WEEKLY SOUTHERN ARTS
"Sometime the boogaloo 
  • Home
  • Guns, Faith and Murder
  • The Million Dollar Store
  • Artistic Con-cepts
  • Judy Garland - "Soul Singer"
  • Robert & Jimi and the Twenty Seven Blues
  • The Great Pretenders
  • Imagine
  • Me and Junior Parker
  • The Republican
  • Sweet Home Chicago (The Obama Shakedown)
  • The Ballad of Hunter & Joe
  • The 22-yr-old Bottle Blonde
  • Is It Alright...To Be White?
  • Resist the Devil and He Will Flea
  • Music & Reminiscence
  • Lowell George searching for authenticity
  • A Telling Lie
  • Part One: The Monster Is Summoned
  • Like Billy Eckstein Singing to an Empty Club at 1:00 AM on a Saturday Night in 1975.
  • Bent
  • Kelly Joe Phelps
  • Why The Devil Don't Come Around No More
  • Hearing Junior Wells “On Tap'' one more Time
  • Muddy and Me
  • Unwitting Hypocrisy is The Best Kind of Hypocrisy
  • Excess Baggage
  • Excess Baggage pt. 2
  • Fake News Is The New Real News
  • The Death of Billy Graham and Manufacturing Consent
  • American Youth: The Rise of The New Media
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Talk About Slavery and Shit
  • Just Smoke
  • Monkey in a Box
  • How The Children of Sal and Dean Destroyed The World
  • On This Cold Winter's Morn
  • The Crime of the Century
  • Evidence: What The Hell Is It?
  • They Were Pissed: America, Jack Kerouac, and the Beats
  • Negotiating The Maze Of Life and a Blues Shuffle.
  • Everyone Is Hitler (In their own Way)
  • The Mystery of The Giant Balloon Shark
  • Subterfuge and Its Discontents
  • God Debunks Global Warming
  • Day Two: God Continues To Debunk Global Warming
  • Strzoking Russia
  • The Al Franken Effect. Or, How to Destroy America and Lose Elections
  • The Big Maybe
  • The News Apocalypse
  • The Guitarticle (Guitar article)
  • The Nation of Lucifer
  • Slurring Pocahontas
  • Why Everything Good Said About Net Neutrality is a Lie
  • .....and behold, The Cause of Your Demise Is Upon You
  • The Trans-boy That Cried Wolf
  • Believe Nothing
  • Donald Trump Blasts The Heads Off Of Tiny Woodland Creatures
  • The Problem of Hypocrites
  • Roy Moore: Serial Pervert
  • I'm So Frustrated
  • The Devil's Whisper
  • Science Can't Dance
  • You're Gonna Have To Serve Somebody
  • Louie C. K.
  • Common Sense
  • Hunting For Witches
  • Living in The Age of "tRump"
  • The Devil is a Hustler
  • The Skinny
  • Eric Dolphy
  • ISIS Rode in On a Donkey
  • "The Manafort Indictment"
  • The Truth About the Middle East
  • Dennis Budimer's "Alone Together" Revisited
  • The Halloween Edition
  • The 20th Century Was Groovy
  • The Salesman
  • The Dossier
  • Elmore James
  • Isle of The Poor
  • The Patriarchy is Alive and Well
  • Moving Napoleon
  • Guns and Guerrillas
  • Playing Four
  • Hollywood and Scumbags
  • Why Everything You Think, Is Wrong
  • Killing Yourself With Terrorism
  • Being Liberal
  • Laced With Hate
  • A Message From Occupy Democrats
  • A Taxing Dilemma
  • What Really Happened with Aid in Puerto Rico
  • Colin Kaepernick and BeyoncĂ© are geniuses. Part 1
  • When the Levee Breaks
  • The Second Coming of Anthony Weiner
  • How to Never Lose a Fight
  • Creating Chaos out of Meaning
  • Crime and Punishment
  • The Man in the Mirror
  • Guitar Gods of the Sixties
  • Entopy: A Play in One Act
  • The Ragged Tale of a Poverty Stricken Economic Genius
  • The Dreamers
  • Hey There Georgy Girl
  • This Is Not a Defense of Joel Osteen. Or is it?
  • The Ballad of Poindexter Glockenspiel
  • The Big Dummy
  • More Florida in Pictures and Text
  • How Do I Hate Thee
  • Florida in Images and More Images
  • "How To Solve The Healthcare Crisis and Why It's So Damned Hard To Fix"
  • The Big Lie
  • The Demise of the West
  • “Good Times! Good Times! You know, we talkin’ bout Good Times!”
  • "Justice My Ass!"
  • Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
  • The Coming Apocalypse and How to Avoid it: a Historical/Biblical Perspective.
  • "Muthafuckin' Chains!"
  • Lies Our Father's Told Us
  • Poetry and Politics - a few mixed verses
  • The Inner Man
  • The Vampire and The Carpet Salesman
  • Comey Speaks!
  • A Word From Nostradamus about the Comey Hearings
  • The Towering Babble
  • Chain of Fools
  • I Got Ramblin' on My Mind
  • Telling Ourselves Stories
  • Shit! Make Me Wanna Holler!
  • Even More Reasons Why The Paris Accords are Total Horseshit.
  • When Life Imitates Satire
  • Jethro and Becky Sue Come To America
  • Random Apocrypha
  • Why The Paris Climate Accords Are Total Horseshit
  • Urban Stories
  • The Kingdom of God: a personal rant
  • Urban Week @ South Beach
  • Serpico Revisited
  • The Road To Surf-dumb. Or, is it The Road To Serfdom?
  • This is Not a Political Article
  • My Hometown
  • What Does This Mean?
  • We're All Fools Sometime
  • One Pill Makes You Larger
  • "What a Maroon!"
  • Secrets and Lies
  • A Tale of Wine and Murder
  • "White House Under Siege!"
  • The Amateur Narcissist
  • Like a Rock
  • The Greatest of Ally of a True Idiot is.....
  • How To Prove someone's a Witch
  • Jesus Was a Sly Dog
  • An Open Letter From The Democratic National Committee
  • The Power of Language
  • The Existential CroĂ»ton
  • Random Facebook Thoughts
  • A Play "The Poverty Racket"
  • The Demise of the 4th Estate
  • Love To Hate My Enemies
  • Feelings, Oh, Oh, Oh, Feelings
  • Art or Reality
  • The Prison Yard Blues
  • Who is Richard Spencer and Why Does He Matter?
  • __an excerpt from "The Power of Voltron "
  • A Plea From a Progressive
  • ANTIFA - The Anti Fascists, Fascists
  • Conspiracy Theory
  • 4 More Poems, 4 More Pictures
  • "Are You Freaking People Insane?"
  • 4 Pictures 4 Poems
  • The Ballad of Carlos Slim
  • Pretending What's in Your Head is True
  • The Cognitive Dissonance of a Faithful Democrat
  • The Human Snakepit
  • George Freeman - Unsung Master of the Jazz Guitar
  • The Price of Milk
  • Suspicious Minds
  • Bill O'Reilly Sexual Predator?
  • The New Soldier
  • Orwell Revisited
  • Larry Coryell - The Godfather is Dead
  • A Tiger Beat
  • South Florida - HOT & COOL
  • Jean Paul Sartre & the Existentialist Mojo
  • Culture Matters, Immigration Matters, Sharks Matter
  • Thomas Sowell
  • A Tree Falls In Central Park on a Gay Banker
  • Black Codes From The Underground
  • Does an Idiot know they're an Idiot?
  • A Poem for Pooh
  • It's All or Nothing Baby!
  • Racism is Alive and Well
  • "Shut the Hell Up!"
  • Jerry Seinfeld - Social Pariah
  • A Man Must Nurture His Pet Peeves
  • Not the Usual Immigration Article
  • Man Talk, with Donald Trump pt. 1
  • Man Talk, with Donald Trump pt. 2
  • The Bad Seed
  • Dogma Never Sleeps
  • Trump and Clinton Debate
  • Was Jesus a True Pacifist?
  • Brexit Was the Shot Heard Around the World
  • Obama, How Great Thou Art
  • War is Good
  • The Willful Ignorance of Intellectual Children
  • What about All Those Peacful Muslims?
  • Terror! What Terror?
  • Biff and Shorty Play The Blues
  • Forty Miles of Bad Road
  • How Obamacare Became the law of the land: And Other Fairytales for Adults
  • Genteel Republicans vs The Alt-Right
  • Should Drugs be Legal?
  • The Prophet Speaks
  • The Dream Sequence
  • Voting 3rd Party and the Moral Low-Ground
  • Sayonara America
  • What does Never Trump Mean?
  • Barack Obama is the Most Brilliant Man Ever to be President?
  • If God Created War, Does That Mean That War is Good?
  • Never Let Your Enemies Define You
  • Facebook, Science & Religion
  • Bullshit by the Numbers
  • Bullshit by the Numbers - part II
  • The Heated Quest for the "No Information Voter"
  • I Love The Dead
  • Those Who Lurk
  • Battered, Bruised and Beaten
  • Trump and Hitler
  • America in Black and White
  • Trans-Athletics
  • Playing a Rigged Game
  • Who was that Mass Murderer?
  • The Kidnappers
  • The Game
  • Terror in Nice: A Variation on a Theme
  • The Idiots Guide on How to Destory the World
  • Terror in France
  • A Fictional Conversation Between a Pastor and a Historian About the Bible
  • The Immoral Necessity for Scapegoats
  • Who Really Shot Those Eleven Cops? Was It Donald Trump?
  • Killer Cops and Cop Killers
  • Happy 4th of July
  • How Do You Cast Your Vote When You've Only Got a Few Bullets Left?
  • "Yes, She's a Lying Sack of Shit....but She's our Lying Sack of Shit."
  • All Apologies
  • Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up
  • Goodbye Scotty Moore
  • If a Bluebird Plays the Blues Why Can't it Play Free Jazz
  • Terror in Turkey
  • When David Slew Goliath
  • The Life & Death of a Global Fat Cat
  • Intentionally Censoring the News
  • The Brits Leave the EU
  • Chick, Christian, Roy & Kenny G
  • Who Really Committed Mass Murder in Orlando
  • The Tale of the Prince and the Shrew
  • A Dying Father's Last Father's Day
  • Mass Murdering, Terrorist's Father is Obama and Hillary's Best Friend
  • Why Cream still Matters 50 Years Later
  • Misguided Anger and Partisan Politics
  • The Deep Guilt of the Religious Left
  • Radical Islam! What Radical Islam?
  • Denial is a River in Egypt
  • A Response to all the Haters
  • Why Muhammad Ali was my Hero (in spite of being a Racist)
  • Why Trump Matters
  • The New Progressive Racism
  • A Tragedy in Cincinnati
  • The Evil that Men do (Women too.)
  • Differences? What Differences?
  • Racism Revisited
  • Battling Immigration Straw Men
  • Blood Quantum
  • Fighting Transgender Straw Men
  • Logical Fallacies about God and Money
  • Progressive Straw Men
  • Everybody is Robbing You Blind
  • On The Road To El Donaldo
  • Dear Mark: About Donald Trump
  • Identifying the Enemy
  • Why I Will Vote For Trump
  • I Totally Agree With Myself
  • Teaching Americans Where to Pee
  • Goodbye Lonnie Mack
  • Bernie Wants You To Pay His Fair Share
  • Bruce Springsteen vs. North Carolina
  • Mr. Smiley Is an Idiot
  • Why Does College Cost So Much?
  • Black Power and Bad Vibes At Whiteness History Month
  • How Facebook Showed Me That We're Doomed
  • Muslims kill Muslims by means of White People
  • The Slap
  • America Wants a 3rd Party Candidate
  • Jesus Loved Everybody
  • Call it what it is.
  • Belgium vs. Turkey. Which One is Worse?
  • Barack, Fidel and Che
  • How He Gonna Get His Money pt. 2
  • How He Gonna Get His Money
  • The Turn of The Screw
  • Dear America: Now, about Trump....
  • The Attack of the Anti Trumpers
  • Did You Know that America is Socialism....and boy, ain't it Swell
  • Trump - Prophet or Blowhard?
  • Black Lies Matter, All Lies Matter
  • The Donald and the Debate
  • Leonardo and The Bear
  • The Thunder Rolled and the "Trump" Blows em all to Hell
  • Fragmented Fairytails
  • Cars That Never Were but Should've Been, Part 6
  • Building The Perfect Beast
  • America: A Tale of Two Cities, Part 1
  • Uncle Bernie in New Hampshire
  • The Big L
  • The Diary of a Former Leftist
  • Free Speech not Hate Speech?
  • State of the Union
  • Losing My Religion
  • Don't Take Our Guns Away Until We Kill Those Honky Bastards
  • Bye Bye Europe
  • "Trump is a Racist!"
  • "Hell Yeah! I've Got Obama Care!
  • Trumponomics
  • Woman of the Year
  • Malicious Intent and the Art of the Microaggression
  • Muslim No-Go Zones - Myth or Reality?
  • Donald J. Trump and the Muslim Migration to America
  • There Is No God But Allah?
  • Roadhouse - The Reboot
  • Sometimes You Just Can't Win
  • A Few Thoughts Regarding Trump
  • Cars That Never Were But Should've Been, Part 5
  • You Can Have My Steering Wheel When You Pry It From Cold, Daed Hands
  • The Great Debate
  • Al, Thomas and Paul - Malthusians Then and Now
  • A Prophet Debates Global Warming and other retated Dogma
  • Memes, Scapegoats, Propaganda
  • Little Hillary and Her Monsters
  • A Prophecy for America
  • The Basketball Metaphor
  • Vladimir Putin: An American Hero
  • Little Things
  • The Democrats Debate
  • It's All Ablout da Benjamins
  • Remember When?
  • Mass Shooter
  • Cars That Never Were But Should've Been: Part 4
  • Should A Muslim Be President in America?
  • The Strange Case of Ahmed Mohamed
  • Debt and Other Devious Angels
  • Bernie Sanders is Caesar not Jesus
  • An inconvenient Truth
  • Who's really a Native American?
  • The Rebirth of the Silent Majority
  • Money That's What I Want!
  • The Syrian Crisis and the Memeing of America
  • Why Societies Have Generally Valued Men More than Women
  • The Problem of Evil
  • A few Thoughts on a Few Things
  • The Authentic pose of a Black White Man
  • Sweden: Socialist Utopia or Progressive Madhouse?
  • Why Dogs Matter
  • Guilty Until Proven Innocent
  • Was Jesus a Socialist?
  • "The Donald" A Man for the Ages
  • Harvesting the Wheat - or - Karma's a Real Bitch
  • Cecil The Lion
  • Cars That Never Were but Should’ve Been, Part 3
  • Secrets and Lies
  • Can Minorities Be Racist?
  • I Was Just Thinking....Hmm?
  • Iran Deal - Good or Bad?
  • Jihad or Not Jihad? That is the Question.
  • "Let's Do Lunch" with Planned Parenthood
  • America The Contemptible
  • Marriage, Bigotry and Cooties
  • The Things We Care About
  • The Simplicity of it All
  • A Dissenting Opinion
  • Cars That Should've Been, But Never Were: part II
  • Live Now, Pay Later
  • I Am, Whatever I Say I Am!
  • Bernie Sanders is the Dumbest Bastard on Earth
  • Cars That Never Were But Should've Been
  • Bruce Jenner
  • The Good Society
  • A Personal Jesus For My Own
  • Take a Ride on a Hell Bound Train
  • Requiem For a Car Show
  • Obama Channels Neville Chamberlain in Dealing with Iran
  • The Short Life of a Political Lemming
  • The Strongman
  • The Broken Window
  • The Selective Outrage of The Anti Israel Left
  • When the Blind Lead the Blind
  • Top Brass With Class
  • Living In A world On Fire
  • Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell
  • What The Hell Is Esotericism?
  • Unicorns, Free Healthcare and other Mythological Creatures
  • Heroes and Dunces
  • A Few Thoughts On a Few Things
  • The Return Of Super Fly
  • Should You Ever Bet On A dead Horse?
  • Money For Nothing
  • Across The Great Divide
  • Tom, Jerry, Eddie & Sydney
  • The Folly of Foibles
  • Who really killed Eric Garner?
  • The Art of The Sale
  • Political Bullshit and All That Jazz
  • Oh, The Horror of It All
  • To Torture or Not To Torture, That is The Question
  • Selective Justice
  • Executive Action
  • Give Us Your Tired, Poor and Ambitious
  • Johnny Winter, Ahhh-Yeahh!
  • Homeless and Transgender "Let My People Pee!"
  • Are We Insane? You Betcha!
  • Ebola and Racism
  • You're a Racist, Just Admit It!
  • To Discriminate or Not to Discriminate, That is the Question
  • The Life of an Imaginary Historian
  • Why Most Debates About The Minimum Wage are Bullshit
  • The Return of the Infinite Monkeys
  • Politically Correct Genocide
  • Language and the illusion of Meaning
  • Obama vs. Reagan
  • Is Barack Obama our Most Successful President Ever?
  • White Racism Black Racism
  • The Race
  • Should People Be Free to Discriminate?
  • Science, Religion and Brother Neil
  • Welcome To America
  • The Reincarnation of Jimmy Carter and the Return of Scarface
  • SCOTUS, Condoms and Collateral Damage
  • The American Dream
  • Attack of the Bloated Leeches or "Why Does the Economy Suck pt. II"
  • Why Does the Economy Suck?
  • Jaco Pastorius - A Passage in Time
  • How can we save the world, from people who want to save the world?
  • A Short Political rant: pt I
  • Jerry Reed, Tom Jones and the Original Guitar Heroes
  • Part Two: The Politics of the Eloi and the Morlock
  • Angel: part 7
  • Wayne Cochran "Going Back to Miami"
  • Matt Damon & the Teachers Union vs. the Capitalist Pigs
  • The Last Damned Healthcare Article You'll Ever Need
  • The Gospel According to Mark
  • Angel: part VI
  • Ted Bundy & The Hunt For The Devil
  • Charlie & Clint: Dead & Deader
  • Trayvon & George : An American Hate Story
  • Jury Duty
  • Little Tommy & The Blues Kings
  • Kayaking "The Big Cypress" with Crocodlies
  • The Birth of The Jazz Guitarist
  • Gay Marriage
  • Garage Band - The 1960's
  • King Arthur, Pelagius and Original Sin
  • The Story of Ricky
  • In the News and on the Web
  • When is a Horse not a Horse
  • Hidden Miami
  • I Hate the 60's: A Personal Rock Odyssey
  • Crocodiles and Alligators in Florida: Monsters in our Backyard
  • The Legend of Robert Pete Williams
  • Saturday Night At Big Tinys
  • The Mad Hatter and the Tea Party
  • The Case Of The Infinite Monkeys
  • The American Heritage Series
  • Here Comes the Sun
  • The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
  • Blue And Green
  • Mundi's, a Love Story
Picture

Angel: Part VII A novel by Thomas A Hall  

"She used to work for the government. She just killed her husband. She’s in bed with drug dealers—and she may be the only person left who can save the world"…

Dave

Angel woke up with a splitting headache. Every muscle in her body seemed to be aching and her vision was distorted. After a moment’s reflection, she realized that her left eye was swollen shut. She grunted with pain every time the car hit a bump. “Wait a minute!” she thought, “Whose car am I in?”

Looking around through her one good eye, she saw a burly, bearded face in the front passenger seat. As she tried to get a better view, she discovered that her hands were tied behind her and the seat belt for the left, rear passenger seat was run between her arms, holding her in place. She thought, “Oh crap. What’s up with these guys?” and drifted off again.

The driver said to the front-seat passenger, “Man, that went perfect. That bitch never knowed what hit her!” He laughed and the passenger joined him.

“Yeah, it worked good.” said the passenger. “Javier should be happy but, damn, did you see this chick? She’s a hottie! He leaned towards the rear and squeezed Angel’s breast. “Nice rack, too.’

The driver snapped, “Hey, dude, stop that. I don’t want Javier ticked off when we deliver her.”

The passenger grumbled, “Yeah, yeah. Everybody’s ‘fraid of what Javier will thinkThe driver said, “If you ain’t afraid, you ain’t been payin’ attention! If ya get out of line, Javier will kick your ass—just ask those guys what beat up the farmer in the Redlands.”

The passenger answered, “Yeah, that’s true. You’d think Javier would be happy that they busted up that jerk instead of having those guys stomped and banned from any other PETA actions. I knew one of them, Steve Barnes, and he’s been a member of PETA for years.”

The driver said, “I’m guessin’ Javier don’t want people freelancing. He wants people what obey orders.”

“You know that I believe in stopping cruel treatment of animals, but why Javier was so mad at those guys—well, I just don’t know.” said the passenger.

“We’ll be seeing him in a few minutes. Why don’t you ask him?” said the driver.

Angel began to come to. She was aching all over and groggy, but was determined to stay awake and figure out what was going on. She did an inventory of her situation as best she could—headache, left eye not working right, sore all over but more so on the left side, no broken bones as far as she could tell.

After assessing her physical situation, she considered her assets. She still had her clothes and shoes on. Apparently, whoever trussed her up and put her in this car didn’t search her body—they just tied her up and put her in the car. She could feel that her throwing knife was still in its scabbard on her right forearm, under her jacket. “Okay, that’s good.” she thought, “If they didn’t find the knife, then they were in too much of a hurry to find anything else.” She continued her inventory—razor blade hidden in her left boot heel, .22-caliber Beretta Bobcat in its holster on her right ankle and brass knuckles in her jacket’s left pocket. She said a silent thanks to God that she was dealing with amateurs.

“Now, if I wasn’t tied up, I could do some damage.” she thought.

Angel worked her hands down to the clasp on the seatbelt. Holding the seat belt with her left hand’s fingers, she pressed the clasp’s button and released the seatbelt quietly. She let it slip through her fingers slowly and retract. Once it was completely retracted, she began twisting her wrists, trying the knot and attempting to stretch the rope. Keeping her one good eye partially closed, but trained on the burly passenger in front of her, she continued working the rope. “If these guys know what they’re doing, I’m just wasting my time.” she thought, “On the other hand, they weren’t smart enough to frisk me!”

With that cheery thought, she continued twisting her wrists. It hurt, but gradually she felt the rope give way. Contracting her right hand as much as she could, she finally managed to pull it through the rope. Using her free right hand, she then pulled the rope off her left hand.

She waited.

When the man in the front passenger seat turned his head to the right to look at something out the right-side window, she pulled the throwing knife from her right sleeve with her left hand and grabbed the passenger’s hair with her right hand, pulling his head back and pricking his neck with the point of the knife. “Eww,” she thought, “what greasy hair!”

“If you move, you die.” she said to the passenger. She shouted at the driver, “Stop this car or he dies.’

The driver looked surprised, but didn’t slow down.

Angel pressed the knife against the passenger’s neck and he started to bleed. “I said stop the car now!” she shouted.

The driver looked at Angel angrily and said, “I ain’t stoppin’, bitch. You do what you want, but I’m takin’ ya to Javier.”

Angel was momentarily taken aback. As she considered his statement, the passenger roared and tried to reach back and grab her. She pulled herself back and slashed at his hands. He howled in pain as she dropped the knife and pulled the small pistol from its ankle holster.

Pointing the gun at the driver’s head, she cried, “Stop now or you’re dead!”

This time, the driver hit the brakes.

Screeching to a stop, his eyes darted from the gun to Angel’s battered face. His former belligerence was now turned to fear. “Don’t shoot me.” he pleaded, “I’m stopped. I’ll do what you want.”

The burly man in the passenger seat was clutching his bleeding hands together, but snarled at the driver, “Sure, you’ll do what she wants. You weren’t goin’ to stop when it was me she was stickin’. You’re a bitch, too.”

Angel was really sore and her head was throbbing, but she started to laugh. “Everybody’s a bitch to you two, huh?” she asked. “Okay, get out of the car. Move!”

The passenger just glowered at her.

Angel fired a shot past his head, shattering the side window. The sound of the gunshot, at close range and in the confines of the car, nearly deafened all of them. The passenger screamed, “Okay! I’m getting’ out!” and fumbled with the door handle. Finally pulling it open, he tried to get out, only to be held back by his seatbelt. “Damn!” he cried and unfastened it. Climbing out, he stood on the side of the road.

Angel told him, “Take off your pants.”

He just looked at her.

She pointed the small pistol at his groin and said again, “Take off your pants!”

The man complied, struggling to get his belt undone with his cut and bleeding hands. Standing there in his underwear, he looked ridiculous.

Angel ordered him to throw the pants into the car and close the door.

As the man did so, Angel told the driver, “Okay, move!”

The driver hit the gas, leaving his partner in a cloud of dust.

“Where were you going?” asked Angel, peering around, “It looks like we’re in the Redlands.”

The driver looked warily at the pistol in Angel’s left hand and replied, “I was takin’ you to Javier Blanco’s place.”

Angel said, “Well, let’s go then. You have a cell phone?”

The driver nodded and handed her the phone that was on the seat next to him. Using her right hand, Angel dialed Diego’s number.

When Diego answered, Angel said, “Hey, I was kidnapped by two idiots.” The driver looked at her balefully as she spoke. “I’m down in the Redlands area of South Dade. One of the idiots is on the side of the road without his pants now and I’ve got the other one under control.”

Diego asked with surprising concern in his voice, “Are you alright?”

Angel said, “Si, I’m banged up, but I’m okay. My car, however, was trashed.”

Diego asked, “Where did this happen?”

“Within a couple of minutes of reaching you at the Muvico.” replied Angel, “I think they were waiting for me. Obviously, they knew of my involvement with you, but I don’t know how.” She looked at the driver inquiringly. He just shook his head. “Yeah, the knuckleheads they sent to get me don’t know anything.”

Diego said, “So, what do you want to do?”

Angel answered, “I don’t know. They were supposed to take me to Javier Blanco as their captive, but I’ve blown that now. What do you think we should do?”

Diego replied, “Why don’t you just park somewhere for a little bit and let me come your way? It would be better if there were two or more of us. I can bring NIcki and leave Juan watching Evan Rodriguez.”

Angel thought about this for a moment and realized that it would be comforting to have their company. “Okay,” she said, “That sounds like a plan. Would you also bring some ice and aspirin? My eye’s swollen shut and I’ve got the headache to end all headaches.”

Diego said, “Of course. I will go to the safehouse and get Nicki. We can be down there in about an hour.”

With that, he hung up.

Angel said to the driver, “Hey, what’s your name?”

He said, “Dave.”

“Well, Dave, we’re going to hole up somewhere ‘til my friends arrive. Let’s see, why don’t you pull into that field on the right?”

Dave dutifully slowed and turned onto a dirt road running between two fields planted with corn. He drove about five hundred feet and Angel told him to stop. They sat there in the vehicle with the engine running and the air conditioning blasting.

Dave looked at Angel and said, with a slight tremble in his voice, “You ain’t gonna shoot me are ya?”

Angel looked at him scornfully and said, “That depends on you, doesn’t it? If you give me trouble, you’re a dead man. If you don’t, you may just make it out of this alive—although I ought to shoot you for what you did to my car!”

Dave, although still concerned, showed some relief.

Angel, on the other hand, thought about her car and what had transpired. Remembering her knife, she shifted the gun to her right hand and picked up the knife and slid it back into the sheath on her right forearm.

Dave said, “Lady, who are you? We was told to git you, but what kind of woman goes around with a knife like that and a pistol?”

Although feeling tired and beat up, Angel laughed at his words. “I guess I was a tomboy growing up. Instead of learning how to be a lady, I learned the Boy Scout motto.”

Dave looked at her blankly.

Angel sighed and said, “Be prepared?”

Dave said, “Oh!” and nodded.

Angel said, “As long as we’re sitting here, why don’t you tell me how a Cracker like you ended up with a nutcase like Javier Blanco.”

At this invitation, Dave smiled, revealing a mangled set of teeth. “Well, I don’t know if he’s a nutcase or not.”

Angel said, “Don’t you know him?”

Dave replied, “Not really. I seen him around, but I don’t really know him. One a his boys hired me and Travis, the feller you left without his pants, to grab you. Travis has been hangin’ round these guys fer awhile. They said we’d get five hunnerd each fer grabbin’ you.”

Angel leaned back against the right-side seat. It was hard to not think about her car, and herself, being trashed by this simpleton. “Frankly,” she thought, “it’s insulting that this moron managed to capture me in the first place.”

“We’re in, what, an old Ford Taurus?” asked Angel, “Whose truck ran into me?”

“Yes’m, this is a Taurus. It’s mine and it was in good shape ‘til you shot the window out.” Dave looked disapprovingly at Angel. “The truck was stolen by Travis. Mr. Blanco told us when you’d be comin’ by and what you was drivin’.”

Angel pondered that bit of news for a minute. “How did Javier Blanco know of her involvement? And, how did he know of her plans to join Diego?”

She asked Dave, “When were you hired to do this?”

“Jus’ this mornin’,” said Dave.

“He told you to intercept my car on Sheridan Street?” asked Angel.

“Nah, he told us to git a truck and he’d call and let us know where we was to go later.” answered Dave.

“So who else is hanging around Javier Blanco?” asked Angel.

“Well, le’s see. There’s a lot of folks hangin’ ‘round him.” said Dave, “There’s some fellers what seem kinda rough, but there’s others what seem purty fancy.”

“Fancy?” asked Angel.

“Yep, some of these folks got money and seem purty important—least, that’s how they act.” Dave was getting relaxed now, as if he and Angel were old friends. He continued, “I don’t know him really, but Travis tol’ me that the guy who actually hired us was a DEA agent named O’Reilly or Riley, I think.”

“Todd Riley?” Angel asked.

“Hey, you know him?” asked Dave.

“Yeah, I know him,” answered Angel. She thought to herself, “Todd Riley’s hooked up with Javier Blanco? Of course! He was George’s roommate in college and had joined the agency at the same time as George. George’s personal connections were popping up everywhere in this mess!”

Angel grabbed Dave’s cellphone again and rang up Diego. When Diego answered, she blurted out, “Are you still at the safehouse?”

Diego replied, “Si, we were just leaving.”

Angel said, “Before you go, please ask Evan Rodriguez about the surveillance system at his house. I don’t think we shut it down last night like we thought.”

Diego asked, “What makes you think so?”

Angel responded, “We hit his house last night and this morning Javier Blanco sent guys to abduct me. How did he know that I was involved with you? I’m guessing there was a redundant system somewhere that spotted all of us. More than that, I just learned that Todd Riley, George’s old friend and Deputy Director of the DEA here in Miami is connected to Blanco. If he saw a video recording of our break in, he’d recognize me.”

Diego paused for a moment, “Ah, I see.” he said at last, “That would certainly explain things. Give me five minutes and I will call you back.”

With that, he hung up.

Angel set the phone down and said to Dave, “Do you have any more to tell me about Javier’s friends?”

Nicki

Diego told Nicki about the conversation with Angel. They both got out of the car and walked back into the safehouse. It was an older, nondescript house near the western boundary of Southwest Ranches.

Southwest Ranches was an entire community dedicated to small horse farms and other “ranchettes” in southwestern Broward County. In earlier times, drug dealers used this remote area to land small planes and deliver drugs flown in from Colombia, Mexico and the Bahamas. However, as the aerial surveillance by the United States Coast Guard and Air Force improved, and as development spread inexorably westward, these activities were replaced by wealthy individuals and families looking for the “country squire” existence in an otherwise urban county. With Interstate 75 to the east, Pembroke Pines to the south, Weston to the north and the everglades to the west, Southwest Ranches was the only community offering anything remotely rural as a lifestyle in southern Broward County.

As they entered, Juan looked up with surprise. “Forget something?” he asked.

Diego simply nodded and walked to the living room where Evan Rodriguez was tied to a chair facing a blaring television. Diego stood in front of the television and said, “Señor Rodriguez!”

Evan looked at him pensively, “Yes?”

“Please answer some questions about your home’s video surveillance system.” said Diego.

In spite of himself, Evan grinned.

Diego said, “I have said something funny?”

Evan sneered, “Let me guess. You just figured out that I had a redundant system? Yes, in addition to the visible cameras, I had a second set of hidden cameras on a separate system with a digital recorder. By now, my friends have seen your faces and I should think that your days are numbered.”

Diego merely shrugged and said, “Everyone’s days are numbered, are they not? We will see if our days are longer than yours.” He turned to Nicki and Juan and said, “Let’s bring our friend with us. Perhaps he will be of more use to us in the Redlands.”

At the mention of “the Redlands” Evan’s eyes momentarily widened only to be quickly replaced with a look of sullen indifference.

Juan, who was looking at him as Diego spoke, said, “I think our friend here knows the Redlands.” and nodded towards Evan.

Diego said, “That’s fine. Juan, there’s no need for you to stay here now. Come with us and bring the rest of the ordinance.”

Juan stepped into a bedroom and returned a moment later with two Uzi submachine guns and the Winchester pump shotgun he’d used the night before. He motioned for Nicki to take the weapons and said, “I’ll get the extra ammo.”

Diego pulled out a pocketknife, opened the blade, and cut the zip ties holding Evan Rodriguez to the chair. Folding the blade, he put the pocketknife away and said to Evan, “Okay, let’s go.”

As they went outside, Evan strode in front of Diego and headed for the rear door of the Bentley. Diego grabbed his arm and said, “No, Señor, we have another place for you.” He keyed the remote and the trunk lid popped open. Evan’s shoulders sagged as he realized where he would be riding.

Diego escorted him to the empty trunk and waited for Evan to get in. He looked at the trunk and tried to not think of how he’d laid Victor’s body there just three days before. He lowered the trunk lid shut and said to Nicki and Juan, “Okay, let’s move.”

As they drove away, Diego called Angel. When she answered, he said, “Hola, mi amiga. Como estas?”

Angel answered, “Bien, e tu?”

Diego said, “You were right. Our friend just confirmed that there was a second video system. Obviously, they know who we are.”

Angel replied, “Just as I thought. However, based on what I’ve seen so far, they don’t have professionals working for them, just local losers. I’m guessing that they use them in order to keep some distance between the thugs and the PETA operation. After all, it wouldn’t help fundraising for the money crowd to see the other side of their activities.”

Diego said, “That makes sense to me. Okay, we’re on our way. How are you feeling and where are you?”

Angel answered, “I’m okay, just sore. We’re off Coconut Palm Drive just east of Kingman Road.”

Diego repeated the location back and Juan keyed it into the Bentley’s GPS system.

Angel said, “We’re in a field of corn and it’s the only corn I’ve seen in the area. Everything else is strawberry fields and fruit trees.”

Diego said, “Okay, we got it. According to the GPS, it’ll take us an hour to get there, but I think we’ll be a little quicker than that.” He hung up the phone and punched the gas pedal. The Bentley’s engine roared and the tires sent up a cloud of dust behind it on the dirt road leading from the safehouse. Reaching the end of the road, he turned onto US 27 and headed south.

Thomas A. Hall

You can read parts 1 through 6, here, by following the links.  Links 5 and 6 will need to be copied and pasted, sorry for the inconvenience.
1. http://www.weeklysouthernarts.com/angel-chapter-1---a-novel-by-thomas-a-hall.html 
2. http://www.weeklysouthernarts.com/angel-part-ii.html
3.  http://www.weeklysouthernarts.com/angel---pt-3.html 
4.  http://www.weeklysouthernarts.com/angel-part-four.html
5.  http://www.weeklysouthernarts.com/angel-part-v.html
6. http://www.weeklysouthernarts.com/angel-part-vi.html

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