The Chrononauts
Chapter 26: Time Off

They all figured they would take a few days and unwind in Vegas. John had no idea what Vegas even was, but Molly took him under her wing. Matt chuckled at her and she blushed badly.

John was amused by their pet owl, Snowflake. She paid a lot of attention to him and liked to ride on his shoulder. He was fascinated that she could answer questions and was always right.

The Bradys and their friends ate at an outdoor laid-back restaurant with Larry and Snowflake. They had steak and salmon. Larry loved steak and Snowflake loved salmon. Well, actually Larry loved everything.

Steve was out on bail. It cost him half a million dollars. He won most of it back after visiting a few casinos. The Bradys passed him on the sidewalk. He noticed John and his back stiffened. He turned and watched them walk back to their rental car.

He looked at their plate number. He was shocked when he saw a profile view of Molly. He gasped, “Anna!” Snowflake’s head shot back at the man and stared until they were out of sight. Once Brady and his friends got back to their hotel rooms, Mrs. B. noticed that Snowflake was visibly agitated.

Mrs. B. asked, “Is something wrong, Snowflake?”

She got one hoot.

“Is it about our new friends?”

She got one hoot.

She guessed. “Molly?”

No hoot.

“John?”

No hoot.

Victoria then asked, “Both of them?”

She got one hoot.

Mrs. B. asked, “Do they know the people?”

No hoot.

“So they don’t know the people?”

No hoot.

Victoria chimed in again. “Did they know them at one time before?”

She got one hoot.

John laughed and Mrs. B. blushed. “Well, Victoria does have a 200 IQ and is a sophomore at MIT.”

Victoria laughed. “How many people are there? One? Two?” That got a hoot.

She continued, “Knew them when? When they were young? They knew them in another life?”

That got a hoot.

“Are they normal people?”

Two hoots.

“Are they aliens?

Two hoots.

Ghosts?”

She got a weak hoot.

She laughed and clarified. “Possessed spirits?”

One hoot.

Victoria nodded, “There you have it. You guys are being pursued by possible demons. That is not good. That makes the playing field even.” Molly looked confused.

Matt laughed. “We have some rather unusual friends, sis.”

That got two hoots.

Matt smiled at Snowflake. “I mean from other realms, let us say. They can do things that we can’t.”

Victoria chuckled. “The demon has the same advantages. That makes it dangerous to us. We are on an equal playing field.”

Steve would take care of them later; he had to build up his strength. He had to deal with the murder trial. It started that Monday morning. The coroner was called to the stand first. He started to describe the body but keeled over. He died there on the stand from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Steve laughed as he was escorted back to his cell. The trial was delayed until the next day. The assistant coroner took the stand; he had an asthma attack and was removed from the court. His statement was read in by the clerk. The DNA was presented without incident.

Steve took the stand and lied. The prosecutor called him a damn liar and had a heart attack on the spot. Steve smiled at the jurors and they all turned white with fear. The trial was fast as was the acquittal.

Once acquitted, Steve continued gambling and winning money. He was so successful that it got to the point where nobody would play poker or baccarat against him.

He became frustrated and took it out on the young female population. There were several women that disappeared without a trace. The police knew who committed the crimes but they had no witnesses or proof.

Steve and his demon, Edward, turned their attention to the Bradys. They knew where the Bradys were staying with their two new friends. He decided to stake it out for a while. Well, Edward had insisted on it.

There was a thunderstorm starting. It was unusual for Vegas. The usual amount of rainfall for October was a quarter inch and they received about two inches that day. Two squealing women with papers over their heads ran towards him. He grabbed one of them and softly slashed her shoulder. He wanted her alive. He yelled to her terrified blonde friend, “There’s a doctor through the hotel door in Room 4 and you better hurry or she will bleed out.”

Victoria had been called to the window by Snowflake and witnessed what happened. Brady, Matt and Bob ran out and knocked out the screaming Steve. Molly was escorted out to the sidewalk by Dave and Barry.

She tried to help the wounded woman while Victoria called an ambulance and police, who eventually came and arrested Steve. He laughed at them. “No court of law will convict me.”

The state and local prosecutors would have nothing to do with the case. They had seen what happened to the previous people who had tried to prosecute Steve. They were all dead or in the hospital with serious medical or psychological problems.

The locals called the governor and the governor called the White House. The president called the head of the FBI. He had

heard rumors about the special friends of the director.

The director called Bob and Barry to see what they thought their friends could do. Bob and Barry called him back a few hours later. They would need credentials for a federal judge and an attorney. They would have to pass serious scrutiny. Bob sent him the pictures of the two men. A day later, they were set.

Steve was warned by Edward that something felt different and was told to hire the best lawyer money could buy. He did. He was a real sleaze bag, even for a lawyer. Steve figured Edward was wrong and it would be a cake walk again. The judge assigned was known for being a little quirky but still a hard ass. He was six-foot five with light gray hair.

The prosecuting attorney was named Wyman and he had been recently hired by the FBI. He was the lawyer that took down the largest casino on the East Coast the year before for the FBI. The judge had let some quirky characters in his courtroom.

A reluctant jury was selected and the trial began. A young female witness was allowed to bring her pet owl into court to help her relax. The defense argued slightly but didn’t want to piss off the judge. The lawyer figured it would have no bearing on the trial outcome.

It would be an easy win with the jittery jury, which had obviously read about the last trial involving Steve in the papers. After the preliminary statements, Wyman decided to call Victoria as the first witness to help relax the other young lady. She was scared out of her mind.

Steve watched the young girl take the stand. He tried to decide on which way to kill her. He decided on a fatal stroke caused by a ruptured anterior cerebral artery in her brain.

He would wait for the FBI lawyer to ask her a question first. It would make the other witness reconsider testifying. He needed line-of-sight viewing to affect anyone.

Victoria was called to the stand. The defense didn’t know the people involved in the prosecution knew each other. The girl was dressed to look even younger than she actually was. Wyman asked her name, what she was doing at the hotel, and the activity that led up to the viewing of the event.

Victoria started her testimony. “Well, I had just started watching Jeopardy when my owl called me to the window to look outside at something.”

The defense lawyer jumped up, laughing. “Does the young witness really expect us to believe a stupid owl called her to the window?” He was surprised her lawyer didn’t intervene.

Victoria smiled. “Well, why don’t you ask her?” He laughed and looked at the judge.

The judge spoke harshly to her. “Victoria, do you expect the court to believe this dumb owl called you to the window?”

Victoria tried not to smile. “If you don’t believe me, have the lawyer question her. She understands ten languages.”

Steve couldn’t believe his ears; he decided that he would wait to kill the little girl. This could help the defense. The defense attorney knew a good thing when he heard it. He figured he could make the witness look unstable.

He stood up shook his head and chuckled. “Fine, we will talk to the...witness.”

The court audience laughed loudly. Victoria would be recalled later after the farce played out. The clerk droned, “The court calls...”

Victoria whispered “Snowflake” to him and returned to her seat.

He nodded. “Snowflake will please take the stand.”

To everyone’s surprise, the owl flew off her perch and landed on the witness rail.

The whole court erupted in laughter. The judge took charge. “Bring her perch to the front of the box, bailiff.” He slid the perch over. The bird stepped down to it. The defense lawyer stood up. The bird looked agitated and started hooting.

Victoria stood up and raised her hand. The judge looked at her. “Yes, what is it, Victoria?”

She looked at him sheepishly. “Um, Your Honor, Snowflake wants to be sworn in.” The judge looked surprised but nodded to a man who came forward. There was a slight chuckling in the court.

The man was flustered. “Um, raise your left talon...” The bird

raised her left talon.

The nervous man looked quickly at the judge and stuttered, “Sorry, Your Honor.” He looked back at Snowflake. “Would you um, raise your right talon, please?” The bird switched to the right. It shocked the jury members.

He asked in a monotone voice, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” He got one hoot. The man shrugged at the judge and sat down.

Victoria stood. “One hoot is ‘yes’ and two hoots is ‘no’, Your Honor.” The court laughed. The judge nodded to the defense attorney.

He stood and laughed. “Very impressive.” The bird made some chattering sounds.

Victoria stood and translated, “She wants to know if that is a question.” The court laughed again. The judge had Victoria come forward and put a chair next to the bird. She sat in it.

The defense attorney got aggravated. “Hasn’t this farce gone far enough, Your Honor?”

The owl gave two hoots.

The court roared with laughter as the defense attorney continued, “Your Honor, this is just a stupid owl.”

He got two nasty hoots.

Victoria was defensive. “Well, actually she is very smart. She understands ten languages. Just how many do you understand, Mr. Mason?” The court laughed.

The exasperated judge banged his gavel. “You questioned the little girl’s story. Get on with your cross-examination.”

He walked over to the bird. “I will prove this bird can’t understand English or any other language. He got two hoots and Victoria laughed.

Mason asked, “Well, what’s so funny?”

Victoria said, “She hooted to you in Russian.” The whole court roared.

The lawyer blushed and got mad. “You don’t expect us to believe you understand the owl, do you?”

The judge piped up, “That is hard to believe, Victoria.” He thought a moment. “To cover all the bases we will do a little test. Bailiff, take the young lady to my chamber at the end of the hall.”

The judge cleared his throat and gave Mason a threatening stare. He then talked to the bird. “Um, Snowflake, we are going to give you three messages: one in English, one in Russian, and one in French. Do you understand those languages, Snowflake?” He got one hoot.

He continued, “When Victoria comes back, you will tell them to her. Do you understand?” He got one hoot. “Okay, Mr. Mason, please write three statements of your choice on three pieces of paper. Read the first one to the bird in English. Give the second to the court reporter; he speaks Russian.

He asked, “Does anyone besides me in court speak French?” Mrs. B. raised her hand. The lawyer knew she was Victoria’s mother but didn’t care. This farce would be over soon. Each person stood and read their statement in the appropriate language.

The judge chuckled. “Did you understand all the statements, Snowflake?” He got one hoot. He nodded to the clerk to go get the bailiff and Victoria. She walked in and took her seat.

The judge spoke to her. “Snowflake is going to tell you three statements that were read to her. You will tell the court what she said.”

The owl made sounds like clicking to Victoria. She laughed and nodded.

Victoria spoke. “The English statement was that Mr. Mason got an A in Psych 101. I laughed because Snowflake said you only got a C.” The court laughed loudly. Mr. Mason blushed angrily.

Victoria gave him a sly smile, “I guess that answers that question.” The second and third statements were all repeated back correctly.

The judge chuckled and shrugged, “Your witness, counselor.”

Mason knew he was beat on the point. “We, ah, accept the fact that the witness was ushered to the window by the bird, Snowflake.” The whole court clapped.

Steve got ready to zap Victoria. He let her have it just as Mason finished speaking. She turned quickly and looked at him with her eyebrows up. He felt a great pain in his head. He was shocked to see her smiling at him.

She smirked and started her testimony. “Yes, I looked out the window and saw that fat little creep grab the young girl from behind like a little coward. He slit her shoulder and then laughed. He told her friend to run inside the hotel to get the doctor.”

The lawyer smiled. “So you could hear her from inside the hotel room? Just how far were you away from the defendant exactly?”

Victoria smiled. “I would say forty yards.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “It was getting dark and starting to rain and thunder, correct?”

Victoria saw where it was going. The lawyer chuckled, “So you say... So how did you know what he was saying?”

She gave him a, you’re an idiot look. “Obviously I can read lips. And before you ask I have 20/05 vision.”

The lawyer chuckled, “So you say. You must be a super girl. I suppose you speak more than one language, also?”

Victoria gave him a sarcastic stare. “Yes, I speak eight languages and this year I am taking two Indian dialects in school.”

He shook his head. “Your junior high school teaches Indian languages?” She was defensive. “Yes, I think you will replace MIT teaches many languages, but I admit that a lot of them are computer software languages.”

He looked shocked. “You don’t mind if we test you?”

She laughed, “For your fee of five hundred dollars an hour, I would have expected you to do your homework. Now you are going to risk testing me and having the floor fall out from under you.”

She knocked on her head. “Hello, Lawyer 101: Don’t ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to. Are you trying to lose your case?”

The lawyer bristled. “Thank you, ‘Mr. Burger’. I will conduct my case as I see fit. I only need a Plan A. Plan B is for losers.” He looked nervously back at his client, who stared right through him. Steve’s eyes seemed to have lost their fire.

Victoria stared at Wyman, who turned and looked back at Steve’s blank face. The testing of Victoria’s language aptitude did not go well for Mason. Luckily for him, Edward was off getting a friend to help him in case the trial didn’t go well.

Wyman realized something was not right with Steve and called the girlfriend of the wounded young lady while he was out of kilter. She was very relieved when Wyman stood in the way of Steve’s vision.

When he was through, Mason talked to Steve. Mason was told to stand to the side so Steve could see her. His eyes gained back their fire again and Wyman could see fear building in the girl’s eyes.

The owl, Snowflake, hooted a few times. Victoria stood up. The judge looked at her. “What is wrong with your owl, Victoria?”

Victoria sighed, “She is sitting under the air conditioner and would like to be moved away from it.”

The judge shrugged and looked around. “Move her over to the side of the witness box. It should be warm there.”

It was moved right in front of the view of Steve. Mason jumped up. “We object, Your Honor. We want the bird in a different place.

The judge looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Why is that Mr. Mason? The bird isn’t in your way.”

Mason looked flustered. “The defendant has the right to face his accuser.”

The judge stared silently at the lawyer for several seconds. “You’ll have to be more specific than that, counselor.”

Mason glanced at his client. “He thinks the witness will feel guilty about these lies she is telling.”

The judge looked at Wyman, who smiled. The judge shrugged and said, “Fine” The bird was moved two feet to the right. The witness was surprised to see the bird was still in the way.

She looked over at Wyman with a confused look. Mason smiled and said, “Thank you, Your Honor.” He started his cross but was interrupted by a cough from his client, who was waving furiously at him.

Steve whispered loudly. “He didn’t move the damn bird.”

Mason looked back. “What are you talking about? It is two feet to the right of the witness stand.”

Steve stood up, yelling at the court and judge. “I have the right to face my accuser. That is the law.”

The judge laughed. “We moved the bird out of your way.

What is your problem now? Do you want to sit in her lap?”

Steve stood up. “Okay, you asked for it. He smiled menacingly and pointed at the judge. “Behold!”

The judge stood up and grabbed his throat. He crashed down on the bench. A shocked court went silent and stared at the judge. Steve smiled broadly.

After a few seconds the judge suddenly sat up. “Okay, unless you’re going to phasor me or something, we are going to continue. Mr. Mason, control your client or he will watch the trial from his cell. Now sit your butt down and shut up.” The court laughed loudly.

Steve seemed to be talking to himself in response to the judge’s order.

The young lady gave her testimony with little interference from Mr. Mason. The trial proceeded quickly. The closing arguments would be presented the next morning.

The Brady faction went back to their rooms. Molly wanted to show John what pizza was and as a joke introduce him to anchovies. Victoria and Snowflake watched Jeopardy. Snowflake would heckle her when she gave a wrong answer. Wyman and Wendy went to a Harry Potter movie. The Bradys and the FBI guys played contract bridge for a penny a point. Matt and Dave had gone to play blackjack at the nearby casino. They were doing well.

They played at a twenty-five dollar minimum table. There was a beautiful blonde girl sitting next to Dave who won ten hands in a row. Her last five hands were won with blackjacks. She won all with spade aces and a face card.

Unfortunately for her, there were only four decks in the shoe. The fifth ace of spades got her arrested. Dave and Matt got up to protest and had multiple spade aces fall out of their sleeves. They protested that the cards weren’t theirs and that they were Massachusetts detectives but got laughed at. All three were detained for the local police.

The two men were both put in the backseat of one of a pair of police cars. The beautiful young lady was placed in the other. The woman’s car was in front of the men’s. After a couple miles the two detectives were surprised to see the driver of the front car get out and open the locked door where the girl was sitting.

Matt asked his driver what he was doing and got a humping motion and a laugh. “I guess she wants to settle out of court.” The officer took out his gun and handed it to the woman, who double tapped him in the head. The dead man fell against the door and slid to the ground.

Their driver swore. Dave stuttered, “I can’t say much for her foreplay.”

Their driver pulled his gun and jumped out of his cruiser. He walked over to her stiffly and handed his gun to the woman. She shot him in the head also. She calmly got in the car with the two detectives. Don’t worry I am not going to kill you two.” She drove toward the outskirts of town and into the darkness.

John and Molly came out of the pizza house. John looked a little green. “I liked the pizza...but those anchovy things were bloody horrible.”

A guilty Molly laughed and looked out at the setting sun. A police car went by and she saw it was driven by a civilian female. “Huh, that is strange.”

John was looking in the back seat. “Where are Matt and Dave going in the police car?” Matt looked out and waved his arms. He mouthed “Snowflake” to John. John nodded back to Matt.

Molly looked around for a taxi but there were none around. The hotel was a ten-block walk away.

Victoria sighed at the final Jeopardy answer; it was about

soap opera stars. She didn’t even listen to Alex Trebek as he read the answer, but went to the fridge instead to get a juice pack.

Returning to the room, she decided to watch an old Sherlock Holmes movie. It contained Basil Rathbone, who played the part of Holmes. He was the only believable actor to play that character. The owl, Snowflake, seemed agitated.

Victoria laughed. “Oh come on. You know I don’t waste time watching soap operas.” The owl’s head popped up as she heard footsteps approach from the sidewalk. Molly and John walked in. John looked a little greenish, which made Victoria laugh. “Anchovies?” she asked.

He nodded miserably. Molly laughed. “I couldn’t help myself. On the way home, we saw a police car with a beautiful young girl driving it. You would never guess who was in the back seat.”

Bob looked up from his bridge hand. “Who?”

John smiled. “Matt and Dave. They must have done something bloody naughty.”

Bob looked surprised. “You say a woman was driving?”

John smiled. “Yes, a real beauty. I understand the police here don’t always wear uniforms?”

Brady chuckled. “Real ones do. Maybe she was a hooker.”

His wife kicked him under the table. “Ouch. I was only kidding, dear. Um... did they look happy?”

Molly gave John a frosty stare. He thought for a moment before he replied, “They did not look happy to me. They looked nervous. Matt seemed to mouth the word Snowflake.”

Victoria called Snowflake. She was watching The Big Bang Theory. She liked sci-fi comedies.

Mrs. B. talked to her. “Are Dave and Matt in trouble?”

She got one hoot.

“Do you know where they are?”

She got two hoots.

Snowflake then made chattering sounds to Victoria. She nodded and translated, “They are under control of a being from another dimension that was summoned by the demon that is in Steve.”

She sighed. “They plan on gathering strength enough to summon others and take over the world. I hate this religious stuff. When these demons kill someone or even scare them, they can absorb the energy of the person, but they can’t harvest energy from well-balanced people.”

She continued, “Snowflake’s energy is not stronger or weaker than theirs, it is just different. It is hard for her to influence them and for them to influence her. There is a second demon is here to settle a score. It likes to be called Mr. President.”

Brady chuckled, “That would be our pal, Vantrix.”

Victoria nodded. “It is helping Steve’s demon for now because it doesn’t have enough strength built up to do its own thing...yet. Snowflake doesn’t know where they are. She might be able to help indirectly, once we know where they’re located.”

Bob got a call about the murder of two police officers who

were transporting two men and a blonde woman from the local FBI office. “They have a video from the police car and have e-mailed me a copy,” he shared with the group. Everyone watched it silently.

Molly shook her head. “Why on earth did the policeman let her out and give her his gun?”

John laughed. “Better still, why would the second policeman do the same thing after watching what happened to his friend?” Victoria spoke. “The demon possessed each one, from the first cop back to the driver of the second car just long enough to get their guns.”

Barry asked, “Well, why didn’t it kill Dave and Matt?”

Brady surmised, “They are probably bait to get the trial delayed so they can replace ways to get to eliminate the jury.”

The blonde woman drove their new stolen police car into the desert. Dave looked at Matt. “Well, at least I don’t see a shovel.”

Matt chuckled, “Most people keep them in the trunk or another car.” Dave watched another car in the mirror. An awful fluorescent-orange seventies muscle car with tinted windows pulled up behind them.

He sighed, “Crap.”

Matt chuckled. “Well, Dave, at least they are not carrying a shovel.”

Dave laughed nervously, “Then maybe we both won’t die with Gronk-autographed Patriots’ game jerseys on.”

The blonde got out to meet the two men in the other car.

“Steve wants them on ice for a few days. Keep them out in the desert. The cabin has a solar cell roof for power. It is flat for five miles in every direction with no rocks, so you can keep an eye out for unwanted visitors. And boys, no sneaking into town to gamble.”

The police said the tracker in the stolen car had stopped working and they lost it on the outskirts of Vegas going towards Creech Air Force base and Indian Springs.

The Bradys told police that both men were wearing their autographed Patriots Gronk jerseys and had gone to play blackjack. The police found out they were the two arrested for cheating at blackjack with a woman accomplice. They reportedly had cards up their sleeves.

Brady chuckled, “They were hunted and set up for abduction.”

Steve’s lawyer reluctantly told the judge if the trial were to continue, the two men would die. The Bradys and the FBI agents set up a search grid in the area for the men and woman. The Vegas police had other plans that involved shooting her in cold blood.

They didn’t notice Victoria had released Snowflake out onto the patio. She sat on a rail chatting, apparently to herself. She then flew towards the north.

There was no plumbing or water supply at the shack. Water had to be trucked in from Vegas. The blonde told the two men to watch Matt and Dave carefully and to kill them if they tried to escape. She also warned the guards again to stay out of Vegas. They could gamble the next week.

The two men had shackled them to chairs. Matt was shocked to hear a voice in his head. “The owl can’t help you here in the desert. That is why the blonde entity put you out here. I can, but my power is limited to the desert area.”

The voice chuckled, “You have to convince the two men that your Patriots football jerseys are magic and if they wear them gambling, they cannot lose. I will take care of the magic. Tell them the magic only works during the full moon, which happens to be tonight.” Dave stared at the funny expression on Matt’s face.

Snowflake came back to the hotel. She chirped to Victoria. Victoria nodded to her. “Okay, we have to check all the casinos for someone wearing Matt’s cool autographed Gronk jersey. The man will be winning heavily at blackjack. When he leaves, he will lead us to our two friends.

She continued, “Everyone will have to spread out to search. Apparently, I am too young to go in a casino. I will try to keep track of where everyone is and check the sidewalk for our friends. Snowflake will circle the outskirts for them and try to keep an eye on yours truly.” She was irritated about being watched over. Brady laughed and she gave him a nasty stare.

The trial had been postponed until that Monday. The judge told the press there was a bomb scare and that they would take the weekend to check out the courthouse.

The blonde woman walked into the jail, holding Steve with a nine-millimeter weapon. She calmly shot the guards and walked out with Steve. She shot a couple prisoners on the way out.

Steve chuckled. “Nice.”

She shrugged. “Those prisoners deserved it. They didn’t whistle at me on the way in.” Steve chuckled at her again.

Matt kept looking at his watch and out the window at the sky.

The man guarding him laughed. “Yeah...we get a lot of UFO activity out here.”

Matt chuckled. “No, I’m looking at the sky to see if there is a full moon.”

The man laughed. “Yes, tonight there is a full moon.

Why do you care? Are you a Wiccan or something?” Dave looked at Matt curiously.

Matt glanced at Dave and sighed. “No. We have our blessed lucky football jerseys on that always win during a full moon. It is a shame we were picked up tonight. I could have used the twenty thousand we would have won. They were blessed by an old medicine man whose son we saved.”

He looked at Dave. “I am afraid we won’t win any money this month. That is too bad.” That got the attention of the two men...and Dave, too.

The leader laughed. “You don’t really expect us to believe that crap, do you?”

Matt looked serious and chuckled. “There are cards on the table; you have time to kill, try and beat me tough guy.”

The leader chuckled and moved Matt’s handcuff to the table leg. The leader dealt Matt three blackjacks in a row. The next hand, he was dealt two fives. Matt chuckled he looked at the dealer’s up card. It was a ten.

Matt smiled confidently. “Let’s split them.” The man looked at him like he was crazy. He hit Matt with two face cards. He laughed at Matt’s two fifteens and found his hole card was a two. The leader hit his twelve and busted.

Matt laughed. “Okay, take my Gronk jersey and see how you do.” The man undid the handcuff long enough for Matt to give him the jersey. His interested friend kept a gun on him.

Wearing the jersey, the guard won ten hands in a row. “You must be cheating to let me win,” the guard argued.

Dave laughed. “How could he be? You’re the one dealing.” Matt could see the man’s brain working.

Matt gave him a reason. “You have buy food to feed us. You could get us a couple pizzas with your winnings.”

Dave chirped, “And some cold beer, maybe?”

Matt chuckled. “We usually only play a half-hour if we bet a hundred a hand. I have five hundred dollars in my shoe you can play with.”

The second man shrugged at his friend. “What the hell. These two aren’t going anywhere. Bring me back a pepperoni with peppers and get a couple cases of beer.”

The leader drove into town. He picked a casino that let hookers inside. If he won a lot of money, he would try to bring back more than pizza. He only had two hundred dollars plus Matt’s five hundred. He sat down at a twenty-five dollar table that had all good-looking women playing.

Brady had followed the loud cheering and soon spotted the Gronk shirt. The man won eight hands out of nine. In fifteen minutes, he had ten thousand dollars and the attention of every hooker within two blocks.

Victoria was busy scanning the sidewalk. A woman walked up and stuck a Glock in her back. “Walk with me, sweetie, or I’ll shoot mommy when she comes out of the door.” John and Molly walked out of a nearby casino and recognized Victoria walking down the street with an unknown blonde woman.

John whispered to Molly, “That is the woman who was driving the police car!” Victoria saw them and tried to walk away. The blonde pushed her forward again and was shocked to see her man holding several pizzas. “What are you doing here?”

The scared man spoke quickly. “We had no food to eat. I’m on my way back. The two men are both handcuffed, hand and foot.”

She stared at the pizzas. “Get your ass back and stay there. If I see you here again you will be in big trouble.”

The man hastily headed back to his truck. The Bradys came slowly out of the casino. They spotted the man in the Gronk shirt but didn’t see Victoria walking anywhere on the sidewalk.

Brady decided he would follow the man and Mrs. B. would replace out where Victoria had wandered off to. The man stopped for beer and headed out.

John decided to follow the woman and sent Molly to replace the Bradys and the FBI agents. John followed at a distance. After all, the blonde did have a gun and he didn’t. She appeared to be going to an isolated section of town. John was afraid that she was going to kill Victoria.

Molly found the FBI agents and told them about the abduction of Victoria. She told the agents it appeared that the woman had an agenda, but what was it? Molly told Mrs. B. that John was following the woman and showed her the general direction.

Victoria walked with the woman. “Who are you and what do you want with me?”

She was surprised to get an answer in a male’s gravelly voice. “Revenge, sweetie, and you are the cheese in my trap. I am going to squash all the little mice that come after you, starting with him.” She turned and shot at a surprised John and he fell quickly backwards onto the pavement and behind a dumpster.

Brady couldn’t go back and get the rental car because he would lose the man. He got in a taxi and pointed, “Follow that car.”

The taxi driver laughed. “Good one. Where do you really want to go, man?”

Brady showed his badge. “Really. Follow that damn car.”

The driver laughed. “How much did you pay for the fake badge?”

Brady was pissed. “Here is a hundred dollars. Humor me.” The man turned off the meter and put his New York Jets hat on backwards.

Brady groaned loudly. The unshaven driver laughed. “Pats fan?” Brady nodded. They followed the car to the edge of town. It headed down an unused dirt road. The driver seemed to get agitated and kept looking around.

Brady laughed. “What’s wrong? Are there are a lot of Patriot fans out here?”

The cabbie whispered, “If I laugh, do I get a tip?” He looked in his mirror and sighed. “This area is haunted. People who go out into this area of the desert tend to disappear, dude.”

Victoria was shocked. The woman chuckled. “Don’t look so surprised. We have powers from our dimension too.” She walked back to look behind the dumpster with her gun at alert. There was nobody on the ground. She looked around with a shocked look.

She peered at Victoria, who chuckled and said, “Don’t look at me. I am as surprised as you are.” She jabbed Victoria in the back with her weapon. Victoria caught a glimpse of a white hawk sitting on the power line and staring intently at them.

Brady watched the driver start to hyperventilate. He shook his head. “Jets fan, figures. Stop the car.” He got out and shoved the driver over and slid another fifty bucks in his pocket. “What buildings are around here?”

The man sighed. “There is a deserted shack about fifteen miles out. Hey man, I’m going to get sick.”

Brady yanked his Jets hat off and chuckled, “Here, use this.”

Brady drove the taxi with the lights off. He slid down into an arroyo and got stuck. He looked at the green driver. “Hey, Jets colors. Sorry, man.”

The driver moaned, “I’m not going out there.” Brady struggled to get up the side of the arroyo in the loose sand. A rope came over the side. He grabbed it and was pulled up. He was surprised to see the sheriff.

Brady chuckled. “What are you doing here?”

The sheriff had a big smile. “A mutual friend thought you might need help. We don’t usually get to roam outside of our little town. This is a real treat for me. So where are the varmints we are going to shoot?” That question made Brady laugh.

The man made it back with the pizzas. “She bagged me but she thinks I only went for pizzas.”

The second man looked at him. “Well?”

He put twenty thousand dollars on the table and smiled. “I think I was being followed by a taxi,” he said, “but I lost it. I think it hit an arroyo ten miles back because the lights disappeared.”

They started to eat pizza. Dave was still wondering about the outlandish story that Matt had come up with, but it seemed to have worked. He figured he better not ask any questions.

They heard a noise and the leader went to the window and was shocked to have a sniper rifle pointing at him. A man laughed and walked around to the front. “We could smell the pizza, pepperoni right?” He walked in and saw the four pizzas.

He smiled. “My three friends and I were sent by our blonde friend, Martha. If we are going to save your asses, we deserve a pizza. You do know someone is following you here, right?”

The man chuckled. “It is one guy. What can he do that won’t get him killed? The area around us is totally flat. What the hell is he going to do? Hide behind a cactus or bring his own rock?”

The sniper walked outside and scanned the horizon with the starlight scope in one hand and a piece of pepperoni pizza in the other. “We have a heat signature about ten miles to the east. He is alone and coming straight towards us. What an idiot.”

Victoria asked, “Where are you taking me?”

The blonde woman smiled. “I’m bringing you where your little weird buddies can’t replace you. My friend Steve wants the trial delayed for a couple days so he can kill a few of the jurors to intimidate the rest.”

Victoria was brought to a casino and taken to a suite with a one-way window looking down forty floors to the parking lot.

Victoria asked, “Why are we at a casino?”

She answered, saying, “Steve is gambling below to get money for his trial. You are here in case some of your friends try to, let us say, interfere. That would be not good for them...or for you, I’m afraid.”

The sheriff could see the pinpoint of light in the distant building go out. Brady chuckled, “They know we’re here.”

The sheriff looked at him with a surprised look and laughed. “They can’t see us in the dark.”

Brady whispered, “They must have a light scope or infrared.”

The sheriff spoke. “Fine. Whatever they are, but how do you know they saw us?”

Brady smiled. “They just bought pizza. You don’t turn off the light to eat it. Let’s hope they have infrared. You won’t be seen then.”

A round hit the sheriff in the chest. Brady dove to the ground and checked the sheriff. He was embarrassed but fine. Brady smiled. “Well, they must have a sniper rifle and starlight scope.”

The sheriff looked to the front and a huge boulder ten feet high appeared in front of them. He blushed, “They can’t kill me but it still hurts!”

The sniper chuckled, “Scratch one good guy.”

His friend smiled. “Where did you hit him?”

He answered. “I hit him in the chest. I think he fell behind that large rock.”

The friend looked surprised. “What rock? Are you on crack? There are no rocks out here for ten miles.”

The sniper chuckled and handed the rifle and scope to his friend. “It looks like a rock to me. What do you think it is? A giant barrel cactus?”

The man looked. “Huh. I don’t remember any rocks. I think I would remember one that big.”

They took fire from the rock. One man looked up, surprised, as the round hit ten feet to his left.

He laughed. “What an idiot. That was pistol fire and they are still miles away. What a lucky shot.” Moments later, his smiling friend watched him grab his butt and scream, “The son of a bitch hit me. Do you believe that?

The sniper looked through his scope. “Hey Davy, that rock looks a lot closer all of a sudden.” Another round just missed his foot. They hid behind the cabin.

Brady was impressed. “Boy you’re a good shot, Sheriff.”

He chuckled. “I have had a hundred years of practice. I could have killed them but there is no fun in that. I’ll just pick little pieces off them for a while, unless they get nasty.”

There were two snipers on the other side of the house. One looked through his scope and chuckled. “You missed him. There are two figures still standing behind the rock.” He was looking at them standing just behind the edges of the boulder when the boulder moved.

He shouted, “Did you see that? The boulder just slid forward about ten feet.”

Brady and the sheriff continued peppering them with light fire. The sheriff kept giving Brady more bullets from his pocket.

Brady looked in his coat pocket. “How many more rounds have you got in there?”

The sheriff laughed. “As many as we need. Keep peppering them.” He grunted and pushed the rock forward as Brady shot.

The snipers started to get alarmed. They made the two men inside come out to help. One of the men casually walked out the front door. He laughed, “Why do you need us? We only have pistols. Those bozos only have pistols. I can tell by the sound. You have sniper rifles—the M110, no less. They can’t hit anything from where they are.”

The man laughed again and shook his head. He let out a yelp and grabbed his butt. “I’ve been shot in the ass!”

The snipers laughed at him. “I guess nobody told them pistols are ineffective from that distance.”

The man looked back through his scope. “That rock is a lot closer. We have to get them out from behind that damn rock. Set the house on fire with their two friends in it. That should draw them out.” A gas can was dumped on the outside of the small building.

Dave sat inside but was looking out the window. “Oh, oh. They’re going to burn the building down with us in it.” A man outside lit a whole book of matches and smiled at them. The flame lit his face. A bullet pierced his forehead and he fell headfirst against the window and dropped the matches. The whole side of the building exploded in flames.

Dave yanked on his cuffs but they were solid. “Shit Matt, we are toast.”

All the bad guys were outside, waiting for the two men to make a desperate rush to free their friends. Brady jumped up ready to charge towards the cabin. The sheriff grabbed his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”

He gasped, “I have to save my friends.”

The sheriff smiled. “It is taken care of, relax. The chief will protect them after he screws with them a little. I am afraid he has a strange sense of humor.”

Matt and Dave were surprised to see an old drunken Indian stumble in. The flames were getting close to them and the two screamed at the Indian for help. He yanked on the handcuffs

and shook his head. “Ugg.”

He saw a cooler with ice and beer. He dumped the melted water on the flame and it retreated. It started coming back so he opened a beer and dumped it on the flame. He smelled the can and realized it was beer and started chugging cans.

He saw the pizza next to the fire and threw it on the table with Matt and Dave. He really liked pepperoni and started eating a piece.

The two men yelled and he shrugged and pushed a pizza in front of them. They yelled again.

The Apache shook his head and said, “Firewater no good for white brother.” He ate two pizzas and chugged two six-packs while burping and farting loudly. The chief finished all the beer off. The flames were coming back.

He looked around for water but found none. He decided to urinate in a big circle around the two men and, when he finished, he fell forward into Dave’s lap, snoring loudly.

The two men struggled but couldn’t get loose. They yelled for help. The snipers outside were all behind the Range Rover. They were still waiting for Brady and the sheriff to run towards the burning building. To their surprise the vehicle slowly started to roll away from the cabin.

They discovered the keys were locked inside. The leader swore, “Nice going, Davy.”

Davy sighed, “I got this.” He shot at the window and fell to the ground, dead.

The leader shook his head. “Bulletproof glass, moron.” The car rolled faster. Brady and the sheriff continued to pepper the car with bullets. It rolled so fast that the men couldn’t stay behind it, especially when the sheriff hit the gas tank with a bullet. The two men at the rear were covered in gas and burning alive. Brady let the sheriff shoot them.

The chief woke up with his face in Dave’s lap. He threw up in it. Matt looked at the ring on the floor around them. The fire had stopped right on the edge. He laughed. “Well, at least we didn’t burn up. Boy this Indian can piss.”

The Indian struggled out the door with the last pepperoni pizza. Dave looked down at his lap and realized there was nothing there. He sighed with relief.

Brady and the sheriff came in the smoldering ruins and released their friends. Matt and Dave were shocked to see the sheriff with Brady. He chuckled. “The chief and I figured you could use some help. We don’t get out much anymore.”

Steve was in the casino. He had won ten hands in a row. He had several people staring at him. They had reshuffled twice. The pit boss took two steps toward him and collapsed to the ground. He took three shallow breaths and gasped, “Heart attack.” He then died on the floor.

The dealer bent over him with concern. Steve was aggravated. “Hello? Are you going to deal or what?”

She looked angry. “A man is dying here. Don’t you care?” Steve smiled and stared at her. Her eyes showed terror as she grabbed her chest and collapsed on the floor next to the pit boss, dead.

All the people were looking at him. He chuckled, “Oh, I am the bad guy here? The pit boss was going to throw me out and the girl wouldn’t deal, which was, after all, her job.” He looked at them all with a disgusted sneer. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll go to a casino that knows how to treat their whales.”

Steve went up to meet the woman holding Victoria. He looked down at the girl. “Good job grabbing the smart-mouthed little bitch. Where are the other two?”

She shrugged. “I left them out at the cabin. They are bait to get rid of a few of the Brady group who are stupid enough to try and save them.”

Steve laughed. “I am not worried about the damn Bradys. My power is stronger than their friends. I think I’ll go out and finish them off for the fun of it. I like fun but first some supper.” The woman watched him leave.

Victoria spoke up. “I gather you don’t agree with that?”

The blonde woman replied, “I don’t care either way. He can do what he wishes to them. They are nothing to me. Maybe he just likes to kill.”

Steve knew where the jury was sequestered. He figured he would eat a pizza in his hotel overlooking their rooms. He would need line-of-sight to kill. He had bought a small telescope and set it up in his window.

He ate pizza and looked through it at the various open curtains. He saw four of the jurors in four second-floor windows. He chuckled at the first one, saying, “I hate people who think they are smart and like Jeopardy.” The man dropped the remote on the floor and stiffened in the chair with his legs straight out. Two minutes later, the man’s body slumped in the chair, dead.

The woman in the next room was reading. He decided to play with her a little while. She was sitting on the couch under a lamp. Her knees were up in her chest. He stared at the lamp and it slowly dimmed. He chuckled to himself. She started to move the book closer to her face. She suddenly realized what she was doing and looked up quickly at the brightly lit lamp.

She stared at it for several seconds and then down at the book. She put her hand over the book and waved it back and forth.

It was brightly lit and she saw the shadow. She thought for a moment and got up to go wash her glasses.

He laughed. “What an idiot. They shouldn’t let blondes sit on juries. He sighed as she came back in the room. She tripped on the overnight bag and hit her head on the coffee table. She would be dead in an hour.

There were two men left that were in adjacent rooms. Both were hot heads and former military. Steve finished his pizza and the six-pack of Coors and burped loudly. He chuckled as country and western “music” suddenly blasted from the second man’s room.

The man jumped up swearing and reached for the radio’s volume control. He turned it but nothing happened. He yanked the cord out but it still was blasting Johnny Cash. He lifted his arms in a “why are you still playing” gesture.

There was a nasty knock on the door. His neighbor screamed at him, “Turn that thing down or I’ll stick it up your butt.”

The second juror looked pissed. “It isn’t even plugged in, asshole. Check it for yourself.”

The man pushed him aside. He unplugged the radio and it went silent. He got in the second man’s face. “Do that again and I’ll kill you.” The shocked second man stood there looking at the plug.

The door slammed and the man went to bed. A pepperoni pizza later, the radio blasted again. The scared second man took a knife out of the drawer as he heard the man started kicking his door.

The first man broke in and got stabbed for his trouble. He managed to choke the man with the knife before bleeding out on top of him. Steve had absorbed their energy before they died. Their anger and fear were superb.

Victoria talked to the woman, asking, “So you feel no emotion when you kill?”

She chuckled. “Your suspicion is correct. I am a psychopath. If I want something and someone stands in my way, I kill them. I don’t kill for the sake of just killing; I have to get something from it. Killing creates complications and takes effort and uses energy. A true psychopath doesn’t react for revenge because that requires a response due to an emotion.”

Steve headed out to the building in a stolen truck to finish off the two detectives. He was surprised to see a cab stuck in an arroyo. “What happened to you?”

The cabbie gave him a sarcastic look. “I was driving some guy out towards that deserted building that is about ten miles further out. We were following a car. He paid me a hundred bucks to follow him with my lights off.”

Steve shook his head. “There was only one guy?”

The man nodded. “Can you help me?”

Steve smiled. “I can relieve you of your problem.” He shot the man in the head. “Whoa, now I know why everyone out here likes guns.”

He drove out to the cabin and saw the charred building. Two men were wrapping wounds on a third man. “Where are the two men?”

A sniper answered, “They got away somehow. Two guys attacked us and they freaking got away.”

Steve was pissed. “Six of you couldn’t handle one man?” The sniper looked up. “There were two men and a drunk old Apache Indian.”

“They shot all of you?”

He protested, “They had pistols.”

“You had sniper rifles and night scopes. How could they get close enough to shoot you? The ground is flat for ten miles with no trees.”

“They hid behind a boulder and kept pushing it closer, plus they were really good shots.”

Steve looked around. “I don’t see any boulder.”

The man gave him a sarcastic smile. “Well, they must have taken it with them.”

His friend chuckled for the last time. Steve shot them all. He threw one of the sniper rifles in the black truck with ammo. He headed back to Vegas. He would stake out the casino and wait for the little girl’s friends.

The woman talked over a pizza with Victoria. “So, what do you like to watch on TV, little girl?”

Victoria laughed. “I don’t have much time to watch TV, but I like Homicide Hunter, Women with Knives, and Forensic Files.” The woman laughed. Victoria blushed. “I like the thought processes in them.” The woman chuckled and suddenly became alert.

She looked out the window. “I am afraid Steve is coming and he is pissed. He will tell your little friends where you are and kill them all when they come, even your pal the magical owl. He has no reason to do it; he is only after the John Hollings being. I have a score to settle with your family. I was the president you helped destroy. He has no right to rob me of my revenge.”

She stared out the window. “Huh, it is raining again.” She sighed, “I am not going to let him interfere. Leave quickly. I will replace you later. You and your friends get out of the state. I will delay him if I can.”

Victoria looked at her. “What can he do to you? You are already dead, right?”

She looked surprised. “He can drag me back to where he got me: the inferno. Why do you want to know that?”

Victoria shrugged, “I don’t want to be the cause of your suffering.”

The woman laughed loudly. “I want to kill your family and probably you and you are worried about causing me pain.”

The hawk landed in an alley across the road from the casino.

Two drunks sat talking when a white bird landed on the edge of the dumpster. It stared intently at the two men who threw an empty bottle at it. The bird flew into the dumpster.

The two young drunks laughed and the taller one spoke.

“Let’s kill it.” They looked over the edge of the bin and saw an angry John with a cut on his forehead. “Where did the white bird go, sport?”

John looked at the blood on his hand. “He felt unwelcome and flew away.”

The leader smiled and opened a switchblade. “You should have flown away, too, sunshine.”

John jumped out of the dumpster. “Oh really and why is that?”

The second man smiled with yellow teeth. “Because we are going to rob and kill you, that’s why. You should have stayed in your own country like the camel jockeys.”

John sighed. “Look, I don’t have time for you two blokes, so get lost.” They apparently had serious hearing problems. A few seconds later, they had a few broken bones.

John found the room number where the woman held Victoria after he provided the traditional hundred dollar bribe to the desk clerk. Unfortunately for him, Steve had returned a few minutes before he got there. Steve was not happy.

He swore, “The two men got away and all my men are dead.”

The woman was surprised, “Someone killed them?”

He smiled. “Yes...I did. The men that rescued their friends only wounded them. I was going to kill them anyway.”

Victoria looked shocked. “Why did you kill your own men?” Steve gave her a sinister smile. “They failed me, I didn’t need them anymore and I like to kill things, as you are about to replace out, you little bitch.” The woman stepped in front of a surprised Victoria.

Steve looked at her and smiled. “Are you getting soft on me?”

The door opened with a loud thud from John’s foot. He ran into the room.

Steve turned around quickly and looked pleased. “Wow! This gets better and better. Look who have we here?” He recognized his brother John immediately.

Steve’s eyes turned stone-cold black as he smiled at John, “Don’t you know me?” The mannerisms were familiar and the eyes... Steve saw the recognition in John’s eyes and then the hate, as they confirmed, “Yes, it is I, your dear half-brother Edward. But I killed you; how are you alive?”

John stared at him. “I do not know. I saw your plane shot down and explode. You were killed. It was the last thing I saw.”

Steve chuckled. “Well, death is overrated. I stuck around to take you to the depths with me, but you disappeared. The prince found you for me. He sent me back to fulfill my revenge and it only cost me my soul, but if I bring back someone pure of spirit, I can keep it.”

He stared at Victoria. She was standing quietly behind the woman. Steve grabbed John and Victoria, who both passed out from his touch.

The woman grabbed Victoria’s hand. “No, she is mine.” She slowly began to pass out. They passed through many dimensions that appeared to be just blobs of light. Then everything became black and all sounds disappeared.

The woman gave one last desperate yank. Victoria and John fell into the darkness.

An irate Steve grabbed the woman’s hair. “The prince will decide your fate. That little stunt did you no good. I will come back for them after your trial.”

Two people from across the hall had opened their door when John kicked the door open of the woman demon. The police tried to talk to them but the man and woman were in shock. The Bradys and the FBI arrived soon after.

Molly told him that John had seen Victoria go with a blonde woman and apparently followed them to the casino building. They found he had bribed the desk clerk a hundred dollars to get their room number. Brady looked at the smashed-in door. “Well, I’d say John found them. The FBI searched the video and saw the girl and woman had entered the lobby but did not leave.

Dave and Molly decided to put the witnesses in the shower under a stream of cold water. It sometimes restored lucidity to shock patients.

The man came out of it first. “It had to be my imagination. I saw a large churning inky hole appear in the floor. The dark-haired man grabbed the little girl, and jumped into it.

The blonde man in the room grabbed the other hand of the little girl. The woman also grabbed the little girl’s hand and all of them disappeared into the hole in the floor. The floor immediately returned to normal and the room was empty. But that’s not possible.” He started to shake violently and Dave led him back to the shower.