by K. J. Dahlen
Ronnie was curled into a ball at this point. Whimpering as Trudy laid down the law.
“You put us all in danger, you bastard.”
Dewey grabbed her and hauled her away from her brother before she could let lose another blow. “Honey, you can’t kick a man when he’s down. That’s just not sporting. Behave yourself. Ronnie isn’t going anywhere.”
Trudy struggled with him for another moment then stopped. Looking up at him, she glared her disapproval. After a moment, she turned back to her brother and spit on him. “You are a bastard and one day, I hope it all catches up to you. I hope you pay the price for every dirty thing you’ve ever done.”
Dewey passed her over to Boomer who pulled her away from her brother.
Stone came over and spoke quietly to the other man, “I think we need to move this operation to the safe room. If the brother found us, so can the cartel. We don’t have time for this shit right now, not with everything we got going on.”
Dewey agreed. “Yeah, I know. Fuck a duck, between the cartel and good ole Terik, I don’t know which is worse.”
Stone agreed. “Yup, six of one, half a dozen of the other. But we have bodies to protect and we can’t do it here out in the open. Have everyone grab something and haul it down stairs. We leave nothing up here that could give the game away. If Terik comes here, I don’t want him to know where we are. If the cartel comes back, we won’t be here.”
Dewey nodded. “We’ve got security cameras down there that will keep us in the loop as to what’s going on up here.” He turned to Ronnie. “What the hell do we do with him?”
“Keep him as far away from Trudy and Amanda as possible.” Stone grinned. “I’d hate for them to hurt themselves any more than necessary.” Glancing over at Trudy he asked, “Is she okay?”
Dewey nodded following his line of vision. “He kicked her in the ribs a few times and stomped on her leg but she says he didn’t break anything this time.”
Stone snapped his head around to glare at Dewey. “What did she mean this time?”
“I don’t know but I mean to find out.” Dewey growled. Turning to the man tied in the corner, he marched over to where Ronnie lay. Grabbing his hair, he raised his head to glare at him. “What did your sister mean when she said you didn’t break anything this time?”
Fear showed in Ronnie’s eyes. “I don’t know,” he whined. “I never hurt her before.”
Dewey leaned in closer. “I don’t fuck believe you coward. Tell me the truth.”
Ronnie cowed away from Dewey but didn’t get very far. “After the drug dealer found them years ago and beat the hell out of them, I caught up with Tremaine one time after that. I needed to get the cartel money back or they would have killed me. Tremaine wouldn’t tell me where it was so I smacked her around a bit.” Ronnie noted the look on Dewey’s face and he backed down a bit. “I might have hit her a little hard one time. I think she broke her arm but it wasn’t my fault. She moved at the last minute.”
Dewey felt a rage inside him like no other. He stared down at the man who was supposed to protect his younger sister and instead, found a man not worthy of them. He really hated a man that would hit a woman. “When this is over, remind me to return the favor.” He threw Ronnie’s head as far away from him as it would go.
Ronnie cried out as his head hit the cement floor.
Dewey had to walk away before he killed him. He went over to where Trudy and Amanda sat with Alea and McKenna. The men were busy packing things up, getting ready to move their operation below ground.
“Where are we going?” Trudy asked quietly.
“We have safe rooms underground. We can’t protect everyone from here anymore. Your brother showed us that by sneaking in here,” Dewey told her and the others. “We need to protect you and the others from whatever is coming. Your brother might have led the cartel straight to our door. Between them and Terik, we no longer have the element of surprise on our side.”
Trudy began to shake. “But I can’t go underground. I don’t like the dark.”
Dewey frowned. “What are you telling me?”
“She’s doesn’t like the dark,” Amanda reiterated. She reached out and took Trudy’s hand. “When we were ten, Ronnie waited until our dad was gone then he pulled a bone move. He locked us both in the basement for three days. He made sure we had little water and almost no food and just left us down in the dark.” She shook her head. “Tremaine hasn’t liked dark places since then.”
“What the fuck?” Dewey growled as he ran his fingers through his hair. “How did he explain that to your old man?” He frowned and asked, “What about the safe room at your Port Arthur place? Isn’t that underground?”
Trudy shrugged. “I have it but I’ve never had to use it.”
Amanda snorted. “Dad didn’t ask and we never told him what happened. He wouldn’t have done anything to Ronnie anyway,” she seethed bitterly. “He would have thought it was a good idea, training as to what to do in a time a crisis. That sort of thing. He was always putting us through that sort of shit.”
Dewey shook his head. He couldn’t believe what these girls had gone through. “Your old man needs a lesson in child rearing. He screwed up all the way around with you three.”
“Welcome to our world,” Amanda told him. “Tremaine never did follow orders very well. I think that was part of him kicking her out. That way, he no longer had to deal with her. She was someone else’s problem.”
“That is so fucked up,” Dewey muttered. Then he looked at her. “Can you at least try? We can’t protect this area anymore. We need everyone down in the safe room.”
Trudy swallowed her fear. “I can try but at this point, I won’t guarantee anything.” She turned her head to glare at her brother. “Just don’t leave me alone with him while we’re down there. One of us might not make it back up here.”
Dewey chuckled. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about your brother. The boys will take care of him.”
Trudy curled her lip. ‘As long as I don’t have to look at him, I’ll be fine.”
Dewey paused then asked, “Are you sure you can handle being underground?”
Trudy shrugged. “I don’t know until I try. It’s been a number of years since I’ve even tried. Maybe this will help me get over my fears.”
“The safe rooms are lit very well and there’s plenty of room down there,” McKenna assured them.
Trudy turned her head and watched as several of Stone’s men took down the map and all her research. Rolling it carefully, they added it to a box of equipment they were transferring to the underground safe rooms.
Boomer’s men were packing up the kitchen area and Colt was in charge of taking care of his own equipment.
Trudy began shutting down her own programs and packing up her computers. When she was finished, she turned to Dewey and asked, “Do you have security cameras down there? Something we can use to keep an eye on this place?”
Dewey nodded. “Yeah, we got everything down there. Security, internet, satellite phone, the whole works.”
“Good, because I just got a phone call. They are moving some of the bombs to Kansas now. The trucks are playing their game of guess which truck I’m in and we’ll have to call Trent when they all get into place.”
“What about the circuit codes for the bombs? Are they still intact?” Dewey asked.
Trudy nodded. “Yup, Terik will never know they aren’t where they’re supposed to be until it’s too late.”
“With everyone under wraps, all we have to do is wait for Terik to make his move,” Dewey announced.
“Unless my dear brother is bringing more cartel after me,” Trudy suggested. “Then we have more problems.”
“They won’t get to you in the safe rooms,” Dewey assured her. “No one knows they’re there.”
Trudy took a deep breath and when she exhaled she said, “Okay, let’s get this show on the road. I’m gonna need time to set up.”
One by one, the men
disappeared out the back door. By the time Trudy and the other women joined them in the passage way leading down deep into the ground, she was already dreading her decision to come down here. She could feel the walls closing in on her but she wouldn’t let the fear inside her win. She couldn’t chicken out. She had work to do.
When she reached the bottom of the ramp, Boomer stood there waiting for her. She felt grateful to see him. When she got to him, he threw his big arm around her shoulder and led her the rest of the way inside while Dewey went back up for her brother.
Amanda had taken Ivory and Ebony with her, so the only one left up top was Ronnie. When Dewey approached him, he noted the other man was sweating a lot. He also was looking like he was cornered. Ronnie’s eyes were darting everywhere as if looking for a way to escape. Dewey noticed his hands were shaking bad and then it dawned on him. Ronnie was crashing. He’d been high earlier and when things hadn’t gone his way he began to come down off his high.
Dewey squatted down beside the other man. “Are you going to be a problem?”
“I need a fix man,” Ronnie whined. “I need it bad.”
Dewey shook his head. “I don’t have anything to help you boyo. You’re on your own.”
“Man, just fuckin kill me now then!” Ronnie begged.
“Don’t tempt me. I just might have to do that,” Dewey muttered under his breath. He unlocked the chain but left the cuffs on and helped Ronnie to his feet. Ronnie’s legs failed him and he almost fell to the ground. Dewey growled and hauled him back to his feet. “Be a man for once in your selfish life. You put us all in danger and by god, you won’t be giving us anymore problems or I’ll leave your ass right here. Maybe your cartel friends can help you because we won’t save your ass again.”
Ronnie whimpered. “If I can’t get my sister to them this time, they promised to kill me.”
“Then I suggest you move under your own power because I’m not carrying your worthless hide.” Dewey snarled. “And you won’t be giving anyone over to them. Not while I’m alive to protect her.”
“Where are we going?” Ronnie muttered as Dewey pushed him forward. His legs could barely move by this time. His arms hurt from being cuffed behind his back and his head was swimming. He could barely see two feet in front of him.
“Somewhere we can be safe from the menace of you, you bastard.” Dewey growled. “Now move!”
Ronnie stumbled and would have fallen but Dewey grabbed the cuffs and hauled him back to his feet. By the time they got to the ramp, Ronnie was all but useless. Dewey grabbed him and dragged him along as he shut down the way inside. The darkness was almost complete when the emergency lights kicked in, giving them light and air. When he joined the others, he threw Ronnie to the floor. “Somebody take care of this piece of shit. He’s crashing big time. Put him somewhere where we can’t hear him and he won’t hurt himself.”
Parker and Colt grabbed him and hauled him down the hall. They put him in a room by himself and locked the door behind him. This was a room meant to hold someone in trouble. It had a barred window in it, so whoever was checking on the person inside could do so safely from the hallway. They found it very easy to ignore Ronnie’s whimpering as they walked back down the hall.
Chapter Nine
Trudy was all set up by the time Dewey had gotten back. She ignored the situation as much as she could but when she turned her computers back on there was a message she couldn’t ignore. She raised her gaze to Dewey.
When he saw her expression, he rushed over to her. “What’s the matter? What’s wrong?”
Trudy flipped her computer around, so he could see the news. Stone and Boomer joined him and all three read it.
“Damn it all to hell!” Dewey swore out loud.
“What is it boss?” Parker asked as everyone began gathering around.
“Terik isn’t just setting fires anymore, he’s setting off bombs.” He looked at Parker and Colt. “He got your homes and the town where Danny lives.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “He’s trying to draw us out into the open.”
“He thinks this will have us running around the countryside. Each of us running to safeguard our families,” Stone told them. “He doesn’t know our families are safe.”
Dewey nodded. “He doesn’t know where we are just yet. He’s hoping to draw us out, so he can take us by surprise.”
“He won’t find our families. They’re safe,” Parker stated to no one in particular. “As long as we stay here, we’re all safe.”
“Yeah, but if I know Terik and we all do, he’ll find another way to lure us out of hiding,” Dewey grimly assured them.
Trudy’s fingers hit the keys to her computer and she began to type in commands. When several images came up on her screen, she studied them for a moment then commented on what she saw, “Terik must have other people doing his bidding.”
Dewey went over to her and began looking over her shoulder. He found he was looking into the camera on Terik’s computer. It clearly showed Terik and several of his men lounging in his hotel room. They could all hear them talking in the background. It appeared that they hadn’t left the room for some time.
“How many of them are there?” Dewey asked.
“Besides Terik, I see four. Two of them are missing,” Trudy told him.
“I took one out earlier,” Sniper added.
“Damn it, there’s at least three more men with him than we figured on,” Dewey grumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Trudy remembered something she’d decoded earlier and snapped her fingers. “Not necessarily.” She began rummaging through all the paperwork Wyatt had given them when he returned.
“What do you mean?” Stone asked.
“The list of Dewey’s men and their families,” she reminded them. “It lists all the addresses as well as the names of your family members. They could have planted the bombs on a timer. They wouldn’t have to be close then to set them off. All they would have to do is wait for the explosions to happen.”
“That makes sense.” Boomer shrugged. “They have no reason to get excited then.”
“But it doesn’t make any sense,” Dewey countered. “If they were going to take us out, why are they still in the hotel room?”
“He’s got to have access to another crew,” Stone explained.
“I’m fuckin tired of second guessing this little sucker,” Dewey grumbled. “We need eyes and ears out there on the ground. It’s time to call in some friends.”
Boomer just stared at them. “Who do you have in mind? Most of our guys are here or on the road.”
“They and you are where you need to be at the moment,” Dewey assured the other man. “I’m talking about a group of men they won’t be expecting.”
Stone grinned. “The Sons of Satan.”
“Yup. The Sons of Satan.” Dewey smiled. “I spoke to Mountains’ man Hawk when we got back. He offered to help in any way possible. I figure now is as good a time as any to call on the man.”
“What exactly do we want them to do?” Trudy asked.
“What we can’t do,” Stone replied. “We can’t get close to Terik, he knows our faces. Hawk and his boys can be seen around town. Hell, they can watch him and Terik would never see them. He always was blind to whatever didn’t concern him.”
“What kind of man was he?” Trudy asked.
Dewey rolled his eyes. “When I knew him he was cocky, self-centered and thought he was entitled to anything he wanted. He would always go through the chow line first and take what he wanted. It didn’t matter to him that there were hungry men behind him. He always filled his plate. He took twenty minute showers even when we were short on water.”
“He sounds like a selfish bastard,” Trudy muttered.
Dewey and his men nodded. “He was that.”
Suddenly, a light went off inside her head and she got a look in her eye that spoke volumes. A shit eating grin curved her mouth as a plan formulated in her mind.
The only one
who saw it was Boomer. He let out a belly rumbling laugh that had everyone in the room looking at him. “Baby girl, I’ve seen that look before. Somebody’s in trouble now.”
Trudy chuckled. “Yup, you could be right.”
Dewey and Stone snapped their heads around to look at her. Dewey finally asked, “What are you going to do?”
Trudy slowly smiled but nobody who saw it could say she was pleased. It was a smile of pure rage. And when Trudy was in a rage heads rolled. “I’m going to teach your Terik a lesson.”
“He isn’t my Terik,” Dewey grumbled. “I sure as hell don’t lay a claim on him.”
Trudy laughed coldly. “Yeah, I’m gonna make him too hot to handle.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Stone growled.
“I have work to do,” Trudy muttered impatiently as she fired up her secure computer. It was one she hadn’t used yet. She was going to break half a dozen banking laws and she knew if she got caught, she would go to prison for the rest of her life, but for this group of men, she would willingly risk everything she held dear.
When Amanda saw the computer, she gasped. “No, you can’t do it! They will kill you.”
Trudy swung her gaze to where her sister sat. “They have to find me first.” Then she looked back at her computer screen and her fingers began to fly across the keyboard. She sank so deep into zeros and ones she blocked everyone else out.
Dewey went over to where Amanda was sitting. Squatting down in front of her, he felt more than saw Stone and Boomer join them. Instead, he stared at her and asked, “What is she going to do?”
Amanda took a deep breath and exhaled. “That’s a computer she built from scratch. It’s completely secure. She’s got firewalls like no one else has. She once told me she only uses it to transfer money all over the world. I think she’s going to do what she did to the drug dealer. She’s going to steal money from someone.”
“Why would she do that?” Stone frowned.
“She’s going to set up Terik.” She lifted her finger in a quote position. “Make him ‘too hot to handle.’ ”