Badass

Badass - A Hannah Todd Story

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This work is copyrighted by the author. All characters involved in sexual activity are eighteen years of age or older at the time of portrayal.

This is the continuing adventures of Hannah Todd. I would strongly recommend you stop reading this and go back and read at least some of "The Bridge" which provides the back story for most of the characters in this story. I know... it's 30 chapters and lots and lots of pages, but I and a small handful of folks think it's pretty good. I have tried to provide some of the history of the characters so that you can feel like you are getting the full story just by reading Badass. So, proceed as you wish. And, bad or good, your feedback is always welcome. And thank you for your continued support.

Badass - Part Fifteen

I received the text at five in the morning that Goldheimer and Peintre arrived at the safe house and were being held in a single room with two beds. Each was gifted a heavy ankle chain attached to a fifty-pound iron ball to keep them from roaming.

I would normally be upset at receiving a text at that hour, but I was delighted at the news and texted Romy back that I wanted her and Ali at my place for breakfast at nine. I would get a full report at that time. It would also give them the opportunity to join the rest of the crew in the Greenhouse for the Monday meeting I'd scheduled for eleven.

I was so excited by the news that I couldn't get back to sleep, so I checked on the babies. The Diva was awake, cooing and playing with her feet. Little Duane was fast asleep and looking like the angel he is not.

So, I took the Diva and gave her a quick change and hit her with a few ounces from the bottle. It put her right back to sleep, and I adjourned to my office after a quick chat with Danny in The Closet.

We had printed out the information about the people on the 'Targets' list, so I did a quick review to see who is local and who may have already been hit. Some were our clients, but plenty were not. I was starting to see them as prospective clients who I would have RFS inquire upon for new business. After swallowing up two other agencies, we had plenty of agents to fill those spots. By now everyone knew we were the best, and getting that business would be easy pickins.

At six, I awoke Duane and dragged him into the shower so we could clean up together. He offered no resistance. But there was no time for funny business this morning. Too much to do.

He would be staying home for the meeting with the crew today, then down to the Navy Yard for a long day. Herman and Hoagie would be hitting houses in South Jersey over the next two days just to see if they were active. They were both now living in South Philly, so it would be easy access over the bridges. Everyone else would be working the counties in PA. Rhee and her people had Philly to deal with.

But the first order of business would be Ali and Romy, who did a bang-up job of bringing our Canadian refugees home to roost. Roost indeed. In our safe house.

We were joined at breakfast, after the kids were carted off to school, by Lizzie, Alec and Anthony. Avi and Les had gone home yesterday and would focus, along with Peggy, on Recovery and Acquisitions which were jumping.

"You should be very satisfied with Miss Spanner's team, Miss Todd," Romy said. "They got us into the estate without tripping any alarms and without killing anyone. They are true artists. Getting back across the border was a little tricky, but we got through without getting stopped. Where we went across, you wouldn't know there was even a border.

"And you never fired a shot?" Lizzie asked.

"I didn't say that. The team has stun guns and darts and good old-fashioned hand to hand combat. These folks are as good as we are. And that's good."

"That's as good as it gets." I said.

"When those mercs up in Canada wake up, there will be hell to pay." Ali said.

Romy doubled down. "Yeah. But when we notify the Mounties, they will find nothing. Those mercs will hit the highway when they find out their boss is gone. We didn't tie them up too tightly. Just enough to allow our escape."

"You can be sure they will rob the place blind before they go. But I'm sure my friend, Rhee, will find a way to make sure they are caught holding the goods."

Everyone at the table got a good laugh out of that. And I had a phone call to make. It would be an hour until the meeting, so I excused myself and went to my office, where I called Ms. Spanner to report in.

"Call Rhee Spanner."

"Hannah. So? How did my team do, satisfactory?"

"No. Outstanding. Just the kind of work I expect from your people. And the cat isinthe bag, so to speak."

"As usual, your people were great to work with. We couldn't have accomplished what we did without the intel they provided."

"I'll let them know you spoke highly of them. They will be very pleased. Have you made any inroads in Philly yet?"

"Patience, my dear. Any special instructions I should impart to my team?"

"You know the drill; identify the location, see if it's occupied, drop a wasp drone, observe and video, retrieve the drone and get outta Dodge."

"Just what I told my people. I'll have something, but not everything, sometime tonight. Let's check in then after you put the kids to sleep."

"Perfect. I'll talk to you then."

"Did you tell Duane yet?"

"Tell Duane?"

"About Holly."

"Yep. Last night. He took it well."

"I'll bet he did. Of course, he asked you to marry him."

"Yep. And I accepted, but not formally."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, not until the divorce is finalized. It wouldn't be fair to Holly to make the engagement known until the divorce is final."

"How is she taking it?

"Like a pig in shit. She spent the weekend fucking her boyfriend to celebrate."

"And your joint enterprise?"

"Nothing will change there. Unless something drastic happens, we will always be business partners."

"You're one in a million, Hannah Todd."

"Nope. That's one in a billion."

"In that case you won't faint when you get my bill."

"Haven't so far and we've been down so many roads together."

"And we have far to go. Talk to you tonight."

*CLICK*

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On Monday, at eleven on the dot, I walked into the Greenhouse, and everyone except Avi was there. He was down at the Navy Yard trying to keep Les McKelly from falling over from mental exhaustion. I looked around and Alec, Anthony, Lizzie, Ali, Romy, Juicy, Dom, Caroline, Ronnie, Danny, Archer, Ninja, Hoagie, Herman and Duane were all ready for action. Even Rapper Malone showed up for duty. Herb was running the Closet, but videoed in.

Duane spoke first to put definition to our meeting. "Alright, troops, we're on mission now, and this one is going to be multi-pronged. We'll be doing everything, everywhere, all at once. So pay attention."

Steely-eyed, he looked at everyone there, and he had their attention. "First, this mission comes from one that just the SEALs on our team conducted this past week. During that mission, we retrieved a number of drives that gave us the intel to move on Peacock's organization in a big way. The first part of the mission is to observe but not contact enemy operatives who we believe are holding an untold number of young women and girls to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Our intel shows that this has been ongoing for years."

"I'm already in," said Hoagie. A murmur of agreement washed over the crew.

"Good to hear. We have locations of expected safe houses where these females are being kept. Some may have already been burned, but we believe there are still some that are active. Our first job is to locate these places, confirm activity and report back by late Wednesday. We will be breaking up into groups of two, visiting these locations, dropping wasp drones inside, observing inside activity and reporting it back to the team on Wednesday night. That gives us two and a half days to cover the locations in Southeastern Pennsylvania and some of South Jersey. Lizzie will be handing out sheets with the locations to the teams. In addition each pair will take several wasp drones. Once the drones have done their job, I want to extract them and bring them home with you. Lizzie."

"I spent all night printing out these sheets and assigning teams, so you fuckers better pay attention. Every pair gets a sheet that will give you the location of houses we think house enslaved girls we anticipate rescuing. Like Duane said, for now, we get in, fly the drones around and get out. Once you place the drones, you will be able to control them from a distance, so you won't be in anyone's face. In the event one is found and captured, blow that shit up. You know how that works. Any wasp drone not returned better be burned or there will be hell to pay. Herbert will be monitoring everything from the Closet. Hannah and I will be in and out of the videoconference room and will be on the comm-link we will set up for this operation. Is that clear? Any questions?"

"Yeah," Archer said. "Where's Avi? This sounds like his kind of operation."

"He is downtown trying to keep Les McKelly from imploding," I said. "He'll be back with us when we go to ops."

"What does that even mean?" Danny, my ex-cop, said.

"Come on, Dan," I said. "You know what it means. Part two is where we go in and save the fuckin' day. We'll take out the hostage takers and free the girls."

"Hoorah!" rang out from the crew. They know their jobs, and this is their favorite part.

Lizzie jumped in again and took over. "Alright, Herman and Hoagie, you have South Jersey."

And so it went until every team was assigned, and they went right to work.

-------------------------------------------------

After everyone left to fulfill their assignments, Lizzie and I took off with my usual convoy to the safe house to visit my new guests from Canada. With me, I brought cold sandwiches to use as motivators during my questioning of the two women.

I had given my guards at the safe house instructions to leave Raven in their room overnight to bring the stress level up. In nothing but their underwear, in a cold, air-conditioned room, chained at the ankle with fifty-pound weights they spent a sleepless night. That bird squawked all night, really putting them on edge.

They hadn't been bathed, or even cleaned up when we arrived, and you could smell it. Mixed with the smell of that bird that I had removed upon our arrival and placed back in Peacock's room. Their makeup was a mess, as they had both been crying. They were attractive women, but not looking their best right now.

Greta Goldheimer was shocked to see me when I entered the room with Lizzie. Her jaw dropped and tears flooded her eyes.

"Hannah Todd, this is your doing?"

"That's right, Greta. It's been me all along."

"And Deacon?"

"As you can tell, we've got him too. I'll bet you just love that bird. Lute Steep, Greta."

"That bird is torturous. Your tactics are inhumane. And I thought you were such a fine upstanding woman."

"There's a cure for that torture around here, Greta. It's called cooperation. Cooperate with me and the bird stays with Peacock. Don't cooperate and it's another fun night of Lute Steep. And maybe tonight I'll just let him out of his cage too."

"If you have Peacock, what could you possibly want with me?"

"And what could you possibly want from me?" Francois Peintre asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but I believe you'll tell me some things I want to know."

"I have nothing to say because I know nothing." Peintre said. "I simply hosted my friend for a few days while she got her affairs in order down here in the States. If that's even where we are."

"Oh, you're in the States alright. And firmly in my grasp. As is the rest of your leadership."

"Why would we tell you anything, Miss Todd? Now that we know who you are, you're going to kill us, anyway."

Here we go again. I hate to be repetitious, but...

"There are many ways to die, Greta. My people know the art of making it happen slowly and painfully."

"As I'm becoming aware."

"Oh, the parrot? There will be lots of that bird. But there doesn't have to be. That gets to be your call."

"My better judgment tells me to keep my mouth shut."

"Yeah, Greta, but what does your tummy tell you? Hungry yet?"

"I certainly could use a shower. But a meal would be very nice about now. I haven't eaten since..."

"Since I don't care, Greta. But I brought avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwiches for you if you could tell us where they are keeping the girls here in Southeastern Pennsylvania. We'll find out anyway, but it would save us a lot of trouble. And you wouldn't smell so bad. And you do."

"Humph."

"Don't get all huffy with me, Greta. I have others to visit today, but I'll be back. I only have so many ALT sandwiches to go around, and if you don't want to go to bed on an empty stomach tonight, you may reconsider your position. Not that Raven will let you get much sleep."

"You are a cruel woman, Hannah Todd. What have I ever done to you except give you and your friends great deals on works of art?"

"Your people have come after my house twice, and just your contribution to the enslavement of young girls is enough to draw my anger. It brings out my inner bitch like nothing else."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Lying won't help you, Greta. It will only make things worse. Think about it. I'll be back."

So, I went to see Deacon Peacock, whose parrot had been returned to his room, making him a happy camper. And a little more amenable to my questioning.

"So, Deacon, it looks like we have a full house."

"Beats two pair."

"Ah, so you're a poker player. What do you bet that I don't have a royal flush that can beat anything you are holding?"

"I already know you have Goldheimer. Raven told me."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he can smell ripe pussy a mile away. And if you have at least four of a kind, that means you took Frankie too."

"Yup. And he told you this?"

"Raven, where are the girls?"

"Pussy. Pussy. I smell pussy."

"Remind me to strangle that bird."

"Miss Todd, I object!"

"You're in no position to object, Deacon. Tell me, are you hungry yet?"

"You know I am. You've kept me right on the edge since I've been here."

"Tell me what will happen to the girls you've got stored away after you've been taken down. Where do they go and what do you do with them?"

"I don't even know. That's Gacey's department. He'll notify one house and the rest will notify each other. Kind of like whispering down the lane."

"Excuse me, Deacon. I've got calls to make. Lizzie, get this man an ALT sandwich. And something for the damned bird."

"Yes, boss."

I went out to the kitchen and called Linnie. She was tracking Peacock's operators who were in jail, one of whom was Tom Gacey. At my direction, she had surreptitiously arranged for a North Jersey firm to represent Peacock's people.

"Well, Hannah, the good news is that they are all still in jail, including Gacey. But the bad news is that, because Peacock's place was blown up, they are all being released on recognizance due to lack of evidence to hold them. Any chance of conviction was in documents that could have been found in what is now nothing more than rubble."

"Do we have a release date? I really want Gacey, and I want him now."

"Hannah, please! Any connection between you and what happened up there is suicide. Please don't..."

"Linnie. All I want to know is when and where he is being released. I'll handle the rest from there."

"Let me call you back. I have to make a phone call."

While I awaited Linnie's callback, I called Mario. He was my guy in Paramus, who was a private eye and our North Jersey connection. He wasn't part of my squad or Rhee's, but we subcontracted to him on an as-needed basis. He was, however, fully vetted by Rhee.

"Mario, Hannah Todd."

"Yes, Miss Todd. How may I help you?"

"Some of Peacock's people will be released sometime soon, and there is one guy I want. His name is Tom Gacey, and he is very important to me. He will not come willingly, so you should be prepared for that. He is currently residing in the county jail in Paramus. As soon as I know when he'll be let out, I will let you know."

"I'll be ready when you call. Thanks for the work."

"Always good to have you on the team. I'll be in touch."

*CLICK*

Almost as quickly as I hung up with Mario, Linnie rang in.

"Hannah. We're looking at Tuesday for release. Gacey and four others. Do you..."

"I know everything else I need to know."

"Know what? This conversation never happened."

"What conversation? Love you, Linnie."

"Love you back, Hannah."

*CLICK*

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Anthony and Alec were working the assignment to find the locations in Delawre County, when I pulled them off assignment on Tuesday and sent them up to North Jersey to meet with Mario and take possession of Tom Gacey. We should have him just in time to confirm what my guys and gals had found out about the active locations.

They had already visited two locations and found one to be active. The wasp drone they used revealed that there were half a dozen mercs holding an equal number of girls in the basement of a house outside of the city of Chester.

The other house was outside of Media and did not show any signs of life. They were located close to Dieter Rose's domicile, which we raided weeks ago, and probably closed up shop and hit the road when they heard about the raid.

By the time the pair made it to Paramus and met with Mario, Gacey was well in hand. Mario had told Mr. Gacey that his attorney had sent him to fetch the man from jail, but before he had a chance to question it, Mario handed him a beer that had been laced with Rohypnol. Gacey chugged the beer and before long he was out like a light.

When Anthony and Alec met with Mario, Gacey was out, and they threw him in the trunk for the long ride back to the safe house. As soon as they had him and were on the road, Alec phoned me.

"Queen Bee, we've got the package and heading for home."

"I hope you didn't beat him up too badly."

"Nah. He's sleeping off a roofie. He never knew what hit him. Probably won't awaken until we get to Philly. Should have him in the safe house by dinnertime."

"Hang around when you get there and give me a call. I want to stop by and start prodding this guy. He could be an important source for us. He's the kind of guy who knows where the bodies are buried."

"We'll be there, but we want to get out tonight if we can. We have two more locations to check out, and we'd like to do it under cover of darkness."

"You do you. I never question my SEALs."

"No, ma'am, you're the best."

"I'll see you a little later, Alec."

*CLICK*

Lizzie and I had a late lunch, around two, and we discussed the calls we had received from the field. So far nine houses had been inspected in the counties, and at least five of them had some action. Herbert was riding the Closet and feeding the drone videos to us in the videoconference room in my office.

There was a common theme where the first floor was the command center where the mercs hung out, the basements-where there were basements-held the girls, and the second floor was where they took girls to be abused and sexually assaulted, further angering Lizzie and I and giving us a sense of urgency.

Badass Ch. 15

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