| General Fiction posted March 30, 2025 | Chapters: |
...47 48 -49- 50 
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The rescue
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 49
by Jim Wile
The author has placed a warning on this post for violence.
The author has placed a warning on this post for language.
| Background Three intrepid women team up to conquer medical challenges. |
Recap of Chapter 48: Leaving Fran gagged and handcuffed to a pole in the basement, Woody goes upstairs to attend to Johnny, who’s having an asthma attack. Johnny isn’t there, so Woody bursts in on Billy in the first-floor bedroom about to have his way with Dana, who is handcuffed to a bed. A furious Woody orders him back to watch the computer after learning Johnny had been moved to an upstairs bedroom. Woody also gags Dana.
Back in the car, Marie can no longer stand to wait, gets out, and makes her own way to the rear of the house. She enters through the unlocked back door and hears noises from the basement. She finds Fran handcuffed there and removes the gag. Fran tells her she must “dispatch” Billy at the computer in the living room by sneaking up behind him and clobbering him with a baseball bat. Then she must find his handcuff key and unlock Fran. The chapter ends as Marie mounts the stairs, bat in hand.
Chapter 49
Billy came out of the bathroom, resumed his seat at the desk, and stared at the computer screen. Not a thing was happening outside—just six screens showing absolutely zilch. He had been about to get his rocks off in there with that old broad. Yeah, she wasn’t a sweet, young thing, but not bad-looking and quite a good body for someone her age. And that damn, crying kid was spoiling the mood. Had to be moved out of there. Then that big asshole Woody came in and fucked everything up.
Who the hell did he think he was? Billy had been working for Israel a hell of a lot longer than Woody. He should be giving the orders, not Woody. Jesus!
When Marie reached the top of the stairs, she quietly opened the door, already slightly ajar. She glanced left, into the kitchen. Nothing. Then she looked right, and there he was, his back facing her, staring at the computer screen on the desk.
Her heart began pounding, and her throat felt parched. She tried working up a little saliva, but none came. As dry as her mouth was, she was sweating. Though nervous, she was full of determination, and she would not let her nerves get the better of her. Ever so slowly and quietly, she moved down the hall toward her target just ten paces away, her grip beginning to tighten on the bat.
She crept forward silently. The man wasn’t moving a muscle. Could he be dozing? But then he straightened up, laced his fingers together on the back of his head, and slumped back in his chair with his feet stretched out before him.
No, no, no! It would be impossible to strike him in the head in that position; his arms would deflect the bat. Now she’d have to wait for him to straighten back up. She was six paces away and holding perfectly still.
The minutes ticked by, and she began to lose her nerve. The moment was slipping away and her energy was ebbing. She wondered if she could even muster up the strength now to do what she must. Something had better change fast.
At that moment, Billy straightened up and resumed his former position, looking straight ahead at the monitor.
Her adrenaline surged, and Marie’s heart suddenly sped up and began to pound in her chest. Steeling herself for the attack, she took a deep breath as she slowly inched forward, Billy unaware of her presence. When she got within three steps of him, her hands began tightening on the handle as she raised the bat into position. Then she was upon him, and mustering all her strength, she swung as hard as she could. Crack! A direct hit on his head. A little high perhaps, but still in a good enough place that he slumped in his chair, out cold.
Marie had lost her balance with the swing and sat down hard on the floor. Trembling violently, she unthinkingly cried out, “Oh God, maybe I killed him!” She sat there unmoving but still trembling with the adrenaline coursing through her.
As soon as she had cried out, she heard a series of muffled cries from the first-floor bedroom. This stirred her from her paralysis, and she rifled through the unconscious man’s pockets and found a handcuff key. She also saw a gun on the desk that she grabbed. She quickly returned to the basement, unlocked Fran, and handed her the key and gun.
“Marie, you did it!” Secretly, Fran had had massive doubts, but instead, she said, “I knew you could. Great job! Now, let’s go secure that guy and get Dana. Do you know where she is?”
“I heard some muffled shouts coming from a room up there.”
The two women hurried up the stairs, and Fran could hear the muffled shouts coming from the first-floor bedroom now. They found Dana, gagged, cuffed to the bed, and with her pants partway down. Fran removed the gag and uncuffed her.
“Oh, thank God.”
“No, thank Marie. She’s the one who saved the day. She knocked that guy out at the computer, got his handcuff key, and unlocked me down in the basement.”
Dana looked at her incredulously, but Marie was suddenly looking very pale and wobbly. It appeared she was going into shock. The events of the past few minutes overwhelmed her, and Fran and Dana laid her down on the bed and found a blanket to cover her.
“You say she knocked him out? Little violin player Marie here overpowered that guy?”
“Grandmama Bear was fired up,” said Fran. “But we’ve got to get moving now. I’ve got to lock that guy up and gag him. Why don’t you look for our guns while I try to find something solid to cuff him to? Then we’ve got to find Johnny. Marie, you stay here, and we’ll come back for you. You did great.”
They quickly left the room, and Fran began to look around the first floor. Dana found their guns in a drawer of the desk and retrieved them.
Fran couldn’t find anything solid enough to cuff Billy to that he couldn’t escape from, so she decided to carry him downstairs to the basement, where she herself had been cuffed to the support pole. She was a strong woman who lifted weights and was able to carry him down over her shoulder in a fireman’s hold. She lay him on the floor with his back against the pole and attached the cuffs she had left there to each of his wrists behind him. She also applied the gag to his mouth before running back upstairs to join Dana.
Dana handed Fran her gun and said, “I think Woody is with the baby in a bedroom upstairs. I heard the little asshole tell Woody he removed him from the cage because he was making too much noise and put him upstairs in a back bedroom. Fran, the baby’s breathing was very ragged, and I heard him retching some.”
“We’ve got to hurry then. That could be dangerous if he aspirates any vomit. Let’s go.”
They went quickly but quietly up the stairs at the front of the house. When they reached the top, they could see a half-opened door at the end of the hall and could hear Woody quietly talking to Johnny, whose breathing seemed extremely labored now. It was a horrible sound that indicated he was nearing the point of asphyxiation. Evidently, what Woody had done with the inhaler hadn’t helped much, and the situation was dire.
They hurried stealthily down the hall, and Fran burst through the door with gun pointed at Woody, who was seated in a rocking chair rocking the baby. Dana entered the room right behind her with gun also pointing at Woody.
Woody was so startled that he flinched and startled Johnny at the same time. Woody stood suddenly with the baby in front of him as a shield and with one hand around his neck.
“Put him down, Woody,” said Fran.
“Put your guns away or I’ll break his neck.”
“You wouldn’t do that, Woody. You said you like the little guy. You’re not a baby killer. Just put him down. It’s all over now.”
“The hell it is. I swear to you, I’ll break his little neck if you don’t put those guns down. I mean it!”
“Woody, you’re not getting out of this. You’ve got two guns trained on you. There’s no way you’re getting away with it. Put him down. I know you don’t want to hurt him.”
Johnny was retching now as the stress took its toll. Woody was visibly shaken, uncertain of what to do. He kept glancing over at his own gun resting on a dresser next to the rocking chair. He seemed to be at the breaking point.
“Put him down, and step away from that dresser.”
“Do it, Woody,” added Dana.
Woody hesitated for a long moment, the indecision marking his features. In a sudden move, he dropped the baby to the floor and went for his gun on the dresser. Fran fired six times into his side and back, and he went down hard. Johnny was fighting for breath now, and right then, Marie rushed into the room and picked him up, hugging him to her body. Dana grabbed Woody’s gun, which he’d knocked to the floor trying to grab it, while Fran bent down to listen to him. He was still conscious.
“Sorry… sorry now. Shouldn’a got involved… in this. Di’nt think… would come to this…. I’m…” and what he was going to add wasn’t clear as the life passed from him.
Between his sobs and wheezes, Johnny managed to croak out, “Gamma,” as she hugged his trembling little body against her.
“Shh, shh, you’re safe now, Johnny. Grandma’s here. It’s all over now, and you’ll be seeing Momma and Daddy soon. Shh. You’re safe now.”
(2 more chapters to go)
 Recognized |
Fran Pekarsky: One of three narrators of the story. She is an FBI agent from the North Carolina field office in Charlotte.
Dana Padgett: One of three narrators of the story. She is a confidential informant (CI) for Fran and works in Big Pharma.
Brian Kendrick: Fran's younger brother. He is the inventor of Dipraxa and Glyptophan.
Julia Kendrick: Brian's wife. She is a world-class violinist who now plays in a bluegrass band.
Johnny Kendrick: Brian and Julia's baby boy and Marie's grandson.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother. She is the third narrator of the story.
Cedric (aka Cecil): The doorman at the apartment house where Marie lives.
Lou D'Onofrio: Fran's boss at the FBI.
Leonard Merra: A vice president at the Big Pharma company where Dana works. He is in charge of stopping Glyptophan.
Rudy Spangler: A vice president at Gideon Pharmaceutical. He is in charge of stopping Glyptophan.
Peter Israel: The security chief at Gideon Pharmaceutical. He is in cahoots with Rudy Spangler to stop Glyptophan.
Woody Sandbulte: One of three bodyguards hired by the Kendricks for protection.
Nick Burwell: One of three bodyguards hired by the Kendricks for protection.
Harvey Briggs: One of three bodyguards hired by the Kendricks for protection.
Billy: One of the kidnappers.
Picture courtesy of Poe Assistant
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