Original Work Barry The Fairy.

Barry has a greater intelligence level than I have covered so far, and I didn’t want everyone to think him an uncouth one dimensional character. Yes, he is a sociopath.

 

Do it, I can read it while I eat supper.

 

But only to those that violate his sense of morals.

 

There is a lot of difference between violence as a part of the storyline and using it to enhance the situation and just using it for shock value. It is often more important to imply it than describe it. Many people are capable of imagining things when they read the implications and suggestions that would get you banned in a moment. Many of the best authors set the scene and let the reader fill in the details.

I think you did very well in the ambush in the first part of the story. Sucked you into the story and didn't turn you off. The details leading up to the snatching of the dealer both set the scene and made it more believable. Barry is careful , cunning, and not superman. Maybe crazy, but not a fool.

I for one am looking forward to more and think the implications of the torture by describing the instruments was more effective than pages of details of the torture and as an added bonus, it keeps you from being banned. While it is often a ego thing to shock the reader, there are limits imposed by the monitors and the readers, and if you don't respect those limits, you won't have any readers.

 

Thanks!
A few minutes later with only a gallon of water having been used Moon Bat was singing like a bird. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and Barry let him run his head until he finally slowed to a stop. Barry was recording the “interview” and knew this was a hazardous practice, but not having a great memory, decided that he didn’t have much choice and would burn it after listening to it a few times.
Moon Bat gave him a surprisingly good overall briefing on the operation, and Barry had him fill in the gaps where possible. It took two plus hours for Barry to get all he could from the questioning, and was surprised to find that Moon Bat was actually the supplier that sold drugs to the official’s kid that had overdosed the innocent girl at the party. I guess it all comes full circle, thought Barry.

In a low and threatening voice, Barry asked; Are you sure that’s all there is? I’ve got the feeling that you’re holding out on me boy.

Moon Bat looked horrified while shouting No Sir! No Sir! I’ve told you everything I know! I ain’t held nothing back!!! Please believe me, I ain’t gonna lie to you I promise!

Barry studied him for a moment and just when Moon Bat thought something bad was going to happen, he smiled, stroked his head and said Everything is gonna be alright, don’t worry about a thing. Barry picked up the bag of drugs and took some in his gloved hand, then turned to Moon Bat saying There is no telling how many lives you’ve helped ruin or end. There is little to no justice in this world, but I’m going to serve you some justice right here and now. As he moved closer to Moon Bat the drug peddler had a look of horror on his face and began screaming and swearing at Barry, alternating between threats and begging he fought against his restraints thrashing and twisting with all his strength. Barry calmly waited until his had worn himself down then grabbed his left nipple and gave it a hard twist. Moon Bat opened his mouth to scream and Barry deftly crammed the drugs into his mouth then forced it closed. MB’s eyes bugged out as he realized what was happening, and he tried to scream. It did him no good, and the concentrated drugs acted swiftly sending him into spasms before a total system shut down. Barry quickly peeled off the triple layered gloves and dropped them on Moon Bats body. Standing there Barry almost had a twinge of conscience, but then he remembered the broken hearted parents of the high school girl, and the sickness he’d felt when he’d first heard of the incident, then he felt satisfaction.

“Welcome to Hell you SOB.” Muttered Barry. “You got off light here, but the Hereafter will not be good to you.”

Barry removed the monocular from his pocket and scanned thru all the windows in the old house. Seeing nothing, he returned to the living room and untied Moon Bat and rolled him to the floor then rolled the cart to the door an poured all the water out of the containers onto the ground over twenty yards away. Pushing everything back inside, he scanned the area once more, and finding nothing, he began to pour out the gasoline/Diesel fuel mixture throughout the old house. Then checking for company once again, he put the fuel can in the truck started it and moved it beside the house and left the motor running. One final check revealed no one around and no aircraft in the sky, so he lit the paper twist he’d prepared, tossed it through a window then entered his truck, drove thru then secured the gate and continued on down the dirt road. He reached the paved road, turned onto it and drove the speed limit toward town where he found a car wash where he thoroughly cleaned the inside and outside of his truck. He’d use bleach and hydrogen peroxide later on but this would do for now.

Phase One Complete.

 

I'm a history buff and one of my areas of interest is the Knights Templar, so I'm an expert in medieval torture methods and most of the more modern ones as well. For the record, I have a healthy appetite and sleep soundly at night.

 

LOL!
In a former life one of my military jobs was to capture Army officers for others to question. One would be quite surprised at the foul comments that are delivered by these gentlemen when apprehended. Colonels were especially adept at swearing and threats. Can’t tell you how many times my military career was over because I dared to lay hands on their persons. They did so destest those helocopter rides. }:^)

 

Have you ever heard of Little Archie, he rode with Bloody Bill Anderson and William Quantrill, during the Civil War. He favored a knife, and no Yankee could keep a secret from Little Archie. You're going to talk; you might as well do it while you're still in one piece.

 

Never heard of Little Archie. I guess I need to do more history studies.
Jim

 

Barry's busted - the explosive force of gasoline vapors is...impressive...a half gallon in an open ditch can rattle windows hundreds of feet away.

Wouldn't have made it to the truck before the boom.

Otherwise - get those scum cleaned out!!!!

 

In his defense, it was a diesel/gas mixture. 10% gas to 90% diesel would ensure that it caught, but should have given him enough time to clear out.

As a teenager I was helping my uncle one weekend. He had cut down a big cottonwood tree, and had started burning it. Saturday morning, per his instructions, I put a 50/50 mixture of gas/diesel in a two gallon can and walked over to where the fire had been burning the day before. I sloshed a bunch out where there were no live flames or embers, but on the third slosh, some of "my" gas fumes had apparently meandered about 10-15 feet over to where some embers remained from the previous day's burning. There was a KA-WHOOSH and the next thing I knew I was standing about six feet behind where I had been. The can was on the ground, and the wooden handle was burning, along with where I had splashed the mixture. I had one little singe mark on my T-shirt collar, and about a 1" x 0.5" first degree burn next to it.where I figured a finger of the fumes had been when it lit up. Otherwise, I was unharmed. One thing I know, is that I have a very fast guardian angel!

 

Barry returned to his regular routine of running three miles in the morning, and finishing up with an Indian club workout. He then loaded up his .22LR rifle and pistol and took five careful shots with each weapon then wiped down the firearms and put them away. He then made a half pot of coffee, prepared and ate breakfast. Then, taking up a pair binoculars Barry moved to the center of the room, and being careful not to silhouette himself began to scan everything that could be seen of his property from inside the house. Barry scanned from near to far with the glasses, then picked another spot and began the process again, taking nearly a half hour to complete the process. Satisfied that no one was currently watching his house, he then went over to the coat rack and removed his gunbelt that contained his M1911a1 Colt, strapped it on and walked out the door.

Barry liked to do a property check to see if unwanted/uninvited visitors had been about. On occasion, he had lost a few small items to some unidentified thief. Sooner or later, he would catch or discover the culprit and deal with him or them. Right now, he didn’t need any prying eyes observing his actions. The disaster that would bring was something Barry did not want to deal with. This action was going to be a quick one-off then he’d be done with the whole business. I don’t know why I got involved with this in the first place. Wasn’t like I didn’t have anything better to do, and there is still plenty of money left over from the first one. He thought. Wonder what I was thinking? Guess I wasn’t really, letting emotion get in the way when there was no call for me to stick my nose into it. He had just felt so sorry for the dead girl’s parents that it had moved him to get involved. Don’t get involved, dumbass!

Cutting around the perimeter of his property, he noticed two places where grass and a few other plants had been pushed down as someone had stepped on them. Coming back through one side, he noticed that the green threads he’d left along the ground in different places had been disturbed or dragged along showing that someone or something had walked along until his house came into view, then someone had hidden behind a large chinaberry tree with a clear view to his home. After studying the site for a moment he spotted one of his green threads he’d left out. One end had snagged a clump of grass and pulled free from the trespasser’s foot unbeknownst to him. Barry had left out several of the short threads with a very small piece of twig tied to one end hoping the twig end would snag and pull free leaving the thread pointing out the direction of travel of his unwanted guest. This might get serious he thought.

 

Barry’s First Month in Trinidad

Karen Nesby sat looking out her window toward Barry’s place 1/4 mile away. That property used to belong in her family until a useless weird cousin had sold it to that “foreigner” from the flat lands! Her cousin had not bothered to tell anyone what he was up to as he wanted no hassle from his relatives for selling the multi generational land to an outsider. He had packed up in the middle of the night and left for, it was assumed, California since that was all he’d talked about for the last couple of years. She’d had no idea a sale had happened until one morning she noticed a strange truck parked in front of the garage that served as a storage shed. For several days, she noticed that the truck came and went, then one morning she heard hammering and a skillsaw running. That was too much for her to ignore, so Karen had driven her car into her deceased aunt’s driveway to see what her idiot cousin was up to. What she saw was an unknown man of smallish stature and build measuring and cutting some lumber on saw horses set up behind his truck.

Pulling up too fast and a bit too close for common sense and manners she bailed from the car, looked quickly around and not seeing her cousin’s battered car demanded to know who Barry was and what he was doing here. She knew “Worthless” as she thought of her cousin, Hadn’t the money nor inclination to have anything repaired.

Barry was naturally irritated at the way Karen had pulled up and parked then came out rudely demanding answers but he put that aside since he’d be working in the dark with this apparently upset woman. “Morning, I’m Barry, the new owner, and I’m making some needed repairs to the place.”

This set off Karen and she responded with. “The hell you are, where is Leroy my cousin and the owner of this place?!?!”

“Ma’am, I bought this place from Mr. Nesby two weeks ago. The sale has been registered at the County Office all legal and proper. I am the new owner. I take it that you are a relation to Mr. Nesby?”

“You’re damn right I am a relative of Leroy, and I want to know where he is and I mean right now!!!”

Forcing himself to remain calm Barry replied. “Ma’am, I don’t know for sure where Mr. Nesby is, but if I had to guess, it might be some place in California as he’d mentioned that he really wanted to see the place before he settled down somewhere. I didn’t catch your name.” He said extending his hand.

“I didn’t throw it, now I want to know what you did with my cousin! Where is he?”

“Like I said ma’am, I don’t know where he is, but I have done nothing with him. He did leave a packet of letters for me to pass out to different family members. If you’ll hang on for a moment, I’ll fetch them out.”

“You ain’t going nowhere you SOB! I want to know what you’ve done with my cousin, cuz I know for a fact he’d never sell this land! Where is he?!?!” She asked, knowing in her mind that Leroy was perfectly capable of selling this land for a pittance just to get some money in his pocket now and not a thought to the future.

Barry could see that the woman was a bit unhinged from her actions, and softly and calmly said. “Ma’am, I don’t know anything as to your cousin’s whereabouts, and I’m not going to make up something just to satisfy you.”

“I’m not putting up with your crap much longer, where is he?” Karen yelled as she backed up a few steps.

Watching her actions, Barry realized this woman was about to do something rash and he need to defuse the situation if at all possible. “Ma’am, I think the letters will solve the problem of Mr. Nesby’s absence. I’ll bring them out and if one of them has your name on it, then you can read it and know what is going on.”

With a wild look in her eyes, Karen stepped back two more paces and stuck her hand into her dress pocket and clutched something. Barry could see her fist outlined and guessed it might well be a pistol. Karen began to scream hysterically demanding to know where her cousin’s body was buried, and that she knew he wouldn’t have sold without asking her first. Barry responded calmly saying that nothing had happened to her cousin and that he could produce a bill of sale for the property. Then she pulled a small chromed automatic pistol and leveled it at Barry.

Dropping the hammer and making ready for a fast draw, Barry smiled and showed both empty hands palms up to the woman and said. “We don’t need to do this, let the Sheriff take care of the situation. He can come out and examine the property and all the paperwork. Give him a call and let him come out and see what is going on. If you shoot me and you’re wrong, you will spend some time in jail. The Sheriff can check things out and you will know what is going on much easier than either of us can.”

Karen stood for a moment, very close to the edge. She really wanted to shoot this crook, then get her name in the papers, and maybe even get the land if her greedy relatives didn’t steal it from her. Damn she wanted this land, and she was besides herself with anger at that little rat Leroy selling it out from under her! DamnDamnDamn! But wait, maybe she could blackmail this guy into signing the land over to her! Yeah, that’s the ticket. She’d call the Sheriff, have him arrested, then get with a lawyer for the land after she’d forged some documents!”

“OK jackass, I’m going to dial 911 and have you arrested for criminal trespass! You move one muscle and I’ll fill you full of holes!” She said as she removed her cell phone and made the call.

 

Neighbors can't live with'em and can't shoot'em...yet!

 

Very good story. I am enjoying it a lot. Thank you for all the time and effort.

 

Barry stood stock still and relaxed listening to the approaching sirens of the Sheriff’s Dept. while Karen kept him covered with her POC Saturday Night Special, issuing threats of what was about to happen to him once the Sheriff got there, what would happen in prison, and what she would do when he got paroled. Realizing she was crazy as a peach orchard boar, Barry did nothing to antagonize her or cause himself to get shot. As the two patrol cars pulled into the drive, Karen’s eyes changed and Barry realized that she just might be planning to shoot him as she raised her pistol to eye level. Wanting something to reset her mind for a moment Barry nodded toward the patrol vehicles and said.

“You know they have cameras in the vehicles now, and will dissect the footage later on during the shooting investigation if you decide to plug me. I’d guess you’re gonna end up getting traded for cigarettes while in prison, you know how those convicts are. Your call though.”

Karen’s head whipped back and forth between Barry and the LEOs trying to decide what to do, and without realizing it, lost the initiative of the situation. The LEOs bailed it screaming drop the gun, Get on the ground, all the usual stuff. When Barry was cuffed and searched the Glock 19 and a spare magazine was discovered. The rotund red faced deputy shook the pistol in front of Barry’s face screaming “What is this? WTF is this!?” Why are you carrying another magazine, ain’t 12 rounds enough for you? Planning on getting into a shoot put with us?” The deputy was shaking so hard that the donut glaze in his scraggly mustache fell onto his protruding belly.

“Well, it looks like a Glock to me dumbass, since you’re armed with one, I’d think you could recognize what it was. As to the spare magazine, I see you have three spares. Are you not a competent shot?”

The enraged deputy drew back the pistol to smack Barry in the face but was stopped with; “Boy, you really are a dumbass, going to pistol whip me with a camera pointed right at you?” Barry laughed. Look over your right shoulder Barney and you will see the camera. That little red light means it’s operational, and the feed is sent to a security company the next town over via WiFi. That’s gonna look really good in the news and online.”

The Senior Deputy grabbed “Barney’s” arm and removed the pistol with a “Really Fred?” Comment.

“Looks like you’d better have a very good story stranger, as none of us have ever seen you, and a known land owner is demanding your arrest as you are a suspect in her cousin’s disappearance. You got anything to say for yourself?” The stone faced deputy asked.

“Well, I tried to tell this lady that I bought this place and I have the paperwork to prove it, but she wouldn’t listen. Mr. Nesby sold this place to me two weeks ago, and we went to the court house with his lawyer and got everything filed properly there and at the Tax Assessor’s Office before he presumably left for California. I have a bundle of notarized letters signed by Mr. Nesby for me to hand out to his relatives if and when they showed up. Everything was done legal and above board, so all you have to do is call them and check out the facts. Besides, if I had done something illegal would I be here making repairs and modifications to the house? How many murderers or burglars do anything like this? Run the plates on my truck and you will see who it’s registered to.”

The Senior Deputy locked eyes with Barry for a moment, and seeing that there was no give in him keyed his radio requesting confirmation of what Barry had told him. He then asked Barry where the letters were then went and retrieved them. As he was opening the letter bundle the call came in from the Sheriff’s Office confirming what Barry had said. During this process Barney had been thumbing the rounds of ammo from Barry’s pistol and magazine maliciously into the dust with an evil grin, and Karen had been constantly running her mouth as to what charges she was going to file, that Barry had tried to kill her but she got the drop on him, that he’d made numerous terroristic threats. The list seemed endless, and the senior deputy finally told her to shut up, then removed the cuffs from Barry and handed him back his wallet.

“Why didn’t you let yourself be known to law enforcement so this sort of thing could have been avoided?” The deputy asked.

“I didn’t realize that Mr. Nesby’s relatives were nutcases, and he did not inform me of the need to be on the watch for them. I wouldn’t have bought the land if I had known this was going to happen.”

“Looks like you got off to a bad start in our community.” Replied the senior deputy.

“I guess I did at that, not what I wanted, but here we stand.” Said Barry.

At this Barney/Fred piped up with “Yeah, but you’re still going to jail for carrying a concealed weapon, and Contempt of cop! You’re going to learn some lessons boy.” He said laughing so hard his huge belly bounced around.

Barry looked at him with a smile and replied. “If you will check my wallet Dip Stick you will find a concealed carry permit so if you arrest me for that, then I will sue the department for a civil rights violation.”

Fred’s smile faded and he looked even uglier than before as he absentmindedly fingered the baton on his hip. This jerk needed to be taught a lesson in respecting his betters. Fred thought. “You think that worries us?” He asked Barry.

“That’s enough outa everybody!” Said the Senior deputy in a harsh voice. “We all need to go our own way and calm down before some real harm is done.” Handing the empty pistol and magazine to Barry he said “Don’t reload this until we’ve left the site.”

“Understood.” Replied Barry as everyone turned to leave.

 

Inbred halfwits! Thought Barry as everyone left his driveway. Karen checked to see if the deputies were watching her, then gave him both fingers over the steering wheel. Barry smiled and waved as if friends were departing. Barney/Fred glared at him and nodded letting Barry know this wasn’t the end of it, and Barry gave him an air kiss causing Fred to power brake and spin the rear wheels sending gravel and dust all over the place. If I can’t get this sorted out, then I’ll have to move before I end up in jail or have to kill one of these idiots. Maybe letting them have the contents of the packed garage will help. Probably not, but I need the shelter for my truck and if they will haul some of it off that’s less work for me.

Picking up the loose rounds dropped by Barney, he found that all were filthy from the dust and some had been stomped on rendering them useless. Typical Barney stunt I guess, he sure lets you know his character level at every opportunity. Barry found that the spare mag had been damaged too. Jerk! He now knew that he must visit the Sheriff while Fred was still writing his report and was able to get back on the street. Securing his tools and house, Barry started his truck and drove into town.

Arriving at the Sheriff’s Office he parked on a side street, then went inside. Seeing the receptionist, he walked up and smiled and requested to speak with the Sheriff. The lady told him that the Sheriff was in conference but would be finished soon if he didn’t mind waiting. He politely thanked her and settled down on a bench for his wait. Soon, the Sheriff was finished and came out with some paperwork for one of the secretaries. The receptionist quietly nodded toward Barry while speaking to the Sheriff who looked up and smiled. Barry stood and smiled a boyish grin toward the Sheriff and stepped forward offering a hand shake. Just then, Fred came barging thru the door and seeing Barry shoulder checked him as he walked by. Barry deliberately staggered back with a surprised look on his face while looking back and forth between the Sheriff and the deputy. The red faced Sheriff apologized for the incident explaining that Fred had stumbled from the fatigue of a sixteen hour shift. Barry replied in a good natured manner that no harm was done.

“I’m Sheriff Smith, most folks just call me Smitty. What can I do for you sir?”

“I’m Barry Taylor, and am new to the area Sheriff, and I just wanted to touch base with you and get acquainted. I bought Leroy Nesby’s place up on the old saw mill road and am doing a little fixing up and such. Getting settled in so to speak.”

“I’m glad to meet you Mr. Taylor, welcome to the county. Where do you come from?”

“I’m from a small town, Palo Pinto, Texas not far from Possum Kingdom Lake. I ain’t putting the shuck on you, there really is such a place.” Grinned Barry.

“Well, that’s a place I’ve never heard of before, what did you do there?”

“Not much, mostly hunting and fishing, and counting out of town license plates on Saturday nights. It’s really a quiet place.”

“I see, what line of work are you in? Maybe I can help you find something here.”

“I work online buying and selling oil shares. Not a ton of money in it, but I manage to get by. I’m too lazy for regular work.”

“Another Texan in the oil business I see. We don’t have much going on here except for the college, and some coal mining.”

“Well no danger of me horning in on any of those things. I keep pretty much to myself and try to get along with everyone that will let me.”

“And if they don’t?”

“ Avoid them, and if that don’t work, then it would be your job to handle them. I like quiet, not trouble.”

The Sheriff nodded thoughtfully then looked Barry in the eyes for a moment, seeing tough steadiness not apparent to most people. He knew about the call earlier and had been briefed by his Senior Deputy, so this visit wasn’t completely unexpected.

“I had a run in with a neighbor lady that is a cousin or some such to Mr. Nesby, and she is quite upset with me for buying the property. I understand that, and had I known this was an issue I wouldn’t have bought the place. I don’t need the aggravation. Mr. Nesby left everything there carrying nothing but a few personal possessions. There is a packed garage that has some stuff in there that the family might want, so I’d like for them to drop by and go thru it taking whatever they want. The stuff in the house stays. Is it possible to get an off duty deputy to supervise this operation? I’d gladly pay for his time.”

 

So long as it's not Barney.

 

I have to wonder what's stored in the garage, and why is Barry so eager to get rid of it? Could it be something embarrassing or illegal? Is that why he wants the deputy there? Plus, I'd like to know the content of some of those letters.

 

It won’t be Barney for sure. It’s just junk and some antique furniture that some might want. He just wants a place to park his truck out of the weather.

Wait till you see the prank he is going to pull on Nesby families for messing with him.}:^)