Chapter 3: Shawna

The neighborhood where Ms. Crystal's was located was one of the ritzier communities in Rexville. It was filled with mansions, BMW's and sports cars of all kinds. Lots of walled-in houses. All with automatic gates and guys working security. Ms. Crystal's house was behind an eight-foot high brick wall with an iron gate that was controlled from the inside. There were rumors that Ms. Crystal had a pack of Dobermans that she let wander the grounds when the place was closed but I had never heard nor seen any sign of the dogs. I was hoping that it was only a rumor. I hated the idea of shooting some dumb dog just because he was doing what he'd been trained to do.

I didn't try to sneak up on the place. I saw no real reason to. I just walked up to the gate, intending to talk my way in. There was no need, though. As I stepped up to the gate, two guys in an SUV pulled up on the other side. Both were dressed casually in jeans and tee shirts. Both had a holster on their hip with a pistol inside. "Ms. Crystal has asked us to bring you to her, Mr. Knight," one of the men said as the lock clicked on the gate. The gate clanged once and then started to slide open.

"Excellent," I said.

Both of the men stood over six feet tall and both had muscles that could be seen clearly through the tight black tee shirts they wore. The one who had spoken had his head shaven, the other has his blond hair cut into a high and tight, like a Marine.

"We're supposed to search you before you go inside," Baldy said and put a hand up to my chest.

It was just like back in the hotel room when I shot Mr. Big and then automatically went after Snerdly. My body just did what it wanted, not bothering to worry about what my mind wanted. It almost seemed like, for a moment there, someone else, somewhere inside me, had taken over. I had noticed the same thing when Snerdly and Mr. Big woke me earlier.

My left fist flew out and made solid contact with the baldy's jaw. His head snapped around and he stumbled back before falling onto the ground. As this was going on, my right hand went into the pocket of my coat, and, before the first guy hit the ground, I had my pistol in my hand and aimed right between the eyes of the other guy. I flipped the safety off and I smiled at him. "Do you wanna go home tonight?" I asked him very casually. He nodded and moved his hands clear of the holster. "Good. Me too. So why don't you just use the keypad and close the gate. Then you and I will get in the truck and go up to see Ms. Crystal."

He nodded and tapped a button on the keypad. We both went to the SUV. He got in the driver's seat. I got in the passenger's seat, keeping the pistol aimed at his face the entire time. He started the engine, backed up into the grass, turned the truck around, and we headed up the long driveway towards the house. "How many others are on security detail?" I asked the guy as he drove.

He refused to answer me. Adam Knight normally would have beat the shit out of him for refusing to answer the question, but, considering he was at the wheel of the vehicle I was riding in, I chose to wait until later to discuss showing proper respect to a guest in your establishment, and I just kept the pistol aimed at him.

When he pulled up in front of the house, there were four more huge guys, all dressed in jeans and tee shirts, all four with pistols drawn, standing on the stairs. All of their pistols were aimed right at me. At least I now knew how many guys they had on the security detail. Damn it!

As soon as the SUV came to a stop, I slipped off my seat and knelt on the floor of the SUV. I had no idea whether the truck was bullet proof, its possible the windows were bullet proof, but even if none of it were armored, the metal of the body would provide me a hell of a lot better protection than the window. I shoved the barrel of the pistol in to the driver's ribs. "Roll down your window. Tell them to drop their weapons and go away or I'm gonna shoot you." The guy laughed. He didn't believe me so—I shot him. Once, point blank in to the right side of his chest, the round entered just beneath his right armpit and didn't come out the other side. He crumpled over the steering wheel.

I wasn't too surprised when the four goons all opened up, firing round after round into the side of the SUV. I wasn't sure I was going to live through this. I, personally, had never been a real live gunfight. Adam Knight had been in one but not at four to one odds against, and I had no idea whether more might join in at some point. I doubted they would be on my side. I covered my face with my arms as the windows shattered all around me, answering the question of whether they were bulletproof or not.

The metal of the car did a good enough job of protecting me. When the shooting stopped, I was covered in glass but uninjured. I knew I should have counted how many rounds had been fired. Who knows, maybe the four had all emptied their magazines. But they fired so fast and so furious, I simply couldn't count that fast. I uncovered my face and waited.

These guys weren't very well trained. One of them stuck his head through the shattered passenger's side window. I jammed the barrel of my gun in to his neck. He froze. "If you want to go home tonight, tell your buddies to drop their guns and get the hell out of here," I told him quietly.

I have no idea what he was thinking but he didn't do as asked. Something moved on the other side of the truck and I saw one of the goons circling the truck to check on the driver, or maybe to check on me. I kept the pistol jammed into the first guy's neck, pulled the small revolver from my boot and shot the one on the other side of the truck. The bullet slammed into the center of his forehead and he dropped.

The one I had the pistol on, must have thought I was distracted and tried to pull his head back out the window. Oops. Another one dead. This one scattered blood and brain matter all over the roof of the SUV and all over me. 'Another good leather jacket gets bloody, ' was all I could think as I climbed up into the seat, pistol in one hand, revolver in the other. I brought both guns up and started firing at the remaining two goons, one of whom was now in front of the SUV and the other was still on the stairs. The one to the front took three rounds from my revolver to the chest before disappearing. The other took one shot to head from the 9mm and tumbled head over heels down the steps.

Using my left hand, I unlatched the passenger's side door and stepped out of the now bloody SUV. I took a look around to make sure no one was gonna shoot me in the back, stepped over the guy who had left his brains in the SUV, and then headed up the stairs, taking a quick glance at the one at the front of the SUV. He was groaning and moaning and seemed to be having trouble breathing. I didn't figure he was a real threat.

I reached the door of the house only to find it locked. I shrugged and rang the doorbell. Much to my amazement and amusement, someone, a man, from inside used the intercom and asked who was there. I tapped the intercom button with a blood-covered finger and told him, "Adam Knight. I think Ms. Crystal is expecting me."

"I'm sorry, sir," the man on the intercom said. "But Ms. Crystal is very busy today, and, unless you have an appointment, I don't believe she'll have time to see you."

It had to be the butler. Ms. Crystal had this old man, or he looked old to the old Adam Knight, who always wore a black tuxedo and was there to answer the door and show the guests in. I was now sure that's whom I was talking to. I slipped the two guns back into my pocket, pulled the shotgun from under my coat, leveled it at the doorknob, and fired from about two feet away. I then tapped the intercom button again. "If you don't open the door, Jeeves, I'm gonna blow it off its hinges. Now, do you think Ms. Crystal can spare a few minutes for me."

"Hold on, sir. I'll check."

I was actually giggling. The old man was good. He was keeping his calm, doing his job and being pleasant about the whole thing. I really hoped I wouldn't have to kill him. I stood there and waited a few minutes, watching the front yard for signs of movement. It was about three minutes before Jeeves came back.

"I'm sorry, sir. Ms. Crystal simply has no time to put you into her schedule today. Perhaps if you come back tomorrow."

I aimed the shotgun at the door again and blew a few more holes into it. Then I used my leg and kicked the door open.

Jeeves, as expected, was standing about four feet inside the house. I aimed the shotgun at him. "Told you, Jeeves. I guess Ms. Crystal didn't believe me."

"Oh, no, sir," Jeeves said, still perfectly calm. "She believed you would break down the door. My orders were to keep you busy while she and the girls escaped." He gave me a "Cat that ate the canary" grin and then turned his back to me and headed off to somewhere else in the house, moving very slowly. He was an old man. Good thing. too. If it had been anyone else, I think I would have shot them.

It was just about then that I heard a low rumble. I tried to identify what it was. When I heard the squeal of tires outside, I figured it out real quick. On the way up to the front of the house, we had passed a four-car garage. The noise was that of a garage door opening. I spun around just in time to see what looked like a dozen young girls piled into two black SUV's tearing down the driveway. It was too far away for a shot at the tires and I didn't want to risk the lives of the girls by taking a shot at the driver or gas tank.

Ignoring the SUV's for the moment, I stepped back into the house. Jeeves was still slowly making his way down the hallway. "Hey, Jeeves," I hollered and waited for him to turn around. I pulled one of the cocktails from the inside pocket of my coat and a lighter. "How many are still in the house?"

"Three, sir," he stated. "Myself, the maid and the cook."

"Is there another door?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," I said and lit the fuse of the cocktail. "You might want to get them and get the hell out of this house." I did a baseball throw and tossed the cocktail into what served as the sitting room. The cocktail landed right on the Persian rug and burst into a million pieces allowing the fuel inside to get out. The fuse lit the gas and the room exploded into fire.

Jeeves stood there, very calmly and watched all of this. "Yes sir," he said, then turned and continued down the hall. He did move a little quicker now.

I turned around and ran out to the SUV that had been shot up. I pulled the dead driver out and dumped him unceremoniously onto the pavement, jumped in, and started the truck. I was amazed that the truck still worked. I backed out as quickly as I could, slammed it into drive, and tore out after Ms. Crystal and her girls.

Apparently, Ms. Crystal, who I was sure was driving the front SUV, didn't do a lot of get-away driving. She was taking the narrow driveway awful slow. I wasn't. I pulled up behind the second SUV just as the gate came into sight. Ms. Crystal must have had a remote for the gate in the car because it was starting to open to let her out. I realized I had a decision to make. My assignment was to save Abby, get her home, close down Ms. Crystal's bordello, and to save whatever girls possible in whatever way possible. For the moment, Abby was safe. Until Ms. Crystal could get her house repaired from the fire or find a new place of operations, her establishment was shut down. What was my main responsibility? To catch Ms. Crystal so I could question her about Robert Richards. That would mean ignoring the second SUV and going after the first. On the other hand, should I ignore Ms. Crystal for now and try to save the girls in the rear SUV?

How hard can it be to find a three hundred fifty pound, forty year old prostitute with a bunch of teenaged whores?

I took the SUV I was driving off road, passed the rear SUV on the right and cut them off just before the gate. Whoever was driving the rear SUV spun the wheel to the left to avoid hitting me and went into the grass. She got the truck stopped just before it was about to hit the wall. I hit the corner of the gate with my SUV and the engine died. I was amazed it had run at all after the pounding it had taken earlier.

I was out of the truck as soon as it came to a stop and headed for the girls in the other truck. The driver put the truck into reverse. I pulled my pistol, put two rounds each into the front and rear passenger side tires. She tried to get the truck moving forward but had no luck at all. I looked up and noticed it was none other than India driving the truck. Our eyes met for just a second and then she pulled her own gun, a .32 revolver. We pointed our guns at each others heads. "Don't make me shoot you, India!" I shouted. We stared at each other for another long second. I could see at least a half dozen other girls in the truck. Most of them screaming for her to put her gun down or crying hysterically.

India released her hold on the trigger and tossed the gun out the open window. I moved over and picked up the gun. "Get out of the truck," I ordered as I slipped her gun into my coat pocket.

India stepped out of the truck. "On the hood. I imagine you know the routine." With her hands up, India moved to the hood and assumed the position. "You, in the passenger seat, get out and come around the truck."

A young girl with short red hair, the only one not screaming or crying, climbed out and circled the truck. I tossed her a pair of handcuffs and told her to cuff India's hands behind her back and sit her down beside the tire. The girl grabbed India's right hand, cuffed the wrist, grabbed her left hand and cuffed it, gave India a quick rabbit punch to the kidney, said something to her that I couldn't hear, and then pushed her to the ground.

I put my gun away, told the rest of the girls to get out, and moved up beside the red head. "What was the punch for?"

"She beat a friend of mine a few days ago for no reason at all," the red head said with a shrug. "Just getting a little payback."

"Good for you," I said and put an arm around the girl's shoulders. India was squirming in the grass trying to sit up.

As it turns out, there were eight girls in the truck, nine if you included India. "What do we do now?" the red head asked.

"What's your name?"

"Shawna."

"Get all the girls over there," I said, pointing to the other SUV. "I'm going to search India, and then we'll figure something out."

Shawna rounded up the other seven girls, all looked to be between the ages of twelve and sixteen, and led them over to the SUV I had crashed. I yanked India to her feet, threw her against the hood of the SUV, and patted her down. I found a six-inch lock blade knife in her jeans pocket but other than that, nothing. I tossed the blade into the woods and then spun her around. "Where was Ms. Crystal headed?" She spit in my face. I slapped her hard across the face, which sent her back down to the ground. I sat on top of her, pinned her to the ground, and rubbed her face in the grass and dirt. "Where was she headed?" I asked again.

"Fuck you!" was India's answer.

I couldn't bring myself to beat the answers out of her so I just had to hope one of the other girls could tell me where they were going. I got out another set of cuffs, bound her ankles together and stuffed India into the backseat of the SUV I had been driving and tossed the keys into the woods. With the help of the seven remaining girls, we got two tires off the SUV I had been driving and replaced the tires I had shot out. We then all piled into the SUV India had been driving. The fire trucks were roaring down the street as I pulled out of the driveway and headed for the Camaro.

"Any of you know where Ms. Crystal was going?" I asked as I drove us to where I had parked my car. The girls and I wouldn't all fit in my car and none of them looked old enough to drive so I would have to use the truck until I found somewhere to leave the girls, where they would be safe from Ms. Crystal until I could find her. Closing down a brothel sounds like a nice easy job but this had gotten very complicated between Mr. Richards trying to kill Abby and Ms. Crystal doing everything she could to avoid me.

"She was headed for the other house," Shawna, who was sitting in the seat beside me, stated.

"Do you know the address?"

Shawna shook her head. "No, but it's in the bad part of town. I can show you where it is."

"Can you point it out on a map?"

"No, you'll have to take me with you."

'Women!' I thought shaking my head. 'Always wanting to go somewhere when they're not wanted!' I decided to deal with that later. Maybe Abby, or one of the others, could give me an address. I pulled the SUV up beside my Camaro and got out. I took the keys to the truck and got out. Don't get me wrong. It's nothing against the girls. I just didn't know them well enough to trust them with the truck when I was supposed to be saving them.

I opened the trunk of the Camaro and dumped the shotgun, the unused cocktail, and the blood covered leather jacket, minus my Glock which was once more in the waistband of my jeans, into the trunk as well as India's gun. I reloaded my own pistol, locked up the car, and got back behind the wheel of the SUV.

"Anyone here happen to have family nearby who'd be willing to take you in?" The odds were against me on this one but I had to try. None of the girls had family nearby, or at least, none they wanted to admit to or go visit. "Anyone have any idea of where I can take you where you'll be safe from Ms. Crystal?"

"Why can't we go back to Ms. Crystal?" a young blond in the back seat asked.

"Ms. Crystal is going out of business, darling. Going back would just be a waste of time."

"Are you going to kill her?" an older blond asked.

"Not unless I have to. My job is to shut her down, not kill her."

"What about India and Janet?"

"Well, the police will find India when they get to Ms. Crystal's place. I don't know what she'll tell them but it should be an interesting story. I imagine, by the time I'm done, Ms. Crystal, India and Janet will all be in jail for a very long time. Which gives me an idea," I finished with a huge smile.

I took a left at the next intersection and drove the girls to the nearest Rexville City Police Station. I put Shawna in charge and told her to take the other girls, go inside and tell the police everything that had been going on. I told them to tell the cops all about why they had runaway from home, how they found Ms. Crystal, all about their jobs with Ms. Crystal, and all about how India and Janet had kept them in line.

When two of the girls protested, saying they were afraid the cops would send them home, I gave them all my cell phone number and told them that if the cops sent them home, to give me a call and I'd come have a chat with their parents about the proper way to treat a pretty, young lady. They all giggled and blushed. It was enough to get them out of the truck and into the police station.

I went in with them and stayed just long enough to hear the older blond girl go up to the desk sergeant and tell him they needed to talk to a detective. When the sergeant asked what they wanted to talk about, Shawna answered, "We want to tell how we all became teenaged prostitutes." The sergeant's eyes got big for a second as he looked at each girl. Each girl gave him a nod. He picked up the phone and called a detective down.

Satisfied the girls would do their part and help clear my name, I headed back out to the SUV. When I got in to the truck, Shawna got in also. "What are you doing?"

"You need me," Shawna said, giving me a smile. "I know where Ms. Crystal is going, remember?"

"Damn it!" She was right. I did need her. I was so happy to be getting the girls off my hands that I had forgotten all about that little tidbit. "Get in!"

I got behind the wheel and headed off to find Ms. Crystal. "Here's the deal," I told Shawna, once we were moving again. "You show me the house. Once you have, I bring you back to the police station. You give them your statement and that's it." Shawna opened her mouth to protest but I shut her down before she could say a word. "No, Shawna! That's the way it's going to be. If you don't like it, I'll take you back to the police station right now."

Shawna harrumphed at me but didn't say anything else. "Now, where's the house?"

"You know where the original Valiant Department Store was?" I nodded. Adam Knight had memories of shopping there. "It's down near there." Luckily, I was headed in the right direction. I gave her a nod.

"What are you going to do when you find her? Ms. Crystal, I mean."

"I'm gonna put her out of business. I also have a few questions I want to ask her."

"Questions about what?"

"Doesn't matter right now," I told her hoping to end the discussion. "How old are you?"

"I turn seventeen next week. Ms. Crystal had already told me that I'd have to leave soon. That's why this isn't bothering me as much as it is some of the other girls."

Shawna looked young for her age. A bowl cut of orange hair, bright green eyes, a round face covered with freckles. She stood maybe five foot four with nice round tits and a slightly large bubble butt. She was the very definition of cute.

It took us more than an hour to reach the old Valiant Department Store due to traffic. By the time we got there, it was almost three in the afternoon. From the store, Shawna guided me to the house she thought Ms. Crystal would head for. "From what Ms. Crystal and India have said, Ms. Crystal owns a couple houses here in town. This one, the one we're going to, is the biggest after the mansion. With that many girls, she's going to need the room. That's why I figure they'll come here."

It made sense to me but we were disappointed when we arrived. It was obvious that the house was sitting empty. In fact, it was for sale. "Shawna," I said as we sat in front of the house, staring at the realty sign, "Do you know where any of the other houses are?"

"I was at one other but I'm not sure if I can find it. It's somewhere over near Brockwater Park. Near the playground."

I nodded and we headed that way. If they weren't at the second house, I intended to return Shawna to the police station and then stake out both of the houses and hope that Ms. Crystal or one of her girls showed up.

Traffic was even worse this time. While heading for the Valiant, we'd been moving against the flow of traffic. Now we were stuck in it. From the radio reports we were hearing, there was no way around it either. The bypass around the city was even more congested than the city streets. By the time we got near Brockwater Park, the sun was down. "I'm never gonna find it in the dark," Shawna admitted almost as soon as we arrived at the park.

I parked the truck and sat back and thought about what to do next. I wanted to know the location of the second house, if there was a second house. I wasn't real sure I could trust Shawna on that tidbit. It seemed to me she was doing everything she could just to stay with me and not go back to the police. If she was just messing with me, I was going to be real ticked. Now I had a couple of hard decisions to make. What to do with Shawna was one, and what to do about Abby was the second.

Abby, as far as I knew, was still at The Beaver's Lodge. Who knew what Sandra had put her up to. I wasn't real worried about that. Sandra protected her girls almost as fiercely as Ms. Crystal protected hers. Despite the fact that Sandra considered this a favor to me, I was pretty sure she would keep Abby safe and sound. The problem was I had promised Sandra I'd come by and pick up Abby. With darkness falling and no clue where Ms. Crystal had disappeared to and still no lead on who this Robert Richards was or his whereabouts, I was pretty much in the same situation as I had been first thing that morning.

I had to get Abby by midnight or so and I had to find something to do with Shawna. Did I want the two girls together? Did I want to involve Shawna even more in this? Did I have the right to endanger her life by having her associate with Abby and I, just for a possible clue as to the whereabouts of Ms. Crystal and her girls? Would Mr. Richards' goons check the identity of the teenaged girl I was with? They must have figured out who I was by now. The death of Mr. Big, I would bet, had caused quite a commotion.