Sons of Thunder
Hits and Misses
by Kat Caine
Trent Malloy stepped off the old battered bus and into the heat of the Texas sun. He brought his cuffed hands up to shield his eyes as he looked up at the penitentiary. It's solid stone walls stood out from the gold of sun and sand.
A shove sent him forward and he barely managed to catch himself.
"Move it or lose it, Buddy!" Trent half turned to see Carlos Sandoval
glaring menacingly at him. Trent shot him an angry look and moved forward.
He was stopped by a guard who checked him for weapons. Finding nothing, he
sent him into the building where another guard led him to Cell Block C. The
guard uncuffed him and shoved him into cell number 12. The door slammed shut
behind him.
"Nice place," he mumbled sarcasticly. The guard sneered and walked away. Trent sat down on one of the bottom bunks of a bunk bed and surveyed
his surroundings.
Another bunk bed was on the west wall and a small toilet and sink
stood in one corner. Trent grimaced slightly at the thought of using it. He heard a click and the same guard shoved another prisoner into the cell. It was Carlos.
"Meet your cellmate, Malloy," the guard said coldly. "Play nice!"
Laughing evily, the gaurd left. They glared at each other until the guard was out of earshot, then they smiled in relief. Carlos sat down next to Trent.
"That was tougher than I thought it would be, but I had fun," Trent
told him, then said, "By the way, nice shove." Carlos laughed and draped his
arm over his friend's shoulders.
"Thanks, but we still have penitentiary life to get through in the next couple of days. What we just did was CHILD'S play compared to what we have to do next." Trent's smile slowly disappeared.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
"All right, newcomers. I will be your cell block warden for as long
as you are here, so obey me, respect me, and we won't have any problems, you
got that?" There were catcalls, whistles and a few boos as the warden,
Dani Byers, finished her little speech. The woman was small, but intimidating and Carlos could tell that this particular woman packed a punch.
He took his gaze away and looked for Trent. He soon spotted him next
to a few large, muscular men. He seemed to be doing okay for his first time
undercover in prison. Carlos had no doubt that his martial arts trained
friend could take care of himself.
"Sexy things come in small packages," a husky voice behind him said.
Carlos turned to see a tall black man staring hungrily at the warden. He
grimaced slightly. He hated men who did or THOUGHT those things about women,
BUT he had too fit in. He gagged inwardly at the thought of what he had to do.
"Yeah," he said and then reached out his hand to him. "Carlos
Sandoval." The black man took his hand and shook it.
"Garret Murphy," he said and then asked, "What are you in for?" Carlos shrugged.
"This and that. You name it, I've done it. You?"
"Three counts of rape, two counts of assault and battery, and first degree murder." Carlos shuddered slightly. His hunch had been right.
"Sandoval!" Carlos turned to the warden. "Come with me." Carlos
followed the warden to another room where a phone lay on a single table in the room. "Phone call. You've got ten minutes." The warden left, leaving Carlos alone, but he knew she was just outside the door.
"Sandoval," he said. A familiar voice answered him.
"Hello Carlos." He smiled.
"Hey Walker." He sat down in the chair next to the table as Texas
Ranger, Cordell Walker, spoke.
"Just called to see how you two are holding up," Walker said with a
little something else in his voice that Carlos identified immediately.
"And to remind me to keep an eye on Trent," Carlos finished for him.
"Don't worry, Walker, Trent will be fine. After all," Carlos
continued, "He learned from the best." He heard Walker laugh on the other end of the phone. Walker taught martial arts to Trent and he was Trent's mentor and one of his closest friends.
"I can see he's in good hands," Walker said just as the warden came
in and held up one finger. He understood.
"My warden just walked in," was all Carlos said and Walker immediately
said his good-byes. Carlos hung up.
"Cutting it close, Sandoval," she said. Carlos smiled smugly.
"What I do best," he said and walked out of the room, Warden Byers
scowling, close behind.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
One of the men turned from talking to Trent to watch Carlos leave.
He knew these men from somewhere, but he couldn't put faces to the names.
All he knew was that it was vitally important to his health.
That night.....
"What a day," Trent said as he plopped down on the top bunk of one of
the bunk beds. He was exhausted. Carlos was fixing the top bunk on the other
bed. He pulled himself up, dangled his legs over and looked over at Trent.
Trent noticed his look and said, "Yes, I know. We have some more days here,
but I have a plan on how we can speed it up a bit." Carlos leaped down from
his bed and leaned up against Trent's bed as he listened.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
Trent squinted into the sun as he worked outside. Carlos was a few
yards away from him. He sauntered over.
"Hey, Sandoval. You're in the way!" Carlos leaned on his shovel.
"Why don't you move you ass and go around?" he snapped back. Trent
shoved him away, then tried to walk ahead. Carlos reached his hand back and
punched him in the face. Trent staggered back and then swung his leg into a
kick that landed in Carlos stomach. Carlos keeled over but recovered quickly
and lunged at Trent. They went at it, kicking, punching, and blocking until
two security guards and the warden broke them apart. They glared threatening
at each other as both were dragged to the warden's office.
They were held apart as the warden stood in front of them, glaring holes into their skulls.
"What the hell do you think you two are up to?" she asked. Neither said a word. She picked up some papers that were lying on her desk and handed them to Trent and Carlos.
"I did some checking up on you two. You're not here as prisoners. You're here as undercover private eyes! Like I didn't have enough trouble!" Trent and Carlos looked at each other.
"We were sent here by Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker," Trent told her and raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of him, haven't you?" Byers narrowed her eyes.
"I've heard of him, but let me make one thing clear. Stay out of my way, or your cover will be blown," she said and smiled crookedly. "I don't need to remind you what prisoners think of undercover cops or PIs."
**************** **************** **************** ****************
There was a quiet buzz of noise as five men sat in one cell. A man stood in the shadows and he raised his hand. There was immediate silence.
"I have two people in mind to add to our little crusade. Sandoval and Malloy," he said and the noise started again. "Are their any objections?" One man raised his hand.
"This Carlos guy. He's a cop! And his buddy Malloy is a PI!" Murphy's eyes narrowed.
"And how would you know this?" he asked.
"He and Malloy were the ones who got me arrested me a few years back. They're the guys who sent me to jail!"
"Well then we'll just have to take care of that now won't we?"
**************** **************** **************** ****************
"Lunch time!" a guard shouted and immediately, all the cells opened. Guards took their places as the prisoners came out and stood in line. They were led to a cafeteria where the only thing worse than the smell, was the food.
Carlos and Trent took their trays and sat down next to a medium sized, bearded man.
"Hey, I know you!" Carlos said, a grin coming on to his face. The man looked up from his book. He didn't have a tray of food. "You're the guy whose family blew up half of L.A." Carlos paused for a second, thinking. "Carter Sweeney." Sweeney looked at him calmy.
"You get an A plus," he said, going back to his book.
"It was all over national news." Sweeney didn't answer and Carlos went back to talking to Trent. Murphy and Greg Townsend, a man in for armed robbery, walked up behind them.
"Malloy," Murphy said. "We need to talk." Trent glanced at Carlos and shrugged. He got up and started walking after him. He didn't see Murphy signal to a man near the door.
As they walked out, the man made his way towards Carlos. Carlos stood to leave and as he left, the man followed. He followed Carlos to a door, where the warden let him in. Carlos came out a few minutes later and headed for his cell.
He was almost there when he felt himself being grabbed from behind. Before he could call out he was punched in the stomach. He fell to his knees and then felt an elbow slam him into his back. He sprawled onto the floor and was pulled roughly back to his feet. He felt something hit his face a couple times, too out of it to realize it. Then he felt something slam into the back of his head and he found himself falling. He felt the blackness swirl around him before it overtook him completely.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
Trent sat in the center of a group of five. He glanced around, hoping they didn't see his nervousness. He looked back at Murphy, not liking the look in his eyes.
"Why am I here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, and keeping his voice calm and demanding. Murphy smiled.
"Don't look so worried, Malloy. We just wanted to ask you a simple question."
"And that would be?" Murphy brought his face up close. So close, Trent could see the cigarette stains on his teeth.
"Would you like to die quickly? Or would you rather die a slow, agonizing death?" Trent jumped up but was forced back down, by hands digging into his shoulders. He knew nothing would come of panicking so he forced himself to relax. Murphy laughed.
"How about slow and agonizing?" Trent said, trying to buy himself some time to think of a plan. Murphy grinned and stood up straight.
"Well, what do you know? That's what I was thinking." Murphy brought his hand up and backhanded Trent. His head snapped and a trickle of blood appeared on his chek where Murphy's ring had hit him.
"Is that the best you can do?" Trent asked. "Because if it is, it wasn't worth the effort."
Murphy sneered and his fist connected with Trent's abdomen. He let out an involuntary grunt of pain, the air rushing out of him. He tried to get away but his arms were pinned brutally behind him and someone had a hold of his legs. He couldn't move.
"You haven't felt nothin' yet, smart ass." He couldn't do anything as Murphy hit Trent a couple more times, taking turns between his face and stomach. But Trent was still conscious. He wearily smiled up at Murphy.
"You can't win. It will take more than strong fists to stop me." Murphy smiled wickedly and reached inside his pocket.
"THAT is why I brought insurance," he said and brought out a knife. Trent tried not to look at the flashing blade.
Murphy brought down the knife on Trent's upper right arm. Slowly and deliberately, he pressed down and cut a semi-shallow gash down his arm to almost his elbow. Trent tried to ignore the pain and nearly lost consciousness.
"Freeze! All of you step away from Malloy! Raise your hands up high. Murphy." Still smiling, Murphy raised his hands above his head. Six law enforcement agents stepped in, quickly handcuffing Murphy and his men and escorting them away. Trent clutched the wound on his arm to try and stop the bleeding.
Carlos came in, followd by a doctor, who began cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Carlos's own head was also brandishing a bandage.
"It's over." Carlos said, sitting heavily in the chair beside Trent.
"Now life can return to normal."
"Our life. Normal," Carlos said, chuckling. "I never thought of our life as normal."
"You know what, Carlos?" Trent said, running a strong hand through his hair.
"What?"
"You're probably right."
BACK AT THUNDER INVESTIGATIONS
THE NEXT DAY....
"All right, guys," Kim Sutter, Trent and Carlos's office managed said, "You're back." That's when she noticed the bandages on their faces. "What happened?" Trent sank into another chair and Carlos leaned against the wall.
"Nothin' much. A few guys decided to use our heads as punching bags but other than that," Carlos said, touching his bandage and wincing. "We're fine." Kim looked at them skeptically.
"Yeah, sure." Trent gave her a quizzical look.
"Were you worried about us, Kim?" Kim bit her lip and forced a laugh.
"Me? Worried about you guys? Bah," she said, avoiding his eyes. Trent and Carlos chuckled slightly as they glaced at each other. Carlos checked his watch.
"Wish I could stay and chat but I promised Heather I'd take her out the first free night I had." Carlos practically raced toward the door.
"Who's going to write up the report?" Trent protested, starting to get up and grimaced when he put weight on his right arm. Carlos was already out the door. Trent sank back down, favoring his arm. Kim was at his side in an instant.
"You alright?" she asked, searching his face and reaching for his jacket.
"It's nothing..." Trent started but Kim had already taken off his jacket and had seen the large bandage wrapped from his arm pit to his elbow.
"Nothin' huh?" she said. Trent gave her a lopsided smile and she stepped behind him and began to rub his shoulders. Trent sighed, starting to relax.
"Thank you," he said, closing his eyes. She smiled as she rubbed her fingers into his shoulders and neck, kneadind out all the knots. Trent sighed, starting to relax.
There was a knock on the door. He got up to answer it before Kim could move.
The door swung open and as fast as lighting, a leg kicked out and its foot landed smack dab in the middle of Trent's chest. The kick through him off balance and he flew against the wall, his head slamming against it, knocking him unconscious.
"Trent!" Kim shouted but was unable to get anymore words out as a large, dark man came in, blocking her view of Trent. She backed up, but in a flash he had grabbed her arm and clamped a piece of cloth over her mouth and nose. Her head swam and she slowly slipped into darkness.
TO BE CONTINUED....
Hits and Misses
by Kat Caine
Trent Malloy stepped off the old battered bus and into the heat of the Texas sun. He brought his cuffed hands up to shield his eyes as he looked up at the penitentiary. It's solid stone walls stood out from the gold of sun and sand.
A shove sent him forward and he barely managed to catch himself.
"Move it or lose it, Buddy!" Trent half turned to see Carlos Sandoval
glaring menacingly at him. Trent shot him an angry look and moved forward.
He was stopped by a guard who checked him for weapons. Finding nothing, he
sent him into the building where another guard led him to Cell Block C. The
guard uncuffed him and shoved him into cell number 12. The door slammed shut
behind him.
"Nice place," he mumbled sarcasticly. The guard sneered and walked away. Trent sat down on one of the bottom bunks of a bunk bed and surveyed
his surroundings.
Another bunk bed was on the west wall and a small toilet and sink
stood in one corner. Trent grimaced slightly at the thought of using it. He heard a click and the same guard shoved another prisoner into the cell. It was Carlos.
"Meet your cellmate, Malloy," the guard said coldly. "Play nice!"
Laughing evily, the gaurd left. They glared at each other until the guard was out of earshot, then they smiled in relief. Carlos sat down next to Trent.
"That was tougher than I thought it would be, but I had fun," Trent
told him, then said, "By the way, nice shove." Carlos laughed and draped his
arm over his friend's shoulders.
"Thanks, but we still have penitentiary life to get through in the next couple of days. What we just did was CHILD'S play compared to what we have to do next." Trent's smile slowly disappeared.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
"All right, newcomers. I will be your cell block warden for as long
as you are here, so obey me, respect me, and we won't have any problems, you
got that?" There were catcalls, whistles and a few boos as the warden,
Dani Byers, finished her little speech. The woman was small, but intimidating and Carlos could tell that this particular woman packed a punch.
He took his gaze away and looked for Trent. He soon spotted him next
to a few large, muscular men. He seemed to be doing okay for his first time
undercover in prison. Carlos had no doubt that his martial arts trained
friend could take care of himself.
"Sexy things come in small packages," a husky voice behind him said.
Carlos turned to see a tall black man staring hungrily at the warden. He
grimaced slightly. He hated men who did or THOUGHT those things about women,
BUT he had too fit in. He gagged inwardly at the thought of what he had to do.
"Yeah," he said and then reached out his hand to him. "Carlos
Sandoval." The black man took his hand and shook it.
"Garret Murphy," he said and then asked, "What are you in for?" Carlos shrugged.
"This and that. You name it, I've done it. You?"
"Three counts of rape, two counts of assault and battery, and first degree murder." Carlos shuddered slightly. His hunch had been right.
"Sandoval!" Carlos turned to the warden. "Come with me." Carlos
followed the warden to another room where a phone lay on a single table in the room. "Phone call. You've got ten minutes." The warden left, leaving Carlos alone, but he knew she was just outside the door.
"Sandoval," he said. A familiar voice answered him.
"Hello Carlos." He smiled.
"Hey Walker." He sat down in the chair next to the table as Texas
Ranger, Cordell Walker, spoke.
"Just called to see how you two are holding up," Walker said with a
little something else in his voice that Carlos identified immediately.
"And to remind me to keep an eye on Trent," Carlos finished for him.
"Don't worry, Walker, Trent will be fine. After all," Carlos
continued, "He learned from the best." He heard Walker laugh on the other end of the phone. Walker taught martial arts to Trent and he was Trent's mentor and one of his closest friends.
"I can see he's in good hands," Walker said just as the warden came
in and held up one finger. He understood.
"My warden just walked in," was all Carlos said and Walker immediately
said his good-byes. Carlos hung up.
"Cutting it close, Sandoval," she said. Carlos smiled smugly.
"What I do best," he said and walked out of the room, Warden Byers
scowling, close behind.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
One of the men turned from talking to Trent to watch Carlos leave.
He knew these men from somewhere, but he couldn't put faces to the names.
All he knew was that it was vitally important to his health.
That night.....
"What a day," Trent said as he plopped down on the top bunk of one of
the bunk beds. He was exhausted. Carlos was fixing the top bunk on the other
bed. He pulled himself up, dangled his legs over and looked over at Trent.
Trent noticed his look and said, "Yes, I know. We have some more days here,
but I have a plan on how we can speed it up a bit." Carlos leaped down from
his bed and leaned up against Trent's bed as he listened.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
Trent squinted into the sun as he worked outside. Carlos was a few
yards away from him. He sauntered over.
"Hey, Sandoval. You're in the way!" Carlos leaned on his shovel.
"Why don't you move you ass and go around?" he snapped back. Trent
shoved him away, then tried to walk ahead. Carlos reached his hand back and
punched him in the face. Trent staggered back and then swung his leg into a
kick that landed in Carlos stomach. Carlos keeled over but recovered quickly
and lunged at Trent. They went at it, kicking, punching, and blocking until
two security guards and the warden broke them apart. They glared threatening
at each other as both were dragged to the warden's office.
They were held apart as the warden stood in front of them, glaring holes into their skulls.
"What the hell do you think you two are up to?" she asked. Neither said a word. She picked up some papers that were lying on her desk and handed them to Trent and Carlos.
"I did some checking up on you two. You're not here as prisoners. You're here as undercover private eyes! Like I didn't have enough trouble!" Trent and Carlos looked at each other.
"We were sent here by Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker," Trent told her and raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of him, haven't you?" Byers narrowed her eyes.
"I've heard of him, but let me make one thing clear. Stay out of my way, or your cover will be blown," she said and smiled crookedly. "I don't need to remind you what prisoners think of undercover cops or PIs."
**************** **************** **************** ****************
There was a quiet buzz of noise as five men sat in one cell. A man stood in the shadows and he raised his hand. There was immediate silence.
"I have two people in mind to add to our little crusade. Sandoval and Malloy," he said and the noise started again. "Are their any objections?" One man raised his hand.
"This Carlos guy. He's a cop! And his buddy Malloy is a PI!" Murphy's eyes narrowed.
"And how would you know this?" he asked.
"He and Malloy were the ones who got me arrested me a few years back. They're the guys who sent me to jail!"
"Well then we'll just have to take care of that now won't we?"
**************** **************** **************** ****************
"Lunch time!" a guard shouted and immediately, all the cells opened. Guards took their places as the prisoners came out and stood in line. They were led to a cafeteria where the only thing worse than the smell, was the food.
Carlos and Trent took their trays and sat down next to a medium sized, bearded man.
"Hey, I know you!" Carlos said, a grin coming on to his face. The man looked up from his book. He didn't have a tray of food. "You're the guy whose family blew up half of L.A." Carlos paused for a second, thinking. "Carter Sweeney." Sweeney looked at him calmy.
"You get an A plus," he said, going back to his book.
"It was all over national news." Sweeney didn't answer and Carlos went back to talking to Trent. Murphy and Greg Townsend, a man in for armed robbery, walked up behind them.
"Malloy," Murphy said. "We need to talk." Trent glanced at Carlos and shrugged. He got up and started walking after him. He didn't see Murphy signal to a man near the door.
As they walked out, the man made his way towards Carlos. Carlos stood to leave and as he left, the man followed. He followed Carlos to a door, where the warden let him in. Carlos came out a few minutes later and headed for his cell.
He was almost there when he felt himself being grabbed from behind. Before he could call out he was punched in the stomach. He fell to his knees and then felt an elbow slam him into his back. He sprawled onto the floor and was pulled roughly back to his feet. He felt something hit his face a couple times, too out of it to realize it. Then he felt something slam into the back of his head and he found himself falling. He felt the blackness swirl around him before it overtook him completely.
**************** **************** **************** ****************
Trent sat in the center of a group of five. He glanced around, hoping they didn't see his nervousness. He looked back at Murphy, not liking the look in his eyes.
"Why am I here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, and keeping his voice calm and demanding. Murphy smiled.
"Don't look so worried, Malloy. We just wanted to ask you a simple question."
"And that would be?" Murphy brought his face up close. So close, Trent could see the cigarette stains on his teeth.
"Would you like to die quickly? Or would you rather die a slow, agonizing death?" Trent jumped up but was forced back down, by hands digging into his shoulders. He knew nothing would come of panicking so he forced himself to relax. Murphy laughed.
"How about slow and agonizing?" Trent said, trying to buy himself some time to think of a plan. Murphy grinned and stood up straight.
"Well, what do you know? That's what I was thinking." Murphy brought his hand up and backhanded Trent. His head snapped and a trickle of blood appeared on his chek where Murphy's ring had hit him.
"Is that the best you can do?" Trent asked. "Because if it is, it wasn't worth the effort."
Murphy sneered and his fist connected with Trent's abdomen. He let out an involuntary grunt of pain, the air rushing out of him. He tried to get away but his arms were pinned brutally behind him and someone had a hold of his legs. He couldn't move.
"You haven't felt nothin' yet, smart ass." He couldn't do anything as Murphy hit Trent a couple more times, taking turns between his face and stomach. But Trent was still conscious. He wearily smiled up at Murphy.
"You can't win. It will take more than strong fists to stop me." Murphy smiled wickedly and reached inside his pocket.
"THAT is why I brought insurance," he said and brought out a knife. Trent tried not to look at the flashing blade.
Murphy brought down the knife on Trent's upper right arm. Slowly and deliberately, he pressed down and cut a semi-shallow gash down his arm to almost his elbow. Trent tried to ignore the pain and nearly lost consciousness.
"Freeze! All of you step away from Malloy! Raise your hands up high. Murphy." Still smiling, Murphy raised his hands above his head. Six law enforcement agents stepped in, quickly handcuffing Murphy and his men and escorting them away. Trent clutched the wound on his arm to try and stop the bleeding.
Carlos came in, followd by a doctor, who began cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Carlos's own head was also brandishing a bandage.
"It's over." Carlos said, sitting heavily in the chair beside Trent.
"Now life can return to normal."
"Our life. Normal," Carlos said, chuckling. "I never thought of our life as normal."
"You know what, Carlos?" Trent said, running a strong hand through his hair.
"What?"
"You're probably right."
BACK AT THUNDER INVESTIGATIONS
THE NEXT DAY....
"All right, guys," Kim Sutter, Trent and Carlos's office managed said, "You're back." That's when she noticed the bandages on their faces. "What happened?" Trent sank into another chair and Carlos leaned against the wall.
"Nothin' much. A few guys decided to use our heads as punching bags but other than that," Carlos said, touching his bandage and wincing. "We're fine." Kim looked at them skeptically.
"Yeah, sure." Trent gave her a quizzical look.
"Were you worried about us, Kim?" Kim bit her lip and forced a laugh.
"Me? Worried about you guys? Bah," she said, avoiding his eyes. Trent and Carlos chuckled slightly as they glaced at each other. Carlos checked his watch.
"Wish I could stay and chat but I promised Heather I'd take her out the first free night I had." Carlos practically raced toward the door.
"Who's going to write up the report?" Trent protested, starting to get up and grimaced when he put weight on his right arm. Carlos was already out the door. Trent sank back down, favoring his arm. Kim was at his side in an instant.
"You alright?" she asked, searching his face and reaching for his jacket.
"It's nothing..." Trent started but Kim had already taken off his jacket and had seen the large bandage wrapped from his arm pit to his elbow.
"Nothin' huh?" she said. Trent gave her a lopsided smile and she stepped behind him and began to rub his shoulders. Trent sighed, starting to relax.
"Thank you," he said, closing his eyes. She smiled as she rubbed her fingers into his shoulders and neck, kneadind out all the knots. Trent sighed, starting to relax.
There was a knock on the door. He got up to answer it before Kim could move.
The door swung open and as fast as lighting, a leg kicked out and its foot landed smack dab in the middle of Trent's chest. The kick through him off balance and he flew against the wall, his head slamming against it, knocking him unconscious.
"Trent!" Kim shouted but was unable to get anymore words out as a large, dark man came in, blocking her view of Trent. She backed up, but in a flash he had grabbed her arm and clamped a piece of cloth over her mouth and nose. Her head swam and she slowly slipped into darkness.
TO BE CONTINUED....