Chapter 22: Firepower

Alice, Pam, Donna, Robyn, Clarisse, Gail, and Wendy trooped into the living room of Mrs. Dominic Colossi. Her mouth was hanging open at the group invasion, but the women were insistent.

Alice laid out the situation regarding Amanda’s disappearance and the high likelihood that her husband was involved in a significant way. She described the scene at the brothel in Englewood to her as Dave had relayed it to her, including the chair with the ropes and what was known about her husband’s affiliation with the place.

Maria Colossi shook her head. “The asshole. I knew he’d get in trouble in some way. He has brass balls and thinks he can get away with anything. He told everyone that he too could shoot someone in the middle of Times Square and remain a free man. Your friend is not here, and you’re free to search the house to verify that. What can I do to help?”

“Where else might he take her?” Gail asked.

“The only other place he might go that is protected as far as he’s concerned is his used car dealership out on 301. It’s about a mile south of Myrtle Street on the east side of the road. It’s got a large orange and black sign that reads ‘Dom’s Used Cars’. He’s got about forty cars there and there’s an office building – a long trailer. It’s not much, but he hangs out there and plays cards with his buddies – at least that’s what he was telling me until I got more suspicious about his nocturnal habits. I think he also fucks some of his bimbos there or at that whorehouse in Englewood. I hired a private detective agency to get the goods on him so I can fry his ass in the divorce settlement.” She paused and then it dawned on her, “Oh, fuck. Is this woman part of that agency?”

Gail nodded. “She was finishing up her surveillance for the night when she disappeared. She got off a quick call before that. We think she saw Dom and at least one other man coming for her. We have the photo of him that you gave us when we started working for you.”

“I’m so sorry. Here’s one of Dom’s business cards. I hope you find her, and if you put his ass in jail so much the better. I’ll even testify against him if that helps.”

As they walked outside, Gail emailed a picture of Dom Colossi to the men. She also talked to Dave via her cell telling him what they’d learned. The women headed back to the Circle to see how things played out.

After a stop back at the Circle to be sure the men were properly armed, the eight men headed to Dom’s Used Cars. Most of the group parked in a convenience store parking lot next-door and walked towards the used car lot in ones and twos. A couple circled around the back of the trailer after scaling a fence. Dave drove into the lot as though he were looking for a car. He looked around.

Dom himself came out of the long trailer that served as the office for the used car lot. He gave a glad handshake to Dave, who held his grip.

Dave stared at the thug, “I’m here for the woman you kidnapped last night. No questions asked.”

Dom yanked his hand away and pulled a gun from his right jacket pocket.

Dave tried to look unconcerned. “If I go, you’ll go times seven. Look around. If I’m only wounded then you’ll still die or maybe just lose your dick.” Dave pointed where two laser dots danced around Dom’s pants right where his dick would be.

As Dom scanned his car lot, he saw one man after another, four with a handgun aimed at him, and two with rifles with laser scopes slung over the fenders of one of his used cars also aimed at him. Several were focused on the door to the trailer in case there were reinforcements for Dom inside.

Dev joined the two men with his gun trained on Dom. “Drop the weapon. Lie down and spread your arms and legs. You have until the count of five or we open fire. One ... two ... three...”

Dom reached for the ground and dropped the gun close to it. He moved slightly away and lay face down.

Dave kicked the gun aside with his foot and got control of his voice, “Now, let’s get down to business.”

Dom said, “I don’t know about no stinkin’ Amanda. Get the fuck outahere.”

Dave smiled benignly, “And I know you’re lying, because I have yet to mention her name, so we can negotiate from this point.”

Dave picked up Dom’s gun. He hefted the gun to get a feel for it, slid the safety off, and fired a shot into the ground between Dom’s feet. The retort was loud and Dom jumped.

“Shit!”

Dave said in a swearing tone, “Crap, I missed. I guess I should have aimed a little higher. I wanted to blow that small dick off of you or hit your feet. They tell me that some foot injuries, especially gunshots, never really heal. The person shot in a foot limps badly for the rest of their life. Of course, if I hit your cock, your sex life would come to a catastrophic end.”

Dave aimed at some hypothetical distant target, and then brought the weapon down to where it was aimed at one of the brown tasseled loafers that Dom wore. “Ashamed to ruin a pair of nice Italian leather shoes like that; do you want to slip one of them off your foot before I start to get the truth? I bet if I shot both feet you might end up in a wheel chair for the rest of your life. You wouldn’t even need shoes; you’d wear those sock things all the time.”

Dev moved to a better position relative to the thug.

Dom postured, “Do you know who I am? What my organization is going to do to you when you let me go?”

Dave fired another shot between Dom’s legs and he jumped. “FUCK! You bastard. I will get you – you’re dead meat.” Dom tried to squirm away. He said, “I knew you were coming. Tilly called me just a while ago.”

“Good, then we can get down to business. Where’s Amanda?”

From the door of the trailer office, Amanda appeared with Sean behind her. She was rubbing her wrists. She was also nude.

Dave left Dom to Dev and rushed over to her, “You OK? Did they molest you?”

“No, but they threatened to. It was going to happen this afternoon. They left my clothes back at the whorehouse. Dom invited all his friends to come and enjoy me – the asshole. He told me I was their sex slave from now on. The other men went off to get a late breakfast.”

“Do you want to press charges?”

“I’ll talk to Dale and see what he says.”

“But that Shit on the ground over there kidnapped you and planned to rape you.”

“Let me talk to Dale for a minute. Maybe I will. It would get Colossi off the streets and also help his wife.”

Dave went back to Dom as Sean sought cover for Amanda. Dev helped Colossi stand. He’d secured his hands behind him with several twist-ties. He also had twist ties around his ankles, but he could take baby steps to move about.

Dale rushed over from his position with a rifle. He and Amanda talked. A car blanket appeared from somewhere to cover her body.

Dale dialed 9-1-1 and then everyone stood there waiting for the police to arrive. Most of the weapons disappeared.

About five minutes later a squad car pulled into the used car lot. Two officers got out and tried to assess the situation.

Dev went over and talked to them in a low voice. Dale joined them and there was a showing of credentials by the two men. One officer went from man to man checking the weapons they’d brought. They were all unloaded by that time and several had been placed in the trunk of Dave’s car so that they weren’t’ a threat to the police.

Amanda shuffled over to the police barefoot. She even flashed the cops to show that she’d been stripped of her clothing when she was threatened. Sean was called over to confirm that he found her bound and gagged in one room of the mobile trailer. One officer went with him to see where he’d found her inside the trailer.

Two more squad cars arrived along with a car with two detectives in it. The story was repeated several times. Dom was placed in the back of one of the squad cars still bound by the twist ties. Another car arrived with two more law officers in it; turned out they were from the FBI and called in because of the kidnapping aspect of the event as well as the RICO component with the aspiring small-time thug.

Everyone spent about two hours at the site. Alice and Pam came down with clothes and shoes for Amanda and she was allowed to go inside the trailer and dress.

About the twentieth time the story got told, every officer at the scene seemed content to end the morning with an arrest. Dom would be arraigned the next morning in Sarasota County District Court, but then be remanded to the FBI for similar indictments at the federal level around the kidnapping, drug, and racketeering charges they’d been building against him.

When the rescue crew arrived back at the Circle, there was a huge conglomeration of people there concerned about Amanda and the experience she’d had after being taken hostage. One of the things that got triggered in the discussion was the whole white slavery topic, including how some of the men maintained control over their whores. Fortunately, Amanda hadn’t even started on her conditioning.

By dinner, things had calmed down. Amanda sat snuggled in between Dale and Susan as they doted on her. Gail was right there, too, and it was only then that Dave and Alice realized how integral to Dale’s private detective and investigation agency that the two women had become. Further, Amanda had obviously become a second wife in the family.

Dave had learned months earlier that Gail could hack into someone’s computer despite firewalls, passwords, and many other impediments that got put up. Gail even confessed to experimenting on the city’s voting machines during the recent primary, going so far as being able to change the votes, but then backing out once she’d verified her prowess to herself.

“The voting machines were a lark,” Gail declared. “I had to try them after all the news about Russia hacking into our elections. A ten-year-old that was interested could do it. The people that build them and programmed them made some really dumb decisions that make them vulnerable. Heck, the Russians could take the whole country in November if they wanted it. It’s amazing they haven’t messed with us years earlier, or maybe they did.”

Dave didn’t find a lot of solace in her statement, nor did the others sitting around listening to Gail talk about breaking into various machines, PCs, and servers.

Gail added, “I did volunteer to the police and feds that if they needed help getting into Dom Colossi’s computers, I was their person. They seemed interested in that capability. I volunteered with the Secretary of State, too – they handle elections – but was told that they had the situation under control – NOT!”

Amanda, Dale, Harnett Security, and Gail were consumed over the next several days with assisting the police and then the DA and FBI in building a case against Dominic Colossi. They’d report at cocktail or dinnertime some of what was going on.

Dave noted that the local newspaper seemed overjoyed that Colossi had been arrested and that his burgeoning crime empire had collapsed as a result of his stupid move to kidnap and sexually threaten Amanda. Two more men had been arrested in connection with his activities and Amanda’s abduction. Erin was able to keep Amanda’s name out of the papers but there was reference to her kidnapping, and if there were court hearings her situation and name would become public knowledge.

Dave also noted that bail had been denied. Colossi was considered a flight risk, and the FBI had recommended that he rot in jail during his local trial. In the meanwhile, they built the case against him at the federal level and argued about who would try his ass first.

While Amanda claimed that she was unaffected by her abduction, she stuck very close to home the entire week and weekend, hanging out and living at Dale and Susan’s. Dale confided that the first three nights she was with them he had to hold her until she fell into a fitful sleep.

Dave and Dev got to talking on Friday night about the logistics of the rescue. Dave said, “I never knew we had such fire power within the Circle. I think even Colossi was impressed with our show of strength.”

Dev nodded, “Yeah. It brought back a lot of memories for me from when I was in the service.”