a cult.
This guy comes out, wearing this cotton gown thing: tall, thin, forties, gray hair, really intense blue eyes. They all call him ‘the guide.’
He tells me all this shit about my ‘destiny’ in creating a new order. I was selected because of my genetic superiority. His plan was that at some time, there would be some superspecial bullshit in the stars, and we would ‘meld’ as he called it, and I would bear gifted children. He put his hand on the side of my face and apologized that, until then, I had to be ‘safe.’
I was held down and forcefed a pill. Within an hour, I was a zombie. I don’t remember anything other than shadows. I’d…
