Chapter 38

The first frantic call was from Judith. “We have troubles, Mark. A new band of thugs is attempting to run a protection racket in the neighborhood. Apparently, we are too crime free for their satisfaction and they have come to remedy the situation.”

“Have they shown their hand yet, or is it all bluster?” I asked. “Do you have any inkling of how many in the gang?”

“They wrecked the inside of the Schulman’s deli and beat up Mr. Hayes at the little hardware store at 71st Street. Mrs. Hayes told me there are around two dozen gang members leapfrogging through the area.” Judith quickly answered, “I estimate they will be here in a half hour or so.”

“Has anyone called 9-1-1?”

“Mostly people are too scared. The police might catch one or two, but retaliation will come and these guys are already pretty brutal.”

“OK. I’ll call my cavalry. Hold for a second.” I turned on my earwig. “Ellie, you on?”

“Sure, Boss. You need to call the Colonel. He’s acting nervous again. Something about China might blowback on us.” She gushed. “Whatcha need?”

“Got a new band of assholes hassling Mrs. Ryan. Get the Bakers, Toon and Linh on line. I’ll wait.”

Back to the phone. “Mrs. Ryan, who am I dealing with?”

“I’m told it’s a mixed group of whites, blacks and Hispanics, all wearing black and red tee-shirts and black vests. They want to be seen in force.”

“Good. We’ll be there soon. Call Capt. Llewellyn at the 20th Precinct and ask him to have Pulaski and Brown stand by for a call from Dr. Allyn. Have your friends video record everything that happens from this minute forward, but tell them to make nice and not resist. Nobody gets hurt.” I ordered, “Turn on all your surveillance cams, close the kiosk and lock yourself inside. I’ll see you soon.”

Ellie clicked in my ear. “We’re listening.”

“Gear up for trouble. Regular shorts and blouses over Airwear leotards. Cover Toon’s anime hair. RIA badges and ID, concealed. Full handgun and blade loads, silencers. Body cams. Look innocent. Bring the same for Mitzi, Bonnie, Connie and Amy. Send me my urban commando stuff and my working laptop. Ellie, go to DefCon 4. Full defense. Have Emma take the Ninjas down to our underground. Beth, you folks go north and meet me in the tunnel in twenty. Emma is to take the girls I’m sending south up to our house. Set watches and firing points as usual. Call me if there is a delay. Game on!”

“On it, Boss.”

Now for the girls with me. “Ladies, forget about this place for now. I’m evacuating you to Zephyr House right now. Trouble up top we have to put an end to. No discussion. You’ll be filled in later when the dust settles. Ellie and Eve are in charge there. Follow instructions.”

I continued. “Mitzi, Bonnie, Connie and Amy are with me. Nell, you and Karen are in charge of getting them there safely as quickly as possible. You, Emma and Leigh have the street, Ellie and Eve have the house. Call Billings on the sat phone. Find out what’s worrying him and alert Belle at the Bat Cave. Otherwise all comms are on the house band. Get a skills inventory of the newbies. Martial arts disciplines, weapons training, etc. Position everyone where they can contribute the most, even if it is to reload magazines or be spotters on the monitors. Ladies, this could turn very serious very fast. Move out. The clock is ticking.”

We hustled the girls out, shut down the Full Service Department as well as we could. Connie and I wedged the rusty iron door into place and we waited for the Ninjas.

“Mitzi, listen carefully. We are going into real street combat. You have martial arts training, I can tell. How good are you? Be honest. No bragging.”

“Muy thai, some tai chi and pretty good at kung fu. I can hold my own in a blade fight, armed or not. Bull’s eye at 20 feet with a medium-weight star. Why?”

“You will need it all. We will be outnumbered, against sociopaths who hurt and maim to intimidate. They are armed, ruthless thugs trying to establish gang territory in a neutral zone respected by the Cosa Nostra and the Chinese Triad. Can you kill?”

She considered for a second or two. “I know some lethal blows, but have never had to go full out. Is that what we are talking about?”

“In a word, yes. You are the only fighter here who has not been in life or death combat. Anne, Carol and Beth are an inch smaller than you and are the best among the girls. They can and will put an enemy down to stay in the blink of an eye. Linh is smaller than them at 4’10” and is nearly as good. Caralyn, ‘Toon’, is almost as tall as me and is rated expert in several schools. Amy can hold her own in hand-to-hand, but is a crack shot with her Glock. We have others, but I want them in defense of the house.”

“What is our role, bro?” Connie asked. “We’re military. Posse Comitatus.”

“Back up if it all goes to hell. You will go active in defense of Federal agents if we look like we need help. Otherwise stay frosty. These clowns are not the only characters in the circus. The strange bedfellows might still be around. Can’t know until I talk to Billings.”

The Z-Girls trotted up. “We’re early. Here are your things. The Colonel says it is too quiet and not quiet enough. Call him ASAP.” Beth reported. “Drones see the usual suspects near Bright Star. Belle is moving out with a Hummer, the guys and the whirlygirls. Blender, Tina and the others are holding the Bat Cave, but nothing is happening there. Chandler’s Row is still under the radar.”

“It’ll have to be tac channel.” I changed my earpiece and called Billings as I dressed for war. “Colonel, you listening?”

“I may need another cyber strike with plausible deniability. Can you repeat outside of the DoD network?”

“With creative reprogramming of my Zephyr network, maybe. But you’re asking me to violate some serious security protocols, felony grade violations. Even with clearance, I don’t feel good about this. It’s above my grade.”

“Not now. I can clear anything you do. Insider reports strongly suggest the Asians are going to hit us hard as soon as their infrastructure problems clear up, perhaps as soon as tonight. They are not happy despots and are crazy enough to make trouble for the biggest adversary. Us. We can withstand another attack, but we can’t shut down the network that long again.”

“First, I’ll find out what I can about their system failures. Maybe the failures can continue for a day or so. That might be enough to blunt the sword.” I sighed, “I’ll talk to you first. What’s up with the crowd at the Bowery? Captain Belkin is mobilizing forces and I raised RIA to DefCon 4.”

The girls were nearly ready to roll, looking like a bunch of young office workers and schoolgirls. Perfect camouflage.

“I’ll have her sync with Sgt. Parrish and the NYPD. A bunch of our good friends slipped through the screen or were already here. I’m assuming the latter. You just can’t reason with wild-eyed fanatics. No nukes but homicide bombers are not off the table. We haven’t face recced anyone north of 23rd Street, but you may get trouble at your house.” He answered slowly. “They seem attracted to the scene of the biggest defeat.”

“By that rule, they will be at 72nd Street soon to view the remains of the New York Yakuza.” I advised, “We’ll be out and about with a small force to deal with a nasty issue for Judith. We’ll keep an eye or ten out.”

“You do that. Take care of Agent Ryan. We owe her that. Don’t get blown up. Make my problems go away.”

“Remember what you said. Pay attention to odd events.”

“We did not have this conversation. Good bye.” He laughed and signed off.

“Girls. Things are happening quickly. Let’s move.”

We made Ryan Station in two minutes at a dead run. On the way up, I gave the plan. “According to Judith, our quarry is wearing black and red tee shirts and black vests. They are going into shops, leapfrog style, roughing up storekeepers and threatening worse if insurance payments aren’t made every week.”

I nodded to the Demon Trips. “You follow them in and make sure they don’t come out. One of you is more than enough to handle any two of them. Wait for a threatening move and waste the lot. Toon, pair up with Mitzi. Amy is with Linh. Use the silencers and you ought to have subsonic hollow point rounds. Max damage, no exit wound.”

Linh and Amy bumped fists and grinned. Caralyn looked at Mitzi and smiled. “We got this, Coach. High-low. Make every hit count.”

“Are the Bakers OK going solo? I don’t mean to question the Boss, but they are smaller than me.”

“You haven’t seen them in action. They are stupid fast, maybe the most dangerous women in New York. They’ll be fine. Master is the only person scarier.”

“OK. We’re on deck. Trips, exit and walk east toward Columbus until you can get into the last shops they are visiting. Make damn sure they don’t come out. Lag back and follow them in when you catch up. Toon, you and Mitzi, do the same to the west. I have the sidewalk in between. Protect yourselves and if you have to engage outdoors, do it quickly. Stay on comms.”

Ear click. “Ellie here. Jeff and Matt are nearby but standing off. You can do things they can’t. Llewellen will pick up the pieces. Happy hunting.”

“Thanks, sweetie. See you in the movies.”

You know what they say about best-laid plans. Gang aft agley, indeed, damnit.

Seemed like a dozen black vests were crowded around the newsstand pounding the sides and shouting obscenities at Mrs. Ryan. “Crap. Forget what I said. Fan out as we leave the lobby in order, left to right, Beth, Amy, Carol, me, Mitzi, Linh, Toon then Anne. Bonnie and Connie are behind, covering our flank. Advance and challenge. Got it?”

They nodded and we silently went through the door. We were able to get within five or six feet from the rude mob and I shouted. “Enough, gentlemen! That is no way to treat a lady. You will leave and never come back if you know what’s good for you.”

“Hey, Big Jax. We got ourselves a hero. He brought presents for the boys. We’ll save the big chink for you. What you want I should do with the sissyboy?’”

A giant Latino dude who fit the description said, “Just beat the hell out of him and take the whores home. If he fights back, cut his honky throat.”

Beth stepped closer, speaking softly, “We’re Federal Agents. You’re under arrest. Put your weapons on the ground.”

Another thug, this one white and tanned, “Federal agents, my ass. I ain’t never raped a Fed before. I want one of the redheads.” The dumbass pulled a knife.

“Weapons!” Toon shouted and we charged into the crowd, swinging. I immediately coldcocked ‘Big Jax’, heard Connie shout ‘Incoming!’ and open fire. The girls went berserk with me.

Every strike, punch or kick was meant to kill or, at the very least, permanently disable. Amy stood back and double-tapped any stooge who showed a gun. The unfortunates who went down had their knees, elbows, hands and balls stomped multiple times.

Among the bad decisions made by the wannabes was to charge my sisters with pistols blazing. You can’t aim holding the gun sideways and you can’t hit jack running with a cheap peashooter. I take that back. You can’t hit Connie and Bonnie but you can hit Jackson, Brother Jamal, Bobby, Phil and Choo-Choo Chad if they are on the other side running towards you. It appears they were as adept at target shooting as their comrades. Julio, Indio, Alvin, Fat David and Little Martin had the holes to prove it.

Ya gotta love disorganized crime. My sisters barely got a shot off and ten guys were down for the count, victims of ‘friendly fire’.

Meanwhile, I took out two more, besides Big Jax. Amy plugged two and the Bakers among them sent six to the Promised Land. Toon took two and cheered Mitzi as she destroyed her guy.

Linh, the smallest, picked the largest guy and, after she ran him down, taught a clinic for anyone listening. She told him what she was going to do and how much it would hurt before each strike. He was too dim to know he was not in her league and managed to pull a knife. It was his last act.

I knelt beside Big Jax head and explained the facts of life to him while pressing a chakra causing tremendous pain. “Now, you can tell me what I want to know or I can let the redhead cut your dick off and stuff it down your throat.”

Beth whispered in his ear. “I will take bets to see if you strangle or bleed to death. In any case, the last thing you will know is the taste of your own cock when you die.” She casually broke his right index finger. “I did not appreciate your dead idiot pal threatening to rape me, nor you telling him to kill my boss. You will answer his questions. If I think for even a second you are lying, I’ll feed you your balls, too.” Another finger popped.

He mumbled something about his rights and police brutality.

“We are having our first misunderstanding, Mr. Jax. We are not the police. They will be ever so respectful of your rights when they get here to pick up the pieces. For your information, most of your little mob is quite dead and you are catching up.”

“I’ll have witnesses to show I’m innocent. You will pay for this.”

“Don’t bother to have your mama cry to the TV cameras about how nice a person you are and how you never hurt a fly while working with your church to feed the homeless, etc. Your ass is on video beating up Mr. Hayes and any number of other shopkeepers. Every camera on the street recorded your attack on a bunch of office workers and little schoolgirls, not to mention ordering my death and the abduction and rape of my associates.” I hissed, “If you love your Mama, you won’t ask her to lie. She will get arrested and charged with giving false testimony in a criminal investigation.”

Toon cut in. “I don’t think this fool is very smart. Maybe Beth should go ahead and neuter the dummy. I’ll help.” She cut his belt in two with a flick of her dagger.

“You ladies can have him if he doesn’t talk to me.” I smiled, “Who sent you here?” More pressure on the ganglion. “I can make you hurt so much your heart will stop. You will still taste your own sex when you die. My girls are fast when punishment is involved.”

“St. Peter at the Pearly Gates will not be impressed by a soul with a mouth full of his own prick mumbling his pleas for mercy.” Beth whispered as I increased the pain levels. “We have all day, buddy. You will talk.”

“Again, who sent you? Maybe, if you survive, I can get you life in a federal prison instead of the needle. Attacking special agents is federal and your friends actually killed each other. That makes you an accessory to murder and as guilty as the shooters. You were warned, so we acted in self-defense. We call that a capital crime and the Feds do have the death penalty. Guess who has first jurisdiction.”

One more minute of extreme pain greased his lips and the story spilled out. One Gary Massey, a youth rehab advisor volunteering at True York Youth Center on St Nicholas Avenue, was the mastermind organizing gangs in Harlem, the Upper West Side, Spanish Harlem and the South Bronx. Dreams of gangland glory, free drugs, riches, babes, power, etc. The same old myth of the good life fed to lazy, cruel guys looking for the gravy train.

The guy was an opportunistic asshole operating under his charity-paid umbrella.

Amy dutifully recorded the confession on audio only and emailed it to Matt and Dave as an anonymous tip. That was their cue to move, in force, and ours to disappear.

“You would be wise to cooperate with the police when they arrive. Plead guilty or I can guarantee you get the death penalty.” I advised the broken perp. “We know where you live. We know where your family lives. Keep that in mind while you are meeting with the DA.”

“I see the rumors are true.” I noticed Judith Ryan standing by with a sawed-off ten gauge, smiling sweetly. “A little abrupt, but to the point. I will testify that the corpses on the sidewalk shot one another in an internal power struggle and the others are a result of citizens acting in self-defense. The videotapes will confirm.”

“I’m not proud of this but some people surrender their rights when they disregard the rights of others.” I shrugged it off. “Mr. Hayes has rights. How much cruel and unusual pain did this clown cause today?”

“I don’t completely disagree.” Judith said, “But while you’re here, we should sign the papers and I will get the ball rolling on the property transfer.”

“I can do that. In fact, one of my innocent bystanders is a notary.” I motioned Carol, Beth and Amy over. We sequestered ourselves in the rather spacious newsstand and did the deeds, collected the management and trust fund info, and paid the bills. Ryan house was mine. Celeste and I owned the speakeasy and the office building above it.

Mrs. Ryan reopened her little business and the girls went back to the apartment house lobby. I dawdled a moment to speak to Matt and Jeff who assured me that the official report would not list the innocent citizens swept up in the unfortunate events. “Mr. Massey will not be in business long. Major Crimes and the Gang Activities Divisions are receiving the warrants even as we speak.” Jeff chuckled, “You make our jobs easy, if interesting.”

I followed the girls in where we watched through the door as the cops collected the debris littering the streets before rush hour began. It was time to go home.

In the tunnel, I checked in with Zephyr House. “Any changes there, Ellie?’

“We’re good, but alert. Riza turned on the news channel and there are mentions of gang related activity at 72nd Street and Broadway. Anything we should worry about?’

“Not now. The police have it under control. Just another day for the Ninjas.”

“One thing is bothering me, Boss. We have an over abundance of street vendors today. More than usual up and down the avenue. Emma and Nell played tourist and got pictures of the carts.”

“Good work. I’ll add faces to the database and see what jumps out. We should be back in a few minutes. Meet us downstairs.”

“This is not a coincidence is it, Sir?”

“I think not, dearie. The Colonel said we had stragglers, but not that they were at our doorstep. Sisters, change into civilian standard clothes. You have a mission. Amy, get Leigh and Eve ready to join them to scout the area. I have a plan.”

At home, I gave the four spies the plan when they were ready. “Exit from the 68th Street side when the coast is clear. You are tourists visiting the city with a school group from out west. The variety of food on the streets is amazing and you are buying samples to share with the others back at your hotel. Talk to the vendors. Listen to accents. Connie speaks Chinese and Korean. Bonnie knows Japanese and Farsi. Eve is conversant in Hindi and Leigh has Arabic and Cherokee, although Native Americans aren’t our problem.”

“If they use a foreign language, don’t let on that you understand. Ignore insults.” I continued as their faces lit up. “Do the faces match the peddler’s licenses? Are the permits and the health inspections visible? Are they clumsy when they prepare the food? Personable or nervous? Are they blasé New Yorkers, flirty, standoffish or bored?”

“You’re looking for anomalies.” Bonnie said. “We should try to ask for something not visible. Maybe we can get a peek at what’s in the storage compartments.”

“Bingo! If you see anything suspicious, don’t react, don’t rush. Visit a few more carts and come in through the Clinic side. We’ll talk then. Nell and Emma will monitor you through the earpieces and the monitors.” I added, “If you can’t use that door unseen, walk up Columbus Avenue and get to Ryan House. Defend yourselves if necessary. Keep in touch. I’ll send Celeste, Mitzi and Linh to let you in and return through the tunnel.”

Amy offered, “I’ll pass out some spending money and get our analysts to watch also. Riza, Irma and Rochelle may catch something we might miss otherwise.”

“Excellent. You and the triplets take lead. Move when ready. I have to follow up on yesterday’s business. I’ll be in my inner offices if you need me.”

The mission was in good hands.

In private, I called Billings. “This conversation never happened, Sir. I advise you in the strongest terms to pull your imbedded assets out of the affected nations or at least get them out of harm’s way. Ditto for our allies. Life is going to get very interesting in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and especially in China. They will be looking for spies and scapegoats in their ranks because the troubles are not ending soon. I suggest that Ankara, New Delhi and Tel Aviv lose interest in the coming events. Today is a good day to be neutral.”

“Not that I’ll remember anyway, but how creative were you people? Off the record.”

“Call it actively curious. They pissed off Very Powerful People who did us a favor by disrupting the infrastructure. We merely made it easier for their current problems to accelerate. Our networks will not their main concern for the foreseeable future. Talk to you later.”

I isolated myself and set about impressing the bad guys. It took awhile, but I accessed and destabilized their satellites, rendering them useless and closed a few more factories and banks. The Iranians paid for my new buildings and the Pakistanis paid my extravagant expenses for the next three years via several untraceable transfers to certain offshore accounts. For the hell of it, a small amount of missing money was accidentally traceable to a bank account in Moscow belonging to an alleged state sponsored hacker. Misdirection is a good thing. Neither Islamabad nor Beijing had real-time control over their nuclear arsenals, which is good because I reprogrammed the missiles. That particular detail would not become apparent unless they launched. These birds would return to the point of origin, unarmed of course, but making a royal mess of the silo. That is, ‘unarmed’ if the operators had not tampered after the system crash.

Call it insurance. Dormant nastybots make for good neighbors.

I did give Japan a pat on the back in the form of their air traffic control systems, central banks and power plants. They were doing a much better housekeeping job than the others. Between Hiroshima and Godzilla, I guess they knew the cost of nuclear contamination more intimately than most. The Yakuza still couldn’t cash a check.

The accompanying mystery messages read, “Gentlemen, you were doing so well. The dirty bomb potential was reduced. You got some toys back, clean water and lights. Then you plan blind cyber-attacks on innocent bystanders. That will not be allowed to happen. They are not your problem. We are. You were warned about retribution. We make promises, not threats, and do not negotiate. Stand down. The sky is falling.”

I was wondering if the history of WWIII would mention the destruction of my favorite Japanese restaurant and sushi bar as the opening salvo. It wasn’t Ft. Sumter or Sarajevo, but the yellowtail was to die for. At least my name was easier to spell than the Archduke and Serbian guy.

A knock on the door meant a situation report from the scouting team on the street. “Come in. Are the girls safe and sound? Did someone buy me a street dog with mustard and onions? I need to boost my immune system.”

“All boobs accounted for, Sir.” Amy rolled her eyes and handed me a dog and lamb souvlaki gyro. “The girls are safe and passing out goodies. Veggie wraps, dogs, muffins, gyros, shrimp salads, pretzels, brats, tacos, fried rice, teriyaki beef on a stick, soft-shelled crab, egg rolls, shortribs, giant cookies, ramen, and burritos, although I don’t recommend those. Lotsa grease on the paper.”

“Those are the best, XO. Street food is not supposed to be healthy, just good. Drippy taco filling, Italian sausages with extra cholesterol, and there’s nothing like that little ‘pop’ when you bite a Sabrett’s frankfurter. I can feel it now. Anyone suspicious?”

“At least four, up the block, across the avenue. A guy selling curry with an Arabic accent concealed his license. Bonnie thinks he has a rifle hidden underneath. A Farsi speaker who couldn’t touch the sausages. A guy selling ‘Eastern Carolina’ barbecued sandwiches with tomato-based sauce kept trying to muscle Mr. Thanatopolis off his corner. He wouldn’t talk to Eve or Leigh directly. Clearly a fraud. Felicity was outraged and the Bakers were ready to kill him on the spot. Apparently, North Carolinians don’t hold with tomatoes.”

“Barbecue is a noun. Tomatoes go in salads and pasta sauce. Have some damn respect! Gus has been there longer than I’ve owned this building. I know his kids! He owns that corner.” I frowned. “Who else?”

“The worst. Two guys pushing a very heavy cart weren’t selling anything. Just asked Leigh if she’d found Jesus and claimed to be out of food. She said that if they had fishes and loaves, they would never run out of divine flounder sandwiches and the multitudes would be overcome with a great rapture. Connie smelled Diesel fuel or kerosene, not tartar sauce.”

“Fuckin’ A! Ammonium nitrate bomb!” I screamed. “Get me Mike Ellis on the comms, tac channel an hour ago. Tell him to get here now. Bring his toolbox. Billings on the sat phone and Llewellen on the smart phone, now! Move it!” I sprinted to the monitors. I did not see a dead man set up. Good so far. One of the men looked under a food container lid. Maybe a timer?

“Carlyles! Get to the cutter and light it up. Stand by for orders. Stealth route to Ryan’s and then run like hell to the marina. Celeste, Trips, go with Bonnie and Connie. Warn Judith. Linh and June, go with them. The six of you infiltrate south. Hold at 70th Street and Amsterdam. Be ready to charge! Bullet and Leigh set firing positions on the second and third floors. Luz, read Rose in. Phoebe, call the Ten Pennys at the Med Center. Red Alert. If that sucker blows, they are going to be swamped.”

I wanted the whole crew involved. “Everybody else grab a weapon and get ready to fight. We cannot have too many snipers. This will happen fast and hot. There could be dozens of bozos. DefCon 5. Full body armor, tac up. Stand tall.”

Patty tossed me a phone. “Captain Llewellen.”

I caught it and spoke, “Captain, no time for polite. We need plainclothes badasses here now. No cop shoes! No radios. No armor. Fertilizer bomb in a vendor cart. They have armed lookouts. Four plus at last count. Don’t approach the outliers. We’ll deal with those clowns. Snipers. You need a rapid take down and extraction. How soon?”

“Ten minutes, minimum, Dr. Allyn. No big bomb squad available. Busy with same issue on the Bowery. No contact as yet. Rooftop spotter thinks it’s on a timer. Looks sealed. Airlifting to the river.” He answered, “You got people?”

“Marine debombers. Incoming. We’ll coordinate action. Limit their ability to warn. I’ll send you our video feed and one of my people will highlight the targets. Use cell phones and ear buds only. Please move fast and keep this line open. On of my girls will be on with you. Your primary is the white cart with a blue stripe around the bottom, west side of Amsterdam, between 68th and 69th.” I handed the phone to Sam because she was nearest.

“Sam, describe the knowns to Capt. Llewellen. Yumi will help you port the feed. Get the cop channels from the Captain. Keep him advised of changes on speaker.”

Ear clink. “Hammer here. Talk to me.”

“Mike. Fertilizer bomb. Food vendor cart on the sidewalk. Cubic yard at least. Heavy. Probable timer. No remote override seen. Need you here now. 10-20? ETA?”

“That’s a lot of boom! 23rd at Broadway in the Hummer. Have tools on board. Small peeper robot. ETA, ten to fifteen in traffic. Plan? Twins OK?”

“Rocking frosty. Oorah. Hold back until NYPD clears perps. Then move fast. We have snipers covering our sixes. Are the Whirly Girls on?”

“Talk to us. We’re on.” Both Wendy and Pamela spoke crisply.

“Spin up the bird, low and fast up the Hudson to the cutter at the marina. Weps hot. You need to be there now. Stand by to airlift 500 to 1000 pound square payload for drop into the drink.”

“Aye aye. We are moving. Good hunting.” Pamela said. “Screw ATC.”

“Billings here. Been listening. Drones watching. Good work, Major. Have Parrish moving in with S.W.A.T teams. They will stay clear until Ellis evaluates the scene. Diverting traffic with a Public Works crew. Amsterdam should be empty from behind Lincoln Center to 70th Street soon. We arranged a bus fender bender on Columbus to send traffic to CPW Do the best you can. Protect the girls.”

“Will do. I like having them around. All ears on tac channel!”

I hesitated a few seconds. “Belle. Talk to me.”

“Blender, Norm and I are holding the Bat Cave. Nat and Smitty are closing on the Bowery with the Ma Deuce Hummer to support Llewellen’s people. Melanie is along to spot new vendor faces. Mavis and Ella have West End guards armored up and battened down.”

“Well done, Captain. Advise them to send incoming ambulances to St. Vincent/Roosevelt and close the gates. Stars doing OK?”

“West End is listening. Here, I got a bunch of angry women looking to shoot somebody, Major. They’re good.”

An agonizing thirteen more minutes passed as the traffic thinned. It had to be a gigantic clue that something was up if the bad guys were paying any attention at all. Mr. Thanatopolis noticed. I watched him pull out a smart phone and tap the screen a few times. He shrugged and pocketed the device. I hope he got a traffic report that explained the delays.