"Okay, so Brush thinks he's a crusader of some kind. These assholes are going to start ramming us soon, what do we do about them?" Tera asked sounding more pissed off then scared.
Sammy chuckled and started typing quickly. "Heather, my love, would you be so kind as to call the police and tell them someone is trying to kidnap you and your friends? Make sure they know exactly who, and where you are. Beautiful Tabitha, would you please call Anston Forrest at the Ledger? Anonymously tell him basically the same thing, but leave out the who you are part. Terri, do you think you can keep them from running you off the road for a few minutes?"
"What's going down, Sammy?" Brad asked as the girls acknowledged Sammy's instructions and Terri said 'no problem'.
"This attack is pretty ham-handed, and might have been in place before you spoke to Brush. The attackers are wearing masks, and the van doesn't have official plates, which tell me that this is a covert op, and the police shouldn't be in on it.
"So, by calling them in, they can run interference and hopefully throw a monkey wrench in this attack. By bringing the press in, we're keeping everything in the public eye, so nothing can be swept under the rug, and it keeps us painted as the victims.
"As long as Terri can keep the assholes at bay, that's the way it'll play out. However, just in case something goes wrong, I've hacked into the In-Star network, and locked on to the bad-guys van. I can simply shut them down and lock them in at anytime. However, that'll prove we have more resources at our disposal than they originally knew about or considered."
"I'm really glad she's with us," Tabitha added through Heather.
"Wow! Now that was fast!" Tera said.
"What was fast?" Joyce asked.
"The cops showing up. I mean it's literally only been seconds since Heather called them," Tera explained.
"What do you mean? There aren't any cops cars near you," Sammy replied.
"Shit! It's a fucking trap!" Terri said.
"Remember why they want to kill you, ladies. Just be careful of the innocent bystanders, and do nothing that can be traced back to you!" Vanessa offered. "Heather, Dear, you might not want to feel what's going to happen."
Ahead of the fleeing ladies, on the opposite side of the divided road, an above ground section of gas main suddenly exploded; spraying a fan of fire almost completely across the northbound lanes. Luckily no one had been close to it when it blew, and on-coming traffic had plenty of time to stop safe back from the flames.
On the girl's side of the road, traffic had pulled over or otherwise got out of the way of the 'police pursuit' so the road was clear of traffic uninvolved in the unfolding drama.
Suddenly, one of the 'police' cruisers that had been passing the van swerved to the right hard. The move slammed it into the front of the van that had originally started chasing the girls. They had been moving fast enough that the sudden impact cause the van to flip over the front end, and falling on the cruiser that had continued the spin started by the impact. Both vehicles exploded in a huge fireball, catching one of the two remaining 'police' cars in the conflagration and blowing the last one into a concrete piling. Neither of the 'policemen' had been wearing seatbelts, and were thrown through the windshield from the impact.
Terri pulled over a safe distance down the road from the scene and waited for the real police to arrive.
It actually didn't take long. Police, State Police, fire trucks and ambulances began arriving all at once, from every possible direction. Predictably, the police approached the Roger's vehicle with their guns drawn, and screaming contradicting orders at the occupants. One of them screamed 'don't move' while another told them to slowly get out of the vehicle. Yet another officer told them to put their hands behind their heads.
The four young women sat perfectly still and made sure their hands were visible at all times. "Which one of you do we listen to?" Tara asked.
The closest on pointed his gun at her head. "Shut the fuck up, Bitch! Very slowly, get out of the vehicle and get on your knees. Be sure to keep your hands visible at all times! Move!"
By now more officers had arrive to 'help' their fellows in the apprehension of these dangerous criminals. Before the girls could finish getting out of the vehicle, five more police officers, none of them female, all had their weapons drawn and pointed at the girls. With the added back-up, four of the men grabbed each woman and roughly lifted them to their feet.
"Hey! There's no need to be that rough! We've done nothing wrong..." Heather began.
"You were told to shut your fucking mouth, cunt! Now, I suggest you do as you're fucking told!" The officer manhandling her said.
Even before the police had arrived, a crowd had begun to form to gawk at the burning vehicles and see what all the fuss was about. However, the first person to take an interest was thirteen-year-old William (don't you dare call me Billy!) Kidde. He'd been in his room playing with the video camera his grandfather had given him for his birthday before his step-father took it away to pawn it.
When he heard the sirens, he opened his window, and balanced his new camera on the sill for a good video of the cops pulling over some speeder. His house sat on a hill overlooking the highway, so he ought to have a good view. As if on cue, the procession came screaming around the corner, William's new camera adjusted focus and he zoomed in a little. The image on the tiny viewer was perfect. He saw the lead vehicle, and SUV that was obviously being chased by a van, start to pull over. When the police tried to pass the van, the big SUV gunned it to once again try to out-run its pursuers.
Suddenly the lead cruiser seemed to flinch, and sparks began to come from under the frontend. A loud screeching could be heard followed by the crash of the collision. Young William couldn't believe he'd gotten the whole thing on his camera. After he saw the SUV pull over he climbed out his window and began making his way down the slope to film the aftermath.
He'd only made it half way down the steep bank when the police arrived and approached the vehicle. He stopped and began recording again, since he was in a better position here. When he zoomed in on the SUV, he saw that the 'bad guys' the cops were treating like John Dillinger were actually four very pretty young women.
He watched as they slowly got out, and the two on the far side of the vehicle were led around and told to kneel next to the other two. There had been quite a bit of yelling and swearing going on, but he couldn't really make much of it out.
When he zoomed in to get close-ups of the women, he recognized them as the terrorists that had been on TV. His step-father had been a janitor at Ecogen before the explosion, and he blamed the terrorists for his current unemployed state; that is, when he was sober enough to talk.
He was glad the terrorists had finally been caught, and wondered how much the TV stations would pay for the film of their capture and arrest. He zoomed out a bit when the officers stood them up to frisk them before putting them in handcuffs. Two of the women were in dresses, and William zoomed in to get a clear picture of the perfect asses as the officers searched under their garments for hidden weapons.
One of the women must have objected because she knocked the frisking officer to the ground but froze when his partner pressed the muzzle of his revolver to her head.
The frisking officer got up, pulled his nightstick out and hit her across the back with it, causing her to fall to her knees, William heard her cry out in pain, and wondered if the policeman should have done that.
"Can I sit here with you for a bit?" A man in a suit asked. William thought he looked like a detective, except he wasn't fat.
William shrugged, and went back to filming. "It's supposed to be a free world," he said, quoting his grandfather.
"I'm Special Agent Gary Atwater, with the FBI. Can I ask how much of this you got on film?"
"William Kidde, before you do, don't call me Billy. I think you can figure out why. I live in the white house up behind us. When I heard sirens, I grabbed the camera, and started filming, so I guess you could say I got it all ... and no, you can't have it, I plan on selling it to one of the news networks for a whole pile of money."
The agent nodded understanding of the kid's ambition; the white house looked like it'd seen better days. "I've got no problem with that, but I would like to see it, and maybe make a copy? It'd sure clear up a lot of stuff about what happened down there."
William thought about the request. He knew that the agent could just take the whole thing from him, but it sounded like this guy was going to let him keep it.
"You promise not to just take it and leave?" William asked.
Agent Atwater reached in his jacket, and pulled out a thin wallet looking case. He opened it to show William his FBI credentials. "If I were to lose these, I would be in a world of shit. Why don't I let you hold on to them while I make that copy right here on my PDA? When I'm done, you can stick the clip back in your camera and run it to make sure I didn't do anything to it, then you can give my credentials back, deal?"
William nodded, and shut the camera off. He popped the small memory clip out, but before he handed it to the agent, he asked. "Promise not to leak it to the press either? They won't buy it if they already have it."
Atwater nodded. "I'll make sure this doesn't get out. Thank you for helping; you have no idea how much heartburn you're saving me." He handed over his credentials and took the clip from the boy. He slid it into his PDA and told it to transfer all the data from the clip.
"Well, I guess I can tell my stepdad I helped the police catch those terrorists. Maybe he won't be pissed when he finds out I snuck out to film this," William said wistfully. "Course, he'll just use it as an excuse to take my camera away so he can pawn it for beer money. I just hope he never finds out about the video. I'll never see a dime if he does."
"Which terrorists are you talking about, William?" Atwater asked, waiting for the transfer to finish.
William pointed to the now hand-cuffed women. The officers still had their weapons trained on them even though they were handcuffed. Atwater grunted, and took the small radio off his belt.
"Haloran, would you please tell me why your men are holding the Rogers women at gunpoint in the middle of the road and on their knees? Or does your department like to give up its annual budget in lawsuits?"
"Special Agent Atwater, those four women were involved in the deaths of six of my men. Chief Brewster might have ordered me to cooperate in your investigation of the Ecogen situation, but you have absolutely no jurisdiction in a local crime. So with all due respect, Special Agent, butt the fuck out!"
"Fine, I'll butt out, but before you begin executing beautiful young women in front of half the city, you might want to take a look at your own duty roster for today. Unless I no longer know how to count, all of your men are accounted for. I'll also bet you lunch that the plates on that van either don't exist, or are registered to Ecogen." Atwater put the radio back on his belt before handing the memory clip back to William.
"You know Will, those young ladies aren't actually terrorists; they were made to look that way by some very bad folks. We've proven they had nothing to do with the events at Ecogen."
"Seriously? I thought it was all over the TV about how those girls and the rest of their family stole some gov'ment secrets then blew the place up. My stepdad said they should be shot on sight," the boy replied.
Atwater shook his head as he watched Lieutenant Haloran start yelling at the officers guarding the women. Police officers are a protective bunch; they have to be, since they can't count on civilians to watch their backs. But Atwater was certain that if this had happened in a more remote area, there would most likely be four dead young women. The official reports would read that they had been killed by their pursuers during the chase. The facts that they had been shot in the back of their heads while handcuffed and on their knees wouldn't make it into the official reports.
Atwater watched as the Lieutenant tried to apologize to the young women while his officers removed their handcuffs. Once they were all free, Haloran gestured to their SUV, obviously telling them they could leave.
One of the women, a strikingly beautiful brunette that Atwater had never seen before, stepped in front of Haloran and slapped him before turning and getting into the truck.
"I guess she didn't like the way those cops frisked her," William said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
The boy turned a mischivious grin on the Gman. "Just be sure you watch that video all the way to the end; you'll see what I mean. I better get back before he realizes I'm gone, good luck with your investigation, Special Agent." As he stood, he turned to go back up the hill, and offered the man his credentials back.
Taking the case, Atwater nodded to the boy. "Thanks again, and good luck with your stepdad."
The boy nodded acknowledgment and took off running up the steep hill. Atwater stood, and brushed off his slacks. As he made his way, slowly, back down the hill. He watched the video he'd climbed up here to get. He was surprised with the excellent quality of the home video, and realized that the boy did actually catch most of the incident.
As he watched the van and the fake police cars chase the women, he started to wonder just who was behind all of this. It sure as hell couldn't be organized crime, like his boss had suggested; the body count was way too high for that.
This had to be some super-secret, above-the-law, intelligence outfit that knew they would never be brought to justice for their crimes. The way evidence kept getting misplaced or destroyed, lab samples that were reported as contaminated; it all fit with a huge cover-up.
Gary knew that the umbrella of National Security covered a lot, and he could understand the need for it, but it was shit like this that really stressed his loyalty to the U.S. Government. About the only thing that kept him loyal was the knowledge that most of the people that ran the government had no idea about any of this crap.
He had a sinking feeling he knew where he could find all the answers he'd ever need, but he couldn't 'officially' question any of them. His bosses had warned him to stay completely away from the Rogers and Brown families.
It only underscored his feelings of a cover-up; his boss telling him to stay clear of the only primary witnesses left alive. From the looks of it though, someone was working hard to make sure they didn't stay alive for very long.
In his gut he was sure that the one person that knew the truth about all this bullshit was currently living in the Brown household. But since he couldn't make an official visit, he made a mental note to pay a social call on one Bradley Rogers as soon as he could.
It took every ounce of will power Brad had not to go 'rescue' his lovers from what the police were doing to them. So he distracted himself by having the 'city workers' that were installing all the monitoring equipment, remove it instead. The other men in the surveillance van all took a sudden very distracting interest in golf, and decided to watch the links instead.
Tara: "Try to ignore it, baby. You know that if we wanted, we could put a stop to all this anytime we want. Vanessa was absolutely right though, we have to make everything done in public look normal and natural."
Heather: "So what if they 'cop' a feel, (he he) it doesn't matter."
Brad: "Are you sure you're alright Terri? I swear to Bob, I'm going to find that asshole cop and make him think he's a twelve-year-old girl that has a thing for men in uniform!"
Terri: "Yeah, since I expected him to retaliate, I used our gift to form a sort of shield. He actually hit that. The rest was just play acting."
Heather: "She's really good too! I knew what she was doing, and I almost believed he'd really hit her."
Vanessa: "Erin says cooking on the grill sounds wonderful, and will stop by the store to grab a few things she thinks we'll need. Janice and Marie are coming with me out to the pool. I'm glad you're all okay, I have to block out most of this, or I'll start using police officers for target practice."
Oracle: "My Loves, you need to make arrangements for an extra guest for dinner tonight. He won't be here officially, and for the evening, you will be able to completely trust him. He also has a video we all need to see."
Joyce: "Can you tell us who it is, Oracle?"
Oracle: "Of course I can dear. But remember, the more information, the less freedom of choice. Do you still wish to know?"
Joyce: "I keep forgetting that part. Thanks for reminding me sweetheart. No, I'll wait like the rest."
Sammy: "Hey! I thought both Vanessa and Oracle couldn't be 'out' at the same time?"
Oracle: "We aren't actually 'out' my love. But this is a sign that we are getting closer to a place where we can coexist far easier. Relax Bradley, our lovers will be fine. I must go now, I love you all."
Brad: "Sure... 'Relax' she says; like it's that easy! Love you too, Oracle."
Among the rest of the girls chiming in with their own endearments, Oracle could be heard chuckling at Brad.
"Master?" Joyce said from beside him.
"Yes slave?"
She blushed because she knew that little Julie had overheard the exchange and was giggling. "Would you care to spread tan lotion on me? I'm afraid if I burn, I won't be able to serve you properly."
Joyce's posture and over all demeanor was so submissive and innocent that everyone knew it was all a ploy to distract Brad, as well as get his hands on her body.
"Is she always that submissive?" Janice asked Vanessa
"For Brad yes. However, while Tara and Terri are personal protection for the family, Joyce is Brad's bodyguard. Brad, Joyce and the 'Twin Titans' were all designed to be soldiers, Only Joyce has had the full training regime. Of all of us, she's the deadliest," Vanessa answered.
Janice shivered. "It's a damn good thing I'm in the pool! I hope Erin gets back soon."
"Yeah, she tends to do that to the rest of us too," Vanessa agreed. "I think it's working on young Julie too, we need to get her distracted, or she'd going to embarrass herself."
Brad smiled at his beautiful slave, and knew she was trying to distract him as well. It was a good idea, and one he was very willing to go along with. But...
"I would love to, sweetheart. But first, I would like to have a word with the 'Director'. Then I'll be very happy to caress your entire body," Brad said grinning.
"I think perhaps I should go with you this time, Master. They've had time to get snipers in position now..." Joyce said.
"Love, they could have done that at anytime. I'm sure I'll be fine, unless you want to provide a distraction for the men while I talk to the Idiot?" Brad asked, teasing.
Joyce sniffed. "If I wanted to distract them, I would simple remove my bikini. I just feel uncomfortable being that far apart around enemies."
"Okay beautiful, but I know you're going to ruin a few golf games," Brad replied laughing.
"Oh, the golfers know there is a 'beautiful woman' obstacle over here. Miss Heather and her friends frequently sunbathe out here," Marie said.
As he stood and pulled Joyce to her feet, Brad smiled at the pretty Hispanic women. "Oh, I think it's more than just Heather and her friends that are causing that hazard, Marie."
Both Marie and Janice blushed darkly as Brad and Joyce walked toward the vans, hand in hand.
"He's smooth! Now, I really hope Erin gets home soon!" Janice said as she watched the handsome couple walk away.
"Bradley, what can I do for you now?" the distorted voice asked.
"Firstly you can turn off the damn distorter, Mr. President. It's hard enough to understand you with that Texan accent. Secondly, I just got off the phone with Heather," Brad replied.
A soft click was heard, and the Idiot's voice was clear. "I don't believe you talked to anyone, son. You've made no calls in or out. Besides, I highly doubt Miss Brown is in any condition to call anyone."
"You know, you really are an idiot, sir. You just lost at least eight men, and now the local police are involved. Thankfully all our ladies had to do was run from them. Bad luck did the rest." Brad turned his head slightly to show the men the blue tooth earphone he was wearing.
"I have no ideah what you'll're talkin' about, Bradley," Brush replied. "By the way, Officer Miles; I will be issuing an order for your arrest later today. I'm chargin' ya'll with treason. I'm sure you can expect the OHS agents by the evenin'."
"OHS doesn't have jurisdiction on treason cases, the FBI does. They already know she's done nothing wrong," Brad replied.
"You have a lot tah learn 'bout the Intel'gence community, Bradley. Officer Miles will be tried in a covert courtmartial, then executed by firing squad."
"Why all the bother? You know as well as I do that she's one of us. Why do you need to do the whole trial and stuff? That doesn't fit in this puzzle," Brad asked.
Brush chuckled. "Heh heh, and you call me the idiot. Good-by Bradley. I'm sure I'll be seein' ya real soon."
Brad was getting worried, but tried not to show it. "For your sake, Edward, You better hope not."