. 04

This is the eighth 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.

In Part V, Yvonne, the young hacker came to live with John. She had nowhere else to go and felt so alone during the pandemic that she was craving human interaction. She also admitted that she was attracted to John, even though there was 19 years difference in their ages. A bad guy was hired to hit him due to his involvement in some operations being run by a rogue CIA manager and some disenfranchised CIA members. John and company got them in the end and Yvonne got shot in the leg. She decided to stay with John.

Part VI involved a woman, going by the name Julie, who had been "hidden" by a woman called a "guide". She had been given a new identity and moved to Seattle to get away from a potentially fatal relationship. That was back in Tennessee. This led to the woman's guide, Dani, discovering that the brothers of the husband that Julie had killed, were running meth labs out of the woods of the land that Julie and her husband had owned. They were worried about losing the land and the labs. This ended up with the labs being pointed out to the FBI, and then one of the brothers and one of their dealers coming to Seattle to get revenge on John and the FBI agent in charge of the case back in Tennessee.

Part VII involved John and the others getting involved with a Romanian gang out of Chicago. It turned out to be more than that, including Maggie and others getting shot. A party at the Bradford's was interrupted by gunmen shooting randomly into the gathering. Finally, in the end, law enforcement got the bad guys and the good guys got someone who turned evidence. Maggie was recovering quickly, and as summer arrived, John was hoping for good weather and a calmer life.

Recurring Characters

LTC (Retired) John Jackson, 5'11", 180, 56 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, 29 years old.

Mary Bradford, bartender, 5'5", 120, 44 years old.

Margaret (Maggie) Bradford, Mary's sister, 5'6", 115, 45 years old.

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

Samantha (Sam) Walker, 5'6", 130 pounds, 49 years old, John's former neighbor.

Joyce Walker, Sam's daughter, 5'4", 120 pounds, 29 years old, and now an exotic dancer using the name Lily

Marion Walker, Sam's daughter, 5'4", 115 pounds, 27 years old.

SFC (Retired) Craig Smithson, 6', 190, 56 years old, NCO from John's Army unit.

Captain Jeff Smithson, 5'11', 185, 54 years old, SFC Smithson's brother and a captain in the Seattle Police Department.

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

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

Jeanne (aka Jasmine) Welch, 5'5", 110, 31 years old, exotic dancer.

Olivia, 5'4", 120 pounds, 31 years old, called Livy, exotic dancer.

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.

Danielle (Dani) Parker, 5'8", 120, known as a "guide". She takes cases where an individual is in mortal danger and "hides" them by giving them new identities and teaching them how to lay low.

Benjamin Smothers, Deputy Director of the FBI.

Allison June, 5'7", FBI agent in Seattle.

---------------- Thursday, September 29, 2022, Seattle, WA -----------

Jensen led John to a marked car and they roared toward the UW Hospital.

---------------- Thursday, October 27, 2022, Seattle, WA -----------

John sat in front of the TV. It was on, but he was paying absolutely no attention to it. He was still trying to get over his despondency at the loss of Maggie, and his anger at the unknown individual responsible. The District Attorney had dropped the charges of his murder of Judge Morrisson, so at least he wasn't in court. But he had fallen into depression. He needed something to get him out of that funk, and he believed it could only be done when he found who was responsible for this human trafficking ring and for the shooting of his wife and friends -- and killed him.

Maggie had died on the operating table. Her body could not take another shooting. Craig, Marty, and Carl had all seen the problem approaching on their security cameras. Marty had gotten slightly injured when the attacker had fired his shotgun through the door, but he had backed away enough to not get it badly. Craig and Carl had not been shot at all. George had seen it coming and went around to the outside of the little house he owned and had shot his attacker. The attackers of Craig and Carl had been captured, but the one for Marty had escaped. So, the attackers of Marty and Maggie were on the loose and had done pretty good damage to John's psyche.

Mary approached John's apartment with a mixture of trepidation and anger. She knocked loudly, even though she knew the Ring camera had notified him on his phone.

When John opened the door, Mary was shocked at how sunken his eyes looked. She never would have expected that of John. He was so strong and self-assured.

"Hey, Mary. Come in." John muttered his greeting.

Mary strode in strongly, stopped right next to John as he closed the door, and when he turned around, she gave him a light slap across the face.

"Where have you been? You need to come over to the Bradford's. She was our sister and daughter and mother. We are all hurting as much as you are. So, suck it up and come over so we can at least share our grief and try to get over it. We miss you, too."

John looked forlornly at Maggie. "I can't. It's my fault she's dead."

Mary put her hands on her hips. "It is not. It's the fault of this terrible organization that is doing human trafficking."

"Yes, but I put all of us in the cross-hairs."

"Damnit, John, it's not your fault. Now, grab your jacket and come with me to the Bradford's. They all need to see you."

John stared at her for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Okay, sure."

John grabbed his jacket and they headed to the Bradford's. He hoped it wouldn't be soul-crushing.

Mary brought John home after a few hours at the Bradford's. Everyone was trying to get through this mess. Mr. Bradford didn't seem to blame John, but he blamed himself. He couldn't do anything about the death of his first wife, but he should have prevented this one. He was always getting involved in operations that had very bad people in it. Those who were unafraid to retaliate or seek vengeance. He had to do something about that. He still had a daughter.

Mary stayed and when John sat on the couch. Mary, who had been very stoic at the Bradford house, turned toward John, clung to him, and sobbed. She really let it out and it moved John to cry, too. They both sat there and let it out until they were exhausted.

It was almost 11pm by this point, so they sat there, slowly recovering and unwinding. They both fell asleep.

---------------- Friday, October 28, 2022, Seattle, WA -----------

John woke on the couch, leaning back, his neck very stiff. He sat up. Mary had turned and laid on her side with her feet on his lap. She was still sleeping. John slowly stood up and went to the bathroom. When he came back, Mary was sitting up. It was 9am.

"Wow!" Mary looked around. "We really zonked out."

"Yeah. It was an emotionally draining day."

She stood and wobbled. "Oh, boy. Dizzy." She steadied herself. "I need to head home. I have the bar to take care of tonight. One of the bartenders is on vacation."

"Okay, see you later." John waved at her as she left. He did feel a little better today.

John got cleaned up and was making a late breakfast, or early lunch, or brunch, or whatever. He decided to have scrambled eggs with pimentos, jalapenos, and some ham. As he started making it, his Ring doorbell sounded. He sighed. He didn't need any more visitors right now. He felt like an old dirty dishrag that had been wrung out and left to dry in a wadded-up mess.

John went to his phone and looked. Yvonne! Maybe she had something!

John answered the door. "Yvonne! How are you?"

Yvonne walked in. "Hey, John." She gave him a quick hug and peck on the cheek.

John led the way into the kitchen. "I'm just making scrambled eggs. Want some?"

"God, yes. I'm starving."

John finished making the scrambled eggs and tried not to ask the question he wanted to ask as soon as she appeared in his door. He wanted her to bring it up. He had been waiting four weeks for the FBI, someone in Homeland Security, or for Yvonne to figure out who the head of this snake was.

Yvonne got out some juice and water and watched John closely. She could tell he was on edge. She was going to have to put him out of his misery.

"I got him, John."

John spun quickly to face her. He didn't need to ask to whom she was referring. "Yeah?"

"I was able to follow the money. Most of the shooters were paid in cash, but it had to come from somewhere. The FBI found that all 6 people were paid $25K. That's a lot of cash. I found there were only three people who withdrew $150K anywhere close to that date anywhere in this area. Two of the folks were easily discounted. That only left a guy named Arthur Bedford. He withdrew it in three amounts over three days from two banks just before the shootings. I was able to track transfers into his account, via some off-shore maneuvering, by a guy named Lucas Berenson. Recognize that name?"

John finished taking the eggs off the stove and dished it onto two plates. He set one in front of Yvonne and stood at the kitchen island with the other. "I don't know. Lucas Berenson. Sounds a little familiar."

"He's the one that has made tons of money doing all kinds of things that people don't like. He was born in South Africa and made his first few millions in his early 20s running a conflict diamond ring. He then moved to London and seemed to make some very interesting moves to take over some businesses. He came to the U.S. about 10 years ago. He has made tons of money investing in the right businesses in the right industries, and seemingly with a crystal ball. It's been a little too uncanny for most people and they have all looked for something sinister in it. Well, now I can tie the guy who funded the shooters to him. So, then the question is: Is he the big boss of the human trafficking ring?"

John stared at her as she started eating. He just stared into the distance. This is what he needed. A mission to get whoever was responsible for Maggie's death and for all the other chaos with the young women here and elsewhere. He had a name and a face now.

"John?"

"Yeah." John looked at Yvonne.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking he pissed off the wrong guy; maybe even the wrong group of guys."

"Okay, but let's play nice. I sent my findings anonymously to the FBI. We'll see what happens."

"He'll just run."

"Maybe. He has penthouses in Singapore, Manhattan, and London. He has a large residence in Montana. He bought it about 100 miles north of where they like to film Yellowstone. It's north of the Lolo National Forest, and right on good hunting land. He has his own land that he can hunt on, about 400 acres, but they also like to go into the Montana hunting areas, so he always gets the proper tags."

"Where is he now?"

Yvonne pulled up her phone. "I'm set up to track him through an app I created." She hummed to herself. "Let's see. He is currently at the place in Montana. He really likes the hunting there."

John stared at her. "Me, too."

Yvonne held up her hands. "Wait. I sent all of this information on his activities to the FBI to verify. They will handle this correctly and you don't have to take the chance of getting shot yourself."

"I don't care. I want him."

"You have a daughter, John. Don't lose your cool and leave her without any parents. Take a breath."

John stared at Yvonne. "Will you help me?"

Yvonne sighed. "Yes, but not until next week. I'm going to give the FBI a week to figure out what I sent them and then we can go to work if they do nothing."

John continued to stare at her. "Next Friday, then I'm going to take that man's organization apart."

Yvonne stared back and finally nodded. She then started eating.

John ate quickly and as soon as they were done, cleaned up the kitchen and grabbed his laptop. He asked for Yvonne to provide the location and she did. He studied the Google Maps layout around where Lucas Berenson had his country estate. It was isolated, which was good, and it was not protected from an approach from any direction. It was on the top of a small hill, but there was nothing to prevent someone from approaching the house.

John studied it and thought about ways to get there. He considered all the possible ways he could get there, what he could take, when he would do it. There were ways. But he still didn't know about any security there. That he would have to find out about. He turned to Yvonne.

"Can you tell me anything about the security around Lucus? Have you checked this house for security or does he have bodyguards with him?"

"I haven't tried to check the house and see if he has it set up so he can check with his phone. If he has done that, I should be able to get in. He normally has two bodyguards with him. They travel with him everywhere."

"Okay, can you get me their names and backgrounds?"

"Yes." Yvonne stopped and took a deep breath. "Don't do this John."

"Right now, we are just seeing what could be done. I told you I'd give the FBI a week, but if they tell me they can't do anything, then I will. I have some contacts with the FBI, so I should be able to find out about their investigation."

Yvonne nodded. "I'll see what I can do. I have a place to stay over in Fremont for a few days. But it would be nice if I could stay here."

John nodded and gave a partial smile. "You are welcome here any time. The other apartment is empty."

"Thanks." Yvonne rose up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll get my stuff."

---------------- Saturday, October 29, 2022, Seattle, WA -----------

John woke at about 5am. He looked at the clock and groaned. He had been sleeping very little the last few weeks, but he had really zonked out last night at about 11pm, so 6 solid hours was more than he'd had in a while.

He started to sit up, but realized that there was a body laying next to him in the bed. He turned to it and saw Yvonne, curled up facing away from him. He lifted the covers. She was naked. He grinned, despite still being in mourning for Maggie.

John got up and hit the bathroom, then came back to bed. He turned to Yvonne and shook her lightly. She immediately came awake.

"What?" She was still getting her bearings.

"Decided to get into my bed?"

"Oh, yeah. I haven't had any human contact in a while and needed some. I hope you don't mind."

John shook his head. "Not a problem, but I doubt anything more than sleeping will be occurring for the near future."

Yvonne put her hand to his face, the concern written there. "I understand. I wasn't expecting sex, just some human contact and maybe some cuddling. Then, if you want to talk about her or anything, we can."

"Thanks." John stood up. "I'm going to get dressed and make some breakfast. Want some?"

Yvonne threw back the covers and stood up. She looked great. John looked her up and down.

"You've put on a little weight in your ass and tits. You look scrumptious."

Yvonne grinned. "Thanks. I've been working out more, but eating more protein. I was trying to get stronger and the weight just naturally gathered in my ass and tits while I put on some muscle."

"You're beautiful Yvonne." John turned. "Eggs? Waffles? Pancakes?"

"Eggs sounds great."

John headed into the kitchen to make breakfast.

---------------- Friday, November 4, 2022, Seattle, WA -----------

John, Marty, Carl, George, and Craig sat around John's apartment, while Yvonne had gone into the extra apartment. They had gone over all the details of what it might take to attack the Montana home of Lucas Berenson. The information they had gathered showed that there were several ways to approach the house without the security alarm. If they could cut that off, it would be easy. If the alarm could not be stopped, then they would have to approach more carefully and take out the cameras. Of course, once they did that, the occupants would know they were coming.

They had another minor problem. Marty and Carl knew one of his bodyguards who were with him in Montana. He was a former member of the 2nd Ranger battalion of the 75th Regiment at Ft. Lewis, and they had both been there briefly when he was there. They also relayed that he was a hothead and not very well liked. He was a bit of a violent loner, not a team player. But he would definitely know their standard operating procedures. The other guy was a former policeman, so he would not be as familiar with the methods John's group might use.

At around 5pm, John got the call he was expecting. It was from Allison.

"Hey, Allison, what's the news?"

"The techies got deep into it and they can build a case, slowly. It will take some time as we have to track down all his immediate subordinates. The bureau wants to build a case against the entire organization so that they can get his accomplices."