Herdnan- Chapter Twenty-One
DISCLAIMER: Chapter 21 of this story does contain a rather gory scene in it. If you are the least bit squeamish, please... proceed with caution or turn back now. And now, on with the story...
Cymaenie snorted awake and rubbed his eyes looking around his bedroom. He yawned and rolled over and looked at his digital alarm clock. It read just after two in the afternoon.
He stretched and scratched his head and groggily sat up and picked up both of his cell phones. His "crime-line" had two missed calls and two voicemails.
He called this and listened for the messages.
The first was from the Don, asking him to swing by the estate when he woke up. The second was from Skreft who was asking for a ride there when he got up.
He closed this phone and dialed the other for the voice mail. He was surprised when Tundra's voice poured out of the ear piece.
"Um... hi... It's me... Um, Tundra. I hate these machines... I guess you're probably at your meeting. I'm free all day tomorrow if you wanted to hang out or something. I'm not too picky. But, give me a call tonight if you can. If not... tomorrow is just fine. Um... alright... I guess that I'll...uh... talk to you later. Later."
Cymaenie smiled at the message and closed the second phone and sighed thinking about his time with the husky the previous day.
He yawned again, and stretched out his back, hearing a few bones pop and he tossed the covers to the side and jumped at first when he saw himself enveloped in a pink thong.
He chuckled and rubbed his paw over his sac murring at the thought of it having been worn by the dog. He pushed himself to his feet and scratched his chest, and grabbed up a fur brush off the nightstand and started brushing out his fur as he headed to his dresser.
He opened the drawer and grabbed a black T-shirt with the word "Rock" on it and pulled it over his head, opened a second drawer and then donned a pair of black and gray camo shorts and pulled them over the thong. He grabbed a clean pair of socks and pulled them on, popping his foot paws into his high-top sneakers and then filled his pockets with all of his effects and phones.
He wandered into the bathroom, scrubbed his teeth, looked himself over in the mirror and wandered to the laundry room next to the garage and opened the dryer. He dug around in the heap of clothes he had washed when he got home and pulled out his thieving gear and Tundra's clothes, leaving the rest in the dryer for later.
He kicked the door shut and exited the room to the garage. He got in the Chevy and folded Tundra's clothes and stuffed his spandex gear into his empty duffle on the passenger seat and tossed this into the back.
He opened the garage door and fired up his car, and backed out of the garage, closing the door halfway down the driveway. He pulled out into the street and phoned Skreft to let him know that he was on his way.
Don Tasrattliga was coming down the stairs with a large smile across his face as Cymaenie and Skreft got out of the Chevy.
"There are my two favorite handymen!"
"Don." They both gave a small bow of respect.
"Come! Come! Have you seen the news?" The Don said bubbling over himself. Both coons shook their heads. He waved them along and they headed up the stairs and into the house. "It's all over the news! I must admit... that was some good thinking!"
They entered a large, lavish living room where a 72 inch LCD TV hung on the wall. He gestured to the couch and picked up a half smoked cigar from an ashtray and re-lit it and puffed on it sitting in a large easy chair.
"...we've got some new coverage on the north side fire. Fire officials have ruled that the fire was purely accidental, apparently caused from a short in faulty wiring. Thirty seven year old Meedim O'Bannam was the only victim to be found in the fire who had apparently been trying to flee the burning home. He stumbled down the stairs from the second floor and coroners have determined that he broke his neck in the fall. We have Kent Greene on scene... Kent, can you tell us any more on this tragic occurrence?"
"Hi. Fire officials have deemed the fire completely accidental. Which as you can see behind me there isn't much to go by."
Cymaenie and Skreft both looked at each other when they saw the house. The whole structure was nearly completely leveled, leaving only a few half-story brick walls standing.
The reporter continued. "I was talking to police and they would give no further comments on the fire, only telling Eyewitness 8 News that the fire was a tragic loss but would not go into why. Back to you in the studios."
"Thank you Kent..." the newscaster said. The TV turned off and the Don set down the remote.
"I can't thank you two enough. We can all breathe much easier now."
"It was all too easy with Meedim. Although, it was Cymaenie's great idea with the house fire and the wiring job." Skreft said.
"Maybe, but you did a number on ole Meedim."
The Don nodded, the thick smoke from his cigar encircling his head. "So, I've been curious to know, why did you start the fire?"
"He had those files hidden well in the house. I couldn't find them. They could've been buried anywhere. Since it had a certain level of urgency and I'm not one to stick around a place I break into, I ruled that it was the fastest way to obliterate evidence. Fire is a great clean up tool."
The Don nodded again. "I like your thinking. Well, my many thanks to your both for your swiftness in dealing with this issue. You've earned my greatest of thanks. I'll be sure to toss a little extra money your way for this job. And anything that you..."
The doors to the living room burst open and two of the Don's body guards rushed in helping along a younger lion with them.
The Don jumped out of his chair tossing his cigar to the ashtray. The lion was pretty beat up looking, covered in cuts and bruises and looking extremely tattered.
"Reggie! What happened!"
The two coons watched on as the Don grabbed up the lion which Cymaenie took to be his son, and hugged him, holding him at arm's length and looking him over.
"Pop... it's was an ambush of the Verilone family! I was down at the docks seeing over the deal negotiations and they suddenly came in and I was overwhelmed!"
The Don's demeanor changed dramatically and he growled. "This just won't stand! The god Dammed Verilone just won't learn will they? This insult will not go unchallenged."
Cymaenie piped up, "Tell me where..." he said.
The Don looked over at him. Skreft cracked his knuckles as they both stood up. "Tell me who..."
The Don's face softened a little. "That's alright. I won't bring you two into this mess."
"Non sense. You were talking to me about looking out after the family. You've shown me that kindness... I can return the favor. I just need you to tell me what would hurt them the most. We'll get it done."
The Don nodded and turned back to his son. "Get yourself patched up and cleaned up. Have mama make you something to eat. We'll get our retribution for this insult!"
"Yes pop." The two body guards helped the lion back out of the room and the Don rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. He kept his paws over his eyes for a few minutes, taking deep breaths.
"The Verilone family's main front is their cooking oil..." he dropped his hands and looked up. He waved his paw in small circles thinking. "You know... olive oil, vegetable oil... and so forth. Don Verilone's son oversees that operation. He's a ruthless business man with that. See to it that their operation is sabotaged. I want what was done to my son done ten fold to his son. I know he is the one that instigated this attack."
"It'll be done."
"Sorry to say that this is going to be a day job as he leaves at nine or ten... somewhere around there. I want them to know that this won't be tolerated. I want them to know that they are not the top dog. Give them something to think about, if you catch my drift."
"Clear as crystal. Don't worry Don Tasrattliga. We'll use all of our skills and take care of this for you."
He nodded. "Just be sure to be fully aware of your surroundings. Take as many men with you as you need if you need them."
Cymaenie shook his head. "Nothing against your men but I'm going to turn down that offer. You should keep the protection here in the event things turn for the worst. We'll take care of everything."
"Who is it?" the voice called through the door.
"Open the god damn door!" Cymaenie shouted at the metal door in the back alley. The sky above him and Skreft was turning a deep red as the sun was setting for the day.
"Oh... it's you." Said the voice. The door opened and Kiryan stood on the other side holding a one handed battle axe.
"Kiryan, this is Skreft... and in reverse." Cymaenie said introducing the other coon.
"Pleasure." Kiryan said setting his axe down and looking Cymaenie over in his thieving effects and spandex shorts. "Another job? What did you bring?"
"Nothing. We're going on a job. I need your help."
"My help? Aw shit. What did you get yourself into Cy?"
"Nothing. Hurry up and get ready."
"Cy... you know that I..."
"You need some action. I could think of no better gunman to bring along."
"I'm a weapons DEALER Cy... you know that."
"Yes, but before that, you were in the league of Skreft here. Now, enough jabber, get your shit together."
"It's been years since..."
"You could use some fresh air outside of your cave. Come on!"
Kiryan sighed. "Fine. But only because you're my friend."
He quickly scurried around his back room grabbing up various weapons, he grabbed an M-16, plenty of extra magazines, his single handed axe, two .45s, two MP5s, a couple of grenades and some C4.
"And here I thought that you were ready for war..." Skreft mused while Kiryan pulled off his shirt and pulled on an urban camouflage shirt matching his pants he already had on. He looked around his room and grabbed up a minigun.
"For fuck's sake Kiryan... it's not a world war!" Cymaenie said when he huffed the gun up in his paws.
The tiger looked him over and the mini gun and set it back down. "Alright. I'm as ready as I'll ever be I guess. Let's go."
They all exited the building and Skreft climbed up into the Ramcharger while Cymaenie folded his seat forward. Kiryan pulled out a heavy key ring and locked the large row of locks on his back door and climbed into the Dodge to the back seat.
Cymaenie flopped the seat back and got in the truck, started the big block and they roared off.
"There it is!" Skreft pointed out the windshield at a large chainlink fence encircling a massive brick factory with a sign on the highest roof reading "Verilone Cooking Oils".
Cymaenie nodded and looked over the darkening building. The employee parking was almost completely deserted. He killed the headlights and rolled up to the main gate. It required a key card to get through. He stopped the truck and jumped out. He pulled a screw driver from one of his many pouches and quickly pulled the keypad face from the box. He roughly pulled a few wires, and shorted the box out. The chainlink gate started to open.
He climbed back in the truck and pulled through, as it fully opened and began closing behind them again. They rolled through the dark parking lot and Cymaenie brought the truck to a dark corner of the building near some low bushes and backed into the little space that was there and shut of the engine.
They all carefully got out of the truck and looked over the looming brick building. Cymaenie scoped the structure over and spotted a forgotten side service door that had been totally painted over in the last building painting.
He pulled out his screw driver again and scraped the paint off of the dead bolt revealing the key hole. He replaced the tool and pulled out his lock pick set and quickly set to work on it. The primitive lock didn't take him more than thirty seconds, and he pulled the handle, but the door didn't budge. He replaced his lock pick set and pulled out his swiss army knife and pulled the knife.
He jammed it into the painted crack on the door and quickly sawed through the old paint around the seams. Once this was done, he tried the door again and it opened up.
They passed through inside to the main factory floor behind some large shelving units piled with cardboard boxes and scoped the floor out. There wasn't a soul anywhere in the smoothly running refining machines.
They all walked around the shelves and peeked around the corners of the alcove they were in and could still see no one. Skreft tapped Cymaenie's shoulder and pointed up towards the ceiling on the far end of the room where lofted offices were and a figure was on the phone, walking back and forth talking on it.
Cymaenie nodded and they made their way through the whirring machines surrounding them towards the office stairs. Upon reaching them, they quickly scaled them and were soon at a metal walk way wrapping around the office room.
Cymaenie cautiously approached the door and took a quick peek through the glass and saw only the Verilone son laughing on his phone. He signaled to his two comrades and pulled his sword. Skreft flicked the safety off of his shotgun and Kiryan gripped the handle on his axe, and pulled one of his .45s.
Cymaenie twisted the knob and pushed against the door. It didn't budge, so he kicked it in, sending it flying open with a flying bit of the door jamb.
They ran into the room and Skreft quickly smacked down the switch on the office phone ending the call of the rather surprised Verilone.
Cymaenie pushed the door shut and looked around the warehouse to see if anyone had heard it. It was unlikely from the noise of the factory floor.
"Who the fuck are you?" the surprised man asked.
Skreft knocked him in the face with the butt of the shotgun sending him to the floor with a thud. Kiryan set his axe head edge to the neck of the mobster son to keep him from moving while Skreft started beating his body with the shot gun butt.
Cymaenie walked over to see Skreft pummeling the hell out of the mobster's body. He walked around to his head and dug his claws into the side of his face and drug them quickly across, leaving four parallel gouges of blood in their wake.
Kiryan lifted the axe head and kicked across his bleeding face with his boot, knocking a few teeth out.
Skreft pulled a knife, swinging the shot gun back to his back and grabbing up one of the mobster's legs and slicing through his Achilles, dropping the leg.
The man screamed in pain as Kiryan kicked across his face again. Skreft wiped the blade off on the man's pants and cleared his throat, making Cymaenie and Kiryan desist in their attacks.
"If you ever come anywhere near another family member of ANY family, we'll be back, and we'll fucking kill you."
The three turned, leaving the Verilone son on the floor a bloody beaten wreck and quickly descended the stairs.
"Kir... you got the C4 still?"
"Never leave home without it."
"Set charges on the refiners... we're gonna make sure that they're hurting."
Kiryan nodded. "Sure thing Cy. You two cover me..." he said pulling off his pack. They ran to the first, and the tiger quickly started placing the charges on the first whirring, grinding machine.
Cymaenie and Skreft kept a vigilant watch, and cringed when one of the bodyguards rounded the corner into view. He jumped and pulled a gun, Cymaenie drew his Desert Eagle and fired a shot first, sending a loud crack echoing through the factory.
"Some ninja thieving weapon you got there." Skreft mused as another body guard ran around. He pulled the trigger sending the buckshot into the new attacker.
Kiryan kept his gun handy and moved to a second refiner and quickly started setting the charge while the two coons now kept their heads on a swivel, back to back.
"Well, I wasn't really planning on this happening, but hey... shit happens right?" Skreft chuckled shoving live shells into the shot gun. He raised his gun when another body guard ran around the corner. He fired off another shell into him, sprawling him out on the floor. "And they're not too damn bright either."
Kiryan picked up his gun after setting the charge and they ran to another machine and the tiger quickly set to work setting his last bit of explosives.
Bullets ricocheted off of the machinery they were next to causing Skreft and Cymaenie to drop and look around wildly for who was shooting. Skreft pointed to one of the lofted walkways and Cymaenie fired off a round at him, pegging him in the leg.
He aimed and fired again, knocking the fourth guard flat on his back on the walkway.
"Finished... lets get the fuck out of here." Kiryan exclaimed grabbing up his gun. They quickly ran through the factory floor, and out the door they entered.
Wasting no time at all, they were back in the Ramcharger and Cymaenie floored the pedal, sending dirt and grass flying as the rear wheels spun. They headed out through the parking lot heading for the gate.
"The gate's closed Cy!" Kiryan pointed out. The raccoon applied the brakes and stopped the truck just before them. He pressed the front bumper against the chainlink gate, and pressed on the gas. The gate bent under the torque of the truck, and gave way soon thereafter.
As Cymaenie turned onto the street, Kiryan pulled a detonator and pressed a button. There was a bright flash of light from the factory windows, and part of the exterior wall blew out in a fireball, sending debris flying.
"Holy shit... remind me never to piss you off." Skreft said watching the explosion.
Cymaenie chuckled and drifted the truck around a corner and out of sight of the building making a clean getaway for them.