Chapter 12

"Please hurry Jim. This isn't going well," JJ thought. "They haven't put handcuffs on me but I am under arrest. The girls have called two local television stations and told them the army is attacking our home. Then they ran out the back door and will wait for you two streets over. The General is going up to the house now. I think he thinks you are still in there."

"Can you slow him down; keep him from going inside for a few minutes?" Jim asked JJ.

"Jorge," Jim said. "Pick up Kim and Blake on the way to JJ's."

Jim showed Jorge' the pickup location with his mind and Jorge' nodded. Jim realized that Jorge was aware of and had been part of his mental conversation with JJ.

"How should I stall him?" JJ asked with some frustration.

"Start yelling at him and tell him that he can't enter your home without a search warrant. Tell him that if he steps on your porch you will blow the whole story and to hell with his national security stamp. Tell him this has no more to do with national security than his little dick. Is anyone physically holding you?" Jim queried.

"No one is holding me right now," JJ replied. "Little Dick? Jim, you saw what he is like in his mind awhile ago. That will make him furious. There is no telling what he will do if I yell that in front of all these people and his soldiers."

"That's the idea," Jim thought. "We want him mad but we want to keep him out of the house until I get closer. If he is mad he isn't thinking as clearly as normal. We need him to be in the house when I get there. If you can keep him out of the house then maybe you can give him permission to enter when I am about a block away." Jim paused for a moment then thought, "Start walking toward him so the guys holding you will grab you. We want them to be holding you but don't rile them so much they try to put handcuffs on you. Which side of the street are you on? Are you on the side closest to the house or the side away from the house?"

'I am on the side away from the house," JJ thought then she paused. "Why don't you just join me so you can see the situation first hand? We can work together that way."

Jim did a mental head slap and thought, "I see what your Abby meant about not thinking of the most efficient ways to use these abilities because we didn't grow up with them." Then Jim joined with JJ and could see and hear the chaos in front of her house.

It looked like two light squads of Special Forces troops fully armored and armed facing JJ's house in an arc that went from both sides of her house and reached the street. A third light squad was keyed on General Branch as he approached the front porch. Six soldiers were positioned to keep the crowd of onlookers back. The General was wearing his dress uniform but had his pistol now and it was out. Jim could see in JJ's mind that another group of troops had been sent to the back of the house.

JJ didn't know how the girls got past the soldiers, but both JJ and Jim could feel them about two blocks away. Jorge was still about four blocks from picking up the girls so JJ and Jim had to delay the proceedings for about five minutes. Jim's approach would be quicker except for the Arizona drain pipes. Each street intersection included deep dips in the street to direct water runoff from the infrequent rains. These were worse than speed bumps because speed bumps only destroyed shocks. The Arizona drain pipes could flip a car if they were hit fast enough.

JJ started yelling at the General and walking toward him. JJ had been right about the little dick comment. The General had spun in place and taken two steps back toward the street when she yelled it. He was quivering with rage and he gestured toward the two soldiers with JJ. They grabbed her before she took three steps and lifted her in the air to keep her from going farther. Jim could feel the men's fingers painfully digging into JJ's bare arms as they lifted her from the ground. Jim immediately pushed them to put her back on the ground and to loosen their grip but to continue holding her. Her loose skirt flared with the up and down motion of the men lifting her and setting her back on the ground.

"Sexy lady," Jim thought and got a grim smile back from JJ. Her arms hurt and she wanted to hurt someone back. Fortunately she didn't really blame the two soldiers holding her. She wanted a piece of that General.

Jim sent images out to the neighbors and some of them started yelling at the General to show them the search warrant. Others started calling and pounding on doors to get more neighbors to come out. In only moments more neighbors poured out on the sidewalks and started yelling at the General and asking if he was going to arrest the whole neighborhood. Even Mrs. Mallory and her latest boyfriend were in the street with only bathrobes on.

General Branch hesitated and looked around in amazement. It was the look a wolf would give a flock of lambs that suddenly turned on him. These people were only civilians and were normally beneath his notice. They had no business interfering with him in his official capacity and he felt outrage that they would try.

Jim could see the indecision in him and could see the rage. The General was deciding if it was better to ignore the growing crowd or start shooting them. Each time General Branch started leaning one way or the other Jim pushed his mind to keep him on the cusp of indecision. He pushed another neighbor to call 911.

Jorge' picked up the girls and was headed toward the street that JJ lived on. Jim told him to wait around the corner until he gave the word to come with the sliding door to the back opened. He cautioned Jorge' to come slow because a slow moving vehicle draws less attention than fast moving ones.

JJ struggled and the two soldiers who held her pulled her back toward the side of the street away from her house with a nudge from Jim.