Friday April 27

FBI Headquarters

11:15 am

 

Nikki had been researching Sylvio Rojas and the Tairona Terror and she had to admit the nickname was appropriate. She had reviewed the homicide files of the undercover officers who were killed trying to infiltrate the family and terror was an accurate description. If this group was in possession of their missile launcher and Simon got a crack at them he was going to show them the very definition of Karma. 2 of the killed officers had small children that would be growing up without a father now.

 

They had been able to trace the group’s location to Oswego, NY. A small port city located on Lake Ontario. There is access to the Atlantic ocean which is why Nikki guessed they based their operation all the way up there. Simon had loaded satellite footage on the server and Nikki had spent hours watching it and she was impressed. Impressed with the level of sophistication this group possessed. They found footage of 2 people leaving the Lopez’s carrying a case that could have held their missing launcher. During the trip from Detroit to Oswego, the car stopped in 3 different parking garages where subsequent footage showed 3 identical cars exiting the structure, all heading in different directions. The vehicular version of a shell game. Very clever, there is no way anyone would be able to determine which vehicle to follow unless they were inside the garages and saw the exchanges.

 

Thankfully, she had Simon. She really missed him as he was still on the tail of the X-rays and she hadn’t seen him in a few days and she just wanted him back. When had Special Agent Monique Sebastian ever needed anyone else in her life, she had been happy all these years pursuing justice right? It hit her right then just how lonely she has been all this time and how she had been kidding herself that she was just fine on her own. She had never really known anything different but now, now she knew what she had been missing all along and she wanted him back. Reluctantly, she locked down those thoughts and got back to the mission at hand. Finding the missing rocket launcher.

 

After tunnelling through the footage, they had an address in Oswego and Nikki and a ground team were heading up there to conduct surveillance and see if they can determine what Rojas needed the launcher for. Nikki wasn’t so worried about the guy who wanted a truck load of weapons as much as she was worried about someone like Sylvio Rojas who only wanted, or needed, one. She needed to figure out what or who was the target for that missile and she needed to do it quickly before it was used. She hoped Simon was having luck tracking his prey and that he was being safe. That thought brought a smile to her face as the plane taxied down the runway of the small private airport outside of Oswego. Simon had let her and the team use his plane which Nikki was getting more and more used to.

Thursday April 26

4:45 pm

 

Q&A: “Aren’t you worried about going to jail if you get caught doing what you do?” I can only refer to the insightful words of Flo Rida when they said “Club Can’t Handle Me”, only in my case it would say “prison can’t handle me”. Weak reference I know, but I really like that song. I won’t go to jail, I have taken “measures” to insure I won’t ever see the inside so don’t you worry about Simon. Besides, they wouldn’t want the Rage in prison, he doesn’t play well with others.

 

Do you know who else doesn’t play well with others? X-ray. As usual, I wasn’t looking for a volunteer, that’s why we call them volunteers, they just come right up and ask to meet the Rage. Well, not quite, but that’s what happens in the end. X-ray didn’t offend us though, they did it to the car in front of us. I say they because there were 4 of them in the car. Normally I wouldn’t hold the passenger(s) responsible for the asshole actions of their driver, but after following this 4-pack of used toe jam around, I found out that they were up to something far worse than driving while being a dick. They were a group of thieves and not your garden variety snatch and grabbers.

 

We were following at a respectable distance behind the unfortunate soul who would meet the X-rays close up and personal. We were in the left lane, enjoying a 5 mph over pace that made the Rage all warm and fuzzy and wanting to take a nap. Right when I was getting ready to play a nice lullaby for the Rage, I had Nickelback’s “Feelin Way Too Damn Good” queued up, and X-ray was about to show me the irony in that choice. Out of the corner of my eye on the right hand side I see a flash of black that turned out to be X-ray changing lanes from the right lane, 3 over from the left lane we were traveling in. They pulled across all that traffic and right in front of the car in front of us. He didn’t do it gently and he didn’t do it completely. He pulls over into the left turn lane and slowed down in front of the car while not pulling all the way into the turn lane. Brake lights flashed, tires squealing we were able to stop before stuffing into the rear of the car in front of us. The Rage was fully awake now and he is just no fun when he doesn’t get his nap. We recovered and went ahead and pulled into the turn lane behind X-ray, thinking how much we want to have them over for pie and cookies….

 

Believe it or not, the driving got worse. They cut off 3 different cars, changed lanes repeatedly without signalling, and were tailgating every car in front of them whether that car had someone ahead of them or not. I looked over at D and his knuckles were turning white watching the fuckery going on ahead of us. And that’s when the plot thickened.

 

It was about 9 pm by the time X-ray stopped. We were in a business district with several large buildings. X-ray pulled up behind a deserted warehouse and parked his car out of sight of any anyone passing by. D and I pulled up and stowed the chase vehicle and we slipped out and followed behind. The driver stayed with their car and the other 3, all dressed in black, headed toward a large building that had the name of a large national bank on it. Bank robbers perhaps? Don’t get ahead of me….

 

There was a security camera covering the entrance they were trying to access and we saw one of them reach into the case he was carrying and pull some sort of gun out and aimed it at the camera. Some type of jamming device. After about 5 seconds, the 3 approached the door and one of them pulled a small laptop out and accessed the security panel on the back door. A few seconds later, the door opened and the 3 disappeared inside. No alarms sounded, only silence. They were in there for 14 minutes and then all 3 came back out and walked directly to their car and got back in and left. They were not carrying anything when the came out of the building other than what they went in with. Interesting…

 

We hightailed it back to the chase car and jumped in and began following X-ray to see where they went. Now that I have an apprentice, I have someone to share the driving with so I can pursue other interests like finding out what was in that building the X-rays were after. I booted up my laptop, they can run but they can never hide, not from the Rage!

Wednesday April 25

FBI Headquarters

3:10 pm

 

Nikki had spent the morning with the task force debriefing on their time in Detroit. Almost immediately after the takedown of Lopez, the army arrested James Ortez and started court martial proceedings for espionage and a host of other infractions. No one on the team could dig up anything on the mystery man who has the last rocket launcher yet. Simon was working with his satellite tracking program but nothing so far. Nikki was catching up on all of the interoffice work that piled up while she was out when Rob McShay knocked on her door jam and walked into the office and took a seat, file folder in his lap.

 

“Nikki, I know you just got back and are getting settled, but something just came in regarding a possible ID on the man we suspect has the last launcher. Something you said in the debrief caught my attention. You said one of the witnesses said that the Lopez’s were fawning all over the guy who came to the house and presumably, left with the last launcher. That got me thinking who would they be trying to impress? I spoke with a buddy of mine over at the DEA and he said the Lopez’s were getting their drugs from a particularly nasty group based out of up state New York and headed by a man named Sylvio Rojas, a Colombian immigrant who established a massive distribution ring and has been importing cocaine and heroin since the early 2000’s. Rojas’ particular group supplies gangs from New York to LA. They don’t get involved in the direct sale of the narcotics which is why they are largely unknown to the law enforcement community. The group is made up of a very tight knit family and they don’t use anyone in their network that they don’t know which has made it impossible for anyone to slip in undercover. Several agents have tried in the past and all were found brutally murdered, after suffering unimaginable torture first. The group has been nicknamed the Tairona Terror after the area of Columbia their people originated from.” Rob took a breath and let Nikki digest all of that information. Finally, he continued, “Unfortunately, at this point it is all supposition, but I think it is a lead we need to follow.”

 

Nikki was nodding as Rob explained about the Columbians and she thought the lead was worth following as well. “I will start digging into the group now and I will let Simon know as well to see what he can dig up. I spoke with him Tuesday night and someone came across his path that he said deserved some attention.” Rob’s eyebrows shot up and Nikki shook her head no and continued, “not that kind of attention. He said he was following someone who had cut him off in traffic and stumbled across something he said we would be interested in but he didn’t elaborate further. He is going to pursue the lead and update us when he as more information.” Rob’s expression went from surprised to curious,

 

“Alright then, let’s pursue the Columbian lead for now until we hear back from Simon on the other situation and we’ll go from there.” He stood up and laid the folder on Nikki’s desk and turned and went back out of her office toward his own. Nikki opened up a new file on the server for this new group, but she couldn’t help wonder what exactly Simon was getting himself into. At least he took Dante with him she thought. She had grown quite fond of the young man in the short time she has known him and she could see a difference in Simon as well. His eyes were a little brighter and there was a different energy about him. She thought about Simon being a father and the thought brought a smile to her face. All that passion and energy, he would be a great father…until someone crossed his child…..

Tuesday April 24

3:15 pm

 

I leave those teasers in my blog to make sure you are still paying attention and after the last post, I have received a ton of requests asking about the young man I met at the warehouse. All I can say is that he is the second person to put their life on the line for me and Simon takes care of those who take care of him. Just ask Tango. We’ll get to that worm poop in due time. First, our last case took another unexpected turn. We were able to re-secure almost all of the lost cargo for our client. Almost. The Rage doesn’t like unfinished business, it’s almost like torture without the screaming. What would be the point really…. We are closing in on this last piece of the puzzle and will let you know all the hopefully gorey details as they arise. In the meantime, it’s finally time to get home to my own bed, my pillows, my Tango. I dug him up and sure enough, he’s still hanging in there and feeling a bit of remorse from entering Simon’s life all those years ago. Serious remorse for fucking with it, and desperation for us to end him. No such luck. I gently washed him off…. with a pressure washer, using all the attachments of course. You know the Rage likes the attachments. Well, I would be careful if you are evere power washing using the high power attachment, we didn’t need acid to make a tattoo…

 

And now for a blast from the past, an oldie but baddie, our cantankerous buddy Uniform. My new apprentice, you can call him D. D for deadly! He came up with that one himself. The Rage loved him immediately. Well, Uniform got the letter I had to mail him and as you long term readers already know, he ignored the perfectly good advice that might have made his life so much more comfortable. Since the Rage has a PHD in discomfort, he wanted to show Uniform the error in his ways. Slowly. D is a rookie so baby steps. We waited until dark and put Uniform’s truck up on blocks and stole his wheels. Let’s see him drive like an ass now! Since I wasn’t in the mood for another mail experience, I wrote a note and left it under his wiper, I like immediate results,

 

“Dear Uniform,

 

I tried to do this in a civil, humane way but apparently that is lost on you. Since you won’t voluntarily give up driving, I will take that responsibility for you. Your driver’s license was cancelled with the DMV (I printed the record from their site showing his license status as revoked) and later in the week you will have an unexpected meeting with a not so nice gentleman from the IRS. You should make brownies for him, I hear they like that. Good luck and next time someone gives you some good advice, you should take it.

 

Simon”

 

We’ll check back in on Uniform later, but I think he should be good for now, don’t you?

Monday April 23

Undisclosed location Detroit, MI
1:15 pm

“Simon, he isn’t some lost puppy, he is a young man and you can’t just keep him.” Nikki said shaking her head. Simon had introduced Nikki to the young man they found out was named Dante. He refused to give a last name because he said he had no family anymore. He turned 18 2 months ago and he had been held hostage by the gang for the last 5 years. He had run away from home when his mother brought home yet one more loser and this particular brown stain on the mattress had taken to coming into Dante’s room at night. He left home trying to find a way to protect himself and went from the proverbial frying pan straight into hell. Even though Nikki emphasized with the boy, she couldn’t condone letting him stay with them could she?

“Look Butterfly, all I know is the boy saved my life and after what he has been through, who do you think would understand him any better than us? I can’t just cut him loose to look out for himself.” Now Simon was giving her the puppy dog eyes and that look on his face, just so not fair.

“This is Kevin’s influence on you isn’t it?” she said with mock outrage. Simon’s smile increased by about 1000 watts.

“You know, ever since the Rage had to get rid of Skidmark…” Nikki shushed him with a smooch and pulled back shaking her head, “Don’t even think about it.”

When the snipers took out the guys with the launchers, Nikki had secured the ordinance in her vehicle. After the mayhem inside the warehouse, they searched the SUV and found out the last launcher was not in the there. A team had searched the gang house and didn’t find the launcher there, but they did find several underage boys and girls in various stages of indoctrination into the gang. All had been placed into the system and the team was pouring through everything they found at the house looking for the last launcher. Simon had taken a shot at extracting the information from Lopez, but since his sister wasn’t a viable bargaining chip, he refused to divulge where the last launcher was. Nikki and Simon had been banging away on their computers trying to find a lead when Dante walked in and asked them what they were working on. Simon didn’t even look up when he replied,

“We’re looking for the last rocket launcher, it wasn’t in the SUV.” Dante hesitated a couple of seconds and then said,

“I saw a man come by the house the day before the warehouse and he left with a large black case.” Nikki and Simon stopped typing at the same time and both their heads shot up to take in the slender dark haired boy standing in front of them. Simon asked,

“Have you ever seen him before Dante?” Dante got a far off look in his eyes and said,

“I remember seeing him once before but I’m not sure why. It was also at the house. I never met him directly, but Carmen and Alejandro would fall all over themselves trying to please him when he visited the first time. He had 3 huge guys with him when I saw him, but they made all of us stay out of sight during the visit. I just remember thinking he must be important to have those guys watching over him”

Simon just smiled over at Nikki and waived his hand in Dante’s direction.

“Don’t you say it.” Nikki said, brokering no argument. She did catch the nod and wink Simon gave Dante though. She just smiled to herself and modified her search parameters as Simon started striking keys like the Rage looking for a cookie.

Sunday April 22

11:15 am

So much has happened since we spoke last so I need to catch you up. You will be happy to know that I finally convinced Whiskey that he may want to intervene before the Rage tore his sister limb from limb, one of his favorite pastimes as you well know. Dickcheese finally relented and I told him I would contact him when I was ready to meet and give him an address. He had 60 minutes to arrive, alone with the rest of the stolen cargo. Now I was born at night, just not last night and knowing this particular stool sample, I know he is going to try some funny business. I say funny because the Rage was giggling anticipating what these idiots would come up with. Well, they didn’t disappoint.

I texted the last photo I had of Two, it was particularly heinous, and gave him the address of the meet site. I want him a little off balance for our meeting. Desperation equals mistakes. 50 minutes later, a black SUV comes storming into the parking lot of the abandoned warehouse I chose for our tea party. Do you know he didn’t signal his turn. Might have ended differently…but probably not. It was just one more straw on the camel’s back so to speak. Anyway, the SUV pulled in and immediately, the 2 back doors fly open, two shots hit the deck with hand held rocket launchers. Not unexpected I might ad. Less than 2 seconds later, both were laid out flat on the pavement courtesy of a high powered round that travelled through their hollow melons most people store brains in. Now I told you already I don’t use guns, but I have friends that do. He didn’t come alone as I knew he wouldn’t so I brought some buddies myself.

I don’t think Whiskey liked that because immediately, the SUV shot forward and went crashing through the front of the warehouse. Another move I anticipated. I had strapped Two into a chair about 15 feet inside the front door of the warehouse. As expected, the SUV came through the door, saw Two at the last second and swerved to the right to avoid hitting her. I had staked pallets up to the left side to make sure they went that way….right into the makeshift punji sticks I had set up. Punji sticks are a nasty little invention our troops in Viet Nam came across where sharpened sticks were set on a hinge like trap and when you hit the trip wire, or fell into the dead fall, you are skewered by sharpened sticks. I didn’t have any sticks but I found some nice rebar that worked just fine. Half of the sticks went into the engine block disabling the SUV, the other half went into the front seat occupants. I’m feeling a little woozy after so many shots all at once. Sorry, I just can’t resist.

After a couple of seconds, Whiskey came stumbling out of the back of the SUV, apparently he was laying in the back the whole time, hiding. Pussy! I was standing to the side of the front door they came smashing through and I watched all this happen right in front of me. I had an extra piece of rebar so I walked up to Whiskey and smashed it into his knee. Humans don’t move so well when you take out a knee. Now, I don’t speak Spanish, but I don’t think he was inviting me over for Christmas dinner. I was leaning over Whiskey trying to decide which tune to crank up for the Rage when around the back of the SUV comes a boy, maybe 17, 18 years old. His hands were down at his side, what looked like a 9MM handgun in his right hand. I slowly stood up to face him as he cocked his head to the side a little and said,

“You’re Simon aren’t you?” Shocked, I’m standing there with my mouth open trying to figure out how this kid knows who I am. He studied me for awhile longer and said,

“I heard Lopez say he thought you were the one messing with him. I found your blog and read what you wrote.” His eyes squinted and the hand holding the gun rose and was pointing right at my head. I saw the muzzle flash and the gun kick at the same time my ears stopped working. I waited for the impact, blood, pain and none of that happened. I slowly turned around and there was Two laying right behind me, a bullet hole bored through her forehead and a shard of metal clutched in her hand that had torn duct tape hanging from it. I turned around toward the boy who walked right up to her body and spit in her face,

“Fucking Puta! She took me off the street promising to take care of me and I have been in a living hell since. They forced me to…to fight the other kids until….” a tear streaked down his cheek. “I killed another boy, it was going to be him or me…I…” The gun had fallen back to his side. He turned his attention to Whiskey and as the gun started coming up toward him I laid my hand on his arm and shook my head no.

“There is a fate worse than death awaiting this piece of shit, death is too good for him.” The boy slowly nodded, staring right into my eyes as he lowered the gun. He looked like a wounded animal, so vulnerable. I could see the pain his young life had been full of and it pissed me right the fuck off. I might have kicked Whiskey in the head at that point but who’s keeping score.

The boy looked back into my eyes,

“What’s going to happen to me now?”

Saturday April 21

Undisclosed location Detroit, MI
4:55 pm

Nikki couldn’t stop pacing or sit down, she was freaking out that Simon had agreed to meet Lopez to exchange his sister for the remaining missiles. It took several texts to break Lopez, but in the end, he relented knowing Simon wouldn’t. She also knew with every fiber of her being that Lopez was setting a trap for Simon and he didn’t seem to mind in the least. He had been gone for several hours getting ready for the meeting and Nikki heard him coming through the house.

Simon walked into the room and that smile that Nikki wanted to use as her screen saver greeted her. If anything, her heart rate just shot up even more. Simon planted a steamy kiss on her lips and trailed kisses down her neck. No fair with the distractions, he knows just what that does to her. Nikki reluctantly pulled back from the embrace and looked him in the eyes,

“You know he’s going to try and ambush you don’t you?” worry drawing her brows together. Simon just smiled and gently cupped Nikki’s face in his large hands and brought her eyes up to meet his,

“I’m counting on it Butterfly.” He took her hand and lead her to the couch where he sat and pulled Nikki down to his lap and wrapped his strong arms around her. For the first time that day, Nikki’s pulse finally slowed to a semi normal beat.

“I can’t help but worry, after all I have learned about Lopez and this gang, they are less than human.” shaking her head.

Simon squeezed her a little tighter. “McShay is sending the 2 snipers I asked for isn’t he?”

“They will be where you specified by 8 pm”. She said releasing a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Simon got that glint in his eye that meant the Rage was awake,

“Then everything will be just fine. If only we could think of something to do to pass the time until we have to leave….” she knew that resistance was futile so Nikki wiggled around a little on Simon’s lap until they found something to keep them busy

Friday April 20

4:45pm

Craft stores are a really great place to pick up random materials one might need for, obviously crafts, but also for some even more handy items. I found some very intricate exacto knives, it was the closest thing I could find to a scalpel and I wanted something sharp for what I had planned. I also got some nice gift bags and tissue paper to make a nice present for Whiskey. This is what I like to call human scrapbooking.

Whiskey is a very nasty bit of business and from what we have learned, the young lady we have at the Chateau is cut from the same cloth. So let’s start cutting shall we. I phoned Whiskey from Two’s phone, his sister. You can imagine he was freaking out a bit after her disappearance. I don’t think me answering him did much to ease his anxiety. Normally, I would do this via email, but Whiskey accelerated the timetable by destroying half of what was taken from my client. Not good. I told him I wanted the rest of the stolen goods returned to me and he actually said “Fuck you”. So rude. When I made the first cut on his sister’s face, I did it while I was on the line with Whiskey so he could hear her screams. I then hung up and within 3 seconds, her phone rang. I let it ring, I had changed her ringtone to “Monster” by Skillet so I let the Rage serenade her while he worked on her portrait for the scrapbook. It’s not gonna be the Rage’s best work, but I think the message will be clear. I told her not to squirm, ruined my handwriting somewhat but you can still read EVIL stencilled into her cheek. I left the blood dripping down for the photo I sent to Whiskey, quite the effect. I texted him the photo and the following:

“I am getting ready to stencil the spanish translation on the other side of her face and then I am going to get creative…..”

“Monster” started playing immediately after I sent the photo. I pulled the battery out of the phone, let him think on that for awhile.

Thursday April 19

Undisclosed location Detroit, MI
8:15 am

Nikki’s phone rang causing both her and Simon to startle, both were working furiously at their computers. Simon was processing satellite footage from Lopez’s SUV’s trying to determine which carried Lopez. If he could find which car he was in, he was pretty sure Lopez would lead him to the missiles but so far, he was unable to track him. All of the SUV’s went into parking garages during their route so they could have very easily dropped Lopez into another vehicle. Nikki was running deep background on everyone they could identify as part of the gang to see if she could uncover anything they can use. What she did find out through reading transcripts from interrogations of various Il Dimenticato gang members is that Carmen Lopez was probably equally as vicious or even more so than her brother Alejandro. She is the main recruiter for the young boys and girls on the street. She befriends them and promises a home and safety…all the things runaways are craving. Once they bring them into the gang, they are in for life. There are 3 unsolved homicides tied to the gang of young members that reputedly were killed trying to escape the gang.

Nikki saw it was Rob and answered the phone on speaker. Rob informed them that an hour ago, 3 separate attacks occurred in what looks like a coordinated assault. 2 armoured vehicles carrying the heads of 2 rival gangs and the residence of a third were all destroyed in missile attacks, killing the gang leaders and several gang members as well as 7 innocent pedestrians. Simon started clicking immediately on his computer and showed Nikki the news footage while they were on the call. The question the 3 of them all posed was what was Lopez planning to do with the last 3 missiles?

Simon got that determined look in his eyes and said he would make his introduction to Alejandro Lopez…..via his sister. Nikki just shuddered knowing what that meant but then she thought of what she just read about her. She kissed Simon and told him good luck.

Wednesday April 18

3:35 PM

Q&A time. I was asked that since I am now involved with my lady, did she know who I am and what I do. Don’t be shy, just go ahead and ask what you really want to know, jees. Yes, she knows exactly who I am and what I have done. I told you I am trying to be different, but thankfully, she loves me for who I am and if you are lucky enough to find that, once let alone twice, grab hold of it with both hands and don’t ever let go!

One thing I did make sure to tell my lady was that if you are involved in a fender bender and are in an isolated area, alone, call the police and stay in your car. You have no idea who you are dealing with and unless you are ready to defend yourself from this other person, wait for help to arrive. Thankfully, Two had no such inclination. I guess she thought she was untouchable and I am sure she did. Emphasis on did.

Two is the critical piece for us to be able to get at our gang leader and recover what was taken from our client. We tailed Two from her residence and waited for the right opportunity. It finally came when she wandered through an isolated part of town, right after dark. She pulled up to a stop sign and I hit here in the rear. I didn’t smash her, impacted enough that she was going to get out of her car to see how much damage I did. She had a very nice car and she came out spitting and cursing at me. I should get nominated for an Academy award. I came out of my car all apologetic and went up to the rear of the car where she was looking at her bumper and I nudged her with the stun gun. She crumpled to the ground right there. I quickly loaded her into the trunk of the transport, after securing wire ties and a gag, and headed to the improv Ops Center. I left her car right where it was, door hanging open. Let the gang leader ponder that. Two drives a very distinctive car and word will get to Whiskey that she was taken. I need him off balance and this should suffice. We will make contact, but not quite yet. I want Whiskey desperate, that’s when they always make a mistake.