Chapter 22


The hazy darkness began shaping itself into blobs of darkness that were dancing around in front of the light. It took Sally's mind a minute to realize that, while the images in front of her did not make any sense,  they were somehow real. Then, as her mind chewed on that, a frightened though struck her. She had somehow passed out! Quickly, she began to frantically search through her memories to make sense out of what happened. Had that really been Herb that she ran too? Right now that seemed more like a dream.

Sally let the name slip her lips, "Herb?"

To her surprise, the blob in front of her actually answered and in Herb's voice too! "It's going to be all right Sally. You're safe now." She then heard him say the strangest thing, "she's waking up. Go tell her I'll be ready in a minute." The voice became stern when it said, "now you steroid laced goon!"

It was only when another voice said something, that Sally could not make out past being a dancing tea cup and garden rake, that she actually realized this was not a dream. She then began to realize that neither was Herb Cashton. She really had run to him on the street and he really did… Her eyes flew wide open and the world came into focus, "what's going on!?"

He put a finger to his lip and tried to calm her down, "you're going to be safe Sally. Don't worry I got you away from that psycho, Scoggins. I already have the tickets. We're getting on the first starship off of this rock."

Sally breathed a sigh of relief, "thank god. I had thought… well I don't know what I thought."

"First though," Herb told her as he took a quick peek over his shoulder, "we have to pick up that errand I sent you on. You know the one, to J&R? You did do that didn't you?"

"Well," what the hell did that have to do with anything? Sally began to notice her surroundings now. She was laying in the back seat of a car with Herb nervously twitching over her. All she saw, past that, through the back window, were rafters and a little day light sneaking past a sheet metal roof. She met Herb's eyes. They were those gentle and loving orbs that she had come to know and trust. She nodded, "yeah. Just like you told me too."

Herb smiled genuinely and warm. Sally wanted to hug him again but, now, he did something with his hands that made a tearing noise, and then slapped a piece of duck tape over her mouth. The middle aged doctor snatched her, quite violently, out of the car and then handed her over to a couple of guys wearing suits and cowboy hats.

Then Sally got an even bigger surprise when Tasha stepped up and put a finger to Sally's cheek. Then the woman told one of the two suited goons, "Baxter, you know what to do with her."

The guy promptly and coldly said, "yes ma'am."

Tasha actually giggled as they led the young woman off. She called out to Sally, "no hard feelings Sal! It's just business."

Herb felt a little uncomfortable. He actually began pulling at his shirt as he told the dark headed girl, "you didn't have to like it so much."

Tasha developed a sour face and rolled her eyes at him, "do you have any idea how long I've wanted to pay that bitch back. It was just icing on the cake that she got to drag Nguyen in on this too."

"Oh god Tasha," Herb complained, "that was in high school for gods sake. You can't let anything go can you?"

Very serious like, Tasha told him, "you remember that Herb. I didn't tell you to go and screw that little bitch, remember that too." As she led him forward she also let him know, "just remember what happened to Roy."

Also, in a very serious way, but knowing full well that Tasha did not get his full meaning, he replied, "oh believe me. I haven't." Both of them stopped in front of the little crew that made up their business partners. They had already slipped on coveralls of some delivery company and were making ready to leave. Herb was a little concerned by the extra company they seemed to have acquired on the little errand that had delayed their arrival. He pointed to the young girl and said, "who the hell is this?"

One of the guys who was standing next to the girl was busy looking at a phone. Herb assumed it was the girls phone and that was only confirmed when the guy asked the teenager, "what's the password kid?"

The little teen glibly replied with crossed arms, "fuck you."

The man promptly pulled a pistol from his shoulder holster and stuck it, facing downwards, on the little girls head, "I'm not playing you, you little shit."

This time the girl was not so defiant as she said, "neither am I. That's the pass word."

The man typed it on the screen and seemed satisfied enough as he started reading the screen. Then a moment later he looked to the head man and said, "she's with them screw balls the Krauts have been tailing."

Shannon sneered, "their cops and they're going to kick your ass when they get here."

The guy actually laughed at that and then told his boss, "no seriously, they are on the way though." The head guy seemed a little alarmed by that even as his subordinate pointed out, "what's the problem? We can handle them. If the Krauts hadn't showed up we already would have."

"Just do what you're told," the head man snapped. He then walked up to Tasha and Herb. He smiled at them and told them, "we're taking off. All that's left is to dispose of the witnesses."

Tasha was confused, "we brought you the last witness already."

The guy by Shannon called out, "what do we do with this one?"

"Put her with the other one," the head man replied. He then took a good look at Herb and Tasha. The guy could tell that the would be fashion model just did not get it. The Doctor was a bit smarter though. The way he sweated, the nervous twitch, all told the guy what to do next. Cashton was about to say something when the head man pulled out his gun. Herb never got to beg, which was a loathsome practice to the guy who put the bullet in his head.

Then the head man turned his attention to the screaming Tasha and smiled. He hesitated a moment and then told her, "and the bad part of this is, if you hadn't stolen from our stash, I might have let you live."

"No," Tasha pleaded. "You don't understand! I had to make it look like Roy was…" When it was clear that it was not working. Tasha looked back for her own security. She was shocked to see that they were all dead and laying on the floor. The only one still living was Baxter. He was wiping a knife blade clean. He nodded to the head man. The head man nodded back.

Baxter put away his knife and pulled out a gun. He smiled and said to Tasha, "you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this. Sorry Misses K, but it's just business." He shot her between the eyes.

The head man holstered his weapon. Baxter did the same as he picked up the bag next to him and took it too the head guy. After handing it over, it was then quickly given to yet another jump suited killer. That guy told both men, "the OP just called in. They're definitely on the way. They'll be here in about twenty minutes."

The head man looked to Baxter, "what's the timer set for?"

"It's a standard charge," Baxter replied, "and you have no idea how many strings I had to pull in order to get that."

"You know what to do with it," the head man told his guy before sending him off to take care of one final bit of business. Then he squared off with Baxter. The alleged body guard only just smirked and told him, "plan on shooting me too?"

The head man broke out in a laugh and slapped the guy on the arm, "might be too much trouble."

Baxter did not find anything funny, "that's good. Cause you might need me around to clean up another one of your messes. My employers will not be very happy when I tell them about all of this."

Now the head man just winked, "we got it under control."

The door to the warehouses loading dock began to open and the place began to fill with light. A single figure walked in with the sun to his back. Baxter grumbled, "you were saying?"

The head man became a bit concered and even looked at his watch. They couldn't be anywhere near here yet!

The man at the door raised a grenade launcher to his shoulder and told everyone in the warehouse, "well I guess we don't have much left to say, do we? So lets skip that part."

He fired.