The X-Man by Brian R. Lundin (100 best novels of all time .TXT) 📕

floor. The cut-off shorts had bunched up and I could see underneath, she was not wearing panties, grunting and grimacing seem to be acceptable and desired, and there was no modesty here. An Oriental woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail was working with an overweight young black girl, she spotted me and waived, in a few minutes the young girl left the room.
LEE (SMILING)
Ready for some pain?

RINGO
Let’s get it on, Lee

The personal trainer took me through a series of workouts: fifteen minutes lifting forty pound weights, thirty pull-ups, chest flexes and other exercises that were used in basic army physical training, but being a former Navy Seal this was nothing for me. After the workout I changed into swimming trunks and went into the humid, chlorinated room that housed the club’s Olympic-sized pool. A young woman in a white thong bikini was getting out the pool as I entered. She was striking, long black hair and I noticed that the bottom of the skimpy bikini had slipped into the crack of her buttocks and her nipples were hard, I could not help staring at the pubic hairs that were escaping her crotch. Absentmindedly, she attempted to adjust the tong, gave up and smiled at me as she passed. The pool was usually empty during this time of day. I dove into the therapeutic water headfirst; it always made me feel better being in the water. After two years in Iraq as a member of the Navy Seals, water was like my second home; I was at no disadvantage in the water, and not as much at a disadvantage on land as some people might think, seeing me limping alone. Together with my twenty-minute swims, lifting weights and regular exercises I had forged a strong upper torso and arms and a conditioned quickness with an iron grip. I swam fifteen laps before turning on my back and swimming another ten laps, afterwards I just floated in the warm water, eyes closed and thought about the war and my injury.

FLASHBACK – Kuwait- 1995
My heavily armed five-man Seal Team had been inserted near Kuwait, and we swam ten miles to Al Basra a small fishing village on the east coast. After hiding our swim gear we moved quickly to our objective a 14,300-foot mountain in the Kushan Pass. I was First Lieutenant and in charge of the team, we climbed three hundred feet up the mountain and strategically positioned ourselves on the high ground above a narrow, winding trail. It was a cold, dark and moonless night. I looked through my night vision goggles and saw the forty-man group of Taliban fighters all armed with AK-47 Assault rifles which were slung over their shoulders and bandoliers of bullets draped across their chest casually walking on the trail, I watched as they lit cigarettes and listened as they laughed and talked. Two dusty pickup trucks covered with a brown awning took up the rear. I watched as a tall man walked in front and seemed to be leading the way, he like the other men wore baggy cotton pants and long cotton shirts with a sash around the waist and a dirty turban sat on top of a skullcap. Naval Intelligence learned that this band of fighters were transporting arms and other weapons to other fighters in the area and my team mission was to ambush the fighters and to eliminate them with “Extreme Prejudice,” which was naval intelligent jargon which meant kill them. I selected a bend in the trail the fighters had to walk single file, Corporal Willis Logan, a black man from Chicago and weapons expert was station behind large boulders directly in front of the bend, his .50 caliber machine primed and ready, Sergeant first-class Richard Ramos armed with an RPG or Rocket Propelled Grenade was a few yards behind the Corporal and had an unobstructed view of the tail column of the group and the two pick-up trucks. The other members of the team were armed with Uzi Machine guns and had open fields of fire on the fighters. “Now,” I said over my head microphone.
The sudden burst of automatic machine gun fire broke the stillness of the night as the Seal team totally decimated the fighters. Sergeant Juan Gomez sent balls of fire from his rocket-propelled weapon at the trucks. Men jumped out and others were thrown out the bed of the trucks; screaming and on fire, their torment ended in rapid firing automatic weapons. In ten minutes the trail was covered with mangled bodies and scrap metal. Moans of pain and terror came from the wounded men, some were praying and fingering prayer beads while others mouth agape could say nothing. I signaled the men to the trail and we looked at the carnage.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said impassionedly. Suddenly there was an explosion of gunfire as one of the wounded fighters yelled a holy prayer and fired his weapon towards me he only got off one shot that shattered my knee before the Seal team killed all of the wounded fighters. I slowly pulled myself out the pool and took a hot and then a cold shower, after drying myself with a clean, rough terry cloth towel, I wiped the fog from the center of the shower mirror and looked at my face again and smiled, I looked and felt a lot better.

FLASHBACK 10 Mar 2008
By night, the area between 31st Street north to 55th Street south is controlled by the 43rd Street Hustlers street gang. After years of drive byes, murders and intimidations the gang had total control of all the drugs sold in the area and made regular payoffs to the 2nd District Vice Unit. Ten years ago William “Bull” Jones a Governor in the gang was set-up by corrupt 2nd Police District Vice Officers because he refused to increase their monthly “Nut” or payoff from two thousand a week to five. Two vice-officers planted a quantity of crack cocaine on Bull and charged him with possession and intent to deliver the drug, they knew that if convicted it could result in a long prison term. Evetta and her partner, honest cops in the vice unit, found out about the set-up and broke a golden rule of any police department we ratted out the corrupt officer, They took their information to the FBI because probably the District Commander, Watch Commanders, lieutenants and some sergeants were part of the nut Bull was paying. An FBI investigation led to the arrest of many officers assigned to the district and Bull was released without charging, Evetta and her partner reward for exposing the corruption was to be transferred to other districts miles from their home, but Evetta had made a friend out of William “Bull” Jones.

INT: RINGO’S OFFICE- 5 MARCH 2008
EVETTA
I was thinking, most of the killings have taken place in an area controlled by the 43rd Hustlers, one of their governors owe me big time. I’m going to get in contact with him maybe he or his boys know something.

RINGO
Good idea, but be careful, those guys are dangerous

EVETTA
Will do

FADE IN: COMO INN
Jones met Evetta in a quiet, isolated booth at the Como Inn, an Italian Restaurant on the north side of the city.

EVETTA
I need some information concerning the girl who got killed on 43rd Street

JONES
I heard ‘bout that, what you need, mama?

EVETTA
Firstly, was she one of your customers, and did any of your guys ever see her walking around in her apartment nude or anything like that? Have there been any strange looking dudes hanging around where you do your business? Did your guys working in the alley beneath the el train see or hear anything unusual Saturday night

JONES (LAUGHNG)
God Damn mama I glad you ain’t working narcotics no’mo

EVETTA (SMILING)
I guess you are, ‘cause you know I would be on your ass.

JONES
Let me get the word out, I will hit you on your cell

EVETTA
Thanks man

JONES
Anytime, anyplace I’ve got your back

EVETTA
I going back to 45th Street for a walk around so tell your boys too cool it for a couple hours

JONES
Done mama and we’ll be watching you back also

FADE IN: 4555 South Prairie Avenue -8:00 PM
Evetta arrived at just as the streetlights disturbed the darkness. The street was quiet and there was no people on the street and very little vehicular traffic. Evetta walked around to the rear of the apartment building and noticed black hooded figures that blended with the dark buildings watching as she entered the alley and walked to Peggy’s apartment building. She entered the apartment through the rear squeaky door; in the darkness it seemed even more empty and silent. She switched on the kitchen light and sat down at the kitchen table and imagined Peggy maybe smoking a joint walking to the bathroom. “Was she dressed or naked?” Evetta though to herself. Evetta got up from the table turned off the light and turned on the dim overhead hallway light. As she walked a loose plank under the bared floor moaned under her weigh. She moved down the hall and turned off the hallway light and peered out the window where maybe the killer had entered, the open gangway was pitch black. “Why didn’t she hear the noise from the floor?” Evetta turned on the living room light and looked around, nothing appeared disturbed. She entered the bathroom situated off the hallway and looked into the tub, everything was the same. She moved closer to tub, avoiding the bloodstains and dusting powder. Evetta tried to approach it from the logistics of a killer;”How had he entered the apartment without her knowledge, unless she was in the shower and couldn’t hear him as he climbed through the window, if that’s where he entered? Did he randomly select her or did he know her? Was he a peeping tom who got excited watching and decided to have her? Did he watch her as she moved around the apartment nude or half-nude? Each of the victims had boyfriends or lovers, who occasionally stayed over, yet each victim was alone when attacked, that meant that the killer planned the attacks and put his victims under some sort of surveillance and probably surprised them. Although his killings showed signs of violent, eruptive and psychotic spontaneity, his method of selecting the victims seemed to indicate extensive planning and carefulness, leaving no clues. Like Monique said, this combination of traits indicated behavior attributed more to a psychopath than a psychotic. Evetta went back outside into the dark alley and again she noticed the shadowy figures that seemed to melt into the night. She viewed the rear of the apartment from different angle and walked into the dark gangway. She looked at the entry window and deducted that the killer had to be tall and very strong if he chinned his way up to the window or he had something to step on. She walked to the front of the apartment building and noticed the bedroom window faced south on Prairie Avenue and she could have been seen from the streets walking around in a skimpy night gown or nothing at all, her lithe body silhouetted against the bright bedroom interior light. After walking down the alley a few apartment buildings away she lost sight of Peggy’s building or the gangway. She walked back to 45th Street and turned left at Prairie Avenue. Peggy’s building set back off the street and couldn’t be seen until she was two building from it. The killer could have entered the dark