Tipping Point (28 page)

“How fucking stupid are you that you would keep a weapon like that in your pants? Probably for the best if you shot your dick off and couldn’t reproduce, though. This world does not need your genetic sludge contaminating the gene pool. Put the gun on the ground. Thank you,” she said, once he’d complied.

“Now
all
of you, very slowly back down the driveway about five feet. If you try to run I’ll shoot you in the back for your cowardice. You want a new gun, cowboy?” She could see Neil smiling in her peripheral vision.

“Sure do. It’s a nice piece. SIG Sauer 1911 Stainless Super Target, if I’m not mistaken. That’s a pretty expensive gun here, though I prefer a .40 calibre to a forty-five. Forty-fives are better for show than results in my view, which is consistent with the mentality. What the hell is a piece of shit like you doing with a seventeen-hundred-dollar handgun? I’m guessing it wasn’t a legitimate purchase.”

The guy didn’t respond, though his eyes looked longingly at his former piece. Obviously he was going to miss the status symbol that made him the envy of his friends.

“Now, who here is right-handed?” They looked confused by Mac’s question, but four of them raised their hands confirming her original assessment.

“Okay, the rest of you put down your weapons and back away another five feet.” When they had, they were all pretty much at the bottom of the driveway.

“Do you happen to have some duct tape in the house?” Mac purposely left off Kelly’s name, even though she doubted there would be consequences to these jackasses learning it, but she liked to err on the side of caution. Kelly said she did, and ran in the house to get it.

Neil finished checking over the SIG, made sure a round was chambered, and moved over to her side.

“What do you have in mind?” He’d spoken quietly enough that his question couldn’t be overheard.

“Dominant hands, finger tendons.”

“Messy, but effective. Neighbourhood will be a little safer, and they’ll be lucky to survive what’s coming, but you won’t have to live with actually killing them. Nice. Who gets the joy?”

“I figured you, since they might overpower me if I get close, and they’re pissed that a woman has them covered. You’re better equipped to handle them. If you don’t want to cut them, that’s fine. Just tape them up together, and I’ll do that.”

“Oh no. You’ve had all the fun so far. I’d like to play my own tune.” Mackenzie grinned wickedly.

“You have no idea how much I love you right now,” she whispered.

“That’s a new one. You love me for being mean as a snake. Then again, I feel the same about you. You’re pretty fucking hot, standing there holding a gun on a bunch of fuckwits.”

“You’ll have to bang me later. I’m a little busy right now.” Neil just laughed. She had no doubt that he had every intention of doing so.

Kelly came back with the tape.

“Sorry. I couldn’t find it at first with everything I was throwing around to pack the car.”

“Alright. Do you know how to handle a gun?”

“No. I hate them, so I’ve never had one. Especially with the ferrets getting into things.”

“Okay. Cowboy, can you make the gun safe for her to hold while you do what you have to do? Probably best if she doesn’t have to watch any of this anyway.” Kelly looked alarmed.

“What are you going to do to them?”

“We’re just going to make it difficult for them to prey on anyone else. At least for a while. I don’t know how permanent the damage will be, though. If you’re squeamish about blood, you might not want to watch.” Kelly was fine with the explanation, but turned away as Neil strapped two of the men back to back, explaining that he wasn’t going to kill them. They were just making sure they couldn’t follow. It was true as far as it went, and made them compliant.

He strapped a second pair together, and then the odd one out was taped to a pair with his back to their shoulders on the one side. They couldn’t do much to move their hands by this point, but once he cut into the fingers of one of them, and the screaming started, the other four began putting up a fight even though they didn’t fully understand what was happening.

“Why don’t you get the rest of whatever you were getting, Kelly? People are bound to start noticing something is going on and come out to see what it is.” Kelly nodded her head and ran in, the empty gun still in her hand.

The cars were loaded by the time people found the courage to come out of their homes. They didn’t look upset, though. Smug satisfaction was the only way she could describe the expression on one woman’s face, as she watched Neil make the last cut.

“They try to rob you, too?” The woman was asking Mac.

“Sure did. And there was some nonsense about rape, too.”

“Should cut off his fucking dick, then, but maybe this will be enough to teach them a lesson. Doubt it, but we’ll keep an eye on them and see how it goes. Cops can’t do shit right now, but at least we won’t have to deal with them anymore.”

Mac nodded at her and backed toward the BMW, not anxious to continue the conversation. The last thing she needed was to have to explain what they were doing there, and where they were going. They didn’t have room in the cars for this many people.

Neil used the faucet on the side of Kelly’s garage to wash off his hands, though he still had a little bit of blood on his clothes. Then he did the same with his knife, and dried it on a clean area of his shirt. Once he sheathed it, he walked back to the car and reclaimed the SIG from Kelly who had retrieved it from the house. They all ignored the whimpering of the men who were just now trying to move down the alley.

Mac had always known she had violence in her. She used it for what she considered good, so she wasn’t alarmed by it, but it allowed her to recognize the same traits in Neil. She wasn’t alarmed by his violence either, since he had the same moral compass she did. Maybe that had something to do with the tattoo on his back that she had yet to ask him about.

Kelly got into her car, and Mac and Neil got ready to follow her to the clinic. Thankfully the people still shoving at the taped-together gangsta wannabes seemed to have little interest in going anywhere. They probably figured everything would be fine in a few days. A whole bunch of Pollyannas.

As they slowly pulled through the crowd, Mac mentally wished them the best and hoped they would make it despite their naïveté. Then she heard some of the ferrets chattering in the carriers and she smiled. At least these guys would.

They made it to the clinic in thirty minutes. When they pulled in to park, the situation started looking bleak. Kelly pointed out Annette’s car, but it was the broken glass entry window that Mac and Neil were looking at.

“Sure hope that fancy new gun of yours is loaded,” Mac said quietly. Kelly had just seen the broken window, and was looking at them with terror in her eyes. Mac put her finger to her lips, hoping Kelly understood. If she panicked, they might lose any advantage they had.

Mac was no commando, and she was pretty sure Neil didn’t have any military experience either, but between them she figured they could deal with whatever had happened inside. Especially if they had surprise on their side.

“It is fancy isn’t it? Not as fancy a piece as you, but worth a spin.” Mac rolled her eyes.

“Alright cowboy, I don’t understand hand signals, so we need to have a plan for when we go in there. Hopefully Kelly knows the layout well enough to describe it to us.”

Mac motioned Kelly over. Thankfully she seemed completely rational and level-headed, despite the situation, but then Kelly had been dealing with ferret emergencies for a number of years. Mac assumed she’d learned to distance herself from a situation.

“Tell me what to expect in there, Kelly.”

“I don’t know! Anything could have happened,” she whispered.

“No, I mean the floor plan. Do you remember the way things are set up in there? Like which rooms are where?” Kelly nodded.

“I’ve been here a zillion times. Not just for the ferrets, but for Annette, too.” Her voice wavered.

“It’s okay, Kelly. We’re going to go in there and see if we can find her, alright? But we need as much information as you can give us. If there’s someone still in there, other than your girlfriend, we want to have the upper hand. It’s the only way we can make this work.” Kelly nodded again and began describing the interior of the clinic.

Mac closed her eyes during the recitation. She needed to visualize it as Kelly spoke, or she’d never remember what she’d said. By the time Kelly finished, Mac had a pretty good idea what she wanted to do.

“I’m guessing you don’t have a key to the back door.”

“I do, actually. I shouldn’t, but Annette gave me one anyway. I even have the alarm code, though I don’t guess that matters now.”

“If it were still working, it would have gone off when the place was broken into the first time, so just give me the key.” Once Kelly handed it to her, Mac turned to Neil.

“You take the front, but give me a thirty-second head start to get back there and unlock the door. We’ll keep going until we hit trouble or meet up. Hopefully we’ll be quiet enough about it that we surprise anyone inside.”

Neil cupped the back of her head and kissed her. She could see he didn’t want her doing this, any more than she wanted him going in there, but it needed to be done.

“Alright, honey. Please, please be careful. I don’t want you using this as an excuse to miss our wedding on Monday.” Kelly looked up in surprise at that.

“Don’t worry, cowboy. I’ll be there. Let’s just hope the damn office is still open by then. Let’s get this over with and get home so we can get these babies settled in.

“Kelly, why don’t you watch over the fursnakes? Try to conceal yourself somewhat, but also keep an eye out for anyone coming this way. Honk the horn if anyone shows up. Take this, and protect yourself in whatever way you have to, but I’m going to want it back. I’ve got a fondness for it.” Mac handed Kelly her survival knife, still in the sheath. Kelly pulled it out a little bit and stared at the blade.

“Chances are you’ll be fine. We don’t intend to be in there long. We’ll let you know what’s happening in a few minutes.”

Once Mac got to the back and unlocked the door, she took several cleansing breaths before quietly pulling it open. Only the emergency backup lights illuminated the hallway. She was in a section with exam rooms, and all four doors were open. She sidled up to each door frame, and aimed her Glock into the rooms as she checked them.

There was nothing in any of the small rooms, but she heard a clattering sound coming from the larger room that housed the cages. She couldn’t see any animals being held there, so at least they wouldn’t alert anyone to her presence.

Mac leaned a little bit further around the corner. She could just see Neil on the opposite side, indicating with his head the part of the room that was obscured by the wall she hid behind. She leaned out slowly, saw what Neil was looking at, and then nodded at him. He counted off to three on his fingers, and then jerked his head. They both moved into the room.

The man standing by the broken drug cabinet was swaying slightly, struggling with a plastic-wrapped syringe. Mac assumed the woman lying in the corner was Kelly’s girlfriend, and her face was badly bruised. It didn’t look like she was conscious, though she appeared to be breathing. Mac figured that was for the best for the time being.

“Hey fuckface!” Mac yelled it at the obviously impaired man. He jumped and then spun around, dropping the syringe. He smirked at her and pulled a knife from the pocket of his jeans.

“What are you gonna do with that little toy?” He sneered as he spoke, apparently so stoned he didn’t realize the Glock 22 was real. When he kept moving forward, she fired a round into his shoulder just as Neil hit him in the leg. He screamed and went down. Both the forty-calibre and the SIG had done their jobs nicely on their first real-world test.

“I’m guessing you cleared the other rooms and didn’t find anyone,” Mac said to Neal.

“Yeah, it was just this asshole. Getting stoned on animal tranquilizers, obviously. Looks like Ketamine in the vial on the floor, which is a dissociative drug. Too bad. He probably isn’t as upset about being shot as he deserves to be. Let’s get him tied up, just in case.”

Mac found a roll of gauze and tied his ankles while Neil yanked his arms back and wrapped more gauze around his wrists. She grinned at the yowl of pain that came from the bound man.

“The one person in this room who’s skilled at medical stuff will most likely be unable or unwilling to help this schmuck. That’s probably ironic, but I’ve never been very good at defining irony. Can you go get Kelly while I see what I can do for Annette?” Neil nodded agreeably.

“It doesn’t look like we hit any major arteries. He’ll just have to do whatever he can for himself after we’re gone, but we should probably get those slugs back. Think they went through him? Or will we have to dig into his wounds to get them?” Mac smiled grimly at Neil and bent down to collect her shell casing from the floor. She grabbed Neil’s and stuffed them both in her pocket.

“I kinda hope he’s still got them in him. Might be fun to torture him for a while after what he did to her.” She holstered the Glock and stepped over to the woman sprawled on the floor.

“Annette? Is that you? You’re safe now, okay? We’re going to get you cleaned up, and maybe try to treat some of your injuries so you don’t feel so bad.” The woman blinked up at her.

“You’re Annette, right?” When Mac received a short nod in response, she breathed a sigh of relief. The woman was coming back to herself and her surroundings. It was a good thing, because they needed to get whatever they were taking from the clinic and get moving.

“Alright Annette. You’re going to be safe now. We’ve taken care of the man who was hurting you. He’s not dead or anything, but he’s no longer a danger to you. We need to get you up off the floor, though. Can you help me with that?”

Mac held out her hand, blocking the bleeding man from Annette’s vision as much as she could with the angle of her body as she helped her to her feet. Mac kept a firm arm around Annette’s shoulders and turned her away from her attacker.