Chapter 26

It was the next week that we were all called into Control. Bo, Racer, Dire Wolf, Carol, and myself were all there as Dr. Tran ran us through any information we needed or updates. And part of it was on The Devil’s Dagger.

Two days before, the body of a gang leader in Los Angeles was found, with three daggers in his chest. And they were an exact match to the ones he used. Then Dr. Tran pulled one out and we passed it around.

It had some heft to it, weighing around a pound. And it had a guard, and would have fit my hand comfortably in my original form. I whistled after I shaved off a few hairs on my arm and passed it to Bo. “That thing’s razor sharp. How is he able to make them? Do we even know if he has a limit on how many he can make?”

“Actually, we are still looking into that. As far as we know, he has made up to three dozen of them once in a single engagement. And the general consensus is that the iron is likely leeched out of the ground near where he is. Dr. Singer believes that the number may be limited to the concentration of free iron in the area. There does not seem to be any missing nearby, and there are no reports he can dissolve it. Otherwise he could have dissolved the bars or locks when he broke out of prison. But if that is true, it means that any Paladins have to be careful in iron mining areas. If he is in say the Great Lakes or New England, he might be even more powerful as the concentration of iron in the soil there is very high.”

And we talked about the training that we were starting for the “Junior Paladins”. Carol volunteered to take a few on with her on patrol. Not so much as a Paladin, but to teach them how to work best with the police, and how to behave in certain situations. We all thought that was a great idea, and Dr. Tran promised to have a letter drafted up requesting assistance with both local and county law enforcement agencies.

After the meeting broke up, Dr. Tran told me to report to the basement. I headed down, and was handed a key and told to go around the corner. And I smiled when I saw it was finally done. It was a black HMMWV, and I walked slowly around it. Kirk told me what all they had done to it.

“This is actually a surplus military one, it was left over after a test that they ran for five years. We had to modify it a bit more.”

“It’s an M1151 uparmored weapons carrier, right?”

“Well, almost. That is the body, but this is really composed of three different HMMWVs. If you look, we raised the roof on this one about two feet, to give you more room. And lengthened it by another two feet. That way you can fit inside of it. And the seat can be slid forward so a regular sized person can still drive it. We left the metal blast plate on the underside to make it less top-heavy. The engineers were worried it might flip otherwise, but the rest is Kevlar plates and not steel.” He pulled the rubber handles that held the hood closed and lifted. And it looked strange.

“This is a sixty kilowatt diesel generator. This is a hybrid, each wheel comes with a hundred and fifty horse power motor. Top speed is around eighty, a hundred in a dire emergency. It rides a bit rougher than what you will be used to, but that was a compromise that had to be made for your mass.”

I saw the driver door had been replaced, and a single long door ran down the side. “This way you or somebody else can get in, but a more regular sized person might be more comfortable just climbing in from the other side and climbing over.” And the inside was nice, with leather bucket seats, a leather dash, and cloth interior. Even a full electronic suite, that I could tie to my phone and it would operate as a second vehicle.

“So this one is self-driving?”

“Yep, sure is. This is the prototype, but if it works as expected we might be selling them next year. The Army and Marines are excited also, as they want to test this also.” He showed me the rest of the controls, including the switch to have it go to the silent electric drive. “This only has a range of about five miles in that mode, but it should be enough.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine needing it for more than a few blocks. So how long do I have this for?”

“Three months. Just send me updates on how well it performs and if you have any suggestions and we will put them into the next model. They are already working on that one, and we can have for you one of the first production models when they are ready.”

I took it out and drove it around for a bit. It was indeed rougher riding than I was used to, but it could have been worse. The seats were a real improvement though, and helped to make it ride smoother. Better than the canvas pad over steel of the originals. And between the motor and interior it was a lot more quiet inside.

Finally I pulled back into the garage, and after some lessons and an update to my phone I had it follow me to the compound. The interior of the house was being finished, but I went ahead and parked it in the garage.

I called Lucy when her classes were over and told her to come to the new house when she got off. And she smiled when I took her into the garage and showed it to her. Of course she got in and had me take her for a drive around the compound. Then back home I showed her how to adjust the seat and she took a drive herself.

“Clint, tell them there is a better way to do the doors. Instead of a single long door, do like my dad’s old truck. It has this suicide door in the back that hinges the opposite way. Put one of those in, and somebody like me can use the regular door, and you can use it and the suicide one to get in.”

I gave her a kiss and called Kirk to tell him that. “Holy shit, why have none of us thought of that? Tell Lucy she’s a genius, I’m phoning this to Fort Leonard Wood right away. That is one smart lady you have there, Clint.”

“Trust me, I know that. She is the smartest. Talk to you later, Kirk.”

And that night I used it to take a patrol. There was a bit more activity in Highlands and Dockside, but nothing like it had been before the raids. All of the hookers seemed over 18, and there were no obvious pimps. I even saw that Cockeye’s was open again. I sent a memo to Bo and Di, asking if they had any information on that. I knew it had been a big part of Roberto Ricci’s money laundering operation.

And for the next three weeks the others in the district would take over my duties as I was taking a vacation.

The trip out was nice, and on the second day I sent another memo to Kirk suggesting that the same suicide door and seat arrangement be made on the passenger side. As for about an hour Lucy did drive, but I had to sit in the trailer as there was nowhere in the truck for me to sit. I suggested that would also be good in the event that two oversized people needed to travel together, or say if we were injured and needed transportation.

Sharon and dad hugged me when we arrived, and Lucy as well. But what surprised me was when a gal came out of the house as Sharon was hugging Lucy. She was around 20, and I looked at her closely. Curves and body similar to Sharon, and she was simply staring at us.

I smiled and softly said “You must be my sister, Melissa.”

She nodded and smiled back. Sharon had her come over and introduced Lucy and I to her daughter. “She flew up here three days ago, and it was a surprise to us also. She knocked on the door at around 8 at night.” Sharon guided us all to the back patio and I saw that dad had modified it. It was now fully enclosed, and had a door large enough I could enter it comfortably.

Well, seems that Melissa had been trying to get out of Uruguay for years. But once they had arrived her dad had taken her passport, and she had not seen it since. “I think he burned them, because I looked for years and never found mine or my brother’s passport. But finally I remembered I was born here, so I took a vacation to Montevideo and went to the embassy. And it was amazingly simple, once they checked my background. They confirmed I was a US citizen by birth, and just had me apply for a replacement. It took another six months to save enough, it was over twenty thousand pesos to fly to Los Angeles. Then I took a flight to Sacramento, then a bus down here.”

I told her that was brave of her, and why she had done that. At that she actually looked mad. “I wanted to come up someday, but last week it became final. Dad told me that I was to marry Victor Rada, he owns the farm to the north of ours. But I barely know the man, and he is almost 60. I refuse to be married off so my dad can get his land, as Victor has no children. As soon as he told me that I borrowed as much money as I could, snuck away last week, and caught the first flight I could here. And now that I am here, I am probably never going back.”

Sharon bent over and gave her a hug, and Lucy hugged her also. “That was very brave of you, little sister” I said. She giggled and nodded, saying that until that day it had never occurred to her that we were now siblings.

“But I never imagined that I would have a brother that looks like a coatimundi.” I laughed at that, and then together we explained that was an animal in that region of the world.

“Think of a raccoon, but bigger. Like the size of a medium dog. I have seen them in the jungles when I did some training down there. And yes, I guess I do look a bit like one now.” Dad went in the house and came out with some steaks, and soon we were all eating and having beer as we all caught up on what all we had been doing.

That night I called up Francesca on the phone, and we arranged to meet the next day at the river. I also saw that dad had made some other changes. There was a large side gate now, and it was paved to the back of the house. I pulled in the trailer, and dad had even put in electrical and sewage connections.

“Sharon and I are thinking of getting a motor home next year. And after your last visit we decided to get this put in. This would give you a better place to stay than the driveway, and we can all hang out in the patio there.” I told him that was great, and the automatic leveler on this model of the trailer was really nice. Just push a button and in about thirty seconds it was perfectly level.

And I was not surprised that night when Lucy teased me if she should be worried about me seeing Francesca. I shook my head and laughed. “No, for many reasons. Most of all because I now have you, and only want you. For a second, Francesca got married about two years ago, and is now about six months pregnant. But she promised to look up some people for me, and I doubt she would say anything if others were around.”

“Is this because of that Dagger guy?”

“Yep. She was a Norteñas too, and part of the gang like I was. I told her I wanted to meet with some of the local leadership. Hopefully they might let me know some of what he is doing. And maybe make some other connections. One thing about Bo, he has some great connections with the local gangs. For me, I can do something similar while I am here.”

And the next morning after breakfast I hugged each of the gals and headed off. I pulled into the old neighborhood, and saw Francesca was waiting for me. She waddled up and we gave each other a hug, and we both said it was good to see each other. She then got in the truck and we started to drive around.

We chatted for about an hour, catching each other up on what we had been doing since the last time I visited. Then we got some fast food (which got me a look when I paid at the drive-through window) and parked near the mall to talk.

Seems that she was able to get word back that somebody would meet with me. That tomorrow night I was to go to a park on the other side of town. “They told me that you were to be alone, and somebody would come meet you. I have no idea who it would be, but they seemed concerned when I said you wanted to meet with them.”

I nodded, and said it was not a trap, I just wanted to exchange some information with them. We drove around a bit more and talked, and I invited her to dinner sometime before we left. She said she would like to, and that she wanted to meet Lucy.

The next day I just lazed around the house and got to know Melissa a bit better. She had actually gone to college, and was trying to get her credentials transferred up here so she could finish. “I know I will likely have to take two more years, but a degree in biology will be worth more here than in Uruguay.”

That night I kissed Lucy goodbye, and headed to the park. I got out and after walking for about twenty minutes sat on a cement picnic table. And five minutes later I saw two people approaching.

I was a bit puzzled, because one of them seemed to be black. But as he got closer, I smiled when I realized he was not black, but a very dark brown. Just as Francesca had described, Pepe was now over six feet tall, and as brown as a tree.

He jogged forward and stopped in front of me. He looked up into my face, then grinned. “Que paso, esse?” he said, and we gave each other a big hug. “Yo, Franny was not kidding. I’ve seen you on TV of course, but you seem even bigger in real life.”

I said the same thing, that Francesca had told me what happened to him, but it still surprised me. Pepe turned and nodded to the other man standing about ten meters away. “This is who we were told, it’s all cool. Like me, Clint was a Pobres Chicos back in the day. Clint, this is Hector.”

He stepped up, and after studying me he reached out and we shook hands. “So you wanted to meet with somebody? Can I ask what this is about?”

I asked him if he knew about El Daga del Diablo, and he nodded. “Yes, many of us are keeping a low profile now, nobody knows where he is. He has been seen in LA though, hanging out with the Sur Rats.” “Sur Rat” was a derogatory nickname for the Sureños.

“Well, he broke out of a maximum security prison in Mexico, and some of us are concerned when he was spotted in California. I was already coming out here on vacation, and decided to see if I could find anything out.”

“So, are you hunting him?”

“Naw, I’m on the other side of the country. But anything we can find out could help. We know he has killed at least one person up here so far.”

“No, three people. The first was a Blood leader, three daggers in the chest. The next was a Norteño that was taking his girlfriend to Disneyland of all things. Ambushed him in the parking lot of the motel, threw a dagger in his throat. The third, it was a dagger into the front wheel of one of my friends near Bakersfield. He was going eighty, the blowout flipped the car.”

I whistled, and asked why we did not know this. “Oh, the girl told the cops what happened. But somebody shoved her out of the way and took the knife before they got there. Cops think she was involved, fucking pigs. Interrogated her for two days, finally let her go for lack of evidence. Same with the second one. The back seat passenger was not killed, and he got out before another car stopped. He was about to call for help, but one was in a blue Dodger’s jacket and had a blue scarf around his face. He made a dagger appear in his hand and stabbed Rafael in the eye. Then he took something from the front tire, then tossed a match in some gas before he left.”

I shook my head, as that did sound about right. “And he is in hiding and has not been seen since, right?”

“Yep, but when he told us we got a photo from the Internet, he said it was the Dagger. He has hit two of us now, and a Blood. Are we at war?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. But trust me, soon others will want to talk to you. Pepe, you work for Control, right?”

“Yeah man, but uniform security stuff. Nothing like what you do, mostly I work at their Sacramento office and at the old Navy Base across town. They have set that up like where you live, a kind of small Mutant Reservation.”

“Well, I will have them contact Pepe, keep using him as your go-between. That’s why you’re here now, right?”

“Well, part of the reason. Plus I knew you back in the day so could give him a positive ID. I ain’t in the gang no more, but I still hang out with some on my days off.”

“Well, that’s good. Also, get with Chico if you can. Francesca said he works for some kind of security firm in the Bay area.”

“Oh yeah, he is like this fortune teller now. Can predict how some things will turn out, sees numbers and odds in his head.”

“Yep, prognostication. Maybe he can find some kind of patterns, help keep some of you safe. Hector, let me explain it like this, cool?” He nodded, and I explained how Dire Wolf and Bohica had working arrangements with the criminal underworld of Compass City.

“We do not exactly work together, but we do cooperate. We will generally ignore little stuff, we are only interested in the kinds of crimes that can get people hurt or killed. And they both have contacts inside the local gangs. And they each feed the other. Nothing major, but if they knew this Dagger was hunting in our area, they would give them a heads up. And the same way, if we heard he was in the area we would give them a warning.”

“Clint, you don’t have an arrangement like that with any?”

“Naw, wrong race. Bohica is black, and works with the local black gang. Dire Wolf is Chinese, so works with the Tong. Me, my area of town was the Italian Mafia. I don’t got a drop of Italian blood in me, so they would never have gotten into an arrangement like that with me. Plus until a while back they had this real crazy prick leading them.”

Hector nodded at that. “I saw that all on the news, that was bloody. So many dead, and for what?”

“Honestly, we still don’t know why. If I was still in the Army and on the other side, they would have gone to ground and hid. Going against us like that would be like me with my M-16 going against a squad of tanks. No way I could win, it would be suicide. I would just make myself a hole and try to hide in it until it was all over.”

They both nodded, and we walked around and talked a bit longer. “Clint, so you know I did ask around about you before I agreed to this. That you were an associate like Pepe here was, and everybody thought that if you said you just wanted to talk it would be an honest meeting. Some of my people were worried you were going to give us an ultimatum. But you did not.”

“Hector, this is not my area. But can I make a suggestion? Keep your main members under control. Little shit, as I said we ignore that. But harm others, and we take it personal. As long as you keep it to petty things, see if Pepe here can help you connect with a local Paladin. Do the same thing we do, feed information to each other. Because we only knew of one assassination. Now I know there are three, this means it is not as simple as we thought. And if I learn anything that can protect you or others, I will feed it through Francesca or Pepe.”

We shook hands again, and soon we were heading back to our cars. I drove home, and as soon as I got there I said hello to everybody, then excused myself for a bit. I fired up the computer in the trailer, and sent a message to Dr. Tran, with copies to Di, Bo, Carol, and Racer telling them what I had learned. I even found reports of the other two assassinations and sent along what little news reports there were on them.

For the first, it was indeed reported as a possible killing by what may be a secret lover of his girlfriend. The other was just an accident and fire. And the fact that the daggers were recovered before the authorities arrived indicated that the Devil’s Dagger was trying to keep a low profile.

But why? From most reports that was not his usual style. Something else was at play here, but I had no idea what. Finally I joined everybody, and nodded to Lucy that everything was OK.

Francesca and her husband arrived the next night, and it was a good dinner. She and Melissa got along great, and even her husband was a nice guy. And as they left she hugged me and said Pepe had been in contact with her, and he was in contact with Chico.

And that night I sent off another memo to Dr. Tran, suggesting that if other areas had not done as we had, to suggest that they try to make connections with the underworld. “It may not even be possible in all areas, but in at least some they might help moderate the gangs to be less violent.”

We took off the next week and headed to LA. I had contacted Ted, and he invited us both to stay with him for a few days. But as I could not fit in his apartmenyt, we got a space at an RV park in the San Fernando Valley and met him for dinner at a nice Italian place in Studio City. And he gave a big grin when we walked in, and once again had the experience of having my hand shook by six hands at once. And Lucy got a six armed hug.

During dinner he invited us to the lot the next day, as he had gotten permission for us to visit the set. Lucy seemed thrilled with that, and asked him what the movie was. “Oh, I can’t talk about that. And you will likely have to sign an agreement as this one is being under tight wraps. But trust me, it would be worth it, even if you can’t talk about much until the movie is released.”

We both agreed, and after some drinks in a nearby bar that catered to people like Ted and me, we headed back to the trailer. And we both said as we got into bed we were looking forward to being home. “Especially since by then it will be our new home.”

Well, we drove to the studio the next day, and were met by Ted and a guy in a suit. They gave us a tour of the lot, including a lot of sets and buildings I recognized. But as they were in a golf cart, I just jogged along as I was too big. And Lucy made sure to get some shots of me walking across a pond, then using their “parting of the Red Sea” illusion, as well as my acting scared when the large mechanical shark came out of the water and attacked me.

It was a fun tour, and towards the end Ted took us to a sound studio. He pointed up and said that since the red light was off we could go in. Inside they had actually built what looked like a house, and even several rooms. He then introduced me to the director, who told us it was another mutant movie similar to Lucan.

In fact, it was a sequel but not. Set in the same town, with a group of teens that were now forming their own group to try and do good things. “OK, just so you know you can only say what this is related to once we start the ad campaign. And nothing about it other than that until after it is released.

Then the real surprise, as we were taken to the back. And Lucy clapped her hands in front of her mouth in shock. “Oh my, is that really who I think it is?”

Ted grinned and nodded. “Yes, this is currently untitled. But he does have a small cameo.

Well, Lucy was thrilled to meet the actor, and he was thrilled to meet me. “Sensei, you have been a real inspiration to all of us. Like Ted, I am in the Reserve now and doing all I can to help others.” We talked for a bit more, then they had to get back to work. And it was a fight with Ted once again playing a villain, but he was suspended by a harness, and his butt was green! I looked at the production assistant that was with us, and he said that his character was called “The Scorpion”, and a CGI tail would be added in later.

It was an interesting afternoon, and then the star came up and asked if he could get a photo with me. And as that was not a problem, we had some taken, then Lucy was thrilled when he took some with her also. Then he smiled, and changed. And Lucy was even more starstruck to be taking one of him in his mutant form. We even took some joking around, with him trying to pick me up, then one where I picked him up with one hand by one of his legs.

And we were getting ready to leave, and there was yet another person that joined us. It was the boy that played Lucan’s son in the first movie, but a few years older. We both were surprised that his eyes were brown.

“Contact lenses” Ted told us, and Lucy was talking to him as I saw the director talking to the star. A few minutes later they both came up, and asked if I wanted a part. I was unsure, but they insisted, and it would not involve fighting.

“We were going to have another do this, but think it might work better if you want to. We will pay the SAG rate, that is $500 if you agree.” I thought about it, and asked what the scene was. “Oh, you visit the son’s school one day and give a lecture. We will film that in front of a green screen, we will put in the kids in post. Then afterwards he asks if you knew his father. You admit you did not, but knew of him and how brave he was. But that he gave his life for others, and that was something to be proud of.”

I thought for a moment, then nodded. And that is pretty much how it went. They had cue cards with my lines, and it took about an hour to get the scene in the classroom down. Then we moved to the back lot, to a small park that had been set up there.

But when I was looking into his eyes, I deviated a bit from the script. And I added in Falcon, Blackie, Minx, and several other Paladins that had been killed over the years. “And some of them were my friends, some I barely knew. Others like your father I never met, but have a lot of respect for. If you are to do anything, just be the best person you can be. Live your life to help others, even if you are just a regular person. You can be a doctor, or a soldier, or a fireman. Anything you want to be.”

And I will give the kid credit, he was good. “Like, be a police officer?”

I smiled at him and ruffled his hair and nodded. “That is a very good thing to be. I work with cops all the time, and have a lot of respect for them. I go out to trouble spots, knowing I am hard to hurt. They go out just as they are, without the protection I have. To me, cops are real heroes. And I can’t do what I do without them.” We adlibbed a bit more, and he gave me a hug before saying he had to get home. I asked if he wanted a ride, but he quickly shook his head.

“Thank you, Mister Sensei. But my mom hates people like you. But you stay safe, and I will be the best man I can when I grow up.” And with a wave he walked away. I sat there for several minutes, actually thinking on Falcon. A cool dude, who had been married and had a daughter that was just entering school. He had been a science teacher, and how as sad as his loss was, it also was what I now know an important step in Dire Wolf realizing that we will sometimes lose people, and we just had to get over that.

Finally I looked up, and saw that the camera was still rolling and everybody was just silently watching me. I gave a grin and asked when they were going to call cut. Lucy came up and knelt in front of me and gave me a hug, saying I looked so serious and somber.

“You looked a bit sad there, Clint. Want to talk about it, baby?”

I waved Ted over as well as the star and director. I then explained that I was remembering Falcon. “He was one of the first losses of a Paladin to a Rogue. And while I had lost friends when I was in the Army, he was a civilian. A teacher, who simply wanted to help others. He was not a fighter, but he did what he could. When you cut the check, make it to the Fallen Paladin Fund.”

They all nodded, and Ted looked at me closely. “And no, do not publicize that. I do not need the money, and I do not expect anybody else to do that.”

At that time the director said they were already planning on closing the movie as they had the one before, with real Paladins saying the name of one of us that had fallen. They asked me if I wanted to give one, and I shook my head.

“No, but thank you. But if you can do me a favor, ask Bohica and Dire Wolf. If anybody should speak in our group, it is them. Dire took the loss of Falcon hard, as she is our leader. And Bohica, when Darkie was killed he took it rough. Ask them if they would want to speak their names in honor. Only if they refuse will I do so. Oh, and many are like us and have formal or informal teams. Ask each of them, it might mean more if they speak the names of those that they knew. Sarge knew Falcon, but having a teammate say their name might mean more.”

They all agreed, and said they would do that. I stood and gave Lucy another hug, and after a few more photos we headed off.

The trip back east was relaxing. We spent the first night in Arizona after seeing the big meteor crater, then drove into the Rocky Mountains and spent a day camping in the desert. We spent another week heading back, stopping at San Antonio to walk through downtown and the Alamo. New Orleans was a lot of fun, and it was almost as if I was just another part of the crowd. We even relaxed in a few jazz clubs, and I promised Lucy that I would get us all together at the one in town that Bohica had shown me.

We pulled into town just before rush hour started, and went straight to the compound. And Lucy even laughed when she saw the bunting and balloons in front of the house. And a big horseshoe wreath of flowers by the front door saying “Condolences”. I spoke my name when we got there and heard it unlock. I smiled and pushed it open.

Lucy then squawked when I picked her up, and had her arms around my neck as I carried her inside. After sharing a kiss I set her down, and we started to explore our new home. The furniture was all there, and Lucy smiled, and said we would have to spend some time rearranging everything until it suited her. I gave a mock groan and she laughed, then took my hand as we explored the finally completed house.