Patriot

by KJ Dahlen

  Bastian nodded.” My story is different. Well... maybe not. I met a woman who is now my wife. She was to be one of my victims. I was hired to grab her. Someone I would have torture then kill to get the information she had.”

  Annie and Becky stared at him with round eyes.

  He caught their look and laughed. “Come to find, love does conquer evil.”

  Damen stared at Bane with total awe and curiosity. “But you were a legend, still are. You gave that up? Just because of your niece?”

  “A very foul man went after my family for another reason entirely. I’d finally found someone who believed in me...The new me, and he wanted to take her away from me. I couldn’t allow that to happen. She deserved to live the same as you do. I took out the threat to her life and I gave her the same chance she gave me. A life for a life.” Bane paused and admitted, “My life never mattered much to me. I always felt my soul was incomplete so the world would never miss someone like me, but when I met her, I knew the world would miss someone like her.” He turned to look at Becky. “And she’s a lot like you.”

  Becky blinked at him.

  “I’ve been working for them for some time now,” Damen spoke. “I know many of their backdoors.”

  “James seems to think you’re ready for your own do over.” Bane stared at the other man. “Is that what this is?”

  Damen nodded. “For a long time now, I’ve barely been able to follow orders given to me by Levi. My heart was sick when he sent me down here to find his daughter. I’ve been watching her for weeks now and she’s got a spark inside her I’ve never seen before. I wanted to protect her instead of turning her in to a man like Levi. Because she had something so rare I wanted it for myself.”

  Bane smiled. “I know that feeling very well.” He glanced over at James and gave the man a nod. “You’re right, he’s ready.” Bane then swung his gaze to Gunner and Cobra. “Levi is growing impatient. He left Kansas City early this morning with two other men. They should arrive within the next two hours.”

  “And just how do you know this?” Gunner asked.

  “We are having them followed of course,” Bastian assured the group.

  “If he’s coming, he’ll have more than just two men waiting for him,” Damen told them. “The two men at his back are probably Peter Longview and Ben Langley. Each of them has five men under them, the same as Jase and I did. There could be as many as twenty men in the shadows waiting for the word to start shooting.”

  “That’s what we needed to know.” Bane nodded at him. “We already assumed this but not the actual count.”

  Damen went on, “Some will come in on foot, but most of them will be up high in the trees. The branches will hide them and you won’t know they are there until it’s too late to stop the bullet.”

  “We can at least know where they are if they’re in the trees,” Gunner stated. “We knew where the three of you were. My IT guys put heat sensors out there.”

  “Do you have snipers?” Bastian wanted to know.

  “I have some good shooters, yes.” He nodded.

  “Boss, we have a situation,” Rigger told them as he came into the room.

  “How many?” Gunner wanted to know.

  “Six at the moment.”

  James looked over at Damen. “This is your moment. Do you take it or do you let it go?”

  Damen looked over at Bane with doubt in his eyes. “Is a do over really possible for men like you and me?”

  “It is if you want it bad enough.” Bane stared back at him. “Question is, do you want it bad enough?”

  Damen glanced over at Becky and made up his mind. He turned back to Bane and James. “I do. People like her are worth more to me now than my work.”

  Gunner nodded at Cobra.

  Cobra handed Damen his rifle. “You might need this. But can you take out your own men? Those men are here to kill you and anyone you stand with.”

  Damen nodded. “I’ll do what I have to do, like always. Only for the other side now.” He paused to look at Becky and Annie. Then he looked back over at Cobra. “I know these men and you don’t. I trained most of them.”

  Before he could say anything more, Becky broke away from Patriot and marched toward the front door. Annie called out to her but Becky never stopped. Gunner and the others tried to stop her from going outside but she ducked away from all of them.

  She threw the big door open and rushed outside.

  A single gunshot hit the dirt in front of where she came to a stop.

  Patriot came out and pulled her back a bit.

  Becky shook him off as she slowly raised her arms and made a complete circle with her hands out at her side. “My name is Becky. I’m told Levi Silvers is my father but I don’t know the man. He allowed Randy Sheen to murder my mother then Randy stole me from her womb and kidnapped me. But you don’t care about that do you? All you care about is the goddamn almighty dollar you can earn by taking orders from a man like Levi Silvers and his friends.”

  Patriot looked worried as he looked around but he stood by her side.

  Becky went on, “You won’t care either that a man named Blacky stole me away and was going to sell me into a human trafficking ring but first he wanted to break my spirit. Only problem was he couldn’t. He tried, believe me, he tried. Your boss Levi knew where I was and what Blacky was doing to me, but he left me there for three fucking months while Blacky beat the living hell out of me every fucking day. He drugged me to scramble my mind then left me alone to die but I’m still here! Then Levi sent you all to bring me back to him. Would you like to know why?” she screamed. “Levi is a sick man and he needs my bone marrow. He’s a miserable man with an illness so rare that he can’t live without a transfusion, but not just one. Over time, he’ll drain my bone marrow and leave me for dead just so he can live a while longer. I’ll be damned if I will allow that to happen. My father can go fuck himself. He ignored me all my life, he left me to the fates and the fates weren’t kind to me, so Levi Silvers can go fuck himself! You all have a choice to make. You can stand by Levi and murder someone today or you can go home. Because believe me when I say Levi will walk over your lifeless bodies to get to where he thinks he needs to be and your deaths will not bother him one iota. He’ll wipe your blood off his shoe and not worry about it. Does he even know your name? Because I doubt he knows mine and I’m his daughter. He’s never seen me even once in the twenty four years I’ve been alive.” Becky had tears rolling down her face now. “Is a man like Levi Silvers worth your life? Your blood, sweat and tears? Is he worth your family’s tears? Men like Levi only care about themselves, even you know that much. For once in your lives, think about that.” She paused and wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

  The door behind her opened again, as Damen came out to stand with her and Patriot. He raised his voice as he spoke, “You all know me and she’s telling you the truth. Men like the four men we work for will not care about who dies to protect them. In fact, they are counting on you to stand between them and the justice they so richly deserve.” He looked around the compound and added, “She right about Levi too. He is sick, in fact he’s dying and he needs her marrow to live but even then, he may live another few months and then the marrow won’t be enough to sustain him. He’ll continue to take and take without regard for her life. He’s already got a lab set up for the procedure. I told him Jase would kill her and he did nothing to stop him. He’s probably got a contract out on me because he can no longer be sure I’m with him and if he can do that to me, you can bet your ass he’ll do it to you too.” He looked around again. “He’s coming here today to collect his daughter for the first time in her life. I’m not going to let him have her. He’ll have to kill me to get to her. Do any of you think he won’t do it? How many of your lives will he put in the firing line to get to her do you suppose? But know this... Levi is done. SANG group is going down and in the end, there will be nothing left. No big paychecks, no new orders, nothing. You will be the first line of defense they
will allow to be destroyed so they can run and hide. You all will end up dead or in prison and for what? You were only following orders. Is your life worth taking those orders? He’s done. SANG is done. Get out before they take you down with them. That is what I am doing today.” Then he turned away and went back in.

  Patriot wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led Becky back inside the clubhouse.

  Whatever happened next would happen... and god help them all.

  The limo pulled off the highway and drove through the small sleepy town of Jasper.

  Levi felt a flutter of anticipation but it died out before it was more than a passing thought. He looked over at his men, Peter and Ben. “Are your men in place?”

  Ben nodded. “They should be by now.”

  “They are on radio silence in case the MC is monitoring the airwaves.” Peter informed him.

  The vehicle continued on its original course and soon they came to the compound. The front gate was closed and there was no one in the courtyard. The limo drew to a stop. Peter and Ben got out of the car. Levi stayed where he was and watched with interest.

  “You, in the clubhouse!” Peter shouted.

  “What do you want here?” Gunner called out.

  “I think you know what we want,” Ben shouted back. “Send the girl out and we’ll let you live to see another day.”

  “The hell you will,” Gunner snapped back. “The girl stays here.”

  “Then you’ll all die!” Peter yelled. “Is she worth your life? She’s a stranger to you, is her life worth your own?”

  “You are two men,” Gunner called out. “I have twenty men. I think the odds are in my favor, don’t you?”

  Peter grinned. “Are you sure we’re only two men?”

  “Yup, pretty sure there are only two of you and Levi Silvers out there. The rest of your men walked away already.”

  Peter frowned slightly as he glanced at Ben then looked around the area. Looking back at the clubhouse he called out, “You’re lying.”

  “Am I?” Gunner called out. “Are you willing to bet your life on it, buddy? Cuz my men have you in their crosshairs and they are getting twitchy fingers.”

  Ben brought up his wrist and spoke into his clip on mic. He was calling in the troops.

  No one answered. The mic was nothing but dead air.

  Peter stared at him.

  Ben shook his head.

  Levi got out of the vehicle and snarled, “What the fucking hell is going on? Give the order to fire on the clubhouse. Show these idiots we mean business.”

  Ben turned to the other man and snarled, “There is no one out there to shoot you fool. It’s just the three of us against them.”

  The driver put the car in reverse and began to back up. Levi narrowed his eyes and ordered him to stop. The driver hit the gas pedal and the car took off, crashing into a tree behind him. The driver gunned the engine and the crashed car pulled away from the area. Soon, all they could see was the taillights shining red as the car slowed down to turn on the highway.

  The three men just stood there in shock.

  One by one, the dozen men on the roof popped up holding their weapons aimed at the three men on the other side of the gate. The front door of the clubhouse opened and more men with weapons poured out of the building. Another dozen men lined up and they had their weapons pointed at Levi, Ben and Peter.

  Gunner Boone and Cobra walked out and Gunner opened the gate. “You called our bluff and lost.”

  “My men will come to get us free.” Levi snarled. “And I will enjoy the experience of watching them burn you to the ground.”

  The door of the Clubhouse opened for a second time and one man walked out to join them at the front gate.

  Levi’s eyes widened and for once, he was speechless.

  “Hello Levi.” Bastian nodded at the other man. “Long time no see.”

  “Priest, w-what are you doing here? With these men? I thought you were dead?” Levi mumbled.

  “You mean you hoped I was dead.” Bastian shook his head. “You are royal bastard and I’ll live a lot longer than you will. The only question is, will you live or die in prison?”

  “Prison?” Levi looked stunned. “What does that mean?”

  “It means we’re taking SANG down. We’re taking it apart brick by fucking brick and you and your partners are going to spend the rest of your days in prison.”

  “I’m not going to prison!” Levi scoffed. “Men like me don’t go to prison. We buy prisons.”

  “Well, you could if you had any money left,” Bastian agreed. “But don’t worry we’ll spend it wisely.”

  “You can’t bluff me!” Levi swore.

  “Who’s bluffing?” Bastian asked softly. “We began stripping your assets this morning before dawn. You and your partners don’t have a dime to your names anymore. Also, the FBI and Homeland security is storming into your offices even as we speak.”

  Levi grabbed his phone and called his partner for conformation. When Michael Grant answered the call, he began screaming at Levi. Levi could barely make out the words he was spewing but he got enough of the main gist to know Bastian’s words were true. He hung up the phone and glared at the other man. “We’ve been to court before and survived. We’ll come back bigger and stronger than before again. Then you can bet your bottom dollar, we’ll hunt you down and take you out for good then.”

  Bastian smiled. “But by then, you’ll be dead old man. Your daughter won’t be there to save you and your men won’t be there either. They’ll be next to you in prison.”

  Then the silence was broken as a fleet of vehicles broke into view. They were U.S. Marshal and Texas Ranger’s vehicles.

  Half a dozen or more men exited the vehicles to rush over, grabbing Levi, Peter and Ben. They were disarmed immediately then thrown down on the hoods of the vehicles and handcuffed. The men pushed them into the back seats. The doors were slammed shut.

  Gunner got a thrill watching Levi snapping orders that no one gave a damn about.

  The gate again opened slowly.

  One man walked through and came over to Bastian to speak to him, “We got your text and the evidence yesterday. Do you have any idea what you handed over to us?” he asked his friend.

  Bastian nodded.

  “This is a game changer for sure,” Texas Ranger Dwayne Rodgers admitted.

  “It’s only the tip of the iceberg,” Bastian warned him. “You’ll find more and more as the investigation unfolds and we may have an informant to help you. I don’t know that for sure yet, but there is a possibility we can turn one of their own against them.”

  “I spoke to the FBI in Kansas City and they are very willing to work with us to get this done,” Dwayne assured him.

  “You’ll find Levi Silvers is a very sick man.” Bastian nodded. “He has a rare blood disorder and he’s dying. Don’t give him an inch. He needs to face his crimes before he dies... there’s a special seat in hell waiting for him.”

  “Oh, I believe that.” Dwayne held out his hand and shook Bastian’s. “We’ll be in touch and again, thank you.” Dwayne turned and headed toward the first car.

  The vehicles all backed up and turned around.

  Soon, the four men were the only ones out there. They turned and went back inside the clubhouse.

  Becky and Patriot stood there.

  Becky was crying. “Is it over?” she whispered. “Is the nightmare finally over?”

  Gunner nodded slowly. “Yeah, sweetheart, it’s over.”

  “Thank god.” She turned to Patriot. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she whispered, “I can stay here with you now. I don’t have to run anymore.”

  Patriot held her tight. “You belong here with me and I wouldn’t have let you run without coming after you and dragging you back here,” he whispered in her ear. “You are safe here. You will always be safe here with me.”

  She looked up into his eyes. “I love you, I hope you know it.”

  “Better believe I do a
nd I love you too.” He leaned in closer and brushed her lips with his own.

  Next Chapter Book to go up at the website

  MARCH 25TH

  Author of the bestselling, award winning Bratva Brothers and Satan Spawns/Sin’s Bastards MC Series...

  I live in a small town (population495) in Wisconsin. From my deck, I can see the Mississippi River on one side and the bluffs, where eagles live and nest on the other side. I live with my husband Dave and dog Buddy. My two children are grown and I have two grandchildren. I love to watch people and that has helped me with my writing. I often use people I watch as characters in my books and I always try to give my characters some of my own values and habits.