Vacation situation
By meanbow
Disclaimer
I wrote this story last summer, seeing as it's being so nice with the weather. I'd just like to point out that I DON'T own the gunsmith cats' characters; they are created and owned by kenichi Sonoda, the only ones I can say I do is my own original ones
Chapter 1
Carpool
A large flatbed truck reversed itself slowly towards the doors of Bateman's garage in Chicago. The truck stopped and the driver got out and walked around the back, shook hands with James Bateman and started to tilt the flatbed on the truck with the controls. Rally Vincent and her boyfriend, John Bolton, were watching as the crumpled wreck of Johns' Maserati was lowered onto the floor slowly
"WHEW…what a mess" James went, looking at the crumpled roof and cabin of the car, as well as the damage to the bonnet and boot of the car "and you said a concrete pillar did this?"
"Yup" John went "on our last case in L.A, it got crushed by a roman plinth that was rocked by an explosion in the house we escaped from in time. Can you fix it?"
"Depends on if I can get the parts from Italy, I may be able to butcher some other parts to fit if I absolutely have no other choice…I just hope that silky smooth engine isn't damaged under the bonnet" James replied, looking the car over to see where it would be best to begin repairing
"Thanks James…I owe you big time…now I need to ask you a favour. Got any wheels I…" John started, but James butted in "got a few…out back, in the corner of the yard"
Rally and John walked outside into the yard. In the corner of the yard, sitting there gleaming in the Chicago mid-morning sunshine, was a fully restored 1969 Ford Mustang GT350 Cobra, in black with twin white stripes running the length of the bonnet, and up across the roof and boot lid. Also sitting there was a dark blue1970 Monte Carlo SS454 and another 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass SX in orange with black stripes
"NO WAY…" went Rally in surprise "Is that the same Junker he bought months ago?" she asked #
"One way to find out…" John went, as he opened the car door and got in, and felt under the dash for the bonnet release lever. Rally went and pulled the safety bonnet pins out from the posts and nodded to John, who pulled the release lever. The bonnet striker sprang up with a click, and Rally felt for the release under the bonnet, grabbed it and opened the bonnet up fully. A set of gas struts took the bonnet up on it's own and held it there
"It's the same one alright…Paxton supercharger, holly CFM quad carbs, the four speed toploader transmission and the police marking under the bonnet here" Rally went, pointing towards the VIN plate with the police coding on it
"It's a real beauty now, isn't she?" a voice called over to them. It was Ron coming out with the keys to start the car
Ron walked over to the Cobra and opened the drivers' door and passed the keys to John "Be careful with her…she's been fully rebuilt from the ground up. There's over 1000 hours of work gone into this"
"Understood Ronald" John went, as he put the keys into the ignition barrel and turned them. The dashboard lit up with all the various lights, the oil pressure, manifold intake pressure and battery charge dials twitched and the rev counter jumped up to the zero revs marker. John turned the key to start and the massive lump turned over smoothly. The engine started and the starter disengaged, leaving the engine purring at 1000 rpm
"It's not as quiet as my Maserati, but its transport until it's ready" John went with a smile on his face, then gave the lump a little rev and the superchargers' air intake opened, forcing more air into the engine and making the distinctive noise all supercharged engines made. Rally closed the bonnet and secured it down with the pins, then walked out through the garage to get her car from out front
"There's a few changes we had to make to it as well…we fitted driving lamps in the holes left in the front grille from the old police lights, the exhaust is a custom made stainless steel job, the main Speedo is out of a GT500, as the 350's old one went off the clock on a test run, the wheels are bigger 16 inch painted steel ones and the trim level is from the scrapper in the other corner that we re-upholstered, as the original interior was rotten through, the dials are black on white with luminous green bulbs on backlight…apart from that…she's all there" Ron went proudly, as he was the one who had fitted most of the internals to the car
"Thanks Ron…I'll remember that" he went, and pulled his wallet out, grabbed a $100 bill and gave it to Ron "For yourself" he added, putting it in Ron's hand and closing it around the money
John slipped the GT350 into gear and released the handbrake, and the old Ford moved forward under it's own power slowly
"Hey wait a minute…it hasn't got legal tags on the plates" Ron called as it was moved towards the gate that led outside to the road. John stopped the mustang by the gates and looked at Ron
"No problem…I'll take care of that" he replied, getting out of the car and walking back around to the garage, picked a screwdriver up from the tool bench and walked towards the remains of his Maserati, and removed the rear licence plate from the car and walked back outside. He then removed the old tag plates and placed the California GSCATZ plate on the car, securing it tightly on
"There…all taken care of" he went looking at his work, and nodded his approval "these are my plates, so it don't matter what car they go on…the plates register it to me"
John got back in and closed the door tightly behind him; put the seatbelt on and revved the engine, as Ron pulled the barrier gate upwards to open the yard to the road. Rally was waiting outside by the gates in her GT500 waiting to see the difference in cars. The GT350 emerged from the yard slowly, and the most glaring difference was the shorter nose that the 350 had. John looked to his left as he emerged, and saw Rally looking at the car as it came out
"Let's see what this thing'll do…I'll see you back in the house…" John went, flooring the supercharged monster in second gear, making the rear end dig in under the power and the wheels spin wildly, and it shot off down the road
"NO-ONE UPSTAGES MY COBRA!" she yelled, and then slammed the car into gear and it does the same thing, before shooting off down the road after it
# For all of you who have read my other stories, you will remember that in 'the race' James had found this car and was originally going to restore and enter it in the race, but there was too much work to be done in a short time, so he's restored it slowly instead
Chapter 2
The holiday suggestion
The two cobra's pulled up outside Rally's house, parking up outside on the driveway. The two drivers' got out, and looked at each other. Rally had a smile on her face as she walked around to the door of the house. John looked at Rally and smiled back at her, walking next to her as they went into the house
The front door closed behind them, and John took off his coat and hung it up on the coat rack. Rally walked into the living room and dropped her 'gunsmith cats' jacket off over the back of a chair, then flopped down on the sofa and sighed
John walked in and looked at Rally on the sofa "What's up, babes?" he asked her as he sat down next to her
"I don't know…it just seems to have gone quiet on the bounty hunting side all of a sudden. The fax hasn't printed off a wanted profile for ages. It just doesn't feel right, that's all" Rally replied, turning her head towards him. John smiled back at her, then made a suggestion
"Why don't we book a holiday together…get away from everything while it's quiet? Go skiing in Colorado…or gambling in Las Vegas, maybe fly away to Antigua or Jamaica…anything you fancy"
"Go on holiday? You only just arrived here a few weeks ago, and you want to get away from it already? You haven't even finished setting up your shop properly yet" Rally replied
"There's no hurry…I'm only using the old unused back room in your shop as my base here. They still haven't fitted a second phone line or ISDN yet anyway" he went
"But there's so much that needs to be finished off here first" She argued back
"Fine…why don't we hire a motor cruiser on lake Michigan and go touring around the lake? That way, we don't have to go far," John suggested
"You're determined…aren't you?" she went, and then huffed "Fine…let's hire a boat and go cruising"
"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist…" John went, getting up and kissing her on the cheek. He then walked over to the telephone and picked up the telephone directory and started looking for 'boat rentals'
A few days later, Ken and May dropped Rally and John off outside the boat rental agency in Burnham Park yacht harbour in Ken's new car, a '91 Chrysler Grand Voyager, which they'd bought ready for their first child together. It had been 8 months now since they found out and May was now showing off a large bump proudly
The back door slid open, and rally and john got out. John went around to the back and opened the rear door and grabbed their few suitcases while rally went into the rental agency to confirm their booking
Rally emerged a few minutes later, holding the keys to a motor cruiser in her right hand, and a copy of the guidelines and a map of lake Michigan in her left
"All set?" she asked, looking at John, who grabbed the suitcases and nodded
The small group walked along the pier towards the hire boats, Rally looked at the tag on the bunch of keys they had, trying to locate their boat. They stopped by a 25Ft motor cruiser with a number Mi-67, and the name saying 'The lady on the lake' on the rear
"This one's ours" Rally went, and she walked slowly down the gangplank to the boat. John just chucked the suitcases onboard and went down after May and Ken, who had to have a look at this boat
"WOW!" went May, looking around the living area downstairs "this is really nice"
The main living area had everything that you could need, a wraparound sofa with a table in the middle, storage, a portable T.V in the corner facing the living area, and the galley was small but well equipped, with gas powered cooking rings, a multi power fridge freezer, sink with fresh and sea water taps and more cupboards for storing food. Off to the left of the galley was a small bathroom/toilet with shower cubicle. Downstairs in the bow, the main bedroom was well presented, with the bed taking up the biggest portion of the room. There were another two bedrooms down below deck, but they were small single rooms.
John climbed up to the flying bridge and looked over the instrumentation. A compass, sonar depth gauge, radar and GPS system, throttle controls and steering controls, as well as the customary auto pilot system. Ken walked up the short ladder behind John and looked the controls over himself
"Not too bad" he commented, "this is your basic cabin cruiser"
"Yeah…it'll do for a weeks sightseeing on the lake" John replied, then shook Ken's hand "thanks for dropping us off Ken"
"No problem John…it's good to finally see Rally happy with someone, I'm fed up of listening to May complaining about her being single" Ken went with a smile and a glint in his eye "you just look after her…she's a hell of a girl"
"That much I know Ken…that much I know" John replied, nodding his head, then turned and looked down on the rear deck where the suitcases had landed "WELL…best get unpacked and settled in then"
"TAKE CARE RALLY" May called as the motor cruiser started to move slowly away from the docks. A few people had helped them to undo the mooring lines and the boat was moving away "AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE SHOP…ME, KEN, MISTY AND ARLENE WILL LOOK AFTER IT"
"THAT'S WHAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT" Rally called back jokingly, waving as she did so. The motor cruiser turned slowly to face the open waters of lake Michigan and John gently pushed the throttle controls forward, and the onboard Volvo Penta engine started to push the boat into the open waters at a rate of 10 knots
Chapter 3
Pirates of the Michigan
The 'Lady on the Lake' headed outwards, past the marker buoys and the outer limits of the harbour. Rally was up on the flying bridge next to John, who was reading the instructions for the controls whilst trying to steer at the same time. Rally pushed him out of the way and sat down on the captains' chair and took the controls.
"Let me drive…you try and work those things" Rally went, and gave the boat a little bit more throttle
"We need to know how they work and how they read in case" John went, and flipped a switch and the Radar came on, then another switch and the sonar screen came on, showing the depth of water beneath them. The GPS was already active and showing their global position on screen. The CB Marine scanner was listening to all the communications bouncing around on the water, and had a list of all the channels they might need in an emergency
The boat cruised slowly into the lake, other boats and yacht's waving at them as they went passed. A few communicated with them on the Marine scanner and warned them of things that happened at night to unsuspecting boats…a dark coloured boat that comes out of nowhere and it's crew board the boat, tie up the people on board, steal all the valuables and leave them to drift, or sometimes pull the bilge plugs out and sink the boats.
"Lady on the Lake…thanks for that warning Mongoose…we'll be vigilant…over" went John into the CB and waved as the Mongoose sailed past them, heading back towards the safety of the harbour
"Do you believe that crap? Pirates? They are myths and kids stories" Rally went, dismissing the whole idea as silly
"I do believe that…'crap'…as you put it. I happen to know that the L.A Coastguard chased a couple of boats that were suspected of piracy, but they got into international waters and couldn't be touched" John replied
"But this is lake Michigan…an INTERNAL lake, there's nowhere to hide properly here. It has it's own coastguard, and you have all the various law enforcement agencies that patrol the shores and the state troopers that run the small police boats from various places" Rally told John with a I-know-what-I'm-talking-about tone in her voice
Later that evening, the lady on the lake was anchored up to a mooring buoy in lake Michigan, the two guests aboard enjoying a quiet drink and a meal of spaghetti Bolognese cooked by John. Neither of them saw or heard a dark coloured speedboat slowly approaching them from the starboard side, nor heard 4 men board their cruiser, each one armed with a semi-automatic weapon or assault rifle
Three of the men burst into the main cabin, and aimed their guns at Rally and John, who were caught totally off-guard by them, while the fourth went up to the bridge to disable the radio so they couldn't call for help
"DON'T MOVE…OR ELSE!" went the leader of the men, aiming his AK-47 at them; his two assistants had an American M-60A assault rifle and a Glock model 18. Rally jumped, more from shock than fear, and John turned his head and had a look of horror appear on his face
"WHERE'S THE GOOD STUFF?" he called, pulling the loading lever back to load the gun
"We…we haven't got anything worth money at all" went John, telling the leader the truth "all our valuables are back at home…we just came out to get away for a few days"
The fourth man came down from the bridge and stood behind the leader, aiming his UZI at the two of them. The other two men started ransacking the boat, looking for anything that may be worth money
"NOTHIN BOSS…THEY AINT GOT JACK SHIT" went the second man; appearing from the doorway that led to the bedroom "all I found were these…" he went, throwing him a small .38 handgun and a pair of handcuffs, as well as Rally's bounty hunter licence
"Ahh, so we have a bounty hunter here then…do we?" he went looking at rally and at her badge and licence. The leader then signalled for the two of them to stand up
"Trying to find us, were you? Hoping to get the reward on offer?" he asked, and then moved forwards towards them "UP!" he shouted, shoving the gun in their faces
He forced the pair of them into the bedroom and told them to sit on the bed. Rally sat on the edge of the bed uneasily, John sat down also, trying to see if he could catch them off-guard and disarm one of them quickly but decided better of it with the firepower they had available to them. The other two men covered them with their guns and kept them trained on them while the leader walked up to them with Rally's handcuffs
"I'm goanna enjoy this…" he went, looking at Rally with a sick look on his face. He then grabbed Rally's right wrist and pulled her over to a brass pole that was running up from the edge of the bed unit to the ceiling, slammed the 'cuff around her wrist, then signalled for his men to bring John over. They grabbed him roughly and cuffed his left wrist into the other 'cuff. Satisfied that they were secure, he smirked evilly.
"Pull the bilge plugs…let the scum drown slowly as their boat sinks beneath the waters of the lake" he went, then turned around and walked out of the bedroom
"YOU BASTARDS!" Rally screamed after them, the leader stopped at that comment, turned on his heels and looked at her, then another evil grin broke out across his face
"Why…thank you miss. It's so nice when people recognise your skills" he went, then bowed and turned back around to leave the boat, slamming the door to the deck behind him as he left
Outside, the other men had turned the bilge pumps off and pulled the small plugs out from the back of the boat, and the lady on the lake started to take on water slowly
Chapter 4
Saved from drowning
"Just what the hell were you doing…bringing your licence, a gun and cuffs with you?" John asked Rally angrily
"I can't sleep at night without them under my pillow…they reassure me" she replied, staring hard at John
"Did you bring the keys?" he asked. Rally pointed over at her handbag that was all over the place on the bed
"In my purse…I keep a spare set on me at all times"
"Well this is great…I can't reach them, and you can't reach them either. Any other bright ideas?" John went sarcastically
"Yeah…why don't we DROWN QUIETLY?" she replied angrily
Rally slumped down as far as the cuff would let her, then noticed John's cane on the floor, under the bed unit
"John…how strong is your sword blade?" she asked him
"It's a genuine hand-made Japanese folded steel blade, razor sharp and made the traditional way by a Katana sword maker in Okinawa. It'll cut through anything, Why?" he replied
"Will it cut through toughened steel?"
"Yeah…maybe" he went, and then looked where Rally was looking and saw his cane also "now I get it"
Rally leant as far as she could to grab the cane, but it was just out of reach
"Take off your shoe and grab it with your foot" John suggested, "your legs are always longer than your arms"
Rally pushed her shoe off her left foot using the toe of her right shoe, and then slid across the floor on her backside to grab the cane with her foot, she fumbled around with it before hooking the handle between her big toe and second toe. She then pulled it slowly out from the unit, until she could sit up and grab it with her hand
"GOTCHA!" she went excitedly, and grabbed the cane body with her right hand and pulled the handle with her left, revealing the blade. She dropped the body and slipped the blade gently between the bar and the toughened steel chain, and pulled up against the chain. After a few pulls, the chain link that the blade was against suddenly split into two, and Rally and John fell in opposite directions on the floor
"I'll get the pumps back online and plug the bilge holes…you get to the bridge and call for assistance" John went as he ran through the door to the deck, which was now starting to let water flow onto it, the living area had a sopping carpet now as well
Rally ran out and climbed the ladder to the bridge and picked up the CB radio "Lady on the lake calling coastguards…repeat…lady on the lake calling coastguards…receiving…over"
The empty sound of static greeted her from the speaker, then she noticed the CB mike's wire was cut
John had opened the doors that led to the engines and had started the bilge pumps up again, setting them to maximum pressure to empty the hull and stop it filling anymore
He also pushed the small bilge plugs back in to their holes and stopped the flow of water coming in
"Bilge pumps set at full pressure Rally…start the engines and give them extra power" John called as he closed the engine hatch. Rally hit the starter button and the two-turbo diesel Volvo Penta 750 engine cranked over, before starting with a roar and a puff of diesel smoke from under the waterline
"They took out the radio John" Rally called down to him
"Great…just great" he replied, then an idea hit him "Got your new phone?"
"Right here" went Rally, pulling it out of her pocket. Rally then dialled 911 and hit send. The phone started ringing and the emergency operator answered. She gave the operator their GPS location and told them they required coastguard or police motor patrol. The operator assured them they would be there as soon as possible
"They're on their way…" Rally called, but then went "what's that noise?"
They both stopped and went quiet, and could just about make out a low burbling noise moving away from them slowly. John ran up the ladder and went next to the radar unit, turned it on and the dish started rotating. The screen showed them and a second blip moving away in a northwesterly direction
"I think that's them…trying to sneak away" John went, looking at the screen
Rally looked at John and had an evil grin on her face "Payback time…"
"Rally, they had assorted automatic weapons and are probably in a speedboat…you have a .38 calibre revolver and are on a motor cruiser. The odds are against us, and so is the weaponry" John pointed out, reminding Rally what they boarded their boat with "wait a minute…where are they going?" he asked, looking at the screen and the moving blip "They're heading towards an island"
Rally looked at the screen also, and saw what John was on about "so they are…I didn't know there were any islands in lake Michigan"
"We sailed a hell of a long way up…were just southeast of Traverse City, Michigan" he replied, looking at the lake map under the light of the bridge deck lamps "if we go any further up, we'll cross over into the other lakes"
Chapter 5
Cruising for a bruising
The radar showed another boat approaching their position on the port side, and a bright 1 Million candlepower search lamp pierced the night's darkness
"AHOY THERE…LADY ON THE LAKE…DID YOU HAIL FOR ASSISTANCE?" a voice called from the boat over a portable tannoy, as the cruiser pulled slowly alongside the lady on the lake. A police officer threw a mooring line over and John caught it, and secured it to a post on the stern
"Yes we did…thanks for coming," yelled Rally back at the officer. Another officer climbed aboard the lady on the lake, and looked at John and at Rally
"What seems to be the problem, sir…and madam?" the officer asked politely, so John proceeded to tell them of the events of the evening
"So they struck again, have they?" a voice asked as it boarded their boat. A man standing there in captains uniform approached them and held his hand out to shake "I'm Captain Morris, Michigan police department, marine division" he introduced himself
John took hold of his hand and shook it "John Bolton, private investigator…and this lady here is Irene 'Rally' Vincent, bounty hunter" he replied "looks like work follows us, even on vacation"
"A bounty hunter and a private dick, on a boat in the middle of nowhere? Tell me…were you after these men at all?" captain Morris asked
"Yes…we were" Rally butted in before John could reply "but they took us totally by surprise"
"…Yes, but we know where they went to though" went John, finishing off "and we are going to collect the reward for their capture too, as it's us who found them. We just need to borrow a weapon off yourselves"
"Hmm, I'll have to check that with my superiors, but if you tell us where they went to, I'm sure you will be given your reward in due course" captain Morris went, and looked at the two of them individually as he said that
"In that case captain, sorry to have wasted your time…we'd best get back on with our return trip to Chicago now then" Rally went, brushing off the offer from the captain "thank you for assisting us…we'll be in touch"
"Very well, miss Vincent. Just don't forget about a little thing known as jurisdiction, and don't cross into the state of Michigan to cause trouble, or we will be seeing each other again through the bars of a cell" the captain went, then tipped his hat and disembarked the lady on the lake and got back aboard the police cruiser "Let's go men"
The other officers climbed back aboard the police cruiser, and John undid the securing line holding their boat onto the cruiser. The police cruiser moved slowly away from the lady on the lake, and then throttled up and moved away at speed, the lights growing dimmer in the distance and the dark
"What are you playing at, Irene? We need their help" John asked her
"No we don't…the only people who are goanna need help are those pirates after I'm finished with them" Rally replied, then gave the lady on the lake the gun, the stern getting pushed down by the sudden rush of power to the engine, and the bow lifted out of the water and started to push it's way through the night
An hour later, the lady on the lake started to approach the islands in lake Michigan, so Rally throttled down to a crawl and turned the lights out so they wouldn't be seen. John stood up on the bridge with a pair of night vision binoculars, scanning the shoreline for anything that may give their position away.
They circled the small islands one at a time, until day broke and the sun rose slowly from the east, bathing the lake and the islands in an orange glow.
"Nothing at all Irene…this is unbelievable…where did they go to?" John asked, lowering the binoculars and switching them back to normal vision mode, then started scanning the shore again
Rally looked around her, then spotted something on one of the islands
"JOHN…over there" Rally went, pointing over to her left at the larger of the islands. A small opening that led to an internal river came into view. With that, Rally swung the motor cruiser around and headed towards the opening
The lady on the lake manoeuvred slowly up the internal river, Rally watching the walls, John watching the sonar for depth, until they could go no further safely. John went and dropped anchor, securing the ship in place, while Rally went and lowered the inflatable raft down from the back into the water. The raft touched the water with a quiet splash, and Rally looked at it with a smile. She then turned and went inside the cruiser to change and get some things before they would leave.
John walked around the outside of the boat to the back, and got back on deck.
He went into the cruiser himself and went into the bedroom. He opened the door and Rally was standing there, partly dressed
"Do you mind?" she went "close the door"
"Sorry Rally" John apologised closing the door, then added, "I don't mind…do you?" as he also started to undress to change his clothes
A few minutes later, the two hunters emerged from the bedroom. They were both refreshed and wearing more appropriate clothing for sneaking around unnoticed. Rally had a dark coloured roll neck jumper with her gun holster over the top and a pair of ¾ length khaki trousers, she didn't bother with footwear as they'd only get ruined by the saltwater in the lake. John had put on a black polo shirt and a pair of shorts, with his handcuffs hidden in the back pocket, and his sword cane in his right hand. They both went out to the raft and climbed aboard, Rally taking the stern and the outboard motor controls. John undid the lowering ropes and the raft started to drift away from the cruiser, so he pushed away from the lady on the lake with his cane.
The small raft made it's way up river. John signalled to Rally to cut the engine as he heard something. The engine went off and the raft started to drift. Up ahead, Rally could also hear voices, and a socket set being used to repair something.
The voices got louder as they got closer. Rally and John had paddled the boat in towards the side of the river and hidden it in some bushes farther back and were making their way through the undergrowth and trees, until they came to a good place to watch the events in an old wooden boathouse. The speedboat was in the water, moored up and being worked on by one of the men. Another man was standing there, talking to the repairer. The other two men who had boarded their boat last night were nowhere to be seen or heard
The two hunters sneaked up quietly using the trees as cover to disguise their approach, and got around to the side of the boathouse unnoticed. Rally pulled the .38 out of the holster and signalled to John that she was going to cover the one on the boat. John nodded and went for the one on the dock, who had his back to him
"…So do you think the team's any good this…" the man on the dock went, then suddenly went quiet as he felt something sharp jabbing him in the back
"What's that Clyde?" went the man in the boat, who looked up from the engine bay to see a woman with a .38 aimed right at him from the docks. He slowly stood up and raised his hands as Rally approached
"What's the matter boys…didn't expect to see us again so soon?" John asked as he grabbed the man's hands and locked them behind his back. Rally signalled to the man in the boat to get out. He did and stood on the docks facing Rally with an angry look on his face
"How the hell did you find us?" he growled as rally grabbed his hands and locked them with her 'cuffs behind his back
"We're hunters, and you're busted" she replied, pushing him towards his friend on the dock "now where's your friends?"
"Drop dead, bitch" went the first man called Clyde. John suddenly hit him hard on the side of the neck with a chop, making him drop to the floor in a heap
The other man looked at his friend on the floor, and the man standing over him with an evil smile on his face. Suddenly Rally went "You…same question…don't be stupid and give the same answer"
Chapter 6
Lying in wait
The man took a slow gulp of air and looked nervously around at Rally, then shifted his glance back to John, before answering
"They've gone to town…to try and pawn the stolen stuff and get supplies…they'll be back later on, I swear it…please don't hurt me" he went, dropping to his knees
Rally grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back to his feet and turned him around to face her "How have they gone to town?" she enquired
"By van…there's a road that links this island to the mainland via a bridge" he whimpered
Rally turned him around again and started marching him towards a wooden shack that was inside the boathouse. John picked Clyde up and dragged him over to the shack as well. He dumped the other man on the floor of the shack and looked around. Rally had put the other man on the bed and had picked up one of the automatic weapons they had used earlier and had covered him with it. John shook his head and wandered over to the man instead and then raised his hand in a chop, hitting him on the same spot on the neck, knocking him out cold.
"Was there any need of that?" Rally asked, "I had him covered"
"It keeps them quiet…that way they cant warn their friends that we're here waiting for them" John replied and a small smile played across his lips "besides…this gives us some time to ourselves now Rally"
A couple of hours later, Rally's ears picked up the noise of an engine approaching. John also heard the noise and looked at Rally, who threw him the UZI, then picked up the AK-47 for herself
The Chevrolet urvan pulled up on the dock, and stopped. The other two men got out of the van and looked around. It was quiet…too quiet
The first man called out "Clyde…Muddy…where the hell are you?"
No reply
"Travis…circle around back and see if they are round there…I'll check the shack"
"Sure thing Jess" replied the second man
Travis headed towards the rear of the shack and headed into the woods, and Jess headed towards the door of the shack. The door opened and he was faced with the two people who he thought he'd disposed of in the night
"YOU…" he exclaimed in shock, as he was grabbed and pulled inside by rally, who threw him towards John. John grabbed him and threw him against the bed hard, his body bouncing off the metal frame. He turned around and was sitting on the floor, facing them. John stomped his foot onto Jess' chest and held him against the bed, pointing the UZI at him
"Good afternoon, pirate" went John, with a serious expression on his face "we've come for our stuff back"
"But…but you never had any stuff for us to take…" he went, petrified, as it was normally him pointing the gun at a terrified victim
"Wrong answer pal…" Rally went, turning to face him as well "You took our dignity when you did that to us on the boat…we're here to collect on your Asses"
A noise from the rear window made Rally look up from her current target, and out the window. The man known as Travis saw the scene in the shack, and made a run for it into the woods. Rally immediately rushed outside and started chasing him through the woods
Travis had a short head start on Rally, and was making the most of it. He turned left and tried to get behind Rally as she ran forwards after him, but she saw his dodge and followed him around. Suddenly the ground under Rally's bare feet turned slippery, as she hit a little mud and slid, grabbing onto an overhanging branch of a tree to stabilise herself, and then started pursuing Travis again. Travis led Rally into an opening in the middle of the forest, where she lost sight of him. She looked around and she could see a few bushes, trees and other foliage, but no sign of her suspect. A noise from behind her startles Rally and she turned around smartly, and then headed towards the noise.
She slowly headed inwards, when a snapping of a twig underneath her right foot made her look down. A thick rope suddenly pulled itself tight around her ankle and snatched her off her feet, making her drop the AK-47 and dragging her along the forest floor, before raising her 10 feet upwards in the air
Travis appeared from behind a bush, smirking from ear to ear
"Well, well…look what the bear trap dragged in" he replied, looking up at her hanging upside down by her right ankle "and I thought bounty hunters were better than this"
"We are pal" went a man's voice from behind him. Travis panicked and grabbed the AK-47 that Rally dropped, and began opening fire randomly amongst the trees, hoping to hit something. The next thing to happen was a sword suddenly went flying through the air towards the rope, skimming past it by mere inches and burning a small amount of binding away from it, before embedding itself in the tree behind Rally. Rally swung herself like a human pendulum towards the tree, and grabbed the sword with both hands, before swinging it at the rope and slicing through it. She dropped to the floor and flipped over, turned around and grabbed the butt of the AK-47. Travis turned his head to look at what had the butt of the gun, and had a shock at it being the woman who he thought was stuck up a tree
"Special delivery for you…" Rally went, letting her right hand go and pulled it back into a fist, letting fly towards Travis' face. The hit stunned Travis and he let go of the gun, and fell forwards towards the ground, his lip cut and bleeding.
Rally stood over him with the gun in her hands, then the man who spoke earlier appeared from behind a tree. It was John
"Are you O.K?" he enquired, looking at her
"Just fine…I'll be better when we get these scum behind bars" she replied, then blew some hair off her face
The police from Michigan took the four pirates into custody, and captain Morris stood there, looking at Rally and John wrapped up in blankets, shaking his head slowly
"I thought I told you two NOT to get involved in this investigation…or did you conveniently forget about jurisdiction?" he asked them
"They had it coming, captain. They picked on the wrong boat when they picked on ours" Rally went, "and jurisdiction doesn't come into it, this island is in between borders…who says you haven't overstepped your boundaries today, eh?"
Captain Morris opened his mouth to say something, but realised what Rally had said was right, so he went quiet. It was a few seconds before he said something
"Very well…I'll make sure your boat gets an escort back to Illinois waters, and the rewards will get posted to you, as long as you agree to attend the trial, in case you need to give evidence as witnesses"
"Fair enough" John replied, then turned around and started walking back to the inflatable raft that belonged to their boat
Rally turned around and gave captain Morris his blanket back, and smiled at him
"We'll be seeing you then captain. Goodbye" she replied as she walked with a slight limp towards the raft. She climbed aboard gently and sat down, as John started the outboard engine and headed back down river towards the lady on the lake
Chapter 7
Return to normality?
The lady on the lake reversed around and headed back towards the open waters of lake Michigan, escorted by a Michigan police motor cruiser
Rally and John were on the bridge. John was driving the boat
"You know something, Irene…you have a good right hand, you should use it more often" John went to her
"That's my gun hand…and why do you say that?" she asked
"Just a thought, perhaps I could teach you a few moves that may be useful to you. You're already incredibly flexible and adaptable to situations…I just thought it may be beneficial, that's all" was the reply
"We'll see John" she replied, then looked straight ahead at the water, the wind whipping through her hair
A few hours later, the police cruiser left the lady on the lake, as they reached the outer limits of Michigan state limits. The lady on the lake headed on towards Illinois
Rally's phone goes off, and she picks it out of her pocket. The display read 'Arlene mobile'
"What's up, sis?" Rally asked as she answered the phone
"Hey Rally…I just need to check something with you…" Arlene starts, "have you been hunting out of state at all, as I just received a fax here in the shop from Michigan police dept. asking for confirmation that you captured 4 felons and turned them over to them, that's all"
"Yeah…quite accidentally…" Rally went, trying to cover up their little adventure
"I see…" Arlene replied, "As this fax says those men have had to be released due to insufficient evidence"
"AWWW MAN…all that work for nothing…and I get a bruised ankle as well. Great…just great" Rally sulked, "we'll talk about this when me and John get back to the shop, Arlene"
"K Rally, see you when you get back" Arlene replied, then hung her phone up
Rally had a look of anger and frustration on her face as she hung up the phone "I don't damn well believe it…they've been let off" she went angrily
"WHAT?" John exclaimed, "They've been let off? WHY?"
"Insufficient evidence"
"Well isn't this peachy…" John went, as they approached the main harbour in Chicago
Rally and John arrived back at their shared house by taxi, the rest of the week onboard the boat refunded by the owner, as he had heard about the mishap, and didn't want to get sued (minus the cost of repairs to the radio)
"Home sweet dry land bound home" Rally went as the front door swung open, and she dumped her suitcase in the hallway
"It's nice to be back," John agreed with her, putting his bag down next to hers and closing the door behind him as he came in. rally headed for the freezer and pulled a bag of ice out, and went and sat down on the sofa in the living room, taking off her shoes and pulling her sock off her right foot and threw it. Her ankle had swollen up around where the rope had caught her, and was throbbing. She dumped the ice pack on her ankle and lay back thinking to herself 'why…why were they let off?'
John popped into the kitchen, grabbed two tumblers and a bottle of scotch he'd brought with him from L.A, and then went back into the living room with them. He passed rally a tumbler, put his down on the table and poured two glasses out of the bottle
"Cheers…" he went, holding his glass close to Rally's, then clinked them together and took a sip. Rally took a sip of hers, and sighed heavily
"You know…there's something missing here…"went John, as he opened the bag of ice on Rally's ankle, and took a couple of ice cubes out of the bag. He then put some in his drink, and Rally's "that's better" he went. Rally just smiled, then turned her head away towards the wall, staring into space
John knew something was wrong…he knew it was upsetting her badly, so he sat down next to her on the sofa and hugged her gently with his right arm over her shoulders
"I know what you're thinking…why?" he went softly "they probably can't pin any of that stolen stuff on them in the pawn shops, or prove it was them who sold the items. Forget about it…these things happen. Shit…I've had loads of potential cases fall apart on insufficient evidence. They'll get there's…some day…just…not today"
"That's not what I'm worried about, John. This doesn't seem to fit right…there's a missing link somewhere…oww, my foot" Rally went, adding the painful remark to the end of the sentence. John lifted the ice pack off her foot and looked at it. It had turned black and blue and was swollen up.
"If you ask me…you need to go to the hospital for a scan on that…" John answered back and pointed at her foot
"I'm fine…gee, you're worse than May was" she remarked, putting the ice pack back on her right ankle
The phone suddenly rings, and both John and Rally look over to it. John got up and picked the receiver up "Hello…Vincent- Bolton residence, John speaking"
"John…" a man's voice goes over the phone "it's me…Ken. Can you and Rally get to Chicago General Hospital at all? May's gone into labour and she wants Rally here to be with her. She's screaming out every few minutes 'where's rally?'" Ken went, sounding anxious
"We'll be there in 15 minutes…" John went, hanging up quickly. He then turned around to rally and looked at her "Get your shoes back on…May's in the hospital and she wants her best friend at her side" he added, then threw Rally's sock back at her from the other side of the room
Around twenty minutes later, a yellow taxi pulled up outside the hospital, and two passengers got out. The male passenger got out first and helped his female companion out of the car; the female was using a cane to help her walk. They went quickly into the hospital and the man enquired at the main desk where miss May Hopkins was, before being directed upstairs to the maternity ward. They hurried along to the wardroom where May was before being shown inside by May's partner, Ken
"How is she Ken?" Rally asked, hobbling in on the cane. Ken turned around to look at the newcomers, and shook his head
"Not good…she's been in labour for an hour now, and still nothing" he replied to Rally's question "stubborn cow's probably holding out for you to get here"
Just then, a nurse comes out from the delivery suite, smiling
"Are you the father, Mr Ken Takizawa?" she asked the two men standing next to the window
"Yes…I am" Ken replied, turning his head towards the nurse
"Congratulations…it's a girl. And both mother and baby are doing fine. You may go in now and see them" she relayed the news to them. Both Ken and John flew into the room to see May, and Rally made up the rear guard
May was lying there on the bed, smiling sweetly at the little bundle wrapped up in a blanket in her arms "Hey…" she went softly as they entered
"Hey yourself…" ken replied, then walked over and stood next to her and leant in and kissed her on the forehead "How are you both?"
"We're fine honey…look, she has your nose…" May went, passing the precious bundle gently over to him
"She has your eyes as well," Ken added, then showed the new arrival off to John and Rally
Rally and John both smiled at the little girl in front of them, she had big green eyes like her mother, and a small few strands of ginger hair on her head
Meanwhile, a Chevy urvan pulled up slowly outside the hospital, with five passengers on board
Chapter 8
Hospital (war) zone
"Can you idiots pull this off now, or do I need to sort this mess out personally?" captain Morris asked the four pirates. They all looked at him with distaste
"HEY…who are the ones risking their necks…and capture…so that you can get rich in our five way split!" Jess asked as he pulled the AK-47 out from under the seat
"Yeah…you get the cream…we deal with the shit," Travis added. Clyde and Muddy nodded their heads in unison
"I keep your asses out of prison…don't forget who got you out earlier on" captain Morris replied as he spied them over with narrow eyes "now get in there and finish that bitch and her boyfriend off before they can identify any of you and get all of us put away for piracy. I'll keep the local police away from here for as long as I can, so get in, do them and get the hell out"
The four men nodded, and the rear side door slid open, and the driver and passengers got out, hiding the weapons under their coats. Captain Morris climbed over to the drivers seat and sat there, ready for a quick getaway
Up on the fifth floor, Rally and company were leaving the maternity ward, as mother and baby had been told to take some rest, and they had been asked to come back tomorrow…all except rally, who had been grabbed by a nurse and taken for an X-ray on her foot
A few moments later, rally emerged behind the nurse, her right foot and ankle wrapped in tight bandage and with a soft foam shoe on. John looked at her as she emerged and was about to say something when Rally stopped him
"DON'T you dare say a thing…" she went in an angry tone, and started to hobble down the corridor using his cane/sword for support
The elevator at the end of the corridor suddenly went PING! And the doors slid open silently, and 4 men got off and walked down the corridor. Rally and John were walking towards the elevator, when the 4 men suddenly whipped guns out from under their coats, Rally looked up briefly and saw the weapons and dived over to her left, John looked at the men, went "What in the hell?" and dived also, as they opened fire with their weapons.
The corridor turns into a nightmare. Nursing staff, doctors and patients screaming and running, two bounty hunters hiding behind furniture for cover, and bullets flying everywhere, destroying the corridor and hallways, sending concrete and plasterboard pieces everywhere, setting off the fire alarms and sprinkler system and shorting out medical equipment
Rally pulled her CZ-75 out from her holster under her jacket, cocks and loads it, then waits for a break in firing. She stuck her head over the top of the large planter and aimed her gun down the corridor and fired off a few rounds in their direction, hitting Travis in the shin and making him fall to the ground. Muddy looked over at his friend, then fired off another volley of random bullets
"SHIT!" John called out as a ceiling tile above him crumbled into pieces as it was hit and fell over him "A LITTLE HELP HERE PLEASE RALLY"
Rally turned around and sat down behind the planter and raised her left leg and pulled the trouser leg up, and grabbed a small Smith and Western .38 from out of an ankle holster. She looked down the hallway towards John's position, then called out "HEADS UP"
Rally threw the .38 down the corridor towards John, who dived from his hiding place to the middle of the hallway to catch the gun, grabbed it mid-air and rolled over to the other side, stood up and fired the small firearm a few times. The middle gunman, Clyde, gets a slug in the gut, and doubles over and drops the weapon in agony
Muddy and Jess both turned around and ran back towards the elevator and got in and headed back to the lobby, as it was now a fair fight
Ken poked his head out from around the doorframe that was May's room
"What the hell's going on here?" he asked as he looked at the state of the corridor
"Ken, give me your car keys…" John called over to him. Ken stuck his hand into his trouser pocket and pulled them out, and threw them over to John
Rally stood up and winced as she put some weight on her bad foot, but started walking after them, John's cane tucked under her arm and her gun in her hand
"Let's go John…before they escape…" she called as the elevator doors opened up, and she stepped over the two injured pirates "and someone PLEASE deal with these two"
John ran down the corridor towards the elevator, passed the security guard who had hidden behind the nursing station and told him "mind these for us, will you mate?" as he pointed at the two injured men. The guard nodded his head slowly, and drew his small sidearm out of it's holster to cover them as John got in the elevator next to rally
Muddy and Jess ran through the main lobby, pushing people and guards out of their way and dashing for the urvan parked out by the front doors, the guards hardly resisting, as they were outmatched and outgunned in firepower. They dive into the waiting van, and captain Morris floors the gas pedal. The van's wheels spin wildly and smoke before the van takes off
Rally hobbles out of the main front doors after John, who saw them scream off in the van. He then ran across the car park to Ken's Chrysler, fired it up and swung it around hard to the doors. Rally looked at John dumbstruck
"Are you serious? This thing'll never catch them" she remarked
"Just get in and stop chopsing, will you?" John retorts, as Rally climbed into the back of the van, as it was easier than getting in the front
Chapter 9 Crime and punishment
The Chrysler's handling was being tested to the limit, as they were screaming along the streets of Chicago in pursuit of the Chevy, which was also rolling around on sharp manoeuvres, both vehicles nearly losing it on a few occasions with handbrake turns. It wasn't long before they picked up a police tail, sirens wailing after the high-speed street pursuit
Rally had an idea
"John…get as close as you can…I'm goanna shoot their tyres out" she went, pulled her driving glasses out from inside her coat, put them on and grabbed the lap belt off the back seat and wrapped it around her waist and tied it off. She then grabbed the door handle and pulled the side door open. The sudden rush of air hit Rally with force, but she struggled to stick her head out and aim her gun at their vehicle
"Do you know what you're doing? That's suicide" John went looking over his shoulder quickly, before focusing his attention on the road again
"No I don't…just keep driving" Rally replied, as she hooked her right arm through the grab rail inside the door to help you in, then passed her gun out to her right hand before swinging herself outside into the rushing air. She aimed as best she could, and fired off a shot, but it took the rear screen out instead of a tyre, making Morris swerve the van suddenly for a few seconds before regaining control
Up ahead of the speeding vehicles, another police cruiser was waiting with a tyre stinger. As they approached, the officer threw the spike carpet out across the road, and the urvan driver didn't have time to react, so the van went straight over the carpet of spikes. The tyres blew out with such force the weight of the van, coupled with it's speed, went forwards and the nose hit the ground, flipping the vehicle over and landing hard on it's roof, partly collapsing it but sliding along on the roof, showering sparks everywhere for a few yards before stopping dead
John only had a few seconds to react to the carpet spikes, and shouted back "HOLD ON RALLY" as he whipped the steering wheel round to the right and grabbed the handbrake. The Chrysler turned hard, and the wheels slid, but the balance of the van was affected by the sudden violent movement of the wheel, and it rolled onto it's side, shattering the passenger windows and sliding for a few feet before stopping
"GET OUT OF YOUR VEHICLES, LAY ON THE FLOOR WITH YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD" called the officer over the bullhorn from his cruiser
The driver and two passengers in the Chevy urvan climbed out slowly, with their hands raised, then lay on the floor as instructed, all the fight taken out of them by the crash
Rally climbed slowly out of the open side door with her hands raised
"DON'T SHOOT…I'M A BOUNTY HUNTER…THEY ARE MY BOUNTY" she called as she climbed out and dropped to the floor, landing awkwardly on her bad foot and crying out in pain as she did so
John also climbed out from the wreck of the Voyager "I'M WITH HER"
The other pursuing car screamed to a stop, and the officers piled out and surrounded the three individuals. The officer with the bullhorn called Rally and John over to him, and instructed them to slowly bring their bounty hunters licences out to show him. Once satisfied they were who they said they were, he lowered his gun and the bullhorn, so they lowered their hands
The other three men in the Chevy were roughed up and shell-shocked…they had not expected to be captured, but Rally looked over at them and grabbed John's coat to get his attention
"JOHN…LOOK" she went, pointing at one of the men "THERE'S OUR MISSING LINK"
John looked over at the men being put in the back of a squad car, and a shocked expression came over his face
"CAPTAIN MORRIS!"
Captain Morris looked over at the two hunters, and called out before being put into the car
"THIS ISN'T OVER…YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF US"
"That's good…or else we won't get the reward on them" John commented, then a little laugh came from out of his mouth. Rally turned her head and looked at him smiling and laughing, then started to laugh herself
Chapter 10
All's well?
A few days later in Gunsmith Cats, May and Ken and their new baby daughter came to visit. Ken was arguing about the damage to their new car
"I can't believe you trashed MY people carrier…in a damn car chase" Ken went with anger in his voice
"I'm sorry Ken…I promise to pay for the repairs to it. You get a quote for it, I'll pay for it" John went reassuringly
"You'll pay? The insurance company's goanna write it off, due to the damage and the age of it. And just what are we supposed to use in the meantime, huh? May's little fiat? We can barely get in it ourselves, let alone squeeze a baby seat on to the back seats" Ken's emotion was running high
"Calm down, will you. If they write it off, then I'll look for another vehicle for yourselves, fair enough?" John went, trying to cool Ken down
"COOL IT, BOTH OF YOU…" May went, butting in "Can't you see me and Rally are trying to get her to sleep?" may cooed, as she turned back to her baby, gently giving her a bottle to feed on. Rally smiled at her friend
"She's beautiful. Just like her mother" Rally went softly, playing with the baby
"Thanks Rally…" May started, then turned and looked at her friend "So…when are you two goanna try for kids, huh?"
Rally's face dropped, a look of shock and horror appeared and her colour drained from her face
"You what? Me? A mother? You must be kidding!" she replied, trying to avoid the question
Ken glanced over his shoulder, and did a double take of rally's face before turning and sniggering. John saw the look on her face and also started to snigger
"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" she went, before turning on her heel and hobbling out of the shop to the back room, slamming the door behind her. The remaining group suddenly burst out laughing
"That's our Rally!" went May, who couldn't stop laughing
The end
Will May's question come true? Look out for another Gunsmith Cats story soon!