A Glibertarians Exclusive: License to Kill, Part III
The head pulled back down from the ridgeline. Paul waited a minute, two. The head didn’t reappear.
Definitely a lack of motivation, he thought. No gung-ho spirit.
Paul snapped his fingers. The other Marines looked over at him. He pointed at the ridgeline; he saw the others nod in reply. Then he pointed to a small notch in the ridge off to the left. The notch was clogged with brush, but it was the only place the attackers could come through without being silhouetted.
The Marines had all seen that notch and were prepared, noted it when they scouted the terrain. The three Marines on the left half of the line reoriented to face the brushy notch. The others continued to watch the ridgeline.
There was a big down coconut log lying at an angle to Paul’s front. He laid the fore-stock of the Springfield on the log, sighted on the notch, and waited. It’s always about waiting, he remembered. He looked back over his shoulder. There was old Sam, just as he said he’d be.
***
Honolulu, June 1946
Danny Greene woke up in his suite in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel with a skull-shattering hangover. His two ‘bodyguards,’ muscle-headed farm boys sent along to help him do the job the Gilliard family’s head had assigned him, were several floors down in a cheaper double room.
“Ugh.” He picked up the bedside telephone and called room service. “Pot of coffee. Dry toast. Yeah, that’s all.”
His next call went to the cheap room downstairs. “You got anything?” he demanded when one of the muscle-heads answered.
“Yeah,” the man replied, sounding a little miffed at he and his partner being asked to do the grunt work while their boss partied. “Guy’s name is Paul O’Doull. He and your aunt are hitched, I guess. They run and live in an apartment building on the canal, not far from Waikiki.”
“Fucking Mick. Figures.” The irony of his own background was apparently lost on Danny Greene. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. Most Sundays the two of ‘em drive out to some place where friends of theirs live. Way back in the woods, like, up the mountainside northeast of town. Real secluded, Boss.”
“No neighbors?” This seemed a little too good to be true.
“Couple other houses, ‘bout a half mile away on either side, up and down the road. Dirt road. Nothing but mountains behind them. We get in, do the job, get out quick, nobody will know what’s going down until it’s over and we’re gone.”
Danny thought about that. “Bring the car around,” he ordered. “I want to see this for myself.”
Ten minutes later they were rolling out of Honolulu in a rented black 1946 DeSoto Diplomat. Danny was in the back seat, enjoying the feel of riding in one of the first post-war American autos, not troubling himself as to how the still-new-smelling car came to be a “Chuck’s Rent-A-Ride” in Honolulu.
The muscle-head driving turned the big DeSoto off onto a narrow dirt road, only a track, two lines of red Hawaiian dirt through the jungle. They rode past one small clapboard cottage in a clearing, surrounded by flowers, with the jungle closed in on all sides except the one facing the road. Ten minutes later they found what they were looking for. “This is it, Boss” the meathead in the passenger seat said.
“Slow down. Go by nice and slow. I want to see.”
This house was larger, a big, sprawling affair, with covered walkways between the house and several outbuildings. There was a big open area off to one side that looked like a long lane had been carved out of the jungle. A skinny man was walking from the open area towards the house. It didn’t look like he took any notice of the big black DeSoto, but there was one unusual thing about him.
“He’s carrying a pistol,” the muscle-head driving observed.
“We got pistols, too,” Danny said.
“That place over there to the side. Looks like a shooting range. See the table there?”
Danny waved if off. “So the guy likes to shoot. So the guy has a pistol. I still think this is the place to take them. Nice, quiet, out of the way. We come in fast, shoot them up, get out of here and back to Honolulu before anyone responds. Piece of cake.”
“You say so, Boss,” the passenger-side muscle-head said.
“I do. Come on. Back to the hotel.”
***
Paul picked up the phone on the second ring. “Hello.”
“Paul, buddy,” came the voice on the other end of the line.
“What’s up, Henry?”
“Wanted to ask you something. You seen three rough-looking guys around your place recently?”
“Three? No. Two big bully boys? Driving a shiny new black DeSoto? Them I seen yesterday. Couple times.”
“Yeah, black DeSoto. Nice looking car. Went past here yesterday, nice and slow. Anyway, they just rolled by here again, had some other guy in the back seat. Again, nice and slow, like they were checking the place out.”
“Are you making any enemies here, Henry?”
“Not me. I’m the friendliest guy around. But you told me that story about Maggie, right? These guys set off all the wrong vibrations, you know what I mean? That’s why I called you.”
“Maybe. We been talking about that.”
“If it is,” Henry said, “Then they don’t know what they’re taking on.”
“Neither do we.”
“Let me talk to Maggie.”
“You bet. Let me know what you want to do. You know the guys and me will have your back. Semper fi, brother.”
“Semper Fi, pal.” Paul hung up.
Maggie was sitting on the couch. She looked up from her paperback book.
“Henry, I take it?”
“Yeah. That car from yesterday, it came by his place. Twice.”
“What does Henry think?”
“About the same as we do, I guess.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We get ready. Figure they’ll make their move pretty quick.”
Maggie frowned. “I’m not going back to Iowa,” she said.
“I have a funny feeling they didn’t come to take you back there. I have a funny feeling they’re thinking of something more permanent.”
“You won’t let that happen.”
“Nope.”
***
Now, he’s hell-bent for destruction, he’s afraid and confused,
And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill,
All he believes are his eyes,
And his eyes, they just tell him lies.
But there’s a woman on my block,
Sitting there in a cold chill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Ah, now we’re getting to the best part, the action part.
Henry and Paul have been down this road before, the kids not so much.
Thanks Animal.
You can add one more to the population of Galena.
Yup — obviously before my time but I would have thought the criminal element would have thought longer and harder about screwing with the plethora of combat veterans who came back from WWII. Lots of them, knew how to use and keep modern arms — and no longer shy about killing in a good cause. I’m sure they recruited a fair share (men aren’t saints, after all) — but why look for trouble where you know it exists?
Which is my long winded way of saying — those farm boys’ instincts aren’t completely off… maybe they should be making the point a little more strenuously to their Fredo-riffic boss there. Ah well.
Dumb young men have foolishly taken on old guys (who survived) for as long as history reaches back. Part of natural selection.
I don’t think hired help are allowed to give their opinions.
Suspenseful music plays.
*Cat Jump Scare*
🐱👤
I love cliffhangers!
Thanks, Animal!
If I were a writer (hell, no one even likes when I try to create little micro-stories in comments around here), I’d now have to churn out something where the protagonist was literally hanging from a cliff just to tweak you.
I have a story where it might even fit. Now I have to figure out a way to work it in.
If nothing else, seems like the sort of situation CPRM could put Orbit Boy into (and even call it out since he’s breaking the fourth wall like crazy in those stories).
It dawned on me – these boys are from Waterloo, aren’t they?
Because they couldn’t escape if they wanted to?
Big dumb farm boys. Probably left for the big city to find some action. The family is from Waterloo as I recall.
Hey Animal, I just wanted to say thank you for providing all of this excellent content to us here. Very much appreciated, you actually make me look forward to Mondays!
I second this motion. And I’ll say, anyone thinking the old duffers are shooting fish in a barrel is probably wrong.
Monday noon and Friday night – must read Glibs.
I’ve been reading your stuff, JI, for the educational content.
Thanks to all the Glibs for the efforts, country boys need to thrive as well.
Hmm, the phrasing almost makes me feel like Q.
C’mon, you know you look forward to Wednesday noon…
I enjoy it all. Even the math articles that make me feel dumber than usual.
#metoo
#metoo+1*𝝅
Where do I find my square pies?
Are square pies Keto?
Many people think pie are round.
Pie are not round.
Pie are square.
/Professor from Gilligan’s Island.
Pie are square, and cornbread ain’t round either
Apropos of nothing – was it you I was talking to about the neighbor’s awesome old, worked LS400?
I finally got a video:
https://streamable.com/sdgqge
Still haven’t met the guy – don’t know if that’s an engine swap or the original engine.
Wasn’t me, but that’s a nice ride! I’ve always liked those.
Weds noon is a place of wonder and dread.
Very enjoyable, thanks Animal.
I still want someone to use a Thompson. I don’t know, maybe Maggie shooting up the DeSoto while saying, “Take that, you rats!”
Top a da world, Ma!!!
+1. Great movie.
Funny you mention Thompson’s. That was a deal-breaker for me in the series 1923 – when the broke-ass sheep herder shows up in a car with a Thompson.
They weren’t prohibitively expensive or hard to come by before 1934, were they?
In the middle of the Great Depression? Choppers were extremely expensive even before the NFA.
Do the guys have gats? Rods? Heaters?
They were damned expensive (relative to any other gun save maybe Holland & Holland). That plus the maintenance issues was why the Army didn’t adopt them across the board.
Mobsters with Thompson’s is overdone. Probably safe to say that it is well beyond trite. That being said, the mental image makes me chuckle, no matter how silly it is.
Now, giving Maggie linked .50 Browning’s would definitely be over the top.
A shortened BAR, ala Clyde Barrow?
1. Illegal
2. Nissan Altima
3. Violent
It’s the trifecta!
Illegal immigrant bites off police sergeant’s finger after DUI bust: sources
Big Altima Energy!
Russel Brand names names on who is trying to silence him – and anyone who dissents.
https://rumble.com/v3kpy5m-this-is-important.html
… and it’s a fucking video.
Oh Lord. We already know, Russell. I support what he is doing, but I can’t take 5 minutes of his Wall of Speech. He’s more animated than the Energizer Bunny.
Imagine being on a long car trip with him. I think I’d abandon him at a gas station.
He supplies the grass part?
Imagine him on a coke bender back in his partying days.
2. Nissan Altima
Is that the new “maximum IQ car”? That’s what I used to call them; the dealer won’t sell you one if your IQ is higher than some permissible maximum (like 37). Almost without fail, you see them engaged in dangerous idiocy
Notable previous examples were the Plymouth Duster and Ford Probe.
It’s a cheap car with a crappy transmission.
If it wasn’t for the transmission it would be fine basic transport.
You can get a Versa now for like $21k. I find that amazing.
There was a short period of time you could one with the 3.5 and the 6M.
Perfect little sleeper car. Cheap Maxima.
Easy lending terms, I hear.
They weren’t prohibitively expensive or hard to come by before 1934, were they?
War surplus, down at the hardware store.
Cheaper on line. Oh wait…
If it wasn’t for the transmission it would be fine basic transport.
There’s a lot of that going around.
If it wasn’t for the __________ it/they would be great.
Damned right there is a lot of that going around.
A ten speed automatic transmission, controlled by a computer and a bunch of sensors and solenoids; what could possibly go wrong?
The Nissan is a CVT.
I’d take a traditional slushbox over a CVT in heartbeat.
Any conventional transmission with over 8 gears is almost universally a mess. They are all geared and have logic for maximum EPA ratings. Many lockout gears if you select performance mode.
I only need eight gears if I’m going to go 150mph with 100hp
Ramaswamy must be picking up steam.
Right – as compared with Nancy Pelosi’s husband expert market timing.
“Our team carefully mined the Securities and Exchange Commission’s filings archives and Ramaswamy’s own prior statements to recreate and analyze some of his investment history on Wall Street. What we found was shocking.”
Nancy Pelosi and anyone else in congress weren’t as interesting. Or Biden, nothing interesting at all about how his net worth is so high on his government salary.
It’s been investigated, and Biden is fine.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/he-s-not-feeling-the-pinch-despite-falling-popularity-biden-s-wealth-surges/ss-AA1he3Pf
“His commitment to the American people and the values he holds dear has been evident in every step of his journey, from a young lawyer to the highest office in the land.”
He deserves those tens of millions for everything he’s done to help us all, selflessly sacrificing and never thinking of himself.
Didn’t Menendez make that very speech about himself this morning? It was such boiler plate crook trying to talk themselves out of trouble tripe that it was embarrassing to watch.
I liked this quote:
“Through a combination of government salaries, book deals, speaking engagements, and more, he’s managed to amass a respectable net worth of $9 million.”
I wonder where the “and more” money came from?
Bank interest. Yeah, that’s it.
🙄
If you read this as “Through a combination of government salaries, graft, bribes, and more graft…”
Then it clears right up for you.
“Was it dumb luck? We don’t have evidence of insider trading.”
But we’re going to continue as if we do.
I was going to comment on how quickly he gets ahead of these things, and here you go from last night:
https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1706139767526637591
“I hope everybody reads it . . . . . ”
said with cool confidence.
“
So he is worried the government of which he is a powerful part is going to take his money.
Sen. Bob Menendez pulls Cuba card, says piles of cash feds found from his savings
Props for cojones…
Cool link, bro!
I only need eight gears if I’m going to go 150mph with 100hp
In your drop tank Bonneville car?
*Nelson Muntz laugh*
https://twitter.com/Joshuajered/status/1705390065541931234
🙂
I don’t want to celebrate people getting hurt, but it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.
Ending a tweet with a sentence fragment is not grounds for getting hit by a car.
Interesting, and long, piece on how much it costs to keep afloat those Russian yachts we’ve been stealing.
Taxpayers Stuck Paying the Bills for Oligarchs’ Seized Yachts and Mansions
I mentioned that this am. Anybody not in government should know what maintenance on a yacht like that costs.
The two happiest days in a boat owners life . . . .
The day you seize it . . . .
And, actually their isn’t a second day.
Sheesh. Just list it for rent on yachtr. Do I have to think of everything?
Other possibilities:
-Covid housing
-Low income housing
-Lease it to an Indian tribe and let them turn it into a casino.
-Lease it as a movie set
-Rent it out for porn shoots
He deserves those tens of millions for everything he’s done to help us all, selflessly sacrificing and never thinking of himself.
A lifetime of selfless devotion to the working man and woman; he doesn’t even know where those millions came from. They just showed up in his checking account.
Old and busted: bussing migrants out of state is cruel.
New hotnness:
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/uber-eats-food-stamps-2024/
Tundra, from last thread:
The Caucasus and SE Europe are chopped into lots of small countries / tribal areas because they lie between the Islamic world and the Christian world. They are also littered with ruins of fortresses (castles). Prior to the advent of Islam central asians swarmed out of the 6 ‘Stans (Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) around the Caspian and Black seas eastward and westward.
They washed over the Arab world except for Saudi Arabia and colonized everything in the ME. They were more or less stopped by India, Mongolia, the Caucasians, Greeks and Bulgars. All of those people’s cultures became especially war like after centuries of fighting off invaders. That struggle goes on to this day.
The same can be seen in all borderlands. Scotland- England, Central America, Scandinavia – Russia, etc. etc.
I dont think the Serbs are going to turn into a pacifistic society any time soon.
The natives managed to destroy a good swath of Silesia themselves during the Hussite wars.
Speaking of borderlands….
A microcosmic example would be the narrow pass north of Glasgow Scotland. The pass was inhabited by a tribe/large family group – the Enterkins. To pass you had to pay a toll or give the secret password (given only to family or close associated groups). The password, I am told, was the answer to a riddle. Of course it was easy for those who knew the password, but for those without that or the money to pay the toll had to pass a trial by combat.
Sound familiar?
People got sick of that shit and so eventually ran the Enterkins out of Scotland. (get it? Enter….kin.) Of course. you have guessed it already…this is the origin of the mythical troll under the bridge.
Anyway, the Enterkins landed in Ireland. They Irish found them just as insufferable as the Scots did so they also threw them out. They came here. It is a very unusual family name as there are very few of them left. There is a small group of them in Catahoula parish and they appear on my family tree in a few places. My great, great grandmother was an Enterkin. Family traditions die hard. The main group of them have a Hatfield – McCoy style feud that has been going on for at least a century with the Carroll family that settled nearby. There is always one or the other of them in prison for killing each other. Oh yeah….the Carrolls also appear on my family tree. No, I am not going to kill myself.
*fun, interesting and completely useless information tidbit.
>.>
<.<
*taps watch*
It takes a licking and keeps on ticking?
Doesn’t look like anything is scheduled. Ooops.
We need some AI up in here running things.
Tulpa must be asleep at the wheel.
You guys all need to go wake yourself up.
“‘course Wapner comes on at 5.”
*throws fit*