28. ‘Ollie’

TWENTY-EIGHT

My head is pounding as we wait for everyone to get to the rendezvous site. We went back and forth for hours and decided we shouldn’t approach at night, no matter how much my dad, brothers, and I fought to just go. It’s not just Brenna up there and with Sheriff George, and now the FBI on board, I’m surprised they are even allowing us to be involved. Though if they said no, I’d go rogue without a fuckin’ doubt.

The final plan is a multiple layer of attacks. From farmers on tractors, to folks on horseback, and so many people in different groups, it’s crazy. And to top it off, I’m gonna have snipers to cover everyone’s ass. If only I could get a message to Brenna so she’d be prepared, but that ain’t gonna happen. Some of the women like our mom, Ash’s mom, my love Paisley, and a few of the townsfolk and farm women are staying in town at the hospital so they can be on hand if this takes a major shit.

Tink will eventually be okay from what I’ve been told, though she lost her spleen and part of her kidney. Shadow and Tank are out for blood, so Cliff better hope someone else finds his sorry ass. His boys also want to end him, especially Ash. He’s going crazy not knowing what’s happening to my sister. I’ve got a different outlook on him now that I know what went down before. His father is one sorry son of a bitch, for sure. I brought Ash and his brothers with us because my men and women are the best to handle them.

For now, at this crazy hour in the morning, we are waiting for dawn and some morning light before we make the final journey.

“Ollie, got a minute?”

I turn to see Ash, Reed, and Rue all standing looking at me. Alder is in town, well actually in the hospital, not in any shape to be here, though he wanted to be. Oh shit, here it comes, been waiting on them to ask.

“Sure, guys, but before you ask, I can’t guarantee Cliff will be yours. No, listen, this operation isn’t just mine. Believe me I get it, for fuck’s sake, she’s my sister. We just got my other sister back from the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood. From the little I’ve heard, they fucked her up royally, might never be the same. I want that jagoff too, but the mission—and this is hard to even say—isn’t just about Brenna. We don’t know how many innocents are up there and we have to do our best to make sure they all come out alive. Now did you want to talk about something else?”

They all look at each other, then at me, shaking their heads. Ash remains but his brothers go back to the area they’ve been at since we got here.

“Ollie, I know this is hard on you, but try to understand how we feel. It’s our dad doing all this shit and has been for years. I just found out and don’t tell anyone about this, ma will kill me. That motherfucker raped her for years. She was afraid to say anything as he’d sneak into the house after everyone bedded down for the night. No, not talkin’ when we were kids, I’m talking recently. Rowan wasn’t even a teenager yet. So yeah, I want to put my hands around his neck and watch his eyes dim then go out. But I understand where you’re coming from, so I’ll follow your lead. Can you tell me what we’re waiting on? Because God only knows what they are doing to her. My mind is goin’ all over, Ollie, and bottom line, it’s my fault because he’s my father.”

“No, you’re wrong, Ash, it’s all on him, not you or your brothers or mother. He’s a grown man who’s made decisions in his life, letting money turn him into a monster. He wanted to try and take the easy way out. Well, life doesn’t work that way. To get whatever you want it takes hard work, time, and patience. You know that, not gonna preach to you. We should be good to go within the next hour or so. I gotta check a few things but when we go, your family will go with me and my team. Our objective is to hit the main area, which I’m hoping that’s where they are holding Brenna. Brother, I get it because I can’t shut my brain off at all either. We’ll get her out and help her deal with whatever was done to her. She’s an O’Brien and one of the strongest women I know. Have some faith.”

He nods then walks back to his brothers, while I turn and grab my cell phone. I hit dial and wait for a response.

“Spirit.”

“Yeah, just want to confirm you understand your orders. When we advance, I want the five of you to take anyone out who isn’t with us and has a weapon on their body or are using an innocent to protect themselves. If by chance your location is breached, relocate and get back in the firefight. Understood?”

“Yes, sir. We have your back.”

“Thanks, I’m out.”

I walk around, checking in with everyone here, until we hear a vehicle making its way up the slick road. I turn to see a huge-ass pickup truck shifting off the road to the grassy area. Being it’s dark out, I can’t make out who’s in there until Panther, Avalanche, George, and Shadow jump out. They walk right to me. Panther starts immediately.

“Ollie, I left Dallas, Jersey, and Chicago back at the hospital for security. They are armed to the fullest. Tank is on his way but left some of his brothers there. With him are some of the Devil’s Handmaidens, though not a lot. The majority are on guard duty on Tink’s floor in the ICU, while the others from the gym are being treated themselves.”

“Understood, didn’t expect to see any of you, especially you, Shadow.”

She looks at me and I swear those icy-blue eyes are the coldest I’ve ever seen them.

“Just so we’re clear, Ollie, that motherfucker Cliff is mine. Nope, don’t want your lip. He shot Goldilocks and for that he’s going to get my own personal type of hell, up close and very personal. That’s the only reason I’m here. I don’t care what you or his sons say, he’s going to end up in my wet room, might as well accept it. Now, when do we go?”

Again, I’m explaining the plan until I hear even more vehicles, thank Christ not bikes, coming our way. This is such a shitshow, won’t be surprised if half of our folks get shot. When a mission is this big and you have defiant, stubborn, rebellious people thinking with their emotions and not their heads, shit is bound to happen.

Once Tank and all the other people hunt me down, once again, I go over the plan. I can only pray this is it, no more helpers are on their way. There is no way we’ll be able to sneak up on this group with all these civilians. Yeah, Panther and his group are ex-military but everyone else is just common folks with huge hearts.

Sheriff George makes his way to me, a bottle of water in his hands. You can see the pressure on his shoulders, but I give him kudos, he seems to have most of this under control. The wildcard is the bikers, especially Tank and Shadow. Just gonna have to take it one minute at a time.

“How ya holdin’ up, Ollie? I see your dad and brothers are here to back your play. That’s good, they’re all excellent men and will follow your lead. Not gonna ask you to go over that fuckin’ plan again ’cause I’m about to shoot the next person who asks me to. Now we wait, that’s all we can do. Our farmers should just about be on the move, probably in the next thirty or forty minutes, as that’s what a regular farmer would do. Thanks again for having two of your people on each tractor to protect our townsfolk. They mean well, but they sure as hell ain’t soldiers. All right, let me check on everyone. I’ll be back before we start on our way. Again, thanks, Ollie, for everything you’re doing, my man.”

“Sheriff, she’s my sister. I’d run through a burning building or jump outta a plane without a parachute to a certain death, so really there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect anyone who is part of my family.”

The sheriff gives me a chin lift then starts to walk away. Hope someone has eyes on him when we proceed, since it’s clear he and Gertie have something goin’ on. I’m sure Cliff, if given the opportunity, will try to take our sheriff out. On that thought, I look around until I see Phantom, who has eyes on me. I give him a come-here motion and within seconds he’s standing right in front of me.

“Need a favor, brother. When we advance, I want you close to the sheriff. I’m thinkin’ Cliff would like nothing better than to take him out since he’s got to know that Sheriff George and Gertie are getting close and starting something. I don’t know what that is ’cause not my business, but Cliff is a psychopath so let’s just prepare for the worst. Don’t want the Sterling boys to lose their momma, and can’t believe this is coming outta my mouth, but don’t want Shadow to lose her father either. Phantom, we need to end this shit or we’re gonna lose our town and more. These assholes need to go down today. Might not get rid of all of the entire brotherhood, but we’ll end the jagoffs in our town and hopefully this part of our state.”

“You got it, Ollie. I’ll bring Mutt with me so we have the sheriff covered from all angles. I’ll call Hellcat, tell her to get to the hospital and keep eyes on both Gertie and Bronagh, just to be safe. We got guards on Tink, as does Tank, but don’t think anyone thought to keep eyes on the mothers.”

“Good thinking, Phantom. Glad one of us is on our game. Goddamn, brother, I’m fuckin’ exhausted. This is worse than some of our missions back in the day.”

“Ollie, my man, this one is beating your ass ’cause it’s your kid sister. Take a breath and remember your entire team from Blue Sky Sanctuary has your back. Just don’t push us away, each and every one of us is trained for situations just like this. Let me make this call then I’ll be Sheriff George’s shadow. Mutt will have eyes on the both of us from a distance, just in case I’m taken out. No, Ollie, we don’t know what these motherfuckers are capable of. First priority is getting your sister back and rescuing all the innocents, after that all bets are off. If each and every one of the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood is taken out, I’m good with that, as I’m sure you would be too. Might want to put the word out to all of us that all shots should be kill ones, Ollie.”

I look at Phantom, realizing this brother who I served with for years has not only had my back as I’ve had his, but the whole idea of why I wanted the sanctuary is standing in front of me. A year or so ago, Phantom could barely put a couple of sentences together, let alone be in such a large group of people without going off the deep end. At least I did something right.

“Don’t go there, Ollie. You got this, so get your shit together and call in the troops. Today we take back our little town of Timber-Ghost from these degenerates. Let me get these couple of things done, then I’ll be at the sheriff’s side, even if he blows a gasket. Ya know, Sheriff George has a pretty nasty temper when you get under his skin.”

I laugh ’cause if anyone would know that it’s Phantom. He makes a habit of getting under our good sheriff’s skin. I nod and he walks away, his phone already up to his ear. Good call to keep eyes on Alder and our moms. That’s why the only way to get shit done is when you have a team or group of folks who can cover each other’s backsides.

Hearing someone walking my way, I see my brothers, Dad, and Tank. With Tank is Enforcer, Yoggie, Malice, and Half-Pint. I know eyes have been on Malice for a while, so surprised Tank brought him along. I eye Tank and he looks healthy and strong. I brace when I see the look on their faces.

“Just got a text from one of the farmers. They made it up about a third of the mountain on the other side when they hit a roadblock. Literally. Those motherfuckers are blocking the road and threatened to not only kill him but after, they’d go to his farm and rape and gut his women. Now, Ollie, he has his wife, six daughters, and two sons. Otis told them he was contracted by the forest rangers to clear the sides of the road. He told them he’d call the cops if they didn’t move. Guess right now Otis said they told him to wait while they check his story.”

I grab my phone and pull up Freak’s number.

“Freak, get in the system, somehow, and either block a call or take it and confirm that Otis is working with the rangers to clear brush along the roadside. Yeah, they are probably trying to get ahold of someone, only problem is no one is there at this godforsaken hour. Let me know if you can bypass them.”

“It’s time, tell everyone to be ready. I’ll be directing different groups to each area at the top of the mountain. Each group will have ex-military or a few of Tank or Tink’s people. Tell the farmers and ranchers they need to follow orders to the T. I don’t want to lose any of our people because they went off the tracks. Check your watches, we march out in ten minutes.”

They all nod or give chin lifts before turning and walking away. I take a quick minute and reach out to Paisley. Never know what could happen, want to hear her voice.

“Hey, Ollie, how’s it going?”

“Pixie, just wanted to hear your voice. We go in less than ten. Remember what I told you in case this goes south. You’ll need to batten down the hatches. I love you, Paisley. You saved my life, now I’m trying to pass it forward.”

“Don’t do this, Ollie. I know you love me just like I love you. This is just another one of your Navy SEAL missions, you got this. I mean, look at the people taking your back. Get this done and bring your badass back home to me, end of story. Be careful and know you have a Pixie on your shoulder watching over you. I love you.”

I don’t want to hang up ’cause her voice calms me, but the time has come. Once again, I let her know what she means to me then we hang up. When I look up, all the groups are sectioned off and even though Sheriff George’s face is red, Phantom is right next to him.

I give a nod then look up and silently say a quiet prayer that, when this is done, everyone I just made eye contact with and those I didn’t are standing on their own two feet, ready to get back to their lives. I start pointing and each group moves on my command. My mind goes back to training and how they pounded in our heads that quitting isn’t an option. And ‘the only easy day was yesterday.’ Then without thought, I take a deep breath and very loudly say “HOOYAH!” which my family from the Blue Sky Sanctuary replies back with their own version. It’s time to shit and get. Then I hear Phantom and his words bring a grin to my face.

“Never give up!”