“Alright. Take her to the one outside of Pittsburgh. I’ll meet you out there with the guys. We’re going to have to strategize.”
“Cap, I know that you have rules about being involved with someone you’re protecting, but I can’t walk away from her. Axel is my kid. I’ve missed out on so much time with them. I need to stay with them.”
“I understand. We’ll discuss it when we get to the safe house.”
Cap hung up and I got into the SUV with Axel and Ali. Jules and Ice were in the other SUV, following us and watching our backs. This would most likely be the last time that I could ever go anywhere with Ali and Axel alone. Cap would pull me from their detail and I wouldn’t be allowed to take them anywhere without someone else with us. I understood why. I had been there when Cazzo had been protecting Vanessa. He had been involved with her and he let his emotions get in the way of protecting her. Cap wouldn’t allow that to happen ever again.
“So, you were in the military?” Axel asked.
“Yeah. I was in the Marines for ten years.”
“What was it like?”
I glanced over at Ali, not sure how much detail she wanted me to go into, but she looked just as curious.
“It was the best fucking thing I could have ever done. It set the course for the rest of my life. I’ll be honest with you, when your mom and I were together, I wanted to marry her before everything went south. But I don’t know what kind of life I could have given her. I’m sure it would have been better than what the two of you have been through.”
“But you liked it?” he asked.
“Hell yeah. Those were some of the best years of my life. I’m not gonna lie. It’s tough as hell and they push you to your limits, but it really lets you know what you’re made of.”
“How did you know which branch you wanted to go into?”
“I was just walking down the street and saw the recruiting office. I knew it was my only chance of getting out of the life.”
I felt so damn guilty for saying this shit to them. They had lived the life I had been destined for, but he was my kid and I had to be honest with him.
“You said you still keep in touch with the Sergeant?” Ali asked.
“Yeah. I still go see them whenever I get the chance. They’re like family to me. Sergeant Mills and his wife saved my life,” I said honestly. “I would have fucking died if they hadn’t taken me in. Actually, he whooped my ass pretty good before I even went to boot camp,” I said with a grin.
“What kind of stuff did he do?” Axel asked. I could tell that he wasn’t angry, just truly interested in what had taken me to that point in my life.
“He trained me. He had me run every morning with him. I was tall, but I was a scrawny little shit back then. My brother provided what he could for me, but it really wasn’t ever enough. I was always fucking hungry. Cheryl, his wife, made sure that I bulked up before I went off to train. The sergeant, Thad, he helped me study for my GED and taught me everything that I needed to know so that I could pass the tests. He taught me to fight so that I had the best chance possible. I stayed with them after boot camp until I was deployed. They never had children, but they treated me like their very own son. They sent me care packages when I was overseas and Cheryl wrote me letters. They treated me better than my own damn parents did.”
“It’s strange to know that you’re my dad. I mean, you’ve had like this whole other life that’s completely different from ours.”
“I’m really sorry about that, kid. If I had known, I would have gotten you out a long time ago.”
“I’m not blaming you,” he said with a shrug. “I’m just saying it’s weird.”
I blamed me though. I had pushed Ali away and she and my kid had paid the price. All I could hope now was that I could keep them safe from the Blood Devils.
The ringing of my phone brought me out of my thoughts. “Yeah?”
“We’ve got a tail. I’ve got Alec and Cazzo’s team headed to us. Alec and I will head them off and Cazzo will go with you to the safe house.”
“How many vehicles?”
“One. We’ll get what we can out of them and then meet you at the safe house.”
“Watch your six.”
He hung up and I tightened my grip on the wheel. It was starting already and I had a feeling we were in for the fight of our lives.
✯✯✯✯✯
“Cap, this is Ali and my son, Axel.”
Cap shook both their hands and a grin twisted his lips. “Welcome to the club, man.”
“Cap,” I shook my head in warning. “Don’t.”
He held up his hands and grinned. “Alright, alright. It’s nice to meet both of you. Why don’t you get settled upstairs while we discuss our next steps? When we have a plan in place, we’ll let you know.”
Ali looked a little uncomfortable with just walking away, but she nodded and her and Axel headed upstairs.
“What the hell?” Cap said. “You finally have a woman and a kid and you’re not claiming them?”
“Claiming them? They’re not fucking cattle, Cap.”
“I’m just saying, I thought you would be all over this. You’re the one always griping at the guys about respecting women and shit. I just assumed that you would be making sure everyone knew she was taken.”
“First of all, it’s because I respect her that I’m not claiming her. She’s a grown woman and if she wants me, we’ll discuss it like adults. Second, I just got her back a few days ago and found out that I had a kid. You can bet that I take my responsibilities seriously, but give me a fucking chance to catch up. And third, there’s not a fucking guy on our teams that would dare touch them knowing that she was my girlfriend and he’s my kid.”
“Just checking, man. I’m happy for you, but it’s gotta be hard to find out you have a kid that’s sixteen years old. You doing okay with that?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t gotten to know him all that much yet, but he seems like a good kid. But then, Ali always had a good head on her shoulders. She did a good job with him, especially considering the circumstances.”
“I can’t believe she was with the Blood Devils all these years. She seems so normal.”
“She’s fucking strong.”
“Well, let’s get a plan in place to end this.”
The alarm on the front gate sounded and Cap and I walked over to the video feed. Alec and Ice were pulling up, but when they got out, they were dragging two guys with them. I looked over at Cap. Obviously, Ice didn’t intend for them to leave here alive or he never would have brought them to our safe house.
We headed out back in the direction that Ice was dragging one of the guys. Cazzo, Sinner, and Burg were on first watch, so I didn’t have to worry about Ali and Axel. Ice was dragging one of the guys into the woods and Alec had the other guy, dragging him to a different section of the woods. Cap and I split up and I headed for Alec.
“Who sent you?” Alec said as he threw the guy down on the ground against a tree. The guy had his hands tied behind his back and had a gash on his forehead.
“I’m not saying shit.”
Alec nodded to Craig and Florrie, who were standing off to the side. They walked over to him with a length of rope, tossing it over a branch to make a noose. Florrie wrapped the rope around his neck, making sure it was tight.
“You gonna tie me up, mama? We gonna have some fun?”
“Oh, I’m definitely gonna have some fun,” Florrie smirked. “I’m afraid the only screaming you’ll hear is your own voice.”
She yanked on the rope, jerking him up until his feet were just barely scraping the ground. He choked and spluttered as he tried to reach the ground. His hands were fisted behind his back as he struggled to breathe.
“Who sent you?” Alec asked again.
The guy was red and couldn’t speak. Florrie lowered the rope just enough for him to rest his feet on the ground. He coughed as he gasped for air, but he only got a few seconds before Florrie had him dangling from the tree again. I had to hand
it to her, the girl was fucking strong. Just when the guy was about to pass out, she let him back down, this time, dropping him to his knees on the ground.
“Who sent you?” Alec asked for a third time.
“Fuck, man. If I had known the bitch was this much trouble, I never would have come,” he croaked out.
“Who were you sent after?”
“Bitch named Alison and her kid, Axel.”
“Who asked you to look for them?”
“Fuck, man. I already said more than I should have.”
A tortured scream in the distance had him whipping his head around.
“Looks like they already got something out of your buddy,” Craig said. “Guess we don’t have any use for you anymore.”
“Wait! No. I can tell you anything you want to know.”
Alec bent down, his face right in front of the gangbanger’s. “Who sent you? Who are you with?”
“Night Kings,” he said hastily.
“Prove it,” Alec narrowed his eyes at him. The guy looked down at his stomach and then back up. Alec ripped his shirt up, showing a nasty burn that had never healed properly. It was probably only a year or two old, which meant this guy was a new member.
“What do the Night Kings want with them?” I asked, stepping forward.
“Man, I don’t know. Ruger gave me orders and I follow them.”
“Who would know?” I asked.
“Fuck, I don’t know, man. He might have told Stones, but I’m new. He didn’t tell me jack shit.”
“Then why am I keeping you alive?” Alec asked darkly. The guy’s eyes widened and he shook his head.
“No, I can…you can send me back. I can deliver a message for you.”
“Believe me, you are.” Alec whipped out a knife and slit the guy’s throat before he even knew what was happening. I watched as the guy dropped to the ground, gurgling as his eyes grew dim. He was dead moments later.
“We’ll handle clean up,” Craig said. I nodded and headed off in Cap’s direction. It was time to see what Stones knew. When I got over to them, he was bleeding from his ear. I watched as Ice talked to him quietly, the gleam in his eyes as deadly as ever. Ice was a straight shooter, most of the time. But these assholes wouldn’t cut us any slack if they had one of us and we weren’t about to show them any mercy now. They knew what they were doing when they decided to follow us.
“Please,” the guy whimpered. “That’s all I know.”
“Then I don’t need you anymore.”
The guy was dead before he hit the ground and when Ice turned around, his face was lethal. “The Blood Devils.”
I didn’t really need him to confirm it. I already knew it. “Why did they involve the Night Kings?”
“The Blood Devils didn’t want to step on any toes,” Ice confirmed.
“Shit,” Cap said. “Now we’re going to have the Blood Devils and the Night Kings retaliating. We need a plan ASAP.”
“That’s not the only problem,” I said grimly. “The Night Devils are known for going after families. I just put all of us and everyone we love in danger.”
Cap, Ice, and Jules all looked at me in resignation. We all knew that there was a very good chance that we wouldn’t all be walking away from this. Cap walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
“This isn’t your fault. They had your family first. Our advantage is that we’re all highly trained and they don’t realize who they just fucked with. Let’s get back to the house. We have a lot of calls to make.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Half of Reed Security was already at the safe house, but there wasn’t time to get everyone together. The rest of the teams were back at Reed Security, so Cap got everyone on a conference call to fill them in on the situation. When we were all gathered in the living room, Cap stood to fill everyone in. I pulled Ali into my side on the couch, needing to feel her close to me. Axel sat next to her and I saw her grip his hand.
“Here’s the deal,” Cap said, his voice pure steel. “Most of you already know that Ali and Axel escaped from the Blood Devils. Axel is Chris’s son. That means that Ali and Axel have our full protection. The problem is that the Blood Devils involved the Night Kings and we just took out two of their guys.”
A round of curses filled the room and Ali shrank into my side. This wasn’t her fault or Axel’s. They were just trying to escape that life.
“I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Night Kings, but they aren’t going to just walk away from us taking out their guys. And the Blood Devils aren’t going to stop until Ali and Axel are back with them. From this moment on, everyone is on high alert and no one goes anywhere alone. Wives and girlfriends need to be brought in immediately. We don’t have room for everyone at this location, so we’re going to have to split up.”
“I have room at my place,” Cazzo said firmly. “I can fit a few people in the house and the guest house. I have all the security we could ever need and an arsenal to go with it.”
“Good. Let’s stick to teams,” Cap said with a nod. “Sinner and Burg, you’ll stay with Cazzo. Since Rob is already familiar with your system, he’ll go with you. Chance, you’re with Cazzo also. We’ll bring Becky here to run things from here. We have six rooms here. Alec, your team will stay here, as will Derek’s team. Hunter, you get on the phone and call Lola. Let her know what’s going on and tell her to get her ass here now. If she gives you any shit, tell her we’ll go get her and drag her here. That leaves Ice’s team, Knight, and myself. It’s gonna be crammed and we’re going to have to take shifts, but it’ll do for now. As for extended family, we can’t protect them all. There’s just not enough of us. We’ll send them away if we have to until this is over. Make arrangements with your parents and siblings to be somewhere protected or out of the country.”
There was a grave silence around the room as we all digested that information. We were going to war with two gangs and there was no question about whether or not blood would be spilled. It was kill or be killed. This would never end until they were dead.
“Our first priority is to make sure everyone is safe. When we’re all secured, we’ll make a plan to end this. Everyone clear?”
Everyone agreed and Cap ended the call. “Alec, I need your team to stay here on protection detail while Cazzo, Sinner, and I collect our families.”
“No problem, Cap,” Alec agreed.
“Chris, I think we both know that you’re working on the detail, but you won’t be on close protection.”
I nodded. I already knew this was coming. “That’s fine. As long as I can be here.”
“Good. Alec, you’re in charge. Ice and Jules, you’re with us. Get what you need and we’ll get back here.”
Everyone was out the door within minutes and then it was just Ali, Axel, and I in the living room while Alec’s team was watching the perimeter. Florrie was still inside working close protection, but was giving us some space.
“Chris, I’m so sorry I’ve brought this on you. I never imagined that us coming to you would be this bad.”
“Don’t. This is not your fault,” I said fiercely.
“But it is. All of your friends and their families are in danger because we ran to you.”
“And who else would you have run to? I’m Axel’s father. I may not have been there for the last sixteen years, but I don’t ever want you to doubt your decision to run to me. I’ll always protect you.”
Ali looked back at me with tears in her eyes and I knew that my words hadn’t eased her conscience any. Axel stood and walked out of the room. I let him go because I needed to make some things clear with Ali. I lifted her chin so that I could look into her eyes.
“Hey, none of this is your fault. I’m the one that left you. You held on for way longer than you should have. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you and Axel, but I’m here now and I will do everything I can to keep you safe. As for my teammates, we would do the same for any of them that were in trouble, so don’t start putting the
weight of the world on your shoulders. This is what we do and we’re damn good at it.”
She nodded as the tears slipped down her face. “I’ve missed you, Chris.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” I rested my forehead against hers and let out a sigh. “There’s not a day that went by that I didn’t think of you and wonder how you were doing.” I shook my head in disgust. “I wish I had never walked away, or that I had come back for you. I hate that I’ve missed out on all this time with you and Axel, but I swear to you, we’re going to figure this out and you’ll never have to worry again.” I pulled back and looked into her beautiful eyes. “When this is over, I want you and Axel to stay with me.”
“Are you sure?”
“My life hasn’t been the same without you in it,” I said, feeling the truth of the words as I spoke them. “I always thought you had found someone better and were living the good life. It just didn’t occur to me that I had put you in danger.”
She laughed sarcastically. “Let’s face it. The area we grew up in? There was no escaping that hell without something drastic happening. I don’t care about the past right now. I just want to move on and forget that part of my life.”
This woman amazed me. Her strength was something I had only seen a few times in my life. What she had lived through the past seventeen years was more than any person should have to deal with, yet she just wanted to move past it and get on with her life. There was no crying and carrying on. It was over and that was that.
“Chris?” I looked up to see Axel standing a few feet from us, looking at me with uncertainty. “Sorry, I’m not sure what to call you.”
“Whatever makes you comfortable.”
“Uh, I was thinking, with everything that’s going on, I want you to show me how to protect us.”
I looked back at Ali, not sure if she was okay with this. “Are you okay with me showing him how to use a gun?” She bit her lip and lowered her eyes. “Hey, I know what you’re thinking, but I’m going to teach him the right way to use a gun. He won’t be going out and killing anyone unless it’s to protect himself. But he’s right. You should both know how to handle a weapon.”
Whiskey: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 7) Page 6