by K. J. Dahlen
Pappy stared at Bastian for a moment then asked, “How do you plan to get close enough to the boat to get Sawyer off? I mean it’s not like you can just walk up to the dock and ask for her is it?”
Bastian shook his head. “No it’s not. But I’m not going to just walk away from this either. Not as long as Sawyer life is in danger.”
“No one here is asking you to,” Pappy assured him. He looked around the room and the looks in everyone’s eyes reassured him. “Maybe we can work together and get her back.”
Bastian shook his head. “Knowing what I do about personalities Tomas Barrone doesn’t seem to me to be a man who loses gracefully. He’ll fight to the death to hang on to her or he’ll kill her rather than let her go.” Glancing over at Calico he said, “More than likely, he’ll wait to slit her throat until Calico is there to witness the act.” His words were softly spoken so as not to announce Barrone’s intentions to Jolene.
Pappy nodded. Looking over at Calico he commented, “I agree with you there. He lost his freedom, his woman, and his child because of Calico.”
“Don’t forget about his brothers. Some people like to hang on to what they lost. They close their minds to the reason why they lost them and hang on to the revenge they think they are due.” He nodded to the photos taped to the wall. “His other brother is again part of his crew. I have two Barrone brothers to contend with not just one.”
“We have two brothers to contend with,” Pappy told him. “You aren’t going into this alone. We are part of this rescue too.”
Bastian shook his head. “I work better alone.”
“But this isn’t just about you.” Pappy growled. “This is one of our own. I hate to say this, but you’re the outsider here.”
Bastian knew he appeared calm on the outside while inside his rage grew. His hands tightened into fists and his knuckles went white. He slowly turned his head to glare at Pappy. “Sawyer is my woman and that’s my baby she’s carrying,” he gritted the words out.
Pappy’s men gathered closer as if they knew there was danger.
“No one here is disputing that,” Pappy told him evenly. His hand motion told his men to back off a bit. “What I’m saying is that if you go in there alone, we’ll lose both of you. You…you we don’t even know but Sawyer, she’s one of us due to the fact that her father has agreed to work with us. Also, she’s an innocent. We, as a group and as real men we protect the innocents. This situation is one we can deal with. We’re military men, we’ve been trained for any and all situations like this.” He paused then added, “You know how to get secrets, and we know how to get hostages back. That’s what we do and we’re damn good at it.”
Bastian nodded slowly. “I can understand that. But I’ve never worked with anyone before. This is a situation I never imagined myself in before.”
“Maybe together, we can get her out of there and neutralize the Barrone brothers,” Dewey stated.
“As long as neutralize means killing each and every last one of them, then I’m on board with that.” Bastian swore. He raised his hand. “And yes I know even if we do take out this cell of bad guys, there will be another one to take its place.”
“When that happens, we’ll deal with that one too,” Pappy assured the other man. He looked around the room and saw everyone busy doing something. Looking back at Bastian, he shrugged. “This is what we do. We are protecting our little corner of the world and building something bigger to protect the nation itself. We are the on the ground members, guarding the land we grew up on, the land we went to war for, the very land we will defend for the rest of our lives, if need be. We fought overseas in wars we didn’t start, wars we were never going to win but we put our lives on the line for our country, to protect our way of life. Now we will fight to protect our nation here at home from people who would come here to destroy what we have.”
Bastian thought for a moment then nodded. “Sounds like something I might be interested in after I get Sawyer and the baby back. But my first agenda is getting them back.” He hesitated then added, “But I like what you are doing and if you’re willing, we can talk more when this is over.”
Pappy nodded. “Right now, that’s all we care about too.”
The girl Bastian knew only as Ghost got up and brought some pages over to Pappy. Pappy took a moment to read them then passed them over to Bastian. Bastian quickly read through the material When he swore, he didn’t exactly do it under his breath.
Calico and several other men joined them.
“What’s going on Pappy?” Dewey asked.
“Trudy just found out what the Barrone brothers are doing,” Pappy announced.
“And just what would that be?” Calico asked.
“They are setting up river routes to major areas of interest for any terrorist out there.”
“What does that mean?” Dewey frowned.
“They’ve been searching for routes to Norad, and Yellowstone so far,” Pappy explained “But they are also looking for other attractions.”
“Such as?” Calico asked.
“High populated cities close enough to the rivers to cause panic and chaos.” Pappy shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know for sure. But I do know they got plans to Norad and Yellowstone.”
“What’s in Yellowstone?” Dewey asked.
“How about a super volcano that’s firing up to blow?” Trudy stated. “If they set that thing off, they’d take out half the nation.”
“How could they take out a volcano?” someone asked.
“By setting off a big enough blast nearby that would trigger it,” Bastian informed them. Then he thought for a moment. Nodding he agreed, “It could be done in theory.”
“Huh,” Calico sneered. “Tomas Barrone isn’t smart enough to figure that out.”
“He doesn’t have to be.” Pappy announced. “Anyone could be behind this attack all he has to do is get the bomb parts where they need to be. Same with Norad. Just get whatever they need in the correct place. Other people will do the actual take down.”
“We need to stop this from happening,” Dewey stated.
“We need more information, that’s what we need,” Pappy admitted.
“We need to stay focused,” Bastian reminded them. “We need to get Sawyer back in one piece then I don’t care what you do but let’s get her back first.”
“I’m with him,” Jolene said shakily. “Let’s get Sawyer back then figure out this other mess. I’m sorry, but my daughter’s life is on the line right this minute.”
Chapter Five
Sawyer came too with a groan. Her head felt like it was exploding. She tried to move her hands but they were bound to something over the top of her head and she couldn’t open her eyes yet. Her entire body hurt and for a moment, she couldn’t remember why.
Then it hit her. Someone had forced her car off the road and she hit something. She opened her eyes slowly, praying she was all right. Praying her baby still lived within her. She found herself in a small room laying on a bed. Her hands were bound to the headboard with a zip tie that was pulled tight to secure her in place.
Looking around the rest of the room, she saw clothes laying on the floor and half empty bottles of liquor on the shelf next to the open doorway. Maps were taped to the walls and there was an older computer on another shelf at the foot of the bed. The room itself wasn’t any bigger than that and she was alone, at least for now.
She could hear the murmur of voices coming from beyond the doorway and she could also hear the slap of water coming from the other side of the walls surrounding her. She knew she was on a boat but where the boat was she didn’t know.
Looking around the small room again, she found a small window. Outside the window, there was no light so she assumed it was night time. She had no idea how long she’d been unconscious.
She heard footsteps coming toward the room and she tried to close her eyes but suddenly there was a man standing next to the bed she was lying on.
“I know you are awake chic
a.” A gravelly voice sneered at her.
Sawyer opened her eyes slowly. The man standing there was older than she was, more like her father’s age. As she studied his face, she decided he might be older than her father. He looked stout with a barrel chest and a rounded belly his longer hair was beginning to go grey. The lines on his face told her his life had not been an easy one but it was the coldness in his lifeless eyes that bothered her the most.
That and what he wore around his waist. His belt held a gun holster on one side and a very big leather knife sheath on the other. The man’s hand went to draw the knife out and Sawyer drew back as much as she could. The man chuckled as he lifted the knife and cut the band holding her wrists to the bedhead. The tie around her wrists was still intact but at least she could lower her hands. Her arms hurt when she lowered them.
The man grabbed her by the hair then dragged her out of the room and down the hall. Sawyer stumbled along behind him and when he shoved her on the sofa, she found herself facing another man.
He looked dirty like the first man, his tattered clothes reeked of body odor and booze. He stared at her again, with eyes that held no life.
Sawyer looked at both men and found enough similarities to determine they must be related.
The second man looked older. When he stared at her, he lifted a bottle of beer to his mouth. “What the fuck is this Tomas? Who is she and why is she here? We really don’t have time for you to get your balls off.”
The man called Tomas chuckled. “Don’t you see it brother?”
“See what?”
“Enrique, look at her hair,” Tomas ordered. “Does it remind you of someone?”
Enrique’s eyes shifted to her hair and he finally noticed the multi colored stands. He sat up and looked carefully at her.
Sawyer could see the rage growing in his eyes. “That bastard.”
Tomas nodded. “She’s young enough to be his daughter. The little girl he left behind. Do you remember him telling us about her?”
“I remember.” Enrique growled. Cocking his head, he glared at Sawyer. “So a man named Calico is your father huh?” He leaned forward and stared at her.
Tomas sat down beside his brother and pointed at her. “And the best news is that he lives here, in Sabine Pass.”
Enrique turned his head to stare at his brother. “How do you know that? We haven’t seen the traitor in twelve years.”
“I know because I followed her home.” Tomas shrugged. “Or at least most of the way home. I caught her on the road that only led one place. He’s staying at the compound that houses the Hell’s Fire Riders MC.”
Enrique exploded off the sofa and turned on his brother. “You got us mixed up with that MC? Are you fucking crazy? They’re gonna come after us with everything they’ve got, you moron.”
“Relax brother.” Tomas leaned back and folded his arms over his chest as he frowned at his brother. “They won’t find us. Nobody knows where were are and even Calico knows we would kill her before he could get close enough to get her back.”
“What do you plan to do with her then?” Enrique asked as he sat back down.
“I plan to get revenge for the night he took everything we had away from us,” Tomas stated. “I want revenge for Susan, for my child and for Jose.” Then he looked around the shabby boat. “He took everything we had and reduced us to living like rats. We are better than this, brother. By now, we should be living the high life, instead of this.”
Enrique grunted and grabbed his beer again. Taking a big swallow, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “And how pray tell do you hope to accomplish that?”
Tomas nodded at Sawyer. “He took our brother, I took his daughter. Jose died that night, maybe his daughter will die tonight, but not before Calico realizes that he’s helpless to get her back, not before he realizes that her life is in our hands and that she is here because he fucked up.”
Enrique smiled but the glee didn’t reach his eyes. They were still cold and lifeless. Then he turned toward Sawyer and grabbed his crotch. “Maybe before we kill her we could have some fun with her first, huh brother?”
“Not yet though,” Tomas warned his brother. “First, we have to torment him a little. I was in prison for ten very long years while my woman was left out in the cold with no one to protect her or my kid. They died at the hands on my enemies because he put me away. Now he will be the one wondering about the safe keeping of his daughter. That’s the vengeance I want. I want him to feel every bit of worry for a child that I felt. I want him to feel every bit of helplessness I felt behind bars. I couldn’t protect the woman I loved and the child she carried and now neither can he.” Tomas smiled evilly. “It will drive him crazy, maybe crazy enough to make a mistake.”
Enrique laughed out loud. “Maybe later, we’ll call him and have her scream as I fuck her huh? Maybe we’ll let her father listen to her screams just before we slice her throat. He sent you to prison but he also sent me so far underground, I couldn’t even stay in this country. I had to live like a peasant in a land so poor, I barely had enough food to eat.”
Tomas nodded. “I had food to eat but I was condemned to live in solitary. I went days and weeks without even seeing another person, without being able to breathe the air outside. No one should live like that.” He paused then said, “But he won’t be listening while we kill his baby girl, he’ll be here to watch as we slice her throat. He’ll see her bleed out and he won’t be able to stop it from happening. He’ll go to his grave knowing she died because he fucked up.”
Enrique turned to glare at Sawyer. “Your father has a lot to answer for, little girl. Maybe when we’re done with you, we’ll let our men have their turn before we slit your throat.”
Sawyer was horrified at what she heard. Had her father really let another woman die without care? There was still so much they didn’t know about the years Calico had been gone but this? This didn’t sound like something Calico would do. She peeked over at the two brothers and found them staring back at her.
Tomas just glared at her like he wanted her dead but Enrique? He looked like her wanted something very different from her. When his tongue licked his lips and his hand reaching down for his crotch again, Sawyer shuddered.
Suddenly, there was a radio static sound and Tomas got to his feet and went to the front of the cabin. He picked up a microphone and began to speak into it.
He spoke Spanish but Sawyer had taken Spanish in school so she clearly understood everything he said. She didn’t however give away the fact that she could follow the conversation.
A few minutes later, he ended the conversation and returned to the sofa. When he sat down he began conversing with his brother and Sawyer forced herself to look around the room. She didn’t want them to know she was understanding everything they said.
“That was Miquel. He wants us to meet him in two days in Memphis instead of Cairo. He told me the shipment was coming in tomorrow morning. We’re to load it immediately and head out right away. This shipment is vital and needs to get to its destination right away.”
“Why?” Enrique asked. “What’s the rush? We’ve never had to rush before. Did he say why this shipment is so vital?”
“I asked him about that but I think he’s getting paranoid about being caught. He thinks the locals are watching him.They can’t prove anything if he doesn’t panic and give away the game.” Tomas scoffed. “Maybe he knows something more about this shipment than we do. He kept stressing this shipment was vital for some damn reason.”
“Maybe this is worth some serious money? Maybe this is the shipment that puts us back in the game. I suggest after this trip, you get rid of him before he gives the game away.” Enrique sneered.
Tomas nodded. “Better yet, we find out the next stop then we cut his throat and feed him to the fishes. We were going to replace him at some point anyway.”
“Or maybe we keep this shipment and sell it on our own. That way, we get all the money for ourselves.” Enrique grinne
d and scratched his chest. Lifting his bottle of beer to his lips, he suggested, “I like the way you think brother. Maybe we go all the way and show this asshole some manners at last. I’m sick of taking his fucking orders and being treated like a pheasant. Maybe this is time to take over this operation.”
“Maybe it is our time brother,” Tomas agreed then turned and spied Sawyer. “But first we take care of some old business. Then we can move on to new business.”
Enrique grunted and drained his beer. Belching, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He eyed Sawyer again and licked his lips.
“No, Enrique,” Tomas told his brother. “Not yet.”
“Damn you.” Enrique swore.
“My revenge is bigger than your lust brother.” Tomas told him. “Don’t worry, you can have her after we get what we want from Calico. I want the man who killed our brother to feel the fear and know he could have stopped the murder of his daughter.” He chuckled, “Maybe he should watch while you ravish her. Her screams will echo in his head and be the last thing he ever hears.”
“Get her out of my sight then brother,” Enrique told him. “Every moment I look at her, I want to rip her clothes off and fuck her brains out.”
Tomas hoisted himself off the sofa and grabbed Sawyer by the arm forcing her to move down the hall back to the bedroom. Throwing her on the bed, he grabbed another zip tie and forcing her arms over her head, he zip tied her to the headboard. He leaned over and licked her cheek. “Now you be a good girl or I’ll let my brother have you now, instead of later.”
When Sawyer shuddered, Tomas laughed out loud. Then he turned and went back to the living area.
Sawyer closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle. Then she asked for another miracle and prayed Bastian would find her first.
Calico hugged Jolene. “We’ll bring her home,” he whispered in his wife’s ear.
“God I hope so,” Jolene whispered back. “You bring yourself back too, do you hear me old man? You make sure you come home too. I need you just as much as I need her.”
