Celtic Dragon

by Amy Cecil

  He stops moving and just stands there staring at me. I ask, “What’s it gonna be?”

  He holds up his hand and slowly moves it to a button on his counter and pushes it. The gate proceeds to open. But as it’s opening, the alarm from the gatehouse begins to sound. That fucker! I’d fully intended to let him live, but now he leaves me no choice. We have to go! I fire one bullet dead center through his forehead. He falls to the ground.

  I turn toward Liam and yell, “GO!” Liam floors the gas. As he drives out through the gate, I pull another grenade out of my pocket, pull the pin, and release it behind us toward the guard house. That should delay them a bit.

  Liam drives as fast as this truck can go. I keep looking behind us from the side mirror. I know they’ll be coming after us soon. After driving for about ten minutes, Liam turns down a deserted road. I think suspiciously, This isn’t the way we came. We drive for several minutes and then come to a dead end. Parked at the end of the road is a black van. What the hell? Did this guy double-cross us?

  Liam parks the truck and says, “Let’s go. We can move faster in that van. They’ll be looking for the truck.”

  I smile to myself and think, Well played. Hell, I didn’t even think about getting away in this truck. But this is my first jailbreak. We get out of the truck and head straight for the back. Everyone is gathered around Rebel and for a brief moment, I’m afraid to ask how he is. I can’t lose my brother. We’ve been through too much together to lose everything now. “How is he?” I ask Doc.

  “Stable. He’s lost some blood, but I don’t think any major organs were hit.”

  “Ok. We need to go. Can you guys get him out?”

  “Yeah.” Doc and Ryder get up and slide Rebel to the edge of the truck. Doc jumps down and starts to pull him off the truck. I grab his feet as they are about to fall from the back of the truck and we carry him over to the van. Liam runs ahead and opens the back of the van and we slide him through. I go back to my aunt and uncle and usher them over to the van.

  “Leave the guns,” I say. “I’ve got my semi-a. You guys covered?” I ask Doc and Ryder.

  “Yep, we’re good.”

  We throw our rifles in the truck and run over to the van. Aillise and Conner are already inside. I can tell that Aillise wants to talk to me, but I don’t have time. There’s too much at stake right now and the “get to know you” time will have to wait. We get in and Liam fires up the engine. I look down at my watch: 11:15 pm. Fuck! We’re gonna miss that flight, I just know it.

  Once we get off that back road and back onto the main highway, it appears that we are home free. We hear a lot of sirens around us, but they aren’t looking for a van, they’re looking for an HM Food Service truck. In all the chaos that’s going on at the prison, I wonder if they’ve figured out that the O’Byrnes have escaped.

  Everyone is silent during the entire trip to the airfield. My aunt and uncle don’t ask questions and Doc and Ryder don’t talk about what happened at the prison. Doc keeps a close watch on Rebel and periodically reports to me that he’s still stable.

  All I can think about now is keeping Rebel alive and getting back to my girl.

  At 11:45 my GPS shows that we’re ten minutes away from the airfield. I know the flight leaves promptly at midnight and I’m hoping that the girls are already there waiting. I call Emma. She answers on the first ring.

  “Caden, where are you?” she says frantically.

  “Ten minutes away, babe. Can you ask the pilot to wait if we don’t make it in time?”

  “I already did and he said that he’s on a tight schedule. He says the plane doors have to be closed promptly at midnight.”

  “Fuck. Hang tight. We’re doing the best we can to get there.”

  “Are you driving?”

  “No, Liam is. We ran into some difficulties, but all in all, we’re all good. Rebel’s been shot, but Doc thinks he’s gonna be ok. You might want to prepare Ari.”

  “Oh God, Caden! You sure he’s gonna be alright?”

  “Yeah, Doc thinks that the bullet missed any vital organs. He’s lost some blood, but we’ve been keeping the bleeding at bay. We just need to get him home and to a real doctor.”

  “Ok. Did you get your aunt and uncle?”

  I look in the back seat, making eye contact with them, and say into the phone, “Yeah, we got ‘em.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad.”

  “Ok babe, I gotta go. See you soon.”

  “Ok. Soon.”

  I disconnect the line. We’ve got to get to that airfield on time! I look at my watch again: 11:55 pm. I say, “Liam, I know you are doing your best, man, but can’t you go any faster?”

  He makes a quick turn off an exit ramp and speeds to the light. Turning right, he says, “Look to your right. We’re here.”

  He speeds down the airfield road to the main entrance, weaving his way through to get to the plane. As he turns the last corner, I can see the plane sitting on the airfield. The girls are just starting to board the plane. Liam pulls right up to the stairway and slams on the brakes. The girls look over at the screeching van with relief on the faces.

  I jump out of the van and open up the back. Ryder and Doc come around back and the three of us maneuver Rebel from the van and proceed to carry him up to the plane as the girls run ahead to get out of our way. The O’Byrnes follow us onto the plane.

  When I get to the top of the stairs, one of the pilots greets me.

  “You must be Ice.”

  “Yeah, that’s me. Where can I put him?”

  “Over here.” He points to a seat in the first section on the left side of the plane. He then waits for my aunt and uncle to get on the plane and closes the door. “We’ll be taking off in a few minutes. You all might want to find a seat and strap in.”

  I nod as we carry Rebel over to the seat and get him situated. He moans a little and his eyes open.

  “Hey, brother,” I say.

  Looking a little dazed and confused, he takes in his surroundings. “What the fuck happened?” he asks, his breathing labored. I’m not sure if he remembers anything from the last hour.

  “You stupid fuck, you got yourself shot.”

  “Really? Well, fuck me,” he says and tries to laugh, which causes him to cough and wince.

  “Take it easy, man. We’re on our way home,” I tell him.

  “Ari?”

  Before I can answer, Ari chimes in, “I’m right here, babe.” Pushing her way past me so she can get to him, she repeats, “I’m right here.”

  He smiles and closes his eyes again. I look over at Doc. “You got anything you can give him to make him more comfortable?”

  “I think so. Ari, do you know where our bags are?”

  “Yeah, Emma had Damon and Patrick put them in the back of the plane.” Damon and Patrick, where the fuck are they?

  Doc gets up and heads toward the back. A few minutes later he comes back with a bottle of water and a couple of pills. “What’s that?” Ari asks.

  “Something to help him with the pain and something to coagulate his blood and keep the bleeding to a minimum. He’ll sleep most of the flight.” She nods and plops herself down into the chair next to him. I can tell that she’s not planning to leave that seat until we land.

  Now that Rebel is situated, I take the seat next to Emma and buckle in. The plane begins to move and before I know it we’ve taken off. Finally, we are on our way home.

  “Where are we going?” Connor asks. It’s the first opportunity that we’ve had to speak to each other.

  “We’re taking you to the US.” He nods silently. He knows that he and his wife are fugitives now. He knows without asking that there isn’t another way and what we’re doing is the only chance for them to survive. “I’ve arranged for new identities for you both,” I add.

  “Thank you. Really, Caden, we are so grateful for this,” Conner says.

  “No thanks necessary. You’re family. It’s what we do.”

  “I know, but you don
’t know us. I’m guessing you just recently found out that we are related. There was nothing, no ties other than blood, that would convince you to help us.”

  “That’s where you are wrong,” I say. “Rebel was the tie. Rebel is the reason you are not waiting to be executed.”

  “You saved our lives,” Conner says. “That just doesn’t go without some type of thanks.”

  I nod, but before I can respond, Aillise says, “You look like your da. I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to meet you, Caden. Ace loved you very much. He loved your mother too.” She pauses and then adds, “He truly believed he did the right thing by not raising you.”

  “He may have thought it was the right thing, but I’m still trying to process that.” I don’t want to be rude to her, but I’m still dealing with all the shit I learned about Ace and my fucked up psycho brothers.

  “He thought he was giving you a better life. A life without violence,” she says defensively.

  “And you call what happened tonight violence-free?” I reply. When she doesn’t say anything, I continue, “You see, I believe he could’ve saved us all from a lot of heartache. You say he loved my mother, but what about how much my mother loved him? I always knew that Tyler Jackson was not the man for her. I knew he was not her soul mate and the only good thing that resulted from that marriage is right over there with your son.” I point at Ari, who’s now holding Rebel’s hand.

  She looks at me in shock, clearly not expecting my anger. Hell, I didn’t expect to be this angry either, but something inside me snapped when she said how much Ace loved me.

  I continue, “The man that raised me continually made me feel like I was worthless and I never knew why. He always made remarks that I would never amount to anything and referred to ‘my kind’ on numerous occasions. Growing up, I had no idea what he was talking about and sometimes I believed what he said. And then he died and I was forced to make a life for my sister and myself. So, I land on Ace’s front door, having no clue who he was to me. It was the perfect opportunity for him to tell me and what does he do? He doesn’t say a fucking word.”

  “But Caden …” she interrupts and I hold up my hand. For some reason, she doesn’t push and lets me go on.

  “Now don’t get me wrong, I idolized the man. He was, in the short time I spent with him, more of a father to me than Tyler Jackson ever was. And, with the help of your son, I’ve avenged his death. But it really pisses me off that so much heartache could have been avoided if he had just acted on his love for my mom and me. ‘Cause as you can see, no matter what he did to try to keep me away from the club that he thought would ruin my life, I still ended up exactly where I belong.”

  Emma, who is sitting next to me, grabs my hand and holds it. Aillise says, “I’m sorry, Caden, truly I am. I just wanted you to know that your father loved you the only way he knew how.”

  “I know.” I turn toward Emma. “What happened to Damon and Patrick?”

  “They left.”

  “They left? They didn’t even want to see their parents?”

  “I guess not. We had only been at the airfield a half hour when they abruptly said they had something to take of and that they had to leave.”

  “That’s fucked up,” I say. I look over at Connor and Aillise and ask, “Any reason why Damon and Patrick wouldn’t want to see you?”

  “They were here?” Connor asks.

  “Yes, and thirty minutes after they dropped the girls off, they left. They left our girls there alone, which really pisses me off. They were instructed to stay with the girls until we arrived. So, tell me, why would they leave?”

  Connor shakes his head. “My guess is that they’re not ready to face us after everything they’ve done.”

  “Everything they’ve done? Care to fill me in here?”

  “It really doesn’t concern you, Caden,” he says.

  “Doesn’t concern me?” I ask incredulously. “Are you fucking out of your mind? I just risked the lives of three of my brothers, not to mention my own, to get your sorry ass out of prison. And you have the nerve to tell me it doesn’t concern me?” I stand up and get in his face. “Get this straight, Uncle: this does concern me. Your sons drew me into this fucked up bullshit and this is all just as much my concern as it is yours. So, let’s try this again—and I will only ask nicely once, family or not. What aren’t you telling me?”

  Connor and Aillise look at each other as if to ask if they should divulge any more information. Connor turns back toward me and speaks. “As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, your aunt and I have spent our lives dedicated to seeing that Ireland becomes an independent republic. Your grandfather was a sniper in the 60’s for this same reason. From what I’ve been told, Draco was a legend in his own right. One night, he made a stupid mistake and almost lost his life. He walked away that night and never looked back. He packed everything his family could carry and took them to the US.

  “When Aillise was eighteen, she left the US and came back to Ireland and joined the cause. Ace and her parents remained in the US. Ace was already a member of the Knights and Draco and Fiona were getting up in years. When I first saw her, Aillise was walking the streets in Belfast placing propaganda on cars. I know it’s clichéd, but for me, it was love at first sight.”

  “That’s all well and good, but I’m really not looking for a fucking romance novel here,” I say.

  “I’m getting there, I just wanted to give you a bit of background. So, we met, fell in love, and married. We spent the remainder of our lives buried in the cause. We became key soldiers and quickly moved up in the ranks.”

  I nod. “I did learn that you were high-profile prisoners and that your capture was a major coup for the British.”

  “Yes, that’s why we were off by ourselves in the prison. They didn’t want us in touch with any other prisoners. Many of those housed in the prison are IRA.” He looks back to Aillise and she nods. He turns back toward me and continues, “After the boys were born and grew, Damon and Patrick became involved in the cause as well. They were power hungry and as they got older they really hated taking direction from us. When we began to notice this power struggle between the two, we decided to send Balefire to Ace. We believed that adding our third son into the mix could be detrimental to our family as well as the cause.”

  “So, you didn’t send him to the States to keep him safe. You just didn’t want another member of your family questioning your power. How selfish can you get?” I ask.

  “It wasn’t like that. It was definitely for his safety. Damon and Patrick always walked all over Balefire. They picked on him, teased him, and never really gave him credit for his abilities. We were afraid that if he got caught up in the IRA his older brothers would swallow him up. We wanted him to be able to be his own man without their influence. Then, if he ever wanted to come back, it would be his call.”

  Well, that’s the first time something they said actually made sense. When I think back to what I witnessed between Rebel and his brothers over the last few days, I think sending him away really was the best thing for him. But I know there’s got to be more. The more Conner talks about Damon and Patrick, I get this sickening feeling that I’m not gonna like where this story ends.

  He continues, “About two weeks before we were captured, we were planning a protest in Belfast during the Twelfth of July Parades.”

  “Twelfth of July Parades?” I ask.

  “Yeah, these parades take place in many different locations in Northern Ireland. It is the Orange Order’s biggest marching day and celebration.”

  “Orange Order?”

  “They’re a Protestant fraternal group based primarily in Northern Ireland, but they also have a significant presence throughout the UK as well as in the US. Their members wear orange sashes and are commonly referred to as the Orangemen. They’re a Masonic brotherhood sworn to maintain the Protestant Ascendancy. They were named after a Protestant king, William of Orange, who defeated King James II in the Williamite-Jacobite Wa
r at the Battle of the Boyne. James II was Catholic. They’re best known for their yearly marches, the biggest being the Twelfth of July parades.”

  “So what was the problem with these parades?” I ask.

  “A simple protest was planned because the Parade Commission and the PSNI ruled that the marchers weren’t allowed to march in front of storefronts owned by known IRA members. We were pissed about the ruling and decided to make it known. During the planning process, it was decided that Damon would take the lead on this. It was the first time the organization had put Damon in charge of anything. The night we were arrested was the first night of the planned protest. It turned into a riot that escalated across Belfast and Northern Ireland. Damon ignored the senior IRA advisors who clearly wanted no violence. Petrol bombs, blast bombs, and even ceremonial swords were used. Clashes between loyalist and nationalist crowds erupted into total chaos. Over fifty of us were arrested across Northern Ireland, including Aillise and I. Most were taken to the general population of Maghaberry prison and we were isolated. We believe this was Damon’s doing.”

  “It took them two weeks before they called Rebel about the two of you,” I state.

  “That doesn’t surprise me. We believe that they wanted us out so they could move up the ranks. As long as we were in their way, they would always be stuck behind us. It’s quickly become clear to us that for them, power trumps family loyalty.”

  Fuck! This is all making perfect sense now. Damon and Patrick weren’t stupid; they were blocking us at every turn. I thought back to all the interrogations we made, all the dead ends and the wasted time. Those fucking assholes.

  “Caden, I also believe they are the reason your boys experienced so much trouble tonight. What happened in Cell Block B wasn’t a coincidence. They knew your plan and tried to sabotage you.”

  “Does Rebel know any of this?” I ask.

  “No, we never expressed our concerns about them with him before. He is clueless about what his brothers have done.”

  “Good.” I sit back in my seat and close my eyes. All this shit is enough to make a man go insane. My family is the most fucked up group of individuals. Hell, I’m beginning to think that my mom, Ari, and Rebel are the only sane ones. Actually, fuck that—I don’t think, I know!