FBI Headquarters

4:45 pm

“Deploy.”

Nazari’s cell phone had but one word keyed in and it went to a blind distribution list. Simon was busy working on cracking the list, and Nazari himself truth be told. The FBI ground teams had already intercepted 4 separate terrorists trying to deploy the chemical weapon into the water supply. The problem is that they don’t know how many people Nazari had set to deploy the weapons. Rob had just walked in after meeting with the Director for the last couple of hours. He looked tired but he had a determined look in his eyes as he addressed Nikki,

“This is a huge mess. The death of a senator, chemical weapons being deployed against our own citizens.” He shook his head and took a deep breath before continuing. “The senator’s plane is going to go down on his way back from his trade mission. Unfortunately, there were no survivors.” He pinned Nikki with his stare and she just nodded in agreement. “We have no idea how many people Nazari has out there and we can only hope Simon can crack the distribution list or get the information out of Nazari directly.” He looked over at Nikki, hope showing in his eyes that she had some good news for him. Nikki cleared her voice and said,

“We have the samples from the terrorists that we have arrested and our chemists are working out the compound to find out if they can create an antidote.” She looked past Rob, deep in thought and added, “our best bet is Simon, I don’t think we have enough time to develop an antidote.” As soon as the words left her mouth her phone started “Dancing”. She quickly picked up the phone and opened the email, noticing the smirk on Rob’s face out of the corner of her eye. She read,

“Dear Butterfly,

It took some doing, but I finally convinced Nazari that it would be in his best interest to cooperate with the Rage, he’s not exactly what you would call patient.  There is a total of 6 people on the ground and I have attached the targets for each one. Tell McShay that I got his text and I left Nazari intact…mostly, so they can debrief him further.

You would have been so proud of Dante, he continues to impress me and I couldn’t have done it without him. We are heading back to you once we drop Nazari off with McShay’s friends to do their thing and I think it’s time for a vacation, don’t you? There is something I want to show you, I will let you know when we are close.

I love you and will see you shortly, the Rage misses his Nikki so I hope the shoulder is feeling better.

Simon”

Nikki smiled at the last comment and then quickly opened the attachment showing the locations of the attack sites. Rob was on the phone a moment later directing the field teams to the last 2 locations.

Nikki leaned back in her chair and the stress of the last several days really hit her. She was definitely ready to see Simon and Dante back safe and she was even more ready for a vacation!

10:25 am

Q&A: “You mentioned in an earlier post that you would define ‘Right’, what did you mean by that?” Thank you, it makes it so much easier to write for you when you give me good questions. You know I can tend to run on but I have a lot to catch you up on so I will try to be succinct in my explanation. My definition of “Right” transcends law, religion, and politics. I’ve always thought about the greater good, how can you positively affect the greatest amount of people. Is it legal to brutally murder someone for driving like a dick? No, of course not. Is it the right thing to do? My personal opinion, I think so. My hope is that someone reading about what could happen to them MAY cause them to take a moment of pause and hopefully, please, move the fuck over and get out of the left lane. Is it right that criminals get off of their crime on a ridiculous technicality and go free to hurt people again? Nope. Is it right that we track them down and make them pay in a manner befitting their dickery? I think absolutely yes. You may disagree but I am sure you won’t mind one less person brake checking you, stopping before making a right turn, and driving under the speed limit while texting or talking on their damn cell phone…. “Right” … Now let me give you another real-world example.

Our buddy Zulu has some rather nefarious friends. One of these friends is supplying Zulu with a deadly little bit of business that he was going to use against his own countrymen in a very horrifying way. All in the name of greed, the quest for more power. What could power possibly give you that could possibly make up for the stain that taking innocent lives has left on you? Don’t even say it, those that have met the Rage were pretty fucking far from innocent. Zulu was ready to indiscriminately kill men, women, and your children to further his own ambitions. Bully. You know the Rage wasn’t going to sit idly by while that was going on.

Since we had Zulu’s undivided attention for the last couple of days, he and the Rage came to an understanding. Zulu would do what the Rage asked and in turn, the Rage might leave parts of Zulu attached…. might being the operative term. It all depends on the results Zulu is able to achieve. The Rage is a bottom line kind of guy and doesn’t like to micromanage. Give someone a goal, get the fuck out of their way, and let them do what they do best to achieve it. Then, judge them on the results. It’s a pretty simple equation to running a successful business or even a country and something that most leaders and small business owners completely fail at. I get it, you built the business with your blood sweat and tears and don’t want anyone to ruin it. Problem is, you can’t move on to the next higher level on your own. I gave Zulu one objective and that was to make an introduction to his friend. Oh, did I mention that said friend isn’t even an American. The Rage is expanding even further worldwide.

The arrangements were made, my team was in place, it was time to dance. The meeting was set for an abandoned warehouse and Zulu was waiting inside, seemingly alone. I had him wired for sound and I also thought it prudent to wire his testicles with high power electrical contacts. I might have tried it a time or 2 while we were waiting for the meeting…who am I kidding the Rage got ahold of the controller and he must have hit him with at least a half dozen zaps. The device works so that is one less concern for us. Headlights…

A nondescript 4 door sedan pulls up outside the warehouse. A few seconds pass and then all 4 doors open and 5 men come out of the vehicle, 4 heavily armed surrounding the fifth. They made their way inside where Zulu was waiting for them, moths to the flame. They got right to business and Zulu wired the agreed upon payment into his friend’s account. I let him do this so I could access the friends account. Within 20 seconds of the transfer, not only the money Zulu transferred, but all of the money in his buddy’s account was rerouted to a place of our choosing.

Here’s the problem with criminal enterprises, you can’t trust anyone. As soon as Zulu transferred the money, his buddy pulled a gun out and shot him in the face. I guess they weren’t that good of friends after all. Before Zulu hit the ground, Dead and Lee returned the favor to the friend’s entourage. 5 bodies now lay on the floor and the buddy is trying to figure out his next move when the Rage and I made our introduction. The friend was not that happy to see us. He turned the gun toward us and in his other hand he held a cell phone and was keying something in. I subtly waived off the boys, I need this guy alive, we still have to find the weapon. He narrowed his eyes at me as a smirk played at the corner of his mouth,

“You have no idea what I can….” That’s when the dart hit him in the neck. I really would have enjoyed hearing the rest of the threat, but we have business to attend to. The gun and cell phone hit the deck. I looked up and nodded at D who was looking a bit like the cat who ate the canary as he was spinning his blow gun around in his hand while hanging upside down from a rope secured to the rafters. Show off! Dead and Lee seemed to enjoy it though, they were laughing and slapping him on the back after they got him down. I picked up the cell phone and realized we had a big problem…

FBI Headquarters

2:20 pm

Nikki had received an email from Simon the night before with the name, Hassan Nazari. She and Rob had used every database and connection they both had to try and find out more about Nazari and were coming up with very little intel. What they were able to substantiate was that Nazari was very highly educated. He received an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Oxford and a PHD in Molecular Biology from Harvard. What little intel they were able to gain from Iraq confirmed that he was in country during the time Scarpetti was running his special ops team. His parents were killed when he was attending Harvard and he fell off the radar after that. About 6 months after his parents died, there were reports of a small village outside the town his family lived in that all of the residents fell ill and died. There were rumors of a chemical attack but nothing was proven. It was suspected that the men responsible for Nazari’s family’s death lived in that village. Rob and Nikki felt like this was their bioterrorist, now they just needed to figure out how to find him and shut him down.

The last known photo of Nazari was from 4 years ago and he had a full beard. He could have easily changed his appearance since then. There was no record of him entering the country after he returned home from graduating Harvard. They both knew he was traveling under an assumed identity so they were basically looking for a needle in a stack of needles. As of a hour ago, they finally had surveillance set up at each access point to Chicago’s water system that were outlined in the data retrieved from Scarpetti Jr’s computer. Now, they were waiting, no, hoping for something to help them move forward.

Porn Star Dancing started playing and Nikki snatched up her phone and opened the email before Rob figured out what song was playing and she read,

“Dear Butterfly,

I miss you and hope you are feeling better. I’m sorry it has taken so long to obtain any information from Scarpetti, he didn’t react to the usual provocations. He was fully ready for his illegitimate daughter to bear the brunt of his sins for him. Leverage doesn’t work so well with sociopaths. What did work, and thank you for that, your love of botany has proven useful yet again, was the very small dose of cicutoxin I gave him. When his organs slowly stopped working and he began violently throwing up, experiencing extreme stomach cramps and trouble breathing, he finally relented and he is willing to help us set up a meeting with Nazari.  

I set the meeting for tonight at 9pm at the enclosed location. Dante and I are meeting Dead and Lee at the site to prep. Wish us luck!

Stay safe, I love you.

Simon”

Nikki felt that weight settle in her stomach, the one she felt every time she knew Simon and Dante were going to be in danger. She looked over at Rob who was texting madly and then he stood up, nodded at Nikki and walked out of the conference room. Nikki just shook it off and went back to digging up anything she could find on Nazari.

3:50pm

I’ve told you before that I don’t like bullies. Not one little bit. Well, as luck would have it, the bully’s bad luck, the Rage and I had a rare moment to ourselves so we did what any Rager would do, we went and got an ice cream. We were enjoying the chocolate dripping off our chin when we heard, and then saw, a couple of kids on their bikes. They were watching someone and after a few seconds, we saw a younger boy walking around the side of the building where the boys were waiting. He had just gotten himself an ice cream and was oblivious to the trap that had been laid for him. We finished off our treat and walked over to the side of the building to see what was going to happen, all the while knowing exactly how this was going to play out. The Rage was a kid once too and not always as all-knowing and powerful as he is today if you get my meaning.

As soon as our young hero turned the corner, the biggest of the lot swatted the boy’s cone up and smashed it onto his shirt, ice cream and cone chunks everywhere. Then, as if he didn’t just win a gold medal at the dick Olympics, he pushed the boy to the ground and kicked him in the stomach. That’s about the time I pulled the taser out and shot the little bastard right in his juju beans. Hopefully, it rendered the little prick impotent. His posse hightailed it out of there as soon as the high pitch screaming started so it was just Mr. Bully, the little guy covered in ice cream, and professor Rage, who was ready for class to begin. I pulled the switchblade, the big one, and flicked it out and held it ¼ inch from Bully’s eye and looked at my sticky little friend and said, “I think I am just going to kill him…. slowly…” I turned my attention back to the bully who’s pants now had a large wet stain growing in his lap and he was doing that sobbing thing that kids do where they take a breath in and it hitches like 4 times. My little buddy showed his true color that day and it restored just a tiny fraction of faith back into humanity for the Rage and I. Sticky wiped his own tears from his eyes and actually pleads with me,

“P… please don’t Mr., don’t hurt him.” His whole body was shaking. I turned and looked into his eyes and asked,

“Are you sure, he should be punished for picking on someone smaller and younger than he is?” I pointed the knife towards several delicate areas of the bully’s anatomy, his sobs coming unrestricted now. My buddy looks me in the eyes with desperation,

“Please, he won’t do it again, will you Mikey?” Mikey looked like he wasn’t going to be doing much other than having some pretty graphic nightmares so I upped the ante, I don’t like bullies.

“What’s your address Mikey?” If I thought he looked scared before, I can say that I literally scared the shit out of him now. The tortoise definitely outran the rabbit. I did get the address and I explained to Mikey exactly what I would do if he ever bullied anyone again. What I described was not what I was going to do to Mikey. It was what I was going to do to his mother, father, and younger sister, all the while Mikey watching, knowing it was his fault. I am pretty sure his bullying days are behind him but you know we will check in on him from time to time.

Why such a long-winded story about bullies? Zulu is a bully of the highest caliber. He was fully ready to sacrifice thousands of lives to get what he wants, more power. Greed, deadly sin #1 reared its ugly head again. Wikipedia defines greed as “inordinate or insatiable longing for unneeded excess especially for wealth, status or power.” Zulu already has an enormous amount of power and that just isn’t enough for him, he is willing to commit genocide to achieve more. It was a lovely plan until the Rage came along and fucked it all up for him. Zulu is going to require more than a few threats though. Good thing the Rage always has a trick or 73 up his sleeve. I am heading to the ops center to serenade Zulu with some “I Hate Everything About You” by Three Days Grace…. loudly. And then I am going to show him how much.

FBI Headquarters

11:50 am

“Could you repeat that” Rob sputtered, unable to comprehend what Nikki had just told him. Nikki brought up a file from Jr’s computer labelled “Phoenix”. Within the file were detailed plans of the city’s water system access points. There were also documents identifying a biological agent that the military had seized several years ago from a raid on a secret bunker of one of the tribal leaders in Iraq. When the military tested the chemicals, they realized the potential dangers of the chemicals and decided to destroy all samples of the agent. Obviously, they didn’t quite destroy them all. Nikki had continued her search and found out the squad leader that lead the raid on the bunker was none other than Giovani Scarpetti.  

Rob was shaking his head, taking it all in. He looked up at Nikki, “What could he possibly want with a bioweapon?” Nikki clicked several times and 3 different news feeds populated the screens in the conference room, all of them showing articles speculating whether Senator Scarpetti would be seeking nomination for president from his political party. She opened a couple of stories and read from the highlighted sections where they were talking about Scarpetti’s tough stance on terrorism and his push to bring our soldiers home from all foreign engagements and focus on making our country strong again. His platform is popular with the voting public, who wouldn’t want our soldiers home and out of harm’s way, but it also goes against his own party’s foreign policy goals.

“He’s going to stage a terrorist attack in Chicago to get his party’s nomination” Nikki said, not realizing she was speaking out loud. Rob turned and looked at her for a couple of seconds and when she realized he was looking at her she continued, “It makes sense. Create a terrorist attack and then the Senator can get out in front of it and say he has been warning the country all along that we should be focusing our attention, and resources, on our own domestic security instead of getting involved with everyone else around the globe.” She clicked several more times and brought up a company charter. “This is a shell company that Scarpetti created over 10 years ago. I was able to track several large deposits over the same time frame. All occurred within days of known data breaches in the financial industry. He has been building his coffers up for this run at the presidency all along. Can you imagine what he could do it he actually got elected?” Real concern showing on her face and in the tremor in her voice. Rob was silent for several moments as he continued to process all that Nikki had just said. Finally, he ran his hands over his head and down his face, blew out a long breath and looked up at Nikki,

“I already briefed the SAC in Chicago about Scarpetti’s son and the 4 officers killed in the explosion. They have created a cover story that the 5 of them were killed in a head on collision with a tractor trailer outside of Chicago. We need to find out where the chemical weapon is and who else is involved in this plot. We don’t have much time as the world will expect to see Scarpetti after losing his son. Ironically, his office has been telling reporters that he is overseas doing a trade mission so we have a day, maybe 2. Brief Simon and tell him we don’t have much time.” He held Nikki’s gaze for a few seconds, both knowing exactly what that means. Nikki nodded once and opened an email to Simon.

3:50 pm

Law enforcement officers are highly trained driver’s. They are trained to drive in any climate and weather condition, in any situation and do so in a professional manner. Basically, drive the least like a dick out there. Shouldn’t be too hard right? Or maybe, just maybe, they think they are above the law. Maybe they are, above the law. Just not the Rage’s law. He takes dicklike driving from trained professionals as a direct insult and even a challenge. Thank you, he hasn’t been this excited since beginning his metal forging career after I let him watch Forged in Fire on TV. That didn’t turn out like you would expect either.

I got the forge all set up, picked up the correct type of metal and started heating it to the proper temperature. The Rage was all too happy to grab that hammer and start whacking away. Sure, looks easy on TV doesn’t it? It ain’t! Fuck me in the ear hole, it’s a lot of damn work! In the end, he bashed our own hand, sent a hot ember flying down our shirt collar and burned all the hair off both arms doing it. Plan B…. quickly. We heated up the piece of metal and gave Tango a nice tattoo, I didn’t want to waste the materials or the effort. Don’t need the power washer when you have hot metal. I bought the Rage a couple of cool swords from Amazon and called it a day.

Back to professional drivers, not. Jr should have been named Richard! We followed him to see what he was planning for our upcoming meeting with his daddy, you know this itchy sphincter is planning something. Let’s see, he used the lights and siren for no other reason than to get where he was going faster. Fuck all of us lowly law-abiding citizens (you maybe, pretty sure that doesn’t apply to me) who were just trying to go through their day without some idiot ruining it. He cut off 3 drivers, did not signal his turns…ever, and he went through 2 red lights. That was the first mile. Power corrupts, complete power corrupts completely or some crap like that. I don’t really care exactly how the saying goes, I have seen it over and over again. You give someone a little power and it goes right to their head and they think they can do what they want. Might have been true before the Rage came to town.

Jr pulled up in front of a warehouse and 4 men dressed in black from head to toe slid into the rear of JR’s SUV. All were carrying several weapons. Tsk tsk tsk. They are not playing by the rules. I dialed Zulu and set the meeting. I then dialed up my friends Dead and Lee. I’m not sure what their names really are, that’s just what we call them after seeing what they can do with a sniper rifle. They helped me out in Detroit and are watching my back now as well. They are already in position enjoying a snack I’m sure. They eat almost as much as the Rage does.

I arrived at the meeting site and waited for Zulu. About 10 minutes later, he pulls into the parking lot and stops his car in front of me and left his lights on trying to keep me from seeing the fuckerey that is going on behind them. All part of the game boys. Zulu gets out of the driver’s side and Jr the passenger side. Jr opened the rear door and pulled Yankee out, looking much the worse for the wear. I bet he wished he was staying at Chateau De Simon, doesn’t look like he appreciates his current accommodations. I can maybe get him a coupon for a future stay.

They walked towards me and when they were about 30 feet from the SUV, I hit a button on my cell phone and the SUV exploded, the 4 uninvited occupants still inside. What, I didn’t tell them to bring friends. I think this pissed off Jr because he shoved Yankee to the ground in front of him and drew his weapon. Before the gun came level, I heard a thump and the gun hit the pavement with a clatter. Jr started screaming and held up his hand, hole going right through the center of it. That is sure going to affect his golf swing.

I walked over to Yankee, who was still on the ground trying to figure out what was going on, all the while staring into the eyes of Zulu. I shook my head no and his arm relaxed back to his side again. I leaned down and grabbed Yankee by his throat and pulled him to his feet and then choked him out. He hit the ground like a ragdoll, his purpose served. (You remember the prop we used on Field Boss’ wife to simulate death…. I have to give the legitimate authorities someone to play with). Zulu didn’t need to know that.

To his credit, Jr didn’t give up. He should have and he might still be breathing, but bless his cold dead soul, he didn’t. I saw Zulu’s expression change slightly and felt the air around me move. I turned around and dropped to my knees. At the same time, I fired a vicious right uppercut as hard as I could right into Jrs coconuts. I don’t care who you are, any man taking a shot like that is going to know what the ground tastes like. I rolled over and slammed my elbow right across Jr’s face, a loud crack sounded as cartilage shot into his brain. He was done then. I looked up and Zulu was reaching behind his back and I could see his arm coming forward, a crazed look in his eyes. Suddenly, the gun fell from his hand and he fell to his knees. D was standing behind him, his 2nd throwing knife already in his hand.

I pulled the knife out of Zulu’s shoulder and raised it over my head, ready to end Zulu, when a voice came crackling over my ear piece and said something that stopped me in my tracks. The game had just changed….

FBI Headquarters

10:15 am

Nikki was working furiously at her laptop. Simon had briefed her and Rob yesterday about the upcoming meeting with Zulu, but more importantly, about the little bit of code Simon entered into Jr’s computer. His email just came through a few moments ago with an IP address. Once she clicked on the link and input the code Simon gave her, a link opened up and she realized that they had just established a real time link to Jr’s computer. She also realized that Jr was on his computer right now deleting files and folders. Nikki quickly began copying the hard drive, she and the IT team would pour through the data later, she just needed to save what she could right now.

23 minutes later, the download was complete and Jr had wiped his computer. Nikki had copied about 70% of the files before they were deleted and she had sent a copy to the IT team to process and was reviewing some of the files when she saw one in particular that sparked her attention. She opened the file and started reading. All the blood drained from her face as she continued to read. She couldn’t believe what she was reading, even after reading it a second time.

“Holy Shit!” she exclaimed. With shaking hands and still not believing what she read, she dialed Rob McShay’s personal cell phone.

2:40 pm

Sorry I left you hanging, I had something I had to take care of. Besides, it increases readership. When we left off we were trying to figure out if Zulu’s grandson was right or left handed. When Zulu Jr, the big bad enforcer, failed to answer promptly I instructed D to remove the pointer finger of the boy’s right hand, odds are he was right handed, 90% of the population is. That threat alone was enough to wake Jr Zulu from his funk and dial his father into the conversation. There were of course the usual threats from Zulu, until he heard his grandson, Z3, whimpering in the background. Once I had his undivided attention, and I really think we did, I told Zulu I wanted Yankee back. He was mine to dispose of as I see fit and they took him from me. There was a lot of silence while Zulu was undoubtedly trying to work out a way that this could play out to his advantage. I didn’t give him the chance. I added that I would be keeping Z3 until I had what I wanted and if anything happened to me, they would receive parts of him for the next year, all the while my associate would be keeping him alive and in extreme misery. We would provide daily recordings of the misery. I think they got that visual because he agreed to meet me and exchange his grandson for Yankee. Nope, not that simple. This was going to require an act of faith…. on Zulu’s part. I am not going to release his grandson until I make sure I can exit the meeting with all of my parts still attached.

Hesitation again. I sighed and pulled my phone from my pocket and sent a quick text. I heard a ping across the line and an audible intake of breath and then some less than flattering curses that I think were aimed at us. Shame. Old Zulu fathered a daughter out of wedlock 23 years ago and no one was supposed to know about her. I’m not no one. The snapshot I sent was quite striking with his daughter sound asleep in her bed, cute little doggy next to her. You know the Rage wanted to take the dog but, in the end, he settled for a trip to Waffle House, extra syrup. And hash browns, although not as good as the Rage makes, they’ll do.

I think Zulu understood that we were not there to play. We agreed that he would bring Yankee to me at a place of my choosing in one day. Once we agreed to the meeting, I told Jr that I needed to wipe the CCTV footage of my visit and I walked to his computer and worked my magic. The footage was erased and, I might have added just a bit of extra code. An extra 1 or 0 never hurt anyone…. right?

Time to prep for a night op.

FBI Headquarters

2:20 pm

When Nikki had briefed Rob on who Zulu was, he stopped what he was doing and listened very carefully. Once she finished, he picked up his phone and called a meeting of the task force right then and there. Once the group came together, Rob began briefing the team on his old nemesis, Giovani Scarpetti. Rob and Gio, as he was called before he went full on dick, went through boot camp together in the army and were stationed together for 6 months in Iraq. Rob moved into the intelligence field and Gio was a squad leader for a special ops team. Rob had been told that Gio had made contacts with some of the tribal leaders in Iraq and his source indicated that Gio was running ops for the tribal leaders supporting their heroin trade. When he tried to obtain further information, any sources he had ended up getting killed during their patrols. No credible information could be found and Gio subsequently transferred state side when his tour ended. Rob always suspected he was involved in criminal activity but could never prove it. When his time in the military came to an end, Rob came home and was recruited by the FBI where he has been keeping tabs on Scarpetti. He had joined the law enforcement community and quickly rose to the top of his field until making the move into politics. The same rumors of impropriety followed Scarpetti through his law enforcement career but nothing was ever proven and his record remained unblemished. Rob was ready to bring this guy down once and for all.

The ground team was dispatched to Chicago to aid Simon and Nikki, while not in agreement…at all, would stay and coordinate at HQ. She was still healing and even though a tortoise with a broken toe could still beat her in a foot race, she felt totally fine…really. She finally gave up and went back to her office and sent Simon an update. He and Dante were able to make some progress on their own and she was happy that they would have the ground team for support.

5:55 pm

Organized crime, or quite literally the systematic approach for fucking people over. It’s been around for centuries in many different formats and called by many different names; rebellion, dictatorship, we’ve already discussed gangs, and then there is the good old-fashioned mafia. There are drug cartels, international traffickers (the ones we haven’t come across yet) and then there is the group that Yankee screwed over when he sent them the stolen data from the bank breaches. We may have altered it slightly before letting Yankee get his mitts on it. This is the scariest of the bunch, this group of organized criminals is also known as local law enforcement. You heard that right, a group of cops that are dirty, and I mean filthy! I’m not saying all law enforcement is dirty, quite the opposite in fact. No, just this group. When innocent people put their faith and trust in someone or a group that is supposed to be there to protect them and then that person or group turns on them, the Rage and I feel the need to intervene. Violently of course.

We have been watching the group for two days now and we have built an organizational chart for this fucked up corporation. I can’t go into too many details in case anyone in the family is a Rager and might be reading, but let’s just say they are connected to the highest level of government and law enforcement in this particular state. Hopefully, this is an isolated incident, but in case it’s more widespread, I feel we should make a statement that will hopefully keep others from engaging in this high-risk behavior. There are a lot of people in my past that work in law enforcement and when people abuse the power they have been given, it just pisses the Rage off and you know what he’s like when he gets grumpy.  Plus, we have been on a road trip and miss our lady. Not a good time to go poking the Rage, he pokes back and usually with a sharper stick. Let me give you an example.

The head of the family doesn’t even live here with the rest of the family, he lives in a different part of the state and holds a position of immense power. The problem with having that power is that you think you are untouchable, invincible. My job is to show you the error of your way. Zulu is the head of this family and it wouldn’t be a family if he didn’t have kids would it. Leverage, you know we don’t cook without it…. cook…. hmmmm

Zulu’s oldest son is the local enforcer for the family and holds a position within law enforcement. He also has a son that is in middle school, quite the athlete already and undoubtedly being groomed to follow in the family footsteps. I tell you this because it is germane to my meeting with his father, which I did by walking into the police station and telling the desk sergeant that I had important information and would only divulge it to Zulu Jr. After looking me up and down for several seconds (disguise firmly in place mind you), he made the call. He was obviously getting some flak when he looks over at me and asked what exactly this was regarding. I smiled at him and said “Yankee”.

32 seconds later, I was escorted into an expansive office filled with high class furniture and several photos of Zulu’s son with Zulu and several high-ranking law enforcement and political figures from around the state. Behind an expansive desk sat a man who thought he was king of all he surveyed. He was about to find out just how inconsequential he really is. After sizing me up he stands and puffs out his chest trying to intimidate me and asks me what the hell I know about Yankee. I tried to keep the smile off my face but think I might have failed. I told him that he took something from me and I want it back, Yankee. He looked at me like I was nuts and he actually laughed at me. I did smile fully at that because right then, his cell phone rang. He checked the ID and saw it was his son so he quickly answered the phone. The color drained from his face an instant later and that smug smile left faster than a box of chocolate covered strawberries in the Rage’s hands. He looked up at me and I said,

“Put it on speaker.” He hesitated and I said, “D?” A second later there was an ear-splitting scream coming out of the receiver, didn’t really need speakerphone after all.

“Conference in your daddy, this affects him too.” My smile was gone now and I stared into his eyes, doubt and indecision staring back at me…

“Is your son right or left handed……”