Patriot

by KJ Dahlen

  “She did and we don’t take kindly to someone trying to rip her away from us.”

  They could all hear Damen release a sigh into the phone. “Jase will come after her with everything he’s got and leave nothing but devastation in his wake. I don’t want to see her dead or any of you either, not by his hands.”

  “We’ll do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Gunner stated with a growl.

  Damen hung up the call and glared at the tree on the other side of the road. He’d almost gotten here too late. Jase was high in the tree and he was waiting for the proper time to get away. Damen knew his procedure very well.

  Yes, Damen had thought about what he was going to do for a long time now. The only thing that kept him where he was, would be the fact that he’d hoped to be the one who found the girl Levi had lost a long time ago.

  But Levi had another secret he hid from the world. And Damen had discovered it purely by accident. He met and married Tessi for his own benefit. He never loved her and the truth be told, she didn’t love him either. In fact, she hated him and Levi knew it. But he didn’t care. He only married her for one reason and that was for the child he forced her to have. That baby would be his saving grace. He had hoped the baby would be a boy, maybe it would have been Tessi’s one and only saving grace, before Sheen got involved, that is.

  Levi tried to hide his medical problem, but Damen knew the man was dying. Some obscure long term disease was eating him alive. Only a bone marrow transfer from a live donor would allow him to live and time was running out for Levi. There was no assurance that even the transfer would help at this point.

  Levi had a very rare blood type and he was praying the girl had it too.

  Damen had Blacky give him some of her blood and he had it tested under orders from Levi, back when he found the girl, being kept at Blacky’s. The blood turned out to be a match and he had orders to bring her home.

  Damen figured somehow, Jase knew this as well and that would be why he would make sure she didn’t survive. That and the deep seated hatred Jase had for Levi was the reason why Jase would never allow her to live.

  Chapter Ten

  High up in the tree, Jase Brunner hid and watched the scene below him carefully. He was sure the shot hit the girl but was she still alive? It had been a hurried shot but had it done what he’d hoped? That’s what he needed to find out.

  When the light went out in the room she was in, he felt like he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do, but he knew he couldn’t leave here until he had confirmation the hit was good. He leaned back against the bark of the tree, not really noticing the rough bark along his neck. All he cared about was if his plan was working. He’d worked long and hard to get where he was right at this moment and he wasn’t giving up or giving in.

  Levi Silvers had discredited him once, a long time ago and he never forgot it. It was the one and only time he ever let that happen. He lost everything and he swore then, that he would never lose it all again. But he had also learned from that mistake. He vowed, then and there that he would get his revenge. And over the years, he had.

  He had never been a stupid man. He’d gotten to know things about each of the members on the board of the SANG group, and he filed that information in the vault of his mind. It hadn’t been easy but nothing worthwhile was ever easy. Everyone had at least one secret they didn’t want the rest of the world to know, the trick was finding that one secret among so many. It had taken him years to rebuild what Levi did to him but determination and the desire to kill allowed him to build back up what he once had. He also started a side business which he knew was against the rules for the men he worked for. He vowed to never get caught again, or ever lose everything he worked for.

  He worked under Samuel Niger primarily, he didn’t personally like the man, but the group had him assigned to the jerk, now all he had to do to get the number one spot was to eliminate Damen Cole and take out the girl. Cole was the only man who knew more than he did with his years and experience. Jase knew once he killed Damen, the group would rely on him, the way they did Damen.

  He would use the secrets of these men to empower his position even stronger. Blackmail the partners into keeping him on and paying him more money than ever before. His deadbeat dad always told him to find the secrets of an enemy or a friend even and you would be the one who had all the power.

  Jase smiled with glee. Now, he held all the power on the SANG Group. The four partners just didn’t know it yet.

  Damen Cole looked through the lenses of his night vision binoculars. They were custom made just to his instructions. Just like the special M82 w/night vision scope rifle slung across his back. He was a patient man and that patience had paid off for him over the years. Every job he took for the SANG Group, he went out of his way and had done his best to bring about the results the group wanted. But each job was also a learning experience for him. Human nature being a fickle bitch as it had very often, threw him for a loop. Especially when the result wasn’t what one thought it should be. He’d learned never to leave a man with any other option as you backed them into a corner that they could never leave. Desperate men do desperate things even if those things wouldn’t make any sense to you.

  Damen watched his target. Jase surprised him by taking that shot earlier. He didn’t think he’d actually do it. He knew Jase would never complete the original mission of getting the girl back to Levi alive. He already knew Levi had sent Jase here to eliminate him but Levi needed the girl alive or he himself would be dead soon.

  Damen knew Levi had someone watching him over the last few weeks. He even noticed this tail but he never let on. Levi must have sensed his growing dissatisfaction for his job. Damen had come to a realization after all these years, he’d finally had enough and he was not about to let Jase have his way. The girl would live this time.

  He could hear the shuffling of the MC as they searched the wooded area for the shooter but they would never find him. Jase was well trained to keep his hidden position until things settled down. Damen recalled how he taught him well to hide in plain sight. Jase had indeed, taken everything he was taught and used it to his own advantage. Damen knew he wouldn’t move for a while.

  But Jase seemed to not notice that he wasn’t alone in the trees. Either he didn’t know or he just didn’t care. Was he becoming so self-absorbed that he didn’t think he would get caught or what? If he hoped to scare Damen, then he was out of fucking luck. Damen knew this ploy would be something Jase would consider.

  A major shift happened when Damen made that call to Gunner, the President of Savaged Souls. He had never gotten involved with a mark before. Then again, he had been hunting for this girl for a very long time and he would be dammed if this freak, Jase would take her out in the end. Now he waited and watched and he knew it wouldn’t make any difference, not in the end, whether Jase knew Damen was there or not. Jase loved to play the cat and mouse game and to him, this was all just one big game of shits and giggles. For Damen however, this was the end. Jase or him. The end of his association with SANG was definitely here as well as the end of the game with Jase. It was time for the hunter to become the hunted...time for Damen to take back his own life.

  Becky woke up and cried out in pain. Her head felt like it wanted to explode as her neck and shoulder area felt on fire. “Aaron, help me,” she cried weakly. “Please help me?”

  “I’m here and I’m not leaving you,” he whispered as he sat down on the edge of her bed. Gathering her into his arms, he held her close to his body. “Don’t worry baby, you’re safe.”

  “What the hell happened?” she asked as she looked up at him.

  “Someone took a shot at you.” He looked into her eyes. “He damn near took you away from me.”

  “Why?” she asked as she felt a calm invade her body that only he could provide.

  “Your father, your real father wants you back but one of the men he sent to bring you back doesn’t want that to happen. Well, that’s what the other man cl
aims but we don’t know for sure what his motives are exactly. That’s just what we were told.”

  Becky felt utterly deflated at this news. His words flipped a switch in her brain and she was remembering her worst fears. The calm she felt a minute ago gave way to a cold that invaded her very bones. She tried to push him away. “No, I won’t go through this again!” Her panic was evident and she couldn’t stop it. She trembled so badly that her teeth chattered with it.

  Patriot struggled to keep her in his arms without hurting her. “Go through what again? What are you talking about?”

  “No, I can’t!” she cried out. “Please don’t make me? Blacky told me I could never tell.” Total fear enveloped her and panic shot through her mind.

  Patriot stilled for a moment. “What does Blacky have to do with this? What did he tell you not to repeat?”

  She was now out of her head and she couldn’t get control of herself. She knew this was like an anxiety attack, but she couldn’t stop it from happening. Her heart pounded so fast and she couldn’t seem to take a breath.

  “Stop, Becky, stop this. I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered in her ear as he held her close to his body.

  Becky stilled but kept herself at the ready. Her fight or flight response was in high gear. She knew she needed to get out of here. Run away like she and Annie had done so many times. That would fix it... it had to.

  “Tell me what triggered this,” Patriot gently asked her. “No one here is going to hurt you. Baby, please talk to me, come back to me and talk to me. What did I promise you?”

  After a long moment, while she fought this overwhelming feeling, she finally stopped fighting him. She struggled to slow her breathing down. Finally, she swung her tear filled gaze up to him.

  “What just happened?” he asked as he looked into her eyes. “You sort of flipped out there.”

  Seeing his face and listening to his soft but deep voice, she felt calmer. It helped her to get a grip. Laying her head on his chest, she could hear the pounding of his heart and she whispered her secret to him, “The first week I was with Blacky, he would come into my cell some nights. He would ask the most unusual questions and I never knew what to expect.”

  “What kind of questions?” Patriot frowned. All the men who had known Blacky, knew this would be out of character for him.

  Becky shrugged. “At first, he wanted to know about who I was, who my family was and what my dad’s name was. When I told him it was Randy Sheen, he seemed very interested. He seemed to know all about Randy but he never said anything about how he knew him. Then he asked me about when and where I was born. No matter how many times he asked, I could never tell him what he wanted to hear. Then he began to ask about my real father. This confused me. I didn’t understand why he said it like that. He kept telling me my “real father” wanted me in hell and that he would meet me there sooner, rather than later. That my real father would paint a target on my back and I’d never see the bullet with my name on it but that only he could save me from it. Then he would lean in real close and tell me he would use me when the time came and that I would save his ass in the end. I was in so much pain that I didn’t care about all his ramblings really. My mind was drifting by then. I-I think I was dying?”

  Patriot gathered her closer. “It’s okay. You don’t have to relive this baby. Just—”

  “No, I have to do this! It was something I had forgotten. I need to...get it out.

  He patted her back and lightly rested his chin on her head.

  “He told me my real father only wanted me for his own gain, that he never loved me, never even wanted me to be born, but that he needed me since I was of his blood. I never knew what he meant. I still don’t understand but I now realize that Blacky knew who my real father was, or is all along.”

  “His name is Levi Silvers, as far as we know at this point,” Patriot told her gently. “The only thing we don’t know is why he wants you so badly, still after all these years. It could only be about saving his own skin as far as we know. We just don’t know the reason yet.”

  Becky shook her head. “I'm scared, I know what Blacky did to me messed with my mind, and I’m not as strong as I thought. Then now someone is trying to kill me? Then someone else wants to take me away from here too?”

  Patriot crushed her to him. “You aren’t going anywhere baby, you are mine. You belong here with me.” He lowered his mouth to cover hers and he kissed her until she had to gasp for breath.

  Groaning, she winced a bit.

  Patriot stilled and looked concern. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  She leaned against him. “I forgot too. But I needed your kiss, so badly too. I’ll be fine. My time with Blacky was a nightmare and I didn’t want to remember it. But Annie taught me that the only way to get rid of the fear is to face it head on. Turn the bad into something good.” She dropped her head. “Annie is the best thing that ever happened to me and I’m so glad I can call her my sister. She’s my very best friend.”

  Patriot hugged her close. “You’ll always have her and now, you have me and all the brothers.”

  “Thank you, I know that. My logical side knows it. I was just so confused when I woke up. The pain was back and I felt like I was back with Blacky. I knew I wasn’t back with him, not really but...” She let out a sigh. “I fell into that black hole he had me in—again. I just couldn’t seem to stop it from happening. I-I... am I crazy? Will I ever be normal again?” Tears fell down her cheek as she gazed up at him. “Why would you want someone as damaged as I am?”

  Patriot looked fierce as he grasped her face in his hands. “You just need time. It is understandable, since you were shot. The trauma it caused was natural, sweet girl. You haven’t even had time to process all of this new information. Damnit, give yourself a break. And you are not damaged, not beyond repair. Time will heal this. You just haven’t been given that time.”

  “But will I even get that time, Aaron? Someone wants me dead now. But why?”

  “We may know why now,” a voice gruffly stated from behind them.

  They both turned to look.

  Gunner and Cobra were standing in the doorway. They both looked grim.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Patriot growled.

  “Annie and Harry dug up some new information and it's not good,” Gunner gritted out.

  “I’m almost afraid to ask.” Becky sighed as she looked down at her hands in her lap. “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “With this new information, maybe you will understand. Your real father has an agenda that doesn’t end well for you,” Cobra told her.

  Becky shivered at his words, “Can we please not call him that? He has never been a real father to me. I don’t even know him, not that it matters because Randy wasn’t a father to me either.” Swiping her tears from her cheeks, she looked up at Cobra and Gunner. “So what is this bastard up to?”

  “Apparently, he needs someone with the same rare blood type he has in order to stay alive.” Gunner nodded. “He’s had you tested and you share his rare blood type.”

  “H-had me tested...” Becky’s body went cold at his harsh words. “H-he wants my actual blood?” Her mind went blank. Blacky had said something like that and now, she repeated his words aloud, “The man will literally bleed you dry. Your blood is real currency little girl, didn’t you know? Drip, drip...” Raising her shaking hands to her mouth, she could still see Blacky’s evil grin as he’d said the words. She scooted out of Patriot’s hold, as all she could hear was that horrible snide voice as he repeated the words...Drip, drip. Shuddering as the room around her seemed to dim, Becky began to scream.

  Chapter Eleven

  Patriot reached for Becky but she fought him all the way. Memories assaulted her driving her beyond the brink of her own reality. She was so caught up in her own memories she didn’t realize it wasn’t happening to her at that moment.

  “No,” she screamed out. “Don’t hurt me anymore! I’ll be go
od, I promise,” she cried out. Her hands went to her belly and she flinched as if someone had buried his fist there. Then her hands would go to her throat and she scratched deep trenches in her skin as if she were digging someone’s strong fingers away from her throat. She was making choking sounds as if someone were strangling the very air out of her lungs.

  “No,” whispered hoarsely. “No more.” Tears ran down her cheeks and dripped on her shirt. She hung her head and cried out, “No more.” Her voice became a deflate whisper. “Hurry Annie, find me please before he kills me,” she babbled as she fought against the hands reaching for her.

  Patriot tried to hold her but she was still fighting him. She broke away and Patriot would reach for her again and again. She had flayed out and struck Patriot several times, as he tried to be gentle but she wouldn’t let him.

  Gunner and Cobra were in shock to see Becky like this, then Gunner shook himself free of being stunned and shouted at Patriot, “Get her something to put her out.”

  Patriot watched for half a second longer before he scrambled for a sedative. Looking over his shoulder, he yelled out, “Don’t hurt her.”

  Gunner grabbed her from behind wrapping her into his arms, so she could not use her fists, as he struggled to hang onto her.

  Patriot filled a syringe with a sedative with shaking hands and then he turned to see her.

  Now Cobra was holding her legs while Gunner held her arms down. Neither man wanted to hurt her and he could see her gunshot wound had opened up again, and blood stained her shirt. She was still fighting them and hurting herself in the process.

  He stepped closer to her and she paused in her struggles. Then she saw him with a syringe in his hand and she fought all the harder. “No!” She screamed. “Don’t—you’re going to kill me, no don’t do it. No!”

  Patriot’s heart was breaking as he watched her struggling. Tears were running down his own face as he watched.