Chapter Two
Once they got back inside, they saw Titius talking to Ironman and Ulysses, assigning them to find the missing ones.
They both took men with them.
Finally, Bouncer called the Sheriff in. “Hey, Gabe. We had some more bad business up here this afternoon. It seems Ricco’s family came here looking for him and they didn’t take the news about his death very well. They tried to wipe us out but lost.”
Gabe Reed sighed hard over the phone. “Well, that doesn't surprise me none.”
“So, the tally is... we got three bodies, four missing and four in custody. Two of the missing are Todd Lawler’s sons and two are Ricco Sanchez’s brother and sister. We got our men out looking for them right now.”
“Ok,” Gabe replied. “I’ll send a bus up to collect the bodies and a van to collect the prisoners. Damn Bouncer, my jail is filling up fast.”
Bouncer snorted. “Tell me about it. These people are crawling out of the woodwork, all hellbent on taking us out. We sure as hell didn’t ask for this, nor did we want it. But we aren’t laying down and letting anyone walk all over us either.”
Gabe chuckled. “No, I didn’t think that would ever happen. Ok I’ll see you when I see you, try not to disturb the scene ok?”
Bouncer grunted and ended the call.
Out at the gate...
As soon as they left the compound, Ironman and Ulysses split up to track their prey.
Ironman went with Tracker and Hot Rod, while Ulysses broke off Spider and Guardian.
Ironman went into the woods searching for footprints and he knelt several times before he found the right prints in the dirt.
A little way further in, he found a second set of prints.
One pair was smaller and seemed to be a woman’s print.
The second set seemed to be bigger and heavier.
He wondered if the prints belonged to Lily and Canto Sanchez.
Ironman gazed ahead and he followed the prints toward the top of the mountain. Then he stopped and looked back at Tracker and Hot Rod. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.
Tracker nodded. “Yep, Lily went to find her boyfriend’s body.”
Ironman nodded. “And her brother is with her. Only question is what are they going to do once they find whatever is left of him? From everything I’ve heard about that bitch, she’s more than likely going to go apeshit crazy.”
Hot Rod raised his rifle to his shoulder and stared at the top of the mountain. “Well boys, we better keep our eyes open. I, for one, do not want to get shot today.”
Ironman nodded and placed his own rifle onto his shoulder. Looking through his scope he focused on the area ahead of them. He could see some of the wreckage from the plane. He saw the burnt grass and the scarred trees. Slowly skimming the area, he found the figure of a man standing there.
The man seemed to be far enough away that he didn’t realize anyone else was in the area.
Ironman frowned and scanned the area again. And that’s when he saw her...kneeling beside a piece of the blown-up plane.
His eyes narrowed as she seemed to be doing something he couldn’t quite see.
Then she threw her head back and screamed.
Ironman slowly let down his rifle, looked at the other two men and nodded his head. “We go in slow and careful.”
Quietly and with careful steps, they all moved closer.
Tracker gazed around at the area. The explosion of the plane had devastated the place. Most of the vegetation had been burned and pieces of the plane were still smoldering. Fumes from the plane’s burning fuel were still heavy in the air.
Lily and Canto stood over what seemed like the pilot’s seat.
All three men nodded at each other as they edged forward.
When they got to the pair, Canto turned to stare at them. He still had his rifle in his hands but his grip told them he wouldn’t use the weapon as it remained pointed at the ground.
Lily still had her back to them as she just sat there, staring at the man they could see in the wreckage of the plane.
Tracker stepped forward.
Canto held out his weapon in surrender.
Tracker reached for it.
Hot Rod held his rifle on Canto.
Ironman moved closer to Lily and when he stepped up he looked over her shoulder and saw what was left of Joel.
He had indeed ejected his seat from the plane at the last minute, probably just as he saw the rocket coming toward the plane.
His clothes were remarkably clean and hadn’t been burned.
The seat was still in good shape as well.
All in all, Joel should have survived but something seemed to be very wrong with Joel’s neck.
It looked bent at the wrong angle. He had survived the bomb but he had broken his neck when the chair slammed down into the earth.
Lily still held a bloody knife in her hand and there were several knife wounds in Joel’s torso.
Ironman glanced at Tracker and Hot Rod. Then down again at the top of Lily’s head as he didn’t understand why she held a bloody knife. He took a step back.
Lily slowly got up and turned around to face him.
Her face looked blank, her eyes were too. Not cold, just blank.
Ironman shook his head as he stared at her face. He did notice the knife as blood dripped off the end of the blade. He watched her intently, expecting the rage over losing her boyfriend to come any minute now, but it never did.
Lily slowly raised her arm, she didn’t move fast and she never pointed the end of the blade toward them. She simply held the knife out to Ironman. She didn’t say a word.
He reached for it and took it from her hand.
Tracker had ziptied Canto’s hands behind his back.
After Ironman took the knife away from Lily, she slowly turned around and brought her hands behind her back.
Ironman silently ziptied her hands then he raised his head as saw her staring off into the distance.
Now she finally asked, “Is our father finally dead?”
Ironman grunted. “Yeah, he’s dead.”
“And our Uncle Riccardo?” Canto asked quietly.
“Yeah, he’s dead too, along with one of your cousins,” Hot Rod told them.
Lily turned her head and looked at Ironman. “Well, don’t expect tears on their behalf. Not from me. Believe me when I say they deserved to die.” She turned around and began walking back to the clubhouse.
Ironman stared at her in puzzlement then glanced at Tracker and Hot Rod before he hurried off after her.
Canto and the others followed them.
When they got to the area of the shootout, Lily ignored it altogether.
Ironman was happy to see someone had covered the bodies of her family with blankets.
Lily didn’t even slow down, she just walked past the blankets that covered her father, her uncle and her cousin.
Canto paused but he didn’t pause long, he just followed his sister.
When they got closer to the compound, Lily slowed down and waited until everyone caught up.
Then she turned to look at the other group, Ulysses, Spider and Guardian.
They had found Crank’s brothers and those boys looked rough.
It seemed obvious to everyone that they hadn’t just surrendered peacefully.
They had tried to get away and got what they earned in return.
Ulysses and Guardian were wearing matching bruises to Bredan and Lorance.
Lily just stood there and watched the others join them. She glared at the Lawler brothers and sneered. “What? Your last name didn’t scare the bikers? Call me surprised.” Raising her head, she walked toward the front gate.
Bredan shouted behind her, “You fucking bitch! This is all your fault!”
Lily ignored him fully as his growling and swearing didn’t seem to faze her.
Ironman glanced at Ulysses and shook his head. He strode up in front of her and punched in the code. When the gate opened they all walked in together.