Chapter Nine
No one said a word as they climbed the stairs and went back to the Infirmary.
Stone and Shay were there waiting for them.
Stone took one look at Bane and shook his head.
Shay gave him a short nod.
Bane re-holstered his weapon and asked Shay, “How soon before your men get to this area?”
“Maybe an hour,” Shay told him. “Why? What do you have in mind?”
“We need to go back to Owens’ house and make a better sweep inside.
Yeah, we grabbed a lot of the paperwork he had but I just know there’s more there we need to find.
You said you needed strong evidence that will finally nail Spencer Wagner.
I have a feeling it’s sitting there at his brother’s house.
There was no surprise or denial in Owens’ eyes over his siblings existing, did you see that? ”
Stone nodded. “He didn’t react. He knew it already. We need to catch Spencer and link Charlie into all of this. We don’t want to let him slip through our fingers either.” Shaking his head he said, “We know he’s in this little scheme right up to his neck.”
Shay nodded. “You might be right about that. We figured there was another man but we just didn’t know who that could be.
I think you are right on the nose with Charlie Midland.
He had the Midland money behind him to buy his way into this circle and that money gave him a lot of power, maybe even enough to become a bigwig in this fucked up mess.
” He shook his head. “But if you think there could be more evidence back at the house then maybe you all should go back and find out what you can.”
Bane nodded. “I’ll leave James behind but you and Stone need to get some rest. There’s going to be a lot of work to do when we get back.”
Shay shook his head. “You know that Spencer could already be there with his army, right?”
“Naw, I think those boys are already limping their way back to the base where Spencer is probably stoking their righteous anger back up. But if I know the leader of that group, he ain’t going to do a second run without more of the green.
He’ll have lost a couple of his men and he’s not going to put anymore in the front lines without getting paid first.” Bane smiled showing pearly white teeth.
“And if Excaliber does what I think she’s already doing, Spencer won’t have any more green to pay them.
That’s when he will find out that shit always rolls downhill. ”
Shay just shook his head as he grinned. “You truly are evil, aren’t you?”
“You know it Mr. Everywhere Man, you know it,” Bane replied. “I figure out the very worst thing I can do to these criminals then I deliver it.” Then he looked around at the other men in the room. “So who’s coming with me?”
Sam nodded and grunted, Deke nodded as well. Hound was in and so was Mountain.
Bane looked at James and said, “You stay here and find out what you can about Miranda’s little family. I have a feeling she might be the key to this whole family. Like I told Owens, Mom’s going up for her parole and I have a feeling there’s a reason for that, especially now.”
What do you mean by especially now? What do you think is supposed to happen now?” Shay asked curiously.
Bane shook his head. “There’s something big coming up shortly.
Not sure what but it’s gonna be big. I mean Owens walked out of prison for a reason.
Spencer has been gathering a lot of guns for a reason.
Hell, even Lisbon has been busy lately. Not sure what Miranda’s daughter’s role in the family is yet but James needs to find that out. ”
Then he looked at the others and said, “We have to go and be out of there before Shay’s men get there. I don’t want to get hit with friendly fire, not even on a good day.” He walked over to the table where he laid his rifle. “Let’s get, so we can get back.”
Then he walked out of the room. Sam, Deke, Mountain and Hound followed.
So did James. “I’ll lock the door behind you. I’ve already linked your security to my laptop,” James told him.
Bane drove through the front gate.
James hit the close button and watched as Bane disappeared around the corner. He went back to the Infirmary and sat down at his computer.
Shay watched him for a while and then had to ask, “Did you guys really move his money?”
James nodded. “But that’s all we did. We just moved it out of his hands. Every penny is still there but he just can’t find it. Excaliber is a goddess like that.”
Shay just shook his head. “I could have taken care of all that.”
James looked up at him and shrugged. “Yeah, you could have but that would have taken time to get a judge’s signature on the books and that would have given Spencer time enough to move the money. We couldn’t risk that. We’ll put it back when this is over.”
Shay snorted. “Nah, he doesn’t need that much money in prison.”
Stone looked at James and asked, “So what’s Lisbon’s story? I didn’t even know about her, but then I didn’t know Spencer was Owens’ brother either. That family sure does have some history.”
James just shrugged and said, “Bane has a plethora of knowledge about a lot of people. He likes to be aware of everything going on around him. He really hates being caught unaware of someone important.”
Stone shrugged. “He’s a little scary that way.”
“He’s scary in more than one way, Pappy,” Shay said as he smirked.
James snorted. “You have no idea, no freakin idea.” He gave a little shudder.
“The man is just this side of terrifying. Then as if that isn’t enough, he’s got two sisters and two brothers right behind him.
You think Owens’ family is strange? You have no freakin’ idea what the Jessin family is like. ”
Shay chuckled. “Yes James, I know who you live with and I know exactly what kind of people they are. Bane was a lot worse a few years ago. The man he was back then? I wouldn’t want to ever meet him, but since he got his redo?
There isn’t a better man I would trust my life with. ” He looked over at Stone.
Stone agreed, “Nor would I trust my sister to the man he once was but I think she’s just the type of person to make him become a better person.
When you told me she was taken, I almost felt sorry for the man who took her, almost. I just hope he learned his lesson.
You never take anything away from a man like Bane.
That will get you a one-way ticket to hell. ”
James nodded, then he shuddered. “When he caught the guy, it scared us all. I mean we never would have been hurt by him, but... DAYUM.”
Stone nodded. “That sounds about right.”
“Then there’s this current Bane,” James murmured. “When he came and got me from that barn of imminent death. I was never so glad to see him. Then after he got me out, he went back and...” James closed his eyes briefly. “He made them all pay.”
“I see that he is fond of you,” Stone commented.
“Yeah,” Shay agreed. “How the hell did that happen?”
James slowly shook his head. “It took a couple of years of...well, being an idiot, making jokes, and stupidly poking the bear as it were. Then I just hung in there even though I was the steak hanging on a rope and he was the wolf on the ground below. He would pop me but I was like one of those blowup clowns as in I would rock right back up and start all over again.”
“So, you wore him down?” Shay asked as he blurted out with a snort-laugh.
Stone shook his head at James as he chuckled too. “That was dangerous as all hell, boy.”
James looked up at them both and spoke softly, “It was... but it was worth it.”
Twenty minutes later...
Bane drove right up to Owens’ doorstep.
They all got out and entered the house. Their guns were raised as they didn’t know who they might meet inside the house.
When they went through every room and found no one there, Sam sat down on the sofa and told everyone else, “You guys can look and I’ll watch the front door.”
Bane nodded and went into one of the bedrooms. He tore the room apart but found very little in the way of paperwork. Then he walked out into the living room and stared at the open doorway to the underground rooms.
Sam just shook his head. “You need to turn the air back on to go down there. There's no air, remember?”
Bane turned his head to look at Sam. “I remember but we might not have time to do all that.”
“Can you hold your breath that long?” Sam wanted to know.
“Won’t have to,” Bane stated then he walked out to his vehicle and grabbed a small box from his trunk. He went back inside and carefully set the box down on the coffee table in front of Sam.
Sam peeked into the box and began chuckling. He leaned back on the sofa and shook his head. “Only you Bane, only you.”
“Only him what?” Deke walked into the living room holding a stack of paperwork in his hands.
Sam rubbed his jaw and looked at his son. “Only Bane would bring an oxygen mask with him. Almost like it was regular car maintenance stuff.”
Bane looked at Deke then back at Sam. “You mean, it isn’t?” He smirked then donned the mask and disappeared down the rabbit hole.
Deke just looked at his dad and shook his head. “You gotta keep pushing, don’t ya dad?”
Sam snorted then turned to look at the doorway. “I’ve lived longer than you, son. I have learned where the traps are. I push then I will jump outta the way just in time.” He looked smug. “Did you find something?”
Deke shrugged. “Not sure yet but maybe when we look at all the evidence we can get a clearer picture of everything those boys have been up to.”
Sam shook his head. “God damn boy I hope so. Some men are just born with a bad seed in them and those two have that in spades.”
Deke snorted. “Let’s not forget Mama Dearest or sweet sister either. Bane thinks they all have mama’s bad blood in them and right now I’m a believer.”
“Yeah you and me both,” Sam agreed. “Now all we need is the proof.”
“Amen to that.” Mountain came out of another room down the hall. He held a box of papers.
Hound was right behind him.
They all added more papers to Mountain’s box, then Mountain looked around and asked, “Where the hell is Bane?”
Sam motioned to the hole in the wall where they all saw Owens and Charlie pop through after Bane and James had shut the air off.
“How the hell is he breathing down there?” Mountain wanted to know.
Sam smirked. “He just went out to the vehicle and brought back an air mask. Said it was regular equipment. I’m thinking he might have like a hazmat suit, some grenades, maybe a gas mask or two and probably an icepick.”
The other men all looked over at him.
“An icepick?” Deke asked.
“Sure, all the best killers have one,” Bane said through the mask as he came up the steps and popped into the room.
He too was holding a box of papers. When he took off the mask he smirked.
“Well boys, we got the motherlode here. I think once we read all this the whole scheme will become clear. Shay’s going to have a field day with this.
And we should be able to link it all together with a nice red bow on top. ”
“Hallelujah!” Sam called out. “Let’s get the hell out of here, I got a creepy feeling about this place all of a sudden.”
Bane swung his gaze over to stare at him. “Let’s go quickly and quietly then. We don’t have to advertise that we’re here.”
Deke looked at him. “What does that mean?”
Bane shook his head. “I’ve been feeling something might be off and Sam just noticed the same thing.
Something or someone is coming and...” He lifted the box in his hands.
“I think they might be coming to retrieve this. Spencer can’t have this shit in the wrong hands.
He must know by now that Charlie and his brother are out of the picture.
This is going to rip his empire apart right down to the fucking bone. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Everyone left the house and no one said a word.
Bane stored the boxes and the air mask in the back of the SUV car. Then he got behind the wheel to drive them out of there. He didn’t stop until they were far enough away for him to pull over to the side of the road. Bane shut off the lights.
When they looked back they all saw the line of other vehicles turning into the driveway.
Sam snapped his head up to look at Bane’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. “That was close,” he muttered under his breath.
Bane nodded as he muttered back, “But something still isn’t right.” Sucking a breath in, Bane then yelled at the Sin’s men, “Get out quick!”
That was when the SUV rocked and fire rose up from the engine. Flames came right at them.
A minute later, an explosion hit them all.