"Well, what am I going to do about you?”
"You're going to do what you think you have to do. But I'm worth more to you here and breathing than I will be dead.”
"Can I trust you?”
Don smiled. "Not yet, but you will in time.”
"Okay, I'm going to Carson City and I don't want them knowing I'm coming. If I get there and I'm sure you didn't give them a call to warn them, I'll let you live. But if I get there, and there is even a hint they know, I'll be back here to see you.”
*****
Tuck saw bubbles in the blood from the knife wound, and he knew the man was drowning in his own blood. He walked back to the bike, started it, and sat watching as Trey’s body went limp, and he knew he was dead. Then he slowly rode away.
From that point on he would take precautions to be more careful when approaching these situations. It wasn't like Tuck hadn't been hit or beaten before. But he was smarter than that, and realized these people were ready to go off at the drop of a hat, he needed to be ready to deflect it when they did.
On his ride back, he couldn't help but think of the reality that might come one day when he would be the one that came out on the bad end of the deal in a fight. During his time in Vietnam, he often wondered what death would be like, and how it would come to him. He wondered if it would be a quick death, or slow agonizing. He knew it was something that he or anyone else didn't have a choice about most times. But one thing he was relatively sure of, he’ll most likely not live to be old or die a natural death.
Between now and when his time came, he had to be sure never to become the kind of man that Bill or even Steven came to be, or he would be doing all this for nothing. He realized there was a line you just don't cross, and it is a very fine line between being what he was now, and what Bill and Steven had become.
Tuck knew Steven way before Bill turned him into what he ended as. And that was only because Steven didn't think for himself, and he’d always been that way. Even though Steven had his own mind and didn't have to follow Bill where he led him, he understood how it could happen. And for that he forgave Steven, but not when he allowed Bill to take him over that line. Tuck knew if he lived long enough, he would meet people he wanted to trust, and even people he needed to trust in order to survive. But he also knew he would never trust anyone enough again that he wouldn't be ready to take their life if it came to it.
As Tuck got back to the motel, he got to wondering how this situation was going to come out with this guy. In his mind, he equated it with stepping into a nest of bees and hoping none would sting him. He was ready to swat and stomp them if they took a notion to try.
When he walked in the door of the motel office, the man looked at him and said, "Well that didn't take too long.”
"No, the lady at the antique shop gave me an address, and it took me right to the problem.”
"From the looks of the side of your face, you had some difficulties.”
Tuck laughed and said, "Yeah, he sucker punched me and had me for a minute. I was tired from the ride and needed to lay down for a minute anyway.”
The man laughed. "Well, some of our people want to meet with you. How do you feel about that?”
"I'm fine with it. What kind of people are they?”
"They're just business people like me. Is that a problem?”
"No, it's not a problem. I'm just looking for some good people to ride with. Do you know anybody like that?”
"I sure do, same people I am talking about.”
Tuck asked, "What kind of guys are they? What I mean, are they like Bill and some of his people, where I'd have to watch my back all the time? Because I don't need people like them.”
"I know these guys pretty well, and I think they'd be worth talking to.”
"How do I find them?”
"I can arrange a meeting here in a couple of days. Why don't you hang around and rest up while I set everything up?”
Tuck agreed, and told the man to set it up.
*****
On the day of the meet up, Tuck woke early as always. When he looked out the window of his room and down into the parking lot, he noticed several more cars than usual. So he got dressed and went down to the office for his morning coffee, available to the guests in the lobby. There were several people standing in the backroom of the office, grouped up and talking. When they saw him walk in, one man reached over and swung the door closed, as if to be uninviting him to listen in on what they were saying.
Glory stepped out to the desk and her eyes narrowed at him and she put her hand on the desk and leaned forward. Tuck wanted to grin but he held it in, this was the first woman he had actually been attracted to for more than a quick fuck in a long time. There was something about her that screamed ‘bitch’, and yet it attracted him.
“So, see you are back. Guess all the boys are here to talk to you?” she snapped.
“Don’t know about that,” Tuck said, taking another drink of his coffee.
“Yeah, well I do. And let me tell you something, mister,” Glory said and leaned in farther. “You coming around here and getting these guys riled up, you better be able to back your bad ass attitude.” Glory said, “And if you think about bringing trouble here, think again. My dad don’t need that shit.”
“Think your dad is the one who is leading this, so sorry if I decline to actually listen to you.” Tuck smiled.
Glory lowered her eyes into a glare and she said, “Whatever, just make sure you don’t piss me off, or you will be seeing the end of my gun again.”
Tuck laughed loudly. He was going to get up and approach the little spitfire but Boots popped his head out and nodded to Tuck.
“Nice talking to you, Glory,” Tuck said and the woman in question rolled her eyes and then sat down at the desk while he went for a refresh on his coffee.
Tuck finished putting coffee in his cup and walked on back with the rest of the group. And as he walked into the room, he noticed there were people from all walks of life. A couple of them had suits on, while others had sweats and tennis shoes and looked like they were going jogging, while others looked like they were dressed to go grocery shopping.
They all turned and looked at him, and he could see by some of their faces a few of them had doubts, while others were welcoming but had that "wait and see" attitude.
Boots summed up what Tuck had told him last night, and then everyone looked at Tuck to say something. He stood and said.
“I'm all about brotherhood and trust, but it has to be with everyone involved, or a group like this can never work. I have a price on my head, and I am looking to pay it off. I also need to find somewhere to settle, and truthfully, since I have no other ideas, and Boots here is the first one to help me out, I figure here will be a good place. Could be wrong, but I am hoping not. Boots said some of you have had a problem with Bill in the past, some of the crap he’d been doing.”
As Tuck spoke, the people gathered in the room seemed to be listening more intently now. He had their attention, and saw it as an opening to hit them with the question he primarily wanted an answer to.
"What I need to know from you is what do you want out of this, or do you even want to stay in it? If you stay in, we will have to come to a mutual agreement we're going to work with one another instead of against each other. Because I'll tell you straight if someone comes after me, they better succeed. If they fail, I will get the name of the person who sent them, and then I'll get them. We will never get anywhere by working against each other. The only way we'll become strong like we need to be, is if we work together.”
“So if you want to get out, then please do so and there will be no bad feelings or backlash. If you stay in, you’ll carry on as usual, except you won't report to just me. In the next few weeks, we'll be looking into putting together a council to report to, and I'll be conferring with them on a regular basis. It's not going to be a one-man show anymore. I want this to be a real "organization" where people dedicate themselves and people feel
safe working with us. Because if we go around plotting and killing each other all the time, there will soon come a time when nobody trusts anybody else, and that's not a place I want to be, do you?”
Tuck stopped for a moment to let his words sink in. "In closing, I want to let you know I’ll be looking into getting all the names of everyone associated with us. In the next few weeks, I’ll be contacting all of them. So if you have a list of members, I'd like to have them, and we'll compile the names and contact them all. Thank you all for coming.”
As the meeting broke up and everyone went their separate ways, Tuck turned to Boots and asked, "Who do you know that would be good to serve on a council?”
"Well, that would take a little thought, but I bet we could come up with some good people."
"These people seem to know and trust you. How do you feel about being my liaison until I/we get a Board of Trustees or a Council set up?”
"Sure, anything I can do to get this mess straightened out, I'm willing to help.”
"Good, give the people that just left some time to think about it and decide what they want to do. Then contact them in two or three days and prompt them to talk to others they know to let them know what is going to happen. Also let them know I am staying here for a couple of weeks. If anyone comes asking for me, tell them I'm in the last room on the end. It may be a good Idea to not put anybody in that room or the one next to it for a few days in case anybody wants to come calling on me.”
"Okay. Do I need to make sure my insurance is paid up on the motel?”
"That may be a good Idea.”
"Oh shit. I think I'll do that first.”
"If anything happens, just stay out of the way until it's over. And stay on your toes for the next few days, things may get interesting around here.”
"Oh boy. Well, been needing to do some remodeling anyway.”
So, as preparations were being made, and phone calls placed, Tuck got ready for whatever was going to come. As the days passed, it stayed quiet. It wasn’t until the fifth day when three military style vehicles pulled in and faced the last room where Tuck was supposedly staying.
Tuck had seen them pull in and knew this wasn't good news, so he grabbed his gear and got out of sight. Half a dozen men jumped out of the vehicles with weapons. Tuck immediately went in the bathroom and out the window, down the back of the units until he came out the opposite end that led to the street.
He walked up the sidewalk, and noticed a car sitting across the street with two men watching the goings on and talking on two-way radios. As the guy talked on the radio, he noticed a man with the group in front of the motel room responding back.
Tuck carefully retreated so he could regroup. After looking the situation over for a second, Tuck decided to make a move on the car across the street. He stayed in the blind spot of the vehicle and slipped up behind them. As he reached the car, he pulled out his knife and pistol. On the passenger side, he put his knife under the man’s ear and pushed it in about a half Inch, then pointed the pistol at the driver.
He instructed them to freeze, then get out of the car slowly on the passenger side. They did as instructed, and as the driver stepped out he made a move for the knife, and Tuck pushed the knife in to the hilt and the man was dead instantly. That made the driver stop in his tracks when he saw Tuck was serious, and then he followed the instructions to the letter. Tuck still had the pistol pointed at his head, the man no doubt knew Tuck wouldn't hesitate to use it.
With the driver in tow, Tuck made his way back to the motel office. As they walked inside, Boots came out and told Tuck he saw two men go around toward the back. Tuck told the driver to take out his radio, call his teammates, and order them to stand down or he was going to die.
The driver started to say something, and Tuck drove the knife in his leg and said, "Do It now or you're going to die. You have thirty seconds to order your men to stand down or I'll put a bullet in your head.”
The driver picked up the radio and told his men he was held captive and to drop their weapons. With a little hesitation and bewilderment, the men did as ordered and laid their weapons on the ground.
Tuck told them to put their hands on their heads and walk toward the office, and they all complied to that order as well. When they got to the office, Tuck ordered them to lie on the ground. Tuck disarmed them, then allowed them to sit up. He asked Boots to collect the weapons out by the trucks.
While the manager was gone, Tuck looked at his captives. "How did you know I was here and what room I was on?” No one answered him.
"Last time, how did you know I was here and what room I was in?” Still none of the men answered him so he stepped over to one of the men and put his knife in the base of his skull. "Okay again, how did you know?”
That time, two different men were ready to talk. The driver told them to keep their mouths shut and Tuck cut his throat. "Talk. And you better tell me the truth.”
One of the men said, "Look, man, we were only doing what we were ordered to do. We didn't know where we're going or what we're doing until we got there.”
"Who was giving the orders?”
"It was the guy in the computer shop outside Elkhart, Indiana, but I don't know his name.”
Tuck called over to Boots. "You know of a computer shop outside Elkhart, Indiana?”
"Yeah, that's Harold’s place.”
"This man says that’s who ordered the hit on me.”
"I don't doubt it. Harold was a good friend of Bill, and he's not much of a team player. He was talking about taking over until you showed up.”
"You men want to live?” They shook their heads yes.
"Tell you what's going to happen. I'm going to give you forty-eight hours to make it to Lincoln, Nebraska. Stay on highway eighty, and if our men see you go there within forty-eighth ours, I won't come hunt you down. When you get to Elkhart, you go in and take care of Harold for me, and send me proof he's dead, and I won't come hunt you down. If after about a week I don't get word Harold is gone, then I'll go take care of Harold myself, right after I hunt you guys down.”
He watched for their reactions. “Now you may think you can run and disappear, but you know we have the people to find you, so I wouldn't try to run. Sound like a good deal, or do you want to die now?”
"No, sounds like a hell of a good deal.”
"Okay, do you all have the money to get back?”
The men shook their heads yes.
"Your forty-eight hours are start now."
They rushed to get back to the truck, but Tuck stopped them.
"Whoa. Take your guys with you.”
The guys ran back, grabbed the two dead men, and then went toward the trucks again.
"Don't forget the one across the street on your way out.” Taking one of the men’s pistols, he handed it to the smartest looking of them. “Here, use this on Harold when you get back.”
The men headed east. After they'd left, the motel manager told Tuck, "That was a ballsy move giving that guy a loaded pistol.”
"I was close enough if he tried to turn it on me, he'd been dead before he got it off safety.”
"I didn't know we had people in Lincoln, Nebraska."
"I didn't either but they think we do, so it worked.” The manager walked away laughing.
"Don't let your guard down for a few more days yet, it might not be over.”
"That's what I was afraid of.”
After another nine days, everything stayed quiet, and Tuck started to relax. Two weeks later, Tuck started getting a few votes of confidence from some in the organization across the country after many found out Harold, the guy from the computer shop, had been neutralized.
A few days later, Tuck got a call from Glory at the front desk, and said there were a couple of guys to see him. He went over to the office and saw it was two of the men who’d tried to lay siege to his room.
One of the guys said, "Can we talk to you a minute?”
"Sure, what do you need?”
"The other night after we left, some of us got to talking about our situations. We decided we need a new leader. Someone who knows what he's doing, and is more interested in taking care of business than going out for revenge. We were wondering if you might let us join up with you?”
"I need men with me, but how do I know I can trust you?”
The guy said, "We do as we're ordered. We are soldier’s fighters that need a leader. I can't prove you can trust us any more than you can prove we can trust you. But in time, it will come naturally.”
"You know how to ride a bike?”
The guy said, "Yeah, most of us ride, but we haven't had the opportunity lately because we've been playing soldier in military vehicles, but we can ride I assure you. Most of us don't have a bike like you have, but I can see what we can come up with if you'll let us ride with you.”
"Okay, go see what kind of men you can gather up. We need only men we can trust, and ones that can think on their feet. I'm still working on getting a base of operations other than this poor guy’s motel. I think he's already had all the excitement he wants from me, so I'll probably be moving to a new location soon, but I don't know where.”
That's when the guy said, "We know several good men who will come with us, they just don't want to play army all the time. We want to live and have some fun, then take care of business when we need to. We were being used as a Hit Squad with these other guys, and we were wondering why we got to the point of eliminating more people than we were recruiting? Lately, we’ve been in a position where we didn't really want to be, but we didn't know how to get out without becoming another one deemed a loose cannon like you were. We agreed to join up to be part of a cohesive group, not an eventual statistic that was only here to further an Ideology of others that sit in judgment.”
"Well, if you’re with me, we will be a group. But we will be a group that is in place to take care of problems within the organization. We have a lot of things to do, and some of those things aren't going to be pleasant. But we have to clean up this mess before we can start anew a different way, and hopefully a better cohesion and understanding about who we are, and what we need to mean to each other. Things are going to get ugly for a while, and unsavory things will have to be done to get this the way we need it done. But after we clean it up, all we'll have to do is maintain it.”
Tuck's Revenge Page 6