Under the Microscope

Chapter 15

Crawford POV

It was one of the most difficult conversations Crawford's ever had to have but it was crucially necessary. Telling Zach that he could not be with Kimberly, the love his life, ate at Crawford's heart and soul far more than he would ever be willing to reveal. Crawford knew that Zach would hate him for a long time, but he was also quite certain that Zach was as perturbed at Kimberly as he was at Crawford if not more based on the conversation that he, Alice and Kimberly's parents overheard.

Even after all that the things that took place in Seattle after Zach and Corey; then there was the all the events that took place henceforth, Crawford telling Zach he could never be with Kimberly was by far the toughest out of all of those things and there were plenty. Crawford began to tell Zach what he's been doing since they were together in Seattle.

It all started back when Pang and Crawford had their last stand fight in the halls of the Ponelitios base;

Pang and Crawford fought toe to toe and blow for blow throughout the halls of the abandoned Starbucks brewery building after Crawford and Alice had tracked Pang to that location. The two of them led a very large host of men and women that included FBI and CIA agents, local and state police, including a SWAT team, as well as large contingencies from every branch of the United States Armed Forces.

Both Crawford and Alice had soon discovered that Marcus Pang aka 'The Janitor' was no longer the go-to triggerman for Alexi Gustav aka 'the Operator' and Alfonzo Martinez, VI who had grown frustrated at Pang's failure to procure Zach Monroe so they hired of the most if not the most deadly, ruthless and feared killer in the world Toko Nakatichi, the man who murdered Aaron Williamson, the adopted father of Zach's uncle Charlie and more recently the decimation of several members both the Ponelitios and Crawford's large crew. Toko also killed and beheaded Pang's assistant Fred Nichols aka 'Tom' who once held a gun to Alice's head.

Crawford had known Marcus Pang for a very long time. In fact there was a time when they considered each other friends. They have been on the same and opposite sides of the law and have known each other for over four decades. The two of them know each other very well and although Crawford would never tell Pang his true background, but Crawford knew Pang was smart enough that he probably picked up a thing or two about him during their history with each other. By the same token, that despite Pang being a merciless killer for hire, Crawford knows that Pang had a certain set of morals that he did business with like not killing children like Zach. Crawford knew that Marcus Pang also had a family of his own that's been poverty stricken for too long and he does his business for the sole purpose of supporting said family. Crawford knew Gustav's MO all too well through Crawford's experience with Zach's uncle Charlie. During their intensely brutal struggle, Crawford had discovered from Pang that all along Gustav had threatened his family just as they threatened Lee Jacob to have the latter's family murdered if he did not kill Zach's parents.

Crawford and Pang fought until they reached a corridor in the basement of the brewery where Crawford saw a set of double doors that had a Hazmat sign on it. This distraction allowed Pang to gain the upper hand but just as Pang was in a legitimate position to shoot Crawford dead in the face Utu had arrived seemingly from out of those doors and tackled Crawford's would-be killer. From the impact of the tackle, Pang had let couple bullets fly grazing Crawford across the temple with one and the others ricocheted off the wall and killed a near-by Ponelitio member and injured couple soldiers and federal agents that were fighting in the background; the other Ponelitios involved in the scuffle fled the scene after that.

"What's going on, Utu?!" exclaimed Crawford

"We have no time now, Maxwell," panted Utu, "we must flee in haste." Before they had a second to act, several people had walked out from the double doors. It was the young CIA agent Jimmy Winslow that Crawford met before the mission and many of the Navy Seals that Crawford saw in the submarine with Capt. George Naples; they had their hands over their heads as if they were being at gunpoint from behind and that's exactly what it was. Emerging from behind the captives all toting shotguns, rifles and pistols were Agent Michelle Huntington, Lt. Jeffery Roscoe and his fellow National Guard comrades and finally, Capt. George Naples. Pretty soon the backstabbers were accompanied by a large host of other agents and military as well as Ponelitios members; Crawford, Utu and Pang were surrounded.