Vengeance: A Jessie Carr Novel #4

By JL Schneider

Description "Vengeance #4"

Revised and ReEdited

You can’t beat Schneider’s “Jessie Carr series” to get you out of a reading rut. In Black Talon, the 4th book in the series, Jessie is confronted with the inexplicable death of his best friend and the disappearance of Simone the girl Jessie had saved from a life of drugs and prostitution during his vengeful quest to get the people that raped and killed his wife.
This plot is intertwined with the constant high action of the growing Black Talon Security and Personal Protection business. On the cusp of the invasion of Iraq the members of Black Talon are in high demand from protection details in Europe and Asia to the deserts of the Pakistani border using their unique and eclectic skill sets (mostly in the deadly arts) to protect those that need protecting and remove (with extreme prejudice) those that wish to bring harm to Jessie’s inner circle.
Reading Jessie Carr is not only escapism at its best; it touches something in your psyche that makes you wish that you could be a little bit like Jessie (OK, maybe more than just a little).

Be sure to read all of Jessie Carr's Adventures

Shades of Grey
GunSlinger
Black Talon
Vengeance

• Language: English
• Publisher: JL Schneider
• Release date: Jun 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458156785

Book preview

Book 4

Written by JL Schneider

Published by JL Schneider at Smashwords

JL Schneider is the exclusive owner and copyright holder on this publication

Smashwords is JL Schneider's Ebook Publisher and Distribution Platform

Prologue

What makes the perfect weapon? I sit and hold what I consider my perfect weapon. I have used it many times, all successfully. This weapon and I have much in common. It is cold, it is hard, and it has no emotion. I gently pass it over my arm, the hairs part effortlessly. It has been honed to the finest edge possible. The steel is 1095 Cro-Van; it is honed to a perfect 20 degrees.

I gently caress the leather covered handle, aged to a dark color over time by sweat and blood. I have owned this beautiful piece of engineering for over thirty years. It was given to me by a friend, a gift from one soldier to another. Over the years it has been used, always by me, and always with respect.

I look closely at the blade, a small nick halfway back from the tip brings a smile to my face. I remember the violent impact with my victim’s blade, just before I drove it into his abdomen. I see the small scratch on the butt where I struck the barrel of a rifle pointed at me, it saved my life that day. It also took a life, easily sliding into my victim’s chest.

I smile when I think of the many times this beautiful tool and I have worked together. How many lives, ten, twenty, I don’t remember, I don’t care.

But who is the tool and who is the owner? Do I own the blade, or does it own me, or as I believe, are we one in the same. One is useless without the other; an inseparable team of violence and death.

I don’t know what the future holds for my old friend, but I do know it will be used once more. It will be violent, brutal, and beautiful. It will avenge the death of my best friend.

Chapter 1

I was sitting in the conference room of Black Talon Global Security and Protective Services. My best friend is lying dead seventy five miles away. I have been told he was shot to death. His girlfriend and my friend, Jasmine, is missing. My mind is racing, my heart is thumping, I want to scream, but that won’t help. Instead I just sit, sad, and angry, I want to know who did this, and I want to know why.

Two of my investigators are on their way to the murder scene. James O’Shea and Cheryl Manning are two experienced detectives. Jimmy was a twenty year veteran of the New York Police Department; Cheryl served fifteen years with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Department.

Both are experienced homicide investigators, now they are my partners in Black Talon.

Why Shelby, why now, that is all that is running through my mind? Shelby and I have done some things together that might get us killed, but we have been out of that for a long time. Is it something from my past, or was this just a random act? Jimmy and Cheryl hopefully will answer that question. The local police will of course investigate, and hopefully find the perpetrator. But my money is on my people. If they are successful at investigating, I will become the judge, juror, and executioner.

That would probably shock those that don’t know me, but those that do understand. I have done this before and will have no hesitation to do it again. I’m alone in the office; this is unusual, actually the very first time. Why I even think this I have no idea; probably trying to get my mind off of Shelby lying dead in his house. What the hell went wrong, I feel the walls closing in on me. I pull out a pad of paper, I begin to make notes of the operations Shelby and I have been on together in the last three years. God, how many, probably over one hundred, all dangerous, most illegal, many deadly.

My cell phone rings, I look at the display, unknown caller. I would normally never answer a call like this, but the timing of this is suspicious. Jessie there is silence for several seconds then, Jessie, well finally I get to talk to the great Jessie. I try and place the voice, nothing Who is this? The voice is deep, almost guttural, So, how does it feel Jessie, how does it feel to be helpless, to know you can do nothing to help? A chill passes down my spine Who is this, what do you want? A laugh, almost a sneer, I have what I want, I want you to sweat, to feel helpless, to feel useless; oh yes, I have what I want.

I need to get something from this guy, Alright, you have me sweating, I feel totally helpless, now what, where do we go from here? Silence, I wait, thirty seconds, my question caught him by surprise. Well there is one small thing I want, and I have something you want Jessie Carr. I have a beautiful redheaded piece of ass here, and I know you have a thing for redheads. So I’ll make a deal with you Jessie, five million, five million dollars and you get this lovely thing back. That don’t let you off the hook though, I’m still gonna kill you, but I want my money first, then I deal with you. Get the money Jessie, those offshore accounts have enough in them, plenty enough. You have three days Jessie, three short days, I’ll call back.

The money meant nothing to me, but Jasmine, she meant everything. Ok, I’ll pay you, but I need to know she is alright. Put her on the phone. He laughed, Jessie, Jessie, I really would like to do that, but why should I, you gonna get the money anyway, you have to, you can’t take the chance. I have you Jessie, I have you and you can’t do anything except what I say. I have waited a long time for this, and I am enjoying it so much, I have the great Jessie Carr by the short hairs. He laughed loudly and then began to cough, Ok, whoever you are, I’ll get the money, then what, how do I know you won’t kill her? Or maybe she is already dead, give me some proof. He continued laughing, Ok Jessie, just a quickie Suddenly Jasmine’s voice came on the phone Oh Jessie; help me Jessie. Then she was gone. Ok Jessie Carr, your turn, three days, five million, I’ll call. He hung up.

Chapter 2

James O’Shea and Cheryl Manning had just arrived at Shelby’s house. Carl was sitting in his truck waiting. O’Shea looked at Carl’s face, it frightened him. O’Shea had never been in combat with Carl, but he knew Carl’s reputation and he knew that look, Carl wanted some payback. Carl and Jessie were so much alike, they could both turn on and off this anger, if that’s what it was, it was scary. Carl walked up to O’Shea and Manning. He’s right inside the front door, looks like he was shot a couple of times, but I never touched the body. One shot in the back of his head, execution style.

They walked to the door, and after putting on gloves opened it. Shelby was lying face down just inside the door. His left hand was extended as if he was trying to open the door. The back of his head contained a small hole, obviously an entrance wound. There was blood on the floor around his body indicating more bleeding from his torso. Carl was probably right, shot more than once. There were large flies everywhere, the stuffiness of the house made the odor almost unbearable.

Cheryl Manning had seen many dead bodies in her years as a cop, but this was a close friend. The affect was obvious, she walked outside and began to cry. O’Shea was friends with Shelby, but not as close as Manning. He systematically inspected the body and the surrounding area. The body had been in this position for some time. Some decomposition had begun to occur. Maggots were clearly visible in the head wound.

O’Shea began his search of the house. It was a large two story mansion, located on the beach in Gulfport MS. The master bedroom was the only area where there were any signs of a struggle. The bedside table was turned over and the mattress was partially pulled from the bed. O’Shea opened some of the bedside table and dresser draws, trying to determine if anything was missing. In one of the bedside tables he found some sex toys and pictures. The pictures were of Jasmine nude and posing. Carl was standing by the door. Carl, get something to carry these in and get them out of here. No sense giving the cops something to talk about, this was a private matter, none of their business Carl found a pillow case in a locker and put the contents inside.

Cheryl joined them as Carl was unloading the draw. Jimmy, you got anything? Jimmy was looking under the bed, Not yet, I have Carl removing a few items the police have no business with. She glanced at one of the pictures and nodded, Right not something they need to see, damn where the hell is she? They continued to search, there could be fiber or other evidence, but they were not set up to check for that, they would need to leave that to the locals.

They walked out the bedroom and went into the office, it had been ransacked. There was a large safe in the closet, still closed and locked. Everything in the closet and desk draws had been removed and tossed around, the laptop computer from the desk was missing. Cheryl looked around They were looking for something, but I bet Shelby wouldn’t open the safe. And why did they take Jasmine, why didn’t they kill her like Shelby? O’Shea was shaking his head, I wish I knew, I can’t stop wondering if this had something to do with her past. Just seems too much of a coincidence, we removed them guys from St. Louis then this goes down. Cheryl agreed "Right, but we really got nothing to start with. What the hell were they looking for? We need to get in this safe before the locals get here. I’m gonna call Jessie; see if he knows the combination, they were really tight.

Before she could call her cell phone rang, she looked; it was Jessie. Speak of the devil, hey babe, we’re here now, I was just going to call you. His voice sounded strained I just got a call, the guy that took Jasmine, says he wants five million. We need to talk, to see if anything he told me might give us something. What did you all find? She looked at O’Shea Jimmy, Jess got a call from the kidnapper, hold on. Jessie, do you have any idea how to get in Shelby’s safe. His office was tossed but the safe is still locked, whatever they were looking for might be in there? Jessie responded, Yea, in the upstairs hall, there is a picture of Carl, Shelby, and I in front of a helicopter. On the back of that picture there are five numbers, add three to first number, subtract three from the second number, and so forth, that’s the combination. She told O’Shea, he walked into the hall. She turned her attention back to the phone Jess, what else did this guy say, what did he sound like, did you recognize anything about his voice? He answered I don’t want to go over this on the phone, we need to meet. Call me when you’re finished and the locals get there, ok?" She told him ok and disconnected.

O’Shea came back into the room; he walked up to the safe and spun the dial. The safe contained money, lots of money, guns and a small box full of documents. O’Shea started to look through the documents but stopped. He looked at Cheryl and Carl You know we better get this stuff out of here just in case the cops come. I would rather take time and look through this. These guns and money look incriminating. Everyone grab something; let’s haul this stuff to the car. They emptied the contents of the safe in the car and relocked the safe, O’Shea looked at them, Alright, no sense all of us getting tied up in this shit, you two take the car and head to the office. I’ll call the cops and pretend I found him. I’ll stick with them till they run me away, you two go see if we got anything out of that safe that might help. Also, find out about that call. I know Jessie wants this cocksucker, but we need to make sure he is under control.

They agreed; Carl and Cheryl took off for New Orleans. O’Shea called 911 and waited for the Calvary to arrive.

Chapter 3

Carl and Cheryl arrived back at the office around noon. Morgan, our junior partner, arrived back from a contract in California around the same time. She was shocked to hear about Shelby and Jasmine. We all sat down in the conference room to discuss what was in the safe and the call I had received.

The contents of the safe were checked, Carl had left all the weapons in the car, the money turned out to be four hundred fifty thousand dollars, possibly what they were searching for. We opened the small box containing what appeared to be personal papers. There was newspaper clipping over three years old from Chicago. Also, there was a birth certificate and marriage license in the name of Judith Williamson. We had no idea who this was. The newspapers contained reports of kidnappings in the suburb of Schaumburg, just outside of Chicago. It seems several young women had disappeared during a three month stretch. Five women in all had disappeared, one was Judith Williamson. Two of the others missing also had the name Williamson, they had been triplets.

The original driver’s license I had found for Jasmine had a St. Louis address and the name Jasmine Simmons. Not long ago, the group of us from Black Talon had paid the Simmons brothers a visit in St. Louis. They had been kidnapping women, changing their names, and selling them to pimps and other interested parties. We made sure there business was closed, permanently, so this could not be the Simmons.

It was obvious from the newspapers that Shelby and Jasmine had been looking into this kidnapping spree in Chicago, probably trying to find out Jasmine’s real identity. The date on the birth certificate was consistent with Jasmine’s age, so that was probably her. Were they getting too close?

We weren’t making any headway so we decided to discuss the call I had received, then Cheryl held up her hand. We all looked and couldn’t figure out what she was doing. She took a piece of paper from the table and wrote on it, turned it toward us ‘how did he know we had found the body, office could be bugged!’ She was right the timing of the call was the key. He waited until he knew that we knew Shelby was dead and Jasmine was missing. Cheryl wrote another note, ‘time for lunch; let’s go to the Pearl.’ We all nodded and headed out the office.

Chapter 4

After his 911 call the first Gulfport Police unit arrived on scene in three minutes. The house was secured and more units arrived. Detective David Lawton and his partner Detective Eva Alvarez arrived eleven minutes after the 911 call. Gulfport is a low crime area, especially the mansions on the beach. Lawton and Alvarez had the area cordoned off and moved the marked units back. The crime lab from the Mississippi State Police were called, Gulfport did not have its own crime lab. Jimmy O’Shea was sitting in the back seat of a marked cruiser. The first uniform officer on the scene had asked him to wait there.

Ten minutes after their arrival Lawton and Alvarez walked over to meet with O’Shea. After pleasantries were exchanged they began questioning him. What was his relationship to Shelby, why he was there, what had he seen; the usual questions. Detective Lawton was a nineteen veteran of the Gulfport Police. He was in the Major Crimes Division, there was no official Homicide Division. This was only his third murder in all those years, handling mostly auto theft. Detective Alvarez was a recent graduate of Mississippi State University, her major had been Psychology. She had grown up in nearby Biloxi MS and had returned home to begin a law enforcement career. She had only been on the force a little over a year and one half and there was much resentment among her fellow officers. They felt she was too young to move into the Detective Bureau. The fact that she was Hispanic and a female didn’t help. She was twenty nine years old, five foot seven, short curly black hair and deep black eyes. Alvarez had played pitcher for her College softball team, and she had been very good; consequently her build was extremely athletic. Some would call her big boned, but Jimmy looked at her and thought wow.

Jimmy interrupted Lawton, Detective, there is another person you need to know about Shelby lived with a woman, Jasmine Borne she is missing. As Lawton was asking Jimmy questions Alvarez stood behind Lawton shaking her head. Lawton began his questioning Mr. O’Shea, how do you know our victim, your accent tells me you’re from up North somewhere, so what brings you down here? Jimmy had conducted many interrogations, and a confrontational beginning usually wasn’t the best way to begin. Well Detective, I am a business partner of Mr. Wilson; I have only known him about eight months or so. Lawton made notes When was the last time you saw or spoke with Mr. Wilson? Jimmy thought about it, Shelby has been out of the office for some time now; he was wounded during a contract and returned home for surgery. I think he was in the office about a week ago, as far as I know that’s the last time any of us saw him. I know Jessie, he’s our CEO, has been trying to contact him. When he couldn’t contact him today he asked me to take a look, and here I am."

Lawton continued to write notes, You say wounded, what do you mean by that? Jimmy explained Well Detectives, our company, Black Talon is a Security company; we supply contractors to the military anywhere in the world. Shelby was recently in Afghanistan and was shot in a firefight. Lawton seemed shocked, Firefight, you mean he was in combat. Jimmy nodded, Yes, Shelby was a combat veteran, a very highly decorated war hero. Don’t look so shocked Detective; our Government has hundreds of contractors all over the world. Shelby was very good at what he did, plus he was a professional pilot and tremendous business man. Lawton was shaking his head "I had