Chapter 18: Hell Hath No Fury!

June, 1985

[I stayed on my knees, grabbed a flashlight and peeked between the sheets of canvas.

WHAT THE Fu__! ]

Greg reacted even faster than me. “Holy shit! That’s more drugs than I could ever imagine!”

We were looking at row after row of steel shelves, 10’ high and 100’ long, all packed with huge plastic wrapped bags that looked to contain heroin, cocaine, marijuana, pills, weapons, ammo and even explosives.

Huge vertical refrigerators and ... four dead bodies! All of them appeared to be young girls. Hanging frozen on meat-hooks.

I flashed, “That fat bastard is gonna pay.”

Bob saw too and was beginning to quake with anger. The ‘party’ had progressed to where the 6 goons had brought all the girls to the dancefloor and the pedophiles were now groping/dancing with them, trying to figure out which girl each would take.

Half of the girls seemed less than enthusiastic about the whole thing, but were complying, mostly out of fear, I guessed. One by one, the guys would ‘dance’ a girl back to one of the rooms then close the door.

I hatched a plan. As soon as they closed the door, I mentally slipped the bolt in the hasp, effectively locking them in. I knew we needed to thin out the crowd before Bob and I executed our main plan.

We also didn’t want ANYONE getting away or getting ‘in the way’. I HATED leaving the girls with these perverts, but ‘coitus interruptus’ was now only moments away.

All but one girl had been taken and this last one was NOT wanting to go with the guy that selected her. He got angry and slapped her so hard he knocked her out.

‘SHOWTIME’ Papa Legba shouted as his goons approached the girl, knives drawn.

‘SHOWTIME’ Bob flashed, as I levitated her 10 feet in the air to get her out of their reach.

Suddenly, Bob stopped the music.

You could have heard a pin drop! He twisted a knob on his console and activated his voice modulator and small lapel mic.

Legba shouted, “What DA FOOK MAAN!”

He stood up off his ‘throne’ and was looking back and forth between the girl and Bob and I. He was spinning around so fast he got dizzy and sat back down! Connie just fainted and fell in her chair.

His minions looked terrified as the unconscious girl was levitated over the wall, into the room closest to us and laid on the bed. The door slammed shut and the bolt magically got slammed in the hasp. They were all silently making the sign of the cross when Legba got up, staring at Bob.

Bob looked like he was being possessed. (That or having one HELL of a seizure!)

When he suddenly snapped out of it, everyone heard a voice that would have made James Earl Jones shiver.

“WHO IS THIS MAN who calls himself ‘Papa Legbaaaaa’?”

“Who wants to know dat?” Papa choked out, looking all around.

I picked up a sheet out of the unconscious girls’ room and began running my ‘ghost’ around the dancefloor. I dropped it on the slapping pervert just before using his legs like a wishbone.

Everyone heard 4 loud ‘pops’, then excruciating screams, as both knees and hips were separated from their sockets. When the sheet came off, he was doing a perfect side to side splits, with BOTH feet facing forward!

Bob bellowed. “I am Baka Ookfay Ooyay, the TRUE PAPA LEGBA has sent me to do his bidding! I have taken possession of this man so you could hear me and see my power, YOU FAT INFIDELL! What is your REAL name HEATHEN!”

“UM, um MMMarvin WWWheelman”

“MARVIN, tell your men to put down their weapons and strip off their clothes ... NOW!

They were all frozen in their tracks, they got even more catatonic when Fat Marvin jumped up to the rafters, 30’ overhead and started screaming for them to do what Bob said.

Marvin was now desperately holding onto the diagonal rafters, trembling and sitting on a beam.

“YOU TOO MARVIN. TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF. YOU FAT BASTARD!”

“NOooo, I’LL FALL!”

I picked up one of his now naked minions and perched him next to Marvin.

“HELP HIM” Bob bellowed as he put another one next to him. Within seconds we had all 6 of them up there. We put the guns up behind us to get ready for wave #2.

I took one of the radios and lifted it up to Marvin. “Call the rest of your people and tell them it’s time for them to have some fun. YOU BETTER BE CONVINCING. And tell them to leave their guns OUTSIDE.”

Marvin started out great, then suddenly started screaming something in Spanish I didn’t get. The only thing I got was ‘Rapido’. Greg relayed that Marvin told them he was in dire trouble and to hurry.

Bob bellowed, “Marvin, YOU FAT BASTARD, now you’re gonna pay.” There were gasps when we pushed him off the beam and watched him do a ‘Full Gaynor’ before face-planting himself on the concrete.

After the ‘SPLAT’, he wasn’t moving. We heard 4 single shots ring out before Greg told us the State Police snipers had bagged 4 of the six goons.

I flashed that we could handle the other 2.

The 2 goons came busting in, guns raised. Seeing their comrades naked and screaming from the rafters distracted them just long enough for us to ‘relieve’ them of their weapons and then beat them unconscious with them.

I flashed Greg that we had neutralized the threat, but had one more thing we wanted to do before they sent in the Troopers.

I asked if they had managed to figure out who the crooked cops were. He said the wire taps had given them direction, but no names yet.

Connie came running down from Marvin’s’ stage and across the floor to check on him.

“WENCH! Where are the items you stole from this man’s apartment?” (Bob was pointing at himself.)

Bob picked her up and brought her, screaming, up on the stage with us so I could grab her wrist.

“They’re in my car, in the glovebox.” I knew she wasn’t lying. I flashed Greg to make sure he got it for us. It was the page from Bob’s address book and a picture with names and addresses on the back.

Bob resumed his questioning. “What did you inject those girls with?”

“Nothing, I didn’t inject them with anything!”

I flashed that she had injected them with heroin and ecstasy.

“YOU LYING BITCH, the spirits told me you injected them with heroin and ecstasy. If you lie to me again I will rip out your tongue!”

Connie was now terrified and her eyes were bugging out of her head. I was still holding onto her hand when Bob asked, “How many of that man’s goons know the names of those you were seeking this afternoon?” (Bob was pointing at Marvin.)

“No, no one except Poppa Legba and me.”

I flashed Bob that some guy named Laacka Wana knew his address but not his name.

Bob looked up at the men in the rafters, “Which one of you is Laacka Wana?”

One of the youngest looking and most terrified of the goons said, “He, he must still be outside, he’s the head of the guards.”

All of his buddies were furiously nodding in agreement.

Amazingly, Marvin started coming to, wailing in pain.

Bob bellowed, “Who are your men inside the Rockford Police Department, Marvin? WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES?”

“I’ll never tell you!” Marvin said defiantly, still unable to move.

I picked Marvin up about 15’ and he started screaming, “AAAHHH, alright, alright, I’ll tell you! I think my back is broken! Please put me down.”

Suddenly a voice from one of the rooms shouted, “If you tell them, Legba, we’re all finished. Keep your mouth shut, DAMMIT!”

Marvin, however WAS terrified and wracked with pain. He screamed, “Miller, you’re not doing your job dammit. I’m NOT feeling very protected right now. You and Ramsey were supposed to PROTECT ME MAAN!”

Marvin didn’t know I had the mic keyed on the radio as well as the recorder. Greg flashed, “Sgt Gregory says they had a feeling, now they have proof and one squad is raiding the station house as we speak.”

Miller became furious and started beating on the door to his ‘cell’, demanding to be released.

I pulled the bolt securing his door and he rushed out, brandishing a Glock.

I immediately snatched it from him, then smashed it in his face several times just before I picked him up so he could join Marvin’s goons in the rafters.

Bob ‘pantsed’ him on the way up. (He was now screaming like a little girl.)

Miller started pleading with Marvin to tell him what was happening.

Marvin just looked up at him, forlornly. “I’m afraid, maan, there REALLY IS a God named Papa Legba, I FEAR WE’VE ANGERED HIM!”

Bob bellowed, “WHO ARE YOUR OTHER CONFEDERATES, I WANT NAMES, SCUMBAG!”

Now bloody and battered, Miller started singing like a canary, “Janice Dowdy, the dispatcher, Officer Cruller and Officer Benedict.

As soon as I released the mic button we all heard, “Bingo, got em all! We knew there had to be 5 of them. Thanks!”

Hearing that, Miller’s fear quickly turned to anger at having been ‘punked’ so easily into giving up their names. He said, “Just what the HELL kind of SPIRIT are you anyway?”

“The kind that protects innocent citizens from predators like you and this gang. I’ve been around for thousands of years. I parted the Red Sea for Moses, I made sure David’s rock hit the giant in just the right spot to kill him, I made Jack the Ripper disappear. I made sure that the damaged heat shields on Apollo 13 didn’t give out after all the work that those brave men had done.

“I’ve been called many names. Recently I protected the man that I now possess from being killed by two murderous thieves. I kinda like the name that the press has given me; the ‘INVISIBLE MAN’!

After tonight, I may just stick around this area for a while. Criminals and other purveyors of evil deeds will never know where I am or what I may do.

“The man I now possess begged me to kill all of the people that were threatening him and his family. I told him I don’t work that way and prefer simply capturing them, then letting the local law enforcement take over.

“You, Officer Miller, might be an exception to that. You took an oath to ‘Serve and Protect’. That didn’t mean serve yourself and protect the criminals for profit. You are the lowest of the low and just know that I will be the fly on the wall watching you get everything that is coming to you. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Miller was unfazed, “No, I’ll get out of jail someday and then I’ll be set for life!”

I heard Greg chuckling. “Sgt Gregory just said that he’s going to be charged as an accessory in every crime that this gang has committed. That includes at least four murders. He’ll never see the light of day!”

Bob chuckled in his deep voice. “That’s what you think. Miller! As a crooked cop you’ll be charged as an accessory to every crime this gang has ever committed. I wish you luck, scumbag!”

Bob went through his ‘I am possessed routine’ and fell to the floor appearing unconscious. I went over to him and handed him a Gatorade as well as one for myself and we commenced to slug them down.

Connie was now bending over Marvin, saying that he was having a hard time breathing. I flashed Greg to go ahead and send in the troops. Just then, Miller leapt from his perch and landed right on Connie’s neck.

Connie collapsed in a heap on top of Marvin as their heads violently collided. Miller appeared to be knocked out by the fall.

I flashed Greg to see what their ETA was. He said 2 minutes and ambulances had been called. Bob and I started down to the floor.

We were wondering what to do, when one of the girls started screaming like she was being assaulted by one of the pervs. I told Bob he needed to get back onstage to try and restore order as it seemed like everyone was now screaming.

I ran to the room the girls’ screams were coming from. I opened the door to see this pervert ready to penetrate this young girl, who was crying her eyes out. Rage set in and I pitched him over the wall, screaming, until he hit the floor.

The girl came to me timidly as I held my arms out to comfort her. I told her she was going to go home tonight. She said she was beginning to think she was never going to go home again and thanked me. I told her I had things to do and to just sit on the bed till the police got there. I was going to release the first girl, so she could be with the unconscious girl when I noticed it.

Miller was gone!

I flashed everyone that he was a real threat for us and our ‘anonymity’.

I felt that he didn’t ‘buy-in’ to our ‘Papa Legba’ persona and might want to come after us someday for ending his lucrative career.

I heard a motorcycle engine start and I ran outside to see Miller escaping down the driveway as fast as the bike would go.

Greg was flashing urgently, “Sgt Gregory said to stop him if you can!”

There are 2 axioms that instantly came to mind: ‘Sometimes you GOTTA DO what you GOTTA DO’ and ‘do SOMETHING, even if it’s WRONG’.

Using all the force I could muster I ‘pushed’ the bike hard left. Suddenly, after veering left, the front wheel stopped, launching Miller like a missile head first into a huge tree. Then, the bike flipped in the air and landed directly on top of him!

Greg ‘saw’ the whole thing and told Sgt Gregory, “He just ran off the road right into a tree!” Moments later the ‘taxi’ squad car pulled into the driveway, followed by the State Police ‘Bread Truck’.

Sgt Gregory, (who said we should just call him ‘Tom’.) and Greg stopped to check on Miller as the rest of the officers sped towards me. Greg flashed Bob and I to let us know that Lieutenant Abrams and his men knew almost nothing about us and for us to just let them do their thing.

When they got to the building they all went charging in, guns drawn, yelling, “FREEZE, Illinois State Police, put your hands up!”

I found it hard not to laugh, as Bob was the only one they could see with his hands up.

The Lieutenant looked at me, baffled. “Where IS everybody?” I pointed up to the rafters.

The Lieutenant made a noise that was a cross between a snort and a belly laugh when he saw the ‘six naked monkeys’ looking down at him.

What made it even more whacky, was seeing them trying to hang on and put their hands up!

He told his men to secure their weapons. The Lieutenant looked at me grinning. “Where are all the pedophiles that we’re supposed be looking for?”

I pointed to all the doors and he noticed the bolts securing them. “Wow! “Did you leave anything for us to do?” He asked.