ShadowShot : L'enfant Guerrier Read online

  I had hoped that I was going to be able to grab her at a time when she wouldn’t be missed for at least several hours. It didn’t look like I was going to get that opportunity. Also it wasn’t easy for us to communicate. When we managed to get on the phone, it had to be very brief. She told me that he was getting more violent and she was really becoming afraid. If it had just been him I could’ve taken him out no problem. He had too many soldiers and they were always with him. No, it had to be this Saturday in the market.

  I made contact with her, telling her to listen closely, “This Saturday when you’re at the market try not to act any different than usual. When you come to the market you’ll see me. I’ll look like an old man with a white wrinkled suit, a white beard and white hat. I will approach you and tell you what to do. Don’t try to leave with anything but what’s on your back. I have money and I will get you set up. Only make contact with me again if you can’t be there.”

  I had to find a way to take out her bodyguard so that we would have at least a few hours head start. I put the rest of the escape plan in motion in preparation for Saturday. I couldn’t help but wondering if maybe I shouldn’t have just gotten hold of a sniper rifle, taken him out at a distance, and maybe she could have just left on our own. I had sort of run something similar by her but she said his second-in-command wanted her and she didn’t think he would let her walk away. No shit every man wanted her.

  Saturday came all too soon, but I was as ready as I could be. She showed up about an hour later than I was hoping with a big guy trailing behind her while she went from stall to stall. It was pretty crowded with a lot of people moving around. I waited for my moment. When it came my back was facing her guard so he couldn’t see me talking to her. He was about 50 feet behind her,

  “Go to the door on your right when I tell you. There is a blue Ford station wagon outside. The keys are in the ashtray. Start the engine and slide into the passenger seat.”

  I had brought a hypodermic needle. The plan was to stick it in his neck. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would put him out quickly. Plus I had a lead pipe under my coat. I thought about paying a pretty girl or kid to distract him for a moment but there was too much chance of putting them in danger.

  I came up behind her and said, “Go now.”

  She started walking towards the door. The guard was looking down and I thought for a moment he might miss her movement. But just as she got to the point where she would of been out of his sight he looked up. He had an annoyed look on his face wondering where she was going. He started after her. The little alley to the door was about 10 feet. When he was almost to the door I was right behind him.

  I stuck the needle in the back of his neck. He spun around and said, “What the fuck?”

  I stepped back, pointed and said, “Wasps.”

  He had jerked his head, which had prevented me from getting all the serum into that big red neck. Unfortunately, as he spun around, he jerked the syringe out of my hand and it was lying on the floor. He staggered against the wall for a moment and that’s when he saw the syringe. He charged. I had the pipe out and laid it hard on his forehead. He bowled into me and we were out in the open. Some people turned around. A woman gasped!

  A man said, “What’s going on? Leave that old man alone.”

  He had one big hand on my shoulder trying to pull me down. I could see the drug was working and it was weakening him but not fast enough. He slammed me into a wall that gave me enough space to swing my pipe. It came down hard across his face and he went to his knees. A crowd gathered.

  I turned around and said, “You can’t even go shopping anymore without being mugged. Please don’t let him get up and chase me.”

  As I stepped past him, out of the corner of my eye, I could see a guy in a suit accompanied by two thugs. They were still a distance away, but moving fast. Damn. It was the boyfriend. I got to the door and opened it. She was waiting with a very worried look on her face. Just as I was sliding into the seat the door opened and there he was. Didn’t this guerrilla know he was supposed to be out by now? I should’ve shot him. If I had a silencer I would have. He collapsed against the wall but he had seen our ride and it wouldn’t be long before his boss was there. I just hope that he passed out before the boss got there.

  She said, “Jack, are you all right?”

  “I’m okay. That big guy wouldn’t go down. We had to fight it out. He must have a brain the size of a walnut not to know he should’ve been out cold. Listen, there’s a problem. The boss and two of his men were coming in to the market. I’m sure he saw something. If he got to the big guy before he passed out, he will know what kind of car we’re driving.”

  “Oh God Jack.”

  “It’s all right Angeline I’ve made plans. Even if he knows our car, we have a 10 or 15-minute head start by the time they get to their vehicles.”

  I had planned my escape route carefully and gone over it until I was sure of it. There were a lot of different roads we could take. As long as he didn’t see us leave, he wouldn’t know which direction we went.

  The Ford station wagon had a big V8. I kept it within the speed limit until we got out of town. The road was deserted. I opened the Ford up. We only had about another 30 or 40 minutes to get to my change vehicle. We were 30 minutes out when I saw one vehicle coming up fast behind us. As I had been speeding pretty fast, I hoped it wasn’t a cop. I wasn’t about to kill some cop trying to do his job. However, I would disarm him and wound him if necessary.

  When the vehicle got closer, I said, “Angeline, tell me that’s not them.”

  “Jack it is them.”

  I floored it. I didn’t know how they caught up with us, but they did.

  “How many in the vehicle?”

  “It’s him and two of his guards. What are we going to do?”

  I knew what was coming up next. They would start shooting at us and we were outgunned. There weren’t even any side roads we could take off on. I pulled my extra disguise belly out from under my shirt, threw it in the back seat and cinched up my belt.

  “We’re going to do the only thing that we can do,” and pulled over. “Leave the engine running and get behind the wheel. If I go down take off as fast as you can. All of them won’t be left alive.” I swore to kill boyfriend or die trying.

  I got out and stood there. They did the same. About 50 feet separated us.

  Boyfriend said, “Who the fuck are you?” Still in disguise I said, “I’m her father and I’m taking her home. She doesn’t want to be with you anymore.”

  “Is that so? You’re not taking her anywhere. You’ve pissed me off bad. When that happens people die. I’d like to know how an old piece of crap like you beat up my man back there but I’ll deal with that later.”

  He started walking toward me. I opened my jacket so he could see my pistol. It was a 6 1/2 inch Smith & Wesson double action 38 caliber special. I wore it on my left hip in the quick draw position that I always used. I let my hand hover over the butt of the pistol and said, “You’re not taking her.”

  He roared with laughter and said, “Look at this will you. Who do you think you are? Wyatt Earp? I’m going to count to three and if she isn’t out of the car we’re going to kill you.”

  I put my hand up and said, “I’ll ask her one more time if she wants to come back to you.”

  I kept my eyes on them, turned my head slightly and said in French, “Turn around in the seat when I say now. Slam it into reverse and floor it. Aim for the guy that standing in front of their vehicle. Don’t stop till you’ve smashed into their vehicle. I’ll take care of the other two.”

  She said, “No Jack just let me get out and go to them and leave.”

  “It won’t matter. Just do as I said. Are you ready?” I turned around and said. “Now!”

  The Ford rocketed backwards. The man standing in front of it scrambled to get out of the way. He didn’t even have time to go for a gun. It was too late. She smashed into him pinning him between the two vehicles. I dre
w my gun with speed they couldn’t even believe. I was going to go for the boyfriend first to be sure at least that he was down. But the other one already had his pistol coming up so he took my first slug. I swung back to the boyfriend and he took my second shot.

  Angeline stopped gunning the engine and pulled forward a few feet. The guy pinned to the other vehicle slumped down. I walked over to him keeping my eye on the boyfriend. The guy had been crushed badly. Blood was coming out of his mouth.

  “I’m sorry,” and I shot him in the head. I turned and walked back to boyfriend.

  He was lying on his back holding his belly. He had been gut shot. I picked up his gun and admired it.

  “This is a very nice 1911, 45 cal. You mind if I keep it?”

  “You son of a bitch. Who are you?”

  “Well I’m not Wyatt Earp. Actually I’m Wild Bill Hitchcock. I might as well be. Either way I don’t take kindly to people swearing against my sainted mother. If you would care to turn your head slightly you’ll see your friend there who I shot right between the eyes. That could have been you but he had his gun out first. You’re gut shot but with proper medical attention you could live. Was all this worth it, to keep a woman who didn’t want to be with you?”

  “You cock sucker! I’ll find you. When I do I’ll take both of you apart slowly piece by piece.”

  “I don’t believe it. I thought this was only in the movies. I just killed two of your men and gut shot you. I’m standing over you with a pistol and you’re telling me that you’re going to find me and kill us both slowly. I don’t believe it. You really are stupid.”

  I shot him in the head.

  I walked over to the Ford and asked, “You okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Slide over. I’ll drive. We have to leave before someone comes.”

  “Too late Jack. Look a vehicle is coming our way. It was an old truck.

  I said, “Get in the backseat and throw the blanket over you. Keep down. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Jack, please don’t kill them. They’re innocent.”

  “Kill them? Darling of course I’m not going to kill them. What kind of man do you think I am?”

  I closed my jacket stood out in the middle of the road. It was an old couple in a farm vehicle. They pulled over. The man started to get out of his vehicle. I put my hand up to signal him to stay in the truck.

  “What happened? Has there been an accident? Can we help?”

  “No they’re all dead.” I made a show of looking at their license plate. “There was no accident. They’re gangsters and this is a gangland assassination. I killed them all.”

  I opened my jacket so they could see my pistol.

  “If you don’t want me to kill you listen very carefully. I’ve got your plate number so I can find you. I want you to keep on driving, take the next right turn up the road and keep going till you run out of gas. If you say anything to anyone we will come after you kill you, your wife and your children and their children do you understand that?”

  “Yes, yes we understand. Please don’t kill us.”

  “Okay. Don’t speed. Drive safe but go. What are you waiting for?”

  “You can come out Now Angeline”

  “Jack you really are a terrible man. You were so mean to them.”

  She laughed. She seemed very calm considering, but then of course she was an agent, not a field agent but still an agent. I had been wearing special gloves whenever I was in the vehicle. While we were driving I handed Angeline a second pair and told her to put them on. Take a rag and start wiping down anything that she may have touched.

  We arrived at the stashed vehicle. It was in a barn at an old abandoned farm. It ran well but looked old. I left the hood open and took out the coil wire just in case anybody had come around I didn’t want them to run off with it. There was a road going a little ways from the barn to a cliff that over looked the ocean.

  I got in the Ford and told her to follow me out. It was only about a quarter of a mile to the edge of the cliff, and was probably a thousand foot drop to the water. I had checked it out already. I got the Ford near it. I had left a board under the seat and put it in neutral. I jammed one end on the pedal and the other on the front of the seat. I opened the door wide, made sure my clothing wasn’t about to get snagged, and popped it in gear and jumped back. It rocketed forward and sailed out into space. Perfect, it sank in the water completely. I had even checked out the tide tables. We had a three-hour window to get here. The tide would be low coming in which meant that there would be more water over it. It couldn’t have been better.

  I got behind the wheel of our other car. Before we got on the main road I took off my disguise and told Angeline to put them in a bag in the back. There were clothes for her to change into as well.

  She looked at me and said, “You were so well disguised Jack that I almost wondered if you really did look that old.”

  “Not yet baby.”

  “I think we are going to be all right Angeline. That was close and we were lucky. You did well back there.”

  “I didn’t know you were such a quick draw pistollero.”

  “I practice a lot for fun, although usually I prefer my 45 Long Colt Army.

  “That’s the first time I’ve ever killed anyone Jack.”

  “You mean you never fucked anyone to death? Anyway you didn’t kill him. I did.”

  She said, “No I never have but I might do that to you if you’re not nice to me.”

  “Okay I’d like that. I was hoping you would.”

  While we were talking she was stripping down to her panties and bra changing clothes. God she was still so beautiful. It was all I could do not to pull over somewhere.

  I said, “Please hurry up and change. You’re giving me an erection that I can’t control.”

  We pulled into a little town where I had made arrangements for a flight. The pilot was there waiting per our agreement. I told him I wanted to park my vehicle in his hangar. We flew inland for about 350 miles to another small town. I told him I wanted him to stay there for two days requested he wait for us. I paid him well for his time. I didn’t want him going back to his hangar just in case someone had picked up our trail.

  That night we were both exhausted from the stress. I just held her in my arms all night long. Before we both passed out she asked me where we were going.

  I told her, “Another short plane ride, then off to Malaysia. After that we could go to Thailand or India. I was hoping that we could have a month vacation on the beach someplace for old time’s sake. I have $10,000 to give you after that, which will help you get started again.”

  “I’d like that a lot Jack, but you don’t have to give me $10,000. I have some money stashed away. The first two years with him weren’t all that bad. As he became more powerful he started to change. When there was nothing left between us he wouldn’t let me go. He only kept me there because he could, and used me sexually whenever he wanted.”

  “Well Angeline, I know that’s not your name, but if you don’t mind I’ll continue to call you that anyway. I can hardly blame the guy for not wanting to let you go. If you weren’t such an incredible lover maybe men would have an easier time forgetting you.”

  “Did you forget me Jack?”

  “Never. I’m here aren’t I?”

  “Jack I would love to spend a month on the beach with you but only on one condition. You must let me pay for our vacation. I have $50,000 and some of my better jewelry with me.”

  “That was stupid Angeline. Taking that much money could’ve given the whole show a way. I thought that was a large purse you’ve been carrying. I trust you have your passport too as you said you would.”

  “Yes of course. As I’m sure you do, I always have a couple of different passports. He took my main one away from me thinking that would prevent me from leaving. I have another good one good one I can use.”

  The next night we were in Malaysia.

  22

  FIRST TIME AFTE
R A LONG TIME.

  We were into our third night of being together. I wanted to make love to her more than I ever remembered with any woman before. I understood what a hard time it had been for her with the gangster. She needed a break. I decided to wait till she came to me.

  She told me she felt he was going to kill her or have her killed. He couldn’t stand wanting her so badly, knowing that she didn’t want to be with him anymore. He was losing control and knew it. The only way out for him was to make sure she ceased to exist. He hadn’t quite been able to bring himself to do it. If he hadn’t become so obsessed with jealousy and control, everything would’ve been all right. She wasn’t in love with him but she liked him well enough to be with him. That was all over now.

  I was as sure as I could be that we had made a clean getaway. The only possible connection with the gun battle on the road was his goon who I fought in the marketplace. With the car changes, disguises, false identities and accents, there wouldn’t be much to go on. I hoped that I had not left prints anywhere.

  Angeline had never used her real passport in Australia. The authorities probably wouldn’t even look for prints, assuming it was a gangland killing. If they wondered about Angeline at all, they would most likely think she had taken the opportunity to disappear. She hadn’t broken any laws and they were probably glad to get rid of her boyfriend and some of his men. The other good thing was that he didn’t have any immediate family, who were going to go vendetta on us. Just as a precaution I had her bleach her hair blonde.

  She came out of the bathroom and asked how I liked her blonde hair. She swirled around so her long blonde hair fanned out around her, God she was absolutely gorgeous. I had never seen a woman that was so perfect in every respect. She was the picture of elegance, grace and refined beauty, accompanied by an animal sexual magnetism, a magnificent woman. Angeline had the face of an angel and the body of a goddess. It was almost like she was demonic, for to look at her was to become undone. I hoped that I would not lose my mind as her boyfriend did. I had to roll over on my side otherwise, I feared the erection that I had would have poked through the sheet that was covering me.