Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

 

LYON

***

 

“Mengele the fu…I mean what are you up to little girl?”

“Nothing daddy.” Nothing my ass! There were fumes coming out the beaker she was fucking around with. The pothead decided to give her a complete chemistry set and now I sleep with one eye open. The little shit scares me more than the fucks in the desert.

“I told you about lying to me?” She has this way of looking at me that makes me want to give her-her way in everything. “I’m not lying daddy, promise. Daddy can you get me some PVC?” That sounded innocent enough, but I’m not trusting that shit.

“What are you gonna use it for?” I folded my arms and waited for whatever was gonna come out of her mouth. Damn kid can twist the truth better than a politician. “Stuff.” What the fuck? I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose where a headache was just getting started.

“I’m not getting it unless you tell me what it’s for.” She studied me like she was the adult and I the pain in the ass kid. “Hmm, I’ll just have to ask somebody else then.” She started humming as she went back to her concoction. Shit, I have to put out a bulletin to everybody in the family. Fuck I forgot. Now she has a network of people she’d hoodwinked into buying her innocent act.

She’d worked the SEALs and their women when they were here for the holidays. Now she talks to them on the computer with the Face whatever the fuck. “Let’s go it’s movie night.” At least once a week Kat, and I along with the kids watch a show together. I’ve seen more brainless shit in the last couple years than I care to remember, but a man’s gotta do his part or he’ll get shit from the wife.

She sighed and mumbled some shit under her breath before putting away her little experiment. The way she moved told me that whatever the shit was it was dangerous. I’ll have to remember to toss the shit when she goes to bed later.

The others were already gathered in the theatre room with popcorn and enough candy to rot their damn teeth. “It’s your turn to pick the movie Catalina what did you choose?”

“SAW one through six.” She ran and jumped in her seat while the other kids groaned. I just looked at her while in my head I ran through all the facilities in the country that could do something with her before she ended up on the FBI’s most wanted list.

“Kat…” That one held up her hand as she tried to slide by me. “Mengele we’re not watching that, I thought I got rid of that crap.” I’ma sue the fucking credit card company for letting her order that shit. “Watch Cinderella or some shi…”

“That’s boring daddy, that’s for babies.”  Why the fuck me? The others didn’t say anything because the last time they complained about her movie of choice, I lit into them for ganging up on my baby. Fuck did I know she was into this shit?

Now they were looking at me like this shit was my fault. I looked at Kat’s pregnant ass and my soul groaned. If even one of the triplets she was carrying turned out like this one, I’m not gonna make it. No fucking way.

I made her choose something else which pissed her off no end, but I’m accustomed to the females in this family being mad at some fuck any given hour of the damn day.

It sure did my heart good though that we could sit here like this. Little Cody was already in his crib asleep and the other five were glued to the TV. The only time the house was this quiet.

After the movie, I took Mengele up to bed because as usual, she fell asleep on the couch. I took my shower and locked up before heading upstairs to give Kat’s greedy ass her nightly dose so she could go off to sleep or stay up and read, whatever she was in the mood for. Pregnancy always makes her feisty and her pussy stays hungry. I’m not complaining though.

When I was sure she had her quota for the night, which meant my dick was raw, I slipped out of bed and headed to my office. This is the time of day when my mind starts to wander and shit, when I start thinking about the fuckery that was still out there. It’s also the time when I go digging into shit since everyone was in bed or in their rooms on the damn computer, and I was sure I won’t be interrupted or caught more like it.

I started by doing my usual spying on my kids shit. I give a fuck, they live in my house I watch their lil asses twenty-four seven. I put every kind of tracking device known to man on their computers, phones, whatever electronic bullshit my parents and Kat’s are always giving them like I’m running a fucking space program.

I have to keep an eye on Mengele and her shit, but these days my focus is mostly on Caitiebear-gotta see what that boy is saying to my girl. Who don’t like that shit can get fucked, invasion of privacy my ass. I’d rather invade my kids’ privacy than find them in a ditch somewhere. They want that much privacy they should buy their own damn place.

I’m fucked if I’m gonna be one of those parents on the damn news blaming everybody and their mother for my kids’ actions. If my kids end up fucked in the head it’s gonna be all on me, that’s what the fuck I signed up for when I knocked Kat’s ass up each and every time. Except for Hitler’s little henchman, with that one I don’t know what the fuck.

I tapped in the keys and waited. I don’t ever find anything that would make me lose my shit, always a bunch of high school fuckery, but today was different. The screen name was one I’d never seen before, don’t know why that should matter, damn girl’s always meeting some kid or another that likes to use my place as a depot between the school and their own house.

But something about this looked wrong, friendofAlice, weird fucking name. I opened it up and felt my blood go to zing. “What the fuck?” I was halfway out of my chair, not sure what I was gonna do, when she came bursting through the door. I shut down my comp and watched her as she came towards me with her laptop.

“Daddy!” She sounded not scared but close. I hadn’t even had time to wonder if she’d bring it to me. Her mother and I have drilled it into their heads a thousand times that if anything spooks them on line they’re to bring it to us, but you know kids, heads hard as fuck. “Yes baby what is it? She walked over and held the screen out for my perusal.

“I don’t know who that is daddy.” On the screen were the words I’d just read myself. ‘If you want to be with Todd I can help you…your parents don’t need to know. Meet me after school tomorrow by the old playground.’ That was all the shit said, I guess they were testing the waters.

“I’ll take care of it baby, did you answer?” She shook her head no and looked close to tears. The damn kid had only just settled down after the boy left two weeks ago.

“Okay go back to your room and don’t worry about it, but if you get any more messages from this person I wanna know about it.” She kissed my cheek the way she’s been doing since she was old enough to hold her head up on her own. “And Caitiebear, thanks for coming to me with this.” She gave me her mother’s smile before leaving the room. I was so proud of her for coming to me, but I couldn’t let on that I’d seen it already of course. Then she’d tell her mother that I was spying and Kat would dig into my ass with her shit.

There was no time to dwell I had to figure out what was going on. My first thought was the fuckers that had placed her in the middle of this trafficking shit, but lately that’s always my first thought. I went after the IPO and did an intense trace. It’s when I started hitting firewalls and the shit started bouncing all over the place that I knew I was on the right track.

“These motherfuckers.” I had to think, if they can reach her, then they can send anything through the damn computer. I know my kid doesn’t have anything sensitive on there, but what the fuck else can they do? “Mancini.” Smarmy fuck had given me his number a week ago after according to him he’d reassured himself that I was safe, crazy fuck.

“Lyon!” I rolled my eyes, something I picked up from my annoying ass wife, and if she did that shit to me for the same reason I was doing it to him then she had problems. “They’re after my kid.” I heard a noise like a chair falling back onto its front legs.

“Tell me.” I gave him what I had and he walked me through safeguards for the PCs. Lucky for me I already had half the shit we needed and what I didn’t have we improvised. He didn’t ask any questions about why I needed homeland security grade shit for my kids’ computers and I didn’t ask how his ass knew about the shit he’d just taught me.  By the time we got off the phone, three hours had gone by.

If my wife or kids had come through that door in the last half hour they would’ve run screaming. I had no doubt my face showed every emotion I was feeling and none of it was good. How the fuck did they know the kid was gone? There was only one answer; somebody had eyes on my place. Now I have to worry about whether or not the kid was safe. Ain’t this a bitch?

I put in a few calls to make sure he, and his family was okay in their new home a thousand miles away from my kid. Tomorrow, I’ll see about some kind of protection for the little shit just in case. I have to come up with a story for my wife, she and Caitiebear are close and I’m sure our daughter is going to tell her about that little missive.

Kat’s already on high alert. I don’t kid myself that she doesn’t know something is up, she knows me. All my putting her off isn’t fooling her ass one bit, but as always I strive to shield her from life and its fuck-ups.

I headed back to our bedroom where she was sitting up with one of her magazines. Probably some shit about redoing the house again or some fuck. Anything to make my ass nuts.

I was spared the inquisition by our son’s fussing in the crib she’d brought into our room. Since it was my turn to walk the floors, I told her pregnant ass to go to sleep. Not like I expected her to listen, but at least I tried.

I picked Cody up and changed his diaper before heading down to get one of his bottles of expressed milk. I must be out of my mind to want to go through this shit again, fucking late night feedings.

Before you know it, Kat and her damn kids are gonna overrun my ass. Three girls, every time I think about it, I break out in a cold sweat. Elena says it’s payback. Like I did some shit to her as a kid that I needed to pay for. Meddling fuck.

Kat’s been giving Mengele looks lately, as if she’s trying to see into her head. Probably thinks she can get a head start on this new batch she’s carrying. Good luck with that.

By the time Cody stopped his screaming fit the house was quiet. I made the rounds, looking in on all of them, making doubly sure the place was secure, before going up to bed. She was waiting up for me. Fuck!

“What’s the matter, the babies keeping you up?” I climbed into bed and hauled her into my arms. It’s the only time I feel whole, when I’m holding her like this. I forgot a long time ago what it was like before I found her. “No, they’re fine. It’s Caitie. I know she told you about the email, what’s that about?”

“I’m not sure but I’m gonna find out. You know what I’m gonna say, nothing for you to worry about, just put it out of your mind.” I knew there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that that was gonna happen, so I did the only thing I knew would take her mind off of it.

I rolled her to her back, covered her lips with mine and slid into her still wet snatch. For the next half an hour she was too busy to think about shit. And by the time I pulled out of her, she was out like a light. Thank fuck.

***

The next morning, I had to go in to the shop. I still had a lot of back log from the holidays and there was no time to spare. I took my kids to school myself so I could have more time with my daughter, make sure she was okay. I didn’t want to worry her, so I played that shit down, but with the understanding that she was not to interact with anyone she didn’t know on the Internet. I hate that fucking thing like poison.

Mancini and I hadn’t had any luck tracing the email back to the source, but we both agreed it was a Trojan horse. I’d kept my cool for my wife and kid, but underneath that calm facade I was steaming.

I’d promised the SEALs that I’d try to hold off until they got their shit sorted out, but this shit was too close for comfort. No way was I waiting around for these fucks to strike again.

I watched them walk into the building and saw their detail pull in behind me before turning around and heading for work.

The first thing I did after I’d made a dent in our workload, was call a meet between my usual crew, the ones who knew just a little more about who I am than most. This shit could come back on them too if anyone went digging. So far these fucks were only after me, but who’s to say how long that would last.

“They sent a message to my kid last night.” I let that settle in and calmed down the furor that arose. I held my hand up for quiet. “You know I told you those boys asked us to stay put until they can get in front of this thing, but it goes without saying, this shit changes things. I’m heading for the desert by nightfall. Who’s in?”

“You have to ask? How’s Caitie?” Jared stood by my side as always, ready to go to war. And as much as I would love to go it alone, I knew they’d never let that happen. “She’s gonna be okay, a little shaken up but I took care of it. You should know I did a run on the Porters. I have their whereabouts as we speak. I have no problem coming back and helping these boys do what they have to, but I’m putting an end to my part of this deal now.”

“We shoulda taken them out since the night we left Law’s place. When are we heading out?” Tommy was another who I knew I could count on. In the room were all the men who had ridden into the desert with me that long ago night. No one had ever mentioned it. It was just something we’d done, the same as we’ve done for others in need before and since.

I was about to answer when my phone rang. I walked away to answer thinking it was probably Kat or one of the kids calling to let me know they’d made it home from school, but I picked up my stride when I saw the number on the readout. My blood was already up, it would only take one more thing to make me lose my shit completely, and seeing the man I’d left to look over my wife and kids calling could be just that thing.

“Boss, we’ve got trouble.”

“What kinda trouble Max?” I whistled for Jared, Tommy and the others as I headed for my ride. They didn’t ask any questions, just ran to their rides to follow. “Three men just showed up here posing as Children’s Services.”

“Where are my wife and kids?” I knew to stay cool until I got the whole story.

“Everyone’s safe, they don’t even know they were here. Kat’s upstairs with Cody and the others were in the basement taking their defense classes.” I eased my grip on the bars and breathed. “Tell me.”

“They weren’t expecting us, so it’s a toss up whether or not they were watching the place or not. When I answered the door there was a look of surprise. Then they tried selling me their spiel but when I asked more questions than they could answer they left.”

“Which direction were they headed in?”

“Josh slipped a tracker under the wheel well, they’re headed out towards DuPont.”

“Make, model and license number.” He gave me the info I needed as I changed tack and headed in the opposite direction away from home.

“I can give you blow by blow directions if you wanna follow. I have them on my screen as we speak.”

“Give it to me, and Max, my wife never hears about this.” I listened to his directions until I got a bead on where they were headed. “I know where they’re going. There’s an airfield about five miles from there. Go take care of my family ‘til I get there.”

I sped up and my boys followed. I called them on the headpieces in their helmets and relayed the news. “We go in hot. I don’t know what we’re gonna find there so be prepared for everything.”

By the time we got there- there was one plane on the runway and a blue SUV pulling in. I directed half my guys towards the plane while the other half followed me towards the vehicle. I drew my piece even before the wheels on my ride had stopped turning.

They saw us coming but it was too late for them to do anything since my boys had their guns out and pointed at their heads through the closed windows. I dragged the driver’s door open, pulled him out and pushed the nozzle against his temple, while my guys took care of the rest. “Looking for me? What the fuck were you doing at my house?” I looked around for a place to shoot the fuck without all the eyes I was sure were on me watching, but there was none. “Get in.”

“Jared follow us to the slaughterhouse. You move over.” I spoke to one of the men seated in the seat behind the driver. I climbed into the very back with the other two in front of me. “Drive.” I gave him directions while they tried to explain their bullshit away. “Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into? We are here on direct orders…”

“Shut the fuck up and drive asshole. One more word out of you and I’ll pop your friend here.” The asshole in question grunted when I stuck the gun in his ear. I took their measure as we drove. I could tell from the quiet fuck in front of me that he was the one in charge. He hadn’t said a word since the whole thing started, but he never stopped looking for a way out. Even with his back turned, I could see the tenseness in his body. Fight or flight.

“I wouldn’t risk it asshole, you even twitch and I’ll blow your head off.” He went even more still but I didn’t ease up. We reached the warehouse in less than ten minutes and I dragged him out first. “Bring them in.”

The warehouse was our little playhouse. It’s where I take offal to deal with if I was planning more than a little threat. “Start talking, who sent you to my house?”

“Mr. Lyon I presume.” This fuck thought he was on a movie set or some fuck, if the smirk he gave me was anything to go by. “Yeah that’s me, now talk.” He fixed his cuff and looked around like he was in charge. If I didn’t need him to tell me who the fuck was on my ass, I would put one in his head and be done with this shit.

He was dead the minute he walked up to my door, but for now, I’ll let him play at being the man. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. My colleagues and I work for the government. We were simply there to follow up on a report of child endangerment in your home.”

“A complaint from who?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. Suffice it to say we were carrying out our duties…”

“You’re a lying fuck. Since when does the division of children’s services send goons to make house calls?”

“Colt, I found something.” Jared had gone through the van and found an attaché case under the driver’s seat. He had it open on the table rifling through it while Tommy and the others held the other goons against the wall at gunpoint.

“What you got?” He held up a handful of photos that turned out to be some kind of surveillance on my family. “What the fuck?” They even had Mengele in there-fuck that-not my little girl. “Anything in there, about who these fucks work for?”

“Nope, but they have a shitload of stuff on you.” I turned my attention back to asshole number one. “So, what exactly were you gonna do with my kids if my men had been dumb enough to fall for your ploy? You know what, don’t answer.” The shot to the leg wasn’t meant to get anything out of him. I hit the femoral artery. His ass ought to bleed out in five minutes or less. “Finish them.”

I walked away without looking back. Looks like the battle had just begun. I didn’t wait around to see about the clean up, my boys knew what to do. Whoever had sent them could figure out what the fuck had happened to them when they didn’t turn up, but I wasn’t too worried about it. These fucks want to fly under the radar. I’m the right motherfucker for their ass.

I’m not in the habit of giving an account of my actions to anyone but I wrestled with the idea of calling the others and letting them know what was going on. In the end, I decided not to. Just like sixteen years ago it wasn’t just my head on the block. I wasn’t about to jam up my guys for having my back.

I headed for the house to put eyes on my wife and kids. This killing shit was getting too easy, but I wasn’t gonna lose any sleep. I wasn’t about to split hairs over anything that comes of this. Taylor Porter started this shit the day he put hands on what’s mine. Doesn’t matter that she wasn’t mine then, scratch that, she was born mine. It doesn’t matter that at the time his raping ass went after her I hadn’t yet staked my claim, and anything that came behind my ending that fuck was a write off as far as I’m concerned.

Now his parents and an uncle were out for revenge, that’s their right. But it’s also my right to fuck their shit up for coming into my space. I’ll help the others when my deal was over, but the die had been cast.

***

Kat was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner. I stood in the doorway watching her as she hummed to herself and moved from the stove to the fridge and back. I could hear my kids tearing my fucking house apart with their shit, but I’d rather hear that sound everyday for the rest of my life than lose one of them.

“I know you’re there Colton, what’s wrong?” She turned to me with a smile and I was quick enough to hide my true thoughts from her. “Nothing, just enjoying my favorite sight.” I pulled the flowers I’d stopped on the way to buy her from behind my back and sighed at the dreamy look that came into her eyes as she moved to take them.

“Pay me first woman.” She grinned as she got up on her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. “They’re beautiful, thank you.” I tried not to put too much into the kiss, she knows me too well. So although I wanted to draw her in close enough that she became a part of me, I held myself in check.

With her little head held gently in my hands, I fed on her lips until she needed to breathe. “How are my babies?” I ran my hand over her tummy and kissed her forehead. “They’re coming along fine.” She covered my hand with hers and rested against my chest.

“And you, my favorite girl? How are you doing?” If any of this ever touched her, I’ll level the nation’s capital, swear to fuck. She didn’t seem upset in anyway so Max had done his job well, she was still insulated.

***

KAT

***

 

I know Colton Lyon is up to something. Ever since he got back from Law’s place, he’s been acting like a bear with his paw caught, and even more irrational than usual. Then after the holidays, he went from bad to worse.

I’d finally talked him into letting the kids go back to school after keeping them home for days, but the crazy man had the people’s school surrounded. I don’t know what excuse he’d given them but one of the boys’ teachers had told me that Colt’s argument had been that his kids were just as important as the President’s and the asshole movie stars’, as he’s fond of calling them. She thought he was cute the way he carried on to get his way; little does she know.

Now, he’s talking about making a run somewhere. Uh huh, rare parts my ass. I know my man and that is not the look he wears when he’s after parts for one of his specials. That’s his ‘somebody’s about to get fucked’ look.

I know very well that Colt likes to take matters into his own hands, but we’re both getting too old for this shit. I didn’t even bother fussing at him as I watched him walk back and forth getting his stuff together for his little impromptu ride.

By mutual agreement, we don’t discuss the pregnancy, though Colt steals rubs of my tummy and at night he sleeps with his hand over our girls. But this evening after dinner, he’d been mumbling about leaving me with the babies, like he was wrestling with his conscience.

I bit my tongue and didn’t say a word of what was going through my head. Like the fact that my house was still surrounded by half of his crew from sunup to sundown, and the fact that these men were now taking up residence in our guest house and my damn basement.

“Daddy…”

“Well shit.” I held my hand over my mouth to cover the snicker that threatened to escape at his reaction to our youngest daughter’s interruption. “Yes Catalina.” He stopped what he was doing to look at her. Even with my mind in turmoil, I knew this was going to be good, it usually is where these two are concerned.

“How long is uncle Max going to be here?” Max was one of the crew that Colton had staked out in our basement. No one was talking, which was not surprising and the one time I tried making an end run around Colt to get some information, he gave me one of his looks and I got the screwing of my life that night. He’s still very territorial, still doesn’t like men around me no matter who it is. Which made the fact that they were here very suspicious indeed. And he wonders why I’m always on his case.

“Why?” He barely contained the huff that was never too far when dealing with his baby girl. I guess it’s poetic justice that he has a kid who’s his carbon copy. The fact that it’s one of our girls and not the boys was just the icing on the cake. I have to get my kicks where I can, living with Mr. Crazy, and these little skirmishes never disappoint.

“He’s taking up all my space.” Her little hands went to her hips, which was something she’d picked up from her grandmother lately and which gives her daddy fits. “What space, you pay rent?” Oh this ought to be good.

“Daddy, don’t be silly. So when’s he going home?”

“He’s not, what is it that you’re doing down there anyway?”

“Stuff.”

“Stuff? What stuff, you’re five years old you don’t have any stuff.” She rolled her eyes and hopped up on the bed for a cuddle.

I pulled her in close for a smell of her hair. Her sister was getting too old for mommy time, which was heartbreaking, but I still had my little terror and her new baby brother. She studied her fingernails and toes, which were full of sparkles from the mani-pedi set my mom had given her for Xmas. Something else that had caused world war six in my house when Colt first saw it, but was also one of the things that tipped me off that he was up to no good.

He’d been working up a good head of steam when he got a good look at her fashion statement. You’d have thought the child was committing a crime the way he’d carried on, but all she’d had to do that time was bat her lashes at him and tell him how all her little friends were doing it, and Colton Lyon had melted like a puddle of goo. Uh huh.

That, coupled with the fact that he’d had us under armed guard for weeks now was more than enough to put me on high alert. I’d asked him more than once what was going on, but each time I’d just get his patented ‘nothing for you to worry about Katarina’ like that was gonna work. This time I knew exactly what to do though.

“Scram kid, I need to talk to your mom.”

“Eww daddy, you just wanna do more of that kissing stuff.”

“I what, what the hell?” He really needs to take it easy before he gives himself a coronary.

“It’s okay daddy, I know all about it, my boyfriend…”

“Catalina Lyon, if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life locked away somewhere you’d stop right there.”

“Geez daddy-it’s just a kiss-just lips touching-people do it all the time, it’s like…saying hello.” She waddled off the bed on her little spindly legs reminding me that for all the words that were coming out of her mouth, she was still little more than a baby.

“Kat we gotta do something.” He actually looked distressed when he plopped down on the mattress next to me. “Aww poor baby, you know she’s just a little more curious and just a tad bit smarter than the others, but there’s nothing to worry about.”

“You won’t be saying that when we’re knee deep in teenage pregnancies, what the fuck have you and Elena been doing around that kid? I find it strange that Caitiebear who was practically raised by me doesn’t do any of that shit, but the one I left to you and my mother is twisted as fuck.”

What could I say to that enlightening piece of logic? There was no talking him down when it comes to her anyway so why bother? “Poor Colton, she scares you doesn’t she?” I dared not laugh because that would just send him off on one of his tangents again.

“You think this shit is funny, don’t you? Well we’ll see how funny you find it when you’re collecting her ass from Juvie in a few years.” He hopped off the bed mumbling something under his breath about Mengele’s experiments or some other such thing.

***

I stood in the doorway smiling and waving all the while formatting my words in my head. As soon as he cleared the street and I heard the last engine disappear I hightailed it to the nearest phone. I had to be careful though because I didn’t want anyone to hear.

This has got to stop. For weeks, things have been crazier than usual around here, and since meeting the other women, I knew something was definitely up, but their men were no more forthcoming than Colt was. I knew enough to know that whatever this was, it had more to do with us as a family than Colt was letting on. Now Caitie was getting strange emails and I knew that more than anything else would send my husband over the deep end.

I checked on the baby one last time before sneaking into the walk-in closet with the cordless. “Law, where’s Colton going?” No sense in beating around the bush.

“What do you mean what did he say?”

“He said he had to get parts in Arizona.” His ‘oh fuck’ did nothing to ease my suspicions and his next volley of questions didn’t do any better either.

“How long ago did he leave?” I gave him all the information I had growing more anxious by the silence on the other end. I guess I was expecting him to tell me not to worry, but I knew that whatever was going on had started at Law’s place and this wasn’t looking good. The last thing I heard after he told me he would take care of it was him whistling for his men.

***

 

LAW

***

“Creed, Law here, we’ve got trouble.”

“What’s up bro, the fuck is going on now?” We’ve been pretty much on alert ever since the little powwow a few weeks ago. I was trying to get shit cleaned up in my own backyard before heading to Georgia, but it looked like Colt, the fuck, wasn’t gonna give me the chance.

“Colt’s on the fucking loose is what’s going on. Just got a call from Katarina and he’s headed to the desert.”

“Oh shit.” Brandon, Travis and Clay joined me just in time to hear that last part.

“We’ve got to head him off and we don’t have much time, he’s on the move.” I need this shit. Dana Sue hasn’t stopped throwing her guts up in three fucking weeks, the asshole sheriff has been making noises since we burnt out the fuckwit hate brigade and now this.

“Fuck, do we know which way he’s headed?” There were a few routes from his neck of the woods to Arizona but only one that would take a lot less time. I gave Creed the particulars before deciding on the best place to meet so we could head this fuck off.

“I’ll be there. This shit goes back to us doesn’t it? The shit we did when we were in.”

“It looks that way, only I don’t see why he’d go after the women. As far as I know Khalil has always gone for more of a direct attack.”

“That’s just it isn’t it? We don’t know what the fuck this is.”

“Does it matter Creed? We know enough that we have to protect our own. Let’s go get Lyon and then I think it’s time we head down south. I don’t think those boys wanna wait around any more than we do.”

“Sounds good to me. Let me make sure my woman is safe and I’ll head out.” After hanging up with him I turned to my cousin and our friends.

“What’s the deal Law?”

“Lyon has decided not to wait, he’s headed to the desert.”

“We knew that was coming, I’m surprised he held back this long.”

“Yeah Travis you’re right, but this might throw shit off. Hardheaded son of a bitch.”

I barely had time to set shit right on my end, making sure my place was secure before heading out. I should’ve been prepared for this, should’ve known that Lyon wouldn’t be able to hold his shit in. But the last time we saw him, he gave his word. Something must’ve happened. I guess I’ll have to wait until we meet up to get the particulars.

I wasn’t even sure if he’d taken the route I’d chosen, but it was my best bet. I didn’t try calling him because I knew there was no point. With my crew behind me, and my place on lockdown with orders to shoot any motherfucker that didn’t belong on sight, I headed out to meet my friend.

I saw Creed from a distance two hours later. We didn’t have time to do more than nod at each other as his crew fell in with mine. I tapped my helmet when I got next to Creed and he turned his shit on so we could talk.

“So what’s the plan brother?”

“I’m not sure. We can try talking him down but according to what mood he’s in we might end up doing a ride along.” I’m pretty sure we were heading for the latter. Lyon isn’t known for taking instruction well.

“What the fuck set him off? Two weeks ago, he was fine with waiting.”

“I can’t say, Katarina didn’t seem to know but whatever it is it can’t be good.”

“Damn, we’re not set up to move now.”

“I know it, but we gotta have his back either way.”

We rode hell bent for leather to catch up to Lyon not even sure if we were on the right track. There was no point in trying to second- guess why he’d veered off from the plan, the man plays by his own rules. Having taken matters into my own hands not that long ago to avenge my family, I had no issue with him doing the same. I just wish like fuck he’d given me a heads-up.

“Creed up ahead.”

“Thank fuck I thought we were gonna have to follow that boy all the way to Arizona.”

I sped up and moved ahead of the others as Lyon and his crew came at us from the opposite direction.

I cut him off by pulling across in front of him and he didn’t look too pleased until I removed my helmet and he recognized me.

“What the fuck?”

“You don’t mind a little company on this little jaunt into the desert do you Lyon?”

“What are you doing here brother?” I asked him tongue in cheek.

“I could ask you the same…fucking Kat.”

“Hey, don’t blame her, I thought we had a deal.”

“Yeah that was before they sent my kid an email about running away from home and before three fucks showed up at my door.”

“They did what?” Creed had caught up by then and the three of us stood next to our rides in the middle of the street. This time of night wasn’t anyone out here unless they were up to no good.

“Yeah, so if my woman sent you to reel me in you’re fuck outta luck.”

“What do you mean they came to your door? Is your family okay?”

“Yes they are, and I’m going to end this shit so they stay that way.”

***

LYON

***

I should’ve known she was up to some shit. I didn’t stand around any longer than it took to fill them in, but I wasn’t about to be deterred. I got back on my ride and left them to decide what they wanted to do. It didn’t escape my notice that neither man even tried to talk me out of going, I’m pretty sure they knew it wouldn’t have worked.

I can’t say I was surprised when they flanked me two minutes later, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about them coming along. I knew what I was going there to do, and though I knew these boys lived by the same creed, I wasn’t too sure about all the extra eyes and ears that I now had on my ass.

No one said anything for the rest of the ride. My mind was focused on what laid ahead. The last time I was here I had a plan in place, this time I was playing this shit by ear. All I knew was the end result.

When we were about half an hour out I was struck by an idea. I held my hand up and made a turn into the parking lot of the chain retail store we came up on. “I’ll be back, we don’t want to scare these people by all going in there together.” Plus I didn’t want anyone knowing what the fuck I was up to.

I got the shit I needed and left without too much fuss. The guys were stretching their legs until I returned and all eyes went to the bags in my hands. I ignored them and climbed on my ride after putting the shit away.

Now that we were almost there I cleared everything else from my head. I didn’t let myself think of what could go wrong, didn’t think of consequences or repercussions. It needed doing and that’s all there was to it.

I held my hand up once more when we were five minutes out. I waited until everyone was standing in front of me before saying a word. “We can’t all go in there, I didn’t plan for all these bodies.”

“I’m going in.” That was Law then Creed raised his hand, which meant he was in too. I knew my boys wanted in which would mean seven bodies altogether.

“Fuck guys it’s a hit not a fucking reunion.”

“You got the blueprints, how do you know they’re in there? What about servants and shit, how much recon did you do?”

“The fuck Law, it won’t take all that to off these fucks, I’m in and out in five. Look it’s coming on dark now, I timed the ride to get here about this time. There’s only one maid in the house and she’s not in the same wing as the fucks.

They go to bed early, that’s where I’m expecting to take them. If they’re not there I’ll improvise, but I plan on getting in and out no muss no fuss.”

“What about security alarms, how do you plan to get by those?” I showed him the neat little gadget I had with me that would make mince meat out of any security system in less time than it would take to blink.

“Fine, the place is far enough from the neighbors that we might not be detected?”

“Yeah Creed and with that said, what are we gonna do with all these extra bodies? We don’t want any reports of strange bikers in the area when these fucks went missing.”

“Don’t worry about that, my guys know what to do we’re not green. Now are we gonna stay around here gabbing all night or are we gonna do this? I’m a newly married man. I need to get home to babygirl.”

Fucking Creed, I guess he forgot I didn’t invite his ass. All this talking was cutting into my time. I had this shit mapped out in my head and barring some unforeseen fuck up all should go well.

I had to make a judgment call since no one wanted to be left behind. I took Jared and Tommy. Law and Creed left their crew behind. We were gonna meet up at a bar outside of town, the same bar my guys and I had gone to that night sixteen years ago. Ain’t life a bitch, we’d come full circle.

“So how are we doing this?” Law walked next to me in the darkness. The house was sitting on a hill with a pond in front. There was a barn off in the distance but I knew from my research that it housed horses. There was no wall but a hedge of trees lined the property with a rock drop off in back. The only light came from the moon and it was hot as a bitch for December.

“Follow me.” It went without saying that the kill was mine and they were just here for backup. I pulled up the layout of the place that I’d downloaded on my phone and showed it to them.

“These are their rooms here. There’s a balcony with sliding glass doors, the bed is a good thirteen feet from the bedroom door so we gotta move fast once we get in.”

“You planning on having a conversation with these fucks before you off them?” Creed asked as he moved up beside me.

“No.” The fuck I have to say to them, I knew what their deal was. They would’ve been better off forgetting their deadbeat son and moving the fuck on. Now they can join him in hell, I give a fuck.

I made short work of the security system and waited until Jared slipped down the stairs to the left headed off to the maid’s quarters to make sure she remained contained. I didn’t want her leaving her room for a snack or some shit. I wasn’t looking forward to having to hurt anyone but the two I’d come here for, I’m not an animal after all. I left Tommy outside to keep an eye out just in case.

I didn’t hear Creed and Law behind me as we made our way up the stairs. The fucks barely cast a shadow on the wall. They’d gone into combat mode or some shit.

My only problem was getting the heavy oak doors open without making a sound. I didn’t know if the Porters were light sleepers or not, didn’t know who slept on which side of the bed but I didn’t really care. I was here to do both of them, didn’t much matter to me who got it first.

I might’ve had a slight pang of unease about doing a female but my kid was female and that didn’t stop them from getting her involved in this shit. Plus from what little I’d gathered, she was the driving force behind seeking revenge for her asshole son. Fuck her.

Law put his hand on my shoulder when I reached for the door and held his finger up to his lips. He did some hinky shit to the door and stepped back. The shit was open. The army sure does teach these boys some illegal shit.

I slipped through trying to make myself as small as possible. Keeping as close to the wall and out of the glare of the moonlight coming in through the windows and doors, I kept my eyes trained on the bed.

I placed the shopping bag I had with me on the floor; I won’t be needing that until later. When I was sure from the sounds of their breathing that they hadn’t been alerted to our presence, I stepped towards the bed.

It seemed fucked to kill them in their sleep, and though it didn’t matter to me if they knew who ended them, there was a little added satisfaction in having the last word. I tapped the husband on the forehead with my gun.

His eyes flew open and I pulled the trigger. The splatter of his blood hit the wife in the face and neck and she swiped at it before her eyes flew open. “You shoulda left my kid alone lady. Say hello to your rapist son in hell.” Her mouth opened but it was too late. The bullet had already left the barrel.

“You boys may wanna bitch out now, you might not have the stomach for this next part.” They hadn’t said a word, hadn’t made a sound. I grabbed my bag and headed for the bathroom.

I ran the water and emptied the bottles in the tub and went back to get the bodies. “This might take a while. I’m gonna toss the place, see if there’s anything here that might give us some answers.”

They both stepped towards the tub and shook their heads. “That’s cold bro damn.” Creed walked out behind me. “I have to clean up this mess first. Fucking Creed stopped me from tossing the sheets and bed covers.

“No brother, if you don’t want anyone knowing you were here then we have to clean them and put them back.” What the fuck? I had to pull up the damn laundry room on my phone.

“I’ll take care of that, you two get started on your search.” He flipped the mattress over while he was at it. Something else I would’ve got around to if their nosy asses weren’t here. Fucking army boys think they’re the only ones who know how to run an Op.

“Aren’t you glad you brought us along?” Law clapped me on my shoulder before heading for the closest nightstand. Brought along my ass, but he had a point, I hadn’t thought about the clean up shit, though I’m sure it would’ve come to me.

We spent the next few hours going through papers and shit. Some looked interesting, those we put in a bag for later perusal. I was looking for anything about the senator, or the fucker the SEALs had a hard on for, we’ll see.

In keeping with not wanting to leave any evidence that we’d been here, we left things as neat as possible. The sun was starting to come up by the time it was safe to go. I still had a little more work to do.

When I saw what was left in the tub, I made a vow never to let Mengele’s ass anywhere near sulfuric acid ever again. For fuck sake, what the fuck had she been planning to do with that shit anyway?

“What’re you doing with that brother?” Law came up on me when I was washing away the dregs of what was left. “I’m not leaving anything behind.” I emptied another bottle of solution into the tub to clean the pipes so that there wouldn’t be so much as a speck of blood left. There wasn’t even a hint of bone. The mixture had done its job. Fucking mob.

Creed remade the bed but left it a little rumpled, to look like someone had slept there and just got up and left early. We got Jared from his post outside the maid’s door and split. It was halfway back to the boys that I felt eyes on me, but a covert look around didn’t reveal anything.

“You boys feel that?” I asked through my mouthpiece as we rode along. I was tired as fuck. Only an asshole would try to make this trip and back in one day, but I wasn’t about to leave my wife and kids alone, not with this shit hanging over their heads.

“Feel what?” Creed answered.

“Eyes? I picked them up a while ago but I thought I was being paranoid.” In fact I thought I felt them since I made the turnoff from my home but since I didn’t see shit I put it away.

“Whoever it is must be friendlies.”

“How the fuck you figure Law?”

“If they were here to stop the mission they would’ve done so already and they’re hanging back.” That was good enough for me, as long as they stayed the fuck outta my way they can be as friendly as they like.

“We need to stop and get some rest Lyon, we already rode almost a day here and it’s the same amount of time back, you can’t do it, you’ll wipe the fuck out.”

“Law, if your pansy ass wanna stop for a nap go right ahead, but I have to get home to my wife.”

“How do you want to get there? In one piece or do you prefer the State Troopers knocking on her door?” Nosy fuck, this is why she’d set him on my ass. Not this exactly, but she knew he’d try to talk me out of shit. The ass was right, my arms were already pulling, and it wasn’t just me I had to worry about. So as much as I hated to, I put in a call to Max and made sure everything was alright back home. I’ll save her nosy ass for later.

***

CREED

***

“Babe, I’m not gonna make it back tonight.” I waited for the whine I knew was coming. This would be the first night we’d spend apart since getting married.

“What why?” I could hear her rustling around in our bed and wish to fuck I could be there with her. “I told you, I had to make a run with the guys right. Well, the shit took a little longer than expected.” She had no idea I was in Arizona. Not that it mattered, since she hooked up with the other women, it’s like a spy network or some shit. I have no doubt she’d hear it from Lyon’s woman or Law’s.

“Who’s there?” I knew where she was heading with that shit and I hated like fuck that she even thought she had to ask.

“It’s just me and the guys babygirl, I told you about that shit didn’t I? You got the ring and the man, you do not have to worry about strange pussy.”

“I know it’s just…”

“It’s just nothing Jess, we’re not doing this shit. If I say I’m with you I’m with you. If I tell you I’m not fucking around on you then you believe that shit no question. Then ask yourself when the fuck would I have had time since I haven’t been more than ten feet away from you until tonight?”

I thought she was over that jealousy shit. I’d sent the woman packing halfway across the country and haven’t even seen another female if she was standing on top of my head. What the fuck?

“Are you crying? You better not be crying babygirl. Listen to me. I waited almost ten years for you. I didn’t do that shit to fuck it away for a piece of ass.” She sniffled and calmed her ass down and I was trying hard not to be pissed.

“How’s my kid?”

“He’s good, but you’re not gonna be here to hold my hair in the morning when he makes me sick.” I could hear the pout in her voice but at least she was over that crying shit.

“I’ll make it up to you. I stocked your little refrigerator with ginger ale and your crackers are in my nightstand. Just make sure you have both before you get out of bed and you should be fine babygirl.”

We fucked around on the phone for a little bit until her voice cleared and there was no more worry there. I got to wondering why the fuck women always think their man don’t miss them as much as they do when they have to be away from them because I had a bitch of a time getting to sleep without her next to me.