The Madam Of Suburbia Chapter 34

Chapter 34 - A Giant Lead

It's been one month since Maddie's safe house was burnt to the ground, but we've haven't let Madam slide with that shit. Every night, we're actually doing shit to fuck up her business. It seems when you piss off a CIA agent, they don't wait for the red tape to clear. They gather a small militia, and start clearing house. I don't know why I agreed to help The DEA first since all they did was read paperwork, and try to betray each other. In other words, I'm fucking happy something is being done instead of sitting around with our thumbs up our asses.

I think about how we've been interrupting Madam's supply lines as I sit in the dark corner of a small windowless room as I stare at Riese in the middle of the room under a single bulb. He's chained down to a steel chair that's bolted to the concrete floor. As I watch him like a stalking lion watches a zebra, all I can think about is Donnie's final seconds on this planet. I debate doing the same to this giant piece of shit, but I want this bastard to suffer. Besides, being Blue's right hand man, we need to extract as much information as we can from this asshole before we end his fucking life.

"I can smell your fear, Ronnie," Riese says as I remind in the dark. "Still remembering what I did to Donnie?"

"Don't worry, I promise you it your fucking death won't be as quick, but just as painful."

"I fear no man," he retorts. "Besides, you won't break me."

I stay quiet as I think about how we managed to capture this asshole. I always thought trying to bring down Riese would be a battle considering the fucker is over seven feet tall, but all it took was to be at the right place at the right time. He was pulled over by a local cop because of a busted headlight as we were following him. A few flash of badges later, some chloroform, and a moving truck was all it took for the asshole to end up back here. I so wanted to put a slug into his head the instant he was in the truck, but that will destroy valuable intel about the real internal workings of Madam's hierarchy. So, I will let him live for now.

I hear the door open. I look up and see Maddie standing there holder a hammer. She looks at me, and motions to leave. I nod my head and walk towards the door.

"Sending a woman to do a man's job?" says Riese.

"No. I'm sending him out so he won't be a witness for what I'm about to do," retorts Maddie.

I close the door, and head back to my bunk. As much as I want to watch Maddie work over Riese, I know why she didn't want me there. The methods she will most likely use will violate so many laws that if no one else is there, we all can deny seeing anything. I can only smile as I hear that giant piece of shit howl in pain over the next few hours. When the pain stops, I begin to wonder if she killed him. I get my answer as I hear Riese beg for her to stop, and a few minutes later, the door slams open and shut.

Maddie walks into the room where our bunks are at, and sits down on the bunk across me from.

"Is he dead?"

"No, but a car battery to his balls did make his beg to end his life," she cackles.

"Seriously? You kept shocking his junk? That's fucking twisted," I wince as I cover my own junk with my hand.

"No matter how big a man is their balls are their weakest spot."

"So, get any information out of him?" I ask I try to stop thinking about being electrocuted through my nuts.

"He gave up an address for a supposed stash house, but to divulge that kind of information so quickly makes me think it's a trap."

"I agree. I would die before giving that up," I reply. I begin to wonder if his capture was a trap. It was almost too easy to get him back here. We did strip search him before moving him out of the city, and broke his phone. I can't help shake the feeling that Madam's troops will be here shortly to launch an assault on this place. This entire thing smells like a used fucking diaper, but then again, working in the underworld isn't a field of roses and fucking unicorns. It's a life where it's either be the shit, or end up face down in shit.

"So, up for some recon tonight?" she asks.

"As long as I can bring Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson?"

"No, but we are bringing Mr. Lapua," she replies.

"Reach out and touch someone at 800 yards?" I chuckle.

"If it's a trap, I want to be far enough back we can get the fuck out of there before shit happens."

"What time are we leaving?"

"Now. The vehicle is ready."

I get off my bunk, toss on some clothes, and follow her down the hallway. In the garage, there's a red minivan by the main garage door. I glance inside and see two plastic cases, and a duffel bag in the rear of the van. Maddie hops into the driver's seat as I crawl into the passenger's seat. As we leave the garage, all I can think is this better not be a setup. I glance back at the cases and realize if it is, we at least are armed. As we pull onto the county road that heads to Curva, I pray that we won't be greeted by a small army like the last time I entered Curva.

The Madam Of Suburbia Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – Truth And Tunnels

Once again, I find myself watching the sun rise with a million fucking questions that have no answer. The one thing that is driving my mind into constant fucking overdrive is why didn't Blue and Madam kill me when they had the chance. The fact I'm sitting here under a covered porch in the backwoods still breathing makes absolutely no fucking sense. I watched Madam kill Donnie for pure fucking entertainment, and she let me escape. I know she won't get her hands dirty, but Blue is the confusing part. Blue is the type that would probably shoot a relative for taking the last roll at Christmas dinner.

As I'm about to light another smoke, I feel something warm tap against my shoulder, causing me to almost jump out of my chair, only for it to break as I try to regain my composure. I land on the deck hard, and end up almost putting my foot through the window. I look up, and see Maddie there in a flannel robe holding two cups of coffee.

"Seems you already had enough coffee," states Maddie while trying to hand me a mug.

"Son of a bitch!" I say as I stand up. "Don't sneak up on me."

"You know, they say smoking is bad for you," she retorts as she sits down on the porch swing at the rear of the porch. "Also, you owe me a new chair."

"Good morning to you as well," I say as I take the mug, and sit down in another chair closer to the swing.

"Have another smoke, so we can go in. There's a lot of information we need to cover," she says.

"What kind of information?"

"The truth," she remarks. "You've been handed more bullshit than a fertilizer factory."

"What do you mean by bullshit?"

"Again, have another smoke, and meet me inside," she replies as she heads in.

As the door closes, I light up another cigarette, and puff on it as I find myself even more confused. I thought what I've been told was the fucking truth, but it seems I've been handed lies. As I puff away at my cig, I begin to wonder if even Amber has been completely fucking honest with me since we made our peace. I don't like this feeling of being a fucking pawn on some demented chess board between Madam and Amber. If I'm nothing more than a worthless soul for the DEA to fuck with, I rather have Riese end my life. I honestly want this bullshit to end one fucking way or another.

I finish my cigarette, and head back in. I walk into the dining room, and see four file boxes stacked to the table, and a file in front of a chair across from Maddie. I sit down, and glance at the file while noticing Amber's name on it.

"Let's get the first few questions out of the way. Yes, that's Amber's personal file, and no, her and her dad aren't involved with Madam or any cartel," Maddie states. "If she is, it's Area-51 type classification. Speaking of which, they're both in a very secure location."

"What about you?" I ask as I push the file back. I don't want to learn everything about Amber through her damn work file. If I truly feel the way I do about her, going to do it the old-fashioned way.

Maddie tosses me another file and says, "Enjoy."

I look down, and see she handed me her personal file, and her full banking records. The fact she is handing me all that to read proves she's not here to jerk me around. I toss them back and reply, "Since you haven't killed me yet, I'm going to trust you. So, when does the truth start?"

"Sure you want to go down this rabbit hole?"

"Yes."

For the rest of the day, she begins to lay out everything about Madam, The DEA, Blue, and everyone else that might be involved. I sit there taking notes on a pad because a lot of this I never knew. The one truth that I was filled in on is there is a link to Madam and that phone company. They still don't know the exact link, but their bookkeeping is fishy at times. The one thing I didn't know is Madam has a lot of possible ties to DC, which explains why every time I turn around, some government asshole is trying to fucking kill me.

The one thing Maddie can't figure out is why am I such an important piece in this fucked up puzzle. I was literally in the lion's den, but they let me escape. I don't know much about the internal workings because I was only told what I was needed to know. I was a simple weed dealer until that first encounter with Madam, but for someone reason, I keep escaping death like some higher power wants me alive. We spend the rest of the night trying to figure out the reason why I'm still breathing, but come up empty handed.

Around midnight, we stop going over everything, and decide it's time to head to bed. As I being heading towards my room, we hear a vehicle stop in front of the truck. Before we can do anything else, Maddie grabs my shoulder, and yanks me to the floor as a hail of bullets burst through the walls.

"Follow me," she yells over the sound of machine guns.

We crawl back into the dining room as she takes out a lighter, and lights the file boxes on fire.  I watch as she taps part of the floor causing it to slide revealing a secret compartment below the floor. We both dive into the secret compartment below the floor. The area barely fits both of us, but the steel walls should keep us safe. I reach up, and tap the door close as we end up almost snuggling because of how cramp it is in here.

"Tap the wall above your head," she whispers.

I knock the wall above me as the machine guns are still tearing up the house as the smoke slowly drifting into the room. The wall above me slides open, revealing a tunnel. She crawls over me to enter the tunnel. Once there's room for me, I crawl into the tunnel as the door closes behind me. We crawl a good 20 minutes in the dark tunnel until we hit another door. She taps it, and we crawl into a larger room with two bunks, and shelves with food and water. Also, I notice a landline phone on the shelves.

"We're safe here. We'll go back in the morning," she states.

"Hopefully they're gone by then," I reply. "If not, we have no way to defend ourselves."

She walks over to the back wall, and taps it. I watch in amazement as a small arsenal appears as the wall slides open. I whistle as there's enough weapons in the wall to start a city wide battle. I count at least six AK-47's, a machine gun, ten shotguns, and a ton of ammo. 

"Get some rest. I'm going to call some friends in the morning so we can take the fight back to Madam," she says. "No one shoots up my house, and gets away with it."

"That works for me," I reply smiling as I lay down on one of the bunks. It's about damn time a government agent is ready to fucking take the battle to Madam. I'm tired of being shot at. This time. I'll be the one shooting at her. Either way, the streets of Curva are about to run red, and I'm more excited than a fucking kid in a candy store. Even if I died once we attack, it's beat waiting around doing jack-shit. Tomorrow, revenge will finally begin.

The Madam Of Suburbia Chapter 32

Chapter 32 – Karmic Money

I wake up to the sound of a heated argument between Blue and I fucking swear sounds like Damian. I open my eyes and find myself hanging inside The Vault over one of the steel tables I watch Butch cut open the college students like they were cows. I had a feeling returning back to Curva would be a bad fucking idea, and it seems it was a deadly mistake. However, my attention returns back to the debate when my name is mentioned. I try to see who's arguing, but I'm bound so tightly I can't even turn my neck, so I focus on listening.

"I told you I would deliver Ronnie to you. You didn't fucking need to send the goons to get him," Damian shouts.

"I wanted him here much sooner, and also wanted that bitch Maddie out of the picture," I hear Blue reply.

"I would have fucking handle it!"

"We are pressed for time."

"Boys, no need to fight," I hear Madam say. "The main thing is he's here in our grasps."

"Yes, Madam," they reply in almost perfect unison.

"Well, you know what to do, Damian. Blue and I have to attend to another urgent matter."

My entire body begins to sweat as I realize how fucked I am. Madam and Blue are in the same room, and I'm hanging here like a slab of beef ready for the slaughter.  I always knew I was tempting Karna coming back to Curva, and that fickle bitch is finally going to win. I also start to wonder what happened to Maddie. She was in the SUV when the attack started, but haven't seen her since. I am relieved she isn't hanging next to me, but part of me fears the worse. I quit worrying about Maddie as I see Damian enter the vault holding a pistol.

"You backstabbing piece of shit!" I shout at him.

"I had no choice," he says. "You wouldn't understand."

"No choice? What was your fucking price?"

"My family," he says.

"A big stack of Benjamins is not a fucking family."

"Fuck you, Ronnie," he says as he clicks off the safety from the pistol. "It was either you or my daughter."

"What about Maddie?" I ask. "Was she part of the deal?"

He walks over to me, and decks me in the jaw hard. I laugh as I begin to taste blood. He decks me again, and I spit my blood all over his face.

"Enjoy the fucking blood money, bastard," I state before spitting out more blood.

He lifts the pistol, and puts the barrel against my forehead. Before he can do anything else, a shotgun goes off as I watch as his right side of his skull explodes, sending brain, bone, and blood all over the floor and wall as his lifeless body slumps to the floor. I watch as Maddie walks in, holding the smoking shotgun.

She aims the barrel over my head before ordering, "Hold still."

She fires one more time, and I land on the table with a thud. She pulls out a knife, and cuts the rope that is wrapped around my head and hands. The instant I'm free, she barks, "Move!"

We run out of the warehouse, and hop into a blue sedan, the type a family would drive. I almost ask if this car will have enough horsepower to get out of here. When she steps on the gas, I stop wondering as I'm pulled back into the seat as it hits speed very quickly. I stay quiet as she drives us over the bridge out of the city, and back onto the mainland. As we drive down a road lined by marsh, I begin to wonder where we're going, but the look she is giving me tells me she's in no mood to discuss anything.

As the sun begins to set, we stop in front of a log cabin surrounded by mossy oaks that conceal the cabin from the road. She turns off the engine and says, "We'll be safe here. We'll talk in the morning."

We get out, and I help her cover the car in a camo tarp. We enter the cabin, and she quickly makes sure all the blinds are closed, the only light is the full moon slowly trickling in between the blinds.

She hands me a pair of night vision googles, and states, "Your room is the door to the left of you. Bathroom is the second door on the left wall in your room. Don't turn on any lights, so use the googles until the sun rises. Again, we'll talk after some rest. "

I nod my head as she disappears in another room to the right. I walk into my room, lay the googles on the nightstand next to the bed, and lay down. I lie there glad I'm still breathing, but my mind is a tempest of unanswered questions I wanted to ask tonight, but she wasn't in the mood to talk. Realizing that nothing will be discussed until the sun rise, I cover myself in an attempt to sleep. The last thing that passes through my head as I finally pass out is wondering if Amber is okay.