My Day at the Mall

As we rode I sat and looked at Rachel's face. In her sleep I could see the turmoil evident in her dreams. I stroked her back and instantly the look on her face became one of total relaxation. I held her and thought what that meant for me... to me.

Ray turned and looked at her and said, "How could anyone hurt someone that beautiful?"

I looked at him, my face a deathly grim mask and replied, "I don't know but he'll never hurt her again if I have anything to say about it." Ray just nodded.

Rachel's hand snaked up to cup my face. I looked down into her eyes and saw the adoration there. Her voice was a breathy whisper, "My knight in shining armor rides forth to slay yon dragon to protect the broken damsel."

I smiled at her, "Alas fair one, the dragon's doom hath been sealed, for the blackguard hath pitted his strength against me and I shall prove his perfidy upon his body! The dragon must be slain that the maiden fair be made whole and safe from the abomination of his desolation."

Jerry looked at Ray and said in a somber voice, "In my professional opinion, they're both nuts!"

Ray broke out in laughter but cut it off as her heard Rachel start to sobbing the word "maiden" over and over again rocking in my arms effectively killing his burst of humor

Placing a finger on her chin, I turned her face to look at me, "You'd never had sex before he raped you." I made it a statement not a question.

Her quiet heartbroken, "No." wrenched at my heart.

I stroked her hair and moved a few stray strands away from her face, "You do know that your virginity is intact, don't you?"

Her eyes flew wide open in rage, "How dare you mock me?" She tried to slide out of my arms but I held her firmly. Not so tight that she couldn't move but she wasn't going anywhere I didn't allow her to.

"I do not mock you, nor do I belittle your pain. Your virginity resides neither within your heart, nor your vagina nor in a hymen. Where you give your heart is the only thing that determines who gets to receive that most precious of gifts. He stole your body's innocence, that is true, but not your virginity. That is not something that can be taken by force or coercion. It is a treasured gift given to the one of your choosing and no other."

She jerked and stared into my eyes. I felt the weight of her judgment upon my words. "You actually believe that!? You aren't just saying that?"

Jerry answered her for me, "If the boss says it, you can bank on the fact that he believes it. I've never known him to lie to anyone outside of a mission. Even then he skirted the truth more often than lied."

I said, "You may find this strange in this day and age but my mother always said I was from a time long past when people kept their word and spoke the truth, the strong defended the weak and did not abuse them. I'll not lie to you and I'll not belittle what you went through. Yes, I believe what I said."

She looked at me for a few more seconds and then laid her head back on my shoulder, snuggling into my arms once more wrapping herself tightly in my arms. "Good!" she said simply. We rode in silence for a while longer and Ray and I discussed the best way into Winslow's estate.

Jerry piped up, "The turnoff to Winslow's is just ahead. There are several cars pulled in there." Jerry pulled in behind a State Patrol vehicle and shut off the engine.

The ambulance from Torrington containing Sally and Maggie Kirkland and Mike Foley pulled up behind us.

Mel stepped out of one of the cars and came towards the SUV as Rachel slid off of my lap and made room for Mel to get in the back with us. I noticed that she put me between herself and the approaching woman. Melissa Granger appeared to be a woman in her mid thirties and was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a red silk top, which was mostly obscured by the jacket she was wearing. Even so her figure was alluring. Her shoulder-length brown hair was curly and bounced as she walked back to meet us.

I opened the door and made room for the vivacious lady on the bench seat. As she slid onto the seat her jacket gaped open revealing a very pleasing décolletage. She was very lovely and I could tell by the looks on Jerry and Ray's faces that I wasn't the only one to think so.

As she put her arm on the back of the seat and turned to face us I saw she too carried a firearm under her left arm. She noticed my glance and said, "Since being promoted to the States Attorney's office I've had three attempts on my life. I don't go anywhere unarmed. Is that a problem for you?

The weapon was a Bersa Arms Thunder 45 Ultra Compact .45 caliber semi-automatic. I had seen and used them before and liked the weapon for its accuracy and dependability. It was one of the best concealed-carry firearms for accuracy and stopping power around. It's the preferred sidearm of the Argentinean Federal Police.

"As long as you're qualified to carry it I have no problem with it." I watched her face as I spoke.

She smirked "I was taught to shoot by a former Olympic-class marksman and scored five hundred eighty-three out of six hundred in the ten rings at my qualifying exam. Is that good enough?"

Jerry and Ray both whistled. Jerry said "Damn boss, she's almost as good as you."

Ray took in her indignant stare and laughingly said "Boss man here set the state and national records for handgun qualification by scoring five ninety-nine, six hundred, and six hundred in three consecutive sessions at the Ben Avery School and then at Quantico. He holds several other unofficial or should I say classified records in the CQB (Close Quarters Battle) houses at Quantico, Fort Bragg, and Cherry Point.

"He's a regular one man wave of armed destruction when he wants to be." Ray and Jerry smirked at her. "Don't ask him about them. He signed a confidentiality agreement. We didn't! His call sign was..."

"Shut up, Ray!" My voice told him that I was serious

"Well it sounds like when this is over I'm going to ask for some shooting instructions and CQB training if you don't mind, Mr. Richards. I've made some powerful enemies and they seem to be determined that I not live to regret it." She said this with a jocular air at first but you could hear the sadness in her voice as she spoke.

"I'll be happy to help you with that when this is all over. At the moment we need to focus on getting Ms. Curtis out of there and the pair of them safe." As I finished Mel sighed.

"Ms. Curtis, is this your uncle?" Mel handed Rachel a photo of a distinguished looking old man.

Rachel handed her back the photo. "Call me Rachel, please. Yes, that's my uncle. Why do you ask?"

Mel sighed again and said "I'm sorry to have to tell you that your uncle is dead. As near as I can tell he died the same day that you were kidnapped."

Rachel gasped and tears began to well in her eyes. "There is no chance you are mistaken?"

Mel shook her head sadly "I'm afraid not. We verified his death and his identity at the same time we were notified of his passing. Your uncle secretly left iron clad instructions regarding the disposition of his remains however, and the required autopsy supports a finding of murder. He was poisoned. If we had not been looking for foul play we would not have found the poison. It metabolizes within twelve hours and your uncle had placed on file an order requiring an autopsy within four hours of his death under any circumstances and that a screen for every possible toxic agent be performed. I can only conclude that, as these orders were held in secret, he feared for his life and expected something to happen."

Rachel cried a bit more and then Mel continued after she had pulled herself together. "A will has been filed by Mr. Winslow showing him as the sole heir to his father's estate; however it will not be eligible for probate." She smirked, "Your uncle left a will with a trusted friend that is to supersede all other documents and it was on file under seal in the courthouse in Torrington not Covington. It's dated the day before he died. His friend is a sitting State Supreme Court justice. Winslow's lawyers are having hysterics trying to impeach his credibility."

Rachel looked shocked. "What does the will say?"

Mel smiled, "I have no idea at this time. The will is to remain sealed until you and/or your sister come to make a claim and probate the will."

Upon hearing that, Winslow's plan fell into place for me. "Mel we need to get inside now!" As I was speaking two more Missouri State Patrol cruisers pulled up behind us.

Mel looked into my face and instead of asking questions she pulled out a stack of warrants granting me the right to enter the premises and seize any evidence found there. "Go on, cowboy. We'll be waiting to hear from you. Those two cruisers are my people and I trust them with my life. We'll take care of Rachel till you come back with her sister."

~~~~~

I climbed out of the SUV and motioned for Jerry and Ray to follow me. I was shaking with rage. Winslow had figured to use Becca to force Rachel to turn over their inheritance. I stalked over to the new cruisers and greeted the officers.

"I'm Sgt. Tommy Monroe and this is my brother Bobby. The other two are our cousins Mike and John Butler. We'll be watching your back." The tall, fit looking blonde officer held out his hand and I took it. His grip was firm but he didn't try to play the power games I have dealt with in others. He was confident but not arrogant and so were the others.

Bobby spoke and I looked over at him and you knew that these two were brothers. "Sissy tells us you ran afoul of that Winslow bastard."

I grinned. "Sissy? Oh this is going to be fun. I assume you mean Mel?"

Bobby looked like he had just swallowed a live salmon. "Oh shit, she'll kill me!"

Jerry, Ray, and I joined in the laughter of the three troopers.

After a moment we settled down and I gave them their orders. As I spoke their grim expressions told me I had staunch allies for this raid.

"Winslow kidnapped and tortured two sisters. I freed one of them in Torrington earlier today and we believe the other is still being held on this compound. I have it from a reliable source that if we don't free her before Winslow wakes up and asks for an attorney she will be found dead within twenty-four hours if she is found at all. Her sister is in that SUV with Mel now and we'll be taking the sisters into protective custody as soon as we have Becca free."

Tommy spoke "I'm assuming the three of you are going in and you want us to keep the locals out of there until you're done."

I nodded, "I need the time for my guys to find and free her. We think we can delay any alarm for a while but eventually it's going to sound. Winslow has a bought-and-paid-for Judge and several high level cops in Covington that have been helping cover Winslow for years. I have State warrants that give me jurisdiction and total authority over this crime scene. Anyone who tries to enter the grounds before we are out you can arrest for obstruction. That's an order by the way, so you are covered if this goes badly."

John Butler spoke for the first time, "I went to the prom with Leslie McGill. We were going to get married when she graduated college. That would have been next month. She disappeared two years ago. Winslow was the last one to be seen with her. She turned up dead six weeks later. The same day she was found a judge had signed a search warrant for his house. There was never any search. Harper got the warrant rescinded as her body had been found."

Mike put his arm around his brother and said, "Nobody will get past us until you or Mel says so. I know that bastard killed Les and I'll help anyway I can."

I nodded again and called Terry and told him to watch for the alert as we were going in.

"I've got the system rigged to delay the alert signal for twenty minutes not twelve. That should give you the time you need to find the girl and get her out of the house before anyone from Covington can interfere."

"Thanks, Terry! Okay guys were a go for breach let's do this." I picked up a sound suppressed H&K MP5 and cycled the action to load it.

Jerry gave a curt nod and jacked a round into the chamber on his Benelli 12 gauge semi-automatic combat shotgun. Ray carried an M4, a lightweight close-quarters version of the M16.

Ray looked at me and said, "I'm on point." He moved as silently as anyone I'd ever seen. Jerry, Ray, and I, along with the other members of our unit, had been called the Ghost Walkers. We made our way over the wall of Winslow's compound and headed for the main house. We swept through the grounds and found that sentries who were on duty were very careless in their attitudes. They, like Winslow, assumed that they were invulnerable in Covington. One by one we rendered all six sentries unconscious. We bound them with flexi-cuffs and moved into the compound.

The map that we had obtained we had given to Terry and he had uploaded it to our PDA's. We disabled the alarm and told Terry to give us time readings every five minutes. Strangely enough there was no one in the upstairs or the ground floor of the main house.

In the kitchen we found a door in the back of the walk-in pantry that led to what we came for. As the door opened we heard the scream of a woman in agony. I took point and as I rounded the corner into what could only be a dungeon, I saw a man with what looked like a branding iron preparing to place it on a nude woman's breast. The woman was strapped to a St. Andrews cross.

I called out in a loud clear, firm voice, "State Police! We have a warrant! Place your hands behind your head and kneel on the floor!"

I don't know his name, but judging from his looks I'd say he was of Middle Eastern extraction, but he was a fool. Instead of obeying orders and living he dropped the branding iron and tried to pull a pistol from his waistband. I fired two rounds, one to the head and one in the chest, and knew he was dead before he hit the floor. I moved into the room followed by Jerry and Ray. They spread out, left and right to clear the room.

I moved straight to the woman on the cross. I released the buckles binding her to the cross. I caught her as she fell to her knees. I knelt next to a perfect copy of Rachel. Same eyes, same nose, same everything. I spoke softly, a single tear falling from my right eye, "Ms. Curtis? I'm a friend of your sister Rachel. We've come to get you and take you to her."

She never acknowledged my presence until she heard her sister's name. She raised her head and I could see the cuts on her lips from the abuse she had suffered I could see the bruising on her face, some beginning to fade, others fresh and new. "R-R-Rachel?

I nodded. "I freed her from Winslow earlier today and have him in custody. He won't hurt you anymore. I won't let anyone hurt you again." As I reached out to touch her she flinched away in panic. I keyed the mic on my radio and told Terry, "I need a medic in here now! The house is clear. The sentries are neutralized."

Terry replied, "That's a good thing. Mel's Crime Scene Unit just arrived and the alarm company just made the call to Covington. You've got about three minutes before company arrives."

I switched frequencies on my radio and told Tommy what was going on. He told me that the ambulance was on its way into the compound with Rachel inside and that Mel was waiting for the Covington PD to arrive. They had moved their cars to block the road and would keep the locals clear until we were on our way.

I turned back to the nude woman and said, "Your sister is coming for you. She'll be here in a minute."

She looked up at me frightened. "You must get her away from here. Master will come for her and kill her! You must get her away from here!"

I took her in my arms and crooned softly. "It's okay. You are both safe now. I won't let Roger hurt you again. Roger is not your master any longer. You are free. I won't let him hurt you or your sister." She relaxed into my embrace and sobbed into my chest.

Rachel found us like that when she, Sally and Maggie entered the room. Rachel looked like she was about to throw up. They moved over to me and I leaned back. "Becca, this is Maggie and her sister Sally. They are going to look you over and make sure you're all right to travel."

As I moved away Rachel took her sister's hand and brought it to her cheek as she sobbed. "I told you I'd come for you, Becca. I told you I would."

Becca focused on Rachel's face and began to panic. "You must go! Master will come and said he'd kill you if I saw you again! You must run!"

Rachel snorted, "He's no master! He's a piece of filth. Wayne will protect us. He won't let him hurt us again."

As Rachel spoke Becca calmed and said in a dreamy voice, "If he's not master, who is master? I must serve master." She drifted off to sleep and Rachel stroked her hair.

My radio crackled and Tommy said "If you want to leave before the goon squad gets here you need to do it now. I can hear their sirens."

I looked at Sally and Maggie, "Can I take her or does she need to go to the hospital?"

Maggie looked at Sally and said, "Tell Peter I'll be out for a few more days, maybe a week, on a personal emergency." She handed her four vials of blood she had taken from Becca. "Give these to Lance at the lab. Tell him to scan it for drugs of any type as well as everything else under the sun. I'll call him in a day or so for the results." Turning to me she said, "She can be moved but she's going to need more care than I think you are prepared for. I'll go with you to make sure that there are no problems."

I frowned but didn't have time to argue. We put the sleeping woman on the gurney and took her to the waiting ambulance. We rode to the cruisers and Jerry and Ray got out and into the SUV. We passed a large equipment truck with the words "Missouri State Crime Scene Investigation" on the side parked with one of the cruisers, and Mike Butler, near the entrance of the house.

We waved at Mel and she came across the radio "Keep 'em safe cowboy and I'll talk to you in a week. The Covington police chief is at the perimeter demanding to be let into the crime scene. I'm going to go give arrest orders to my cousins."

I called Red and informed him of the changes and he said "Come through Torrington and meet me at the south lot. I'll have a clean transport and some supplies for the doc that she might need."

Hanging up the phone I saw Jerry close his own and say "Boss, it seems that there is a 'hot pursuit' of a couple of thieves headed for the southern part of the state. The Covington PD are currently giving chase." The laughter in his voice let me know that his cousin had come through for us.

Thirty minutes later we met Red at the south storage lot for the Mall. He had a large decommissioned ambulance waiting. I recognized it as one that a defunct ambulance service had auctioned a month or so before. I was at that auction replacing my SUV which had been totaled in the wreck.

He kept it short and to the point. "Get the girl transferred and get moving. Harper called Winslow's shyster and is trying to get the warrants revoked. They are also making noises about his cousin being missing from the home. They don't know about the shooting yet but you can bet they will try to get warrants for you and her. The ambulance is outfitted with the best equipment available. The tank is full so get going." With that he turned and took the SUV we had arrived with and left leaving us the ambulance and his Jeep Commander.

Ray drove us to the safehouse in record time. Maggie rode with Jerry in the ambulance. Becca remained unconscious throughout the ride and, with one brief exception, until late the next day.

"I'm impressed. There's a full military field surgery kit in here as well as quite a few prescription drugs for a wide array of treatments." Maggie's voice sounded surprised.