Vengeance for All

Three hours before daylight, a waxing crescent moon provided the only available light. In late summer, the temperature sat at 75 degrees and made the air heavy and oppressive. With no wind, the mosquitos constantly buzzed around his ears. He paused again and listened. Ahead, the voices grew louder. He moved forward and concentrated on his attempt at stealthy movement through noisy palmettos, an extremely difficult task. Tonight he suspected the men he neared had killed a deer illegally. Still, he wondered about them and hoped it would be a simple arrest. Some poachers are rough, dangerous men. They think they have the right to take game at any time. They despise game wardens.

JD's progress startled a foraging armadillo. It thrashed and rattled the dry underbrush as it dashed away in panic. He held his breath and stood still.

The sound of talking continued. The noise make by the armadillo had been ignored.

He edged closer, then stopped. He crouched and peered between the palmettos at the two men. A lantern on the ground provided enough light for their work. Strung up between two small trees, a doe had been gutted. As JD watched, the men lowered the carcass and placed it in the bed of an old pickup truck. They did not appear to be armed except for a shotgun and a rifle leaning against the side of their vehicle.

JD stepped out.

“Morning, gentlemen.”

"What the…? Shit!" said one of the men. "Jack, it's a damn game warden.”

Jack whirled and reached under his jacket.

He drew a revolver and shouted, "Grab him, Bobby. We'll leave his ass right here with the deer guts.”

Bobby rushed toward JD.

Jack raised the pistol and stared into the muzzle of a 45 caliber Glock.

He hesitated.

Bobby came to an abrupt stop and almost fell.

With a quiet, calm voice, JD said, "Please drop your weapon, Jack. I really don't want to shoot you. It’s messy. There's a ton of paperwork with that and I hate paperwork."

In a rage, Jack took a step forward.

He raised the revolver.

Sweat poured down Bobby’s face. “Don't do it. He'll shoot us.”

"Your partner's right. If you raise that weapon one more inch, I will shoot you."

Face contorted and red, lips pinched, Jack shook. His eyes remained fixed on the muzzle of JD’s weapon. Fear seemed to replace his anger. His shoulders sagged and he let the weapon fall.

"On the ground, guys. Face down.”

Jack cursed. He dropped to his knees, then on his stomach. When both men complied, JD holstered his gun. He pulled their hands behind their backs and secured them in plastic handcuffs. He picked up Jack’s revolver and tucked it in his belt.

Jack turned his head and looked up. "You son-of-a-bitch. You'd better keep lookin’ over your shoulder from now on. When I get clear of this, I'm comin’ after you."

Bobby sobbed. "Oh my God. What're we gonna do now? I don't wanna go to jail."

"Shut up, Bobby, you little shit. Quit ya whining,"

JD spoke into his radio. “Everything's clear here. You know where we are. Come on in.”

A few minutes later, JD’s partner, Allen Spivey, arrived. He asked, "Did they give you any trouble?”

"It was touch and go there for a moment. Thought I was in for a lot of paperwork tonight, but old Jack here cooled off and decided to give it up."

Jack glared at them. “Game warden sons-of-bitches. Worthless bastards.”

“Ain't he a sweet one?" said Allen. He always had a wad of chewing tobacco in his cheek. He spat out some juice. It spattered near Jack's head who answered with a colorful, innovative stream of curses.

JD shook his head. "The man does have an imagination."

Allen laughed. “Yessir. That boy sure does know how to cuss.”

JD said, “He doesn't know it, but he's lucky too. He resisted with a weapon. Think I'm going to forget it. Just charge him with taking the deer. He'll be in enough trouble with that. And the charge for trespassing with a firearm."

Allen shook his head. ”You're a forgiving guy. He's lucky it was you and not me. If he'd of pulled a gun on me, I'd of probably shot the son-of-a-bitch right off. I don’t put up with people pointing guns at me.”

They took the deer and the weapons into evidence and delivered the men to the Calusa County Sheriff's office. Tired and sleepy after being up most of the night, they returned to their duty station. They filed their report and checked out.

The eastern sky lightened as they walked out of the station.

Allen said, "Good job. I'll have their truck towed tomorrow. See you later."

"Thanks. If you’ll do that, I'll take care of the paperwork.”

Allen Spivey thought about JD as he drove home. I like Gunn. He's one helluva man. Big. At least six-foot-three. Strong as a bull. I've worked with him for almost three years. I knew he’d been in the Navy before he came with us, but I just found out he was a damn SEAL. In all those years working together, he never mentioned it one time. "Huh.” JD's quiet and easy going, but I think he's one dangerous son-of-a-bitch. The old boy we busted tonight doesn't know how lucky he is.

Allen chuckled. I wonder how many bad guys JD did put down when he was a SEAL.