The Colonel Vs. The Parson's Boogie Man
Chapter 5 [note: Any earlier appearance of Volkoff in the canon series has not occurred in this alternative universe.]
Col John Casey and his brother, Major Chad Shelton are trying to discover who is behind the threats to Casey's woman. However, their sting reveals a more dangerous enemy then they thought.
"Alexi Volkoff? What is he doing with scrum like El Llyarono?" Chad Shelton pulled his hood over his head and turn away from Lt. Fletcher and Volkoff on the porch, so that both of the men would not be able to make out his face. "John, what has your pastor gotten herself into?" Shelton demanded, and glanced behind the glass shield that separated him from his brother, who was in the back seat, crouched double and groaning, suffering the effects of a sedative he had taken to mimic the effects of heroin addiction.
"Chad, call her now." Casey gasped out, and tried to wipe the sweat off of his face. He peeked up out of the back window, but bent down quickly when he say Fletcher and Volkoff glancing his way. "She has got to know more...aggh" Casey began to gag as the pain ramped up. "Should of let you play the bad cop, bro!" He groaned, and began to kick the passenger door to try and make the pain bearable.
"Hold on, Casey." The major quickly dialed the pastor's cell phone, as he tried to keep his eye on the crooked cop talking to El Llarono and Volkoff.
"Pastor Annie it's Chad. Yeah, I'm with him." Chad looked at his brother with a twinge of sympathy and tried to soften the truth he was to say. Casey stared at his brother, and warned him, "Don't lie, Shelton, not to her. We have been through too much...aggh." Casey doubled up again, and kicked the door. Unfortunately, his woman heard the pain over the phone, and called out his name.
"He's not good, Annie, but we are behind the church building at El Llarono's house. Yeah, it's him behind the drug deals, but do you know anything about Alexi Volkoff?" Chad continued to watch Fletcher, who now was dolling out money to El Llaryono as something was exchanged. Volkoff has reentered the house, and the lieutenant was beginning to step off the back porch and head for the squad car.
"Listen, Pastor, Fletcher is coming back. Yeah, he's the dirty cop. Ok, call me back in about an hour." Chad hung up quickly and reported to his brother. "She's with Officer Tracy, the deputy sheriff, and they will find out about Volkoff. Head's up, John, he's coming back, and he's got the drugs."
Casey grunted in acknowledgment, and began to continue to kick the door, and groan out his pain. As the lieutenant got into the car, Casey reared up his head, and banged it on the shield, screaming as he continued to try and hurt himself. "My gut is explodin'." Casey drawled and continued to hit the shield with his hands and head.
"Dear God, Fletcher, you better give him something before he either kills himself or us." Shelton brought out his Sig and unlocked the safety. He banged the gun on the shield and pointed it at Casey's head. "Shut up, scumbad, or I will blow you away." Shelton threatened, and Casey quieted down. Again, Fletcher looked longingly for a second at the gun, but then he nodded as he started the car.
"Let's get out of here before any one sees us. I've got some good stuff, and we will get your man fixed up real nice."
Shelton growled deeply. "He's not my man, and if you don't fix him, I will turn this lovely prototype on your brains and see how they splattered." The threat seemed to deflate the proud dirty cop, and they rode back to the station in silence, except for an occasional groan from the back seat.
"Not here, Fletcher. Are you nuts?" When Shelton saw where the lieutenant was taking them, he pointed the Sig at the cop. "You already have made sure two other people know about us, and I won't chance having an entire police station know any more. My hotel room. Now." He ordered and Fletcher nodded once and changed direction.
Once they arrived, the lieutenant dragged Casey out of the back seat, but he needed Chad's help to get him into the hotel. They bypassed the main desk, and slipped past through the back door, and into Shelton's room. Once in the room, Shelton threw Casey onto the bed, and placed his right knee on Casey's chest.
"Fletcher, get the stuff ready now." Chad looked intently at his brother, who kept begging for the fix. He brought out the Sig again and pointed it under Casey's chin. He glanced at Fletcher, who was opening the cupboards in the small kitchen to look for a small pot. The cop found one and slowly began to melt the crystal he received from El Llarono. Meanwhile, Casey was trying to rear up and fight his brother, but his intense pain was preventing him from throwing his brother up. "Easy, Jackson, he's coming." Shelton assured the man, but bent down and lowered his voice. "Don't let him inject you, John. He'll kill you, remember." Casey nodded once, but looked hungerly at the needle Fletcher was filling with the melted drug.
"We need a tourniquet to pop up his veins." Fletcher glanced around as he approached the two men, struggling on the bed. Shelton growled "Belt. Take his belt." He pointed to Casey, and held him more secure as Fletcher undid Casey's belt and looped it around Casey's right arm, pulling it tight, until Casey's main vein popped up.
"Please, please, you got to pop me, Please." Casey begged and licked his lips as the needle came closer.
He began to thrash around, but Shelton pressed the Sig onto his temple. Fletcher hit the vein a couple time with his hand to make the vein stand up even more, and Shelton let up slightly on Casey's chest.
Suddenly, Casey reared up, and grabbed the needle from Fletcher's hand. Shelton was caught off balance and crashed into the small table beside the bed. Fletcher went down also, as Casey kicked him to the side. He turned his back to the men, and emptied the needle contents into the dirty carpet in front of him, He jammed the point of the needle in his arm, plunger down, and turned toward the men, needle flopping out of his arm. Shelton scrambled up, and his hand was sure and pointed at Casey's heart. Before Fletcher could stop him, Shelton shot Casey right directly in the heart, and John spun around, screaming once, and crashing to the floor. The carpet began to fill with blood, as Casey's body jerked several times and then was still.
Fletcher gulped and yelled. "God, what did you do?," as he stared down at the dead man on the floor. He glared at Shelton who was calmly putting the Sig back into his waistband, his jaw set in steel,
"Getting rid of a cockroach." Shelton barked. "Now I can get back home." He calmly picked up his duffel bag and began to pack up his personal items around the room. Fletcher still had not moved, as he continued to stare at the body.
"What are you going to do with him?" Fletcher was sweating, and his voice was frantic. "You can't leave this body here. I will get in trouble with my superiors."
Shelton moved swiftly to the man, and shoved him back against the wall, the Sig under the man's chin.
"I really don't give a spit about you and your superiors." He growled, but noticed that Fletcher's expression had changed from panic to scheming.
"So, Major, do I tell them that you killed Jackson, or maybe we can work out a deal?" Fletcher tried to push Shelton away, but his large frame didn't move. However, he lowered the Sig slightly. The dirty cop grinned cheekily, and pointed toward Casey.
"I can get rid of that body for you. But you will owe me. Big time, bud." Fletcher hit Shelton's chest with his pointer finger, which made Shelton's blue eyes darken in hatred. Fletcher backed off a bit, and then began to explain.
"Body burial for a crate of those guns now, Major." Fletcher reached up and grabbed the gun, which Shelton allowed him to push down. Shelton stepped back, glanced at Casey once, and then nodded.
"Let me get a hold of my contacts." Shelton moved away from Fletcher and the body, and flipped his cell phone, speed dialing a contact number. He spoke low, but Fletcher heard the gist of the message.
"Yeah, I need a crate of the Sigs now. I don't care how you get it here, but you will get here, you understand that?" Shelton growled deeply and then nodded. He shut the phone and looked at Fletcher, the hatred for this weasel of a cop etched on his face.
"Three hours. Coming in from Seattle." Shelton reported as he stared at Casey's body. Fletcher grinned widely, and began to move toward the door. Shelton caught his arm and grunted, "where you going, Fletcher?"
Fletcher turned to the big man, and grinned once again. "Major, you are not the only one with influential friends. I will make arrangements for the..." he paused and looked at "Jackson" still bleeding out on the carpet." I will made arrangements to take out the garbage."
Shelton bore down on Fletcher's arm until the man grimaced. "Where you go, bud," he spoke the nickname with scorn dripping from his tongue, " I go." Fletcher's smile fell and he nodded. He went out the door to return to the cruiser, and as Shelton grabbed his bag he looked once more at his brother, who rose ever so slightly from the floor and winked at him. Casey laid his head back down, and Shelton coughed violently to try and get his amusement under control. As he locked the door, Shelton threw him his hoodie jacket.
Chuck hung up the cell phone, and looked at Pastor Annie, Sheriff Tracy and Sarah. He nodded solemnly at them, and breathed out a worried sigh. "Chad did it. Casey's shot and the deal in on for a crate of Casey's Sigs." He reached for Sarah's hand, and looked with sympathy at the pastor. She had sat nervously waiting for news about her friend and his brother at the dining table in the new home the Carmichaels had just purchased. The sheriff has a case folder and he laid it out in front of Chuck.
"I found out some stuff on the drug Lord. He's called El Llarono, the Crying Man, and he seems to be a little bit of a legend in the Latino community. He's kinda like a boogie man. If a kid doesn't eat his veggies, El Llarono will get him. If a teenager messes up his curfew, El Llarono will get him. He had quit successful drug gangs in L.A. in the late 1990's and your man Shelton was able to take him out of the game. He became a ghost for 8 years, and now throughout the Pacific Northwest, we have received reports of El Llarono setting up new gangs in small towns like ours. What is the interesting thing about this man is that it is not the Mexican cartels that are financing it. It's the Russian Mafia."
"Oh, dear Lord. That's what Chad was asking me about. He said Alexi Volcoff was at El Llarono's home this afternoon, when Fletcher went for Casey's..." the pastor gulped and then spoke the last word softly, ''John's drugs."
As the parson said Volkoff's name, Chuck flashed, his distinctive head shaking and eye blinking, images ramping up across his brain. He shook the headache off, and squeezed Sarah's hand again.
"You're right, Sheriff. Very bad man. Weapons dealing, drug cartels, and even prostitution. We have got to get these men."
"Your man said you needed a crate of prototype guns?" Tracy asked, as he looked at Chuck with great interest.
Sarah rose and filled her cup with fresh coffee from the pot Annie had brought over. "Yes, we got the guns in the back of the BMW but they all have a bad firing pin. They are useless on the street, but I think we can fool Volkoff as long as he doesn't look too close."
"Can we get John out of this mess soon and see if he is ok?" Pastor Annie asked anxiously, and then she looked at her hands, a little embarrassed at raising the question. Sarah sat down beside her, and took her hands gently in hers.
"Annie, we will get both John and Chad out as soon as possible. They know how to handle themselves, and they will be all right." She assured the woman, and Tracy patted the pastor's shoulder.
"From what you told me, both Casey and Shelton are not easily intimidated. You let me know how I can help, and we will get them safely out of there, and put Fletcher, Volkoff and the Boogie Man in prison forever." Tracy picked up the file and said his goodbyes.
Just as the front door closed behind him, Pastor's cell rang, and John Casey's picture lit up.
"Oh, thank you Jesus, it's John." Annie stood up and slipped from the kitchen to talk to him in private.
"John, are you all right?" Annie whispered, and held the phone tightly against her ear. She heard a small groan, and then his voice, though strained, came warmly through the air.
"Parson... I am doing fine...for a dead man." Casey gulped and rubbed the front of his chest, pulling the fake blood pack off of his chest, throwing it down on the carpet.
"Annie, you... are you all right?" Casey laid down on the bed in the hotel room, his baritone getting stronger as the effects of the sedative was finally wearing off. "I have put you through too much, Parson." He sighed loudly, and bowed his head, the weariness finally overtaking his aching body.
"John, no. I chose to be your friend. I chose to have you in my life. You are..." Annie gulped, her voice cracking a little. "the one who has brought great adventure back into my life." She laughed quietly as she heard him grunt.
"Great adventures, huh? You might want more boredom in your life, woman, after this." He smiled, and his soft voice soothed her heart.
"Thank you, John. You and Chad are risking so much for me, and now Officer Tracy found out the Volkoff is financing the cartels here in the town."
John rose quickly up from the bed, and planted his feet over the side. "Volkoff? That explains his presence at El Llarono. Man, this is getting thicker. Hey, what's with the sirens?' Casey listened intently to Annie's cell as it was broadcasting several siren screams.
"Oh, John, Chuck said the church's in on fire. I've got to go." Annie held the phone away from her ear as Chuck was reporting, and almost flipped the phone off when she heard Casey's voice calling out urgently.
"Annie, stop. Don't go. The Crying Man is behind this. If he sees you there..." the phone went dead on him, and he hastily redialed the parson's number. It only went to voice mail, so he dialed up his brother's number, and left a short message on his voice mail.
"Chad, it's the church building. Get Fletcher over there now. It's on fire." Casey flipped the phone off, grabbed Casey's hoodie jacket and zipped up. He threw away the blood packet and cleaned up the rug as best he could. He snapped the needle into pieces and threw that in the outside receptacle as he moved quickly and quietly out of the hotel room.
Thank you for all the reviews on the Boogie Man. Hang in there with the Colonel and the Parson as they try to take down Fletcher, El Llaron, and our foe, Volkoff. Reviews, raves, or ridicule are all appreciated! Leave a message after the beep, John!
