by KJ Dahlen
Priest stared at him for a moment then said, “Maybe when this is over you and I need to talk. I have an idea that might just work for both of us.”
“When this is over,” Theo echoed his statement.
Priest nodded.
~*~
Theo nodded back and their pact was sealed. Now all they had to do was get through this threat. Theo had avoided looking at Cricket and when he did, he found her watching him with a question in her eyes. He hadn’t dared to get too close to her but he did watch her when she wasn’t looking.
He looked around the room and caught sight of her, she was talking to her husband Raine, and her three children were sleeping in the corner of the clubhouse. He watched them with a hunger he didn’t understand. Then he caught sight of Dusty sitting at a table eating a sandwich. He didn’t understand the feelings he was experiencing just then, but he got some comfort in their presence.
When he looked over to the last place he saw Cricket he found her staring back at him and for some reason her stare unnerved him. He watched as she came toward him. He saw the determined look in her eyes and he almost smiled. She had a fire in her belly that reminded him of Grace.
He stood there and waited for her to join him. When she did, she had one question to ask, “Who are you?”
“My name is Theo Franks. But you knew that already didn’t you?”
She nodded. “You remind me of someone I used to know, that’s all.”
Theo’s eyes grew cold and he gave her a dead panned glare.
Cricket gasped and began to tremble. “No, it can’t be,” she whispered as she stumbled back. Raising her hand to her mouth, she repeated her statement, “This isn’t possible.” She turned and rushed away from him.
He turned back to Sarah and Priest.
Priest noticed Cricket’s reaction and raised his eye brow. “I think the cat’s out of the bag, my friend.”
Theo shrugged his shoulders. “She can’t possibly know who I am.”
“Maybe but are you willing to take the chance?”
“I don’t have a choice do I?”
“Is that Cricket?” Sarah wondered.
“Yes, that’s Cricket,” Theo admitted. “And the young boy sitting at the head table is Dusty. The boy she raised.”
~*~
Sarah glanced over at Dusty and gasped. He looked so much like Theo, the same jawline and the same curl to his hair. He would grow to be tall just like Theo as well. But his eyes were different. They were warm and full of life. She had to wonder just what kind of boy Theo had been. Then she saw a man who seemed to be the boy’s father and she found Dusty also looked like him. The color of his hair, they also shared the same colored eyes and they also shared dimples.
She brushed her hand across her belly. That had been one dream she never dared to think about. A baby. Maybe if her life had been different, maybe if she wasn’t being hunted. Too many maybes. Too many lost dreams.
Sarah looked over at the man who caught her interest. Theo told her his children were gone and while that was part of his past, she could never hope he would stick around long enough to be a part of her future. She was right now part of his present and that’s all she could hope for. But she wouldn’t give up her dreams.
Her childhood had been a nightmare but it was all she knew. Until he came along, she’d never trusted anyone to get close to her. She hadn’t wanted anyone to get that close to her. Then she met him, now she dared to dream of a future...If they lived through the war that was breathing down their necks.
She glanced over at her brother and dared to hope again. Stone was the best at this sort of thing. She had heard his name whispered in the underground. Strangers knew more about him than she did and while that stung a bit, she’d always been proud of the man he’d become.
He led his men into battle and brought them home again. His men looked to him to find a way to win and they did. She had watched his return after his last deployment and when he got off the plane, she’d been so proud of him. She wanted to run out there and grab him but she couldn’t. Instead, she blew him a kiss and disappeared into the crowd.
She couldn’t visit her shame on him, he was a hero and she was anything but. Her eyes misted as she thought about the fact that he’d come all this way just to find her, to be here to protect her.
That meant something to her and it always would. Stone had told her just before Jack had forced him to leave that if she ever needed him he would be there for her. But when Jack died there was nothing he could do to protect her. He was fighting the war on terror in some far away land. Her life was over the moment she swung that bat. She wouldn’t take him down with her. She got her mom to a safe place then she ran and she’d been running ever since that night.
Looking at Theo, she smiled. She had stopped running and found what she’d been looking for all this time. Looking around at the men and women here, she noticed something. Everyone here in this room was under a possible death sentence, yet they weren’t afraid of it. The women were looking toward their men and their brotherhood to keep them safe and if they weren’t safe, there was nowhere else they wanted to be but right beside the people that meant the most to them.
Sarah could feel that and now she knew why. Looking over at Theo again, she saw the light of life in his eyes. He wanted to live and that gave her hope. Then he looked over at her and smiled. The gentle smile shone in his eyes and all the way to his soul. But that look was strange to him and she didn’t know why. His past? Maybe, but just maybe together, they could have a future, maybe together they could finally have peace.
Theo came over to her and took both her hands in his. Raising them to his mouth, he gently kissed her fingertips. “My dear, I don’t want to leave you here all alone but you’ll be with your brother if I don’t make it back.”
Sarah trembled at this. “What are you going to do? You’re scaring me.”
“I don’t have time to explain everything right now but I’m going to follow Stone’s men as a backup. They don’t need me there but I have to be there. I have to do whatever I can to protect Cricket, Dusty and her children. I may never get the chance to meet them or watch them grow up but this is my chance to allow that to happen. If I make it back, you and I have a lot to discuss and we will discuss this I promise. As much as I’d like to stay out of this, I can’t.”
Sarah nodded slowly. “I know. I may not know everything, but this sort of thing is what you do best isn’t it?”
“It used to be. I walked away from this life a year ago but this is not something I can walk away from.”
Sarah let go of his hand and raised her hand to cup his whiskered jaw. Looking right into his eyes, she raised up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to him. “Go, do what you have to do but you come back to me. Do you hear me? You come back to me.”
Theo smiled slowly. Kissing her again, he assured her, “I will, and when I come back, you’ll be mine forever.”
Priest and James joined them and Priest knew the look in Theo’s eyes. “You’re going after them aren’t you?”
Theo answered without saying a word.
James spoke up then, “So am I. It’s not that I don’t trust them but I want to be there with them.”
Theo looked over at the other man and nodded. Then he shook his head. “I only wish I had my rifle. I left it behind a year ago at Stark’s camp.”
“Maybe you did but I didn’t.” James grinned. “It’s in my trunk.”
Theo smiled. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
Chapter Nine
Dressed in all black and wearing ski masks the six men from Pappy’s group made their way noiselessly through the wooded area Oscar Buckley had chosen to wait for his men to arrive. It was three a.m. and the sliver of the moon didn’t give them much light.
High in the treetops two men waited and watched the campground. The men with Buckley were asleep on the ground, snoring loudly and without a care in the world as they slept off the booze they’d drank earlier in
the night.
Buckley himself was sleeping away from both his men and the fire that was glowing more than burning. No one had banked it and within a short while, it would be out completely.
They searched the campsite for the girl and found her at last. One man split away from the group and made his way over to where she was laying.
It wasn’t until he was practically on top of her that he noted the chains she was wearing. Buckley had chained her wrists and ankles to a tree. The man paused for a moment to find a solution and then he crept up to her. Carefully placing his hand over her mouth, she jerked awake. He leaned in close enough to whisper in her ear, “I’m not here to hurt you. We’re here to rescue you. Do you understand?”
~*~
Amy nodded slowly. She looked around at the sleeping camp and began to shake. Then she saw the shadows moving around the camp and knew this man had others with him. Maybe they could get her away without anyone seeing them. Or before anyone else noticed she was gone.
“Don’t move and don’t rattle those fucking chains.” The man took his hand away from her mouth and moved down to her feet. He was there only a moment before she felt the first chain fall away. A few minutes later, the second chain dropped away.
She groaned softly at the relief she felt. She turned her head to see the man who was offering her freedom and almost screamed a warning. Then she heard a thud and saw Matty crumble to the ground. He’d been raising his weapon to shoot the man helping her. From out of the darkness, a knife had been thrown and it struck Matty dead center in his chest. Matty didn’t even have time to warn the others.
The man growled low and moved to her hands. Moments later, she was free of her shackles and the man scooped her up in his arms and moved her into the darkness surrounding the camp. Another shadow moved in as they were moving out.
The man carried her further away from camp before he stopped and laid her on the group. Assisting her to a sitting position, he asked her if she was all right.
Amy whispered, “I’m okay. Is my dad okay?”
The man nodded and removed his ski mask. Even in the dark, she knew she’d never see his face but at least this was better than nothing. She hated the ski mask.
“My mom? Did she make it?” Amy whispered hoarsely.
“Honey, I don’t know. All I know is that your dad is waiting for you and we’re here to help you get to him.”
Amy looked over her shoulder at the direction of the camp. When she looked back she asked, “What about them?”
“Don’t you worry about them.”
“Okay,” she whispered softly. “This kind of violence was new to her. She hadn’t ever imagined it, not even in her worst nightmare.
“Come on baby girl, we got to go.” He patted her on the leg and picked her up again.
Moving through the woods at an alarming speed, all Amy could do was hold on and pray he didn’t trip.
Behind them, the sounds of gunshots were heard and still the man carried her away from the shooting. He broke through the woods into a clearing and they found several vehicles parked there. One man stood by the back of a SUV with a gun in his hands.
He opened the back of the vehicle and then carrying her put her inside. “Where are the others?” he asked.
“They should be right behind us,” the man answered as he took stock of her injuries.
A few minutes later four men broke out of the woods and joined them.
“Well? How did it go?” the man standing guard of the SUV asked.
“Oscar Buckley and three men got away but we took care of his numbers,” one man told him.
Another man spoke up as well, “When the shooting started, Oscar jumped up and ran. He didn’t raise his weapon or look after his own men, he turned yellow and ran off into the darkness. At least his men defended themselves.”
“What about Matty Buckley?”
“That bastard was gonna shoot Rhymes in the back like the coward he was. Unfortunately, he met my blade. Then I got mad and shackled him to a tree. I left whoever is still alive a message.” One of the men smiled and only the whites of his teeth showed in the darkness of the night around them.
“Let’s get this show on the road.” Turning to view Amy he said, “We have a family reunion to attend.”
Without saying another word, they all got into the vehicles and drove away.
~*~
Moments later, two more men exited the woods. They too, were dressed in black from head to toe. They walked over to another vehicle hidden from the rest. Each man broke down his own weapon silently, carefully packing it away in its own case. Neither man was in a hurry and they took the time they needed to secure everything down tight.
James finally glanced over at Theo. “I’m kind of glad our services weren’t needed tonight.”
Theo nodded. “Yeah, me too. It’s been a while since I had to shoot my rifle.”
“You know that’s a mighty fine weapon.”
Theo nodded. “I only got the very best. I had quite a collection at one time and I used them all.”
James hesitated briefly, almost as if he wanted to say something. Then instead of saying anything, he closed the trunk and moved to the front of the vehicle. Getting behind the wheel while Theo got in the passenger seat he started the car and pointed it towards Troy.
~*~
Oscar Buckley wheezed as he ran through the woods on his way back to his camp. He’d stayed away long enough to make sure the camp would be empty of all hostiles. As he left the safety of the trees, the dawn had broken and there was enough light to see everything.
His men were laying crumpled on the ground, their eyes glazed over in death. He searched for his son’s body and finally he saw Matty. He was chained to a tree, the same tree they had chained Breaker’s little bitch to last night.
Matty’s shirt was stained with red, now drying in the heat of another warm day. But it wasn’t his shirt that drew Oscar’s gaze, it was his eyes, blazing with fury. Someone had slapped duct tape over the boy’s mouth so he couldn’t shout out a warning. Oscar stomped over to his son and unlocked the handcuffs, then he tore the duct tape off Matty’s mouth and listened to him scream as the tape ripped off more than it should have.
“What happened here?” Oscar motioned to his chest.
“I saw the man unlocking Amy’s cuffs and I raised my gun to shoot him when out of nowhere a knife hit me in the chest. The blow caught me by surprise and I blacked out a moment. When I came to, I was cuffed to the tree and everyone else was dead. You were gone and I thought I was going to die here.”
Oscar growled. “Those lousy bastards caught us off guard.” Looking over at his son he asked, “Are you going to be able to ride?”
Matty shook his head. “I can try but I need medical attention first.” He looked down and saw the open wound on his chest. “Damn that’s a lot of blood. I may not be able to go anywhere for a while.”
Oscar growled again. “I can’t wait boy. We can get the wound stitched up and then we got to ride. This carnage needs to be paid for with their blood.”
Matty turned his head when a branch snapped and Oscar snapped his head around three men came out of the woods and they were looking around the campsite in a daze.
“What the fuck happened?” one of the men asked.
“What the fuck do you think happened, you dumb ass?” Oscar got to his feet and approached them. “We were ambushed by the MC we were going after.” He stomped closer to the three men standing there. “We almost died because you guys can’t handle your drink. They got too close and not one of you heard them coming.”
All three men glared back at him but not one of them said a word.
Oscar looked mad enough to just shoot them rather than take their guff. Oscar rubbed his hands along his jaw. Looking around the camp again, he shook his head. Then he turned to his son. Motioning toward Matty he ordered, “Grab him, we have to find someone to stitch him up so we can get to Troy. I want to watch that club burn to the
ground.”
“But boss,” one of his men broke into the conversation. “Won’t that burn the money as well?”
Oscar shook his head. “The money is in the tunnel, if Breaker doesn’t open the tunnel it will be safe enough. We can look for it after the MC burns.”
Two of the men went over to Matty and each man grabbed him under the arms.
Matty almost passed out when they got him upright. He swayed and tipped his head back.
One of the men holding him looked over at Oscar, “Err boss, I don’t think Matty is going anywhere for a while.”
Oscar growled out loud. He needed vengeance now not when Matty felt better. “Let’s get someone out here to stitch him up and maybe he’ll be able to ride after that.”
The lone man, Mikey disappeared and shortly after that, they heard the sound of a bike engine starting. The other two men lowered Matty to the ground and waited. Oscar looked around again and shook his head. “We need to get him out of here. Any one coming here will report the bodies and then we’ll have the badges sticking their noses into our business.” He walked over to the fire and began kicking dirt on it. “Let’s move him closer to the parking lot.”
They grabbed Matty and dragged him closer to the parking lot. Oscar went around and picked up the men’s weapons then went through their pockets for anything that might help him. He opened their wallets and emptied them, pocketing their money.
Shaking his head, he followed his men leaving the dead behind. They could rot for all he cared. Oscar was so caught up in his darkness nothing mattered except what he wanted.
~*~
It was breaking dawn when several vehicles drove into the parking lot of the compound. Doors opened as men and women poured out of the building and rushed forward to find out how the mission went.
One man pushed his way through the crowd and skidded to a stop fully just in back of the open door of the SUV.