by Brook Wilder
Chapter 27
Turkey Day
Alina and Diane spent the better part of the morning cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Serge and Ivan were good sports about being taste testers. They complained about the lack of cabbage dishes, but neither woman had any idea how to cook cabbage. It simply wasn’t a regional specialty.
In the early afternoon. Bull Dog’s mother dropped him off along with Twinkie and Copperhead. Non ran to them and they had a group hug, then they did it all over again for Jaden. Watching Jaden interact with his friends drove home to Alina exactly how good a parent Hammer had been. Though he might not have thought to cultivate age appropriate friendships for Jaden, he had managed to teach his son some very important lessons in caring, compassion, and loyalty. The boy was patient, understanding, and had a special knack for bringing out the best in others. He also wasn’t easily deceived by appearances. Looked past surface issues, he tried to connect with the person inside. Alina felt all those positive traits enabled him to make friends easily. The other kids looked up to him. Even at an early age he was forming friendship that she knew would last him lifetime. Suddenly, it occurred to her to wonder something.
“Dianne, how long have you known Hammer?”
The other woman looked up, her face scrunched up in concentration. “Since kindergarten, I think. There was this kid who used to try to spit in my milk. The teachers didn’t so anything, but little pint sized Hammer made the bully drink it himself one day. Hell, I had forgotten all about that. Anyways we’ve been kind of friends ever since. We weren’t real close or anything but I always knew what kind of person he was.”
Alina beamed at her. “Thought so.”
“Gee girlfriend, you’re getting more mysterious by the minute.”
Kids continued to show up to visit with Jaden as the afternoon wore on. The more people who packed into the small house, the more anxious and vigilant the Russians got. Alina had to ask them to dial it down a couple of times because they were beginning to act like terminators from the future sent to protect them. They got a kick out of the analogy but it didn’t change a thing.
Just as they got dinner on the table, the phone rang. Ivan picked it up and talked for so long, Alina suspected that it was a private call. He eventually placed the cordless phone on the dining table.
“Hello everyone. How the hell is everybody?”
Naturally, everyone began taking at once.
Hammer’s humors voice rose a notch.
“Come on now. One at a fuckin’ time. Let’s hear from Jared…I mean Hawk.”
“I’m fine sir. My whole club showed up for dinner, so the only thing we’re missing is you and the brothers.”
“Well, I got good news. We’re all getting out tomorrow, so I hope you save us some turkey.”
Alina spoke up. “We’ll make one special just for the brothers.”
“Sounds great, doll. How’s your VP and Sergeant at Arms, Jaden?”
Bull Dog sounded off. “We’re fine, sir. Everything got back to normal once Jaden was back. Glad to hear you’re coming home tomorrow. My mom says you’re too nice to be sittin’ in jail.”
“Well now, we know that ain’t true. Let’s keep that our little secret though, okay?”
Everyone laughed.
Hammer’s voice sobered. “How’s Twinkie holding up? Tell her I’m really sorry about her dad not making it and all.”
For once the little girl spoke up. “I’m doing fine with it. I stopped having nightmares about him, so that’s good.”
“Well hell, little one. I didn’t know you were there. Glad to hear it. If you need anything, you know you can rely upon the Kingsmen to get it done.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“How’s the little computer guy doing? His brother is worried sick about him.”
Brian spoke up for Non. “He’s hanging tough. We’re working on a computer program together. One that will scan the net for information related to your club and calculate the probability of security threats. It’s going to really help keep everyone safe.”
“Well now, that sounds like something worth having. Thank you both for that. Guess my times about up. I look forward to seeing you when I get out. We got some business to catch up on, so don’t plan a welcome home party or anything for a day or two. See you all tomorrow.”
Everyone shouted their goodbyes. Alina grabbed her glass of wine and drank to cover the fact that she was becoming emotional again. Hammer had barely acknowledged her. Was he still angry with her? She thought for sure he was. Her appetite disappeared once again, leaving her feeling hallow inside. She always did have the worse luck with men. This situation with Hammer just went to prove it.
She began clearing the table as the youngsters left to play video games and visit once again. It was important that Jaden wring as much fun out of his time with his friends as possible. She needed to stay busy anyway. Shelby and a couple of the other girls from the club had come for dinner. They were helping clear the table as well. Everyone seemed so much happier than Alina felt.
Dianne came back sniffling after spending time on the phone with Marlow. It was unclear if they had just called it quits or if they were reconnecting. Either way, it was pulling the emotions out of her. Alina decided to let the situation rest until her friend came to her wanting to talk about it.
Hearing Hammer’s voice earlier had really gotten to her. Thinking of him sitting in a cold jail cell while they were all here celebrating felt wrong. Then again the whole holiday of Thanksgiving had always felt kind of wrong to her as well. Whoever had thought it was a good idea to celebrate the decimation of the native peoples was a bit of an ass. She was fairly certain Native American’s didn’t celebrate this particular holiday. At some point she realized that she was just trying to focus on anything other than ache of losing favor with Hammer. Worrying about the origins of the holiday was just a silly way to distract herself from the pain.
Ivan approached her as things were winding down. “Hammer’s bail hearing is scheduled for ten am tomorrow.”
“I’ll make sure we’re ready to leave on time.”
“Hammer will be sending Duncan and another gentleman by the name of Rip home with you tomorrow. Do you know these men?”
Nodding yes, he continued.
“Serge and I have a private matter to attend to and we will return as soon as possible.”
“I hope everything is okay. Your family…?”
“No. It is nothing like that. In fact, we have another job to do. It will not take but a few hours. We will return promptly and continue your protection.”
“Okay. Please be careful. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to either of you.”
The man looked at her strangely. “We are the something bad that happens to others, not vice versa. Please remember that, Miss. Alina.”
She had to smile at his polite and professional but clearly arrogant self-perception.
“I will remember that, Ivan. I also want to thank you for all that you do for us.”
Nodding he replied curtly. “My pleasure, mam.”
Pivoting on his heel, he spun away and was across the room before she could reply.
Chapter 28
Making Bail
Hammer rose early and banged on his door two times. The guard who came was one he didn’t recognize.
“What do you need, Mr. Hark?”
“I have a bail hearing in thirty minutes?”
“I’m aware.”
“Don’t you think it would be fortuitous to take me over to the courthouse?”
“They already began your hearing. Said there was no need to drag the whole lot of you over there. Been watching it on the viewer. The judge has already heard your case and about three or four others. Looks like the old crone is rubber stamping them all.”
Hammer let that settle in his gut for a second. He’d been approved for bail and it looked like they all were going to be sprung. “I didn’t know that. Thanks for the information.”
>
“Gather up your shit and sit tight. We’ll be by to release you as soon as the paperwork comes through.”
Hammer stepped back and the door slammed in his face for what he hopped was the last time. Sure enough an hour and half later the door opened and he stepped outside into the hallway. A long line of Kingsmen were looking him in the face. One swift jerk of his chin had them all moving after the guard in charge. Each man was carrying his duffel bag that Alina, Jaden and the standoffish little Non had made for them. Hammer sighed that his betrayer of a woman had at least done right by his brothers. That fact alone would earn her his respect but certainly not his trust.
Stepping out into the sunshine, would have been better without the sharp bite of the November air clawing at their faces. His former guard met them halfway through a huge mostly empty parking lot. He was wearing black jeans, a rough looking matching jean jacket and had gloves and a motorcycle helmet stuffed under his arm. Hammer almost smiled at the enthusiastic look on the man’s face. He’d bet anything the man was packing a large caliber handgun in the small of his back.
“I see they finally cut you lose, convict.”
“Yep. Didn’t think you’d really step up, Turnkey.”
“Well hell, let’s see how many more times I can impress and amaze you before the day is out.”
Rip spoke the words that Hammer knew every single one of the brothers was thinking. “What the actual fuck, Hammer? Since when did we begin associating with fuckin jailhouse guards?”
“As of the day before yesterday, when he became a regular unemployed citizen.”
“Fuckin’ right about that.” He moved his hand to his waist and fingered a large clump of keys. “Made a copy of every single goddamn key they ever gave me. That should come in handy at some point.”
Hammer couldn’t hold the grin back. “Yea, that probably will come in real handy if one of our brothers ever ends up on the inside again.”
“Oh, I made the most of my little defection. I scattered currency and trade items around on the inside as well, behind air vents, ceiling tiles and such. Now if any of us end up there, we won’t have to resort to prison shanks if we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. Got a little map of the loot right here.” Patting his right breast pocket, he nodded to Hammer.
“Well consider me fuckin’ impressed. That alone would have gotten you a spot in our crew.” Turning to his men he announced softly. “Meet Turnkey. He doesn’t feel like he meeting his full potential as a jailhouse guard. I tend to agree. Get him a cut and let’s get the fuck outta here.”
Nodding, Marlow stated. “Good call, Prez. What’s the plan?”
“I want Rip and Duncan driving Alina, Jaden…I mean Hawk and Non to the clubhouse. Don’t let anyone fuckin’ near them. The rest of you get your asses to the clubhouse as well. Marlow call our suppliers and customers and see to fuckin business. Me and Turnkey are taking the Russians to the bank. I need to get them paid for watching over Jaden. I’m going to stop and talk to Cavanaugh for a bit. I want to know where we stand on getting the charges dropped permanently. We’ll be gone a few hours. When we get back, the Russians go back to sitting on Alina. Jaden and Non come back to the clubhouse with us, and we go back to business as usual. Any questions?”
No one answered. They all gathered around Turnkey to talk and welcome their new brother. Heading out to the parking lot, Hammer met up with Alina, the boys, and the Russians. Jaden ran to him. Non ran to the large group of men and stood beside his brother, Duncan. Hammer spoke with his son for a bit then requested that he go over and say hello to the brothers.
Alina had been standing her ground, watching from a distance with Ivan on one side and Serge on the other. Hammer jerked his chin and pure pleasure coursed through him when she immediately came to his side. Looking down at her, he murmured. “Thanks for looking out for Jaden. We appreciate that you saw to our needs on the inside. You did right by us. Doesn’t mean I forgive what you did, but I do respect your dedication.”
“Do you have any idea how convoluted that sounds?”
“Look, now’s not the time or place to argue the finer points of betrayal. I believe the Grim Crew has women locked in a storage container down at the dock.”
“Alert the police. This is a chance to put him away, once and for all.”
“Cavanaugh tried, but they didn’t have enough to get a restraining order. We’re going to raid the joint and the Russians will report they were hired to find one of the ladies and arrived to find…whatever in the fuck we find. It’s black Friday, so the place will be a ghost town. We’ll get in, secure the evidence, and get the hell back out before the police arrive. The Russians are legit, so they’ll stay and do the paperwork.”
“I want to come.”
“Not that shit again.”
“The way I see it, you have the same problem you had before. No one speaks Spanish and I do. It came in handy before and might again. I read and write Spanish as well. How are you going to know what is evidence if you can’t read any of it.”
“Fuckin’ fine, you smart little bitch. This has to go down the right way. We can’t keep looking over our shoulder all the time to see Miguel gunning for us. I’m real tired of this shit with the Grim Crew. They all need to go away for good.”
“Understood. It’s now or never time.”
Hammer’s attention drifted to Turnkey. “It really sucks how the police are always all too happy to give us a ride to jail, but they never drive us home afterwards.”
Hammer murmured, “Stow it Turnkey. You ain’t never even been arrested.”
“Just trying to enjoy the humor of the moment. You have to admit, it’s kind of funny how you’ve got twenty guys all standing here with no way home.
Just then Cavanaugh showed up with the fifteen seat passenger van that Hammer had requested.
“Wow, that thing’s practically a bus.”
Hammer sighed. Turnkey was way too excited and there’d be no shutting him up till the shooting began.
Hammer nodded to Rip and he moved forward snagging Jaden by the arm. Duncan moved Non forward as well. They all climbed into Alina’s Prius. With some quick goodbyes, they began to buckle up. Hammer jerked a swift nod to Marlow as they pulled off. He’d left him with instructions to keep Booker under close monitoring and everyone on lockdown at the clubhouse.
Chapter 29
Playing Hero
As Serge pulled away, Hammer’s attention was drawn to the front passenger seat when Ivan spoke.
“We brought the items necessary for this mission. Naturally, we were not planning for Miss. Alina so we are short on equipment.”
“What mission?” Turnkey looked back and forth between Ivan and Hammer a brief moment before a smile broke out on his face.
Reaching them a hard side black case he explained. “Mr. Hark has asked that assist him with breaching the private property of one Miguel Sandoval. We procured two additional sets of Kevlar. It is in the back. Serge and I are particular about our side arms. We always carry the 6P35 Yargin. Since we did not know your preference, we selected two Glock 45’s for each of you, along with extra clips. You said to keep it clean so we didn’t bring automatic weapons or anything illegal.”
Hammer liked working with the Russians. “We never once discussed compensation.”
“We will breach the container and see what he secures there. We take a 50/50 split of any and all valuables. It could be that this operation pays for itself.”
Hammer responded curtly. “I believe we will only find women there. He has a string of strip club and prostitutes in the back rooms.”
Ivan glanced up at him then back down at his handgun. He let the slide click before slamming the clip into the handle. “Perhaps today, we fight injustice in the world. Our reward will be God’s to give, no?”
Hammer smiled at the other man, relieved they were on the same page.
Turnkey murmured beside him. “This is a thousand fuckin’ times better than walking
the halls of that jail.”
Hammer marveled that opening his eyes and living in the moment, had led him to like-minded men and an opportunity to slap Miguel down with a little righteous justice today. It was a hell of a way to spend his first day out of the joint. Picking up a Glock, he ran his hand down the cold metal barrel. It was good that this cold slice of metal would be dealing death today. If Miguel were keeping women in that shipping container any men standing there allowing that to happen deserved to eat a bullet. He’s gun them down in cold blood and sleep like a baby tonight. He always did.