Josh Stallings - Beautiful, Naked and Dead

“I’m dropping Sabatini in a package for you, but me and mine walk. No witness protection, no DA, no bullshit.”

“Who exactly do you think you are?” he said, waking quickly.

“The man who’s about to make you a hero,” I said and hung up.

Pulling out onto Skyline Boulevard, a two lane black top stretched out along the ridge of the mountains all the way to Santa Cruz, I switched The Clash out for Iggy and the Stooges. I nodded along to Search and Destroy, anger driven three chords of pure rage. Cass and Gregor were flicking glances that said the old man has lost his noodle and what was that god awful music? No sense of history, fuck ‘em. I needed the raw power jangle and Iggy knew how to deliver.

Breaking through the tree line we could see down rolling hills to the ocean on one side and all the way to Palo Alto and the bay beyond on the other. Twenty minutes later I spotted the address I was searching for. A tall iron gate blocked the entry, just inside it was a stone guard house. I checked my watch, I knew it would take Sanders at least an hour to assemble his troops and make the drive. I didn’t have much fear that he would call in the locals and give them a shot at his glory.

I parked around a bend in the road from the gate’s entrance. Looking over my two comrades, I thought about how good a drink would feel right about then.

“What’s the plan baby?” Cass had grown nervous as the reality of what we were about to undertake sank in.

“We go in, find Sabatini and try not to get too dead in the process.”

“What’s he look like?” Gregor said.

“Like the chief Greaseball, I figure we’ll know him when we see him. He’ll be the one giving orders.”

“I don’t mean any disrespect Moses, but the plan sucks,” Gregor said, not worried, just stating a fact.

“I know what he looks like,” Cass whispered. I looked at her stunned.

“How the hell do you know him?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She looked away, out the window.

“Only a little.”

“Why?” She looked back at me, innocent.

“Because it does. If I don’t get all the facts, I’m spinning this car around and going home,” I yelled.

“No you’re not.” She called my bluff. “They know your name.” Her voice was calm and her eyes had gone cold. “They won’t stop hunting you until you stop them.”

“She’s right boss,” Gregor spoke from the back seat.

“I know she is damn it. I just don’t know who she is!”

“I’m your girl and you are my man.” She softened, clasping her little hand around my three middle fingers, “I would never do anything to hurt you.” She caressed my hand focusing her attention down so she wouldn’t have to see my eyes if I rebuffed her. Who was I kidding, this wasn’t about her, or me, it was about Kelly and me setting my conscience to rest. I had killed the punk who killed her but the mouth breather who ordered it was still walking free.

“Ok, fuck it, let’s go bowling,” I said and fired up the Crown Vic. Fishtailing onto Skyline I let the V8 roar. Pushing hard, I was going ninety-five when I slammed into the gate. The iron snapped and bent around the hood, ripping from its post. I hit the brakes slamming it in reverse, smoking the tires. On the second hit the gate toppled off its hinges and fell to the side. A tall ape of a man in a tee-shirt jumped out of the guardhouse, aiming a pump shotgun at me. I locked up the brakes, pressing my.45 against the inside of my door, I tapped off three quick shots. They punched through the sheet metal of my door and into his gut. He fell, stumbling back into the guardhouse. I stomped on the gas and we flew down the twisting driveway. Around two bends and past a small pond lay a large two-story wood home. Six cars were parked on the circular drive. Half dressed men ran from the front door as we approached. The rhythmic rattle of automatic fire blasted as bullet holes punched into the Crown Vic’s body. I wrenched the wheel to the left sliding it sideways, blocking the exit. Bullets tore through the cab, ripping shredded holes into upholstery and sparking in the darkness.

Gregor dove out of the back seat, he rolled and came up firing. Emptying his clip he scattered the men coming from the house. On the run, he used the parked cars for cover while he reloaded. Cass and I crawled out my door and down a small embankment that led to the pond. Moving quickly over the wet ground we headed toward the house. I pushed my way up through tall cattails. A pair of legs in wool slacks moved in front of me. I pulled the trigger on the Mossberg, the buck shot cut a wide path through the water grasses and the man went down screaming.

Springing to my feet I ran for the house. A shirtless punk spun from the porch and fired three wild shots before I blew him back through a picture window, glass and man both tumbled into the house. A huge form rose up beside me, I heard Cass’ gun go off, the man tumbled over grabbing his fountaining throat. From the porch I leapt into the ruined window. Cass was in mid-air following me when something hit her, she twisted and blood bloomed from her upper body. She fell sliding across the floor. On a wide staircase I sensed movement and fired without thought. A fat man with a bad rug slid down the stairs leaving a red stain behind him. Dragging Cass behind an obese sofa I checked her wound.

“Goddamn it Mo, they shot me.”

“Sure did baby girl.” Bullets struck the sofa, bursting the upholstery and filling the air with floating tufts of down.

“Kill Sabatini, do that for me,” she said. No organs had been hit, but she was bleeding profusely. “Leave me and go get him. Damn it, Mo.”

“Forget it kiddo, I’m not leaving you.”

Shots thudded into the sofa and floor around us. Popping my head up multiple muzzles flashed from the stairs. We were trapped between the men outside who were firing at Gregor and the men on the stairs. A bullet took out two inches of masonry next to my head.

Gregor spun across the hood of a Mercedes, blood bursting from his hip. He crawled for cover behind the car but bullets were raining down on him from the second story.

The time for choosing was over. Tearing a strip from my shirt so Cass could stanch the bleeding I said, “Don’t go nowhere baby girl.” Jumping up I let out a wild war cry and charged the stairway. Firing on the run I vaulted the steps, a young man with long jet black hair fell gripping his bleeding gut. I leapt over him and kept moving. The second story hall split off in two directions. To the left I could hear the automatic fire that was being dumped down on Gregor. I ran to the door and pumped four loads of double aught through it. Their rifles went silent. Through the grapefruit sized holes I saw a man hanging limply out the window. Racking a fresh shell into the Mossberg I stormed down the hall kicking doors open. Moving into a bedroom that was bigger than my house I found three party girls in Frederick’s best huddled in the corner. Their eyes went wide when they saw me. I tried to give them a calming smile, but in my battle blood mood it must have looked like a deadly grimace, they sank farther back into the wall. A way too skinny redhead with fake tits flicked her eyes involuntarily at the bed. I rolled to my right just as flame exploded from under the bed and bullets ripped up the wall where I had been standing. From the floor I emptied the clip of my.45. I could hear the meaty thud of bullets striking the flesh I couldn’t see. Rich red ran from under the bed, mixing the smell of iron with cordite. Dropping the clip on my.45 I slapped in a fresh one and slipped it into my belt. Leaving the trembling girls, I sprinted back down the hall. In a large bathroom I heard a sound behind the shower curtain, snapping it back I found a man crumpled up in the fetal position sobbing.