2
Bane stepped over to where Jasper Owens sat in his chair. Glaring down at him, he said, “I watched you for years, you know.”
Owens slowly shook his head at him. “No, I did not know. Why?”
“Cause I knew you were bad. I always knew. Now, you will pay for all the lives you wrecked.”
“I already served time for that.” Owens scoffed.
Bane reached down and with both hands, grabbed him by the collar to raise him up out of the chair then entirely lifted him from the floor. “No, you haven’t paid for any of it yet. But you will. I plan to skin you alive, motherfucker.”
Owens stared into his eyes. “Oh... I remember who you are now. Bane Jessin!”
Bane slowly nodded his head at him. “Before I am through, you will be reduced to a quivering bloody mass of flesh. Pain like you have never known will be your constant companion until I snuff you out.”
Jasper Owens looked frightened now. He trembled in terror as his feet left the floor completely.
“Don’t kill him yet!” Sam called out as he came running over to Bane.
Deke stared at his dad and asked, “What is it?”
Sam slowly shook his head as he had lost some of the color in his face. “Shay’s helicopter went missing. And guess who was riding with him?”
“Stone Masterson,” Jasper Owens whispered the answer.
Bits of Book 8: Looking for Pappy and Shay
At first, Bane thought he’d find a body somewhere close and when he didn’t, he followed the blood stains. Now he noticed the drag marks and again knelt in the dirt to study them. They looked like heels being dragged by another person.
James joined him and after he studied the marks, he offered, “Well, someone survived the copter wreck. They can’t be that far ahead of us.”
Bane raised his head to glare at him. “We have to find them before the shooters get here. Hopefully both men are still alive. Maybe they know who attacked them.”
James shook his head as he scoffed. “Let’s just find them first, we can always worry about the who later.”
Bane rushed to his feet and moved in close to seethe at him, “We have to find them before those idiots do and finish them off. I’m not going to go home and tell Sarah her brother is dead because I didn’t get to him in time.”
James nodded then reached up to pry Bane’s painful grip from his arm. “I hear ya, brother. I don’t wanna have to face her or Shay’s wife with that news either. Let’s just find him, ok?”
They took off again and this time they followed the blood trail.
Then Bane caught the sight of work boots under a large bunch of scrub.
When he parted the vegetation he saw Shay lying in the dirt.
Half his face was covered in blood and he looked unconscious.
Blood was splattered all over his clothing and his hand was all torn up.
He paused as he wondered if the man was alive.
“Damn, is he breathing?” James asked in a low voice.
When he checked the side of Shay’s neck for his jugular vein, Bane felt a slow and steady heartbeat. He looked up at James and nodded. “He’s alive, for now anyway.”
“But where the hell is Stone?” James growled as he looked up and tried to spot any sign of him from where he stood.
Bane got to his feet to look around as well. “I have no idea but we need to find him and soon.”
Just then, a bullet hit the tree next to Bane. As a natural reflex, he turned and fired a shot back.
They heard a thud.
Bane went to find the shooter...
The downed man groaned weakly. “You fucking prick.” He snarled at Bane. “What the hell did you do to me? I can’t move at all.”
Bane smiled knowingly. He shrugged then commented, “Best guess is that my bullet hit its mark and nicked your spinal cord. It won’t kill you right away but you’ll bleed out right quick. In fact, you’re doing just that.”
“Finish me then.” He growled.
Bane shook his head. “Tell me who you are first.”
“Go fuck yourself. I ain’t telling you shit.”
Bane shrugged. “It doesn't matter to me, one way or the other. But just so you know, I have the man who arranged all of this,” he paused then checked his watch. “I set up a torture device and he’s about to become nothing more than a stain on the wall.”
The man Bane had caught paled and his body began to tremble. “You would really do that to someone? Who the hell are you, man?”
Bane leaned a little closer and whispered, “Have you ever heard of Bane Jessin?”
The man’s face went grey as he studied him carefully. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m protecting my family. One of the men in that copter you guys shot down is my brother-in-law,” Bane explained as he referred to Pappy. He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. He glared at the dying man. “So, tell me who you are and who hired you?”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Bane asked. “Either way, you’re a dead man and so are the men who hired you.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t make a difference to me either way. Jasper Owens and Charlie Midland are both going to be dead very soon. Probably right behind you, fool.”
The man groaned as he tried to move his body and found he couldn’t.
“You think one of those two losers hired us?” he whispered as he swallowed hard.
“You’re behind the times, man. Owens might have wanted to hire us but we don’t work on commission brother, we work for cold hard cash and Owens doesn’t have any of that yet.
Yeah, he’s working on it but he ain’t there yet.
” Then he slowly turned his wrist and showed Bane a tattoo.
“If you are the real Bane, you’ll know what this symbol means.
” He paused as he grew weaker. “You’ll also know you can’t stop us.
You won’t dare go after our leader, he’s too well protected.
” Then he closed his eyes and took his last breath.
Bane watched dispassionately as the man died. He didn’t deserve any prayer, any remorse. The man had cold eyes and he was a pro-hitter. Bane had been the same, so he wouldn’t have expected someone to pray over his corpse either.
Bane got up and went back to James. “Come on, we have to find Stone and the others. Then get the hell out of these woods. And we don’t have time to argue about it either.”
They all returned to Bane’s old house...
Shay looked saddened as he sighed heavily. “I will have to tell his family. One of my best pilots and a damn good man.” He looked over at the men. “Does anyone know who they were?”
Bane nodded. “I saw proof of who they were. The hitter showed me a tattoo he had on his wrist.”
“Proof in a tatt?” Shay asked.
“They were here on orders of Spencer Wagner,” Bane said emotionlessly. “The hitter had a bloody wolf face tatt.”
Shay just stared at him for a moment then growled, “The Blood Wolves?”
Bane nodded.
“Who are the Blood Wolves?” James asked as he stared at Bane.
Sam looked back and forth to ask in confusion, “Like real wolves?”
Deke scoffed. “No Dad, I don’t think he means...” He shook his head.
Only Bane, Stone and Shay seemed to know who they were.
Shay held out his hand.
Bane grasped it and helped him to sit up on the bed.
Shay winced in pain then he groaned and sat there for a couple of minutes while the room spun around him.
The men all waited as he got his shit together. Most of them had suffered injuries and had been in hospital beds before.
When he finally opened his eyes, Shay glared at everyone. “Fucking hell, how did Spencer know I was even trying to find him? No one knew where we were going today.”
Stone laid back on his bed and growled, “Well, someone knew. Wagner must have someone in your office working against you and for him. That bastard thinks money solves everything.”
“And that person caused the death of my pilot.” Shay looked pissed.
“So who is this Spencer Wagner? And who are the Blood Wolves?” Mountain asked.
Shay stared at the floor for a moment as if he needed to get himself straight and calm.
Then he looked up at Mountain. “Spencer is a very wealthy businessman. He also runs guns from here to Europe. We know it, he knows it but we can’t find a way to legally prove it in court.
He’s bribed judges, lawyers and customs people.
We’ve had whistleblowers come forward but they refuse to testify, a couple have disappeared completely.
Only to be found dead a few days later. He thinks just because he has the money, that he has the power as well.
Stone and I were on our way to see another lead today then Spencer took my helicopter down. ”
Hound frowned. “What’s this guy’s name again?”
Bane turned to him to reply, “Spencer Wagner.”
Hound shook his head. “I saw that name on the paperwork we found at Owens’ place. And some of that paperwork were invoices for weapon sales.”
Shay took yet another minute to get his head to stop spinning and then said, “You still got that paperwork? Please tell me you got it.”
“I got it.” Bane nodded then he turned and left the room.
Pappy sighed as he asked James for a phone. “I need to talk to my woman. I realize she probably heard something about the copter from Trudy.”
James handed him his cell.
Pappy tapped in the number. When the call was answered, he spoke, “Baby?”
Everyone could hear his wife yelling and crying.
“Hey, hey!” he tried to speak.
More crying and sniffles.
“I’m okay.” He listened then replied, “Yes I’m telling the truth.
I’m talkin’ to ya, aren’t I?” He then winced as she went on with her emotional exclaiming, “Babe, I’m alive and I love you.
Tell Baby Girl to call me. Yes, baby, yes.
” He then ended the call. Looking up, he told Shay, “Your turn buddy and I hope it will be easier than that.”
The men all chuckled at this.
Shay sighed. “At least, I might have some time before I deal with that.”
“Nah man, my McKenna called her. So you’d best hop to it.” Stone rolled his eyes. “Well, not hop but you get the idea.”
Now Bane came back into the room and handed the paperwork to Shay.
Shay read the words and he slowly began to smile. “Oh, brothers, this is pure gold.” He looked up at Stone. “We got the fucker this time, we finally got that slimy toad.” Then he turned to Bane and asked the million-dollar question, “Tell me you got Owens.”
Bane nodded, “I got him. And I think I know the link between the two men.”
Shay stared at him. “What do you mean, the link between them? You have your own info on these guys?”
Bane shrugged. “When I see a man like Spencer Wagner rise so fast, I start a background file on him. When he gained such instant prominence I looked even further into him. I went to the ends of the earth to discover how he ticks, how he makes his money, then I looked again to discover his deeply hidden secrets. That’s when I found several things in his background that matched Jasper Owens.
I discovered the secret they both share. ”
“And what is that secret?” Shay asked.
“They share the same mother,” Bane informed them.
James gasped. “What the hell?”
Bane nodded. “They are both her sons. Miranda Gaynor gave birth to two sons and one daughter. She never kept any of her children but she did keep them around her when it suited her. And she gave them all their father’s names.” He shook his head. “And let me tell you, Miranda is a piece of work.”
Shay snorted. “You can stay that again. I know all about Miranda because she had a scheme running on military wives of all things. Gypping them out of their savings. She has spent more time in prison than most con women. Certainly, more than either of her sons and that says a lot since Owens just walked out after ten years. That woman is hardened by more than just life. Her father left her a small fortune that she used to run her own enterprise. She ran everything including guns, drugs and stolen goods. She used up one MC as she either got them killed or sent to prison for doing her dirty work. And the Blood Wolves are nothing but Spencer’s own army of mercenaries.
They will work for anyone who pays them and they have absolutely no loyalty to anyone who doesn’t pay them. ”
James smiled. “Well, that gives us a starting point.” He moved out of the room and when he came back he set his laptop up and began typing furiously.
A couple of hours later...
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.