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  Rampage

  A Novel

  Roy A. Teel Jr.

  Rampage

  A Novel

  Roy A. Teel Jr.

  The Iron Eagle Series: Book Nine

  An Imprint of Narroway Publishing LLC.

  Copyright © 2016 by Roy A. Teel Jr.

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher. ®The Iron Eagle Logo is the copyright and registered trademark of Roy A. Teel Jr. and used by permission.

  Narroway Publishing LLC.

  Imprint: Narroway Press

  P.O. Box 1431

  Lake Arrowhead, California 92352

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First Edition

  ISBN: 978-0-9904748-5-2

  Teel, Roy A., 1965-

  Rampage: A Novel, The Iron Eagle Series: Book Nine /

  Roy A. Teel Jr. — 1st ed. — Lake Arrowhead, Calif. Narroway Press

  c2016. p.; cm. ISBN: 978-0-9904748-5-2 (eBook)

  1. Hard-Boiled – Fiction. 2. Police, FBI – Fiction. 3. Murder – Fiction.

  4. Serial Killers – Fiction. 5. Mystery – Fiction. 6. Suspense – Fiction.

  7. Graphic Violence – Fiction. 8. Graphic Sex – Fiction

  I. Title.

  Book Editing: Finesse Writing and Editing LLC.

  Cover and Book Design: Adan M. Garcia, FSi studio

  Author Photo: Z

  For those who choose to deal with bullies of all kinds with logic and reason sans violence.

  Also by Roy A. Teel Jr.

  Nonfiction:

  The Way, The Truth, and The Lies: How the Gospels Mislead Christians about Jesus’ True Message

  Against the Grain: The American Mega-church and its Culture of Control

  Fiction:

  The Light of Darkness: Dialogues in Death: Collected Short Stories

  And God Laughed, A Novel

  Fiction Novel Series:

  Rise of the Iron Eagle: Book One

  Evil and the Details: Book Two

  Rome Is Burning: Book Three

  Operation Red Alert: Book Four

  A Model for Murder: Book Five

  Devil’s Chair: Book Six

  Death’s Valley: Book Seven

  Cleansing: Book Eight

  The act of bullying has not changed; society has. Once limited to the schoolyard, office, or other physical location, the tactics have changed. In today’s society, with the World Wide Web and social media, the bully has a litany of manners from which to inflict the greatest harm, and the victims feel helpless to escape it.

  — Roy A. Teel Jr.

  Why…is the question asked after any mass killing. Why did it happen? In most cases, the why is never answered, only debated and conjectured, while the next… moves through the darkness to yet another unfathomable why.

  — Roy A. Teel Jr.

  Seal of The Iron EagleTM

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Dark Canyon

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  “He might want to, but we

  won’t get that fuckin’ lucky.”

  Los Angeles, California is a sprawling city, covering more than five hundred square miles and has the second largest economy in the United States, ninth in the world. Policing such an immense city and county is quite an undertaking, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim O’Brian had been doing it for nearly four decades. Today was no different.

  As he sat on top of the bleachers at Rosedo High School and pondered the upcoming November elections that would mark his retirement, the coroner’s office and his own team of CSIs, as well as federal law enforcement, processed a high school murder scene below. Jade Morgan called out to him and said, “Jim, you need to come down here. We have a note.” He took the last hit off the cigarette he was smoking and threw it over the top of the bleachers into the wash on the other side. He walked down the steps and over to Jade, who was looking at the meat thermometer in the victim’s liver.

  “So…do you have any idea when the kid was killed?” The stadium lights illuminated the football field where the body had been found, and extra lighting had been brought in since the body was hanging under the bleachers of the stadium. It was half past nine p.m., and Jade said, “He was killed in the last six hours.” A yellow tarp hung over the young victim and a second lay on the ground beneath him. Jim looked down at the tarp on the ground and said, “Disemboweled…that’s not very original.”

  “It’s a fuckin’ kid, Jim, an eighteen-year-old kid. Jesus! Show some compassion.” Jim shrugged and asked, “If that’s what you called me down here to see, I’ve already seen it. I was here before you.” Jade shook her head as she walked out from under the bleachers and onto the field. She was about to say something when she caught sight of John Swenson’s black Chevy Silverado driving in from one of the gate entrances and headed straight for them. The truck was barreling across the field, and Jade asked, “Is he gonna run us down?” Jim looked on, taking a cigarette out of his top left pocket and said, “He might want to, but we won’t get that fuckin’ lucky.”

  The Silverado came to a halt a few feet from them, and Special Agent Swenson stepped out of the truck, walked over to them, and asked, “So, what do we have?” Jade shook her head as did Jim and said, “The prom, John. Jim called you, so we can all fuckin’ dance together. Jesus Christ! What the fuck do you think we have here?” John looked around at the vans, cop cars, lights, and the yellow tarp on the ground and said, “A murder scene?” Jade kicked him in the shin, and Jim laughed. She drew back her foot and started jumping around. “What the shit, John…are you made of fuckin’ steel?” John laughed and said, “No…but my body armor is…ask Jim about the last time he punched me in the stomach.”

  Jade looked over at Jim, who flipped open his Zippo, lit his cigarette, took a hit off it, and said, “Oops…I should have warned you. Agent Swenson wears body armor under his clothes at all times. Sorry.” Jade frowned, and John asked, “So, what do we have?” Jade walked over to the bleachers and the hanging body and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag covered in blood with a white piece of paper inside and said, “It was lodged in the victim’s throat. Read it.”

  John slipped on a pair of latex gloves, took the baggie from her, and pulled out the note. He read it once to himself and then out loud, “Once it begins, NO ONE
WILL STOP IT!” The note was printed on computer paper in red ink. John put the note back in the baggie and asked, “Do we have a positive ID on the victim?” “Yeah. The kid’s name is Brian Donaldson, a senior here.” John walked over to the hanging corpse and pulled off the yellow tarp. He took out his tablet and began to process the scene.

  Jim and Jade stayed back as he worked, and when he was finished, he walked back out from under the bleachers and asked, “Did you get a jacket from the school on the kid?” Jim nodded and handed him a file folder without saying anything. John read through it and then asked, “Where’s the kid’s rap sheet?” Jim pulled out his tablet and sent it to him.

  John read over the files and said, “This kid was a bad ass. Multiple arrests for fighting, making terrorist threats, beating on his fellow students, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. This kid has had a career in the system, and he just turned eighteen.” Jim nodded and said, “Yeah. Best I can get from most people is that there aren’t a lot of tears being shed on campus over this guy’s death.” John nodded, and Jade said, “So, the guy’s a bully, and has had a few scrapes with the law. That doesn’t mean he deserved to die, especially like this.”

  John laughed and said, “He’s not a kid. He’s a thug. He pushed some kid, or kids, too far and got taken out. I agree it was a bad way to die, but hey…we’ve all seen worse. I’m more concerned with the note.” Jim nodded, and Jade said, “Well…that’s your fuckin’ job. Mine is to deal with this kid’s body, do an autopsy, and then deliver that news to the family and the media.” Jim laughed and said, “Well, if you want to deliver anything to this kid’s family, you will be doing it major long distance because they are all dead.” Jade froze for a second and then asked, “How did they die?” The look on her face told Jim and John she didn’t want to know, but she had to ask.

  Jim laughed and said, “The kid had nothing to do with his family’s death. They were killed in the fires three years ago. He was out of state at the time with friends of his family for a vacation and came home an orphan.” John looked at the hanging corpse and said, “Well, that would explain his behavior. The kid had PTSD.”

  “You’re now a fuckin’ expert on PTSD and can diagnose it on a dead body?” Jade said flippantly. “Nope…it’s here in his school file.” John looked at Jim and asked, “You going to talk to his friends?” Jim nodded and asked, “You going to look for the kids he bullied?” John nodded. Jade said, “Well…I’m just going to walk over here and see if we can cut down this tortured murdered kid and get his body to the morgue before he starts stinking up the place.” Jim laughed and said, “Too late. It smells like shit over there!” Jade stormed off as John and Jim laughed.

  Jerry Pinskey was standing under the home team’s bleachers on the other side of the field, watching all the commotion. His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and he answered. “Hey, Tim, what’s up?” Tim was with his friends, Alan Marks, Mark Rubio, and Debbie Atwater. “I’m sitting here with everyone wondering why you’re not here.”

  “The cops found Brian’s body, and I’ve been watching.” Tim put the phone on speaker and asked, “Do you think it’s a good idea to hang around the spot where you just killed someone? Have you ever heard of the killer coming back to the scene of the crime?” “Oh fuck you, Tim. No one knows it was me, and I want to see how they handle this. It’s a learning experience. Besides, you all have your own targets to hit before we start the killing.” There was silence on the other end of the line as Jerry watched a tall muscle-bound man talking to the sheriff.

  Mark chimed in and said, “We know what we are supposed to do, Jerry. You need to get your ass out of there before someone spots you and starts asking questions.” “Yeah, yeah…I’m on my way. Are you all at Tim’s house?” Tim told him yes, and Jerry asked, “Do you have today’s homework? I need to makeup for the work I missed in class.” “Yeah…I have it for you, now get out of there.” Jerry hung up the line and walked out from under the bleachers and into the dark parking lot. What he didn’t know was that someone saw him.

  John had caught the figure out of the corner of his eye and burned the image of the person into his memory. Jim saw the kid walking off as well and asked, “Are you going to go talk to him?” John shook his head. “No…not yet…I have a mental image of him, and I have a feeling we will see him again real soon.” Jim shook his head as he walked off the field to his car and said, “School killings are a big deal, John. The note, the kid gutted and hung. This is just a warning of things to come…I’ve got a pretty bad feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg as to what’s going to happen here.” John agreed as he got into his truck and headed out.

  Chapter Two

  ‘“The real Internet, the deep web.”’

  Debbie Atwater was laying on Tim’s bed, looking up at a poster on his bedroom ceiling when Jerry walked in at ten after ten. Tim was on his laptop, typing, as Debbie stared blankly at a nude poster of a Playboy centerfold. She said in a monotone voice, “Do you think that I could ever do a layout in Playboy?” Jerry was standing in the doorway and heard her say it and said, “Yes! You could do a photo layout, Deb. You’ve got the body for it, and you’re legal. You should look into it.” Tim was typing away, ignoring them. Jerry sat down on a chair and asked, “What’s up? Are you in the onion?” Tim said, “I’m in TOR now. My old man is still in Afghanistan. He is working to get me more weapons for our attack.”

  Deb sat up on the bed and asked, “What the hell is the ‘onion?’” Jerry said, “The real Internet, the deep web.” She looked confused and asked, “The Internet is the Internet, right?”

  Jerry and Tim both shook their heads, and Tim spoke without ever looking up. “The Internet that ninety-nine percent of people search only touches about one percent of what’s on the World Wide Web. The deep web is a place where you go to get real deals in real time, and no one can track your movements.” “Not even the government?” “Not even the government.” Jerry said, “It’s the super world of trade, and it is what has allowed us to build our arsenal of weapons and also to lay out our plot and manifesto.” Debbie sat up and looked at him and asked, “What was it like? I mean…what was it like killing Brian?”

  Jerry sat back. His lanky frame stretched across the chair. His eyes were deep set and dark, mostly from lack of sleep. His dark black hair and pale white skin glowed in the light of the bedroom. “Satisfying…scary but satisfying. That fucker has been taunting me for as long as I can remember. He beat me; he ran me out of two schools in the valley. I thought when I got to Rosedo I would be done with him, then he got kicked out of Cleveland High and was right back in my face again.”

  “Did you kill him outright?” “No…I dropped a barbed plumb from the top of the bleachers on the football field, and it sunk perfectly into his shoulder. I winched him up off the ground using the leverage of a couple of the bleachers with some very strong rope and then tied him off. When I got to him, he was shocked. He wasn’t dead and even cursed me and tried to take a swing at me.” Tim laughed and said, “Combative fucker. What an asshole.” Deb asked, “So what happened?” “I opened him up like a can of tuna, that’s what happened. I gutted him with my field knife and watched his guts fall to the ground then watched him die.”

  Tim stopped typing and asked, “What was that like? I mean…I know you were excited and had adrenaline running in your system, but what was it like to take his life, watch him die?” “It was a little strange at first. It was surreal as if it wasn’t me doing it. I felt like I was watching from outside myself.” Deb shook her head and said, “Well, you did it, and it’s all over the news. Now the LAPD, the Sheriff’s department, and the FBI are involved in the case.”

  “Yeah. I saw an FBI agent talking to the sheriff and the coroner. He was a big mother fucker.” Tim looked at him sternly and asked, “Did they see you?” “Fuck no, man. I was out of there after I talked to you. So what do we have in the onion
?”

  “My old man has some more equipment coming our way in the next week. We really have all the firepower that we need to do the killings, but I figure the more we have the better off we’ll be. This is not going to be like those other half-ass school shootings. This is a well-organized paramilitary attack on the assholes that torture us, and when it’s over, we will all walk away scot-fucking-free.”

  Jerry laughed and asked, “What? You don’t want to be a pussy like the others and get surrounded and put the gun in your mouth and off yourself, leaving the world with a million questions?” Tim shook his head slowly and deliberately. “No fuckin’ way, man. This is going to be as close to a military movement as I can make it. I have been planning this for three years. You guys have only been involved in the last year since we all joined ROTC at school. We have the discipline, and we have the fortitude. It will happen.”

  Jerry asked, “So, when are you going to take out Rocky Marick?” “There’s a party over at Billy Stone’s house. His family has a huge home in Reseda, and I have plans for him.” Jerry stood up and said, “Well, I’m going to crash here tonight. I hope you don’t puss out, man…I can tell you from my firsthand experience if I had not moved quickly, I would have pussed out, and that would have been the end of the plot.” Tim went back to his laptop, not giving Jerry’s words the time of day.

  Santiago’s was quiet when John pulled into the parking lot. He saw Jim’s car and walked in, knowing right where he would be. He was sitting at his corner table with a beer in one hand and a cigarette behind his right ear. Javier brought John a glass of tonic water and asked if he was hungry. “No thank you, Javier. I will have something at home with Sara.” Jim shot him a look as he took a bite out of a sandwich that he was eating.

  “Let me guess. It’s after ten, and Barbara is in bed, and you don’t want to eat alone?” “No…Barbara is not in bed. She is with your wife and her protégé, Karen, and Jade. Those fuckin’ women have a girl’s night practically every night.” John waved to Javier and asked for a BLT, no mayo, with avocado and red onion on toasted wheat bread, with cottage cheese. Javier put in the order, and Jim laughed and said, “So, you don’t want to eat alone either.” John laughed and said, “I will have a house full of drunken women, with the exception of Karen.”