"Five minutes Dad, I’ll be ready."
Sotello nodded, and slipped out of the passenger side door with his sap. They had already taken the dome lights out, and disconnected the door-warning buzzer. He slipped the mask onto his head as he moved quickly to the bushes by the side of the neighbor’s house. The wet ground made his footsteps almost noiseless. He crouched and waited.
Craig waited five minutes, and took a deep breath. He made the call. The man answered, a slight slur in his voice. Craig repeated the message he had rehearsed with his Father, and then hung up. He did not crack the window, but he watched the house. A few minutes after the call, a man appeared at the door in a strap tee shirt. His arms bulged with muscle, and Craig could see he had what looked like a pistol held down next to his right leg. The man looked around in both directions, and then headed straight for the van. As the man reached the halfway point, Craig saw a shadow rise up behind him, just before the man’s head snapped to the side.
An arm wound around the man, preventing him from falling. A black clad hand reached down, snatching the dropped pistol up. Craig watched the man’s body leave the ground slightly and get propelled towards the van. Craig wrenched open the door, without letting it bang into its stops. A split second later, the man’s body flew into the van and banged headfirst into the other side. His Father followed it, as Craig closed the door, and jumped into the driver’s seat. He had them headed towards the freeway, without putting on the headlights, until they reached the main cross street. Craig reached Main street, turned to the right, and drove to a street they had plotted out before leaving, called Reservoir Street. He parked the van a hundred yards down the way.
Craig heard a sickening thud followed by the crunch of bones. He turned to see his Father bring the lead pipe down on the man’s other knee with similar results. Sotello threw the man over onto his face as if he were a rag doll. Sotello smashed both of the man’s arms at the elbows viciously with the pipe. He then drove the pointed end savagely into the base of the man’s spine. Craig watched him tear his mask off and grab the man’s head, one hand engulfing his chin, and the other the side of his head. Craig dove into the back, grabbing hold of his Father’s right arm. Sotello’s head jerked up towards Craig, and saw the look of fear on his son’s face. The gale force storm inside Sotello’s head eased, and he let the man drop to the floor of the van. Craig quickly returned to the driver’s seat, as Sotello returned to the passenger seat.
"Thanks boy," Sotello whispered.
Craig nodded and started the van. He drove down the street another fifty yards, before doing a u-turn, and heading back the way they had come. He slowed when they were almost directly opposite the place on the other side of the street where they had first stopped. Sotello went into the back again, and opened the side door quickly. Craig watched in amazement as his Father grabbed the man’s belt, and with one hand from a crouch, lowered the man’s body to the side of the road. Sotello slipped out after him, and placed the man’s pistol back into his right hand. After closing the door, Sotello climbed back into the passenger seat. Craig eased the van back onto the road.
"That will be the last time that son-of-a-bitch ever works over another woman," Sotello whispered between clenched teeth.
Craig nodded, and drove towards home.