Starting Over Pt 05 Ch 04

Starting Over V, Chapter 4.

This is the fifth section of the continuing saga "Starting Over". In Part I, LTC (Retired) John Jackson had moved to Seattle after being widowed. He ran into some trouble and some decent people (okay, and a few strippers), while working towards getting his private investigator license. That took place between Sep and Dec 2012.

In Part II, he got involved in a ring trafficking in young women. The main perpetrators were captured, but the hired gun/enforcer slipped away. That took place in Apr and May 2013.

In Part III, which took place in 2013 and 2014, John managed to find the enforcer in Key West and was planning to kill him, but changed his mind. He really didn't know if he could kill someone in cold blood, but the man was living with a woman and had decided that he was retiring. John let him go with a promise to do intelligence work for him and returned to Seattle, where Maggie gave indications that she wanted a serious relationship. Then he used that enforcer from Key West to assist in capturing an assassin. The assassin had been hired to kill him and the detective who helped him break up a leg of a human trafficking chain.

In Part IV, it's 2019. John and Maggie couldn't work things out and now John was working on a case that, at first, involved someone who had assaulted Luke's wife Maria. John then had two men try to break into his apartment to attack him. The authorities caught the two men by tracking them to a strip club, but John got beat up by them before the police got there. When he woke, he found that Vanessa, his waitress at the strip club, was an undercover officer. There were several events that were taking place and it was being done by an anarchist group. However, funding for these events was tracked to someone in human trafficking in Singapore by a hacker that John found through Bob in Key West. He returned to Seattle with the information on a thumb drive, and the FBI and others started tracking him. Finally, the master of the human trafficking ring had his son try to soft sell John's daughter into visiting Asia with him, primarily to kidnap her. John found out, he and his buddies stopped it, and then John, feeling the rage, flew to Singapore and, with the backdoor assistance of a government person, was armed and killed both the leader and his son of this trafficking ring.

Recurring Characters

LTC (Retired) John Jackson, 5'11", 180, 55 years old.

Marie Jackson, John's dead wife, 5'8", 140, 44 years old, died 15 Jan 2012

Angelica Jackson (Angel), John and Marie's daughter, 5'5", 125, 28 years old.

Mary Bradford, bartender, 5'5", 120, 48 years old.

Margaret (Maggie) Bradford, Mary's sister, 5'6", 115, 46 years old, and John's love interest.

Madeleine (Maddie) Bradford, Maggie's daughter, 16 years old.

Juliet Margolin, waitress, 5'4", 145, 24 years old, Mary's cousin.

Samantha (Sam) Walker, 5'6", 130 pounds, 48 years old, John's neighbor.

Joyce Walker, Sam's daughter, 5'4", 120 pounds, 28 years old, and now an exotic dancer using the name Lily

Marion Walker, Sam's daughter, 5'4", 115 pounds, 26 years old.

SFC (Retired) Craig Smithson, 6', 190, 55 years old, NCO from John's Army unit.

Captain Jeff Smithson, 5'11', 185, 53 years old, SFC Smithson's brother and a captain in the Seattle Police Department.

George Watkins, 6'4", 280, 45 years old, bouncer.

Jeanne (aka Jasmine) Welch, 5'5", 110, 23 years old, exotic dancer.

Olivia, 5'4", 120 pounds, 30 years old, called Livy, exotic dancer.

Luke Cole, 5'10", 180, detective in the Seattle Police Department.

Maria Cole, 5'6", 135, Luke's wife.

Marcus Candiotti, strip club manager.

Max Meridian (real name Harold Johnson), Mark's lead kidnapper and enforcer. Now changed his name to Bob Thomas and is married to Susan. They own and operate a bar in Key West.

Susan Thomas, Bob's new wife.

George Watson, a new member of the detective agency.

Vanessa Williams, 5'6", 130, detective in the Seattle Police Department.

Yvonne, 5'2", 105, illegal hacker who helped find the human trafficker who had funded the anarchists in Seattle.

---------------------------- Previously ----------------------------

---------------------------- Sunday, January 3, 2021, John's car, Seattle, WA

Agent Smith gave them all a quick summary. "Well, it seems that we have a problem with someone who is not following the rules. Some key ones. We are going to take him and a couple other folks down today. You will need to go to the FBI office downtown on 3rd and meet some of the locals. Then they will all discuss who goes where. The guy you were following, Arthur Newsome, is former CIA. He is working well off the reservation. He has one other contact here in Seattle and a second group will grab that guy at the same time. Here in Washington at exactly the same time we will take down the main guy running all this. He's the ringleader of former government employees who have been running side businesses. You interrupted an arrangement he had with the Lees out of Singapore, and it has taken him a while to figure out who it was who did the deed. That's why he used Yuang Lee as a setup when he tried to take you out. He used him and a somewhat average guy to make it look like it was not as professional as his guys could do. Anyway, he's into drugs with Yuang Lee, human trafficking with the guys who took over for the Lees in Singapore, and some other things. The problem you created was that you interrupted his network and changed the agreement he had with the Lee's former operation that was taken over by their successor. Enough detail?"

John looked around. "Yeah, I think so. We'll head to the FBI office now."

The three teams, two in Seattle and one in Virginia, formed up and prepared to grab the hostiles.

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When John got to the FBI office, he was kindly told that he was the only one with authorization to go on the raid. The others would have to go back home. John asked if the FBI would drop him at his apartment when it was over, and they agreed. He gave his car to George who drove the others back.

It was 6am when they reached the home of Arthur Newsome. The lead agent called someone, they talked, and John could see that they were trying to coordinate the raid time. The FBI was deploying all around the neighborhood and John could see them getting ready. Then the lead agent gave the go-ahead and the agents went about their business.

They approached, knocked and announced, and after a few tries, breached the door. John stood back with the leader and watched. Everyone was in and clearing and the leader was listening to everything on his headset. Finally, they came back and gave the all clear. The only problem was that Arthur was not there.

The leader contacted the other two teams and they had both captured their suspect.

John walked into the house with the lead agent and looked around as they discussed how they could have missed him. The team watching the house was there and a discussion ensued. They swore he was in the house as of 30 minutes ago.

Then, a call from the basement.

"Hey, I got something!"

Several of the team, including John traipsed downstairs.

"Look over here." One of the agents had found an opening behind a false wall with a tunnel.

The leader looked in. "Okay, we need to find out where this goes. But we also have to be careful for any traps he set in there. It's easy to do that to a tunnel."

The FBI folks scampered around and called someone to assist with the tunnel clearing.

Meanwhile, John was thinking. He turned to the lead agent. "How did he know to get out? How long did he have? It's so early and he was up late?"

"I'm thinking the same thing." He turned and called the deputy director on the other end. "Mr. Smothers, our guy fled just before the raid through a tunnel connected to another house somewhere. We are investigating. Any idea on how he got the word?" He listened for a couple of seconds and then hung up.

He turned to John. "The other team just found a burner phone at the house of the CIA Officer that had some sort of emergency code on it in a text. It was obviously a warning to run. He got it out just before we breeched, so that was now about," he looked at his watch, "30 minutes ago".

John stared at him. "This is a dangerous guy, right? He knows who was being paid to kill me and he knows who I am. Will he go to my place?"

The lead agent immediately called someone over. "Bill, get this man to his house immediately. I'm going to call the police and have them meet you there. There's a chance this guy is going to go there." He turned to another agent. "Jim, you do the standard issue of an alert to all modes of transportation and the police and sheriffs to put out a BOLO on this guy."

Jim ran off and John ran with Bill to his car. He didn't think that the guy would go there, but he couldn't be sure. Angel and Yvonne were there, armed, but not really used to the sort of violence this guy might bring to bear. He had to be sure.

John called Yvonne as they pulled away, the agent turning on his lights and peeling away from the curb. "Yvonne, we missed this guy. He may be heading there. Barricade yourselves into the second apartment and await word from me. The police and FBI are on the way."

Yvonne paused for a second. "What? He may be coming here? What do we do? What should be do?"

Her questions were coming fast and finally John interrupted her. "Yvonne! There's only a slight chance that he will come there. I just want you two to be ready. The police and FBI will be there shortly. I'm on my way."

"Okay. Okay. Uhhhh, okay." Yvonne hung up.

John looked at the agent. "She's scared."

Bill nodded. "That's good. This guy is a real piece of work, from what I understand."

"Just get us there."

Bill nodded as they passed 100mph on the I90 bridge over Lake Washington.

Yvonne told Angel about the conversation and they made sure that the door from the hallway into the apartment was locked and they pushed furniture up against it. They were doing the same to the connecting door to the other apartment when they heard the explosion.

Arthur had set the charge on the wall next to where the door lock was, so that it would blow away where the deadbolt went into the wall. The door was a good reinforced steel door and the jamb had been upgraded as well. But he had plenty of explosives in this car. He had to be quick. The authorities would be here soon. He figured he had about 20 minutes before they figured it out.

He had narrowly escaped, getting the 'extreme danger' emergency run code from his boss. The tunnel had been built to go to a house that was cattycorner to his own through the back yard. He had a car in the garage there and slowly pulled out as he watched the FBI close off his back yard. They hadn't thought to stop everyone on the street, but they probably should have.

Arthur was not much for forgiveness or letting bygones be bygones. He rushed straight to John's apartment. The hired gun didn't know enough about John, but he did. He knew that his daughter was visiting. He just had to find her. He had hoped she might be in the apartment, but he didn't know for sure. Hence, blowing open the door.

Arthur stepped into the apartment just after the dust settled, his weapon up and ready since he didn't know what he would find. The charge had blown open the door as it blew apart the door jamb and the wall where the deadbolt went. He stepped in carefully. A retired Army officer may have taught his daughter about weapons. He didn't know for sure, but he wasn't taking that chance.

As he looked around, Arthur didn't see any evidence of anyone else, but when he went to the dishwasher, he could see one set of dishes, but two wine glasses and one beer glass. Somebody had been here with John.

When he took a quick tour of the apartment, Arthur noticed the connecting door. Many apartments had them, but that didn't mean they were used. He walked over and looked around. He could tell the door had been opened recently, and there was a slight drag mark on the floor. It was in use.

Arthur tried the door, and when he did, he heard a scraping noise next door. The door on this side he could unlock, but not the other one. He looked at his watch. 10 more minutes. He needed 10 more minutes.

Arthur pulled out his weapon and aimed it at the lock used on the other apartment's connecting door. He blew it up and then swung the door open only an inch.

Yvonne and Angel had flinched and been frozen into inaction for almost a minute after the explosion in John's apartment. Then they both crouched down behind the couch that was away from the door. They could hear some movement over there, but Yvonne decided more had to be done. She motioned to Angel to help her turn the kitchen table on its side so that it could also be used as protection. They did so. Then the lock on the connecting door was blown apart.

Yvonne and Angel were partially behind the couch and fully behind the kitchen table. It was a one-inch piece of wood, which they were unsure about when it came to bullets. Yvonne had the Glock that John had given her and was trying to figure out if she could really shoot someone. The explosion settled that.

George was sitting in the office of the bar across the street where they had started this mission. He was dozing lightly when he heard the explosion from across the street. He was struggling to determine what it was. He had just dozed off and thought maybe it was thunder. Then he thought about the sound and immediately looked across the street at John's apartment. He could see the smoke through the windows and some places where the curtains had been blown aside. No windows were broken, but he knew something had happened. He grabbed his Sig Sauer P226, checked the magazine to find it was full, and then did a press check to see if he had one in the pipe. He did. He bolted from the room to run across the street. He thought of a quote about who runs away and who runs toward gunfire. He'd have to look that up. He liked that quote.

Arthur had stood back to the side and peeked around the corner. He could see the table on its side. He took aim and fired one shot at the table to see what happened. The bullet, which was a hollow point, had penetrated the wood, but barely. However, he was rewarded with a scream as some pieces of it or the wood hit someone. He grinned and stepped inside.

Yvonne screamed as a part of the bullet and some wood impacted her left thigh. She got hit in a couple of places. She looked down and then at Angelica. Angel reached for and grabbed the Glock out of Yvonne's hands. Yvonne could see the determination on her face.

Angel was angry and calm. She didn't know why, but she was thinking clearly. Later, she would say that it must be something she got from her father, who was that way.

When Angel grabbed the gun, Arthur was just stepping into the doorway. He thought he was going to have it easy from here on out. But he was wrong. A woman popped up from behind the table and as he brought his gun to bear, she fired. The bulled hit him in the left shoulder and knocked him back a little. He ducked behind the wall, grimaced, and held his shoulder. It wasn't too serious, but it pissed him off. She didn't fire again, so he was going to go back around the corner and unload through that table.

George had just entered the room, being careful at first to be sure of what he was getting into. But when he stepped in and saw Angel shoot this bad guy. He flinched back, making sure he wasn't in the line of fire. He saw the man start to move back into the doorway to shoot at Angel and Yvonne. But before the man could start firing, George started walking toward the guy and shooting.

Angel was stunned by the gun for a second since she hadn't fired one it about six years. But she looked up in time to start to shoot again. But she didn't have to worry. She saw George coming up behind the guy pumping rounds into him.

George fired four times into the back of the guy as he approached. The first two were while he was standing, the last two as he slumped to the floor. This guy was not going to bother anyone again. Especially John's daughter and friend. When he got to the guy, he was dead and his blood was everywhere. George stopped and stared at the guy. He stood there trying to catch his breath. He didn't know why he was breathing so hard, but he stayed there and then looked up at the two women.

As soon as George got to the guy and Angel could tell he was dead, she put the gun down and turned to Yvonne. She had several spots on her leg that were bleeding. She just ripped off her light jacket and pushed it down against Yvonne's leg.

"Here, hold this while we get an ambulance. George, she's hurt."

Then they heard the sirens and screeching of tires outside. Angel thought they got there awful fast.

Yvonne was in pain and leaned back on her elbows, trying to minimize what she was feeling. She felt like she was going to pass out.

George went over to the door to John's apartment and got there just as John and a few others came bounding up the stairs. George put up his hand, it was shaking.

"The guy is dead and Yvonne is wounded. We need an ambulance and a coroner."

John looked at George. He was starting to shake a little everywhere. He turned to the FBI guy. "Adrenalin shakes. Take him." Then John ran across the room to where the ladies were. He saw Angel and Yvonne.

Angel stood to hug him and John wrapped her up tightly. "Are you okay?"

Angel pushed back. "I'm fine, dad. Yvonne has some fragments in her leg."

John nodded at Angel and kissed her on the cheek. He then rushed to Yvonne's side. "Yvonne, are you okay? Is it just your leg? Let me see."

John was checking it out when a pair of EMTs came rushing in. They pushed John back and checked it out. They gave her an IV and a stretcher appeared for her. They put her on it and John clasped her hand as they started to take her out. "I'll be there soon."

By this time, the hallway was swarming with cops and the first of the investigators from the police and FBI were holding people back and checking out the scene. It was a madhouse in the hallway.

John took Angel over to the FBI investigator and introduced them. He pointed at George and introduced him, too. The two investigators then went aside with the two witnesses and started going over the events of the attack.

John looked around. Nothing for him to do here. He turned to Marty, who was standing next to him. "I've got to check on Yvonne at the hospital, can you hold the fort here for when they are done questioning Angel?"

"Got it. Go."

John took off for the hospital.

John waited at the hospital for a while before a doctor came out and said a bullet fragment had tumbled its way through Yvonne's leg, tearing at the quad muscle. There were also some wood fragments in there. He said it would heal, but would take some time. Yvonne would be in recovery and then ICU for a couple of days. After that, if she could go home, they would have to discharge her because they still had too many COVID cases coming in.

John went back to his apartment and found just a few remaining people doing work. It was almost 6pm and he had been up for a long time. Coupled with the adrenalin rush and crash, fatigue was starting to set in.

He found Angel sitting on the bed in the second apartment, resting. He sat next to her, hugged her, and then asked how she was doing. She seemed fine, but she admitted that she, too, was tired.

"Just the effects of the adrenalin wearing off. Just rest. I'll be back."

John went out to find that all his partners in this escapade, except Marty, had left. He told Marty that he and Angel were going to find some place to crash as soon as the last person was gone. Marty nodded and admitted that he was going to take off now that John was back.