Chapter 19

Present – Stacy (Angelina) – On the road – Fredrick MD

Once again I am amazed at Paulo's luck! But how the heck did his bitch ex-fiancée find us. Once we are safely outside and a few blocks from the fast food restaurant, I decide it's time for me to do something. I stop Paulo and say, "Paulo, hold my pack and wait here for me. I'm going back to the fast food restaurant."

I notice he's fallen out of character as he argues, "Stacy, do you think it's wise. We've escaped and should just keep going."

I smile and say, "Paulo, the first thing is you need to get back into character. And second is that she looked right at me and didn't recognize me. I think I need to go back and see if I can figure out how they found us. By the way, who is the big guy with her?"

My gentle reminder snaps him back into character and he responds, "Angelina, that is Linus. He is ex-Navy Seal and is very dangerous. I still do not think you should go back to the restaurant."

I state, "Paulo, I am going and you can not stop me. I will be back in thirty minutes or less."

Present – Jens – Arrival in Fredrick MD

I frantically scan the mass of people on the sidewalks and I don't see anyone who looks remotely like my runaway fiancé. Finally I look over at Linus and complain, "Dammit Linus, we missed him. I could tell he was close to me."

Linus gives me 'the look' and asks, "Jens how the hell did you know it was Ben?"

He still doesn't believe me so I explain, "Linus, I just know and you're just going to have to believe me." I've lost my appetite and continue, "Linus, I'm not hungry anymore. Head to the car and I will meet you after I use the restroom."

I use the restroom and have a good cry about just missing my fucking runaway fiancé. As I start to clean up and repair my makeup some teenage girl walks in and says to me, "Hey aren't you the be-otch who's looking for her ex-fiancée? You did all those embarrassing commercials!"

I glare and correct her, "Excuse me miss, but he's still my fiancé and always will be until we're married."

She laughs and taunts, "Oh yeah, that's not what I heard. I heard he's the best man in the world and you were such a be-otch you drove him away."

Shit! She just nailed what I've really worried about and it hurts like hell. Was I really a be-otch like she said and did I really drive Ben away? He is the best man in the world, perhaps...

I never got to finish my thoughts because the bratty teenager continues, "So what are you doing here? Slumming for a man more your caliber?"

I'm still distracted so I miss her slam and aimlessly respond, "No, we had a tip from our computer program that my fiancé was here so we came to look for him."

She giggles and demands, "What makes you think he would ever want to see you again?"

She is one annoying little brat and I should kick her ass for her comments, but she's young and I sure as hell don't want to end up back in prison. So I taunt, "Hey didn't I hear your mama call and say your diapers needed changing?"

She snaps right back, "Well, I was going to be nice and tell you I saw him with a girl and I heard where they are going. But forget it be-otch."

As she starts to leave, I run over, block the door and threaten, "You'd better tell me what the hell you know or I'm going to kick your smart mouthed ass."

She gets a scared look on her face and I feel bad for threatening her, but she says, "I heard them talking about taking a plane to Las Vegas and getting married. Now let me out of here!"

Shit! Ben's going to marry the little bitch he was in bed with last night! We have to catch him before he makes the mistake of his life. I turn, throw open the door run out of the restaurant and jump into the car. I tell Linus, "We need to find the airport."

He responds, "What for?"

I frantically answer, "Linus, some girl just told me she overheard Ben say he was taking a flight to Las Vegas to marry the little bitch he was in bed with last night."

Linus speeds out of the parking lot- I just pray we're in time!

Present – Ben (Paulo) – On the road – Fredrick MD

At first I worry Stacy might be caught by Ms. Donaldson and Linus, but that slowly changes into a hope she will be caught. While traveling with her is a good disguise, especially since we changed her looks, it is also a danger in very many ways and a major pain in the ass. I've done an analysis and have come to the conclusion that having her with me is a total wash. I am close to a little park, so I take her pack over to a bench. I sit and wait to see if she returns in thirty - if she doesn't then I am leaving and the problem will be resolved.

Present – Stacy (Angelina) – On the road – Fredrick MD

Yeah I was a little bit mean to the bitch, but she deserves much worse than what I gave her! I could see the pain in Ben's eyes when he saw her and know she must have tortured him terribly. Anyway just like Ben takes care of me, I took care of him and successfully diverted the bitch! Ben will be so proud of me!

I was so happy I even skipped some as I headed back to find my mentor.

Present – Maria – Truth Network – Washington DC

I'm in no hurry to get back to the BSB. Working for my princess boss is great, but working for the BSB is a pain in my ass, and I sure as hell don't like pains in my ass. I found out from the security dudes that my princess boss lit out of here like her ass was on fire with Linus, whoever the fuck he is. As I wander some through the station to see what this place is like and I stumble into a room with two guys in it: They are messing with some videos. One of the videos is a hot as hell porn scene. They scramble to shut it off when they see me and I laugh and say, "Hey guys, how's it hanging?"

They both blush and one says, "Who are you? We haven't seen you around here before."

I give them a big smile and reply, "I'm Maria, Jennifer Donaldson's new personal assistant. Who are you two and what are you guys doing?"

The bold one answers, "I'm Turner and this is my good friend Hooch. We are two of the best video editors in the world."

I almost laugh since they have the same names as two characters in one of my favorite movies. I smile at them, lock the door and say, "Well, Turner and Hooch. I think you're both about to get lucky!"

Present – Megan – Truth Network – Washington DC

Where the hell is Maria? I sent her out to find out about Jens and Linus and now she's disappeared. I guess I will have to do this myself. I get up from my chair and head to the security office but find out virtually nothing – only that Jens took off with Linus in Linus's car. I had hoped they used a network car because they all have GPS units in them.

Dejectedly I head back to the office...

Present – Jack – Truth Network – Washington DC

It took longer dropping my family (damn that still sounds nice to me and makes me smile like I am the luckiest man in the world) off at the extended stay hotel. Masha needed to 'take care of my boo-boos and Vanya needed to tell me all about how brave he was. I really wanted to stay with them, but duty calls. It does feel damn nice doing something other than sitting on my ass in front of the computer. Helping Jens find a crazier than a moon-bat Banzai is a great job.

I walk into the office and it's changed for the worse. Someone has made a feeble attempt to girly it up and it's ended up as a bastardized, incoherent mishmash. Oh well, I only have to work here not live here. I sit down at the computer, log in and see that Linus's program is running so I start looking at the output. Megan walks in and I say, "Good to see you Megan, sorry about what my wife did to you. So where are Jens and Linus?"

She replies, "Jack, now that you're here I hope to find out. She took off with Linus and I have no idea where they are."

I ask, "Did you call her?"

Megan gives me an exasperated look and gruffly responds, "Yeah, she teased me and hung up the phone on me."

Damn is she cranky as hell tonight - must be from the ass whipping my wonderful wife gave her. I fight back a smile and say, "Well, let's see what this computer program has found." She comes over as I continue to sort through the output. After about ten minutes I get an idea and say, "Hey Jens has that new phone and I wonder..." I get distracted by my thoughts, fire up a browser and go out to latitude search and enter Jens' phone number. I turn, smile at Megan and say, "Well, it looks like we can use Jens' mobile phone's GPS to track her because she signed up for latitude. She's currently in Fredrick MD."

I flip back to the program, see the police report from Fredrick and shudder. Megan asks, "Jack, what's wrong?"

I decide it's probably better to not tell a shrink the total truth about what Banzai did so I lie, "Well, it looks like the program found a report about Ben and that's why they took off."

Maria walks into the room and I can tell that she and Megan haven't worked out their differences. Megan barks at her, "Where the hell have you been?"

Present – Maria – Truth Network – Washington DC

Duh-amn! I feel much better now! That is until I walk into the office and the BSB goes off on me. She gripes, "Where the hell have you been?"

I quickly sass, "Getting laid, you should try it some time. It might loosen your overly tight sphincter."

Megan just glares at me! I'm hoping like hell she'll pick a fight with me, but the old fart stands up and commands, "Okay you two, I've had enough of this bullshit and with Jens AWOL I'm taking command of this mission. You two have lost the focus of why we are here: We are here to help Jens find Banzai, not to fight each other. Now get your heads out of your asses and let's start working as a team."

Megan finally admits, "Jack you're right, we need to concentrate on helping Jens."

Jack continues, "Okay Megan, I think we need to have a long overdue talk about the twins who are working for Liz. Are you part of the team or not Maria?"

I respond, "It's about time we talk about the twisted sisters! They've bothered the hell out of me since the first time I met them."

Jack laughs at my name for them. Megan questions, "Jack, don't you think we need to do something about Jens?"

He shakes his head and replies, "Megan, Jens is going to be fine because she is with Linus and it's probably better she's not here to hear about Mira."

I can respect that Jack has taken command, anything is better than the uppity BSB. We sit, he tells us a very interesting story and I start to understand why the hell I don't like the twisted sisters. And I'm also glad I haven't called them out ... yet.

Present – Stacy (Angelina) – On the road – Fredrick MD

I excitedly tell Paulo all about my escapade and I cannot tell if he's happy about it or not. Sometimes he is such a mystery to me because it's like he still cares for her! How could that be after all she did to him?

We're walking along the street; Ben turns to me and says, "Stacy, we need to wait here until the gun shop is empty." This time I don't bother him about falling out of character because it seems like he did it on purpose.

So we stand around across the street from the gun shop and wait. Finally Ben says, "Good, it's empty. Follow me and when we enter the shop, don't be afraid and don't say anything."

As we walk into the shop, I hear a shotgun being racked and the proprietor says, "I've been watching you two casing my shop from across the street. Don't even try anything."

Ben raises his hands and I do the same. We walk towards the proprietor and Ben explains, "I know you were watching and I wanted you to see us."

He glares at us and asks, "Marine?"

Ben replies, "Yes Sir, Recon!"

He laughs and replies, "Shit, then you did let me see you. What was your MOS¹?"

¹ Military Occupational Specialty

Ben proudly replies, "Zero-three-one-seven."

The proprietor smiles and says, "Isn't that the new designation for eighty-five-forty-one?"

Ben answers, "Yes Sir!"

The proprietor puts down the shotgun and says, "Don't call me sir again - I work for a living. Call me Gunny. So, you're a Scout Sniper, you back from OIF²?"

² Operation Iraqi Freedom?

Ben replies, "Yes Gunny four tours, got my arm fucked up on the last one and Mother Green sent me home."

Gunny tilts his head, smiles and says, "Shit! I didn't recognize you at first with that scruffy looking hair and little mustache..."

Ben interrupts, "And I hope you never remember us after we leave. I have a big favor to ask if it won't get you in trouble."

Gunny nods his head, "Remember what? Now what the hell can I do for you two?"

Ben smiles and answers, "Well, we are headed down south and we need a couple things to make our trip more enjoyable, but only if it doesn't get you in trouble with the BATF."

Gunny replies, "So you haven't totally hung it up. That's damn good news because they can sure as hell use your expertise down there. And fuck the BATF! They can't keep me from giving you something from my private collection. What are you thinking of?"

I wasn't really sure what Ben and Gunny were talking about, but as I was ordered, I kept my mouth shut.

Ben starts, "Well, we could use some sort of sidearm for her and I could use some sort of portable rifle. It needs to be something I can pick up ammo for and will easily fit in my pack."

Gunny looks at me, laughs and says, "Well, since she pees sitting down how about a Beretta M9³?"

³ Beretta M9 – The current sidearm carried by most American troops. Unfortunately it's a 9mm.

I sass him, "Hey, some of us can pee standing up!"

Gunny laughs, "Well, it looks like she can talk after all. And if you can do that little lady, then my hat's off to you and I'd sure as hell like to see that!"

I blush like crazy at his flirt but Ben interjects and saves me, "I told her not to talk because I didn't want you to be bothered."

Gunny smiles and declares, "And since when is getting talked to by a sweet young thing a bother?"

Ben ignores his comment and continues, "So what about a rifle?"

Gunny looks at Ben's pack, scratches his beard and comments, "Well, I know what you'd like to have, but there's no way to fit it in your pack. Let me go get something and we'll see if it will work."

He heads to the back while Ben leans over and says, "You're doing a great job."

I ask, "Aren't you worried he will tell someone who we are?"

Ben smiles and answers, "Stacy, I need to teach you about the Marines. There's no way in hell he's going to ever tell anyone about us being here."

Gunny comes back with this short black gun. Ben sees it and curses, "Shit! Not a 'mouse gun⁴!'"

⁴ Mouse gun – derogatory name for any of the current military rifles in 5.56x45, probably came from the fact that some people feel the round is only good for killing mice.

Gunny replies, "Now don't go getting all upset. Let me tell you why I chose this rifle. First, you'll be able to pick up magazines and ammo while you're down there. Second it will break down and with the fourteen and a half inch barrel will fit inside your pack in two pieces and third." He put four metal things on the counter and continued, "With these rounds you'll be effective out to five hundred yards."

Ben takes the rifle and holds it like it was poison. Looks it over carefully, and checks again to make sure it's not loaded. Snaps it up to his shoulder and fires it, then lowers it, smiles and says, "Damn that's a nice trigger for an M-four. So tell me about these 'magic bullets'?"

Gunny takes a bullet out of one of the metal things, hands it to Ben and explains, "Yeah that's a Timney⁵ trigger and is set at four pounds. These are experimental Hornady Superformance cartridges which are to be released soon. They have a velocity of thirty-four-sixty-five feet per second and come close to the performance of the twenty-two-two-fifty⁶."

⁵ Timney trigger – excellent and moderately priced replacement triggers

⁶ 22-250 – One of the flattest shooting factory cartridges and not a custom loaded 'wildcat' cartridge. It is a great round for taking prairie dogs, coyotes and other varmints out to about 500 yards.

Ben whistles, "That's damn fast, they must have messed with the powder to get that velocity and still keep it within SAMMI⁷ spec. It looks like a high BC⁸ projectile too, so the effective range is five hundred yards?"

⁷ SAMMI - Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute – Sets the physical attributes of a cartridge including the physical dimensions of the cartridge, and also the maximum pressure the case head and walls of the brass cartridge will exert on the chamber walls around them for that specific named chambering.

⁸ BC – Ballistics Coefficient – a measure of how much drag a projectile encounters while traveling through the air.

Gunny laughs, "Damn, you're as good as the rumors I've heard. Yeah, they came up with some sort of blended powder to optimize the burn rate for the five-five-six. Shit! They even optimized the ogive of the bullet. Now you're going to lose a little with this short barrel, but they say at five hundred yards, you have a drop of thirty-five-point-six inches and still have a velocity of nineteen-thirteen feet per second."

Ben looks at the bullet nods his head and replies, "Damn, that's a flat shooting five-five-six, because a twenty-two-two-fifty has a drop of twenty-nine-point-one inches at five hundred yards and is only about one hundred feet per second faster."

It's Gunny's turn to whistle then he says, "Damn, what do you have in your head, a fucking ballistic computer?"

We both laugh and Ben responds, "Yeah someone else accused me of that once upon a time. I've always felt that the twenty-two-two-fifty would make an excellent urban sniper round. Especially since most SWAT shots happen at less than 100 yards. So what do we owe you for all this?"

I secretly wonder if that 'someone' is his bitch ex-fiancée, she was supposed to be pretty butch and liked guns. But I keep my mouth shut as ordered.

Gunny says, "Shit! Put your damn money away. If these weapons help you two to end the war then it's worth it. I just wished I could close up shop and go with you two, but I've got a family to take care of. Just drop me a line occasionally and let me know you're both still alive."