42 Days (Hell's Fire Riders MC Book 6)

by KJ Dahlen

  42 Days

  Hell’s Fire Riders MC

  BOOK SIX

  K.J. DAHLEN

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the web -without permission in writing from the author.

  K.J. Dahlen Copyright © 2017

  42 Days

  HELL’S FIRE RIDERS MC

  BOOK SIX

  Editor: Leanore Elliott

  Book & Cover Design:

  Wicked Muse Productions

  DEDICATION

  To my friends old and new, you’ve all meant something to me at some point in my life and I thank you for that. They say you meet someone for a reason and we may not know what the reason is right away. Buteventually, we find out. I have to say, all my friends are in my life because I need them there.

  Prologue

  Sabine Pass, Texas…

  Trudy gasped and pushed her chair away from her PC table. She stared at her computer screen frozen in horror. She slowly raised her eyes to Bastian. “Holy fucking hell,” she whispered.

  “What did you find?” Bastian almost hated to ask.

  “I found his manifesto.”

  “What?” Bastian called out as he pushed his chair back and moved over to her station. As he read the file over her shoulder, he couldn’t believe what he was reading. He was wrong before when he thought Leroy was nuts. If the pages in his manifesto were the ideals he lived by, the man was totally insane. He was willing to bring chaos and anarchy to the nation just to prove that only the strongest and the best prepared would survive. He had several years to prepare for the calamity he had in mind but not everyone would be so fortunate.

  My name is Leroy Arthur Simon Parker Nash. Remember that name for when they rewrite the history of this great nation, it will be the final chapter and this will become my manifesto.

  I’ve watched so many people struggling just to get by in my lifetime. Good, hard working people trying to provide for their families while the rich people use and abuse the lesser fortunate. It has become my mission in life to turn the tables on the wealthy. I grew up without a place to call home and people taunted me for something that wasn’t my fault. I didn’t ask to be born and I didn’t turn my back on an innocent child. I was just one of the many children who fell through the cracks of the government. The people in charge who should have been there not only for me but for all the other children, the ones who told me I would never amount to anything because I came from nothing. These are the same people who thought money outweighed the acts of kindness that everyone needs.

  So now, I’m taking my mission to the very people who used and abused my station in life. You who could have made not only my life easier but everyone’s life easier. Now it’s my time to teach you how to be humble. You were asked to watch over some children who had nothing to call their own. You treated us like the dirt on the bottom of your shoe. You may not have raised your hand against us, though some of you did, but you showed us no comfort or love either. A child doesn’t ask to be born but you showed us that to you we had no value or worth unless we worked our fingers to the bone for your comfort.

  Through my struggles, I have seen the good in so few people and then only when something catastrophic comes to pass. What happens next will test the very nature of the American people. Many of you will die as life as we all know it becomes a struggle for the fittest to survive. For a while, chaos and mayhem will rule as everyone scrambles to find the basics like shelter, food and water. Nature unleashed can be a real bitch. Mankind will be tested, as all hell breaks loose from the confines we have trapped our resources into.

  The needs we depend on more and more everyday will be gone and we will once more have to depend on our own wits to live through another day. We will begin in the dark and have to find our own light. We will face starvation until we relearn how to grow our own food again. There will be floods and fire, so that when it all calms down again, we will have been cleansed almost by the hand of God once more. But it won’t be the hand of God that tests you, it will be by my hand.

  We will all have our own place in the remaking of this nation. When the chaos settles, there will be no more wealthy vs poor classes, just people. If we can pull together as one unity the recovery time will be only a few years at best. For those of us who have prepared for this day to come the time will be shorter yet. For those who put off for another day getting their shit together, they will be the ones who struggle the most. They will be lost when the chaos comes and they will be the ones who fight back the most.

  There will be riots in the streets as people fight just to stay alive. Betrayal will run rampant as most turn their backs on one another but that’s simply human nature. But from the ashes of what our nation will become will be a brand new world.

  Where there was once fire eventually there will be new growth, where there will be flooding there will be dry ground again. Where there were secrets, the truth will be heard. We will be able to reform our government to serve the people again, something that hasn’t happened in a very long time. People will learn to talk to one another again, instead of texting.

  We will learn to relive with nature again, instead of holding back this nation’s resources. It only takes one man with a dream to remake this world we live in. The time will come when I can step forward and be recognized as the nation’s savior and when that time comes, I will step forward and take my rightful place as a leader of mankind.

  But before that time comes, I will have to allow the chaos to happen. The chaos will bring death and destruction to many, but that can’t be helped. The Bible talks of fire and flood by God’s hand to cleanse the earth. I will take that as my way to cleanse this nation.

  I will bring the nation fire and flood of epic proportions. Those who survive will assist the lesser fortunate or I will bring more destruction down on their heads. Like God, I have seen what He saw in the cities of Sodom and Gomora. First comes the fire though. Using nature, I will unleash natural fire and destruction. If you haven’t learned your lessons, I will release great floods to wash away your sins.

  So beware America, chaos is just around the corner and you aren’t prepared for it, not yet but one day, you will be. When God created this world of ours, he brought us light from the darkness around us, so my first lesson will be to take away the light. Only in darkness can we find our way back to the light.

  We celebrate the fourth of July as our Independence Day- the day we won our freedom from our oppressors so on July Fourth, I will bring on the darkness. Call it a wakeup call for the nation. Then I will unleash the fire using Mother Nature in a way that will cleanse the nation. Then if America hasn’t woken up yet, flooding will be next.

  Beware America, chaos and mayhem are coming….

  His plan was to hit several places to do the most damage. He spoke of turning out the lights leaving everyone in the dark. Bastian’s first thought was the power grid everyone used for communications. It would be a cascading failure that would sweep the nation shutting down communications from coast to coast. That alone would be catastrophic. Bastian backed up and looked at Trudy. “This guy is insane.”

  “Oh, there’s no doubt about that.” She shook her
head. “He’s willing to kill thousands of people for an insane dream to become ruler? The cascade failure alone to cut all communications, making it impossible to get anyone help. He’ll set us back hundreds of years in technology.”

  Bastian nodded in agreement. “But I have a feeling he’ll be able to reach out.”

  “You think he’ll have his own way to communicate?”

  Bastian nodded. “He’ll have his own towers set up.”

  “But if our central infrastructures go down, then everything goes down.”

  “He’ll have thought about that and devised his own main infrastructures. They might be hidden from most but there will be someone who knows where they are. The best way to keep a secret is not to tell anyone but my bet is Leroy didn’t worry about who he told. No one would believe him anyway. He wouldn’t worry so much about anybody talking about what he was doing. They would never believe it would work anyway. ”

  Trudy glanced over at the calendar on the wall. The date was May 23. They had 42 days to find him and stop the chaos from coming. She looked over at Bastian. “We have to warn the guys. Pappy will want to know what we found.”

  Bastian nodded. “You might want to suggest that they look but make no attempts today. Once we know more about who and what we’re dealing with, the better chance we have to stop him.” He turned to walk back to the bedroom where his future waited.

  Then Calico motioned him over to the table he was sitting at. When Bastian joined him, Calico looked as if he had something to say but just didn’t know how to say it.

  On the table between them was a cell phone. Calico motioned to the phone. “I took this from Enrique before we left the boat last night.”

  “And?”

  “I checked the call log.”

  “And?” Bastian was growing impatient with the other man. “If there’s something I need to know, just say it.”

  “Enrique placed a call to his family in Mexico shortly before they took Sawyer,” he finally told him. Sweat beaded on Calico’s forehead. “They have another brother and a father who runs a cartel somewhere in the mountains of Mexico. I’m not exactly sure where but I do know when Enrique got shot in the trouble where Tomas was arrested, he made his way home. Last night when I showed up, he told me his father and brother were on their way to get their own revenge. The youngest brother Jose was killed the night Tomas was arrested. Knowing Enrique, he played up my role in the shootout, making me responsible for Jose’s death, his wounds and the fact that Tomas went to jail. There is a strong possibility that Barrone Senior and their older brother Paco are on their way here. For all I know, they could be here already.”

  Bastian felt his stomach clench. “Are they coming here for you or Sawyer?”

  “From what I know about those two, it isn’t going to matter. They will come looking for Enrique and Tomas and when they can’t find them, they’ll look around for me or someone they know looks like me.”

  Bastian looked around the compound. The gate was closed and there was a high fence around the perimeter. “So just stay behind the fence. With the men on guard no one can’t get in here.”

  “Do you want to bet your life on that, or my daughter’s?” Calico scoffed. “Remember, you got in and we didn’t even know it. Many a night, I heard stories from all three brothers about the hell they came from, how vengeful their own father was. They had a tough time growing up but they all agreed that no one messed with the old man. And no one messed with his sons if they wished to survive. If Enrique told his old man about where I was living, nothing would stop him from breaking down the doors to get to me and mine.”

  “Okay,” Bastian drawled. “So what do you want me to do?”

  “Take my family and get them somewhere safe.”

  Bastian shook his head. “That won’t stop the old man. No doubt, Enrique told him they had Sawyer in custody and were waiting for you to show up. If they know about Sawyer, they won’t stop until they get their hands on her.”

  “I can’t put them in danger,” Calico insisted. “I’ll stay here to head off Barrone but you have to get Jolene, Jordan and Sawyer somewhere they are going to be safe.”

  Bastian shook his head. “I’m not leaving you behind. Your wife and daughter would never go without you.”

  “I don’t want them to know about this.” Calico shook his head. “You’re right, they would never leave if they knew.”

  “I love your daughter and that means I won’t lie to her about this. I won’t lie to your wife either. If I take them away, when they return and find out that I knew and did nothing to stop it, they would both be pissed with very good reason. Sawyer would never forgive me.”

  “I have to do everything I can to protect my family,” Calico stubbornly insisted.

  “As do I.” Bastian seethed. “I want a life with Sawyer and the baby. If I do this, I won’t get that.”

  “So what do you suggest we do?” Calico challenged him.

  “I suggest we go on the hunt. We find them before they find you or her.”

  “And then?”

  “Then we take the motherfuckers out before they know what’s about to hit them,” Bastian vowed with rage in his icy blue eyes.

  Chapter One

  Day one…

  “You guys are gonna need help with this.” Trudy stepped forward. “You can’t do this on your own.”

  “You weren’t supposed to hear any of this conversation.” Calico growled.

  “Hey, this affects all of us, not just you and your family,” Trudy argued. “If the Barrone Cartel comes here looking for you, he won’t care who he has to kill to find you.”

  “Do you know them?” Bastian asked.

  “I know of them, not them in particular.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve had some dealings with the Mexican cartels and not all of them have been legal.”

  “Do you have any idea when we can expect them to be here?” Bastian asked.

  “Enrique just got a message from his father.” Calico motioned toward the phone. “They plan to be here no later than tomorrow.”

  “Okay, that will work.” Trudy nodded. “The guys are on their way back. They found what they think is Leroy’s home base.” She turned and headed for the front door. “Before they get back though, we need eyes on the town and more protection here. I can get some of the guys together to send out to cover the town.”

  “We need to get everyone together and tell them what we know,” Bastian suggested. “No more secrets, old man. If you want to survive along with your family, then you have to be honest with everyone. They are putting their lives on the line to protect what’s theirs, so be honest with them.”

  Calico paled. “There might be one or two things that could come up that I don’t want my family to know about.”

  “Then tell them before we get everyone together. That way, what’s said, won’t be a shock.”

  Calico growled. “You’re a real hard ass aren’t you? This shit isn’t anyone else’s business but mine and maybe Jolene’s.”

  “You need to be honest with your family,” Bastian insisted. “What happened while you were apart is your business that’s true but if the Barrones’ know it, they will bring it out, if to do nothing more than embarrass you. They will look for ways to separate your feelings from theirs and nasty secrets will be the thing that could trip you up.”

  Calico scoffed. “How do you know that? Do you have a lot of nasty secrets?”

  “As the Priest, I used whatever I could to break a man. Nasty secrets were one way to control my subject. Another was to use his family against him. I never hurt an innocent but I did threaten them.”

  Calico trembled. “They can’t get their hands on Jolene, Jordan or Sawyer. Barrone will make me watch as he first tortures them then kills them, then when I have nothing left, he’ll kill me.”

  “Did Enrique tell you that?”

  Calico nodded.

  Bastian latched on to Calico’s arm. “Tell your family what they need to kn
ow. They know you didn’t spend your life as a saint. Don’t let your secrets become their downfall. No secret is worth that. Don’t give Barrone that much power over you.”

  “If I tell her, Jolene will leave me. It was the one thing she told me she would never forgive me for.” Calico shook his head.

  “You forget something here,” Bastian pointed out. “The Jolene you knew as a younger man is not the same Jolene of today. Much has happened to you both in the past, maybe she’ll forgive you for whatever happened. She had a child by another man after you left. Her life went on as she supposed yours did. What really matters is the fact that you are together again, and there is nothing to separate the two of you again, but your own fears.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Calico stated.

  “Barrone thinks he has you right where he wants you. Don’t let him use that against you,” Bastian urged. “You also might want to pray they don’t get here earlier than expected. If Enrique was able to tell them where you were living, they could get in here before we have the men in place.”

  “We need to get everyone together and stay together,” Calico stated as he got to his feet. “You get Sawyer and I’ll get her mother and brother. We can all stay here in the dining room until the others get back.”

  “Ok.” Bastian got to his feet and went back to the bedroom he shared with Sawyer. Looking down the hall, he took note of the open window but didn’t think twice about it. As he reached for the doorknob, the short hairs on the back of his neck began to vibrate. He paused as his other senses kicked in. Crouching, he quietly turned the knob and pushed open the door.

  The room was in shambles. The covers from the bed were on the floor. The nightstand was tipped over and the lamp was shattered. Glass covered the floor.