I step away and pull Virus out of church to start getting us a grid to work with. I give him all the details she gave us and the time frames. He pulls up all sorts of maps and applications working away in a fury, and within about ten minutes he has it narrowed down to a five-mile area. That right there is why Virus is our IT Specialist.
Scott comes over and stands next to me while I’m going over the findings. “I want in,” he says stoically.
“You need to focus on that little angel over there man, we’ll handle it,” I tell him.
“Listen, they took my girl, but there are more out there and I want in on taking them down,” he says frustrated.
“Scott, I get it, I do, but this is a club matter now, we will handle it, I’m sorry but no,” I try to explain.
“If it’s a club matter, then patch me in, I want in and I’m not taking no for an answer!” he demands.
At this point Virus looks up from the computer and lowers his glasses down his nose, wondering how I’m going to react to a demand. Granted, I would probably deck anyone else but I know the feel for revenge and I respect him wanting to not only be a good father but a stand-up man. I nod to Virus and he picks up his laptop and the printouts he just made and takes them into church to share with the club. When he closes the door I begin, “You want to be patched in, you think it’s that easy? What then, you run out guns blazing and take them down, save the day and then what? You think you go back to your normal little life 45 minutes away. NO, being a member of the Unfortunate Souls is a life decision, it doesn’t affect you but your entire family. We decide to give you a trial, you’re a prospect, the lowest rung on the totem pole slightly above club whores, you do anything we say, when we say it and without question. You NEVER talk to a patched member, especially the president, in the way you just talked to me. Just like when you were in the army, we are your superiors and you show respect at all times, no exceptions. Your loyalty for the rest of your life belongs to us, and it’s not pretty to get out. You don’t just make this decision on a whim. You discuss it with your wife, you uproot your entire family to come here, your kids are raised here, your family becomes our family. You willing to do that, soldier? You willing to give up your life and your family’s life and start a new one? Do you even own a bike?”
“I’m sorry sir,” well at least he learned the old army way fast, “I’ve wanted to reach out to you about becoming a member for a long time now and yes, Chelsea and I have discussed it at length about what that would mean for our family. I want this Benelli, not just because of what happened, but partially for that exact reason. I want to be a part of something important, I want to be part of a group of men that all have military backgrounds, that know the life and discipline I’ve lived. I want the bond you and your brothers have and I want to belong to something bigger, the men who don’t sit back and let bad things happen but they make them right, they stand up for those who can’t stand on their own. I really want this Benelli, my family needs this, and I won’t let you down. Oh, and yes on the bike, it’s a Harley Breakout in Barracuda Silver,” he ends with a small smirk but quickly becomes serious again.
I look at him and then back at his family and watch how Elle and Zen are interacting, I look down and shake my head before looking back up to him, “let me talk to the others but I’m serious, this is a lifelong commitment and you will have to relocate here and the men will give you hell being a prospect, it won’t be easy. You sure?”
“Yes sir, I’m sure,” and he looks over to his wife and Lexie and smiles. They look up and smile back and I can tell by his wife’s face that what he said is true. They have already discussed this and they’re as ready as they can be for not knowing our life.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Benelli
I step in to church and sit down at the head of the table, placing my calloused hands flat against the resin wood, smooth against my palms. I stare into the carved symbol of our club, soldiers, everyone in unique positions and roles, all together working for the good of the country. I look out to my comrades in arms and the pride I have for this group of men engulfs me to my core. Not one man in this room questions whether we should take out the evil in this world, their only question is when. I took on this leadership role at the death of one of our own, the man who started this club with just a handful of soldiers wanting to do good in this world and enjoy the brotherhood that it brings. To band together on our steel machines and to fight the good fight as one solitary unit. We are and will always be members of the Unfortunate Souls.
“Brothers, we’ve seen bad in this world and we’ve all fought against it. We have given our souls to this country and to this club. We’ve fought for injustice and we’ve fought for peace. I see how you have all come together in solidarity to take on this mission of saving these girls at any cost. To take down those that are vial and try to hurt others, to hurt innocent young girls, to turn a profit and feed their demented and perverted minds and bodies and we WILL put it to an end. I know that I haven’t been this serious as a leader, but this changes now. I’ve now seen up close how cruel this world can be when we let these demons live in it among us, and I want it to end now. We won’t be doing this one mission, saving one group of girls and taking out one group of pathetic scum. I want us to make it a continued effort to save those that need saving, to help those that cannot help themselves. When the world thinks of Unfortunate Souls, I want them to know that there is someone out there to help them when they think all hope is lost and for those that are causing harm and fear to this world they will know that they will eventually deal with us and they’re going to meet their end. All in favor of this…”
Instead of yay’s or fists pounded on the table, it’s completely silent. My father, Ruger, pushes back in his chair and stands and gives me a salute. Immediately next, my uncle Winchester, my brother Remington, my cousin Colt all stand and salute. Following them is Justice, Lucky, Phoenix, Virus, Mac, Toxey, Brick, Nato, Red Bull, Cuda, Fireball, Grinder, Rooster, Rivet, every single member of our club joined this meeting and packed into church tonight and everyone stood and saluted in agreement of our clubs new direction and at that I saluted back with such enormous pride at the men in my life.
After the emotions of the moment eased, I brought up what Scott had asked about joining the club and the points that he had made to convince me to sponsor him as a prospect. A few of the other members knew him from either the army or Dino’s and not one had anything negative to say and every member agreed to allow him to prospect. We go over anything else that needs discussed before we bring him into the meeting to discuss our plans.
I shoot Xena a text to send Scott in, and he quickly enters and stands before us quietly. “Scott, I’ve agreed to sponsor you and we have voted you in as a prospect. I will give you a rundown of what all that entails later, along with a handbook we’ve made when we get this shit taken care of but for now, time is of the essence so welcome to the Unfortunate Souls, don’t let me down,” I say. Scott thanks me and shakes my hand and the hands of those around him, he then backs and stands, leaning against the wall of the full room and quietly listens to the plans and what specific orders we have for him. Normally, we would never allow a brand new prospect into a meeting, in fact, it was rare one made it in any meeting in church but due to the situation and the new direction of the club I wanted all to hear and be in agreement of this so we allowed Fireball and Scott in.
“We have less than 47 hours now to find this silo and get the girls before they are moved to another location, possibly out of the country. Virus has amazingly nailed it down to a 5 mile grid. We are looking for a dirt road off of this main one,” I say pointing to the map spread across the table, “we’re not going to be able to see it from the road so we are going to have to trek down each one. We’re not going to be able to take the bikes on this surveillance mission because it will be too obvious. We’re not going to be able to wear our cuts on it either. We want to seem like we belong in that area, farmers, goo
d ‘ol boys, hunters, things like that. The hunting thing might actually work since it’s bow season, we’ll go in groups of three down each road and field and if anyone questions us we say we have permission to hunt and got off the property line by mistake, got it? Virus and I will drive out that way tonight and mark any dirt roads on the map so we will know exactly how many we need to check. Lexie said they bring them food a little after sunrise because there are some holes in the silo and the sun shines through. I’m going to guess that’s when they switch out their watches so there will be double the men at that time. We need to hit it a few hours before then to give us time to search. Everyone go home, get your hunting gear together, get some rest and meet back here at 0330, we’ll pull out at 0400. If anyone has extra camo or bows bring them for those that don’t.
After church is adjourned I walk out with Scott as he rejoins his wife and daughter. Xena and I set them up in one of the larger bedrooms at the clubhouse and get them settled in. I walk my beautiful and amazing fiance to her car and I tell her that Virus and I will probably be busy all night narrowing down the possible locations and assure her we won’t be taking on anything on our own. I grab her in a tight embrace and kiss her her goodbye. She tells me she’s just going to run home and grab Luna, my hunting gear, and a change of clothes and come back here with the truck. I agree with her about that and thank her for being so thoughtful.
“Babe, you’re it for me and I know I can’t do much to help, but anything I can do to make this easier, I’m going to do. Anything I can do to help, please, let me know. I love you and I am so proud of you doing this, saving these girls, taking all this on. You take my breath away,” she tells me.
“You don’t get it do you? I am the lucky one in this relationship, I have you. I am the proud one, you have come so far and you are so strong and so brave, my Xena, I’m just so damn lucky,” I tell her and then give her one more kiss for the road. The quicker she leaves, the quicker she comes back.
By the time she gets back, Virus and I have all the maps printed out, our thermoses filled with coffee and ready to hop in the truck. I give Luna a few big scratches on the back and give my girl another kiss for luck and we head down the road. It’s pretty dead considering the time with only a few vehicles passing every once in a while. Virus makes marks on the maps every time we see a field road. We go a little farther than we need to, not sure how much ground the little girl covered, but we want to be safe. He highlights the areas we think are definite possibilities to try first, and we turn around and head back toward the clubhouse. Once we have everything printed out and marked, the lists of who goes with who and what areas each group is going to check, we have only two hours to rest. Luckily, our military training taught us to sleep anywhere, in any position, whenever we got the chance. I set my alarm and curled up in bed with my girl and my dog; I was out in minutes.
When she is sweet and kind, she is my Elle and when she is a warrior and goddess; she is my Xena. When I awake to my alarm going off and she isn’t in bed, my long, dark-haired beauty with the intoxicating eyes is a little of both. My minx had apparently snuck out of the bed at the clubhouse shortly after I was out because she had my camo laid out for me on the end of the bed. I go downstairs and she had organized the women to get together, and they had thermoses of coffee ready, lined up with homemade breakfast sandwiches wrapped up to go, along with some fresh muffins, bags of trail mix and water to take, coffee handed to each man the second they walked into the kitchen. The women also lined up all the bows, arrows, quivers, they’d even had Bowie knives each in strap-on leather cases aligned on another table along with several sets of binoculars and fully charged mini walkie-talkies with ear pieces for each and every man. Hell, they even have bottles of doe urine and anything else we need to look like legit hunters.
“You’ve been busy,” I say as I wrap my arms around her in an enthusiastic embrace and plant a fiery kiss on her lips. “I wish I had you helping me on all my missions,” I growl into her ear playfully.
“We wanted to do our part any way we could, this mission is just as important to us,” she replies. “Now, get the men together and go out there and save those girls,” she says as she slaps my ass teasingly.
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, standing up straight and giving her a salute.
When the men have all arrived we hand out the individual maps and supplies, go over who is in which unit and what location they are assigned, and load up our trucks. Virus has even made a list of some land owner names that way, if we get stopped by anyone we can use it on the neighboring land and it sounds legit. We don’t want to all head out at the same time because it would be too obvious and a truck heads out every 10 minutes. That will give each group time to get to their location and quickly hide their truck before the next one comes through. My Uncle Winchester is our tail gunner, so his truck and crew will be the last to leave the clubhouse. They are all told to rally back here by 8am.
I have Scott and Cuda with me. We decided to divide the groups up with an officer around my age, a newer member and a seasoned member. There are 6 groups in total with Virus staying behind to monitor the IT along with Red Bull because of his broken leg. Neither one wanted to stay behind but Virus knew he’d be more help to route everything and keeping track of everyone’s progress and Red Bull, well, we can’t exactly have someone on crutches trying to maneuver around with a bow and gear in the woods. He’s in charge of getting the Intel to Virus, relaying it back to us and making sure each group gets back and checked in.
My group gets to our appointed section and we hide the truck off the road where it can’t be seen, but we can easily access it and hightail it out if needed. We load the bows to our backs and separate, but close enough to see each other. I motion with my fingers to keep our eyes open and then to move out. The morning is cool but not frigid as we walk along the edge of the woods and harvested corn fields, brown stalks and ears beneath our boots. Cuda also carries a small, portable tree stand and finds the perfect tree to climb and scout the clearing ahead. Scott and I squat in our hidden locations, looking up to Cuda for his signal as to whether he spots anything. The sun isn’t up yet but there is the lightness rising from the dark of the area knowing that the promise of the sun is upon us soon. Cuda spots something and motions to his ear piece for us to turn on our communication. We do and give a thumbs up we’re good and he whispers, “There is something, about 3 clicks ahead, an old wore out barn, a silo and I only see 3 bikes, don’t see any people though.” I motion for him to climb down and we meet him at the bottom of the tree.
“What’s the plan?” Scott whispers.
“Let’s see if we can get any closer to scope things out, it’s almost sunrise so we need to be extra cautious.
Elle
Slowly, group by group, they each return to the clubhouse to report they didn’t find the silo. The women welcoming their men back and happy they are safe but disappointed that the girls have yet to be found. The only group that hasn’t arrived is Benelli, Cuda and Scott. It’s almost 8am, and no one has heard from them.
When Justice’s group got back he sent Rivet, Chelsea and Lexie to go get the other two kids and clothes. At 7:30am he sent the others to gather their families and come back for a temporary lock-down. At 8:05am I looked over to Virus and Red Bull with pleading clasped hands and worry on my face, begging them to give me something positive, but they shook their heads no.
Something has to have gone wrong. Time just keeps ticking, ticking, ticking and they aren’t back yet. No one has heard from them. Family after family appears at the clubhouse for the lockdown and I am visibly shook when the men have all arrived back with their women and children except for Rivet who wasn’t expected back with Chelsea and the kids till 9:30am and that’s if they packed fast. I’m still waiting on my man and it’s pretty evident I am about to lose my shit. The women have got everyone organized as to where each family is going to stay, and all the children are rounded up and playing in the main hall with Fireball in
charge of the older kids.
I tried to distract myself with walking and bouncing a teething baby, but I just ended up crying right along with him. Remington pulled the baby from my arms and handed him over to his momma. He put his arm around my shoulder and led me over to the bar. Walking behind the counter he grabbed a bottle and two shot glasses and lined them up and filled them with the amber liquid, “drink it,” he says.
“I don’t, I men, what is it?” I ask, stammering.
“Yukon Jack, it cures what ails ya,” Benelli’s brother tells me. He clanks the top of his shot glass with mine and downs it, so I join him. It burns all the way down and I nearly choke on its strength. “He’s going to be okay,” Remington assures me.
“How do you know?” I ask, hoping for some credible assurance.
“Because he’s my brother and there is no other option,” he says and pours another shot for each of us.
Benelli
We are approximately 100 yards away and clearly see the men at the entrance to the silo. We hear bikes revving their engines and duck back into the cover of the woods a little further. I look down at my watch and see that the time is 7:00am, Lexie had said around sunrise and she was absolutely correct on that matter. I look towards Scott and Cuda and tap my watch. As those bikes pull up and start unloading items out of their side compartments, they converse with the other three about how the night went. “Same as it is every night, quiet as hell except for the coyotes and those damn, crying kids, gets worse at night but we just bang on the sides and that shuts them up. I’ll be fucking glad when we get them out of our hair and onto the barge. I’m sick and tired of spending my nights without a woman and not allowed to touch any of these.”
“Yeah, Krull keeps saying the price skyrockets for virgins,” the replacement replies, “he better be fucking right and give us our share when this is done tonight. See you at 7pm, the entire club has to be ready to go for the move.” The three bikers that had been there all night jump on their bikes and leave, now the fresh three remaining. One is short and stocky and stands back with his shotgun drawn and the other two are at the door, one carrying two gallons of water and a couple loaves of bread, the other opening the metal door. We had managed to move closer while the six men were talking and now with them busy we take that opportunity to gain some more ground and find the perfect hiding spot in the dilapidated barn and what the fuck do you know, there’s an old, short bus in there. I bet that’s how they are planning to move the girls. We set down our bows and equipment, freeing up our movement and scope things out.
Benelli's Elle: Unfortunate Souls MC Book One Page 14
