CHAPTER 12
"I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"
Bryan Cranston as Walter White. Breaking Bad
Smithtown, Long Island
Finding the location the hoods were supposed to go to was easy; the address was on the phone of the man he killed on the L.I.E. Ditching his bullet riddled car, salvaging whatever weapons he could, and stealing another car while eluding the police was a bit more difficult. After the chase, Castle dumped the damaged Mustang in an abandoned field near the Sagtikos Parkway. He knew the cops would be looking for it and it would only be a matter of time before they would discover the driver was the Punisher. There wasn't any time to retrieve all the weapons and gear from the car, so he grabbed a phone scanner, a bionic ear, a pair of multifunctional binoculars, some flex cuffs and a HK UMP-45. He still had his twin .45 pistols, a flash-bang grenade and a small Gerber folding knife; he would replenish his weapons once he was back in Brooklyn.
Police were still converging towards the carnage on the expressway, so Castle had to walk a couple of miles until he stole a 2003 Audi Quattro from the back parking lot of a nearby Costco in Commack. After taking side streets and back roads to avoid the police, he came upon his destination. The two story structure was set back away from other homes and businesses nearby and was not well maintained. A quick Google search of the property showed that it had once been a motel in the 90s called the Palm Crescent until the owner was arrested for drug related issues. Since then, the 10 room, two story establishment was a known hangout for the Satan's Outlaws run by one Walter Leonard. After leaving the Audi a few blocks over, he hid himself in the woods 200 yards away and used the bionic ear to locate the gang members. There were a four Harley Davidson's motorcycles and a late model GMC truck. From the amount of vehicles in the lot, Castle guessed there were between 5 to 10 people there. From the safety of the woods, Castle brought up the field glasses and tried to figure out where they were located. Eventually noticing a window that wasn't boarded up, he brought the listening device to use. The bionic ear was able to pick up at least 6 or 7 different voices, all male
Reconnaissance and intelligence gathering was always a critical part of his war on crime. It required patience and being ready to move at a moment's notice. One of the biggest misconceptions about the Punisher is that people think he just runs in guns blazing like some hopped up comic book character. In reality, he relies on the Seven Ps: "Prior Planning and Preparation Prevent Piss Poor Performance." Even though this was rushed, patience and timing were everything. An hour and fifteen minutes later, Castle hit paydirt. A thin man with long brown hair and a bushy beard made a phone call while looking out the window.
"Yeah, I wanna place an order…delivery…I said delivery not pick up! I've called you before. That's right, the Palm Crescent. I want a #6, a #4, a small thing of lo mein… yes, lo mein, not chow mein. Make sure it's not so watered down this time. Two things of wanton soup, spare ribs and white rice… I said white not brown! Yes, white! How much? Fine. 20 minutes… yeah. Room 2H. The name? Leonard. Walter Leonard. Bye." The phone clicked off. "Stupid bitch. Can't she just learn how to speak English?"
Now the Punisher knew that Leonard was there and what he looked like. He already had a plan to get Leonard and deal with the rest of the thugs. Now he just had to get into position and wait until the delivery man arrived with the food.
ELIOT AU PULLED UP TO THE MOTEL 30 MINUTES LATER WITH THE FOOD. He hated dealing with these biker thugs. They always smelled like shit and never tipped well. He didn't care that he was ten minutes late, he just had to deliver the food and then he was done for the day. After locking his 1985 Honda Accord, he made his way up the stairs with the food bag in hand. He was eight doors away from the room when suddenly a door swung open and a large gloved hand clamped over his mouth. The hand prevented him from calling out and also pulled him back into a broom closet. He soon forgot about calling for help once he came face to face with a large, intense looking man with a large, intense looking weapon pointed right at his chest.
"Shhhhh," Castle growled. "What's in the bag?"
"It's, uh, Chinese food for a guy named Leonard," Eliot stammered while shaking with fear. "Room 2H. Please, man, don't kill me!"
"Then shut up or I will," Castle lied but didn't show it. He then secured Elliot's hands to a pipe with the flex cuffs. He even took his cellphone, just to play it safe. "Be quiet. When I'm done with them, I'll let you out."
Castle closed the door to the supply closet and jammed it shut with a small piece of metal between the door and the frame. The food bag was inside the closet with the delivery boy. As he neared his destination, he took several slow deep breaths, calming himself for what was coming next. With the UMP at the ready, he knocked on the door to room 2H and placed his thumb against the peephole.
THE RAPPING AT THE DOOR LET THEM KNOW THE FOOD WAS HERE. Leonard looked up from his card game with four other Outlaws. Two more were on the couch watching a movie on HBO. The beds were propped up against the wall. The room wasn't set up for sleeping. The bikers were waiting for word to come down from their boss as to what was the next move. With what happened at the hospital, no one was taking any chances at all. A few of them had guns.
"Delivery," said the muffled voice behind the door.
"Jerry," Leonard said to one of the guys watching TV, "get the food, will ya?" Jerry let out a sigh as he got up and went to the door with the money.
"You got the order right this time," Jerry asked the man behind the door.
"Yes."
"Well, let me have it!" Jerry opened the door and immediately saw just how deep he was in. "Oh, sh-"
Jerry didn't have time to complete his observation of the situation before the Punisher put a 230 grain .45 caliber round right through his forehead. Castle slammed into the room and brought the UMP-45 to bear. The initial shock of his entrance was slow to wear off as Castle fired off a series of quick bursts from the PDW. Four of the thugs at the table went down with ease after getting hollow point barrages to their faces and chests. Two of them had gotten to their feet and tried to go for the pistols tucked into their waistbands but didn't make it. Another two died in their seats; one slumped head down on the table. The last one tried to use a drum fed shotgun but was stitched from neck to groin with the remaining heavy duty rounds from the UMP. The whole event took less than eight seconds, from the moment the first shot was fired to the last. The only ones left alive in the motel room were the Punisher and Walter Leonard, who was seated between the two riddled corpses.
"Don't even move a muscle," Castle growled as he quickly reloaded and transitioned to his sidearm. Leonard could only sit and stare, frozen in fear as he watched the Punisher walk towards him with a cold gaze of contempt. "You and I are going to have a little talk."
Leonard knew he only had one chance to grab the pistol in front of him. He just had to buy some time. "What's going on? What do you want?"
"Answers. Starting with why your buddies shot up a whole neighborhood, including a hospital, in Brooklyn?"
Leonard kept edging closer to the gun. "If I were you, I'd get the fuck out of here before they show up," he said with a confident grin. Suddenly, a cell phone dropped right in front of him. The screen showed the text Leonard had sent to Joe Souzza earlier in the day. Castle looked at him the same way one would look at a bug on the sidewalk.
"Joe and his friends aren't coming to help you," Castle said. "They're currently being scraped off the L.I.E.; the others are probably also dead or in police custody. Once again: why the shootout in Brooklyn?"
Leonard stared at the phone stupefied with rage. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD," he yelled as he lunged for the handgun in front of him. Suddenly, Leonard's wrist was pinned to the table by Castle's vice like grip. Before he knew what happened, Castle slammed the Gerber knife right through his hand, impaling it to the table. Leonard's scream of pain was cut short when Castle's gloved hand clamped over his mouth. He didn't know what was more painful; his right hand nailed to the table, or the look of hatred in Castle's eyes.
"Are you going to keep being an idiot," Castle growled, "Or do I have to go to work on the left hand?" Castle made his point by shaking the knife in Leonard's hand.
"OK! OK! STOP," Leonard squealed. "I'll talk. Please, no more." Tears streaked down his face, the smell of urine was prevalent.
"Once again. Why did members of Satan's Outlaws shoot up a hospital?"
"We were following orders! We were told by our boss, Rick Dunkirk to hit the place and kill some bitch named Maria."
"Why? Does it have something to with the Park Predator," Castle asked.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Leonard said as he tried to play dumb. Unfortunately for him, the Punisher wasn't buying his bullshit. Castle then slammed his face on the table, busting his nose and loosening some teeth.
"You think I'm some dumb punk, asshole," Castle growled. "It's been all over the news and even on YouTube. A member of the Satan's Outlaws, your gang, said that the Park Predator is part or your organization. Now cut the bullshit."
"Fuck off, you psycho," Leonard wailed. "By now they're in hiding. You'll never find them and I ain't saying a goddamn thing!" For a moment, Walter Leonard felt like he was in control. Like he was invincible. As long as he was able to hold out, he could keep the Punisher from killing any more of his friends.
And then his cellphone started vibrating, ruining his moment of bravado. Castle snatched it from Leonard's vest pocket, flipped it open and read the incoming text: "LEN GET THE BOYS TO LAB IN UNION. COPS ALL OVER US. LOCKDOWN! HERES ADDRESS." The location was out near Newark International.
A rare grin was now on Castle's face. "Thanks for your help, Len. I'm sure the police will be here soon," he said as he pried the knife from the table, freeing his captive. He then placed a calling card with a skull on it in Leonard's vest pocket. he yelped in both pain and surprise as he watched him walk over to Louie's body and retrieve the DAO-12 drum fed shotgun. He even took some of the money lying on the card table. All of a sudden, Leonard couldn't help himself as he watched Castle head for the door and heard sirens in the distance.
"You're crazy, you know that? There's going to be around 30 to 40 guys there, armed to the fuckin teeth! You must have a death wish or something! Man, you are fucking dead, asshole. I know all about you! You're dead, man. You go there, we're gonna blast you down to nothing! You're gonna be as dead as your cunt wife and your shit ki-"
Castle stopped before reaching the door. Walter Leonard watched as the vigilante slowly turn around and stare at him with a look of pure, unbridled hatred in his eye; ice blue eyes that seemed to bore into his soul. He stood there perplexed, until he realized the apocalyptically catastrophic error of his rant. For some reason, right before it happened, he remembered the lyrics to a Jim Croce song:
You don't tug on Superman's Cape.
You don't spit into the wind.
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger.
And you don't mess around with Jim.
At that moment, Walter Leonard realized that you DO NOT, under any circumstances, piss off the Punisher by insulting the memory of his family. A lesson he was about to learn as Frank Castle aimed the submachine gun and the shotgun, both fully loaded, directly at him.
PATROLMEN DARYL MARKHAM AND LOUIS REDDING arrived on the scene. "Dispatch, this is unit 247," Markham said into his radio. "We've arrived at location, responding to the 10-10S (possible shots fired) at the Palm Crescent Motel. Stand by for further updates." Just as the dispatch officer confirmed with the officer, a series of rapid fire thumps and booms emanated from the room above them. Without warning, the bullet riddled body of Walter Leonard smashed through the window, onto the roof of the squad car.
"Holy shit," officer Redding blurted out as he drew his service weapon. "Call it in!"
"Dispatch, this is 247. 10-13! 10-13! Officers need immediate assistance our location. Shots fired with unknown number of casualties, request back up and EMTs! Now!"
AS THE POLICE OFFICERS WERE DEALING WITH THE DEAD MAN ON THEIR CAR, Castle was already retrieving the delivery boy and his food from the service closet. He had ducked into a nearby vacant room before the cops made it to the second floor. The kid was scared out of his mind, thinking he was going to die. Instead, Castle took the food from him, and gave the delivery boy a thick wad of 20s, 50s, and 100s. "That's for the food and to compensate you for your troubles. Take the rest of the day off," Castle said as a strange way of apology. He then turned and left out the window, avoiding the arriving police.
Elliot Au stood there confused about everything happening. He marveled at the cash that man gave him. As he put the money in his pockets, he suddenly realized who the big man was. He just had a close encounter with the Punisher!
CASTLE HAD MADE IT BACK TO THE AUDI by the time more police showed up to the motel. Now he knew where the rest of them were hiding out, and soon he would have the Park Predator in his sights. He got back onto the L.I.E. and made his way to Brooklyn. He had to resupply before heading to New Jersey.