Bane

by KJ Dahlen

  His stop had been to let the network know what was coming to Troy. Amos and his men had been watching the three men James had pointed out. They really did have a finger on the pulse of this town. Amos told him once they had claimed this town as their own and they would always protect it.

  Like them, Deke vowed not to give up or give in to the demands of Oscar Buckley. He wanted to bring a war to this town, then Deke would give him a war but he’d be damned if he’d let the likes of Oscar Buckley win it.

  ~*~

  It was barely dawn when Deke heard someone pounding on his front door. Groaning, he got out of bed without disturbing Cassie and stomped his way to the door. Throwing it open, he glared at the man standing on the other side. “What the hell do you want at this fucking hour?”

  Zipper stared at him seemingly unafraid of the bluster from his president. “We got more info you need to know.”

  Deke blew out his breath and nodded. Running his hands through his rumpled hair, he replied, “Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll meet you at the clubhouse.” He closed the door and turned to find his wife standing there with a worried look on her face.

  “What’s going on Deke?” she asked softly.

  Deke sighed. He’d hoped not to worry her about this but knew he couldn’t keep her in the dark. She had a right to know what could be going down. “Baby, we got a war coming. I want you to pack up the kids and go somewhere you’ll be safe for a couple of days until this is over.”

  Cassie shook her head. “No way. I’m not leaving my home for some piece of shit to come here and take over. No way.”

  “Honey, this man is looking to kill every man, woman and child who lives behind these walls. I don’t want him to spill your blood or the blood of my kids. I’d rather see you and the kids’ safe than have to worry about what’s happening to you.”

  “I’m not leaving, Deke,” she told him again. “This is my home too. Probably the only one I’ve ever had.” She moved closer to him and touched his bare chest. “I love you and I will not leave this place just to be safe while you face this monster. I’ve been hearing word on the streets about this Buckley asshole. It’s not a secret and hasn’t been for a couple of days now. People still remember the days when Bear ruled this compound.”

  “People?” Deke quirked an eyebrow.

  She smiled slightly. “Amos and Frankie and some of the older guys around town. Amos came to me yesterday and started asking questions I didn’t have answers for. Then he began telling me about what happened here before you and your guys came to town. They didn’t have a good life before you got here but after Bear was killed, they stayed to see what you would do. They watched and waited and finally believed you would be good for this town.”

  Deke nodded. “I know. I stopped in and spoke to Amos and Frankie last night. They told me pretty much the same thing. I was most surprised to find out they’d been living here that long.” Shaking his head he told her, “They had noticed pretty much the same thing this James guy found, they knew the three men were already here. They’ve been watching them since they got here. Amos told me where they were staying and the fact there might me one more man linked to them.”

  “So what’s going on and why is Bear’s family coming here to start up trouble?”

  “We think there’s something hidden in those tunnels that Buckley still wants to collect. Something no one but him knows about.”

  Cassie shook her head. “What else is there that you aren’t telling me?”

  “Breaker, the man that came here a few days ago was here when I first got here to Troy. When I came her seventeen years ago with Gator and Reva, Breaker was VP under Bear. The club was so different back then. They ran this town with an iron hand and the people living here were afraid of them. They ran drugs, guns and plenty of other illegal shit. Even though the town felt like home to me, I couldn’t stay here. I was about to pull out when the incident happened that put me in as the leader of this crew. You know I got blamed for taking over the club when Bear was killed, right?”

  Cassie nodded.

  “Well, I’m not the one who pulled the trigger on the bastard, Breaker did that. He stayed for a while under my presidency but then he felt he was too old for an MC. He claimed it was time for him to settle down and have a family. That wouldn’t have been possible under Bear’s rule but he knew I would be different and we left on good terms. He settled in Concord and got what he wanted. A family. He admitted to us he had a wife and a daughter. Buckley just got out of prison after spending thirty years for crimes he committed. Matty only spent the last ten years or so behind bars and the first thing Oscar did was get some men together. He’s coming back here to take back the MC we set up a long time ago. What we didn’t know until last night was the fact that Buckley made a stop in Concord to invade Breaker’s home, where he beat the wife to death and took his young daughter hostage. They’re using her to keep Breaker in line.”

  “What did they want him to do?” Cassie asked.

  “To gather every member of the MC in the Club house and then to open the tunnel for them to be able to get inside without having to come through the front gate. They planned to murder our whole MC, men, women and children. Then just take over everything we have set up. They’ll bring back the drugs and guns and whatever else they can. They will run wild over this town and shoot anyone who tries to stop them.”

  Deke spelled it out for her and Cassie couldn’t imagine anything worse than this. “You can’t let that happen.” She gasped.

  “I don’t plan on it,” Deke assured her.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to go down into the tunnels and find what Bear hid for his father and then I’m going to catch Buckley out in the open. It may get bloody but I hope it’s their blood spilling not ours.” Shaking his head Deke looked at her. “I was hoping you and the rest of the wives and kids were in a safe place but I have a feeling that isn’t going to happen is it?”

  Cassie smiled. “No it isn’t. We live here too. We have the right to protect the place we call home too.”

  “Damn woman,” he swore. “The boys have some news I need to hear. Why don’t you get the kids up and come down to the clubhouse. I think I’d feel better with you where I can see you rather than alone here.”

  “Ok, we’ll be right behind you,” Cassie agreed rather quickly.

  Deke shook his head. “No, just get them ready and I’ll send one of the boys to escort you all to the clubhouse. In fact, I’ll call one of the boys to wait for you.”

  “Is that really necessary?” Cassie asked. “Surely, we’re safe on the compound grounds?”

  Deke walked closer and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “Cassie, you and those babies mean the world to me. I would die or kill any threat to you, if I had to. If something ever happened to you or them, I would never live through it. I know you think this is overkill but this is what I need to keep my mind.”

  Cassie reached out and cupped his jaw in a caress. “Ok, I get what you’re saying and I’ll do what you want, just don’t ask me or any of the other wives to leave here. We can’t and won’t leave our men behind just to save our own lives. Don’t you all know we can’t survive without you? We wouldn’t want to even try.”

  Deke took her hand from his face and cupping her hand, he pressed a kiss into her palm. “Ok, but I do want to keep you girls as safe as we can until this threat is gone.”

  “Then let’s get the kids and get down to the club so you can discuss what you need to do.” She turned to wake their children while Deke got someone on the phone to collect his family and bring them in to safety.

  A short time later, he kissed his wife and kids then told them he’d see them when they got to the clubhouse. Walking down the path, he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. When he reached the backdoor, he pushed it open and the whole clubhouse grew quiet.

  Zipper was busy working his computer as Gator, Reva and the others were standin
g around the main room. When he walked in, Gator joined him along with Sam and Breaker. Mountain, Black Jack and a few others came over as well.

  “Ok what’s going on?” Deke asked the group of men.

  “Amos called in that more riders arrived after we met,” Gator explained. “His men are watching the roads coming and going from Troy. They must have gotten to Lowell and found the rest of their group missing. Buckley pushed on through with the men they had at hand.”

  Zipper came over and handed Deke some paperwork.

  Deke scanned the papers and raised his eyes to Gator. Handing the pages over, he turned to Zipper. “Is this for real?”

  Zipper nodded. “Trudy emailed this info to me an hour ago. I had to verify it before I came to you.”

  Gator whistled when he read the reports in his hand. Looking up, he asked, “Are you freakin kidding me? Oscar was suspected in three high end bank robberies, back to back bank robberies, not to mention robbing an armored truck hauling diamonds into Wall Street?”

  Breaker slapped his forehead. “Wow, that’s what it was.”

  Deke turned to look at him. “What?”

  Breaker turned to stare him down. “The Satan’s Spawn MC was founded twenty two years ago. We were just a group of bikers back then. We wanted to be but we didn’t know how. Then Bear came around and sort of took over our little group. He made a lot of promises and tried to keep them but with everything he did, it came with a cost. He had plenty of money to spend and boy, did he spend it. He tore the old clubhouse down and built this one. He put up the fence around the property to keep everyone else out. He wanted only the club and its members to be allowed inside the walls he built. Then he brought in the drugs and the guns. He made the deals with the cartels to distribute their products. He made good money not only for himself but for us too. Although he took forty percent off the top, he paid us well enough.”

  Deke crossed his arms over his chest and listened.

  “As members, we grew to know he was the boss. We let a lot slide because if we upset the cart, we knew we could end up dead or tossed out with nothing. Bear was getting out of control but we weren’t willing to stop him until you gave us a choice.” Breaker broke off his spiel to look around the room. “You turned the MC around. You got rid of the riff raff that we’d blossomed into and kept the best of us. You demanded we get our shit together and because of you, we did that. You never demanded more of us then you were willing to do yourself and that set the track for the future. I knew the club would be ok after that. I knew I could leave and start my own life with my Katie and have a good future with her.” He raised his hands in the air. “Then this shit happened and brought back all the bad that was Bear.”

  “That doesn’t explain what you were talking about before,” Gator reminded him.

  Breaker nodded. “I don’t think Buckley’s money is here anymore. I think Bear spent it all and then some.”

  “Oh, that’s gonna piss papa off, right down to his black soul.” Wiley shook his head.

  Before Deke could say anything, the back door opened. He turned his head and saw Cassie and the kids come in. He expelled a deep breath and settled his calm. At least she was here under his watch and he could concentrate on other things. He turned back to the men. “We need to find out what’s down in that tunnel and what’s not. After we find out what’s what, then we can make plans to protect what’s ours.” He turned to Mountain. “I want patrols walking the fence line and I want guards posted.”

  Mountain nodded. “I’ll get right on that. Izzy is on her way over with Danny. I tried to talk her into going to visit her father for a few days but she told me in no uncertain terms, no way.”

  Deke shook his head. “Yeah, I got the same argument from Cassie.”

  Sam snorted. “Yeah, Melora said the same thing. This is her home and she’ll be damned if she’s gonna be forced out of it.”

  Deke smiled. “The women of this MC are not giving up as easy as we would think huh?”

  Sam slapped Deke on the back. “Son, they are here to stay same as we are. You’d better believe they aren’t going anywhere.”

  “Then we need to get them behind these walls where we can keep an eye on them.” Exhaling slowly he stated, “Let’s go find out what’s left of Bear’s money pot. We need to find out if he left anything for his dad.”

  Breaker led the way to the basement. Footsteps followed him down the wooded stairs and when he went over to the wall he pushed a secret block of cement and the entire wall opened up to reveal the entrance of the tunnel hidden underground.

  With the wall opened up the entire basement doubled in size and the opened area was filled with seventeen years of dust and cobwebs. Breaker coughed as the dust flew up and into his face. He waved the dust away and peered down the dark tunnel. When a flashlight was pressed into his hands, he moved forward into the tunnel and flipped a switch. Then the lights flickered and lit up the stone walls.

  The men gathered around and let Breaker lead the way. He went all the way down the long tunnel before he stopped outside one of the many doors along the way. He pushed the door open and they could all see the contents of the area. There was an open safe in the room along with a small wooden table.

  The safe was empty and there were bank bands all over the floor. The bands matched the bank robberies and they found several small velvet bags both inside the safe and on the floor.

  Deke squatted in his heels and picked up of the velvet bags. Opening it, he found nothing inside but then he didn’t expect to. He knew then the money Oscar trusted his son to keep for him was gone. Looking over his shoulder, he shook his head. “I have a feeling it’s a good thing Bear is already dead. I don’t think he would have survived a family reunion.”

  “And now neither will we,” Breaker assured him. “If Oscar finds out the money he left with Bear is gone, he’s gonna be so pissed off he won’t care who lives or dies.”

  “We have to get everyone back here and on lock down,” Deke told them. “Call your women and gather your families here. We’ll find room for them but we need to get them under our eyes.”

  “What about the men watching our businesses?” Mountain asked. “Won’t that tip them off?”

  Deke got to his feet and faced his men. “By now, Oscar must know we would have found out about his pending visit. He’s not stupid. His men aren’t stupid. He must have made promises they will expect him to keep. If he can’t, then he’s going to have to face them too. Now with what we know about the men riding with him, they won’t take the news well.”

  Mountain huffed. “He’ll be lucky if one of his own men don’t put a bullet in his head.”

  “Unless he thinks you found the tunnel and the money, then you all will be in danger. He won’t stop until he gets it all back,” Breaker interjected. “He’s still got my daughter and if I betray him, he’ll kill her right in front of me.”

  “Well, we can speculate all we want but until we face him man to man, or face to face we won’t know what’s going to happen,” Deke suggested. “We may or may not have time left to gather our families and get ready for them. We aren’t going to run and we aren’t going to hide. We’ll face them head on but we will face them. We have to.” He turned and made his way back to the main room.

  One by one, his men joined him and when they were all gathered there the front door opened as Priest and James joined them.

  “What are you doing here?” Deke asked.

  “We have news that couldn’t wait.” Priest looked troubled.

  Deke closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Ok, hit me with it.”

  “We found them. They arrived at the shack where they were supposed to meet with the last four men last night. They were not happy when the men were not there to meet them.”

  “And how do you know that?” Sam asked.

  Priest looked over at James and stated, “James put up a camera and we were able to watch them arrive.”

  “We also watched the fit Oscar thr
ew when he realized they weren’t there,” James said dryly. “He was particularly pissed when he didn’t find the tunnel plans or the clubhouse plans. He now has no clue where to find us or how to find the tunnel. When he comes here, he’s going to be looking for a way in. He isn’t going to care if it’s through the front gate or the tunnel.”

  Deke closed his eyes and groaned. “Well, we have news too. We found out Oscar used to rob banks before he went to prison and he left his haul in what he thought were safe hands with Bear. All Bear had to do was keep it safe for his dad when he got out of prison, instead Bear blew the whole works. There isn’t anything left for Daddy to build his own MC with.”

  Priest nodded. “Yeah, we got the same word from Trudy. We didn’t know there wasn’t anything left though.” He glanced over at James. Then he looked over at Breaker. “We found evidence your daughter is still alive. She’s a little roughed up but she’s still alive.”

  “But for how long?” Breaker groaned. “When Oscar can’t find the tunnel, he’ll make her the centerpiece of his entrance into the compound. Then when he’s inside, he’ll spill her blood just the same as he’ll spill yours.”

  “You don’t know that.” Sam shook his head.

  Breaker barked out a laugh. “You didn’t see the look in that bastard’s eyes when he left with her. His eyes were cold as ice and dark as hell itself.”

  “What if we could get her away from them?” Theo asked.

  “Just how do you plan on doing that?” Breaker dared to whisper.

  “Oh, we are by no means done here yet, gentlemen,” Theo assured them. “We may be down a bit but we aren’t out just yet. Not by a long shot. We can still turn this around and come out on top.”

  Chapter Seven

  James turned to Deke and Priest. “Can we talk in private for a moment?” he asked in a low voice.