Chapter 44

John and Jimbo were only too happy to spill their guts. They had joined Jake when he was doing better. The one I'd shot in the leg the other day had died since they didn't have a real doctor. The other one had taken his women and left in the night. The gang now had seven men and forty-three women. John told us thirteen of the women were unassigned.

Keeping a two man guard at the airbase was a big piss off for most of the men. Jake wouldn't let them keep any women here and they had to stay for a forty-eight hour shift.

They complained Jake had gotten more and more bossy as time went on and as things didn't seem to be going his way. These two said they were fed up with him and they knew at least three more were also. Jake would be coming with their replacements in about an hour.

I told Jasmine to find out where and when exactly Jake would be arriving and to take care of him and the others if they weren't cooperative. I signaled Aimee and she picked me up.

On the radio I told Helen to go ahead and land the Lear but to keep it out of sight of the entrance. They could then see if the Hawkeyes were ready to fly and try to locate a couple of A10s we could use.

Aimee took me nearly straight up. We were looking for Jake and we spotted him in one of the humvees with a machine gun. Aimee pulled us back and then got low and approached the airfield again hiding the Cobra behind the numerous planes.

Jake and his men found the gate they intended to enter closed. A man got out with an M16 and walked over to open it. Jasmine must have said something to him because he stopped. We had seen where Jasmine and the others were hiding but I knew Jake wouldn't be able to. I told Aimee to let him see us and to approach ready to deal with the humvee.

I'm sure it looked impressive as the Cobra leapt from behind a B52 and seemed to just charge the thousand yards between our hiding place and the humvee in about five seconds. The man that had gone to open the gate threw his M16 and hit the ground on his face. The driver bailed and hit the ground on his face also. We could tell there was someone still in the humvee; but they didn't move at all. This didn't suit Jasmine and I saw her launch a grenade. It bounced under the humvee and made a mess of it. I don't know how the driver escaped a wound, because he hadn't gotten very far from the humvee when he bailed out on his face, but he did.

Jake had remained in the humvee but had been thrown out as it flipped over. He was banged up but not seriously wounded. Jasmine and the others showed themselves now and secured the three men with handcuffs behind their back. I had Aimee let me out close to them and then told her to go up and keep a watch.

I had my M4, Glock, and the 44 Magnum and I figured Jasmine and I could keep a lid on these three now, so I told Henny and her girls to see to the planes so they left. Jake's head must have been clearing by now.

He shouted for us to leave the planes alone because they belonged to him. I decided to give him about five more minutes for his brain to quit rattling. Henny and her crew hadn't paid any attention to him. Jake warned us when he didn't return on schedule his reinforcements would be coming for him.

"I hope so Jake. That way we can kill them here and not have to fly across town. The other two started to whimper. Jake just kept ranting so I asked Jasmine if she wanted to do him or if she wanted me to. She let him have three rounds from her M4 and he was quiet from then on.

I asked the driver if they had any vehicle which could carry everyone at the compound. He said they had a couple of school busses so I released him and told him to find a car and go back. He was to tell the two men there to let the women bind their hands behind their backs, including him. They were then to have all the women get into the school busses without firearms and tell them to come here. The men were to stay in the compound on their faces on the ground. I told him I would be following in the helicopter and watching him.

I told Jasmine to release the cuffs and let him go and after he left I signaled Aimee to come get me. She did and we tracked the driver as he found a pickup with the keys in it and headed back to their compound.

They were located in what had been a Sheriff's station which had a tall hurricane fence around it. He made it in about fifteen minutes and we could see him talking to two armed men. When they saw the Cobra approaching they laid down their arms and lay face down on the ground. The driver yelled some instructions to a woman and soon three women came out with some ropes and tied the men's hands behind them.

The women all came out then and boarded two school buses. They started them up and headed for the airbase. Aimee and I landed inside the compound. I checked the men's bindings and they all looked good and tight so I had Aimee call Gloria over to pick them up.

She arrived in ten minutes and I had the three men enter the Sikorsky. Jasmine had come with Gloria and she kept a weapon trained on them for their short flight. Gloria lifted off to take them to the airbase and Aimee and I followed.

When we got back Aimee and Gloria set down. I had Jasmine find some offices and we locked each man in a separate one. I gathered all the women in a hangar and had a talk with them.

"The gang is disbanded. They have crossed me twice and that's one time too many. Were any of you women being held against your will?" I asked.

It looked like about fifteen or twenty raised their hands. I told them to move apart from the others and a little away from them. There were eighteen in the group. I asked for Jake's former women to move over with them. Only two moved this time. I suspected Jake had been occupying a few women that weren't inclined to be with him of their own free will.

We are taking the men with us. They will be held as prisoners until I either decide they can join us or get rid of them.

All of you women are welcome to join us. You will not be required to pay for your safety and care with sex. If you have sex with anyone it will be your choice. Nothing will be required of you. We have room for all and plenty of food and protection. You will be required to come with us, but if you don't want to stay we will give you food, weapons, ammunition and supplies and take you anywhere in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, or New Mexico you want to go.

I know I took you away from your belongings. You will be allowed to return and pack. You will need to stay there tonight while I make arrangements for your transportation.

I let them get back on the busses and go back to their compound. If any of them wanted to run away I didn't care. I wasn't letting the men loose though. I went to talk to the men one at a time. All but two seemed decent enough. The two were surly and uncooperative telling me they would find a way to get me back later so I shot them. I figured it would make it harder for them to find a way to bother me again, in this life anyway.

Fucking around with the gang had thrown our schedule off. Roger had managed to get the Lear back to pick up the four pilots though and they were all already headed back with A10s. I asked Henny how long it would take her to disable all the aircraft we didn't take. She estimated two days. I called Roger who was on his way back to the house and asked him to bring a couple of hundred MREs when he returned to Barksdale.

I asked Henny to try and ready enough planes for six pilots per trip now. Brenda and Andrea had already made a tentative list of the ones we wanted first. I called Roger again and ask him to wait for Debbie to land and bring her back also. I then ask Debbie to go back home and return for ferrying.

We unloaded the MREs when Roger got back and let the pilots go ahead and take off for home. They got this trip and two more in before they stopped at home for the night. Jasmine, Henny's crew, and I stayed the night. We took the four remaining gang men an MRE and a jug of water each.

They wanted to know what I was going to do with them. I told them to let me do the thinking unless they wanted to join Jake and the other two. This changed their mood fast.

Roger and the six pilots were back and on the ground the next morning at seven am. Six planes were ready and the girls left with them right away. I asked a couple of them to bring a Chinook back.

Aimee and I flew over to the compound where I talked to the women and told them a large helicopter would be landing and they should load their personal belongings on it. I told them they were free to bring their weapons with them.

One of them spoke up and told me Jake hadn't allowed the women to have weapons. I assured them they would all be getting weapons of their own in a day or two and there would be training in using them if they wanted it. I asked for a count of them and it was forty-three. None had slipped away in the night. I did tell them not to worry about bringing any food unless it was something they particularly liked and they thought it wouldn't be available near Dallas or Ft Worth. I told them we had plenty.

Gloria and Helen set the Chinook down in the compound about an hour later. They took a look at the things the women had ready to load and said the Chinook could carry it in one load. They headed back to Barksdale in the pickup the driver had used yesterday. Aimee and I got up and followed them.

Roger had already brought Andrea, Brenda, Debbie and Paula back and they had all left with planes. Gloria and Helen left in a couple of A10s. Roger and the others were waiting on them. We got four more six plane ferries that day. Roger brought Helen, Gloria, and Brenda back. Gloria, Helen and Brenda took the Sikorsky to the compound and Aimee and I followed in the Cobra. The women had all their things loaded in the Chinook.

We could take twenty-five of them back in the Lear as Roger would be the only pilot in it. One of them could sit up front with him. Gloria could take nine for the same reason. That left nine and Brenda said the Chinook was loaded lightly and they could ride in it if any of them wanted to. We had no trouble getting nine volunteers to rough it in the Chinook.