The Peacekeepers. Books 7 - 9 (The Peacekeepers Boxset Book 3)

by Ricky Sides

  Sneering, Ralph said, “You just want to quit when you’re ahead. That’s not going to happen, Pretty Boy.”

  Shrugging, Evan said, “Then it’s your move.”

  This time, Ralph approached cautiously. He feigned a punch to Evan’s face, and then attempted to kick him in the groin.

  Evan saw the kick coming and snapped a hand down to block the kick. His blocking hand intercepted Ralph’s leg and snaked around the knee joint. Pulling the bully’s leg in toward his waist, Evan pivoted his body and swept the other leg out from under his opponent.

  Ralph landed on the floor with a bone jarring crash. Evan could have maintained control of the young man’s captured leg and finished the fight then and there, but instead, he released Ralph’s leg and backed off. “It’s over, Ralph. You’ve had enough. Let it go,” he said.

  However, Ralph was furious. He was determined to beat Evan for humiliating him in front of witnesses. He scrambled to his feet and advanced on Evan in a threatening manner. “This isn’t over until I say it’s over!” he yelled belligerently.

  “Get him Ralph! You can take him!” Harvey shouted in encouragement.

  Thus encouraged by his friend, the bully strode forth and faked a punch to Evan’s jaw. He then stepped to the right on a forty-five degree angle and threw another punch. This time he aimed for Evan’s ribs. That punch connected, knocking Evan back away from the bigger youth.

  Sensing weakness, Ralph rushed after Evan. He had finally hit him, and he intended to continue hitting Evan until Pete pulled him off the boy. His flailing hand grabbed Evan’s right wrist and Ralph snatched with all his might. He never even saw Evan’s knee rising to attack. One moment, Ralph thought he was winning the fight, and the next, he felt a blinding pain in his groin. Letting go of Evan’s wrist, he collapsed on the floor in the fetal position holding his groin and retching.

  “Let it go, Ralph. Don’t ever bother me again and that goes for Lisa as well. I won’t have her being abused by anyone,” Evan said.

  “I damned sure better not hear you boys have been tormenting my daughter,” Pete said with a hard edge to his voice. “And Evan was right earlier when he told you that you should stop and walk away, Ralph.”

  Turning his attention back to Harvey, Pete asked, “Do you want to take this matter up with Evan? If you do, then you’d better do it now. I’d better not hear of you boys ganging up on anyone in the citadel. That’s marauder behavior, and you boys know what we do to marauders.”

  “Marauders! Pete, we were just having a little fun,” Harvey replied.

  “You have no idea how many marauders I’ve heard use that same lame assed excuse, Harvey. You boys had better stop and ponder the consequences of the path you’ve been traveling, before one of the other peacekeepers decides you aren’t worth the effort to salvage.”

  Harvey audibly gulped as the full meaning of Pete’s warning hit home. “It’s over as far as I’m concerned, Pete. I never meant to behave like a marauder. It never occurred to me that I was acting like one.”

  “That’s how they start out, Son,” Pete responded. Turning his attention to Ralph who was beginning to struggle to his feet, Pete asked, “What about you, Ralph?”

  “I’m not a marauder. You know those scum killed my mother, Pete. But I never considered what I was doing as behaving like a marauder.”

  “I’ve never met a marauder who thought what he was doing was wrong,” Pete said in a low tone of voice. “And your mother isn’t the only woman those scum have murdered. They killed Evan’s mom too, just in case you didn’t know,” Pete said. “It stops here, boys. I’d better not hear of any more attacks on the other kids, or I’ll be forced to take drastic action. No one preys on our children. Not even one of our own kids.”

  “It’s over, Pete,” Ralph assured him.

  Turning to Evan, Ralph said, “I’m sorry about your mom. How long has it been?”

  “Actually, it’s been a year today,” Evan responded, and despite his best efforts to maintain his composure, his voice broke slightly and his eyes misted with unshed tears.

  “Damn, and here I’ve been an ass, today of all days. I’m sorry, Evan. I really am,” Ralph said, and then he extended his hand to shake.

  Evan could see that Ralph was genuinely sorry. “No hard feelings?” he asked, as the two young men shook hands.

  “Nope, not if you’ll teach me to fight someday,” Ralph stated with a wry grin.

  ***

  After Ralph and Harvey departed, Pete said, “You handled that well, Evan. The way you fight reminds me of watching Jim take on a man. I see he’s taught you well.”

  “I did ok, this time,” Evan said with a shrug.

  “Are you thinking maybe you should have done more the day your mom was attacked?” Pete asked, using the opening that Evan had left in the conversation.

  “If I’d reacted differently, maybe mom would still be alive,” Evan said.

  “I seriously doubt that, Evan. You were outnumbered four to one,” said Pete. “Even if you could have defeated all those men, which wasn’t likely at the time, you wouldn’t have been able to save Lacey. She was stabbed before you could have possibly taken them all out. At your age, it just wasn’t possible to change the outcome of the tragedy. Jim might have pulled that off, but they took him out at the outset.”

  “That wasn’t his fault,” Evan stated defensively.

  “Of course it wasn’t. Nor was it yours, Evan,” Pete stated with assurance.

  Venting a protracted sigh, Evan asked, “Can I tell you something I don’t want other people to know, Pete?”

  “We’re friends, Evan. You can always tell me things in confidence. I can be discreet, when the need arises,” Pete explained.

  “Sometimes, I feel like I let Mom down. I feel like I let Jim down too. He was down and couldn’t help mom, but I was fine, and I didn’t help her,” Evan said. Despite his best efforts to maintain his composure, tears trickled down the young man’s cheeks.

  “Evan, surely Jim hasn’t accused you of failing your mother. I’ve known him a long time and I just can’t see that happening,” Pete stated firmly.

  “Oh no, Pete, Jim never said any such thing. He told me I shouldn’t blame myself, and that if it was anyone’s fault it was his. He blamed himself for not getting back up and saving Mom. In fact, I think he still blames himself for that at times, but I never blame him. I know he’d give anything if he could have saved Mom. He loved her so much that it almost killed him when she died. I think for a while, he wanted to die too, Pete,” Evan explained.

  “How does it make you feel when Jim blames himself for your mother’s death?” asked Pete.

  Evan sniffed and wiped his eyes, and then he said, “It’s not fair. Jim had been shot. Twice! His head had been injured, and he was unconscious. Blaming himself just isn’t fair.”

  “That’s right, but it’s also not fair when you blame yourself. The shooter who’d taken out Jim was still in the woods behind you. Meanwhile, you took on the men who were attacking your mother, despite that danger,” Pete said with a sober expression on his face. “That says a lot about your courage, Evan. You did everything possible to save her, but Son, you need to know that the sad reality of life is sometimes the good guys lose. This was one of those times. There have been others, and unfortunately, there will be more in the future.”

  “Like the time the forty peacekeepers were massacred in Birmingham?” asked Evan.

  A pained expression came over Pete’s face as he nodded his head sadly, and said, “Yes, like that incident and several others I could relate,” Pete said with a sigh. Then he said, “A man should never blame himself when he’s done everything he can do. Now, if a man fails to react because of fear, then maybe he has a reason to feel guilty.”

  “You never feel fear, and neither would Jim,” Evan stated.

  “You’re wrong there, Evan. We’ve both felt fear many times. Fear’s a funny thing, Son. It can paralyze a man at the worst possible mome
nt. The thing to do is use the adrenaline rush accompanied by the fear to your advantage,” Pete explained.

  “Like the night I was running from the bear? I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life, and I ran faster than I’ve ever run as I was running from that bear,” Evan responded.

  “Exactly, Evan. You used fear to your advantage that night,” Pete agreed.

  “What scares you the most?” Evan asked.

  “Failing to act when I should to defend those I love,” Pete said with a frown. “So you see, Evan, I can relate to your feelings in this matter, but let me assure you that you did everything humanly possible to help your mom. You need to remember that you played a significant role in helping to bring her killers to justice. It was your message that alerted the Peacekeeper that something was wrong in the first place. That message led to an unbroken chain of events that culminated in the confrontation between Jim and the men who killed your mom.”

  Pete remained silent for a moment. He studied the young man’s face while what he had just told him sank in, and then he said, “You know, Evan, I don’t think I’ve ever told you just how proud of you I am for the way you led us to the killers that day. That was clever of you. It was also dangerous. The marauders could have figured out you were sending messages and that would have been the end of you.”

  Shaking his head, Pete said, “No, Son, you have nothing to be ashamed of regarding your conduct that day. Jim feels the same way. We talked about it once, and he agrees with me. If you hadn’t sent that radio message, the killers would have gotten away with the murder, and you would have been lost to us. Jim’s grateful to you because he was able to punish the killers, and because he doesn’t want to lose you.”

  Evan sat silently a moment, considering everything that Pete had said, and then he said, “I’m glad we had this talk. I’ve been feeling bad about not being able to save Mom. But after talking to you I feel better.” Then he surprised Pete when he asked, “Do you think Jim and Lina will get married?”

  Pete sat motionless staring at Evan for a moment before he responded. When he did speak, he spoke in a quiet tone of voice as he said, “I think Lina loves Jim. I also think that he is attracted to her, but he may feel it’s too soon after your mother’s death to begin a relationship.”

  “Do you think he’d stay away from her if he felt that’s what I wanted, Pete?” asked Evan.

  Pete was surprised by the question. “Is that what you want?” asked Pete carefully with a neutral tone of voice.

  “It’s not what I want. It’s what I’m afraid might happen,” Evan explained.

  Pete relaxed then. “So you feel alright about a possible relationship between Jim and Lina?” he asked.

  Shrugging, Evan said, “I’m sure I wouldn’t want him to avoid one because of me, but at the same time, it would bother me to see Mom replaced.”

  Nodding his head, Pete said, “I understand. One part of you wants to see Jim happy again. Yet, another part of you wants to preserve the past, but I’d like to ask you a question, Evan. How did you feel about Jim taking your father’s place?”

  “He didn’t. Jim made his own place in my life,” Evan explained. He then told Pete about the conversation he had with his mother concerning his father’s photographs. He explained what she had said to him, and he related the details of the conversation with Jim in which he had told Evan he didn’t want to take his father’s place, but he wanted to make his own place in Evan’s life.

  “Do you think Jim might stop loving you, if he enters a relationship with another woman?” Pete asked.

  “I don’t know,” the young man responded. He quickly added, “I mean, I don’t think so, but I can’t know for sure.”

  “When Jim married your mother, she didn’t stop loving you, did she?” Pete asked.

  “No, but that’s different. She was my mother,” Evan explained.

  “And Jim’s not your real father, so you think that changes things? You think that he can’t love you as much as your real parents did?” asked Pete.

  “He never adopted me, the way you and Maggie adopted Lisa,” Evan said by way of explanation. “If he loved me the way you love Lisa, wouldn’t he have wanted to adopt me?”

  “He couldn’t adopt you,” Pete explained.

  “Why?” asked the young man in surprise.

  “Evan, you just told me that you were concerned about your father being pushed into the past, and that Jim promised you that he wasn’t trying to take your father’s place.” Pete shrugged, and then he added, “I’ve known Jim Wilison a long time, and not once in the years I’ve known the man have I seen him break a promise to anyone. He takes such matters seriously. Once he made that promise to you, he couldn’t go back on his word, and for the record, Jim has wanted to adopt you for years. I know because he told me as much when he congratulated me on our adoption of Lisa.”

  “He did?” asked Evan in surprise.

  “Yes, and after the death of your mother, Jim came to me and said he was thinking about asking you if you’d like him to adopt you, but in the end he didn’t because he was afraid to broach the subject,” Pete explained.

  “Why would he be afraid? I don’t understand, Pete,” Evan said in confusion.

  “He was afraid because he’d already promised not to try to take your dad’s place, and you’d just lost your mom. He didn’t want you to think he was trying to push them both out of your life,” Pete explained.

  Evan sat pondering everything that Pete had revealed to him for a moment. Looking into Pete’s eyes, he said, “Thanks for telling me about this. I think it’s time I had a talk with Dad when he gets home.”

  “It sounds as if you’ve reached a decision, Evan. I’m glad I could help. I hope you know that I’m always available, anytime you need someone to talk to about anything you’ve got on your mind,” Pete said.

  “Well, that does bring up one other thing I’ve been meaning to talk to you about, Pete,” the young man said.

  “Oh?” Pete said quizzically.

  For the first time, Evan looked nervous, but he squared his shoulders and said, “You know how I feel about Lisa. I’ve not made that a secret.”

  Pete nodded his head, and said, “Yes, Maggie clued me in ages ago.”

  “Pete, I intend to marry her someday,” said Evan who was himself shocked by the bluntness of his declaration.

  Pete sat quietly for a moment, and then he asked, “Does Lisa know about your plans?”

  “We’ve discussed it, yes. But we know we need to wait a few years,” Evan explained.

  “Yes, you do. You’re both fifteen now. In three or four years, you’ll be old enough to have a chance at making a marriage work. Just so you know how I feel about this, I’m going to speak bluntly, Evan. Lisa may not be my blood daughter, but I love her as if she were. If you ever hurt her, you’ll have to deal with me.”

  Evan solemnly nodded his acceptance of Pete’s statement, and then he said, “I won’t rush her into anything. We’ve talked about that and we both feel we need to wait. I know how Reggie hurt her. I’m glad he’s dead. I’ll never hurt her the way he did, Pete. That’s a promise.”

  “Evan, that’s one promise you’d better not break, and that’s all I want to say on that matter. Just don’t hurt my little girl. Be good to her. Don’t rush her, or push her into anything she’s not ready to do. Treat her with respect. Do those things and we’ll get along just fine,” Pete said in a mild tone of voice. However, Evan saw the fire in his eyes, and knew that Pete meant every word he had just said.

  Chapter 3

  Far across the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Spain, a great fleet was being assembled. The convoy was a mismatched assortment of vessels, which spanned the technology of the past century and a quarter. Sailing yachts sat at sea alongside the battleships and destroyers that would lead the armada. Behind them were fuel tankers, supply ships, troop transports, freighters, several oil tankers, and every conceivable civilian vessel rated for the open se
a imaginable, including several cruise ships. These ships all carried pirates who had seized most of the vessels in the years following the breakdown of world governments.

  The pirate fleet was a multinational assembly, ruled by a captain’s council that was composed of the captains of the largest ships. To qualify for membership on the council, the captain had to have a crew of at least forty men, and the ship had to be seaworthy. Disagreements in the council were often settled by votes, but occasionally, fights between the opposing captains settled disputes. Those fights, more often than not, resulted in the death of the loser.

  For the past several years, these pirate vessels had systematically looted the coastlines of the western European nations. The token efforts of those countries to deal with the pirates made little difference in their ability to raid and plunder at will. Only one nation had managed to stand strong against the pirates, and had thus far beaten them during every confrontation.

  With the collapse of Parliament, the people of Britain turned to their monarchy, expecting the royals to reestablish order, and with the support of the British people, the monarchy rose to that challenge.

  The United Kingdom had managed to keep sufficient portions of their naval forces intact and seaworthy to prevent the pirate fleets from pillaging their isles. Now they were running low on resources. The worst shortage was that of petroleum products, without which they couldn’t produce fuel to maintain their fleet vigilance, but there were other critical shortages as well.

  Forced by these shortages to pull back their defensive forces (to their own coastal waters) the United Kingdom was effectively isolated. The pirates saw this as a victory. The once great kingdom was weakening, and would soon be theirs to plunder, but they too were suffering critical shortages. Like the United Kingdom, they were low on petroleum products, ammunition for their captured warships, and food.

  Now the pirates were turning their sights on the United States, where they expected to obtain crude oil, fuel for their ships, food in abundance, and a myriad of other items in high demand throughout devastated Europe. With those resources at their disposal, they felt confident that they would be able to crush the fleets of Britain, and then establish an era of pirate rule over the seas of the world.