Chapter 2

The vigilantes had removed some unsavory types from the community but really it was just the tip of the iceberg. There was a lot to deal with and new crimes kept coming frequently, like every day. The police would be working hard trying to solve one murder when along would come two more, at least, on a bad weekend. Sometimes a gangland shootout would result in even more vics. Well, vics/perps.

When the gangs were involved police always knew that the victims were often the perps of last week. Gangs rarely let a score go unsettled. Witness the execution of the Rap Star “L’il Poo” on the San Francisco Bay bridge by another gang. A quick bullet through his head. RIP L’il Poo. Sometimes a score was settled by shooting up a restaurant where there were lots of innocent bystanders, enjoying their baked lasagna. This often happened late at night but sometimes a shootout would occur say at 1pm in broad daylight. Innocent people and sometimes even kids were around. And sometimes they got shot as well. Or blown up by semtex.

The gangs were a scourge for sure. If you let them get out of control you get what Mexico now has. A mostly failed state where the government, such as it is, has lost control of the country and gangs own much of it. In fact they are often better armed than the police or the military because they can afford it. North of Mexico things were not quite so bad but they could be bad enough.

Crown prosecutors or district attorneys were sometimes a source of problems to law and order. Now that sounds odd doesn’t it? You would think they would prosecute criminals to the fullest extent of the law. But it didn’t always happen. Sometimes the reverse happened. Ridiculous plea deals were sometimes done when they never should be. Consider this case. A newly wed couple. After a time the bride is surprised that her new hubby started knocking her about. Now, really, a man should never hit a woman but they would have an argument and she’d get slapped around. Sometimes hard. It went on for awhile and eventually got worse. It always does. It never gets better or goes away. He’d punch her in the breast to her horror as she was quite well endowed. It caused her terrible pain. And could have affected her ability to suckle an infant.

Eventually, the bride’s family started to notice things. She’d have deep bruises on her arms and she’d tell them something fell on her. Then she started wearing a full body swimsuit when she had in the past always loved wearing skimpy, side-tie bikinis. Yes the husband didn’t like her showing off her body. And now she had to wear a full swinsuit to cover up her bruises to her mid section and back and sides. Then hospital visits were recorded. The police became involved. The courts offered a restraining order against hubby. Whoop-de-do. Really.

You could argue that the bride’s family let it go on for too long but it is hard to know when to intervene. The restraining order meant nothing as hubby would often come by and harass her anyway. Thankfully, no kids were involved. But she did have three brothers who all worked in the oil fields. They were not weaklings. The police wouldn’t back up the restraining order so something needed to be done. The police and courts think they have a monopoly on law and order enforcement but really they don’t. They just think they do.

The three brothers could see what was happening to their lovely sister and it was not good. So it happened one night they caught him harassing l’il sis. They just seized him to give him a talking to but could see it was fruitless. One of them put him in a headlock. The other two gave him quite a treat. They pounded on him with closed fists until he had 7 broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a smashed nose, both eyes were swollen shut. His whole face was swollen. His front teeth were nowhere to be seen, er maybe on the ground. Maybe on the ground. All knocked out.

He was a mess when they finished with him. Much worse than the girl had ever been beaten. Was it over-kill? Did they go too far? Maybe but wife abusers never learn although hubby could figure out that if he kept on harassing the girl they would come looking for him again. They certainly did teach him a lesson. He never went after her again. Well he really didn’t have the body for it anymore. He was in constant pain and was a shadow of his former self. No good for anything really.

The police quickly figured out what happened and charged the three brothers with assault. Really. Under orders from the prosecutor they actually did charge them. And the perp hubby? Did he get charged for violating the restraining order? For assaulting his wife? You’d be right if you answered no. The prosecutor was known to be soft on some types of crime but he really didn’t like people taking the law into their own hands. He went after them with a vengeance.

Remember what the chief said. He said vigilante action would not be tolerated. Oh, really? Yes, really, the police and the courts desperately wanted to maintain their monopoly on policing and justice issues. They were so desperate many wanted to see guns taken out of the hands of citizens so they couldn’t protect themselves. Stupid lieberals.

Ok, so where did this leave our vigilantes? They were not resting on their laurels. Well one night it left them in a city park at 11 pm, well after dark. This city park bordered one of the rivers that ran through town. It was well treed. There was lots of cover. Across from the park, on the other side of the river, were some very nice homes, including the one where the prosecutor lived. He was single but was entertaining this Friday night.

He had a woman with him and was just beginning to put the hustle on this perky-breasted pretty little blonde. He went over to the bar where he poured them both a glass of Dalwhinnie scotch. Mmmmm good! This night (the marksman nominated for this job was an excellent shot) the vigilante had selected his .308 Win for its powerful ballistics all topped by an excellent Vertex Viper 6.5 – 20 by 50 scope. He rarely missed with this combo. It was a fairly easy 380 meter shot with no obstructions except the window glass. The Federal Match King 168 grain round was more than equal to the task. With a muzzle velocity of around 2700 ft/sec it was fast - dropping to about 2100ft/sec at 350 meters. Apologies for the mixed units. Our marksman even used his shooting rest to give him a nice steady aim. The reticle homed in on the prosecutor’s T.