The Great Prison Break

By Richard Pinkerton

A massive prison break has taken place and many of the Rex Cassidy Investigators greatest foes are out to get them. Led by Kid McGraw and Mr Shades.

Rex is abandoned up in the Canadian Rockies and finds himself outnumbered by escaped cons, all wanting him dead.

What can the RCI do against such a huge bunch of homicidal maniacs? Hire the A-Team? Well... something close.

Book 8 in the RCI series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Pinkerton
• Release date: Mar 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463626122

Richard Pinkerton

I am in my early 50s and have been writing now since I was 12. I prefer to write light-hearted drama but have written a little fantasy horror and science fiction too.I have an entire series of high school novels (19 of them so far) set in New Zealand (The Mob from TAC series), which I will gradually publish if there is a demand.I prefer to use a mix of quirky and outrageous characters you would never come across in reality and also your every day Joes.My writings are aimed at teenagers mainly, but also young adults.I have also written a series of detective novelettes, most of which can be found on my website. The majority require work, to be able to be published here, mainly due to copyright issues.Please do leave feedback or contact me if you want to know more about my books.

Book preview

The Great Prison Escape

(Book 8 in the Rex Cassidy Investigators series)

Published by Richard Pinkerton at Smashwords

Copyright 2021 Richard Pinkerton

Other books by Richard Pinkerton

The Rex Cassidy Investigators

The Curse of the Witchdoctor

The Secret of the Devil’s Triangle

The Gruesome Murders at Manhattan High

The Case of the Cattle Rustlers

The Mystery of the Moving Statue

The Secret of the Phantom Clown

The Case of the Landmark Terrorists

Doppelganger Madness

Aliens in Atlantis

The Revenge of Dr Dream

The Return of Fingers McGraw

The Angel Cassidy Rescue

Silhouettes of a Moving Statue

The Legacy of a Roving Buccaneer

The Return of Fingers McGraw II

The Isle of Bad Dreams

Others

Dead End High

Dead End Town

Time Warped

The Mob from TAC series

CHAPTER 1:

The Calm Before the Storm.

LA Penitentiary - 2:23 AM

Two guards were stationed at the main entrance to the prisoner's compound. All was quiet as it always was at that time. They had some mastermind criminals behind these walls, but measures had been put in place to prevent them being a problem.

One guard yawned. 'Another quiet night. Almost makes me wish we did get some kind of drama.'

'Yeah.' The other chuckled. 'I know what you mean.'

'Although I tell yah, some of those guys give me the screaming heebeejeebees. Just take a look at the Flynn guy. I mean what a behemoth! He could tear you apart with his bare hands.'

Guard 2 nodded. 'A seven-foot six wall of muscle. He should have been a pro wrestler. But instead he becomes a terrorist, going around destroying tourist attractions. What's with that, huh? A guy with his potential?'

'A psycho,’ said Guard 1. ‘What amazes me is that anyone can take him down at all, but somehow that PI Rex Cassidy did. Took him on one-on-one.'

'That Cassidy guy must sure be something.'

'According to the media he is. Expert in many forms of unarmed combat.'

Suddenly there was an ear-piercing explosion. The room shook and before the two guards knew it, flames and debris tore through them, tearing them apart in one single blast.

Alarms started up and all those asleep awoke in horror. The debris and dust began to clear leaving a large gap between the guard station and the prison cells beyond. From out of the massive hole emerged two men who had been sharing a cell together. One was John Gopher, a mob boss. The other was Bill Burston, a man who had spearheaded the kidnapping of several high profile celebrities just over a year ago. Both men had been apprehended and locked up by the Rex Cassidy Investigators.

They stepped forward calmly and retrieved the firearms that once belonged to the two guards whose body parts now lay strewn around the room.

'Let's do it!' Gopher declared.

They went to the control panel in the guardroom and flicked several switches. On the computer screen before them the words appeared: ‘Unlock in 60 seconds’.

Two new guards burst into the guardroom but stood no chance. The two prisoners turned their newfound guns on them and blasted them both to the ground without remorse.

The timer continued to count down and the sirens continued to blare.

'This is really happening,' said Burston. 'It's going to work.'

'Is Fingers McGraw going to join us?'

Burston scowled. 'Stupid fool's refusing. Determined to be the model prisoner. But at least his brother Kid will be part of this.'

'Don't worry, we don't need Fingers. The gang will be big enough as it is.'

The countdown reached zero and the doors of the cells were released. Men stepped out of their cells, smiles on their faces, one of them over seven feet tall; Tiny Nick Flynn, one of the most dangerous men on the face of the planet.

'Right!' Gopher smirked. 'It's time for the guards to pay the piper. Let's get to the ammunitions station.'

Burston chuckled. 'I can't wait to get my hands on the Rex Cassidy Investigators. They are going to pay for ever messing with us!'

Later that morning - District Court - 9:34 PM

Tucker Pyles sat in court as a witness to a murder. Colin Hewes, second in command of the Rex Cassidy Investigators was there, along with two of his fellow PIs; Pete Cook and Vaughan Hearne.

'No redundancy pay. No redundancy pay at all. I can't believe he's gone this far.' Colin shook his head in despair. 'How did it get to court? It should have been dismissed right away.'

'That's for sure.' Vaughan scowled. 'Tucker makes these outrageous claims and it warrants a day in court?'

'That's the justice system for you,' Pete grumbled. 'You can put people on trial for just about any reason these days, even if there's no proof.'

Vaughan snickered. ‘Like my Great Uncle Winthrop always used to say… Send ‘em to court. The Judge and Jury will play ball.’

'But come on,' Colin said. 'Tucker thinks he's a Smurf! Surely they're not gonna stand for that. What's the guys name? Miller? Tucker thinks he's Gargamel, the Smurf's mortal enemy.'

The defendant, a middle-aged man with an unfriendly face certainly looked like a villain to Colin, but certainly no Smurf-hating wizard.

Col turned his eyes to their obese friend who stood at the stand. 'Tucker's been watching Smurf reruns on TV for weeks. He's deluded.'

'He's Tucker,' Pete said. ‘We’ve known him since high school. This is what he does. Get's something into his head and you can't shake it out of him. He starts to have dreams and thinks it's real.'

Colin let out a deep sigh and nodded knowingly. 'He needs to forget about Smurf talk though. If he continues to talk like a Smurf, he's going to be held in contempt.'

'Well it's International Smurf Month,' Pete said.

Colin let out a huff. 'He made that up!'

The judge addressed Tucker. 'You are Tucker Pyles?'

'Yes, Papa Smurf.' Tucker grinned, his double chin showing.

Colin cringed. He hoped this judge was a tolerant one.

The judge's eyebrow rose. 'What?'

'Yes, Papa Smurf.'

'That's not how you address me. You will call me ‘your honour’.'

'Yes, Papa, your honour.'

Tucker's lawyer stepped up and whispered into the judge's ear.

What?' The judge frowned. 'Smurfs?’

The lawyer whispered something else and the Judge let out a deep sigh. ‘I see.' He turned back to Tucker. 'So you think this is International Smurf Month?'

'Smurf.' Tucker nodded.

'I take that as a yes?'

'Smurf.' He nodded again.

‘Aren’t they those little blue things?'

'Smurf.' Tucker nodded.

'My daughter loves the movies.' He gave a deep sigh. 'Very well, I'll allow it. Now Mr Pyles, I'd like you to explain the events in your own words about what happened with you and Archibald Miller and how you came to accuse him of the murder of Frederick Jones.'

'That's Gargamiller, Papa Smurf.'

'What?'

Tucker's lawyer spoke up. 'Gargamel is the villain in the Smurf TV show.'

The judge gave Tucker a weird look. 'You think Mr Garga... I mean Mr Miller is this villain?'

'Yes he... I mean smurf, he is, your honour, Papa Smurf.'

'Mmmmmm.' The judge scratched his chin. 'Very well... Let me hear your story...'

Two Weeks earlier - LAX - 11:05 PM

Tucker was at LA International Airport with his best pal Callum Lester a man almost as obese as him. Although they both preferred to call it extra flabby muscle.

They were heading for a few days in Chicago, but their flight had been delayed and they had to wait in the lounge. It was almost deserted apart from two men. One of them had a beard and Tucker was to later learn his name was Frederick Jones. The other was Archibald Miller, the man he would come to know as Gargamiller. He'd even chatted to him while waiting in the queue and they'd even talked about the Smurfs. Gargamiller had always been a fan of the show as a kid.

'You know it sucks, Cal,’ Tucker said. ‘We should start up another division of the Rex Cassidy Investigators. You and I. Maybe we could operate out of Chicago.’

‘Sounds cool,’ said Callum as he munched on a filled roll.

‘I’d make you my second in command. You know it should have been me Rex made second in command of the RCI to begin with. Not Colin.’

Lettuce fell out of Callum’s mouth as he spoke. ‘Yeah, I know. You're the smartest one, the strongest one and all that.'

‘You better believe it!'

Tucker scratched his chin thoughtfully. The idea of a Chicago division run by him was fantastic, but he wasn't sure Rex would go along with it. 'Ahhh... I don't know. Rex needs me in Hollywood. Besides, it would be like too much work. And I like it in Hollywood.'

Callum nodded. 'Well, that's cool. If you were in Chicago all the time, we'd never get to hang out.’ Callum finished off his filled roll and stood. ‘Hey, I'm gonna go check out some of the other lounges. Wanna come?'

Tucker was way too tired for exploration and shook his head. 'Nah, I'll wait here. Might have a snooze instead.'

'Okay. See ya in about fifteen minutes.' Callum departed.

Tucker relaxed and soon dozed off.

When he awoke, it was with a start. Callum had still not returned and the bearded man, Jones was slumped over his chair with blood over his clothes and a knife wound in his chest. Tucker gasped and sat upright. Standing over him was Miller