Chapter XXIII

ueer.  That was the only word Chief Clemens could come up with.  It sounded so farfetched he could not grasp it.  Perhaps because he was so utterly crooked himself that could not fathom real integrity when he saw it.

Clemens had never been this close to his own wife or children.  What he worried about more than anything was his reputation, and he had henchmen, the very best, to make sure his trail was covered.  Although he didn't know it, his only child, a daughter by the name of Tessa was lying in that same warehouse in which William now slept.

William was now at peace.  He knew the weapons would never bring any more death to the world.  Only perhaps a copy, but even if they didn't have the proper codes and understanding they could never be utilized.  Sharon, his beloved bride and Melinda, along with Ellen and Lorraine were in a fast chopper heading toward his location as slept.  They were bringing extra mommy stuff for Billy.

Chief Coker, Lane, Vince and Len were within a five minute ETA.  As soon as they lit in the parking lot, Chief Coker and Len rounded up the two guards which had been posted outside by Slayton.  They must have been very high paid because they were still on post but broke rank when the chopper showed.  Chief Coker helped Len secure the guards while Vince and Lane stormed the inside of the warehouse.  There were bodies everywhere!

After checking on the ETA of the second chopper, Chief Coker was on the phone with the local LEOS.  The Chief of Police of Monterey was incredulous and already had the order out for backup and support.  Just to be on the safe side he sent an ambulance.  He never even thought about sending a meat wagon, or as some had rather say, a coroners wagon.

Lane was amazed to see the body of Alma Zorin there, and Len was flabbergasted to see his longtime friend, Mason Cabiness.  Danny's corpse was at the bottom of the steps and still trussed up.  Len recognized Ron Phelps, then wondered why the lady he and Melinda had interviewed was close by Danny's body.

It didn't take too long to figure out who Rhonda was after seeing the tattoo on Danny.  His arm was fully exposed by his 'wife beater' T shirt and it was plain to see the pearl handled revolver and the bright red rose.  There was quite a distiction between this rose and revolver and the one on Benjamin.  The tat on Benjamin was of prison ilk.  In prison they used homemade ink, usually smoke soot mixed with hand lotion.

The deafening noise of the first chopper had awakened William and Billy.  William picked the baby up and walked over to the huge one way mirror that was typical of the Pep Boys stores, and was looking down as the men were discovering the different points of the battle field.

Vince had latched on to the satchel first thing and after looking around had set it on the work bench and opened it.  In it were the remains of the discs and the weapons.  William wanted that chore done and over with before anyone could object and possibly talk him into not destroying them.

Within a half hour, the other chopper was landing, and by that time sirens were coming from every direction.  Sharon and the ladies were jumping from the chopper before it even finished settling down and running full out toward the door which was taking a beating in the wind from the whirling blades.  The last chopper had lighted in the last available room in the parking lot and was blocking all the emergency vehicles.

Oh well, there really wasn't much of an emergency by now anyway.  Everybody that was going to die were pretty much already room temperature.  There were six bodies, but William had only fired one shot.  And that was the shot that drilled Alma Zorin.  But she had already fired six shots in her attempt to kill William, the first of which took out Mason Cabiness.

The only other question was whether William had beaten Danny while he was cuffed or not.  That one would be hard to prove . . . or disprove for that matter.  And the question would certainly come up in the deposition.  Lane had backed up away from everybody and ran through the scene in his mind.  He didn't believe for a second William was capable of beating up someone who was already not a threat.

But he was certainly capable of delivering plenty of persuasion until the threat was no more.  Lane was studying the whole scene very thoroughly and noticed some scraps of wire on the ground which had been there but a short time.  Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was wire used to place cameras.  He studied the upper corners of the warehouse and found four cameras.

He then started toward the staircase.  Glancing up from the floor stepping so as not to get into the blood, he saw a very happy William standing there grinning and holding his pride and joy, his son.

Lane had to stop and wipe a piece of dust from his eye.  No, it wasn't.  It was tears!  And now the women were just busting through the door.  It was a very happy family reunion.  All were standing around William and Sharon as they hugged and hugged Billy.  Bill was his own happy self again laughing and playing peek a boo.

After a moment Lane proceeded upstairs where he found the final body.  It was Tessa, Chief Clemens daughter.  After a few moments he easily located two more cameras.  Within minutes he had them down and packed along with the hard drive in the bottom of the sack where Billy's clothes were found.  He carried the sack down and handed it to Sharon.  "Make sure you take special care of these clothes" he said.  The look in his eye told her a whole lot more than he had told her with spoken world.

The Chief of Police of Monterey came through the door.  A swat team had preceded him and he walked in looking ever so regal in his finely pressed uniform.  After a few minutes, he was over in the corner with Chief Coker, Lane and Vince.  William stepped outside with Sharon and the ladies following, boarded the chopper and headed for Stillwell Creek Airport.  They were going home.

Finally, the peace that he and Sharon had longed for so long, settled down over them like a warm, gentle mantle of comfort.  It was time for an extended vacation.  No, not a vacation.  It was now time to retire . . .

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