Once again this chapter is a collaboration of the minds. Mandy58 and fbobs have both contributed to it; one more than the other, but both have contributed to it. They know how much I appreciate their input.
And, once again I write for my own personal pleasure and have no affiliation with the reel 'Covert Affairs'. I'm just as eager for the beginning of season 3 as the rest of you.
Annie Anderson
Annie paused for a few moments to survey the work the clean-up crew had done in the living room and foyer – there were still subtle signs, but only if one knew where to look, that a copious amount of blood had been shed in the foyer – the paint did need some touchup where it had been scrubbed, and she could see where Abigail might want to have the area rug replaced. It was still on the floor and damp from the cleaning but a shadow of the bloodstain still remained. In the living room she could see where the carpet had been cleaned where she'd bled all over it, but, once it dried, it looked like it would be okay. She was glad for that at least. The stains on the rug in the foyer looked as if they could be from where her heel had bled. That made her a trifle uncomfortable.
Once she'd taken stock of the situation in the foyer, Annie climbed the stairs to the guest bathroom. She took her time brushing her teeth; giving herself a bit of time to collect her thoughts before calling Joan. Even though she didn't think she had anything to worry about with Joan, one never quite knew where one stood with her. Joan pretty much always had an agenda. Sometimes it was a surprise, sometimes it wasn't, but Annie knew she was always one hundred percent behind her agents and would move heaven and earth for their safety if she had to. She would do the same to protect their covers. At this point, with no clue about any other agenda, or even any real hint of her next assignment, if Joan even knew, she decided there wasn't much else to do but call her.
Since it was the next morning, Annie had to assume Joan had talked to FBI Agent Parker, or at least gotten a message from her. Knowing Joan, it would have been a phone call.
Annie took a deep breath and slowly let it out before she exited the bathroom and went back into the bedroom. She pulled out her phone, listened to confirm there wasn't anybody in the hallway, and pressed the speed dial for Joan.
"Annie," Joan answered, "How are you? Physically? Mentally?"
"Hi, Joan, I'm physically okay. Not 100% since I have rather extensive deep bruising on my left hip. It looks pretty ugly and covers almost a third of my front left torso. I have some more bruising on my right arm and my right wrist is really sore. But Adam, Auggie's oldest brother and a doctor, checked me out this morning and said, other than probably not wanting to wear a bikini for a while, and being sore, I'll be back to 100% eventually." Annie paused, and, not hearing anything from Joan, she continued, "Mentally, I'm fine. For now. These guys had evil intent; I kept them from accomplishing it."
"Tell me what happened – what they did and what you did."
"They waited till my sister-in-law, Jenna, had the locks undone, then they shouldered the door open with considerable force. Somehow the lead guy got Jenna turned around, an arm around her neck, banged the muzzle of his pistol into her temple and shouted something, I'm not exactly sure what he said. By then all I saw was him, his gun, and Jenna. When his gun waved toward the living room I charged down the stairs at him, hit him with a palm strike into the chest, continued to body slam him back into the two guys behind him, jammed his gun out of battery with my left hand, took it away, smashed his larynx with it, smashed it again with my right elbow, grabbed the gun with my right hand in a firing position, and, as he was falling, I reached around him to shoot the other two who were trying to bring their rifles up.
"The two I shot landed on the floor either dead or about dead. The third one was gurgling in his throat. I kept them covered, cleared the front as well as I could from where I stood, backed up to sit on the stairs. When the police cars pulled up I put the gun down in front of me. They have it. It's the only thing they have that has my fingerprints on it. They didn't print either Auggie or I."
"Just so you know, the third guy died of his injuries early this morning. He had a cracked sternum and a couple of broken ribs, one of which poked a big hole in his lung. Apparently your palm strike broke things up and the body slam used the sharp ends against him. Auggie trained you well."
"Joan, I just wanted to stop them."
"I know. Not your fault. Not one single thing about this was your fault. I'm incredibly proud of you Annie. I quite frankly didn't know how effective you could be."
"The first guy had a Glock 19. I didn't know that when I took it away from him, I learned that after it was all over. I knew it was a Glock of some kind when I went at him. There is a time there when that's all I saw. But they all sort of look alike to me."
"The other two?"
"They had what look like generic AR15 rifles, not sure what makes. They looked identical. They both had a rail under the front hand guard with a laser sight on it. That registered somewhere in my mind at the time, but I didn't learn until later that the laser sights were turned on. They had what looked like thirty round magazines in them."
"What were they wearing?"
"Dark jeans, dark hoodies, surgical gloves on their hands. No masks or facial coverings at all. Auggie said he thought they intended to leave no witnesses."
"That was my conclusion as well." Joan paused again, and then continued in a new direction, "How about your covers?"
"As far as I know, we're good. Auggie's family is sort of bought in to the cover story, except for Alan, the Marine. He's been read in since before Auggie was blinded. Anthony, the brother that is a Chicago Assistant District Attorney is really suspicious, and pretty much has it figured out but he won't challenge me openly, and Auggie has already reinforced our cover story to him. Anthony has been wonderful. He got right between the detective, Lynch I think, and us and kept him in line."
"What did the detective do to need containing?"
"He started asking leading questions of Alan that were a barely veiled attempt to attribute other than self-defense motives to me. Alan shut him down. He tried to be intimidating but Anthony backed him off. I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up again. The man has an agenda, and something Special Agent Parker said, lead me to believe both she and Anthony know what it is. But I didn't ask and they didn't say."
"If he shows up and gets in your face, you or Auggie call me immediately. That's an order."
"I will do that."
"Tell me about Special Agent Parker."
"She was great. She is like Mighty Mouse. Cool, competent, professional, with no trace of the bureaucratic BS that seems to be Rossabi's stock in trade. She was in our corner the whole time. The Detective tried to get in her way and she was around and beyond him before he could breathe. She walked in, took control, and made it look easy. She had a gag order for everybody and their brother; anyone who might have seen anything or might have anything to do with processing the scene or the evidence. She served it to them, on their chief, and gave a copy to Auggie's family. I frankly did not read it. I was in moderate to severe adrenaline shock, quite literally passed out in bed when it was all over and everybody had left. I just couldn't handle the letdown. I didn't wake up till this morning. But if you need it, I'll get a copy of it to you."
"No need, I already have it. I talked briefly last night with Agent Parker; apparently right after she left you. Her complete report was on my desk this morning. She gave me the same story you did which is good. I'm not checking on you Annie, I just want to make sure she got the same picture of the event you thought you gave her, and she did."
"Good."
"She was also very complementary of you and Auggie. Said you were about as excitable as a sack of cement and apparently some sort of blonde Rambo. Enough of that, there were kids there I understand?"
"Yes, two of Auggie's nieces – Alexis and Megan – and two of his nephews – Lucas and Ethan. They're all between twelve and sixteen I think. The two girls are Adam's children and the boys are Anthony's. The oldest nephew wasn't here. Neither were the two youngest nieces."
"How did they take it?"
"I think okay. They looked at me somewhat wide-eyed, a little like I was Wonder Woman or something."
"They are my biggest concern," Joan said. "They need counseling even if nobody thinks they do. You need to let them know defending themselves is a fair and just response to evil doers. But the power of knowing the moves is that it is a surprise to everybody including the bad guys if you ever need to use them."
"I understand, and I'll do what I can to see they get counseling. The cleanup of the main scene is nearing completion. A rug was wrecked when I bled on it."
"I'm missing something here. What injuries did you have that bled?"
"I gouged a wound in the palm of my left hand when I jammed the slide on his Glock out of battery so it wouldn't fire, and a small gash on one heel when I kicked the AR's away from the two I shot. Auggie's brother Adam, the doctor, and his wife, a nurse, bandaged my hand, it's fine. I feel a little like I was run over by a truck, but it isn't interfering with anything."
"You are convinced these guys were just thrill killers who picked the house at random?"
"I don't know if they picked it at random, there were a lot of expensive cars out front and alongside the house, but I don't see any evidence they were after Auggie and I as targets if that is what you are asking."
"It is. Thanks. Auggie agrees?"
"Yes, we talked about that last night with Alan where the others couldn't hear us. Alan agrees, they were thrill seekers who, it appears, had intended to up their game."
"Annie, I think you saved everybody in the house, including yourself, from a horrible tragedy. The world, it would seem, is a better place without those young men. I will arrange for counseling when you get back. I can get some for you there if you feel you need it; we have people on call in every major city, pretty much worldwide."
"I'm okay for now. I know it will bother me more in a few days, especially after I get back in my own bed and dream about it going wrong, but for now, I'm okay. Same person as after Stockholm?"
"I can do that." Joan paused, and then said with apparent sincerity and appreciation, "Annie, well done. See you when you get back. If anybody gives you any static, you call me and I'll make it stop so fast you will wonder if it was a dream."
"Thanks Joan." And the call ended.
Annie sat on the edge of the bed holding the phone, releasing the inevitable tension from talking to Joan. She was right in my corner, Annie thought, and that's good, but I still feel like I'm on some sort of trial when I talk to her. Playing the conversation back in her head she finally decided, it couldn't have gone much better than that. Cool. Back to the holiday. Let's enjoy the day. She stood up, slid the phone in her pocket, brushed her jean shorts, gave herself a quick check in the mirror, and headed back down stairs.
She arrived down stairs to find the kitchen starting to get more crowded. Austin and Jenna had arrived; so had Olivia and the girls. Everyone was standing around the kitchen with coffee or orange juice in their hands. Annie was deciding how to approach Auggie when there was a knock on the front door accompanied by a shouted, "Glencoe Police Department." The voice was familiar from last night, but Annie wasn't sure if it was Sergeant Jamison or Detective Lynch.
Abigail was the first to react. "What now? Why can't these people go chase bad guys and leave us alone?"
Closest to the door Annie advised, "I'll get it Mom."
Suddenly the house got dead quiet; the tension was palpable as Annie walked in her bare feet to the door. She undid the locks and cracked the door just far enough that she could see the person on the front porch. It was Detective Lynch. She called to Auggie just loud enough for him to hear in the dead silent house, "Have your phone handy, it's Detective Lynch." She didn't care if the detective heard that comment or not. He was not going to bully anyone today. She really wished that Anthony was in the back. Or, better yet, Agent Parker.
"Detective Lynch, are you alone?" Annie asked as she turned her attention back to the unwelcomed visitor on the front porch. She looked him up and down; he looked as if he'd been through the wringer. His suit was rumpled, his hair a bit disheveled, and his eyes were puffy and a bit bloodshot.
"Yes."
Annie opened the door but didn't move to let him in. She said, "Good morning Detective Lynch, long night I see?"
Lynch looked concerned and said, "Yes, it was. I am on my way home. I just wanted to give you an update. We learned some things about the kids that invaded last night that you might like to know. But I can come back later if that's more convenient."
Annie looked at Abigail who was approaching down the hall and asked, "May I invite Detective Lynch in for a cup of coffee and a chance to update us on what he's learned from pulling an all-nighter on our behalf?"
Abigail nodded and said, "Sure, in the kitchen?" Annie couldn't help but notice the change in her mother-in-law's attitude from hostile to hospitable.
Annie said, "Come in, we've fresh coffee if you would like some."
"I'd love some. You are right; it's been a long night. The chief didn't take this case lightly and pulled in the personnel needed to process the evidence we'd gathered and to ID the perps," Detective Lynch advised as he followed Abigail down the hall toward the back of the house; he took the offered seat at the breakfast table, clearly tired.
Abigail handed the detective a mug of coffee and asked, "Sugar or cream?"
Everyone except Auggie had cleared the kitchen; he was leaning against the counter near the coffee maker. Annie could hear the others taking seats in the family room. She took a seat across the table from Detective Lynch.
"Just like it is works great." He took a sip with obvious pleasure and said, "We've identified the invaders from last night; they are street punks from the Chicago's South Side. The weapons they had – the rifles – came from one of their first home invasions. The Glock was stolen from a pawnshop about six months ago. We went to several of the other victims already this morning and showed pictures of their faces to them. We got pretty conclusive ID's linking them to at least four other rather violent home invasions. Their fingerprints weren't at the other scenes, but we're pretty convinced that the home invasions will now stop. They had been escalating; last night was the first they hadn't gone to the trouble of disguising themselves. They went to some trouble to disguise their faces in earlier invasions, but not last night." He drank some more coffee and said, "Ms. Anderson, Annie, Sergeant Jamison is right, the evidence clearly shows your actions last night averted a major tragedy. We still don't condone civilians fighting back, but this time it worked out well for you here. We don't have a Manson Family style massacre on our hands, and we've come close to closing several troubling cases. … I was a bit of a jerk last night. I apologize. I'm bringing this information as a peace offering."
Annie said, "Accepted Detective. And thank you. We were all under a lot of stress last night."
Detective Lynch took a final sip of his coffee, stood and offered Annie his hand saying, "Pleasure to meet you. I think we're done. We've been able to keep your names out of the press coverage, but I'm not sure we were as successful at keeping the address or the names of the owners of the house from the coverage, unfortunately. I'm not sure that press or TV media will leave you alone. We pressed on them the need for your privacy. We'll just have to see how well they listened. If it gets too out of hand let us know. Now I need to get some sleep before I fall down."
Abigail said, "Thanks Detective. I'll show you out." And they left in the direction of the front door.
As soon as Abigail and the detective were out of the room, Auggie sauntered over to where Annie sat. "You buying his change in stance?" Auggie asked quietly as he took the seat the detective had just vacated.
"I think so," Annie replied. "He seemed sincere enough. Or did you hear something in his voice that I didn't pick up on?"
Auggie turned his head slightly to the left and lifted that shoulder, "No. I just heard a tired man. I wish Tony was here. I'm sure he'd have something to say about this."
"Yeah, I'm sure he would," Annie agreed. "I'll say something to him when he gets here. Something he and Agent Parker said last night gave me the impression there's something more to Detective Lynch than meets the eye."
"When was this discussion between Ms. Parker and Tony? I don't remember it," Auggie remarked.
"Oh, that's right you weren't there. It was right after she got here and was taking charge from the detective. I'd followed her because I was curious about how that was going to go. She knew Tony from a meeting he'd had with her boss over something happening in the Glencoe PD. Made it sound like they were investigating Detective Lynch for witness intimidation. After how he went after Alan last night it might be true."
Another key opening the backdoor got Annie's attention. Anthony and Jessica soon appeared in the kitchen. Between them they carried a large cooler. "Morning, all," Anthony announced cheerfully. "The party can begin, we've come bearing beer, and other barbecue eats." Then in a more confidential tone that was directed at Auggie, "Cooler going to the left side of the patio doors."
Auggie nodded his acknowledgement of his brother's statement. Annie offered a brief smile at her brother-in-law to show her appreciation of his letting her husband know of the placement of out of the ordinary objects in the house. Auggie had said that his brothers hadn't always been so accommodating.
When Anthony came back in from depositing the cooler by the patio door to get a mug of coffee, Annie advised him, "Detective Lynch stopped by this morning and just left a bit ago. He apologized for being a bit over zealous last night. Should we believe that he's really contrite and we've seen the last of him?"
"I thought that was him leaving as we pulled up. What did he have to say?" Anthony asked cautiously.
"Just that he and the department's forensic team spent an all-nighter looking at the evidence, IDing the guys, and coming to the conclusion that I'd acted in self-defense and averted a Manson-style blood bath. He was quite apologetic for doubting me. From something I overheard between you and Agent Parker I had the feeling that you'd investigated him for intimidation."
"We interviewed him, but the investigation wasn't aimed at him per se. I think he's okay and was just having a hard time reconciling that a woman foiled a home invasion without being lying in wait and armed. I was here and I had a bit of a challenge wrapping my head around it. But I think we've probably seen the last of him. I doubt that there's not going to be a hearing or court case. Case closed. No need for him to question us again."
# # #
After freshening up a bit in the downstairs bath and getting a new can of Diet Pepsi, Annie came back out on the deck overlooking the back patio and yard to rejoin the family BBQ that was in progress. The steaks and burgers on the grill smelled mouthwateringly good. Adam was manning the grill and Olivia was sitting beside him on the deck; Alan and Auggie were off to one end of the patio with their feet up on one of the low wrought iron coffee table type benches; everyone else was spread out lounging in clusters around the deck, patio and yard. Holding the fresh Diet Pepsi and drinking straight from the can Annie enjoyed the frosty beverage and considered some more of the tortilla chips and incredible homemade salsa Jenna had brought. It looked to her like everybody was out here. This new family she'd become a part of sure knew how to enjoy each other and a holiday.
It was nearing 6 PM and the family had been together since before Noon. The conversation had long ago stopped centering on the events of last night and any potential aftermath from them. Detective Lynch's update, delivered with an apology, had gone a long ways to answer questions and foster acceptance of what had happened. Annie was really glad of that. She was also glad the bruises didn't show when she wore the shorts she'd brought for the occasion and the shorts were comfortable enough that they didn't irritate her bruised areas. She wore a soft cotton T-shirt for comfort not oblivious to the fact that it flattered her figure.
The tone of the conversations – not understanding them, just listening to them – felt really good. Annie felt like she could finally relax, last night was going to be behind her soon. She moved down into the yard along the side near the gate in the tall privacy fence where she saw Alfred and Abigail talking to Alexis and Megan, their eldest granddaughters. Annie smiled in their direction, the two girls were so animated and energetically happy it was contagious. Annie wanted some of that, so she turned in that direction to join them.
She had no more than gotten there when she thought she heard a voice around the front of the house. She listened again and thought she'd made a mistake with all the conversations going on. She turned to Megan who was so excited about some new music group that Annie had never heard of and was about to get an explanation of when the side gate into the driveway area started to rattle. That unexpected noise put Annie on high alert – condition red as she'd been taught – and then the gate burst open to reveal a big man who looked extremely agitated and upset.
He yelled out, "Which one of you sons-of-bitches killed my son? Who did it? I want to rip off your head you miserable scum."
His gaze took in everyone for a moment and then focused on Alfred. It was obvious to Annie he was about to attack and that her father-in-law was the likely target and he would be badly hurt if that angry man did attack him. She went in motion with that look, but everybody's gaze was on the intruder so they missed her anticipation of the blow. When the unwelcomed visitor stepped forward to take a swing at Alfred it suddenly all went wrong for him.
Annie, already in motion, slid around Alfred to deflect the incoming blow so that the man's own momentum started to work against him. Half turning while pulling his arm down she side-kicked his knee closest to her out from under him and kept him turning so he rolled up over her back and was slammed down onto the grass face first. He collapsed onto his stomach with his arm off to one side. Quick as a cat Annie had his other arm twisted up around behind his head with her arm wrapped around his throat leveraging her arms toward each other bending his head back and making it hard for him to breathe. The arm hold was designed to cause him enough pain to take his mind off everything but making it stop and being able to breathe.
Annie yelled, "Austin! Alan! Adam! Somebody bring me something to tie this guy up with. Zip ties would be great but they need to be thick and long." She knew the guy couldn't get away, but she also knew she wasn't doing herself any good either and wanted this to be over soon. She stayed focused on the man on the ground paying particular attention to his free hand; whenever it moved she'd increase the pressure knowing the pain in his shoulder had to be excruciating. He wasn't complaining, he just kept cursing, struggling and threatening to kill her as soon as he was free.
After a few seconds of this, she wrenched hard on his arm, shouted in his ear, "Shut up or I'll leave you with an arm that won't work at all." She gave it a wrench that finally made him cry out in pain to emphasize her point. "You get loose and I'll have to kill you before you get up because you are too big for me to fight. Now lie quietly before I have to do permanent damage." He tried to grab at her once more with his free hand but Annie wrenched hard one more time hearing some crunching noises in his shoulder. Finally he stopped struggling and began sobbing and swearing quietly, perfectly filthy language, but he was no longer struggling.
"Who are you and how did you find us?" Annie snarled at him. When he didn't immediately answer, she once again applied pressure to his shoulder. "Answer me!"
"On a news broadcast early this morning. I only heard it once, but once was enough. No name was given just the block and street name. Bits of crime scene tape led me to this house," the man said between intakes of air.
Austin arrived with some big black zip ties. Annie said, "I'm going to have my brother-in-law here help me zip tie your hands behind you and to your belt; then you will lay right where you are till the police get here. If you struggle, you will go to the hospital. Got it?"
The man nodded.
Austin grabbed the intruder's free arm and, with some difficulty, was able to get in position to put the zip ties on like handcuffs without Annie releasing her grip. Then Annie used one to hook his wrists to his belt so he couldn't slip his feet through and get his hands in front of him; not that it looked like he was agile enough to do that.
That done, Annie stood up slowly, stepped over the fallen man to look out the gate, saw no one else but left the gate open so the police would be able to find them. Satisfied the area was clear and secure, she moved to a position where she could watch the man but he couldn't see her. She began to tune in the conversations going on behind her. Out of the corner of her eye Annie saw Auggie trying to make his way toward her. "Megan, go help your Uncle Auggie over here, please."
Megan didn't take her eyes from her aunt. Annie noticed Austin slip away toward his brother. A few moments later Auggie was at her side. He reached out to locate her. "Annie, please tell me straight, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
With the morning's tiff still fresh in her mind, and even though she was still slightly angry with him for his snarky comment from that morning, Annie said, "Auggie, I don't think so. But until the adrenaline works out of me, I won't know for sure. He didn't hit me but it took all the strength I had to get him over me to the ground in that interception move you taught me a year or so ago. It worked great. He's all of two-hundred-and-eighty pounds and a good six feet tall with arms like hams but he never landed a punch."
Alfred came up behind Auggie and said, "Auggie, he launched a huge punch at my face but somehow Annie got between me and him, deflected it, pushed me out of her way, and turned it into a takedown. It was like magic or something. Annie this was apparently nothing compared to what you did last night, but I saw this. Or I think I did, and it was pretty awesome to me."
"Oh my God, to me too," said Megan with Alexis hanging onto her arm staring at Annie in wide-eyed wonder – like the girls were looking at some kind of rock star.
Annie said, "Girls, we will talk about this later, I promise, but for the moment, please move back. Everybody, let's keep a bit of a clear area around this guy. I'm going to have him stay right where he is and I'm going to stand here behind him where he can't see me to keep him there. Trust me on this; he won't succeed in getting up if he even tries."
Alfred and Abigail moved back a couple of steps and Abigail said, "I called 911 … again. They seemed to know the address by heart. I may have to put them on my Christmas list. In any event, I hear a siren that is getting louder so I think they got the message."
Alan, who had been sitting on the far side of the yard resting his foot when the event happened and once again had an almost unobstructed view of Annie's counter attack, had hobbled up onto the deck where Adam and Olivia were sitting. When he got situated on there he called to Auggie, "Hey, bro, got a beer for a Marine?"
Auggie said to Annie, "You got this." It was a statement.
She said, "Yup. No problem. I'll just stay right here till those policemen come and take him away. Hopefully, since he isn't injured enough to require hospitalization – at least I don't think so – the statements will go very quickly. Compared to last night, this is a bump in the night."
Auggie let Austin guide him toward the deck.
The sirens stopped out front. Anthony went to meet the officers from the patrol car and brought them to the back yard. An older officer, who seemed to be in charge, after surveying the man on the ground, asked, "Which of you guys took him down?"
Alfred said quietly, "None of us guys. She did." He pointed at Annie. "She stopped him from hitting me, put him on the ground and controlled him till we could get zip ties to hold his hands. He has been lying there swearing and sobbing now and then since."
"Let me start from the beginning, what happened? You first young lady," the officer said looking at Annie.
Annie said, "I thought I heard a shout near the front of the house but there was a lot of conversation going on at the party back here. Then that gate opened and this guy came in shouting something about which one of us killed his son, threatening to kill whoever had, and he took a punch at my father-in-law, Fred Anderson."
"You don't look like you got punched," the officer said looking hard at Alfred.
"I didn't. She slid in between the two of us, did something really quick and ninja like, pushed me out of the way, and next thing I knew he was on the ground and she had him in some sort of hold that kept him there. He didn't want to be there, but he had zero choice."
The officer looked at Annie and was just about to say something when another voice boomed through the gate saying, "You do your Jason Bourne act again Ms. Anderson?" Annie's head snapped around to see Sergeant Jamison coming in to the yard.
The officer who had been questioning Annie looked at him and said, "You know these people Sarge?"
Jamison replied, "Yes, this is the house you heard about in the shift briefing where the three home invaders were … stopped. I was among the first responders to that one, too."
The officer's head snapped around, he looked at Annie wide-eyed and said, "Ohmygosh! You are her."
Sergeant Jamison said, "Yes, that's her. You should know there is a federal court gag order so I'm not going to tell you her name and you don't need to ask."
The officer stuttered and said, "Bu- bu- but, she's just a little squirt."
Jamison said, "Stop right there. We'll continue this conversation in about twenty years."
Then he turned to the man on the ground and said to the first officer and another who was just coming in the gate, "Okay. Let's get him on his feet and properly cuffed. Try not to let him escape. I'll book him on assault for now. Ms. Anderson, did he hurt you? Or anybody else here?"
"No sergeant, he never laid a finger on me. He seems to have been by himself so I just contained him till we could tie him up. I had to wrench a bit on his left shoulder and had him in a semi-choke hold so the shoulder and his throat may be a bit sore and bruised, but there shouldn't be any permanent injury. Can I bring my brother-in-law Anthony and father-in-law Fred with me to the side yard and give you a quick statement so we can get back to family fun and BBQ? I really don't want this to mess up this evening too. "
"I think that is exactly what we should do. You didn't even get worked up this time?"
"No, this was a piece of cake."
"Aunt Annie," Alexis said touching Annie on the arm. "I've got something that might help."
"What's that Alexis?" Annie asked softly.
"I was playing with the video recorder app on my phone. I don't think I have all the video of what he did, but I'm pretty sure I got the audio of it from the time he came through the gate and then video of you holding him down."
"You do?" Sergeant Jamison asked, taking a step toward the teenaged girl. "I've got a recorder in the patrol car. I'll let you play it so I can catch the audio of what happened and then I'll jot down an e-mail address where you can send the video. Sometimes we don't like people making videos, but I think this time it's a good thing. You okay with doing that?"
"Yeah. Sure," Alexis said brightly.
"Would you play it for me now?"
Alexis poked at her phone for a few seconds and held it up so he could see. The picture jumped around, but the guys voice came through. Out of what appeared to be pure happenstance Alexis had caught Annie's interception of the punch, the man hitting the ground face first, Annie landing her chest on his back scooping him into the hold to keep him there. When Austin had gotten the zip ties on him and Annie got up, the video ended.
When it was over, Jamison turned to Annie and said, "I couldn't do it last night, but I'd sure like to give you a high five now. That was awesome."
Annie grinned and they got it right with a good "WHACK" the first time. And then a bit of reality overcame Annie – she wasn't sure it was a good thing to have Alexis's video floating around.
Then the sergeant got back on task getting the statements, while Annie thought about how to get the video away from Alexis. And learning why she was even videoing her in the first place.
The statements went quickly as Annie concisely and accurately related for Jamison's recorder what happened while Anthony listened in. The sergeant then had Alexis play the video for him as he recorded it. After the video had been played again for the sergeant's recorder, Annie cautioned, "You know that this video falls under that federal gag order, don't you? Neither of you can share it with anyone, even if my name isn't used."
Sergeant Jamison nodded. "I'm fully aware of that. A copy of the federal order will be on the file that contains the video – if you allow it to be e-mailed to me – and as soon as it's not needed for anything it will mysteriously be lost. Erased. Deleted."
"Thanks," Annie replied. "It would not be good for either my husband or I if that got posted on YouTube or somewhere like that." Annie turned to Alexis and quietly asked gently, "Alexis, why were you videoing me?"
Alexis first looked alarmed and then shyly responded, "I started when you came out on the deck a bit ago. You move so gracefully that I wanted to video you so I could study the way you moved so that I could learn how to move like you do. I only wanted to study it; I never intended to share it with anyone."
"Okay. When we get a chance, I want to see you send it to the address that the sergeant gave you and then I have to insist on you deleting it off your phone. Even though I trust you not to share it, just knowing that someone might be alble to get ahold of your phone and look at it makes me very uncomfortable. I'm sorry Lexi, but I have to insist that you do that."
Alexis looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet slightly. "I'm sorry, Aunt Annie. I do it right now and not even send it to the officer if that's what you want."
Annie thought for a few moments and then said, "The officer is an adult and has a lot to lose if the federal gag order isn't obeyed. I think I'm okay with sending it on to him, but once it's sent I need it to be gone. Okay?"
Alexis poked at her phone again a few times, then keyed furiously on the keypad while looking at the card in her other hand. She handed her iPhone over to Annie. "Check to make sure that I've input the e-mail address correctly. I don't want to accidentally send it to the wrong place."
Annie carefully studied the card and then the iPhone screen. Everything looked the same. Sergeant Jamison took the phone from her.
"That's the correct address, Miss Alexis," Sergeant Jamison said and handed the phone back to the teenager.
Once again Alexis touched her phone's screen. The phone made a whooshing sound followed by a slight beep. "It's sent. Now I'll delete it Aunt Annie." The teenaged girl moved so that her aunt could see what she was doing on the phone. She touched the screen a few more times and then said, "I've deleted it."
After gently wrapping her arms around her niece, Annie said, "Thank you, Lexi. I know that was hard for you to do. But, you do understand that I wouldn't ask you to do that if it wasn't so important?"
"Yeah," Alexis said and nodded against her aunt's arm.
While Sergeant Jamison was taking the statements and the other things, the other officers Mirandized the party crasher and placed him in the patrol car. The first, older officer, came back with the guy's name and rap sheet and conveyed that to Sergeant Jamison.
Annie asked, "May I see that."
Sergeant Jamison hesitated and then said, "Sure, why not," and handed it to her. He said, "I can print another one, you keep that one."
Annie said, "Thanks Sergeant. I'd like to understand this guy that raised a son who wanted to kill people for an evening's entertainment."
When they were done Sergeant Jamison said, "Thanks to all of you. You made this easy. He's the father of one of the three boys, the first one through the door. He had a really bad night at the hospital and the boy died early this morning. Doesn't excuse what he did here, or what his son attempted to do last night. But it puts his actions today in context a little bit. He should be grateful you didn't put him in the hospital. He has a reputation as a bar room brawler that handles himself pretty well."
"I heard that the first boy through the door died this morning," Annie said softly. "I'm sorry about that. But, you're right it doesn't make what he did just now okay."
"How do you know that?" Sergeant Jamison asked in surprise. "You mean you knew before this guy came shouting you'd killed his son?"
Annie nodded, "I didn't know he was the kid's father. But, yeah. I'd been informed of that earlier today. How that information came to be known by me is need to know, and no one here needs to know." Annie looked sternly at each person around her and then continued, "This guy wasn't a lethal threat – at least not to me – I just did what I had to do to stop the attack on my father-in-law."
"You did him a favor not breaking his neck. Okay folks, we're out of here. Enjoy your barbeque." He tipped his cap toward Annie before he headed off down the drive to his waiting patrol car.
As they walked back, Alfred and Alexis went on ahead and Anthony stopped so that Annie stopped. He said, "I owe you my deepest heartfelt thanks, again, Annie. That guy would have hurt Dad badly if he'd landed that punch. Dad doesn't heal that fast any more, it would have been a serious blow to his life to have been beaten by that guy. "
"I wouldn't let that happen, Tony," Annie said quietly.
"I know. I was mean to Auggie when he was growing up, and I deeply regret it now. I am trying to earn his trust, have been for several years now. We're doing better. But I want you to know, I've got your back, both yours and his."
"I know you do," Annie said with a movement to head on back to the party. She needed to stop him if this went where she thought it was going.
"May I see that paper?" He quickly scanned it. "That guy has sometimes had to have three policeman to take him down in a bar. You are way too good, way too skilled, to be an amateur. I watched you take down that big guy – a big guy with a documented reputation as a bad ass bar room brawler – like having a sip of tea. No muss, no fuss, big guy on ground, and pass the large zip ties if you please. I may not get this right, and you don't have to react to- "
Annie quickly stepped close enough to put a finger to Anthony's lips, stopping his monolog in its tracks with her expression; she looked him right in the eyes, slowly shook her head and interjected still quietly but with some sadness in her voice, "Anthony, please don't." She could see him processing.
He looked at her for a long moment and said, "Okay, you have earned my respect. I'll honor your request."
Annie said, "Thank you," stepped back and then said, "You should be proud of your brother Tony. He taught me that move, and many, many, more. We were sparring partners for over two years before we were romantically involved, and we have been continuously ever since. A sparring session with your brother is like being in a train wreck. He's not a master in the conventional sense of fighting to win belts, performing Kata's with perfect form, though he has the belts. He's a master of surviving fights to the death. He's taught me all he knows, every way he knows, to end a fight with the first blow, no later than the second, and we continue to practice several times a week." She stepped back hoping he got the message. "Even though he is content in his life and work, there is a part of your brother that longs to be useful in sharing his skills. For a variety of reasons, I'm the only one he has to share them with."
"I'm not surprised. We brothers all know that if he gets his hands on us, he can take us; has been able to since he took up wrestling in high school. He became more able when he joined the military before Iraq, but I doubt that his being blind now has changed that." He paused, looked right at her and added, "Annie, I get it. I won't bring it up again. Look, you guys need anything, you call me, and I'll be there."
Annie looked at him for a few seconds then said, "I know that. Thank you. Now, let's get back in there, I'm starving," turned and preceded him back to the gate.
Next we rejoin the party. Will Annie have trouble explaining herself now that everyone has seen her in action?