by KJ Dahlen
Deke stared at the other man for a second then turned and led the way down the hall to his office. Opening the door, he ushered the other men inside.
When he went to close the door, Sam pushed it open again and joined them. He stood with his back to the door.
James looked over at Deke. “I was asked to dig into a man by the name of Jack Connors and I’ll admit I found out some very disturbing things regarding the man.”
“Who asked about him?” Deke frowned.
“Theo asked me to look into it.”
“Why? Who is this Jack Connors?” Deke wanted to know.
“He’s Sarah’s stepfather,” James informed them.
“And?” Sam asked with a frown.
“And I found out Jack was killed fourteen years ago. Actually, he was murdered with a baseball bat. The only people home at the time of his death were his wife Ellen and his stepdaughter Sadie Masterson.”
Sam pushed himself away from the wall and stomped over to the other men. “Sadie Masterson? Are you sure that’s her name?”
James nodded.
Sam turned to Priest. “Did you know about this?”
Priest shrugged. “Not until today. That’s why we’re telling you and Deke about this.”
Deke looked at his father and then over to the man he knew as Priest. “What’s this all about? Who is Sadie Masterson? And why is this so alarming?”
Sam snapped his head around to where his son was standing. “Sadie Masterson is Stone Masterson little sister. You might know him as Pappy.”
“What the hell is she doing here?” Deke asked shocked.
“She ran away when she was fifteen and he’s been looking for her for years,” Sam informed him. “You know I’ve been friends with Pappy for most of my adult life. I have to tell him. I owe him my life in fact.”
“What are you going to do?” Deke asked his dad.
“He needs to know where she is and what’s about to come down.” Sam gritted his teeth. “He needs to know before anything happens to her or if she takes off again.”
“Yeah, well she mentioned something else about Jack Connors.” James interrupted Sam’s rant. “She said something about Jack’s three brothers and his father looking for her or her mother. She seems to think they want her to pay for killing Jack. No one knows what happened that night only that Jack’s head came into contact with a bat. They don’t know who swung it or why and I think they really want answers. They also want revenge and they will continue to search for her until they find her.”
Sam shook his head. “That doesn’t sound good.” He glanced over at Priest. “If you don’t call him, I will.”
Priest tipped his head. “Feel free to make the call. I might know the man but you have a different kind of history with him. It might be better coming from you rather than me.”
Sam nodded. Then he looked back at James. “Just where do the Connors brothers hail from? And how hard are they looking for Sadie?”
“They live in Saratoga Springs and they’ve had five P.I.’s looking all over the state for her in the last fourteen years.”
“Where did her mother end up? I know Sadie relocated her then left her behind as she was afraid to stay and draw attention to her.”
“Mrs. Connors moved to Sidney, New York. She is living under the name of Mrs. Stone and working in the police department.”
“Do we have any idea where Buckley is right now?” Deke couldn’t stay away from the topic very long.
“He is presently in Palmer, Massachusetts. He’s waiting for his men to catch up.”
“And you know this how?” Deke asked.
“We tagged their bikes.”
Deke nodded and looked over at his dad. “You’d better make that call before Stone loses his sister for good. We’ll try to protect her but she may get caught in the crossfire.” Shaking his head he said, “I don’t want that to happen but any of us can get caught in the crossfire. Those bastards don’t care who they have to go through.”
Priest nodded. “Theo said that him and Sarah will be here in a few minutes.”
Sam growled and reached for his phone. Making this call right now was no problem for him, he just didn’t want Pappy’s reunion with his sister to be short lived or not happen at all.
~*~
When a call came in on his cell phone, Pappy answered it without looking at the caller ID. Not many people knew this number so whoever was on the other end he knew. When he heard Sam Tory’s voice, he grinned. “What the hell do you want Tory?” he growled with a grin.
“Captain, I got some news you’ve been wanting for some time now,” Sam greeted him.
“Oh, yeah?” Pappy leaned back in his chair intrigued. “And what news would that be?”
“Do you remember when we rescued Cricket and Deke’s daughter at that cabin at Saranac Lake?”
Pappy sighed hard. “Yeah, I remember. What about it?”
“You told me something you were looking for, your sister Sadie, do you remember?”
Pappy could barely speak, as the lump in his throat was so big. “I remember. What about it?”
“I found her. She’s here in Troy right this minute.”
Pappy sat forward in his chair so fast he almost fell on the floor. “Are you sure it’s Sadie?”
“I’m sure. She’s with a man called Theo. Don’t worry Priest knows him and trusts him.” Sam sighed heavily. “But we got trouble coming and it’s gonna be bad trouble. We might not live through it. I just wanted you to know in case we don’t make it.”
“Don’t you let anything happen to her until I get there, Gunny.” Pappy called him the name Sam had used while in the Military. “I’m on my way. Don’t you let her run either. I have to know she’s ok.”
“We’ll keep her here Pappy. But if you’re coming, you’d better hurry.”
“What you got going on Gunny?” Pappy frowned.
“A man looking for trouble and willing to kill every man, woman and kid here at our MC to get through the front gate. It’s not good. What he’s after is no longer here and hasn’t been for a long time.”
“I’m on my way. Hold the fort down and wait for me.” Pappy disconnected the call and rushed down the hall to the main room of his clubhouse. Seeing his men, he grinned and announced, “Who wants to play some games with the enemy?”
His men rose to their feet one at a time. “What’s up Pappy?”
“We got an MC in trouble and I may have found my sister. She’s right in the thick of it, so I have to go play big brother and take out some bad guys. Anybody want to go with me?”
“Hell yeah we do!” they all called out. “When do we leave?”
“Well, Bastian said his plane was at our disposal so get your war gear packed up. We leave in thirty minutes. Time’s a wasting guys.”
Then he saw his wife standing in the kitchen doorway. Her eyes told him more than her body language. She looked worried but resigned to the fact he was going off to fight another war. He walked over to her and gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “Sweetheart, I have to go and find out if this is really Sadie. If it is, she’s in big trouble and I have to try to save her.”
McKenna smiled and cupped his jaw. “I know you have to go, just make sure you come back home again.”
“I will sweetheart. I will. Nothing could drag me away from what I got here.” He gathered her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. Blood rushed to the lower part of his body and he groaned and pushed her away. “Darling as much as I want to finish this I have to get my gear and get on a plane. Sam Tory said they got trouble in New York and if I want to see Sadie again, I’d better get there before all hell breaks loose.”
McKenna smiled and kissed him gently. “You go and make this world a better place to live in. When you come back, bring your sister with you. I’d like to meet her.”
Pappy kissed her again, then turned and walked away.
A couple of hours later a plane touched down and taxied to t
he terminal. A lone man stood waiting for the men who walked off the plane. Sam grinned at the number of men who had joined Pappy on this trip. He counted a dozen men and all had their battle gears with them. Sam’s grin widened as they all came in and met him. “Hell Pappy, if I knew you were bringing the troops with ya, I would have ordered a van instead of bringing my truck.”
Pappy grinned. “We’ll make due Gunny. Let’s get back so you can fill us in with the threat against the MC. We can only deal with one thing at a time. Besides, I want to see Sadie again.” Running his finger over his head, he looked a bit green around the gill. “I haven’t seen her in many years.” He looked over at Sam. “Is she ok? This guy she’s with, is he treating her right?”
Sam snorted. “I’ll let you see for yourself. I’m not going to say anything about that.” He paused and added, “But yeah Pappy, he treats her good.”
“Well then, let’s get on the road and you can explain what’s going on.” Pappy urged. They turned and followed Sam out to the parking lot. Sam, Pappy and Dewey got in the cab while everyone else sat down in the back of the pickup. It was a good thing the clubhouse was only fifteen minutes away and Sam took the back roads to get there. It sure would look funny to some, having men looking like these did, in the back of a truck.
When they arrived, Wiley opened the gate and watched in amazement as he watched the truck pull in. The additional men would be welcome in the upcoming fight.
Gator joined him and he watched the men unloading the back of Sam’s truck while Wiley turned to lock the gate. The silence was shattered when a single gunshot rang out.
Everyone ducked and began searching the area.
Only Wiley saw Gator crumble first to his knees then all the way to the ground. Wiley’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the red stain on Gator’s chest. He turned his head and bellowed for Deke.
Deke came running out of the clubhouse right past his dad and the group of men kneeling in the dirt. Another shot rang out and a puff of dirt rose just in front of Deke as he ran over to his friend. Skidding to his knees, he took in the situation in an instant. He motioned for Wiley to help him drag Gator back to the clubhouse.
Within seconds, they had men on either side of them giving them cover fire. Deke grabbed Gator’s right arm while Wiley grabbed his left, curling their bodies over the wounded man they began dragging him, then their burden was lifted as two more men picked up his legs and they carried him quickly to the shelter of the main clubhouse.
Sam was at the door and he held it open as Deke, Wiley and the other two men rushed inside.
Reva rushed forward and cleared off a table so they could lay her man down.
Raine rushed out of the back room with his medic kit and took a quick assessment of what he was dealing with. He dug into the kit and grabbed his scissors.
Deke wrestled Gator’s vest off his shoulders and watch as Raine cut his t shirt off. The hole in his chest was pulsing fresh blood with each beat of Gator’s heart. His face looked pale and his skin was growing cold.
Cassie, Peaches, Sarah and several of the other women all stood to one side hugging while they watched Raine working on Gator. One of Pappy’s men pushed through the crowd and began working beside Raine. Digging into the medic kit, he began lining up the instruments Raine would need to dig out the bullet and then close the wound. Raine didn’t question or argue as the tools he needed were handed to him when he needed them.
Instead, he dug out the bullet and cleaned up the wound. The only sound that anyone heard in the room was the soft sobbing from Reva as she watched the man she loved fighting for his life. Raine and the other man worked together very well and soon Raine was closing the wound on Gator’s chest. He stepped back and Reva was there to grab her husband’s hands like she would never give it up again. She placed her other hand over his heart so he would feel her but mostly so she would feel his own heartbeat.
Raine and his medic buddy stepped into the kitchen Deke, Pappy, Sam and Mountain followed. Raine was angry as he scrubbed his hands and lower arms. The other man watched as he washed up. He kept looking over at Pappy.
Finally, Raine turned the water off and grabbing a dish towel he turned to look at Deke.
“Well? Is he gonna make it?” Deke barked out.
“I don’t know,” Raine admitted as he dried his hands. “I got the bullet out but he could be bleeding internally and he’s lost a lot of blood. He’ll need time and possibly a blood transfusion to survive. Hell, he needs a real doctor not a field medic. The next two days will tell if he’ll live or not.”
Deke ran his hands over his head and growled. “Yeah, but you’re all we got right now and I’m not taking any chances moving him.” He turned to the others and asked, “Did anyone see where that bullet came from?”
“No, we didn’t.” Sam growled.
“Does this have anything to do with Oscar Buckley?” Pappy asked.
“It has everything to do with Buckley.” Deke gritted as he ran his hands over his hair. Then he shook his head and reached out his hand. “I’m glad to see you Pappy, especially under these circumstances.”
Pappy snorted. “Well, Gunny did say there was a threat to the MC. I just didn’t know it would come up the minute we got here.” He looked around the room then turned to Deke. “If you don’t mind, I’ll get my men with your men and get them on alert. They might be able to smoke out your sniper.”
Deke nodded.
Watching Pappy leave and hearing him barking out orders to his men, he returned a few minutes later. He glanced over at his man and introduced him to the other. “This is my medic, we call him Doc.”
Raine turned and held out his hand. “Thank you for your assistance. You saved me time and that could have been critical back then. Hopefully we won’t need to work together any more but I’ll be glad you’re there if we do.”
Doc nodded. “No problem. Haven’t had to do field surgery in a while and its always easier when you have someone else there to help.” He nodded at the other room. “I hope your guy pulls through.”
Raine turned and looked at Gator. “It’ll be touch and go for a while yet. I hope he pulls through too.”
Several other men joined them, including Priest, Theo, James and Dewey Mann.
Priest stepped forward and shook Pappy’s hand. “Glad you’re here man.”
Pappy grinned and said, “Yeah, your plane comes in handy all the time. Especially for quick flights like this one was.”
Priest nodded then looked over at Deke.
“Okay, what’s the deal here? Why is Oscar Buckley breathing down your neck and what does he want here?” Pappy asked Deke.
“When I got here seventeen years ago, I walked into a mess. The president at the time was a man we all knew as Bear. Bear was a pig. He ran drugs, guns and god only knows what else. He used and abused women. The second night when me and Gator got here, he kidnapped a young woman off the streets of Troy. She was in trouble, but Bear didn’t care. He wanted her and not one of his men stood up for her. I did. I beat the everlovin shit out of him when he was going to rape her. I got to him before he could complete the act. I thought it was over but Bear had one little trick up his sleeve. He had a knife I didn’t see but his VP did. He put a bullet in Bear’s head and after that, I was voted President.” Deke took a deep breath and when he exhaled he continued, “Bear’s dad and younger brother got out of prison a week ago and they’re on their way here to collect a blood debt from us. They want the man who murdered Bear and they want back something Bear was holding for his dad.”
“And what would that be?” Pappy asked.
“About three million dollars of bank robbery money and jewels,” Deke stated.
Pappy frowned. “Are you sure about the robbery money?”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, we found the evidence. The VP at the time of Bear’s death told us about a tunnel we never knew was here. He even showed us where the tunnel is and we’ve been down there. The thing is Breaker, the old VP, left th
e club a while back. He had another kind of life in Concord. He had a wife and little girl. Buckley beat the wife to death and kidnapped Breaker’s fifteen-year-old daughter. She’s still with him.”
“Why would he do that?” Dewey asked.
“Breaker is one of the men still alive when Bear was here. He was one of the handful of men that knew about the tunnel. Buckley told him he wanted him to open the tunnel that would allow them to come into the clubhouse unannounced. Once they got up in here, they planned to kill every man, woman and kid here. Buckley plans to just walk into the club’s businesses and take over. We aren’t about to let him do that.” Deke growled. “We were able to stop him from adding numbers to his rag tag group but he’s still got about a dozen men with him.”
Pappy looked troubled as he listened.
“He’s also had three men watching us for about a week now. They may or may not be reporting back to him. But the shooting this morning was the first attempt they’ve made against us.”
Pappy nodded. “I imagine our arrival made them reckless.” He looked over at Dewey. “Time must be getting close.”
Dewey looked over at Deke and asked, “Is the girl still alive?”
“As far as we know,” James told them. “The last we knew was last night. We got to some of the men willing to join him before they did and we took them out. I left a camera and we saw her then, but that was hours ago. Breaker seems to think Buckley will keep her alive long enough to kill her in front of him.”
Pappy snorted. “From the info Trudy dug up, that sounds about right. Buckley really is a bastard.” Turning to Deke he asked, “So all the money Oscar left with Bear is gone huh? That isn’t going to sit well with Dad. That could lead to real trouble. Buckley could flip out completely.”
Deke nodded. “Yup, that’s the least of our problem. Buckley could rain hell on the innocent people of this city. We can’t hide behind these walls if that happens. This is our town, our people.” Deke turned to Priest and Theo. “They suggested hitting Buckley before he got here. But we’re not killers unless we’re pushed into a corner. What they suggested was cold blooded murder.” He hesitated then went on, “At least it was until they shot my VP.” His face went dark and his eyes went cold. “If they want a fight, they came to the right place.”
