Chapter 19 Diesel
DIESEL
A motorcycle came to a careening halt in front of me and I slammed on my breaks.
Sand and dirt around us kicked up as a legion of bikes came to a grinding halt behind me.
I leveled my eyes at Rock as the smoke and dust cleared.
I revved my engine, trying to get him the fuck out of my way.
But all he did was kick down his stand, turn off his bike, and get off the damn thing.
“The fuck are you doing?” I asked.
“You’re being reckless, Diesel. You need to think about this.”
“Why the hell is everyone so damn hell-bent on stopping me from getting Brynn!?”
“Because you aren’t thinking clearly enough to do this without her getting hurt,” Rock said.
“He’s right,” Knox said. “It’s what we’ve been trying to tell you while you’re trying to play with everyone else’s rules. You aren’t playing by your own because you’re too damn scared of pissing her dad off.”
“We’ll unpack that shit later,” Brewer said as he pulled up beside me. “In the meantime, you’re missing details.”
“Like what?” I asked heatedly.
“Like the fact that one of their guys is missing,” Grave said as he stopped behind me.
I turned around to look at him before the Black Hornets pulled up behind me. And my eyes clocked every single one of them. I nodded my head, making sure I counted out five men, including Dean.
But I only counted four.
“Where the fuck’s Jace?” I asked.
Dean kicked down his stand and turned off his bike as well.
“Don’t you worry about that. What’s the plan?” Dean asked.
“Oh, hell no,” I said as I turned off my bike as well. “You’re going to tell me where the hell that tall ass son of a bitch went to right now, or you go no further.”
“With no due respect whatsoever, I’m sure as hell not going to let some scrawny-ass motherfucker dictate what I will or won’t do with my daughter since she was captured in your presence!”
“Scrawny-ass what now?” I asked.
I shoved Dean’s chest, forcing him to stumble backwards.
“Diesel! Cut it the fuck out!” Knox exclaimed.
“Where the hell is your man!?” I exclaimed. “You tell me right now or your tires are fucking done for, Dean!”
“What? You gonna slash them like some punk-ass twenty year old?” he asked. “Go ahead! You still won’t get to my daughter without me.”
“So that’s what this is about? Claiming territory? Possessions!? Brynn isn’t a possession, Dean! She’s a woman. And I love her!”
Everyone around me paused as Dean’s jaw gaped open.
“And rest assured that every single one of these fuckers is going to be slaughtered by my own hands if they lay a finger on Brynn. But if you assholes keep stopping me at every goddamn turn, then she is going to get hurt and it’ll be on all of your heads!”
I panted, my chest heaving as my fists clenched at my sides.
I was tired of this game. I didn't know what the fuck everyone expected of me, but I wasn’t delaying this journey any longer.
Night time had set on us. An entire fucking day had passed.
We knew where Brynn was. I knew where she was! And it was like my men didn’t care.
After all I’d done for them.
“We can’t go in there guns blazing,” Brewer said as he stepped up. “We don’t know the layout of the warehouse, or how many Black Saddles are there, or where they’re keeping Brynn.”
“That’s all we’re trying to say,” Knox said.
“Then you’re doing a shitty fucking job of spitting it the fuck out,” I said with a growl.
“I saw that recklessness in your eyes,” Dean said. “So, I sent Jace out to get our backup plan while we rolled up on the Black Saddles at their lodge.”
“You what now?” I asked.
And before anyone else could get a word in edgewise, a truck sounded in the distance.
I turned and looked behind me to find something akin to a moving truck cruising down the road for us.
And the tall asshole in the front seat looked mighty familiar.
I looked over at Dean who stood there with a grin on his face, and all of his guys seemed more excited than ever.
What the fuck was going on?
“There’s a reason you reached out to us,” Dean said.
“They’re helping. Not hindering, Diesel,” Knox said.
“You guys knew about this and didn’t tell me?” I asked.
“In our defense, you were a little preoccupied with running the damn show,” Grave said with a grin.
“I know you love my daughter,” Dean said.
“But she’s my daughter. And she’s gone. You guys know how to run shit through the right hands and clean money through the right channels, but me and my men?
We protect. We save. We sneak in during the night under duress with hidden circumstances and we get the job done.
That’s what we do. So, let us do what we do so everyone gets what they fuckin’ want, okay? ”
The truck pulled up to us and Jace hopped out with a positively beaming smile on his cheeks.
Dean’s men strode over to the back of the truck and threw open the backdoor before cheering and slapping hands.
My men and I walked over to peer inside and what we saw tugged grins across our cheeks.
Disguises of every shape, color, and form along with weapons I’d never seen pass through our channels.
Ever.
“Oh shit,” Grave said. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Hell yeah,” Knox said as he got up into the back of the truck. “What’s the outfit for the mission, guys?”
“Black and camo,” Dean said. “We all ride in the back of the truck, sneak up from behind, and infiltrate without a fucking sound. That’s how we do missions like this when there are so many unknown variables.”
“Can I shoot someone?” Grave asked.
He grabbed a massive automatic gun off the mount and tried it on for size.
“Once we have Brynn safe, you can mow them down for all I care,” Dean said.
“Grave’s in heaven,” Brewer said with a grin.
“Dean,” I said.
The old man looked at me from the back of the trailer before I reached in and hoisted myself up.
“My men have no idea how to move in silence,” I said.
“Which is why you assholes will be bringing up the rear. I’ll take my guys in first to case the joint, and we’ll all be wearing these.”
He held up what looked like a wireless earpiece and I shook my head.
“And here I thought you guys were old school,” I said.
“Compared to that shit you pulled in your lodge, this is old school. I’m impressed, by the way. That was a hell of a trick your guy pulled.”
“Thanks!” Rock exclaimed. “Coming into the age of technology doesn’t suck as much shit as people think.”
We all shared a chuckle before we began getting ready.
We all took our bikes and stashed them in an abandoned house on the edge of the road before getting into the back of the truck.
And as Jace pulled off down the road towards our final destination, we all got changed.
All black, some camouflage, and stacked to the nines with guns and ammunition.
Dean got us fitted for the wireless communication devices so everyone could keep in contact, then one the Black Hornets ran us through the plan.
“Jace is going to sit with the truck, and he has explicit orders to pull away the second Brynn’s in back.
No matter who’s back there with her, once her feet touch this floor, the truck’s gone,” he said.
“Me and my other three men will work our way through the back entrance and you’ll hear us talking.
Clearing corners, whispering numbers, things like that.
It’s all tactical to make sure we don’t lose someone, so don’t worry about it.
All you need to focus on is the layout I’m gonna be murmuring to you guys through your earpieces. ”
“Got it,” I said.
You guys don’t make a move until gunfire rains down.
Once the shootout begins--because you know there will be one--you guys can come charging in.
You've got flashlights on all those guns you have. Use them. Clear your corners and don’t go into a room without shining a light in it first. You’re no good to any of us dead. ”
“I hear that,” Grave said.
“This truck’s pretty loud. Aren’t they gonna hear us coming’?” Knox asked.
“You think we haven’t fixed up this truck the way we need it?” Dean asked. “Jace!”
“What?”
“Hit it,” he said.
What I’d come to know as the dull roar of the truck silenced immediately. I had to pay attention to the movement of the tires simply to remind myself that the truck was still moving. I looked up at Dean and I watched a grin crawl across his features.
“What the fuck?” Brewer asked. “How the hell did you do that? What are you muting?”
“Trade secret,” Dean said. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“Or recruit you,” Rock said with a grin.
“Not for sale,” Brewer said. “But I’m going to figure it out.”
“Good luck,” one of Dean’s men said.
The truck rolled silently along the road, and I knew the second we had come upon the warehouse. The tires slowed and the truck began to turn, almost as if it was venturing around the perimeter of the property. I stood there, bracing myself and ready for the plan of action.
Then, Jace’s voice came alive in my ear.
“Warehouse has two levels. Windows on upper floor, none on lower.”
“You guys hear that?” Dean asked.
“Yep,” we all said.
“Looks like the entire metal casing sits on a solid cement foundation. Nowhere to hide the truck, though. No trees or anything. Just the shadow of the building cast by the moonlight,” Jace said.
“Is there a back exit in that shadowed area?” I asked.
“Looks like it.”
“That’s our best bet for cover,” Dean said. “Park us there, Jace. We’ll take it from here.”
“Roger that,” he said. “And another thing, the windows on the second floor go all the way around the outside.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Dean looked up at me with a stern glare as his eyes widened.
“It means the entire building is built around one open cavernous space,” he said.
“Which means we’ll be digging through corridors to get to that main room. Which is probably where Brynn is,” I said.
“Shit,” Grave said. “You guys better be quiet then. Because if they hear us coming--”
“We won’t get to her in time,” Dean said.
I felt the truck come to a slow stop before all of us drew in a deep breath.
Nothing but the sound of silence and the nighttime of Redding could be heard before the backdoor slowly inched open.
Jace appeared with a stern look as Dean and his men silently made their way off the truck.
Then, Dean turned to me and held out his hand.
“When you hear the guns, you come running,” he said.
“Got it,” I said as we inched our way out of the truck. “We’ll stay back.”
Then, I watched as Jace picked the lock on the back door before ushering his club into the building, their footsteps silent and their guns at the ready.