Monday, February 13th, 2017
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco
Herbst Theatre
Lower Level
Lucy and Kelly
The two girls had vanished down into the bowels of the theatre using their skills to keep out of sight until they received orders to move.
They had clocked three armed men on patrol, and they had witnessed people being gathered up for some nefarious purpose. Strangely, they had also noticed a man in a tuxedo with a girl in a frilly red dress. The man had spoken briefly with one of the armed men and the girl had looked horrified by the response, however, Lucy noticed the horrified expression change to one of compliance. The young girl was being made to do something against her will, that was certain. The gunman took the girl away from the man who appeared very concerned about the girl's welfare. Lucy also recognised that the man was being coerced into following instructions just as the girl was.
The two girls moved towards the man who had vanished into a men's bathroom.
Main Floor
Mindy, Hailee, Kim, and Taylor
21:04
"Let's put an end to this crap!" Mindy hissed. "It's time to gather intel . . . Lucy, Kelly – see what you can do."
"Copy that!" Lucy replied.
"Marty, any clues?" Mindy asked next.
"Looks like we have two employees," Mindy grinned as she recognised Chloe's voice, "who started two weeks back. They have a rap sheet a mile long and, get this, they are known for infiltrating targets as inside men."
"We think that the guy in charge is Michado James," Becky announced. "We matched his voice to an FBI recording. He has a brother who is currently in FBI custody. So far, there's no link as to why he's seized the theatre, sorry."
"Thanks, Becky," Mindy replied quietly. "Okay, team, eyes open – let's fuck-up this twat's plans."
Lower Level
Lucy and Kelly
Kelly went first, following the man into the bathroom.
The young woman wrinkled her nose, hating the smell of male bathrooms. The place was not big, with four stalls and several wall-mounted urinals. One of the urinals was occupied and Kelly grimaced as she heard liquid hitting the urinal. The man's attention was on his current activity and he never paid attention to somebody else in the bathroom until it was too late.
"Don't fucking move!" Lucy hissed into the man's left ear; a small pistol pushed into the man's neck.
"Hello, Mr Thomas Drew," Kelly said.
"What do you want?" Drew asked as he stood at the urinal, his dick hanging out.
"Information, bastard!" Lucy growled as she threw the man over backwards onto the floor.
The man groaned at the pain, but he otherwise made no overt move at defending himself. He looked up at Lucy and he chuckled as he recognised the girl.
"Never seen you in a dress, Lucy; you look very beautiful," Drew commented.
"Can it, fuck-face!" Lucy growled as she glared down at the man.
While he had not been one to go out of his way to hurt Lucy, the very fact that he had been there for much of Lucy's first few years went against the man. He had known Lucy since she was ten years old.
"Why are you here with that girl?" Lucy demanded.
"Maxine?" Drew replied. "We were blackmailed into taking part in this little circus. They needed a pint-sized killer, it seems, and they found us . . . forced us to do their bidding."
"What bidding?"
"I have no idea," Drew replied. "I just had to get her here and make sure she was at a certain place at a certain time . . . I did that – I did not want to."
"You care for her?" Lucy demanded, somewhat incredulously.
"We've been together since May, last year. I've been taking care of her."
"You fucking her?" Lucy hissed.
"You care to say that again, Lucy Ford," came the angry response.
Lucy read the man's eyes and the anger within them at her insinuation. She nodded and allowed the man to stand up.
"If you are lying, then you know me well enough to know that I will come back for you."
"Yes, Lucy, I do know you. Go save Maxine."
..._...
Lucy and Kelly left the bathroom and headed down the corridor to where they had seen the girl vanish.
"What the fuck is that banging?" Kelly asked.
"A very good question," Lucy replied as they turned right down a short corridor which ended at a section of drywall which had been pulled apart to reveal an old doorway.
The doorway had been bricked up, but the bricks had been knocked through from the far side to make a man-sized opening. There were voices coming from the far side of the opening. Lucy eased her head through and found that there was a broad tunnel running left and right. About twenty yards to the left, Lucy saw Maxine. The girl was shedding her frilly red dress which she handed to a man who then handed the youngster a pair of trousers and a long-sleeved top. The girl did not seem to care that she was standing in just her knickers and a thin vest in a subterranean tunnel beneath San Francisco. Lucy recognised the no-nonsense look of a Predator about to go into action. As Lucy watched the girl getting ready, she noticed another hole, a dozen yards beyond the girl – that had to be what the banging had been. Lucy was still trying to fathom what use a Predator might be underground when she saw the girl being handed a Heckler & Koch MP5SD-N suppressed sub-machinegun.
Lucy was even more confused.
Main Floor
Mindy, Hailee, Kim, and Taylor
21:23
"...why they are using the girl, I have no idea," Lucy concluded.
"I got nothing," Mindy admitted. "Stay on them, and if you can get her out, do it."
"Copy that!" Lucy responded.
"Okay," Mindy whispered. "I count six plus masked cunts who are about to experience so much pain."
"I have an idea," Taylor muttered as she gazed at a nearby power socket and the associated surface-mounted cable.
._.
A few minutes later, the guard down on the main floor heard a sound and he turned to see one of the women fiddling with something on the floor, over by a wall.
The man strode over and he held out his bare left hand, the machine pistol aimed at the woman's head.
"Give it to me."
"If you say so," Taylor grinned, and she handed the man the live electrical cable, bared copper first.
The man shook violently, eliciting a few screams, before dropping to the ground, unconscious.
"Honestly," Taylor commented. "They really need to do something about the electrics in this place."
Mindy approached the unconscious man and kicked him in the head, just to add some more time to his unconscious state.
"That's for fucking up my evening!" she hissed.
"One down," Hailee called over the comms.
Kim swept up the machine pistol and she checked the magazine and action – all was good to go.
"I used to be a cop," she explained to a woman who looked at Kim with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey!"
It was the other guard, coming back in from the passageway outside.
Forty yards south of the opera house
Maxine Bell was two months short of her eleventh birthday and had, until a few days previously, been enjoying a relatively normal life, thank you very much.
Why she was living with a man who had one upon a time been a tormentor, was a very long story, and a story for another time. However, someone had found out about her past, what she could do. Thomas had initially refused but they had had no choice – another life was at stake. Therefore, she had got herself dolled up in a fancy dress and Thomas had hired a tuxedo. Maxine had never seen Thomas looking so smart and she hoped that one day, he might wear the same again when she could enjoy it.
The mission was simple, it seemed. Enter a building, shoot everybody but one man, then escort that man out – simple! However, she had been stunned to recognise a face – or she thought she had; she was not very sure. Nonetheless, she had instinctively given a distress signal which she hoped would be recognised.
If it was who she thought it was, then maybe there was an out for her.
..._...
"You ready?"
Maxine looked up into the face – well, mask – of the man giving orders.
"Yes," Maxine replied as she raised the Heckler & Koch MP5SD-N weapon she held in her hands.
Maxine expertly ejected the fifteen-round magazine, checked it was full, and then reinserted it. The girl was then handed two spare magazines – a total of forty-five rounds.
"Get to it!"
Maxine shoved the weapon behind her back, and she climbed up into the air vent, the steel cover of which had been removed from the brick wall. The idea was that she was small enough to get through without noise, but then, once she had started shooting, the hole could be made larger, with sledgehammers, to allow a grown man to pass through. The steel air vent was much larger than the opening, and short, so after about seven feet, Maxine stopped at another steel vent. After a brief glance through, into darkness, and with apparent ease, she shifted the vent from its mountings and lowered it to the ground, making as little sound as she could. The girl slipped out of the air vent, dropping two feet to the ground.
Maxine found herself in a corridor leading away from her. To her left, there was a wooden door. The decoration was not to a great standard, and the cleanliness had much to be desired. The corridor was dimly lit by feeble lightbulbs under dirty sconces. However, to Maxine, it was perfect. She brought her weapon around and extended the stock, pulling the weapon into her shoulder and then cocking the weapon. Her final act was to use her right thumb to flick the selector lever down one point from safe to single shot. Ahead, she could hear the muted sound of a television. Very slowly, she took silent step after silent step, moving closer to the sound. Then she paused as she reached a room where the door was ajar, maybe five inches, and light spilled out into the corridor. The television was showing a baseball game – 'Fucking rounders!' Maxine thought. She listened and there was the muted sound of footsteps.
"I hate this shit!" a voice complained with a slightly foreign accent.
"Well, you're in America, so we watch American sports . . . right, Jack?"
"Yeah, Frank."
At least two men with presumably the target being the third, Maxine considered. She took a deep breath and readied her weapon, then she nudged the door which opened slowly, wider and wider, then a hinge squeaked...
Four men – and the target – turned as one.
Balcony Section
Dave had heard the minor commotion below and then the radio call.
He had been hanging around over to the right, close by the edge of the balcony section. The two guards guarding the men stayed well apart, one at each end of the section. Dave could see the guard down below striding up the theatre his machine pistol aimed at the women.
"What's going on?" the guard demanded of the women, attracting the attention of the guard just six feet from Dave.
With exquisite timing, Dave 'accidentally slipped' and the guard fell over the railing. With a muted thump, the guard fell atop the one below, knocking both senseless on impact – although a swift kick from Hailee ensured that unconsciousness took firm hold.
"Two and three down," Hailee noted.
"Coming up!" Mindy hissed from below and Dave smoothly caught the Steyr TMP which sailed through the air for him catch.
Dave span and he fired off a swift burst into the oncoming gunman at the opposite end of the balcony section.
Manager's Office
21:40
Michado James looked up as he heard gunfire.
It came from one of his men's weapons, so there was not too much concern in his mind, but he knew that he was pushing his luck for every minute his subterfuge continued. He was counting the seconds as he waited to hear about his brother. Months of planning were finally coming to fruition and success was edging into sight.
"Lower level, what is happening?" James asked into his radio.
"The girl has gone in – should be hearing fireworks any second now, boss."
"Theatre, report...!"
"Theatre, report...!"
Main Floor
Mindy, Hailee, Kim, and Taylor
"Theatre, report...!"
"Okay, that could be a problem," Mindy conceded as she stared down at the bleating radio.
"You think they know something's up?" Taylor asked rhetorically.
"Unless they're blind, deaf, and dumb!" Hailee quipped.
Kim turned as she saw the men descending to join them. Dave was holding the machine pistol and Dieter was scowling. The opera house employees and performers gathered on the stage all stood up in eager anticipation at being rescued. Dave exchanged a look with Mindy, and both knew that there was little that they could do without revealing a little too much about their abilities.
"Looks like we're safe for now, Dieter," Dave grimaced.
"Would you mind telling me what the goddamn hell is going on?" Dieter exclaimed.
"A very good question, Mr Mannheim," Hailee said.
"And you are?" Dieter enquired.
"Nobody."
"Right..." Dieter muttered as the man turned to his remaining protector. "What are you going to do about this?"
The man grimaced as he shrugged.
"You're fucking fired!" Dieter stated.
The FBI Safehouse
Maxine did not hesitate as she squeezed the trigger.
Calmly and smoothly, she put a bullet into the forehead of each of the four FBI agents before any of them could draw a weapon. Each shot was expertly aimed and coldly delivered. All four bodies dropped one after the other into untidy heaps leaving just the man who had complained about the baseball game on the television. The man was dressed in an orange jumpsuit indicating that he was a criminal, and his hands were secured with steel handcuffs. Maxine produced a set of compact bolt cutters from her trousers and cut the chain links between the cuffs. The man looked down at Maxine with disdain, like Maxine was worthless and beneath him in every way.
"Where are you taking me?" the man asked without a hint at being even remotely thankful.
"No fucking idea," Maxine growled. "Fucking move!"
..._...
Maxine led the man back to the air vent and pointed him into it.
She could hear banging from the far and as the other end was made bigger. The big man just fitted through and he pushed himself feet first out of the far end the moment it had been enlarged. Maxine followed, diving in headfirst. Then, the moment her feet touched the floor of the tunnel, she froze. The cold steel of a pistol touched her right temple.
"Are there any left alive, girl?" a masked gunman demanded curtly.
"All dead," Maxine replied.
"Hand over the piece," another masked man said, and Maxine handed over the sub-machinegun and spare magazine.
"Let's get you to the boss," the first masked gunman said to the man in the orange jumpsuit.
Maxine watched the two men walk off down the tunnel and then vanish into the hole which led into the opera house. The man beside her spoke into his radio.
"The girl's done, boss – he's on his way to you."
"Good," came a happy voice. "Team Two?"
"Boss?" came a gravelly voice – a voice which Maxine recognised as belonging to the man heading the team who held Deborah.
"Dispose of the girl!"
"No!" Maxine yelled out as she heard a scream and then a gunshot before the radio cut out.
"Kill that one, too," the boss added.
The gunman brought up his machine pistol and gunshots echoed around the tunnel.
Main Floor
Mindy, Dave, Hailee, Kim, and Taylor . . . and Dieter
21:48
"Contact!"
It was Kelly – that was not good, Mindy considered as she and Dave tried to figure out what the hell they were going to do. However, Dieter seemed to take the lead as he picked up a discarded machine pistol. His 'fired' protector rifled through the clothing of one of the fallen masked men and produced a pistol. Mindy did the same with one of the other masked men, producing a Beretta 92F while Rosa did the same, exchanging a grin with Mindy.
"Dickhead," Dieter said, referring to his former protector. "You stay here."
The man grimaced, glaring at Dieter only after the man had turned away. Mindy had noticed that Dieter rules with an iron fist and none of his employees would actually look the man in the eyes. It reminded her of that phrase: 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'. No matter how much she despised the man, she knew that they would have to work together – just the once.
"I have an idea," Dave said as he pulled the hooded cloak off one of the prone men.
Dave pulled on the cloak, pulled up the hood and covered his face with the phantom mask.
"You look good in a mask," Mindy commented.
Lower Level
Lucy and Kelly . . . and Maxine
Maxine screamed as she felt something wet and hot strike her face.
She heard feet running towards her, and when she opened her eyes, she saw two women in dresses sprinting towards her – both held small compact pistols in their right hands. Her eyes focussed on the one in a deep red dress for a moment before she scowled.
"Lucy fucking Ford!" Maxine growled.
"I think she remembers you," Kelly grinned.
"Yeah," Lucy replied. "Now I think I understand how Steph feels. Maxine Bell, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"This is Kelly – let's get you to safety," Lucy said.
"Okay," Maxine replied, deciding to trust Lucy.
"Well, pickup your gun," Lucy suggested as she moved off towards the hole which led back into the opera house.
"Bossy boots!" Maxine muttered as she swept up her H&K MP5SD-N sub-machinegun and the spare magazine from beside the dead man.
"We're not out of the woods yet," Lucy stated as Maxine caught up.
Kelly chuckled as Maxine continued to mutter under her breath.
Manager's Office
Michado James smiled as his brother came into sight.
"Pichardo, it is so good to see you safe."
"Thank you, dear brother," Pichardo James replied as they both hugged.
The criminal pulled off his orange coveralls and swiftly redressed in a tuxedo. Once his brother was dressed, Michado sought out one of his men.
"Release the hostages into the Green Room."
"Yes, boss!"
The man then turned to his brother.
"Ready for freedom?"
"Very much."
The two men left the manager's office and they made for the Green Room.
Main Floor
Mindy, Dave, Hailee, Kim, and Taylor . . . and Dieter
22:06
Dave peered out of the doors at the back of the theatre where he saw another masked, hooded, cloaked man.
"Let the hostages out," the man said as he vanished into a corridor.
Dave did so, opening the doors and waving the confused men and women out into the foyer and then at the stairs which would lead them upwards and towards the exits. Dave's eyes never moved from the corridor where the gunman had vanished, so he was very surprised to see a man in a tuxedo appear and join in with the other tuxedoed men. Where had the man come from? Then Dave knew how the terrorists were going to make their escape. Dave quickly dived into a corridor and shed his own mask and hooded cloak. When he emerged, he found Mindy a few feet in front of him.
"The terrorists have shed their masks and they are dressed in tuxedos," Dave hissed over the comms.
"A smart idea," Mindy conceded.
Once Dave reached the Green Room, he found the place filled with men and women, all of whom were very keen to get out of the opera house. Dave, Mindy, Hailee, Kim, and Taylor all looked hard to try and identify the unmasked gunmen. However, it was in vain – all the men looked alike.
However, there were some who could identify at least two of the men...
Lower Level
Lucy and Kelly . . . and Maxine
Maxine was on the verge of panicking.
She had to find Thomas before anything happened to him – she had already lost Deborah; she could not lose Thomas. As they searched every room at Maxine's behest, Lucy could see the young girl's horror at what she might have lost. Therefore, she had no problem helping the girl.
"In here!" Kelly called out and Maxine ran in the direction of the voice.
Lucy chased after Maxine, slamming on the brakes when she found the girl on the floor beside two men, one of whom was masked and the other was Thomas Drew. There was a lot of blood pooling out from below the two men as they lay with Drew atop the other man.
"Thomas!" Maxine almost screamed.
"I'm okay – the blood isn't mine," Drew said as he pushed himself away from the dead man who had a knife in his gut.
The man was almost knocked down by Maxine as she hugged him tightly. Lucy could see that the man really meant a lot to the ten-year-old girl.
"We need to go," Lucy directed as she heard the warning from Dave in her earpiece. "The bastards are dressed like the hostages to make their escape."
"How...?" Maxine asked.
"Never mind," Kelly warned. "Let's move."
"I know what they look like – the man I rescued," Maxine stated. "I think I know a way to smoke out the boss man, too, fish girl!"
Lucy grinned and shook her head as she waved the serious-looking Maxine out the door with Kelly and Drew following.
The Green Room
22:18
"Nobody is going anywhere!"
All eyes turned to look at Dave who stood with a machine pistol in his hand, blocking the route to the doors which had had their explosives removed, apparently by the gunmen.
"All of you, back from the exits!" Dave insisted, firing off a quick burst.
"What are you doing?" Dieter Mannheim demanded.
"There are men here who do not belong, and I am not about to let them escape," Dave advised the man.
"Good point," Dieter agreed as he turned to stand beside Dave, blocking the way to the exits. "As the man says, back UP!"
The crowd of people had shrunk back away from the exists, gathering at the back and sides of the large room. Hailee and Mindy stepped forward and stood beside Dieter.
"Okay, Mrs Lizewski," Dieter muttered. "Time to go all blackbelt ninja like you do at D-JAK."
"I'm wearing a fucking dress!" Mindy groused back.
"And..." Dieter responded as Mindy rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Hailee," Mindy hissed. "We got work to do."
Both women kicked off their high heels and their trained eyes scanned the crowds before them. Neither saw Michado James wave his hand at Dave, but Hailee did see a man in a tuxedo make for Dave.
"Mindy!" Hailee called out.
Mindy kicked out at the man, catching him in the side. The man staggered into Hailee's raised fist, putting the man onto his knees. A flying kick later and the man struck the marble floor, blood erupting from his destroyed nose. Mindy swiftly recovered from the move and scanned the crowd. She saw a man move, elbowing him in the face.
"Hey!" a woman exclaimed. "That's my husband!"
"Sorry," Mindy said. "It's kinda difficult to tell who's a bad guy." Mindy then raised her voice. "Look, give me a hand, guys . . . literally; raise your hand if you're a bad guy..."
That opened the floodgates as eight men streamed out of the crowd and converged on Mindy and Hailee.
..._...
Mindy and Hailee knew that they had to rein things in as they were not there as Hit Girl and Petra.
Despite the skilled men attacking them, Mindy and Hailee did well, dodging the blows and striking hard. They worked as a pair, guarding the back of the other, watching for a man taking advantage and striking him down. Mindy cursed her black dress which restricted her movements somewhat, at least if she wanted to maintain a modicum of dignity and keep her purple panties hidden from all the male eyes around her. Hailee, it seemed, did not have any qualms showing off her blue panties which matched her snug-fitting deep blue dress. Hailee used her dexterity to flip and drive her feet into men's chests at speed, sending them flying backwards. As one of the men flew backwards, the crowd parted and the man's head struck a marble column, knocking the man senseless.
Dave and Dieter joined in, punching whomsoever came close. Taylor also noticed Rosa putting one man down with a well-placed punch to the side of the head. At one stage, amidst the chaos, Mindy 'accidentally' punched Dieter hard in the face.
"Sorry, Dieter – thought you had your hand up!" Mindy apologised, doing her best to hide her grin.
"Fuck!" Dieter growled as he grasped his nose.
Dave had seen the sly strike and chuckled even as he had punched out the lights of one of the last 'bad guys' standing. That was when four people joined the night's entertainment. Lucy moved close to Mindy who had just kicked a bad guy senseless with her foot.
"It seems our Predator has a plan to smoke out the boss bad guy," Lucy whispered.
The young girl, a sub-machinegun held in her hands, looked around the mass of faces before she focussed on the man whom she had rescued. Lucy pointed at the man, "Him?"
Maxine nodded and Lucy hauled Pichardo James from the crowd and pushed him into the centre of the Green Room. Maxine encircled the man, walking slowly and purposefully as she spoke.
"Your bastard brother took someone from me . . . and then he tried to take another," Maxine seethed. "I am going to make your brother suffer!"
Without warning, Maxine fired off two three round bursts directly into Pichardo James' back, cutting the man's backbone in two, just above the waist. The man slumped to the ground, screaming out in pain for a moment, before passing out. Michado James leapt from the crowd.
"You!" he yelled before he looked aghast at his fallen brother. "Pichardo!"
"If you're lucky, he'll live," Maxine grinned. "But he'll never walk again."
"I'll..." Michado began.
"You'll what?" Thomas Drew cut in as his fist connected with the bastard's face and the man crashed to the marble floor beside his brother.
That was when everything exploded as the FBI burst into the opera house.
22:58
It took a while for the FBI to sort things out, but there were plenty of witnesses to point the finger at Michado James and his brother.
Due to their status in the city, many were allowed to leave and be questioned the following day. Dave, Mindy, and Dieter were among those who were allowed to leave the opera house and venture out a side door, well away from the press. Dave ensured that Drew and Maxine went with them, Lucy keeping a hand on Maxine as she sensed that the girl was about to bolt. Once outside, Dieter surprised Mindy as he offered her a large SUV from his own entourage which had space for all nine of them inside. Dave wisely took the wheel, pushing Mindy into the front passenger seat. Lucy signalled Maxine and Drew to remain silent as they drove – it was fairly obvious that the SUV was probably bugged. Swiftly, Mindy returned everyone to the hotel where they found that Marty had arranged a pair of Range Rovers. They abandoned the SUV and boarded the Range Rovers.
Mindy grinned as she found a top and trousers to replace her dress and some sensible running shoes. While Taylor drove, Mindy stripped off and redressed, pleased to be out of the compromising dress. There was also replacement clothing and footwear for Lucy, Kelly, Hailee, and Kim.
"Well?" Mindy asked as they pulled out into traffic.
"Warren Drive and Devonshire Way," Drew responded from the backseat where he sat next to Maxine.
Taylor programmed the satnav and they turned west followed by Dave and the others in the second Range Rover.
Forty minutes later...
Taylor slowed the Range Rover as they climbed Warren Drive, coming to a halt thirty yards from the junction with Devonshire Way.
The large property was located on the corner, showing just a single light in the front room. The street outside was clear as Mindy stepped out of the car. She was joined by Lucy and Maxine.
"Hold your horses, girl!" Mindy hissed.
"I have to get in there!" Maxine responded angrily.
"You DO NOT want to mess with me, little girl!" Mindy hissed as she glared into the girl's brown eyes.
Maxine had never seen eyes so dark, despite being so full of life. The woman's green eyes bore into her own, deep into her Psyche, and Maxine felt fear well up inside of her. There was something seriously unholy about Mindy Lizewski and the young Maxine Bell decided that she did not want to find out what might happen to her should she press her luck. Maxine averted her eyes, not wanting to look back into those soulless eyes.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"Let's go together," Mindy suggested, and Maxine nodded.
Mindy decided that there was no time for finesse, and she produced a small sub-compact pistol from her trouser pocket.
..._...
Mindy kicked open the front door and she bolted through, her pistol raised and searching for trouble.
Maxine followed close behind, desperate to find her friend, hoping against hope that she was...
"About, fuckin' time you got here, Max!"
"You're alive!" Maxine exclaimed.
"Always the tone of fuckin' doubt! And what the fuck did I say to you, cunt?" the girl said as she kicked a man hard in the head putting him out cold.
Mindy was astounded – sort of. Seated atop two unconscious men who lay stacked beside a third, a girl with long legs and equally long blonde hair glared at Maxine through hypnotic blue eyes.
"Who the fuck is this bitch?" the girl demanded as she planted her feet on the carpet and stood up to her full five feet four inches.
Mindy noticed that the girl matched her own height almost exactly and Mindy saw the challenging look in the girl's expression.
"Er, Mindy, meet Deborah," Maxine said quickly. "Deb – back off, if you know what's good for you."
"I could crush this fucking bitch, Max..."
"No, Deborah, you can't," Lucy interjected.
"What the fuckin' hell is fuckin' fish girl, doing here?" Deborah wanted to know.
"Tonight, did not go too well," Thomas said as he entered the room.
"Thomas!" Deborah exclaimed and she ran to the man, hugging him tightly.
"Guys – you need to get your gear and get the hell outta here," Lucy pointed out.
"Fish girl is right," Mindy confirmed with a sly grin.
"I so wish I had never got that damn...," Lucy muttered.
After a mad scramble to gather their clothing and personal effects from the rented property, Thomas, Maxine, and Deborah were soon seated in the back of Mindy's Range Rover.
..._...
After leaving the area at speed, they reconvened at the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park.
While Dave and Lucy saw to the foul-mouthed Deborah, Stephanie made a phone call, knowing the answer even as the phone rang in Chicago.
"Hello, Mindy."
"Hi, Marcus!"
"You set San Francisco afire yet?" Marcus chuckled.
"Very droll, old man . . . is she on her way?"
"Yes, she should be somewhere over Nebraska, by now, maybe Colorado," Marcus replied.
"She alone?"
"She has Abigail, Saoirse, and Paige with her. Megan and Jamie are looking after the munchkins here with me."
"Thank you," Mindy replied, slightly lost for words.
"You are my daughter, Mindy, just as Stephanie is your daughter. I will look after you both, just the same . . . no matter how wayward you both are."
"I'll check in later, old man."
"You better!"
Mindy grinned happily as she dropped the call.
Very early the following morning...
Tuesday, February 14th
San Francisco International Airport
00:40
As the United Airlines Boeing 757-300 flight United 750 touched down after the 1,847-mile, 4-hour 39-minute flight, the passenger in seat 6A of the narrow-body jet stared out of the window into the darkness.
She knew that she was in trouble – big trouble, but she also knew that she had good reason for traipsing almost two-thousand miles across the country just to find a friend. She had been all set to go – just the ticket remained to be purchased. Then Saoirse had betrayed her – kind of. Not only had Marcus agreed with Stephanie's plan, the man had sprung for four first class tickets costing $600 apiece. Then had come the crunch – Abigail, Saoirse, and Paige would be accompanying her. She was dreading deplaning and she knew that hell was awaiting her at Arrivals.
Indeed, hell it was . . . just not for her . . . for an agreeable change.
..._...
There were many faces awaiting the four of them and one scowled at her daughter.
"Hello, Steph."
"Hi, Mum," Stephanie responded.
"Didn't expect to see you here," Mindy grinned.
"You're not mad at me?" Stephanie enquired hopefully.
"Madder than hell!" Mindy growled. "Let's get this over with..."
Stephanie's mouth dropped open as she laid eyes on Maxine for the first time in well over a year.
"How the fuck are you still alive?" Maxine grinned as she hugged her friend.
"I had help," Stephanie admitted.
"Well that's fucking obvious!" Maxine laughed as she ignored the tears flooding down her face. "You never could look after yourself."
"Oh, brother!" Deborah groaned as she witnessed the tears, but then her eyes focussed on another. "Well, if it isn't foxy girl!"
Saoirse hoped that Deborah was in a forgiving mood. The punch to her left cheek and another to her stomach told her that Deborah was obviously not in a forgiving mood.
"Woah!" Stephanie exclaimed. "It's kind of weird seeing it happen to others."
"What the fuck was that for?" Mindy demanded.
"When I was younger, I was a little bit like Stephanie," Saoirse admitted from the ground. "I tended to piss people off."
"Cool!" Stephanie commented as Mindy just waved a hand and walked away muttering something derogatory about Predators.
Abigail could not do anything but laugh at Saoirse's predicament.
"SD was a bitch, but I suppose she was just like all the rest," Deborah conceded. "Call it quits?"
"Why not," Saoirse commented as she plunged a fist into Deborah's stomach.
"You girls finished?" Thomas asked then he appeared to have a revelation. "Er, Deb, where's Mae?"
"I thought she was with you," Deborah replied as she scrambled to her feet, rubbing her stomach."
"Uh uh," Maxine threw back, shaking her head. "We thought she was with you."
"Who the fuck is Mae?" Stephanie demanded.
..._...
"Mae is our friend," Maxine explained.
"She's my niece," Thomas admitted. "I am all she has. She was taken by the same men who took Deborah."
"She left with two of those wankers," Deborah said, "earlier this evening. They said she was being taken to meet up with you, Thomas."
"Well, she never arrived," Thomas stated simply.
"So, where the fuck is she?" Deborah demanded.
"Is she one of them?" Mindy asked Thomas.
"No, Mae is normal . . . sorry, girls."
The Predators present simply shrugged – they were used to both being abnormal and being treated as such.
"So," Kelly mused, "the man behind this little escapade must have had a base of operations and it stands to reason that she might have been taken there."
"But how can we find the fucking place!?" Deborah almost exploded.
"Patience," Mindy said, "Kelly has a point."
"Maybe," Stephanie piped up, "you could speak to the guy – forcefully?"
"Problem there," Thomas commented. "Maxine turned the man's brother into a paraplegic, so he may not be too receptive to us."
Stephanie gave Maxine a withering expression.
"I thought the bastard had killed Deb, so I cut his brother down to size," Maxine explained.
"You're an idiot, Max," Deborah commented dryly.
"Sorry for fucking caring!" came the retort from Maxine.
"Okay, girls!" Thomas called out. "No brawling in the airport!"
It took strong hands to pull Maxine and Deborah apart and prevent an all-out bitch fight.