All Necessary Force

It was quite possibly the bravest thing I had ever seen.

47

I turned to face Retro and Decoy, getting blinded by their IR source. I knew mine was doing the same to them, so I turned it off. I gave them hand and arm signals to get guns out into the room while I took out Miss Light Switch. I had no doubt she’d do something incredibly stupid and dangerous if the lights came on and we were standing in front of her with weapons. The girls sitting on the floor didn’t pose the same threat. They’d have no time to react when they saw us, and probably wouldn’t even if they could.

I slowly circled around the girl, feeling a little evil at the fact that she couldn’t see me at all, while I could reach out and thump her in the head if I wanted. When I was lined up with her back, I pounced, encircling her arms and dragging her to the ground. She shrieked like a banshee, then began violently whipping around like a snake caught around the neck. She snapped her head back and slammed it into my NODs, causing them to shift and nearly knocking her out.

I shouted, “Lights! Lights!”

The room blazed into existence, blinding everyone for a moment. The girls on the floor began shrieking at the sight of the Boondock Saints pointing guns at them, but none made a move. Retro and Decoy began shouting, “Ami! Ami!” then “Friend! Friend!”

The screaming turned into whimpers, with the girls packing together like a flock of sheep cowering together at the threat of a wolf. The one in my arms was woozy from her attempts at harming me. She’d have a knot on her head, but appeared okay. I repeated “ami” over and over until she nodded her head. I let go of her and raised my hands. She scooted back to the flock, warily staring at us.

I keyed my radio. “Koko, house is clear. Bring in the girl.”

I figured the quickest way to get complete compliance was to have Maria show herself, proving we were friends. From there, we’d sort out the exfil without worrying about one of them making a break for it.

I turned to Retro. “Go get the two girls upstairs and the one in the kitchen.”

Decoy said, “What about the guy in the bedroom?”

“If he’s still out, leave him there.”

“And if he’s not?”

“Put him back to sleep. Then leave him there.” I keyed my radio. “Buckshot, get a gun out front. I don’t want any surprises.”

Minutes later, Retro came in with the woman from the kitchen. He cut off the flex ties on her hands and put her with the group. The girls showed her no outright sympathy, keeping their distance from her.

Decoy came over the net. “I’m going to need a hand up here. One girl’s going to need to be carried, and I don’t want to do that and watch the other one.”

“What’s wrong? Is she hurt?”

“No. At least not physically. But she’s pretty much catatonic.”

Retro said, “On the way.”

While waiting on them, I checked in with Jennifer.

“Maria’s good,” she said. “In fact, she can’t quit smiling. I’m moving to the house now in van one.”

“Roger that. Buckshot, when she’s in, go get van two. We need to clear out.”

“Roger.”

Decoy and Retro returned, Decoy carrying one girl while the other walked in front. Decoy laid the girl on the ground, brushed her hair out of her face, then backed up. The group went ballistic at the sight, circling around them, all talking at once. The one on the ground was awake and responding to the treatment of her friends, apparently starting to believe that she wasn’t about to die. The older woman from the kitchen hung at the back, trying to remain hidden.

Very different reaction from when she came in. Hmmm….

Jennifer appeared at the bottom of the stairs with Maria, and the scene repeated, with everyone talking at once. Our girl was practically jumping up and down trying to explain who we were and what we were doing here. The rest of the girls seemed unsure of whether to believe it, like at any minute the trick would be exposed and they’d be told to saddle up.

I had Jennifer break up the old-home week, getting Maria to point out the girl who was in the room with the Arab. After a little back-and-forth, she pointed to Miss Light Switch.

Should have known.

Right behind her was the woman from the kitchen. When Maria caught sight of her, she froze for a second. Then she plowed through the crowd, pushing bodies left and right like a fullback trying to reach the end zone.

That’s not good. “Decoy, stop her!”

He was close, but not close enough. Maria leapt on the woman like an alley cat, clawing great gouges in the woman’s face as they fell to the floor. Before Decoy could reach her, the rest of the girls, seeing the attack and finally realizing they were no longer in any danger, lost all timidity and fell upon the woman as well, biting, clawing, and kicking. The outright savagery told me the woman would be dead in seconds.

It took all four of us to physically manhandle everyone off of her, and even that wasn’t working until I shouted at Jennifer to crack a round into the floor with the 416. The explosion finally got them to stop, all panting like hyenas fighting over a kill. We got them separated and left Buckshot pointing a weapon to keep them calm.

We pulled out of earshot, taking Maria with us. In short order, we learned that the woman, far from being a captive, was one of the most sadistic people in the house. Maria began relaying horror stories that caused me to tell Jennifer to shut her up.

“I get the picture.”

Decoy tossed his head at the cut-up woman. “Well, what about her? She’s heard us talk. She’ll know we’re Americans.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I’m not going to kill her in cold blood. No matter how much she deserves it.”

Retro said, “We don’t have to do anything. We could just walk up those stairs for a few minutes.”

“That would hurt the girls more than the woman. She’d just be dead, but they’d live with what they did forever.” I felt Jennifer’s eyes on me but didn’t acknowledge it. “I have a better idea.”

48

Keshawn kept his mind off the meeting by sweeping the inside of the warehouse. For the fourth time. He told himself it was just because he didn’t like clutter, but deep down he knew it was because he was nervous. The tell was in the number of times he glanced at his watch, then glanced at the two Pelican cases at the back of the room.

What the fuck are you afraid of? You’ve walked with killers.

And yet he was. The man coming was someone who held a mythical place in his mind’s eye. A fighter that would destroy all the rich motherfuckers in this godforsaken country. Turn it into an Islamic utopia, where everyone was equal in the eyes of Allah. No more greed, no more haves and have-nots. Just a society based on Sharia law, where the glory was dedication to the one true God instead of material, worldly goods.

But what if he’s not?

What if all of this time and effort had been invested for some raghead loser? What if the promise wasn’t real? For the first time in his desolate, violent life, he had a purpose that transcended himself, and he was now afraid he’d find out it was a fantasy.

A soft knock snapped him out of his thoughts, the sound cracking open a fight-or-flight response as great as if he’d heard gunfire.

He placed the broom deliberately in the corner, took a breath, and strode to the door. Standing outside was a