Winter Morning

Arriving early, I ran across the concrete back deck into the bar. I grabbed two pool cues and approached the only man inside. I explained to him that there were two gang members about to rape a young woman "Right. Out. There." He wasn't concerned. I turned to the two women at the other end.

"Not our business."

"What if they have guns?"

"We might get hurt."

I headed out the back, leaving one cue inside and the other clattering to the concrete when the fat one walked around the corner and pointed a snub-nosed revolver at me.

"Tienes cartera?"

"I don't speak Spanish," I lied.

"He wants your wallet, puto." The skinny one rounded the corner now, holding the girl by the hair.

"I left it in my truck," I lied again. My wallet was in my pocket, but I carry the bare minimum and had no cash to fill it out further. They didn't seem concerned, and the fat one waved me over to the open area beside the bar with the barrel of the revolver.

"You're not going too work today, homes, you're gonna be target practice. I'm doin' double-taps." Suddenly, he threw the small revolver past me to the frozen ground and pulled a much larger one from his coat. He pointed it at me, and I dived right. He fired twice from ten feet away, and as I was rolling to my feet he ran past me to the back corner of the bar, about 30 feet away. He fired twice more, and missed twice more. I picked up the small revolver. As I took aim, he missed two more times. I gave up aiming and charged. He was slow to react, but as I closed the distance he pointed the massive revolver at my chest and jerked the trigger again.

Click.

By then I was at contact distance and put two in his chest. Before he hit the ground I added two more and landed with a knee on his left arm and the other on his neck.

"Tienes mas munición?"

The surprise never had time to leave his eyes. As the dying gangster took his last breaths, he shakily reached into his pocket and handed me the rest of his ammo. I reloaded the huge revolver, a .44, and headed around to the back of the bar, where the girl was starting to scream.

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This was a dream I had this morning. There was more to it, but you know how dreams fade. I don't remember how I was involved, except that it had something to do with a note. Or a letter. I remember the small revolver was a .22 magnum, but that didn't fit into the flow as I wrote, so I left it out. I wish I had more. What do y'all think?

This could be handy:

Bangin'?

Our only open fugitive file at the moment, the one I mention below, is a possible gangmember in Inglewood. I say "possible" because he's definitely involved with them but may not actually be a member. His charges include assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.

I'm just tired of thinking about this guy. I'm going to start spending more of my free time watching his parents' and girlfriend's houses waiting for him. I want to put him in jail and forget about him.

Frustration

Well, we sat on the house for about 5 hours and she never came out, so either she left early or she was sleeping in. Then this morning Miss M and I sat on the parents' house for another 5 hours, and got nothing but a parking ticket.

We'll get this guy, it's only a matter of time, but this is getting old.

The Boss and I had a very interesting meeting with... let us say "entertainment industry executive" so as to remain coy, and there may be some exciting news in the next few months. Or there may not. Depends on a lot of things.

Otherwise, I'm interviewing candidates for our team, and it's amazing how many resumes I get that have nothing but a couple years of unarmed contract security experience, or even less. Or a cover letter that looks like it was written by a dyslexic spider monkey, but nonetheless assures me the candidate possesses qualities such as "attention to detail" and "excellent communication skills."

Found one who'll be worth trying out, though, and several more I have yet to interview that look promising on paper.

Training Day, and then some

So we got a few of the local Guardian Angels crew for bad guys, and went to a local dojo and threw them around a bit, practicing handcuffing techniques and such. Then we headed over to a former client and current friend's house to practice entries and clearing.

Along were The Boss, Miss M, myself, and (hmmm, what shall I call him) "Master P," in addition to the Angels. We polished up some techniques and then headed over to a local curry house for dinner.

No sooner had we left the restaurant, still sweaty from the training, than a (filthy rich) protection client called with an update on his stalker situation that triggered a clause in the contract requiring a fast response time. So I, Master P, and The Boss headed over at top speed (top speed for Beverly Hills on Sunday evening anyway) and took care of his issue (and realized his home security system needs a full overhaul).

Came home late and had to write a Craigslist ad to try to find a couple more people. Not sure I got all the requirements in there, but I did pretty well off the top of my head. I'll probably have to do twice as many interviews as I really need to, but I'll learn just what else needs to be mentioned for next time.

Tomorrow (actually, later today, in 5 hours), one of the Angels is going to pick me up and we're heading down to Inglewood to watch a fugitive's girlfriend. I can't do it by myself because (a) she's seen me before when we hit her apartment looking for him, and (b) I'm too white to be inconspicuous in that area. The Angel can't do it by himself because he doesn't know what she or the fugitive look like.

If she leads us to him (I put it at 75% probability) and he's by himself, we're going to take him. If his homies are around, we'll call The Boss, Miss M, and Master P and wait for them to arrive before we try anything.

Wish me luck!

Gear, Part 2 (Surveillance)

I've created for myself a little surveillance kit. Just threw everything in a backpack. It contains:

- A video camera (natch), with charging cable, USB cable, and remote.
- Extra microSD cards for same.
- "Gorillapod" that works for phone and camera. This allows me to mount my phone on the steering wheel and keep my eyes up while waiting for something to happen, or mount the video camera on the steering wheel for long video.
- A keychain video camera that looks like a car alarm keyfob, and charging cable. Also takes microSD cards.
- Two pairs of binoculars, one more powerful and one pocket-sized.
- A spare battery/case for my iPhone.
- A cheap IWB holster and a Belly Band, just in case.
- An extra shirt for a minor change in appearance.
- A bottle of water.
- A package of beef jerky.
- A Starbucks Frappucino bottle, because it has a wide mouth for relieving oneself in the car.

Gear, Part 1 (Fugitive Recovery)

We wear body armor, just in case. We wear "tactical" vests, too. Mine has a couple pistol magazine pouches, a shotgun ammo pouch, flashlight, handcuffs, knife, a radio pouch, radio earpiece, a blow-out kit, and some GP pouches. One carries my phone and keys, two are for miscellany like gloves and watch cap, (expandable baton fits well in this one) and one is my "transport kit," containing: a web belt, knotted at one end, to secure feet together and against the car door, a leather belt to put around the waist and cuff the hands to, and some flex cuffs. I may add some leg shackles.

Then, of course, there's the 1911 in a thigh holster, and the Mossberg 500 on a three-point sling.

Also on the vest is a badge. It's kind of a generic badge with an eagle emblem and the words "Fugitive Recovery Agent." Legally, it doesn't mean a damn thing, but it sometimes encourages people to comply.

Update: http://modernmikehammer.blogspot.com/2011/11/gear-updated.html

Drama

One of our personal protection clients (really just friends at the moment, clients when the money starts rolling in) is a group of three girls and their mom, who (how can I say this without giving away who they are?) had a bit of success last year in the entertainment industry and are now looking for other opportunities. They have a lot of things in the works, but these girls are their own worst enemies. At the moment one of them's in jail and another really should be in rehab. More than protection from crazies, what they need is a babysitter. Sheesh.

Luckily, The Boss and Miss M are taking care of them at the moment. The Boss has a history with them, and Miss M has a pretty good rapport with them and can provide the female role model they need (if they pay attention).

Freeway Flyers

The call came in at 1645: Mom came home and found a note from her loving son saying he was taking a bus to Tijuana. Mom called the bondsman and the bondsmen called us. Fifteen minutes later The Boss and I were flying down the 405 from the West Side, and the lovely Miss M down the 5 from her pad up near Glendale. WAIT - ummm... did I say flying? Check that time again. Yeah, the thick of Los Angeles' rush hour. So The Boss and I were crawling down the 405 from the West Side, and the lovely Miss M down the 5 from her pad up near Glendale. Seems the bus had left Santa Ana about the same time we left L.A. and was scheduled to arrive at San Ysidro at 1900, then continue on to Tijuana and points south.

Finally cleared traffic in Orange County, took the 73 toll road and floored it. My little truck doesn't have a lot of cojones, but it got a good workout. Ninety em-pee-aitch all the way to San Ysidro (that's just on the nice side of the border), except for a few idiots doing things like 65 in the carpool lane.

The Boss and I arrived at the border at 1925 and he went to speak to the Border Patrol. They hadn't seen the guy, but we gave them a picture and they promised to look out for him and call us if they detained him.

While we were trying to get confirmation of the whereabouts of the bus, a San Diego cop pulled up behind where I'd parked in a bus zone, and was in the process of running my plate when I walked over to him. Kept my hands tucked in the top of my vest (read: well away from my weapon) out of courtesy, explained what we were doing, and he was starstruck! Asked tons of questions on everything from equipment to pay to employment. Apparently, like many other jobs it seems a lot cooler from outside.

Just before Miss M arrived, we got confirmation the bus had crossed the border at 1930. You do the math: we'd come 150 miles and missed the guy by less than 5 minutes.

But hey, I got a nice steak dinner out of it!

Range Day

Spent most of the day on the range yesterday with The Boss and Miss M. Lots of quick-reaction shooting, shooting and moving, multiple targets, etc. Handguns and rifles. It's been quite a few years since I handled an M-16, so when we got to the rifle (AR-15, but who's counting) I was feeling quite proud of myself for doing so well. Then I looked over at Miss M's target and her group was half the size of mine.

For my ego's sake, I'm calling it as her much more recent experience, and the fact that she's shot with optics before. I never had.

Anyway, a great time was had by all, including Miss M's room-mate, who did some training of her own. I miss long range days, and if I could afford the ammo I'd go every week.