Chapter 5: Ms. Crystal

It was another two hours before we were finally packed up and had checked out of the motel. No one had interrupted our night's rest. It was a real good thing no one did. I'm not sure I was in any kind of shape to be fighting people. And if someone had interrupted some of our activities, well, that would have made me real mad!

Shawna asked what we were going to do about the truck. "Nothing," I told her. "We're going to leave it right here and let the police find and deal with it. As far as I'm concerned, we've never seen it before." I wiped down the front seat, steering wheel and dashboard of the truck to remove any fingerprints. We then climbed into the Camaro and left the motel.

"So, you said you were going to end this today," Abby said once we were on the road. "How do you plan to do that?"

"Simple," I responded. "Shawna's gonna lead us to where Ms. Crystal has taken up residence. Ms. Crystal and I are going to have a nice little talk about exactly who Mr. Robert Richards is. Once that's done, we'll call the cops and let them deal with her and the other girls."

"What about Janet? India was the meaner of the two, but we'll still have to deal with Janet."

"If Janet gets in my way, it'll be the last thing she ever does. Trust me, Abby. This will end today." I wished I was as confident as I sounded.

We had just crossed into the city limits when I noticed a blue four door sedan coming up on us rather quickly. I told the girls to make sure they had their seat belts on and then waited to see if the blue sedan was going to cause us problems. It did.

I waited as long as I could before putting the accelerator all the way down. From all appearances, the blue sedan intended to ram me, probably hoping to knock me off the road. "What's going on?" Shawna screamed from the back seat.

"Someone's trying to run us off the road," I told her but didn't elaborate as I was a little busy weaving the Camaro through traffic. My Camaro had better pick-up, better speed, and better handling. I easily left the sedan behind by weaving through the traffic at high speed. The traffic was getting steadily worse as we got closer to the city center.

Shawna had spun in her seat as best she could without undoing her seat belt and was helping me track the sedan. Abby just sat in front, her knuckles turning white, watching as I weaved through the traffic.

"Verdammt!" Shawna screamed at one point.

"What?" I asked.

"They're gaining on us again, and I think they've got a friend."

I looked in my rear view mirror and could tell she was right. The blue sedan had been joined by a black Explorer. "Okay," I said. "We'll do it their way. Hold on, ladies."

I gunned the engine and shot out ahead of the two chase cars. Once I was a good distance ahead, I spun the wheel hard and stomped the brakes, doing a bootlegger turn. Once the car was facing back the way we had just come, I stomped the gas pedal again.

I pulled the pistol from my jacket and laid it on my lap, slammed the Camaro into the third gear, and rolled down the drivers side window. "They won't see this one coming!" I said as I slammed the Camaro into forth gear and roared back at them.

The sedan was slowing down, probably with the intent of turning and following. The Explorer hadn't noticed us yet and was still coming up behind them. I picked up the pistol, stuck it out the window, and, as we passed the sedan, I fired four shots at the drivers side tires on the sedan. I had no idea whether I'd hit them or not, or whether it would stop them if I did. We simply flew by too fast for me to tell. I kept the pedal to the floor and concentrated on getting to the Explorer before it could think to turn into our path.

The driver of the Explorer must have seen me shoot at the sedan. He spun the wheel to the right and veered into the far lane and then stomped the brake. Whoever was driving was good. They managed to put an innocent bystander's car between me and them, leaving me no shot at the Explorer.

"You got the sedan. They've stopped!" Shawna told me from the back seat. "The SUV is turning around to follow us though."

"Good," I screamed. I put the gun in my lap again, waited until I had a nice stretch of road, did another bootlegger, once again turning the car to the left, slammed the transmission into second gear, and tore off back towards the city.

Shawna was laughing as we blew past the sedan, which was now pulled off to the side of the road with a flat. Apparently, the two men who had been in the car hadn't expected us to come back. They just stood there and watched us fly by. Shawna reported that the Explorer tried to turn around again, presumably to follow us but, by the time they got a clear road and got the truck turned, we were long gone.

Forty minutes after leaving the motel, I brought the Camaro to a stop a few houses from where Shawna said Ms. Crystal might be hiding. The good news was that there was a black SUV, just like the one I'd seen Ms. Crystal driving the day before, sitting out in front of the house.

"What now?" Shawna asked, sitting forward in her seat.

"Does Ms. Crystal carry a gun?" I asked.

"No," both girls answered at the same time.

"But Janet usually does," Abby explained.

"Okay, this is how we do it. We're going to walk right up to the front door and walk in." I got out of the car, circled around to the trunk and popped the trunk. As I was reloading the pistol, Shawna and Abby both joined me at the rear of the car. "Either of you two know how to use a pistol?"

"I do," Shawna volunteered. "My Daddy used to take me to the shooting range a lot. He said I was a natural."

I reached into the trunk, grabbed a spare pistol I kept there, slammed a loaded magazine home, and chambered a round. "Just remember," I told Shawna as I handed her the gun, butt first. "There's a big difference between shooting at paper targets and shooting real people. Just flip the safety, aim and fire." Shawna nodded. "Let me do any shooting. That's only for emergencies. If I'm not there, or if I'm hurt or dead. Otherwise, I'll do the shooting! Got it?" Shawna nodded. "Your job is to find the other girls and keep them safe. I'm gonna try and deal with Janet first but if she gets by me, you're job is to protect those girls. Abby, you stay by my side, no matter what! Got it?"

Abby nodded. Shawna and I both carried our pistols, not even trying to hide them, and the three of us walked up to the front door of the house. I banged on the door, then kicked it open. "Honey! I'm home!" I screamed.

There were a series of screams from inside and the girls, who were all gathered in the large living room, scattered to the wind. By the time Abby, Shawna and I strolled in, pistols raised, the only people left in the room were Janet and Ms. Crystal. Janet had her pistol out and aimed it at me. I fired one shot into her shoulder. She screamed, dropped her pistol, spun around, and collapsed to the floor, crying.

"Shawna, collect Janet's gun and then go find the girls," I ordered as I turned my pistol to Ms. Crystal.

Ms. Crystal was sitting in a recliner, her legs up on an matching ottoman. She didn't even look scared as I came towards her, the pistol pointed right at her face. "Let me see your hands!" I ordered. Slowly, her hands came out from the pockets of the flower-print summer dress she was wearing. She laid her fat little hands on her lap.

"So you finally found me. With help, I see," Ms. Crystal said, turning from Abby to Shawna and back again, glaring at them. No doubt she felt as though they had betrayed her by giving me information on her. I wasn't too worried about that at the moment though.

I circled around behind Ms. Crystal, grabbed her reddish-blond, straight-from-a-bottle hair, and yanked her head back hard over the back of the chair. When she opened her mouth to scream, I shoved the barrel of my pistol into her mouth.

"By now," I told her keeping my voice very quiet and very calm. "I'm sure you've heard of what happened at your mansion. At least four of your security guards are dead, two others wounded and possibly dead, and the house is burned, hopefully beyond any chance of repair. Half of your girls have gone to the cops. India, I imagine, is either in jail or in the hospital. Either way, I don't care, and your staff is scattered to the four winds. You don't have Jeeves to stall me this time."

"His name is Raymond," Abby stated.

I looked up to find Abby standing near Ms. Crystal's feet, smiling at me. Janet was still rolling on the floor, crying and moaning. I could hear Shawna yelling at someone in another part of the house. I figured she had a pistol if things got to out of hand.

I gave Abby a wink and turned my attention back to Ms. Crystal. I was still holding her hair while pulling her head back over the top of the recliner, the barrel of my pistol still stuck between her teeth. I took a breath and bent down, placing my face just inches from hers.

"I want information and then I want your oath that you will retire from this business. No more taking in thirteen, fourteen and fifteen year old female runaways and pressuring them into prostitution. It's over! Understood?" Her eyes were wide open in fear. She nodded.

I pulled the pistol from her mouth, released her hair and circled around to stand beside Abby. "Now that that's taken care of, I have only one more question for you, and then, Shawna, Abby and I will be out of your hair forever. As long as you keep your promise to retire."

"What do you want to know?" Ms. Crystal asked. It was almost a growl.

I still had my pistol pointed at her, just in case she tried something. I couldn't imagine a woman as large as Ms. Crystal being able to move quickly or being very athletic but I could still see a fire in her eyes that made me think she might cause us trouble. "I want to know what you know about a man named Robert Richards. Who is he? Where can I find him? And most of all, why is he trying to kill Abby?"

"He's trying to kill Abby?" Ms. Crystal asked, glancing at Abby standing at my left side. Abby and I nodded at almost the same instant. "I have no idea why he's trying to kill Abby. As for finding him, that shouldn't be too hard. Just go to police station."

"The police station? Is he in legal trouble of some sort?"

Ms. Crystal chuckled at this.

My attention was suddenly drawn away as Shawna, closely followed by the other six teen prostitutes, entered the room. Shawna still had the pistol in her hand, obviously using it to maintain some control of the girls. She ordered the girls to line up against a wall, stay there, and stay quiet. She stepped up beside me, opposite Abby. "Robert Richards," I said, turning back to Ms. Crystal. "Why would he be at the police station?"

She was giggling as she answered. "Robert Richards is the chief of detectives for the Rexville Police Department, you imbecile. He's not a criminal. He's a cop!"

"Fuck!" Abby, Shawna and I all three said simultaneously.

"Has he visited your establishment?"

"Lots," Ms Crystal told us. "He comes by about once a month for pay off money. I give him and his partner five grand and they don't shut me down. He occasionally enjoys the company of one of my girls."

"Was he ever with Abby?"

Ms. Crystal looked at Abby and considered this question before she answered. "I have no clue. I guess it's possible. If he was, I don't remember it though. Could have happened though."

"What does he look like?" Abby asked.

"Dark blond or light brown hair, has a big bald spot in the middle of his head, between five-ten and six feet, average weight, glasses, narrow little face, his nose kind of hooks to one side. Usually came in wearing a black suit and a bright colored tie."

"I remember him," Shawna said, with a nod. "I always thought he was one of Ms. Crystal's partners. Never figured him for a cop."

"Were you ever with him?" I asked.

"No. He seemed to prefer blonds and the more exotic girls: Asians and black girls."

"Abby?"

Abby shook her head. "I don't remember being with anyone by that description. Maybe if I saw him," she shrugged.

I slipped the pistol into my pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Moments later, Ms. Crystal was cuffed to her recliner and Janet was cuffed to the leg of the couch. I ordered one of the girls who was there to call 911. I hoped that with the statements from the girls yesterday, getting the cops out to the house would be enough to lead to Ms. Crystal and Janet being arrested. About the best I could do for the girls, for the moment anyway, was hand them over to the police. Like with the first group of girls, I gave them all my number and told them to call me if the police sent them to a bad place. They were all grateful.

Not wanting to be arrested myself for my "vigilante" actions, Shawna, Abby, and I left pretty quick.

"What do we do now, Adam?" Shawna asked, now riding in the front seat with me.

"I don't know," I said. "Let me think for a while."

I was confused. I really hadn't expected this twist in the story. Why would the Chief of Detectives be after a fifteen year old prostitute who, as far as I could tell, had never seen the man. Obviously he was dirty. He was taking bribes from Ms. Crystal to let her operate her brothel without harassment, and, apparently, he wasn't the only dirty cop in the city. There was no doubt that I would have to deal with him. The question was how? All this time I had expected Mr. Richards to be some thug or mobster, not a high ranking officer in the RPD.

As was becoming a habit for her, it was Shawna who pointed the way. "Uh, Adam," she said after we'd been driving for over an hour. "We've got a problem." I had been so lost in my thoughts that I had been paying just enough attention to driving to keep us on the road and out of an accident. Shawna's proclamation was enough to pull me out of my thoughts.

"What's up?"

Shawna pointed over her shoulder. "Check your rear view."

I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw two black and white police cars trailing us real close. Neither had their lights or sirens on, which is probably why I hadn't noted them earlier. I made a few quick turns, leading the cops around a block of warehouses. Apparently, that was enough for them to realize I had noted them and was testing to see if they were after me. As we turned back onto the street where we had started, they hit their lights and sirens and "lit me up" as the popular term goes.

It was then that I had another epiphany.

"Shawna, you still got that pistol?"

"Yeah," she said and pulled it from the side of her jeans and showed me.

I nodded and took the gun from her. I flipped it around in my hand and pointed it at her and flipped off the safety.

"Adam, what are you doing?" Abby asked from the back seat.

"You both just became my hostages. Hold on!" I gunned the engine and sped away from the two black and whites. They stomped the accelerators in their cars and tore after me, no doubt calling for back-up as they did. With all the damage I had done over the last two days, with all the dead people I had left in my wake, I figured within a few minutes, every on-duty cop in the city would be hunting for my car. I should have realized it sooner. Most likely it was pure dumb luck that we hadn't been spotted and pursued before now.

"Please tell me you have a plan, Adam," Shawna said as I fish-tailed the Camaro around a corner and gunned it again, heading up a street that would lead to the interstate. "Please tell me you haven't just flipped out and decided that you're in a butt load of trouble and are actually going to use us as hostages."

"No, I haven't flipped out, but yes, I am going to use you as a hostage. We need to attract the attention of Robert Richards and confront him in front of a large number of police officers."

A huge smile slowly grew across Shawna's face. "You're brilliant, you know that." She then held on for dear life as we headed up the on-ramp and onto the interstate.

"Does someone wanna explain this plan to me?" Abby hollered from the back seat. I couldn't help but smile.

"He's gonna get every cop in this burg chasing us. Then he's gonna pull over and make Roberts admit what he's up to," Shawna explained.

"How?"

"Don't worry about that right now," I told Abby. "For now, your job is to get on the floor, out of sight, hold on and look terrified."

"That last part won't be hard," Abby screamed back at me as we almost rear-ended a semi. She obediently slipped off the seat into the cramped space between the front and rear seat.

"Good girl," I shouted back at her. I flipped the safety on the pistol so it wouldn't accidentally discharge and kill Shawna or me and shoved it under my right thigh. I then concentrated on driving.

The cops didn't seem interested in forcing me to stop. For the moment they were just following. I figured they were waiting for more back-up. I was glad of this. I wasn't ready to stop yet. Within a few minutes three more black and whites had joined the pursuit as had two pursuit cars. I was pretty sure the Camaro could outrun the black and whites. The pursuit cars were built specifically to chase down anything on the road though. They might give me a run for my money. I hoped they would stay happy following until I was ready to pull over.

I continued along the interstate until just before we were about to leave the city limits. I pulled off at an exit, turned around, and got back on headed the other way. It didn't even phase the cops. I wondered what they thought. Most criminals would have headed for the state line hoping to get away. Me, I had just turned around and was going back the way I had come. I was speeding but not excessively. My top speed never hit seventy, and I only went over the speed limit when one of the cops got too close for comfort.

It wasn't even two minutes after I'd turned around that the police helicopter joined the pursuit and the cop cars backed off. 'Good, ' I thought. I wanted them to follow. I didn't want them to stop me. I was waiting for one more guest to this party before I would stop. A moment later, Shawna spotted our final guest on it's way. A news helicopter coming at us from the east.