Patriot

by KJ Dahlen

  He’d only been given a week but he knew his boss better that that. He might only have four or five days before someone else was sent in to relieve him. He knew who would be sent and if they sent in Jase, his boss would be lucky to get his daughter back in one piece and breathing. That bastard had no compassion for anyone but himself.

  He also knew Jase wouldn’t hesitate to end him in retribution for not getting the job done. Damen might have been working on this case since day one but he’d never been this close to her before. Randy Sheen had been good. That, plus the fact they hadn’t known until recently the baby he took had been a daughter not a son, Sheen had led them on a goose chase that never ended.

  No, he had to end this in the next couple of days. The anniversary of Tessi’s death was coming up and he knew his boss wanted his daughter back with him. Even though his boss had no feelings for this girl and he never would have even all those years ago, Randy had dared to touch something that belonged to him. Then recently, Blacky had dared to touch her. Both men’s lives ended harshly for what they had done.

  If he knew his boss, he would have stepped in with the Russians and bought Randy back from them. He would have paid anything to get to the man who took his child. She was the only reason he’d married Tessi. For the baby she would give him his heir, or so he’d thought.

  Damen stared at the clubhouse and shook his head. Then he turned and walked away. He couldn’t do anything at the moment but once it got dark, he’d be back.

  Chapter Six

  “Well, fuck a damn duck,” Cobra swore as he looked at the photo. Then he looked over at Harry. “You’d better hustle on that information kid. Looks like we just ran out of time.”

  Harry growled under his breath and went over to sit down at his laptop. He printed out the autopsy report and the death notice he’d found earlier. The death notice had the name of her husband on it and the name of her sister as well, so he ran those two names first.

  Levi Silvers and Mary Anne Connors. He began running a background check on the names and wasn’t finding much. Mary Anne Connors died just three years after her sister, under bizarre circumstances. Harry paused and thought about it. Had Randy gotten to Tessi’s sister as well? Or was this just a coincidence?

  And exactly who was Levi Silvers? What connection did he have to Randy Sheen? With most of the players already dead, how much of the mystery would they ever get right? Harry looked up at Gunner and Cobra. He began to read aloud what the report said about what happened to the woman. “Tessi had a husband and a sister. Her sister died three years later under suspicious circumstances.”

  “What kind of suspicious circumstances?” Cobra asked.

  Harry raised his gaze from his computer screen and told them, “She was found in a dirty alley the morning after the third anniversary of Tessi’s death. The autopsy said there were twelve stab wounds that led to her death. That and a burn on her forehead. It appeared to be a branding of some sort but no one knows what it means.”

  “And this was what, twenty one years ago?” Gunner asked.

  Harry nodded.

  Gunner looked pensive. “Ok, but now we have to concentrate on this Levi Silvers. Find out who he is and what his connection to Randy is or perhaps was back then.”

  “Yeah need to find a link from Randy to this Levi,” Cobra grumbled. “We need to know what kind of trouble Randy was getting himself involved with back then.”

  “From what I can remember about that man whatever their connection was, then it couldn’t have been legal.” Becky's voice came from the hallway.

  All three men turned to look at her in surprise.

  She looked at Harry smiled. “I left Annie resting.” She took a few steps forward and reached out for his hand. “I know you don’t want to tell me but I need to know. My birthday is August 14th and on my next birthday, I’ll be twenty five.”

  Harry turned to gaze at Gunner and Cobra. When he looked back at her he cleared his throat. “We may have found something then, something you might need to see.” He picked up a couple of sheets of paper and handed them to her.

  Becky read them carefully and sat down in stunned horror. “That fucking bastard. He did this? He really did this, didn’t he?” she whispered.

  “Like we said before, we don’t know that the baby was you,” Cobra reminded her. “Could Randy Sheen do something as horrible as this? Yeah, I think he could. But we don’t know enough about this yet.”

  Becky shook her head sadly, then looked at the men. “I think we all know the baby is me. You may not want to admit it, but I’m pretty sure I am that baby. Randy Sheen killed my mother for reasons we may never know.” She closed her eyes and tears rushed down her cheeks. Then opening her eyes, she asked, “Was he my father as well as Annie’s?”

  None of the men knew what to say, so they remained silent.

  “Well was he?”

  “We don’t know for sure but the woman had a husband,” Gunner said. “We don’t know if her husband or Randy was your father but yes child, we think Randy did this to you and the woman who could be your mom. Why did he do it? We just don’t know how to even guess the answer to that question.”

  “Everything makes sense now you know...” Becky shuddered. “When I was growing up, he would look at me some days like he hated me. He was always drinking and he was a very nasty drunk. Always talking and mumbling to himself about secrets, revenge and taking back what was his. We never knew what he was talking about but Annie always protected me from him when he got that certain look in his eyes. He was hardly ever home but when he was, he was always drinking. When he would get drunk, he often used his fists and it didn’t matter which one of us was closest. Mostly it was mom, as she wouldn’t keep her distance when he was home. But when it wasn’t her, Annie often stood between him and me. She would protect me from his wrath.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I always hated that she felt she had to do that. It was almost a blessing when he left us when I was twelve. I never missed him after he left that’s for sure.”

  “And your mom?” Gunner wanted to know.

  Becky shook her head. “No, we now know she was Annie’s mom not mine. After Randy left us the last time, she went a little crazy. She kept going out to look for him and coming back empty handed. Then she got the news that a certain man knew where he was. She went to speak to him and when she didn’t come back, we knew she was gone. She had given her life for him. To pay a debt she didn’t incur. Annie and I had to find our own way after that. Annie was seventeen at the time and we lived hand to mouth most of the time but Annie wouldn’t give up on us.” She chuckled as a thought came to her, “Well you know just how stubborn she can be. She wouldn’t give up on me and she taught me the same.”

  Harry chuckled at this. “Yes, she did.” I don’t think I’ve ever known just how stubborn she could be until she started looking for you after you disappeared.”

  “Do you know anything about this husband of Tessi’s?” Becky asked.

  “Not yet,” Harry admitted. “I seem to have problems running anything down on the man.”

  Becky turned back to the table and picked up the photo of Damen Cole. “And him?”

  “We know he’s watching this place, but we’re still working on running him down,” Gunner explained.

  Becky felt something inside her break. It flooded her soul with a helplessness she hadn’t felt in a very long time. “Do any of you know what he wants here?” she asked as her body began to tremble.

  “No and that is what has us worried,” Cobra admitted reluctantly. “But since you want the truth, we think he’s watching for signs of you.”

  “Me?” She frowned. “Why would he be watching for me?”

  Gunner answered this, “Honestly, we think he was involved with Blacky and somehow, he knows about you but, he also might be working for Tessi’s husband of whom we still don’t know anything about. Whoever this Levi Silvers is, there isn’t much information about him.”

  Becky frowned at the men
tion of the name Levi Silvers. The name sounded so familiar to her but she didn’t know why. Levi wasn’t an everyday name but she had heard the name before. She picked up the photo of Damen Cole again, and stared at it. She’d seen him in person a couple of times when she was with Blacky but she never knew his name or why he was there.

  She noticed he wasn’t the green eyed man so that must mean he was the one with the gravelly voice. Those two were the only ones Blacky ever showed her to. Old green eyes made her nervous but this man? This man scared her with his intense glare through the opening in the door. Suddenly, her eyes went wide as she remembered something. She looked over at all three men sitting there and spoke softly, “Does the name SANG Corporation mean anything to any of you?”

  Harry frowned. “No, not really.” Then he looked at Gunner and Cobra.

  Cobra looked a little grim as he stared at Becky. “What the hell do you know of the SANG Corporation, little girl?”

  Becky trembled as she a bit afraid. “Nothing, I swear.” She looked back down at the photograph of Damen Cole and pointed at him in the photo. “It’s just that one day, he came to see Blacky and he mentioned the group. It put the fear of God into Blacky for at least a small amount of time.” She smiled with a bit of satisfaction at the memory of this. “Too bad, it never lasted very long. Whoever this group is, Blacky was afraid of them.”

  “With good reason.” Cobra glared. “Sang is a dangerous group to cross. Above board, they fund technology, always coming up with new ideas and gadgets for making the speed of our searches go faster and further but under the surface? You don’t want to go there. They didn’t become the number one business by just being fair. No one knows who works for them or in what category.”

  “Could this Damen work for SANG? And if so, why would he be watching me?” she asked.

  Gunner turned to Harry and asked, “Did that flash drive Annie got from her dad have anything on it about SANG?”

  Harry moved over to Annie’s laptop and as he hit the keyboard and brought up the files listed on Randy’s flash drive, he searched the files for anything connected to SANG.

  Becky stood behind him and watched the laptop screen.

  He found a small file and clicked on it. It opened into a larger file. It was from the corporation web page. It listed the four partners, Levi Silvers, Andrew Adams, Samuel Niger and Michael Grant. Then it went on to list their various projects and future projects.

  He printed out the page with all four men’s pictures on it then passed it around.

  Becky stared long and hard at the four men in the photos. One man stood out and she frowned as she stared at him. She knew his face but she couldn’t remember him at all.

  Patriot joined them and assured Harry, “Annie is sleeping now. The baby is doing well. But she shouldn’t get that stressed again.”

  “She was stressed because she was trying to protect me by hiding things from me.” Becky shook her head. “She still thinks I’m a baby and can’t take care of myself.”

  “Well sweet girl,” Patriot took Becky into his arms and hugged her close. “You got yourself into trouble all on your own, and she does love you, and helped with rescuing you from your last escapade.”

  “Ouch, you are brutal you know that?” She smiled, kissed his cheek, then made her point, “She didn’t rescue me, these guys did.”

  The men all stared back at her.

  “And now you have a man watching us to get to you,” Cobra added.

  “But why? Why is someone looking for me after all this time?” Becky sighed. “I mean I’m a grown woman now. I don’t want this man in my life. This Levi or Damen. They need to give up on this and go home.”

  Cobra scoffed. “Men like this would never give up. It may be about pride. With men, it usually is about that.”

  “Perhaps he’s been looking for you a lot longer than you realize sweetheart,” Patriot suggested. “Maybe like twenty four years?”

  Becky felt part of her go stone cold. She might not have had an easy life but she had found her forever place with Patriot and Annie. Instead of thinking too hard on it, she picked up the paper again with the four men from SANG. She studied their faces for a while then looked over at Gunner. “I’ve seen this man before today but I never knew his name. I barely remember him but I’ve seen his face somewhere in the past.”

  “Would he have seen you then too?” Gunner asked.

  Becky shrugged. “I have no idea. Annie might know more as she was older than me. I think we were on our way out of yet another town. I can’t remember where we were as we’d lived in so many towns, but I remember looking out the car window as seeing this man getting out of a long black car. Someone was running to the house we’d just left and mom was telling us to duck down into our seats. Then we were speeding off while he turned his head to watch us go. That’s when I saw his face. He was just about twenty feet away from us. I could see him so clearly for a few minutes then mom turned the corner and I lost sight of him. I think I was three at the time. Annie was older and she knew more than I did.”

  “Yes, I did know more than you did at the time.” Annie’s voice came from the hallway.

  Harry got to his feet and rushed over to her. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders he led her to the table and sat down, pulling her onto his lap.

  Becky stared at her sister. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

  “I did for a while but I had to know you were still safe.”

  Harry picked up the photograph and showed her what they found. “We might have found a link between Damen Cole and this group. We don’t know who they are but one of them is the husband of this Tessi woman.”

  Annie searched the photo and found that one of the men seemed familiar to her as well. She looked up at Gunner and the others. “I remember very well the night Becky spoke of. But she was four not three and I was nine at the time. Randy had come home and packed his clothes in a hell of a hurry. He told our mother that someone had come looking for him and he didn’t want to be found. That if she valued her own neck, she would get the hell out of there fast. Mom got us out of there with nothing but the clothes we were wearing. We barely got to the car before a limousine pulled up in front of the house. She told us to duck down in our seats as she sped away.” She laid the photo down and pointed at one man. “He was there but he had several other men with him.” They all pulled guns and stormed into the house. A moment passed and the other men came back out shaking their heads. One of them was holding Becky’s stuffed bunny.” She paused then added, “He handed the rabbit to him.” She tapped Levi’s picture.

  Gunner looked over at Cobra and shook his head. “They must have found Randy at least one time, only to lose him again.”

  Cobra nodded. “And this Levi Silvers doesn’t sound like a reasonable man. I don’t think we’re going to be able to discuss this properly with him. Not after this long a time.”

  Gunner looked over at Patriot and the others that had joined him. “Be on alert brothers. We may have another situation on our heels.”

  Chapter Seven

  “What else did you find out while I rested, baby?” Annie asked Harry.

  “Tessi had a sister who died three years almost to the date of her sister’s death. She was murdered,” Harry told her. “Her killer was never found, so her case is still open as well.”

  Becky shook her head. “He did it twice then?” she whispered in shock.

  “Oh sweetheart, Randy has done this sort of thing more than twice,” Gunner told her. “He’s a stone cold killer.”

  “So I gather.” Becky sneered. She glanced over at Annie and looked ashamed for a moment.

  Annie shook her head. “Randy was never a good man. Could he do something like this? Yes, he could and apparently did. For whatever reasons, he was only thinking of himself. In his world, he’s the only one who counts. Certainly not my mother, me or even you. Randy did what he did to please himself, I don’t know whether he was pissed at Tessi or Levi but knowing him
, he took you to punish one or both of them.”

  “And Tessi’s sister?”

  Annie shrugged. “Maybe she figured out the truth and confronted him. I don’t know and we may never know.”

  “What happens next then?” Becky asked.

  “That depends on what Damen does,” Gunner admitted. “If he comes here looking to take you away from us...” He noticed Becky beginning to tremble and quickly reassured her, “Sweetie that isn’t gonna happen.”

  Becky looked at Patriot then over at Gunner. “I don’t want any of you hurt on my account. I’m a nobody. At best, I’m the daughter who was stolen from her mother by the act of a murdering madman. At worst, I’m the daughter of a cold heartless killer.” She got to her feet and looked to Patriot. “I’m sorry, I know you think I’m not broken but I am.” She took a step away from the table and said to no one in particular, “I need to sleep, I’m just so tired all of a sudden.”

  Everyone watched as she shuffled down the hall.

  Gunner and Cobra looked at Annie for a moment. They all could see the tears running down her face. They knew the struggles the girls had endured.

  She looked over at them and said, “She is worth something. Randy never gave her a thought after he brought her home with him. To him, she never mattered but she matters to me. She matters to me and I won’t see her broken by this. She’s suffered enough. I refuse to give up on her now. If Damen Cole thinks he can take her away from me, he’s got another thing coming.” She pushed up to her feet and snarled. “I will not let him take her away from me, not now, not ever.”

  “Settle down.” Gunner growled. “We aren’t letting him take her either. She’s one of us now, and nobody takes what’s ours. I don’t give a fuck who he thinks he is.”

  Damen returned to the compound closer to late evening. He figured the shadows would give him safe passage to get close to the clubhouse. He had hoped to slip in and get out without anyone knowing he was there in the first place but as he got closer, he noticed something had changed. The front gate was no longer open. Also, there were searchlights up and lit now.