Fiction
Return To Shandy Bay Part 9
A Sunny Alexander-Johnson and Henry James Series By P.G. & Sharon Barnett
My name is Sunny Alexander-Johnson, and I’m Henry James, and we’re writers for Dark Sides of the Truth magazine.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
Except for the three of us handcuffed to our folding chairs, everyone standing in the barn sprang into motion simultaneously. Screaming in pain, cradling his bloody and severely mangled right hand, Enrique began to stumble toward the barn door.
The two bodyguards moved to flank him but were stopped in their tracks when our sunglass-wearing kidnapper, dropped one of them with a powerful blow to the back of the man’s neck.
Enrique, oblivious to everything going on around him, trying to staunch the blood flowing from his eviscerated hand, continued to move toward the front.
The second guard twisted around and tried to raise his rifle, but our kidnapper grasped the barrel of the gun, pulling it down and to his left. When the bodyguard lurched toward him, the burly man slammed his fist into the bodyguard’s face. The unsuspecting man’s nose flattened from the punch, mists of blood instantly spewing from his shattered nose, and he crumpled at the burly man’s feet.
The barn doors flew open, and we saw Charlie Alvarez and several officers bursting into the barn, weapons drawn, advancing on Enrique, and our kidnapper. As Enrique whirled around and rushed past us in the direction of the back of the barn, our kidnapper dropped to his knees and locked his hands behind his head.
As officers began cuffing our kidnapper and the bodyguards, Charlie raised a handheld walkie talkie to his lips and pressed the side button.
“Got a runner. Enrique Escobar heading out the back, move in. Repeat. Move in.”
Charlie turned toward us, grinning as he walked over and began unlocking our cuffs.
“Strange. Imagine meeting you three twice in one day.”
“We’re damn glad you did, Charlie. How’d you know we were here?”
“Well, the same anonymous caller that clued us in on the drugs coming in tonight, made mention you three were going to be here and Escobar as well.”
“Sounds like whoever it was, did more than make mention. They had to have known exactly the time our kidnapper was going to bring us here and the time Escobar was going to be here.”
“Yeah, Henry, you’re right. We were supposed to show up and wait for the signal.”
“Oh, dear God James. The signal was that dude’s gun blowing up in Escobar’s hands.
Three officers appeared from the back of the barn. We all expected to see them dragging a severely wounded Escobar along with them. We expected to see the three officers rushing him toward the front of the barn to get him to a hospital.
What we saw wasn’t anywhere close.
When the three police officers stopped alongside Charlie, one of them said, “Escobar’s dead. He was lying on the ground just inside the doorway. Looks like he fell and broke his neck.”
“What the hell did he fall on?”
“That’s what’s really weird about it, detective. As far as we can tell, even if Escobar did fall, there was nothing to hit. On one side was a wall, on the other, a door to a tack room or something.”
“Are you sure he broke his neck?”
“Uh, well, none of us are doctors detective, but let’s just say his neck is twisted around well enough the man could have seen exactly where he was going if he decided to walk backward.”
“Alright, thanks. Rope it off, get photos of Escobar’s body, and the rest of the area around him. Although Escobar’s a scumbag, we need to treat this as an active crime scene. Get the coroner out here. We’ll let the autopsy report tell us what happened.”
“Copy that detective.”
Charlie turned away and gazed at us, “you three need a lift? We’re going to impound Escobar and your mystery kidnapper’s cars.”
“Hang on, Charlie. Tell your men to hold up a second.”
“What for Henry?”
“I want to see the face of the dude who kidnapped us. That slimeball stuffed us in the trunk and brought us here, and I don’t think he was working for Escobar.”
“Which means he works for the Fixer.”
“Exactly, Sunny.”
“I’ll say one thing. That dude packs a powerful punch. Did you see how he took those bodyguards out?”
“Say what, Roberto?”
“Henry, I’ve been in the ring with a lot of hard-hitting dudes, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen someone with that kind of power.”
“I have.”
“When Sunny?”
“Henry, remember Rosa Bianchi? Remember what Donnie did? Even shot, he had enough power to take her down with a single punch.”
“Donnie Sullivan? Our Donnie Sullivan princess? Can’t be.”
“Charlie? Can you give us a minute with the dude?”
“Suit yourself. Johnathan, bring that guy over here.”
Although the police officer had a firm grasp on our kidnapper’s arm, the man responded to the officer’s administrations docilely, slowly crossing the distance from the front of the barn to where we stood. He seemed compliant, staring at the ground his hands cuffed behind him, the long strands of hair partially covering a face still obscured with the bill of his ball cap and sunglasses.
“Dude, look at us. Remember us? The three people you stuffed in the trunk of your car? My name is Henry James, and this is Sunny Alexander-Johnson. That’s Roberto De La Cruz. We work for Dark Sides of the Truth magazine, and we want to know who hired you to kill us.”
The man slowly raised his head, “nobody hired me to kill you. I was hired to keep you from getting killed.”
“Henry?”
“Yeah, Sunny. Sounds like somebody we know. Officer? take the man’s hat and glasses off.”
When the officer complied and lifted the cap, the kidnapper’s long locks of hair went with it, revealing the man’s shortened hair cut of brown hair. As the glasses were removed, the man stared at us and smiled.
“Hey, you guys.”
“Donnie Sullivan. Oh my God Henry, I would have never believed it.”
“You people know this man?”
“Yeah, Charlie. Meet Donnie Sullivan. He works with my wife at Alexander Investments. This man is practically a family member.”
“Well then Henry, I take it, you folks aren’t going to be pressing any charges then.”
“No, but Donnie, you have some explaining to do big time.”
We stood by as Charlie nodded at the officer and instructed him to remove Donnie’s handcuffs.
“Okay, you four go back to the motel, and I’ll be over to take your statements in an hour or two.”
“Be glad to Charlie, but I don’t even know where the hell we are much less where the motel is.”
“Don’t worry about it Mr. Henry, I’ll get us there. I kidnapped you three remember?”
“Please, Donnie. You don’t have to remind us.”
“Sorry, Ms. Sunny.”
Read On — Return To Shandy Bay Conclusion
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