Chapter 6

Clarkesville, Arkansas

Earlier the same day...

“Uncle Albert, are you sure that attorney from Batesville can be trusted? It’s been three hours now and they’ve not shown their faces. Do you think Joe and Jack made him a better offer to help them?” Al Barrow asked his Uncle Albert as they waited for the others to meet them. They’d spent the night at the BestWay Motel and Lounge off exit 55 on I-40 in Clarkesville, Arkansas Now they were waiting for their local attorney to deliver their hired help.

“We’ve used him before, he once belonged to a small group that called themselves The Hillbilly Mafia years ago. He was their link to the local law enforcement. He still has connections. He’ll be here,” Albert Barrow told his impatient nephew.

‘Hell if that boy would just grow up, settle down some and stop chasing pussy, he’d be the perfect replacement for me when I decide to step down’ Albert Barrow was thinking as he looked at his nephew.

Albert Barrow was the self proclaimed direct descendant of Clyde Barrow, of the famous Bonnie and Clyde duo.

Chestnut Albert Barrow - Uncle Albert – as all his friends, family, associates and especially his women called him – was sure he was the grand son of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Clyde Barrow’s middle name was Chestnut. How else would he ever have gotten a name like that?

He had spent a lot of time and money on detectives, searching for the truth, just for personal satisfaction.

He had worked his way up to be a well respected member of the group known in financial circles as, Tucson Advance Banking Association. TABA was a cash advance group which dealt in lending money – and collecting it. Hiding more than they reported in earnings and dealing with drug cartels in Mexico for twenty percent of the take on their cash transfers to Nogales, Mexico. It was safer to do wire transfers to food distributors than it was to smuggle large amounts of money across the border. Uncle Albert had connections in high places and low places. It paid big dividends, to do business with Uncle Albert.

He had set up the Amalgamated Food Distribution Services as a front and used his warehouse chain to receive, store and ship large shipments of processed food all over the southwest. Their network was thriving in central Mexico with major connections on down into South America. Dealing with the governments of the South American countries was a very profitable business.

Now, he had lost a shipment of processed food, a thirty million dollar shipment, to be exact. His nephew, Al had hired two brothers who ran a small time detective service, to track down the shipment. They had royally fucked the operation up and here he was in Clarkesville, Arkansas awaiting the attorney, P.T. Collinger.

P.T. was told to escort Jack and Joe Adamson to Clarkesville from Strawberry so he and his own men could take custody and keep them from fucking up even more than they already had.

When Jack and Joe called Al earlier and told him they were in Arkansas with a good lead on the lost shipment, Al had started backtracking the two and had driven out to Steven Randall’s trailer, outside the town limits of Strawberry, in Gila County, Arizona.

They’d told him that they had to kill Steven Randall before they had a chance to talk to him. That alone should have been enough for Al to take them off the case.

At the trailer, Al had found a preprinted UPS shipping label — taken from Amalgamated — it had been marked over with a magic-marker pen and the address changed to the address at the trailer. The only problem was, the fool had put AR instead of AZ on the label.

Now he and Uncle Albert were here with Brady and Hallerman to try and get some leads and some answers as to where the shipment of the stolen money had been delivered to.

“They’re here Uncle Albert! I see Joe and Jack getting out of that white vehicle and here comes Brady and Hallerman back from the restroom,” Al told his uncle.

“It’s about damn time you showed up, we’ve been waiting for an hour,” Albert Barrow spoke as he stepped out to meet them.

“Sorry Mr. Barrow, we got turned around in Conway and took the wrong road. We lost close to an hour over there,” P.T. Collinger said as they shook hands.

“Hey Al, we’re sorry about getting things screwed up over there in that hillbilly town,” Jack Adamson said.

“Both of you get your asses in Uncle Albert’s vehicle and shut the fuck up,” Al scolded them loudly – for his uncle’s benefit.

“P.T. we have a little side trip to make. Do you want to tag along? I could pay you handsomely if you assisted us for a few hours. It would double what you’re getting for the legal matters,” Uncle Albert said.

“Count me in. Who’re we going to kill?” he said jokingly.

“Just another hillbilly named Steven Randall, from what the shipping label says,” Albert Barrow said.

“Hey look Albert, I was only kidding about killing someone,” P.T. said.

“We’re not. You’re too deep in this to stop now. I’m going to see you kill some redneck so you can’t rat on anyone.”

“Now see here Albert Barrow, I’m a respected attorney back home. You can’t talk to me this way.”

“Get your ass in the vehicle with us...

“Al, you drive P.T.’s vehicle and let’s get this show on the road...

“Hallerman, do you have that Johnson County Property Map?”

“Yeah Boss, it’s in my vehicle.”

“You lead then. When we get out of town stop somewhere out of the way and we’ll get more information from that UPS driver and his wife. If we rough her up enough, he’ll talk ... They always do.”

When they came to Minnow Creek Cemetery, Hallerman pulled into the entrance, and drove to the back side.

Brady and Hallerman got the man and woman out on the ground with the headlights shining on them.

“Get her clothes off ... P.T. wants some pussy, don’t you, P.T?” Albert Barrow said.

“Albert, this has gone way too far. You hired me to post bail for these two and escort them down here to meet you and your nephew. I’ll have no part in a rape or a killing.”

“Then you’ll die right here in this graveyard.”

“Look Albert, we can’t do this to that woman!”

“Drop your pants and get it up or you’ll die here in the graveyard, P.T.”

Becky Larson heard what they were saying about her. They had ripped her clothes off her earlier. Jerry had been beaten until he was unconscious and now they were pouring bottles of water on him to wake him. He was bleeding from his nose and ears. She knew they were going to kill both of them and neither of them knew why.

“Mr. Larson, do you see your pretty young wife over there?” Albert Barrow asked as he slapped Jerry.

“You son-of-a-bitch, I’ll kill you.”

“Tell us where the money is and we’ll let you and your wife walk right out of this cemetery,” Hallerman told him.

“Listen, I’ve already told you – I have no idea what you’re talking about. I drive for UPS and I don’t know anything about any money.”

“We know you drive for UPS! We found that out when we complained about a delivery you delivered to a Steven Randall – and it was our money.”

“I’m telling you, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Did you deliver to a Steve Randall?”

“When? I can’t remember the names of all the people I’ve delivered to. I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get away from my wife, you sorry son-of-a-bitch.”

“We’re getting tired of this, Jerry! Your wife won’t last much longer like this. Tell us where Steven Randall lives and we’ll let both of you go,” Albert Barrow told him.

Jerry was thankful now that at Becky had passed out. Her head was lolled over and her mouth was open. He could see her still breathing and he knew he had to do something.

“What kind of package was it? I don’t remember the names. All I remember are packages and addresses,” Jerry screamed.

“There should have been lots of packages. Big, heavy packages.”

“I remember ten boxes that weighed 66 pounds each, is that them?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Al Barrow said

“There was a cabin in the woods, at county road 37011, I remember now. It’s off county road 3701. There was a big man with a big dog, it was raining like hell ... Now let Becky go.”

“You both can go when we get to the cabin and you tell us that we’re at the right place.”

“You’ll let us go, and you won’t hurt Becky anymore?”

“You get us there and you can take your pretty little wife and walk away.”

“Then go on up Strawberry Loop road and watch for county road 3701,” Jerry said, just before he passed out.

“Cut the mother-fucker’s throat, we’re through with him.”

“Boss, we better take him with us. What if we get lost or he’s lying?” Hallerman asked.

“You’re right Hallerman. You’re a good man and you’ve got a good head on you.”

“Load these two in the back of the SUV. Lets go get our money from that redneck tonight, then let’s get out of this sewage pond,” Al Barrow told his men. He went back to P.T.’s vehicle and waited while they the rest of them loaded up and pulled out. Al started out of the cemetery and felt the flat tire on the right front. He jumped out and sure enough, it was flat. He grabbed his phone and dialed his Uncle’s cell number. The cellphone beeped and he looked at the display – no signal. They were gone and he was stranded here in the dark. He had never changed a flat tire in his life and here he was, with no idea how far they were going or where.

Al Barrow had fallen asleep in P. T. Collinger’s car. When he awakened, there were emergency vehicles going and coming with sirens blaring. He watched the procession for over an hour, then saw a car hauler come to the intersection with Brady and Hallerman’s black SUV on it. The SUV had been wrecked.

They’d had trouble, Uncle Albert was alright – Al just knew he was.

He was tired and fell asleep again, waking up close to dawn with sunlight shining through the windshield. He saw three ambulances and a coroners car pass by. He saw four Arkansas State Police vehicles and four county sheriff’s cars pass, all going south, back toward the interstate.

‘There had been a bad wreck up there somewhere’ he thought. He decided to walk back to the interstate. He didn’t want to be seen walking, so he kept an eye out for any vehicles, coming or going, as he walked the twenty plus miles back down to the interstate.

He was in a convenience store getting a bottle of water when two sheriff’s deputies came. He overheard them talking about the six men from Arizona who were attacked up there last night by a man called Stephen Randall and his pack of wild dogs.

Al Barrow called a number in Arizona and talked until his battery died. He bought a charger for his phone and sat in a booth, with his phone plugged in and called back. He talked for another thirty minutes, making two more calls, then hung up.

He was smiling. He had help coming. Professional help this time, and he wouldn’t have to worry about Joe and Jack fucking things up again. He was going to get revenge on that Steven Randall and get that money for himself. From what he’d overheard, there may be no one left who knew about the money but him.

Earlier, back at Steve’s cabin...

“Steve, I want to thank you for putting up the earnest money earlier. After this is all over, I want to get the papers signed and get that place of Ms. Maudie’s in our names as soon as we can,” Julio told him.

When Julio said her name, he and Steve looked at each other. They knew they had to go now. There was no way they could call the sheriff on this one.

“Girls, get your Beretta’s strapped on. Get your knives and lets go, we need to go check on Ms. Maudie ... Even with her dogs, that bunch could get her to the front door so one of them could go in the back,” Steve told them as he and Julio grabbed night vision goggles from his storage closet.

“OH NO! We forgot all about her,” Crystal yelped as they ran from the cabin.

“DOG – MOUNT UP,” she yelled as they ran to the pickup. She didn’t have to tell Uno and Bravo – they were in the pickup as soon as Dog leaped for the truck.

“Steve, how are we going to handle this? We don’t know if some of the gang has in fact made it over to Ms. Maudie’s while all this was going on,” Crystal said as they roared back in the direction of the accident scene. They could see a wrecker still at the scene, setting the SUV back upright so the roll-back truck could load it.

“The way I see it, we’ll drive into her yard as if we didn’t know they were there. I’ll get out when she opens the door. If she doesn’t open the door, we’ll know they have her and leave ... If there are no dogs, we’ll know they’ve either killed them or ran them off shooting at them. If the dogs come out and she comes out with her shotgun, then we’ll know she’s alone,” he reasoned aloud as he sorted through the different scenario’s.

“What if she comes out without the shotgun and asks you who it is?” Janelle asked.

“Then I’ll tell her that I came back to pay her the rest of money I went to get. She’s a savvy old cookie, she’ll catch on and we’ll know by her answer if something’s wrong. If she tells me that we just need to wait, then I’ll go back to the truck and we’ll back out. Julio and I will bail out and go back on foot.”

“Steve, if they’re there when she says your name, they’ll never let you leave,” Julio said.

“If they open fire, then you and I will have about ten seconds to get in the house, some way. If that happens, they’ll have the lights out, we’ll have the advantage with our night vision goggles.

“Crystal, if there’s anything at all that looks like a trap, you and Janelle bail out of the truck and get the pups to safety. They’ve never been in something like this and they’ll get hurt if they try to go in with Dog. You won’t have much time to move and take cover. You’ll have to be quick and make every move count. Just get to cover and stay down, no matter what,” Steve told them, trying to plan their strategy no matter what they encountered when they arrived at Ms. Maudie’s place.

Steve and Julio strapped their helmets on. The night vision goggles were made like small binoculars. They were mounted on a swivel to swing down from the helmet. They were made to be flipped up out of the way with soft rubber cups which fit around the eye socket when flipped down. The helmet fit tightly with a chin strap that stretched, cupping the chin. The night vision helmets were also equipped with audio and video capability.

Steve’s blood was pumping hot and hard. He was already getting an adrenalin rush. First of all, he hoped Ms. Maudie was alone and there was no trouble. But in a way he needed to feel again the way he did when he saw Dog and the pups in action earlier. It brought back memories of when he looked through the scope of his sniper rifle and saw a man’s head in the cross hairs.

He remembered how he felt, how he craved the feeling – how he yearned to feel this more and more – one more time. He was trained for this and he loved the feeling. He wanted to make the bad guys scream and cry as he took the life from them for trying to hurt Crystal and his friends.

Steve shook his head and tried to clear those thoughts from his mind. He needed to focus on trying to rescue someone, rather than stalking to kill again. But, the feeling didn’t leave. It never did, until he killed the person or persons he was after.

In his mind, he was back with Uno Bravo — he was the hunter, he was the stalker — and he was there for one reason. He thought this part of him would go away one day. And maybe it would if these son-of-a-bitches had stayed away from him and let him forget.

The doctors told him there would come a day when it would all go away. But what in hell did the did the doctors know? They couldn’t see inside his head. They could only tell him what they wanted him to hear. The same things they had told countless others, just to make them feel good. What they didn’t know about Stephen Everett Randall was, he was trained to kill. He not only enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, he thrived on the thrill of the kill.

“Steve ... Steve!” Crystal was yelling at him.

“Sorry, my mind was on the inside of the cabin, trying to remember what it was like and where everything was located. If there’s trouble, we have to be the best. We have to take control and kill them before they kill Ms. Maudie.”

“Steve, are you alright?” Crystal asked as she looked at his face.

“Yeah ... Sorry Crystal, I’m alright. We’re almost there. Does everyone remember what they’re supposed to do? No matter what happens. Just be alert to anything that doesn’t look right. Look around her cabin in the darkness, there may be one or more of them hidden outside.”

“We’re with you Steve. We got your back, Amigo,” Julio told him.

Julio had never been with Steve during a mission, but he’d heard stories of how he would take out fifteen to twenty men in a matter of minutes with guns, knives and his bare hands. He and Dog, were known by every enemy combatant in Iraq. He and Dog were on every hit list the insurgents had put together and they still walked away. They were both wanted dead – not alive. The baddest of the bad guys over there, were afraid to try and take him or Dog alive.

“OK here we are. Everyone take a deep breath and remember we’re here to see Ms. Maudie. We have no idea there may be trouble,” he said as he pulled into the driveway and shut all the lights off, leaving the engine running. His heart was beating faster, pumping him full of adrenaline ... and he thrived on it.

When Steve stepped out, Julio slipped out on the other side and ran around the pickup. They both had their Beretta’s pulled and the hammers back. Steve had his hand on his knife as he stepped out and called for Ms. Maudie.

“Ms. Maudie, it’s Stephen Randall. I came back with the money that I owe you for your place, like I said I would. It’s late but I didn’t want you to think I had forgotten,” he was talking loud as he approached door in a way that he’d be behind it when it opened.

There were no dogs ... he waited for an answer.

Steve saw Julio’s shadowy silhouette next to the house.

Julio knew there was trouble in the house.

Dog brushed Julio’s leg, his hackles like a wire brush against him. Dog knew there were bad guys inside the cabin!

Suddenly, Ms. Maudie yelled through the partially opened door, “Steve, you did come back! I was about to go to bed when I heard you drive up. I was wondering where all those mangy dogs of mine are. Normally they’re howling and raising hell out here when somebody even drives by on the road out there. Come up here and pay me all that money so I can get some sleep. I need to start packing and be ready when the moving van gets here to move me down to Little Rock where my son lives,” she said, speaking loudly.

Steve saw Julio slip around the corner. He knew Julio would have the back door covered. Steve bent low, running toward the front bedroom window. He had his gun in one hand and his knife in his other hand as he leaped through the window frame. His fists were extended in front of him as he crashed through. His knuckles were cut and scraped, but his grip on his gun was tight as he landed across her bed on top of the splintered window frame and broken glass.

Dog followed him through the broken window, slipping past Steve into the dark hallway. There was a commotion in the front room and two automatic weapons opened up, spraying lead out across the yard.

Steve heard the roar of his truck as Crystal rammed it in reverse and spun around backwards in the yard. He heard the loud sound of his truck through the window and knew she was backing around to the side of the house and out of the line of fire.

That woman is as smart as she is sexy.

Steve was standing in the hallway. Through his night vision goggles he scanned the room. He saw two men. One had Ms. Maudie, the other was peeping out the front door.

“Where did he go? Did he come through the window back there or just throw something through it?”

“How in the fuck do you think I’d know? I cant see a fucking thing out there, or in here!”