They jumped up, together, and began running for the exit.  Hammer yelled for Rosen and his men to get off of the plane.  “Get the big rigs ready,” he ordered.  “Clean that shit up later!”

And Hammer was calling Oz, while Amelia was on her cellphone calling Rowena, as they ran off of the plane to a waiting SUV.

As soon as they jumped in, the SUV sped off in one direction, while Ray Rosen and his crew took off in the opposite direction to secure the big rigs Hammer had ordered up.

But as Hammer and Amelia sat in the backseat of that SUV, and as their driver/bodyguard drove as if his life depended on it to Hammer’s estate, they were turning up blanks.  No response at all from Oz’s cellphone.  Rowena’s went straight to voice mail.

Hammer called security at his front gate.  Thankfully, he thought, one of his men answered.  “Everything okay around there?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” the guard responded.

“Where’s Ozzie?”

“Inside the house.”

“Any company?”

“No, sir.  Oh, other than Reggie Dell I mean.”

Hammer was surprised to hear it.  Amelia too.  “Reggie Dell?” Hammer asked.  “What is she doing there?”

“She said you told her to wait for you here.  They were going to do a job for you.  Since she’s done jobs for you in the past, and she has permission to be on your property, I let her on.  It was okay, sir, right?”

“You said they were going to do a job for me,” Hammer said.  “Who are they?”

“Her and her boyfriend, sir,” the guard said.  “Or, at least, that’s who she said he was.”

And that was when it hit Amelia.  “Pharmaceutical salesman,” she said.

Hammer looked at her.

“Reggie said her boyfriend was a pharmaceutical salesman.”

“That’s right,” Hammer said.  “What about it?” he asked.

“Pharmacy, Hammer.  As in drugs.  As in drug salesman.  As in drug dealer.” She looked at Hammer. “As in Drag.”

“Jesus,” Hammer said, stunned.  “Get inside that house!” Hammer ordered the front gate guard.  He was jumping up in his seat.  “You and every man on site!  Reggie Dell’s boyfriend is the target.  Detain him and Reggie too.  Kill his ass if you have to!  Protect my son!  You hear me?  Protect my son!”

“Yes, sir!” the guard said, and killed the call.

To Amelia’s shock, Hammer then jumped over the seats of the SUV.  “Move!” he ordered the driver.

The driver moved swiftly, still holding the wheel, as Hammer took the controls.  And then Hammer floored it for real.  Their driver had been good, but Hammer was in another league.  He drove them so fast that Amelia was having whiplash.

But he got them up that mountain and back to Charlemagne.

But as soon as they approached the gate, they saw the problem.  Guards, the ones who had been on duty at the front gate, were laid out near the entrance, dead.

Hammer hit the brakes, backed up immediately, and went toward the backside of his vast property.

But Amelia was confused.  And angry.  “What are you doing, Hammer?  What the fuck are you doing?  Our son might still be in that house!”  She wanted to add, you can’t just leave, but she didn’t.  Because she knew him better than that.

And she was right.  Hammer hadn’t left the property, he just went to a more strategic location on the property.

When he got back there, he stopped the car, and he and Amelia jumped out.  Their driver jumped out too, to stand guard outside, as Hammer and Amelia ran into what was a big, unimpressive shed on the property.  It looked old and seemingly dilapidated and useless.  Amelia wondered what in the world was Hammer doing.

But when they went inside, she understood what.  It was as if a command center was in that shed.  Seemingly a hundred monitors were in that shed, and Hammer only had to type in one code, as he did quickly, and every one of those monitors lit up.

“Wow,” Amelia found herself saying as she realized every crook and cranny of Hammer’s property was on those monitors.  She moved in closer, as he zeroed in on the nursery. 

To their great relief, their son was in his bed, fast asleep.

But then he panned, and that was when their hearts dropped.  Oz was tied to a chair.  Rowena was tied to a chair.  And Drag, with a rifle in his hand, was pacing the floor of their son’s nursery as if he was out of his mind with rage.

Reggie was pacing with him, and was trying to get him to leave the house and not harm anybody, but it was obvious to Hammer and Amelia that she held no sway.  Drag had taken her gun, and she was defenseless too.  She was good at contract killings, when everything was carefully planned out and organized.  She was terrible at love and life, when there were no such thing as only planned events.  She had no business bringing his ass there in the first place.

But a part of Hammer was glad that Reggie was at least in the room talking to the punk.  She was not going to let Drag harm his son, at least he hoped not.  But it would be a cold day in hell before he relied on her.  Besides, another part of him was angry as hell that she would have brought that fool into his home when she had to know the risks.

“What are we going to do, Ham?” Amelia asked him.  “Drag can be batshit crazy when he wants to be.”

“Is he a killer?” Hammer asked, and then looked at her.

“Oh, yeah,” Amelia said without hesitation.  “One of the best.”

Hammer didn’t want to hear that.  But he already knew he had a fight on his hands.  He got up, went over to a side wall, and pressed in another code.  And then he began grabbing guns and placing them on various parts of his body, or gunning-up, as he called it.

Amelia didn’t wait to be told.  She gunned-up too.

Hammer looked at her.  She wore a black turtleneck, a pair of blue jeans with a wide black belt, and go-go boots.  His coat was ill-fitting, but she brought pizzazz to that too.  He was amazed how stylish, how beautiful she looked.  Even at a time like this.

“I’ll go in first, and shut it down,” he said.  “I’ll aim for Drag, but if I miss, you’ve got to be my backup.  I don’t trust any man over you and Oz in moments like this, and Oz is incapacitated.  So it’s going to be up to you.”  He said this with pain in his voice.  He knew she could handle it.  He just hated that she had to.

But Amelia was ready.  “I got you,” she said.

“You’ll go in through the guest room beside the nursery,” he said.  “As soon as you get in, you jumped out and run into the nursery.  You may have to take Drag out if I can’t get him down, so be ready for that.  But even if you hit him, you grab our son and run.  I’ll finish him off.  And I’ll handle Regina.  You get in, get Hannibal, and get the fuck out. You hear me, Amelia?”

“I hear you,” she said.

Hammer didn’t look doubtful, but he looked worried sick for her safety.  But he knew they had no better options.  If they tried to go in straight on, they would be eviscerated, and their son could be killed.  He began hurrying out of the shed.

Amelia was right on his kneels following him, but she was still confused.  “But how are we going to get in?” she asked him.  “He can mow us down as we approach the house, and then he can turn his gun on JoJo.”

“Reggie won’t let that happen,” Hammer said with confidence.

He had far more confidence in that bitch than Amelia had, but that was a fight for another day.  “But how are we going to get in?” she asked again.  She just wanted her son safe!

Hammer didn’t answer her.  But as soon as they walked around the shed to another driveway, she got her answer.

Those big rigs that Hammer spoke about weren’t rigs at all, but tanks.  Big, brash, armored tanks that came rolling up to the shed two in a row.

Amelia was amazed.  “Those are yours?” she asked.

“Yes,” Hammer said as he walked over to the second tank, with Amelia following him.

She felt better already.  “Now this is what I call the fucking Calvary!” she said.

The driver of the second tank lifted open the top lid.

Hammer took Amelia by the shoulders, and turned her to him.  “I want you to listen to me,” he said, with a stormy look in his eyes.  “I want you to handle this.  It’s going to require both of us.  You will have to do your part.  But above all, I want you to look out for yourself.  Don’t try any stupid shit, Amelia, and I mean that.  Just get our son and go. Don’t you worry about me, or the nanny, or anybody else.  You go.  You hear me?”

She was nodding.  “Yes,” she said.  “And don’t you try any stupid shit, either, Hammer Reese.  Or I’ll kill you myself.”

He smiled a weak smile, he couldn’t manage anything stronger, and then lifted her into the second tank.  The driver of the tank was Ray Rosen and he was waiting to help her in.  But Amelia turned and looked at Hammer.  “You’re going to drive that tank, aren’t you?”

“You bet your ass,” Hammer said.

Rosen looked at his boss.  “Any instructions, sir?”

“I go in first, through the nursery,” Hammer said.  “You go into the guest room next to it.  Then get Mrs. Reese out of here,” he added, to Rosen’s shock.

“Mrs. Reese, sir?” he asked.

“That’s what I called her, yes.  Mrs. Reese.  Because I want you to understand that transporting her is the same as transporting me.  And you’d better not forget it.  You get her in that guest room, and she’ll take it from there.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And make sure every man holds his fire.  Our son is in that room.  I don’t want any misfires.”

“Yes, sir,” Rosen said forcefully, and closed the lid.

Hammer hurried over to the lead tank, jumped up and into the open lid, got behind the controls, and the convoy took off.

They began moving to the west end of the house, at the farthest angle to the nursery, where they could not be detected from where Drag was located.  Hammer looked at the monitors that were inside the tank.  He saw Drag’s positioning every step of the way.  Fortunately, the room was large and Drag wasn’t near the baby’s bed.  But unfortunately, the baby was in that bed, and everything Hammer did had to be based on that calculation.

Then they were ready, with Hammer driving the lead tank, and Amelia riding shotgun in the second tank, as they positioned themselves for entry.  And when Hammer began moving at an angle away from their son’s bed, but directly toward where Drag was currently positioned, Rosen, driving the second tank, began moving too.  Both tanks had men inside, four each, but Hammer and Amelia were to take the lead.

Hammer took the lead alright. He drove, full steam ahead, into the wall of his home’s nursery, breaking through like a crane operator.  Just as he broke through, the second tank broke through the wall of the guest room.

Reggie screamed when she saw the tank, causing the baby to wake up crying.  Hammer attempted to pin Drag beneath the tank before he had a chance to react, but he was already reacting, and Hammer pin part of him, but he was able to break free.  Drag, knocked down to the floor on his back, began firing at the tank.

As Hammer attempted again to ram him, Amelia and the men in the second tank were jumping out into the guest room.  Amelia pulled out two guns, turned them sideways for her best aim, and hurried to the nursery.

But just as she entered the nursery’s doorway, Drag had taken cover behind the big changing table, and began firing at her.  She had to jump back, away from the entrance, to avoid getting hit.

Hammer jumped out of his tank, firing at Drag, and slid down on his ass as he fired.  Drag got off several shots, but all bounced off of the tank and missed Hammer, and Hammer got off several rounds too.

Then Drag seemed to want to change position.  And seemed to be angling for his best bet: a hostage.  Namely, he was angling to grab their son.

But Amelia and Hammer immediately saw what he was up to, and would have none of that.  Their men had been ordered to hold their fire, to avoid any stray bullets hitting the child, so they held back.  But Hammer and Amelia didn’t.  Because as soon as Drag began running for the baby bed, to take their son hostage, they ran for him.

Hammer crouched down, for his best aim, exposing himself as he fired, while Amelia ran back into the doorway on her knees, firing too.

They unleashed a barrage of bullets that caused Drag to fire back with his own barrage, and try to make a leap for their child.

But he leaped right into Hammer’s bullet, and then Amelia’s bullet, and was stopped in his tracks.

He fell to his knees, as his bullet-riddled body gave up the ghost, and then he toppled over.

Amelia was so overwhelmed by how close their child came to certain destruction, that she crawled on her knees to the baby bed, and grabbed their crying son.  Tears were in her eyes, too.

As Hammer’s men untied Oz and Rowena, Hammer hurried to his lady and their son.  “You okay?” he asked Amelia, as he looked over her body.

“I’m okay, you?” Amelia asked him, as she looked over his body.

“I’m good,” Hammer said, in full sweat mode.  And both of them looked at their son.  Nobody would ever know how relieved they were.

“The front gate let her through without my knowledge, Boss,” Oz said to Hammer as he, now untied, hurried over by the threesome.  “That bastard had a gun on me as soon as I opened the door, and Reggie didn’t do shit about it.”

“Reggie?” Hammer asked.  Then he began looking around.  “Where the fuck is Reggie?”

When Amelia looked around, too, and realized Reggie was gone, she handed the baby to Oz. “Oh, hell no,” she said emphatically.  There was no way she was letting Reggie Dell get away scot-free.  She took off running.

“Guard our son with your life,” Hammer ordered Oz, as he ran behind Amelia.  He was running, not only to capture Reggie, but to protect Amelia.

And Reggie was getting away.  She was at the front door, and was flinging it open, when Amelia ran up the hall toward the foyer, and saw her.

As Reggie ran out of the door, and began running down the steps, Amelia ran after her and lunched at her.  She landed on Reggie’s back, and the two ladies scuffled, but Reggie managed to worm away and run for her car.

By the time Amelia was back up, and running for Reggie again, Reggie had jumped into her car and attempted to slam her door shut.  But as Hammer and his men ran out of the house, and down the steps, Amelia grabbed onto Reggie’s car door, and tried to grab Reggie by the hair and pull her out of that car.

But Reggie had already cranked up, and floored it.  She sped off.  Amelia had to hold on, or she would be killed.

Hammer’s heart dropped when he saw Amelia holding onto that car door.  She was being flung like a piñata around his front yard, and Reggie was doing donuts, driving in circles, to shake off Amelia.  Hammer ran to put a stop to it.

“Don’t fire!” he yelled to his men.  As before, he didn’t want any mistakes.  He didn’t want any stray bullets going anywhere near Amelia.

“Reggie!” he yelled angrily.  “Reggie, stop the car!  Stop the car!”

But Reggie was terrified.  She knew what she’d done.  She brought a killer into his house.  But he was going to wait on Amelia, to take her out.  It would rid Reggie of that competition, once and for all.  But everything went wrong.  And now this!

If she could only shake this crazy bitch, she’d be gone!  Hammer would forgive her someday.  She was willing to bet that he would.  But she also knew today was not that day.

But Hammer had a different take.  He knew Amelia couldn’t hang on much longer, and something had to give.  So he had to do some betting of his own.  He was betting that Reggie would not kill him.

And that was why he positioned himself in front of her car, as she circled back around to him.

“Hammer, no!” Amelia cried.  She was certain Reggie was going to kill him!

It looked that way to Hammer’s men, too, and they had their weapons ready to fire.

But Hammer’s bet paid off.

As soon as Reggie saw him in her way, she slammed on brakes.  Amelia’s body nearly flew away from the door she had been holding onto for dear life, but she held on.  And then, once the car completely stopped, let go.

But if Reggie thought it was over, she was mistaken.

“Had that fool up in this house with my child,” she said angrily to Reggie, and then grabbed Reggie by the hair and dragged her out of that car.  She dragged her across the lawn.

And then she beat her.  She beat her down.

“Hammer, stop this bitch!” Reggie was yelling. “Stop her!”

But Hammer wasn’t about to stop it.  Coming for Amelia was the same as coming for him.  She was going to get what she had coming to her.  And it was an epic beating.  Amelia, even Hammer knew, didn’t play.

Amelia wouldn’t let up, despite Reggie’s cries.  She beat Reggie so badly, that Reggie eventually lapse into unconscious.  And Reggie kept beating her.

But Hammer pulled her back.  She had the green light from him to beat Reggie’s ass for her part in this drama, and she deserved every lick.  But he could not forget the promise he made to Reggie’s mother on her deathbed.  If Reggie was going to fall, it could not be by him.  And letting Amelia drop her, would be the same as if he was doing it himself.

Amelia knew he would eventually stop her.  She knew how much he cared for the heifer, and still believed in that deathbed promise he had given Reggie’s mother.  He couldn’t just turn off all those years of feelings that easily.  Amelia could, but Hammer couldn’t.

Hammer placed his arm around Amelia’s waist.  “Let’s go see about our son,” he said. 

And that was enough to break Amelia’s revenge spell.  She wanted to be with their child.

“Drop her at the hospital,” Hammer said to Ray Rosen, as he stood awaiting orders.  Amelia thought that was being too generous for a witch like Reggie, but Hammer loved that witch.

But not like Amelia thought.

“I don’t mean take her to the hospital,” he told Rosen.  “Drop her nearby.  Let her ass find her own way.”

Rosen smiled.  “Yes, sir,” he said.  “With pleasure, sir.”  And went to do what he was ordered to do.

And Amelia was smiling too.  It was still more than she would have done for her, but she understood Hammer.  He had that lawman still deep inside of him, although it was buried so deep it was almost unrecognizable.  But he was a man of his word.  He was still willing to give people he cared about a fighting chance, if he promised to do so.

But if that bitch showed up again, Amelia inwardly decided, there would be no more chances.

They went into the house, and went to their son.