The Colonel Vs. the Parson's Boogie Man

Chapter 1

The rapping of frantic fists was heard on the office door, and Pastor Annie Coburn rose from her desk with a weary sigh. It was 3:30p.m. in the afternoon on a rare, summer's sunny day in the Pacific Northwest, and already she had two medical emergencies within her congregation, and one death that day. Somehow, she was again trying to study for her Sunday sermon, but each time she sat down at her desk, a new emergency rose up. "People over paper," she reminded herself, and opened the office door to come face to face with the two woman whose offices were down the hall. They were highly excited and pushed their way into the office, jabbering to each other and to her at the same.

"Jackie, Rachel, calm down, here sit and tell me what's up." She let them sit down in front of her desk, and then pulled another chair close to them. Jackie, the young Hispanic woman spoke first.

"Pastor, they are at it again. They are right outside the church's windows and flipping us the bird. One of them even tried to pull his jeans down and flash us." The other woman nodded frantically, and then took up the monologue.

"And so we just pulled out our cell phones and took pictures of them, and then Jackie locked up the outside door so they couldn't come in. That's when I saw the gun." Rachel, the other nurse who worked for a health care program housed at the church for low income families, explained further.

"What? A gun?" Annie was trying hard to get the story straight from both of them, but they kept interrupting each other. "Whoa, whoa, ladies. Deep breaths in, slow out." She tried to calm them down enough to get things straight.

Jackie visibly slowed her breathing, and then nodded in agreement. "It's the same hoods that have been dealing crack behind the bus stop and the alley way to the school. We have called and called the local police and they never can catch them."

Rachel nodded, and showed Annie the pictures. She recognized one of the young men as a leading drug dealer in her community, and knew they had probably come out of the flop house on the edge of the church property.

"Rachel, go lock the front door, and let me call the Drug Task Force. You have got pictures, and names and it's time we call some higher ups then the locals." Annie reached for the phone, and dialed up the number of a deputy sheriff who attended her church. Within 15 minutes, several county police cars sped down the alley, and cut off the dealers from escaping. As the three women stood by the locked front door, the leader struggled against his arresting officer as the police was trying to get him into the Drug Task Force car, and stared right at Annie Coburn. He continued to fight two officers as they tried to get him in the car, but he twisted himself to face the pastor and screamed uncontrollably at her in Spanish.

"Oh, Lord," Jackie's face blanched, and her hand flew up to her mouth in horror.

"What did he say?" Rachel looked at her co worker, and watched as a tear leaked out of Jackie's eye.

Jackie turned to Annie, and grabbed the pastor's hands tightly. She gulped, and shakingly said,

"He just said that before tomorrow night, you and your people are dead."

"John, my main man, you have now sold the most Beast Master grills any Buy More employee has ever had the privilege to sell ever in the history of the franchise." Morgan Grime, the manger of the Burbank Buy More had just come up to congratulate the tall Marine on this wonderful accomplishment, which John Casey just grunted and walked away shaking his head. Chuck Bartowski, Morgan's best friend, grinned at his N.S.A. handler's disgruntled face, and watched his handler walk away from Morgan.

"You know Morgan, if Sarah and I didn't already have two Beast Master's grills, I would certainly buy one from Casey." Chuck laughed as Morgan piped up and said, "yeah, I got three from him."

"Three? Man, Morgan, do you not have a single back bone in that Buy More spine of yours?" Lester Patell mocked Morgan, and then was interrupted by his co-hort, Jeffrey Barnes.

"But Lester, we have six. Casey made us buy six 'cause of that woman's bathroom peeping camera thing last spr..." Lester clapped his hand over Jeff's mouth before more words could come out of his perpetually inebriated friend, and the two of them slunk off away from Chuck and Morgan.

"I don't think they will ever change, Morgan." Chuck laughed again, and then his cell phone rang out the Mexican Hat Dance. When he looked down it was a picture I.d. of Pastor Annie Coburn.

"Pastor Annie, helloooo from beautiful downtown Burbank Buymoria. How are you, dear Lady?" Chuck grinned into the phone, while Morgan waved hi. They had all come to love the joyful preacher from the Pacific Northwest, almost as much as the stoic, tall Marine who nicknamed her his "Parson."

Morgan began to turn away from Chuck but Chuck caught his arm, and motioned him closer. "Yes, John is here with us, but I don't understand why you can't call him. Yes, we were just talking to him. Let me get Morgan to track him down." Morgan gave Chuck two thumbs off and ran down the aisles toward the large appliance section of the store. Not finding Casey there, Morgan sprinted down the hallway toward the employee's lounge but only found Lester and Jeff snickering about something over by the lockers. They both turned around swiftly when they saw Morgan, passing a small object between them behind their backs. Morgan began to pace back and forth in front of them, and demanded in his best Casey impression, "what are you two morons up to now?" However, they only snickered even louder and continued to pass the object between them, until Morgan reached around their backs to snag it. However, that meant he came within a few inches of Jeff's toxic breath, and Grimes staggered back, gagging at the stench. "Enough!" Morgan yelled, and slammed his fist in the locker. That seemed to do the trick, as both of the men shut up. However, their gazes were not on Morgan but up and to something behind his head. Jeff handed the small object to Grimes, and they shot out of the lunch room, as quickly as they could.

Morgan grinned to himself triumphantly, "Gotcha you creeps!" he muttered. "Now, Casey, where are you?" He swiftly did an about face and slammed right into the immovable force known as John Casey.

He actually bounced back off Casey's chest, but recovered and passed Casey the cell phone Jeff and Lester has stolen. Casey grunted and then look approvingly at his small friend.

"Good intimidation, Grimes. You are getting better." Casey nodded his approval, deciding not to reveal that he had stood behind Morgan most of the last five minutes.

"Coming from you, sir, that means a lot. Oh, Chuck wanted me to tell you Pastor Annie has been trying to reach you."

John checked his phone, but swore under his breath. "Those dweebs wore the battery down. You got yours?" he demanded and Morgan gladly gave up his cell to Casey.

Casey turned his back to Morgan who began to slip out to give his friend some privacy. Casey dialed the pastor's number and began to drum his fingers on the locker in front of him.

"Parson? It's John. What's wrong, my beloved?" Casey strolled over to the lunch room door and shut and locked it. He began to pace as he listened to Annie's recounting of the day's drug bust by the church and the subsequent threat to her and the church people.

"Do you know who threatened you?" He kept his voice strong and calm, but his pacing was becoming more agitated. When she told him the name of the man, his fist flew into the nearest locker, and dented the entire door.

"Oh, dear Lord, Annie, this man is seriously demented." Casey pulled his fist back, and took some kind of small pleasure in the fact that his knuckles were now bleeding. He then realized his anger only made her more frantic over the phone so he purposely sought his calm, and willed his heart slower. "His name means the 'Boogie Man'. He attacks in the night, paying back ten times for any wrong done to him. His threats are not idle, Annie. You need protection, now, my beloved. No, no, listen to me. I have

been on the receiving end of this man's hate, and it is swift and it is cruel."

Casey lowered his head, and placed his forehead on the locker, as memories of the torture and caning at the hands of this very same drug cartel master. Only Chuck and Sarah's excellent tracking skills had located him before he had died at the hands of the monster, and he had paid dearly for many weeks after with excruciating pain in his back. Scars still ran criss cross horizontally on his back, and he worked daily to stretch the scar tissue so it would not limit his fighting or shooting mobility. Now this same man had found his way north, and somehow into the drug industry of Parson's own town.

"I'm coming as soon as I can get a hold of the General and get her permission. Yes, I will come." Casey gritted his teeth, and said the words again. "Annie, no more discussion. I will come. You and the church need some protection. I know, I will keep my word. I will not take revenge. Yes, beloved, justice, not revenge. I will call you back on my cell, as soon as I know. Beloved, don't go anywhere without someone. Tell Rachel and Jackie to shut the office down, and make sure Sheriff Tracy keeps an eye on the church building. Yes, I do think this monster will come after the church building as well as the people. Yes, I know. I am pleased you called me, beloved. Vaya con Dios, my darling Parson."

Casey hung up the phone, and before he could stop himself, he slammed his fist again into the next locker, and heard the satisfying crunch of s few knuckles cracking. The pain cleared his mind, and he bowed his head, praying to Annie's God for complete protection over her and the loving church she served. When he looked up he was pleasantly surprised to see that the two lockers who has his fist imprinted on them were labeled "Barnes" and "Patell".

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