CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
-:- CORK -:-
Once again at the clubhouse, I think I’ve been here more in the last two weeks than in the last twelve months, I get everyone’s attention and announce our forthcoming wedding.
The ol’ ladies go crazy, and Nyx’s old ladies along with the Three Stooges cackle like mother hens and begin telling everyone what their roles will be, and who is to do what.
Not sure that Dallas will need to arrange or do anything other than turn up, I escape and abandon her to her fate.
Surprisingly, at this time of day, Meat isn’t in the kitchen. I’m just going to go hunting for him when Target pops his head in the door and beckons me to follow him. Unsurprisingly, we head to Pres’ office where I find Meat and the rest of the team waiting.
“Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, Cork. What took you so long?” Pres grins, and the rest add their congratulations, most with a back slap.
“Now, first things first. I asked…no, I told you all that the mission to the ranch was to stay in this room and go no further. Imagine how surprised I was to find out that the ol’ ladies knew that their men were going on the mission.
Who told their woman what was happening? ”
There is silence in the room, and I’m not throwing Meat under the bus, but I am going to own up.
“Pres, I told Dallas, but it was only a couple of hours ago, and she already told me she knew that some of us were going out tonight. That’s how come I told her about the mission.
I can vouch that she hasn’t told a soul. I can’t say how she knew about it.”
“Can’t or won’t, but at least you were man enough to speak up. No one else got anything to say?” Pres is angry but not yet losing it.
Everyone is standing in their military ‘at-ease’ position as they wait, except for Meat. He is standing, hands in pockets and looking as bored as hell, even with a smirk on his face.
“Meat. Spit it out instead of standing there like a grinning ape,” Axel states.
Looking down the line, he turns back to face Pres.
“I don’t know if it escaped your notice, Pres, but Cork has confessed, and that only leaves Target and me with an ol’ lady.
I can’t speak for him, but my ol’ lady came to me asking where I thought I was sneaking off to.
Apparently, the club's First Lady had approached her and offered her support in any way possible. Of course, I can’t possibly imagine how Mia would know, as we were all sworn to secrecy. ”
Meat looks at Pres and then down the line. I don’t know how he does it, but he has only one eyebrow raised, and it looks so comical I let out a chortle. That sets Wings off and then Chaos, Target never breaks rank and keeps a straight face.
Pres gets up from his desk, stands in front of Meat for a second, mutters something we can’t hear and as he turns to leave the office, Meat says, “Always a pleasure.” Axel misses a step but continues out of the office.
Two minutes later we hear Mia’s angry voice in the hallway heading our way.
“If you didn’t want me to say anything, you should have told me.
Don’t come charging up to me throwing accusations about me breaking a confidence when I wasn’t even aware that there was one to break.
Your communication skills are as good as your attitude.
Neanderthal! And if they are no better when you get home, you can sleep in the spare room, your study or anywhere away from me! ”
Axel dives into the office, and as Mia storms past, she gives us all the sweetest smile while shouting, “Don’t take any of his bullshit about your SECRET MISSION.
” She shouts ‘secret mission’ as loud as she can and with as much emphasis as she can.
Axel sits down at his desk, and Target nods towards the door, which is a signal for us all to ‘exit stage left’ as fast as possible.
Meat , of course, can’t leave without some form of drama and whistles Colonel Bogey’s March, from the movie The Bridge over the River Kwai, as we exit.
Pres’s gavel hits him square in the middle of his back, but he doesn’t miss a note.
The common room is empty when we walk in, and then I remember the text message from Star, asking about lasso fun. Heading out the kitchen door, I hear peals of laughter from the compound. There is a wall of women blocking the way, but as I get closer, I can see what is going on.
Drag has Amelia on his back, piggyback style, and Buzz has Bitty on his.
Drag and Buzz are circling, darting and dodging around each other while Amelia and Bitty try to lasso each other.
Now they can’t twirl and throw their ropes, so are trying to get close enough to just drop the loop over the other's head.
Drag and Buzz look like they just want to plow into each other and slug it out, but with their precious cargo they have to be careful.
When Star sees Meat, she bellows, “Come here, my steer!” She jumps on his back and shouts, “Amelia, we got this!”
Seeing this, Dallas shouts, “The hell you have!” Jumping onto my back I almost fall with the shock of it. “Bitty! I’m a comin’!” Dallas yells and urges me into the fray.
Now going toe to toe with Meat wouldn’t be my first choice, but as he closes on Drag, I shove my way between them. Star and Dallas go at it like a pair of alley cats, and there is screaming, hissing and clawing as they try to drop a loop over each other in close quarters.
Meat stands there like a chunk of granite, and despite my best efforts I only get him to move from one foot to the other. He doesn’t sway, wobble or flinch as hard as I push him. Seeing him standing there grinning makes me try all the more, but seemingly to no avail.
Seeing movement in my peripheral vision, I flinch and take a small step back.
A shadow drops to the ground behind Meat, and then Drag barges into me like a freight train.
I swear my feet leave the ground as I’m catapulted into Meat's enormous chest. Meat’s mighty frame moves back with the force of my collision, and suddenly he’s twisting as he’s falling, arms flailing and windmilling as he tries to stay upright.
Sensing the impending disaster, Star shouts something that sounds like, “Bugger this for a game of toy soldiers,” as she steps off Meat’s back as easy as anything. Then walks away as calm as you like, I somehow keep my feet, and as I stumble away, Dallas shouts, “HI HO SILVER! AWAY!”
The crowd is laughing hysterically, clapping, cheering or booing dependent on their champion.
Turning to see what happened to Meat, I see him dragging Wings from the ground.
Once Wings is upright, I swear Meat is going to punch him, but he looks at the hysterical Wings, who can’t stand on his own two feet because he is laughing so much, and just pushes him back to the ground.
Hours later, we are all doing last-minute weapons checks before we leave the clubhouse. We have two SUVs and a van ready to go. The SUVs will carry the brothers, the van will have Stitch, just in case his expertise is needed.
Dallas, Winter and Star are staying at the clubhouse until we return, giving each other moral support.
Star is the least concerned of the three women, and when I hear Dallas ask why she isn’t worried, Star replies, “He wouldn’t dare get himself killed.
There are no limits to what I’d do to his body and soul if he lets me down.
” She smiles sweetly at Meat as we three kiss our respective women and head out.
Target and Chaos take the lead SUV and leave Meat, Wings and myself in the second. It’s a quiet ride as Meat hasn’t forgiven Wings for his dirty trick yet, and Wings keeps chuckling to himself. I think it’s as much to keep ‘poking the bear’ as it is about the incident.
Nearing the ranch, we park on the opposite side of the highway and at a safe distance to prevent being seen.
It doesn’t take long to hike to the ranch, and we watch the place for a few minutes before setting off on our respective missions.
I’m paired with Target, and it’s our job to watch the ranch house for anyone coming or going.
Meat, not surprisingly, has the task of placing explosives for the still and any relevant equipment in that building.
Wings has the outbuilding with the huge pile of boxes, and Chaos complained when he got the smaller building with the labels. I’m expecting him to overdo the explosives just because it's such a small building. It wouldn’t surprise me if he set off fireworks first to make it more spectacular.
I watch the front of the ranch house as Target checks out the windows to see how many of the thugs are present. All four would probably be too much to ask for. When he returns, surprisingly, he’s accounted for all four.
“Four in the lounge drinking. Once the explosives are set and we’re all together, we’ll storm the ranch house. You wait out here as backup, and also as security against any others turning up unexpectedly. Now we wait.”
Wings and Chaos are back first, and as we wait for Meat everyone is surprisingly relaxed. Thinking about it, I’m probably the only one that hasn’t done this kind of thing before.
“Thank you, guys, for letting me tag along. You’re obviously in your element with this, and it’s my first time ‘in combat,’ so to speak, so thanks.”
“Don’t worry. If you stick with us, you’ll see plenty more of this shit, brother. It’s second nature to us. You deserve payback, too. They did you some nasty damage when they blindsided you.” Wings pats me on the shoulder as he speaks.
Glancing at the building where the still is, I see Meat slip out of a door and someone slip out of the shadows behind him.
“Who’s that with Meat?” I ask Target, and as he turns toward them he raises his weapon and fires. I don’t have time to register what’s happening before Meat spins around in time to see a man fall to the ground within feet of him.
Before the sound of the shot has faded, I’m left alone as everyone, including Meat, charges the ranch house.
Without thinking about it, I stay where Target told me and watch for any newcomers. Four inside and one out! Fuck, they brought extra muscle! It isn’t until he calls to me from the ranch doorway that I realize my rookie error in standing here.
“Hey, Cork. What are you waiting for? Get in here.” As I get to the door he grins. “Four inside and one out makes five. We weren't expecting that but well spotted, brother.”
“I was playing it safe. I didn’t want one of you shooting me because I didn’t do as I was told and stay where you expected me to be.” I think quick on my feet when I have to.
“Should we check on the guy you shot?” Target looks at me and shakes his head.
“That won’t be necessary, Cork. He won’t be going anywhere. Not on this plane of existence, anyway.”
Walking into the lounge, all four thugs are secured with zip ties, though three are unconscious. Mr. Conscious is very vocal until Meat kicks him in the head and his eyes roll back as he joins the others.
“Meat! Now we've gotta wait until one of them comes around. I wonder about you sometimes, I really do.” Chaos shakes his head at him and then flops into a chair, presumably to wait. Meat walks out, and seconds later we hear water running.
Wings steps away from our prisoners as he guesses what's coming.
Meat marches back into the room and dumps a bucket of cold water across all four thugs.
When he drops the bucket, it lands fair and square across one of the men's groins causing him to groan and curse.
Chaos leans out of his chair, takes him by the hair and slaps him hard.
“You need to pay attention to what we are going to tell you. We’re not going to repeat ourselves.
Is that clear?” When no one answers, Wings, Target and Meat all point a weapon at a head each and those three thugs suddenly find their voices, muttering yes.
Lowering their weapons, but remaining alert, my brothers take a step back.
“In less than,” Chaos glances at his watch for effect, “ten minutes, this ranch, all its outbuildings and anything in them, will cease to exist. Your operation here is done, ended, finito. You have a choice as to whether you remain in this building or leave peacefully, go back to the city and never return.”
“You’re an asshole if you think you can get away with this.
Kill us, and others will come looking for us, and then kill you.
Let us go and we will return, burn down your little wine shop, your clubhouse and all of you in it.
” One of them, the one in front of Target, starts to rise as he spouts his threats and, stepping forward, I put my handgun against his forehead.
“Bad move, asshole.” Pulling the trigger has his associates covered in his brains and bits of bone.
“If you or anyone connected to you, come anywhere near this town again, that’s what is going to happen to you.
You started this shit, make no mistake we’re finishing it.
Are you staying or leaving?” I ask, hoping my brothers are all going to be okay with my actions.
“We’ll leave,” the three remaining thugs say in unison.
Target speaks. “Before you go, you have a little job to do. You have another dead friend in the yard. Drag him in here, and he can keep your buddy company in oblivion.”
Watching over them as they collect the body, we wait until we are satisfied the ranch house is rigged so it will burn hot enough to get rid of any evidence, then send them on their way.
As soon as they are gone, we begin our hike back to our SUVs. Only halfway back and there is a ‘whoomp’ and then a mushroom cloud that wouldn’t seem out of place in a movie! That would be Chaos’ little building going up in flames, if there was anything left to burn.
Wings’ building is less dramatic, but we can feel the heat from where we stand, waiting for the last two buildings to detonate. The ranch house goes next, and we don’t need to worry about any evidence being left behind.
Meat folds his arms across his chest and grins.
There is an almighty explosion, and the still is launched skyward like an Apollo moon rocket.
It trails sparks and flames as it climbs into the dark night sky, before seemingly hovering and then crashing back to earth.
The rest of the building goes up in flames, and we can easily see the SUVs by the light of it.
Turning, we all run to the vehicles so we can get the hell out of the area before we’re caught on someone’s phone video or something. Everything that happens these days ends up on someone's internet channel!