Chapter Twenty-Five
Sledge
Sledge woke the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing. With a grumble, he hit the talk button and with a gruff voice, he barked out, “What?”
“I found an exact location on Andrews,” Banjo replied.
Sledge extracted himself from Beth and sat on the side of the bed. “Where?” he asked.
“He’s staying at the Omni over on Lamar and he isn’t alone.”
“What do you mean? Who else is with him?”
“I was able to pull the hotel reservation log and it looks like Jorge Sanchez is staying there, too. As a matter of fact, their rooms are next to each other. I don’t think that is a coincidence,” Banjo relayed.
Jorge Sanchez was the right hand of Manuel Ortega, the leader of the Mexican Cartel's operations in Texas. So Andrews brought in reinforcements, Sledge thought.
“Fuck!” he said aloud, running a hand over his head.
“My thoughts exactly. Andrews isn’t playing around Devin. He wants the girl. Dead or alive, I don’t think he cares,” Banjo stated.
“He’s not getting her. Beth is mine and she is staying here. The only way he will get anywhere near her is over my dead body,” Sledge vowed.
“I thought you’d say that. So I called in some favors. You should have a truck pulling up to your gate in the next ten minutes,” Banjo told him. “You’re welcome, Commander.”
“Who is it?” Sledge asked.
“Just some of the guys stopping by to say hello on their way through town.”
“Larry, which guys?”
“John, Parker, Frank, and Scott,” Banjo said with a laugh.
“Great! So now I’ll have four of the craziest motherfuckers on the planet in my home,” Devin muttered.
“Yep,” Banjo agreed, “But they are also the deadliest.”
Sledge had to agree there. His team had run a few missions with the ‘Kamikaze Crew’, as they were known back then. All four were snipers, and never failed a mission. They were the best of the best. Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force.
“Thank you,” Sledge finally said. “Do you know anything about Andrews’ plans?”
“No. There hasn’t been any phone chatter. Literally nothing. No cell phone usage, no landline. I am thinking he called everyone in and then turned silent. If he knows as much about you as we think he does, he’ll know about me. So, silence is his only protection,” Banjo reasoned.
“You’re probably right. Okay, let me call the gatehouse and get Zander and Diesel up-to-date. Thanks for the heads-up man,” Sledge said.
“No problem. Watch your ass, Commander,” Banjo said before he disconnected the call.
Placing the phone back on the nightstand, Sledge felt a tiny hand on his back. Turning, he saw that Beth was awake.
“What’s going on?” she yawned.
Leaning over to kiss her head, Sledge relayed what information Banjo had been able to gather. He watched as worry and fear crossed her face. Sledge hated that those feelings even existed in her. He only wanted her to feel love and happiness, but that was a dreamer’s thinking. He knew that wasn’t always possible.
“Stop!” he demanded. “Nothing is going to happen to you,” he promised.
“I am not just worried about me,” she told him. “I am worried about everyone here. You, Derek, Amber, Zander, Diesel - everyone, Devin. People will be hurt, or worse.”
“I will call a quick meeting. Those who wish to leave, can. I won’t force anyone into this battle. We aren’t in the military anymore. Everyone has a choice, Beth.”
Standing from the bed, Sledge headed to the closet to grab clothes. “I have to get everything in place. Please stay inside.”
“We will. Derek and I will either be in here or in his room,” she assured.
“Okay,” he said, walking back to her and placing a soft kiss on her lips. “I’ll have Zander send Amber over.”
“Okay. Sounds good,” she muttered.
“Hey,” he said, getting her attention. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replied, with a smile.
“I promise, everything will be okay. Let me worry about the safety of everyone,” he asked.
Smiling, he kissed her again. He really wished he could climb back into bed and make love to her again, but he had business that needed his attention, asap. “I’ll see you a bit later.”
Sledge walked out of his room and knocked on Zander’s door. When his VP answered he couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling. “Get dressed. Meet me in my office. You have five minutes,” he ordered and walked away. He repeated the same task when he knocked on Diesel’s door on his way out of the house.
Sledge called a meeting with all the members. Looking around the clubhouse, he met each man’s eyes. Some of these guys he had known for years, what seemed like a lifetime. Knowing that some may not be here at the end of this, broke something in him. If he could handle this on his own he would just so he could save them all. But this was a lot bigger than he was. Sledge knew he could never finish this on his own.
He filled the club in on what was happening, the reason he had gathered them all together, and told them all the information that he, Reaper, and Diesel knew. “If anyone would like to leave, this is the time to do so. I won’t think any less of you.”
“I will,” Reaper chimed in.
“I won’t. People will be killed; I have no doubt. This isn’t Afghanistan. This isn’t your war. If you want out, then I understand,” he continued, “You can go ahead and gather what you may want to take with you and leave. Once things have been settled, you can return.”
Looking around the room, Sledge’s chest expanded with pride, and even love. Not a single member of his crew stood to leave.
“We stand and fall together, Brother,” Tank hollered from the back of the room.
“Brothers bound by blood and sacrifice,” K called from his place next to Tank.
“Thank you,” Sledge told his crew; each nodding their head in his direction.
“It’s high alert time. The Kamikaze Crew have joined us,” Reaper spoke. “We are unsure when Andrews and Jorge will move against us, but when they do, the women and Derek are to be protected at all costs. Failure is not an option, Brothers.”
“My crew and I will take rooftop; I will be above here, Frank will take the house, and Parker and Scott will be located across the street,” John told the room. “We will head to our destinations now and get setup.”
Sledge nodded his head in agreement and watched as Scott made his way towards Reaper, eyes focused. For a minute, Sledge was wondering if there was bad blood between the two men that he didn’t know about.
Standing in front of Reaper, Scott reached a hand out to him. Reaper repeated the gesture but instead of shaking hands, at the last minute Scott pulled Reaper into a hug.
“Congratulations, big brother,” he said. “Mom told me you got married. You know you could have told me yourself, right?”
“Thanks,” Reaper replied, “but I had no way to get ahold of you.”
“True,” Scott conceded. “I’ll let it slide this time. On one condition.”
“What’s that?” Reaper asked.
“After all this is over, I want to meet my sister-in-law, Asshole,” Scott smiled.
“You got it,” Reaper told him.
Sledge stood speechless. As long as he had known Zander and Scott, he never knew they were brothers. And apparently, he wasn’t the only one.
“What the fuck?” Frank and Diesel both asked at the same time.
Reaper and Scott laughed, but it was Reaper who spoke. “Scott and I are brothers.”
“Obviously, dipshit. We gathered that. But what I am trying to figure out is why we didn’t know this before. Fucker, I’ve known you for over ten years,” Diesel complained.
“We never made it known because in our line of work, it was too easy to have that relationship used against us. As snipers, if we were ever captured, the first person some people would hunt would be the other one,” Scott explained.
Sledge could understand that. It was one of the reasons he never talked about Amber. Always afraid that during times of war she would be used against him. It was also the reason he had never brought her to the clubhouse before. Enemies stopped at nothing to get what they wanted, that included going after your family.
“Alright boys, let’s save the tea and cupcakes for after we kill people,” Parker sounded off.
“Okay guys, lock and load’em,” Sledge called.
Within the hour everyone was in place and knew their role. Beth, Derek, and Amber were in Sledge’s room, the only bullet and sound proof room in the complex. With the door locked, Sledge knew they would be okay. They would be safe.
At six that evening Sledge was getting impatient, and so was everyone else. If Andrews and the Cartel were going to strike, Sledge would prefer to get it over with. He hadn’t seen his family since he and Reaper moved them into his room. All he wanted was to wrap them in his arms and sleep the night away. Waiting always seemed to exhaust him.
He was just about to make his radio call when he heard Parker’s voice break through. “We have incoming. West side. Three, no. Five black SUVs approaching with excessive speed.”
Suddenly, the front gate of the compound burst open and the vehicles entered the lot. “Hold your fire until they exit the trucks,” he ordered.
“Five more SUVs are entering from the South end,” John’s voice filled the air.
“Fuck!” Sledge bellowed. Ten vehicles. Each possibly holding eight armed men. His crew, even with the Kazi’s were outnumbered. “Things are about to get nasty, boys.”
The doors on all the vehicles opened as one, but nobody exited. The tension around the complex was at nuclear level. Suddenly, gunfire exploded from the East side of the building. The SUVs were a diversion.
The clubhouse was lit up like the Fourth of July. Sledge watched as the Cartel and some of Andrews’ men made their way closer to his home. He would be damned if they gained entry.
“No one enters my house!” he raged.
As the fire fight seemed to last forever, Sledge was met with the chilling realization that if something didn’t change soon, none of them would make it out of this alive. Unexpectedly, the night was filled with a boom. It sounded like a cannon fire, and the resulting explosion was just as destructive.
“Take that cocksucker!” Sledge heard Scott’s laugh through his earpiece.
“What the hell was that?” Diesel laughed.
“That was my little baby,” Scott replied.
“I would love to see your big baby one day,” Sledge retorted.
“That’s what she said,” Diesel responded. Leave it to Diesel to bring humor into a fight for survival.
“Um, Commander,” Parker hesitated.
“What?” Sledge asked.
“Your woman is being dragged out of the East side of the building.”
Sledge felt his stomach fall. “What?” he demanded.
“Yes Sir,”, Parker faltered again, “And it’s one of your men. I can’t get a clear shot on him. You need to move, now!”
“Can anyone get a clear shot?” Sledge screamed, running to the other side of the building.
“Negative,” replied John.
“Negative,” replied Frank.
“Heading in her direction,” Reaper answered.
“Right behind you, Reap,” replied Diesel.
“Reaper, back off. Go to my room. Amber, Lo, and Derek were in that room too,” Sledge commanded.
“I can’t Devin. If...” Reaper trailed off.
“I’m on it,” said Tank.
Sledge understood Reaper’s hesitation. If something happened to Amber, shit if anything happened to any of them, he would destroy the world. Sledge understood, he felt the same way now.
Running towards Beth, Devin wasn’t letting anyone stand in his way. Firing out round after round, he paid no attention to the number of people he dropped. Rounding the corner, Sledge came face to face with the man holding his woman. “You motherfucker,” he bellowed, in full rage.
“Nice to see you too, Prez,” Sticks snarled, gun pointed to Beth’s head.
“Fucking traitor,” Diesel shouted. Sticks was the newest prospect of the Henchmen, not even a patch member yet. At twenty-eight, Sledge thought he had great potential, but now, he would die. A life gone to young. For a millisecond, Sledge hesitated. But, if he had to choose, it would always be Beth.
“Oh, you’re going to die,” Reaper said. “And I am going to take great pleasure in it.”
“Doubtful. There is more of us than there are of you,” Sticks retorted.
“I don’t have a shot,” Parker said.
“Of course you don’t,” Sticks laughed. He could hear everything from the crews. He wore an earwig just like the rest of the Henchmen. But he was keeping Beth right in front of him; and standing directly between both sets of snipers, neither would have a shot without hitting her too.
“It’s going to be okay, baby.” Sledge tried to sooth Beth.
“I know,” she smiled at him. “I have total faith in you.”
Sledge tried to keep Sticks’ focus on him, while Reaper slowly sidestepped to get a better angle for his own shot. However, he knew the game.
“Get back over there,” he shouted.
Before Reaper could move, a shot rang out. In slow motion, Sledge watched Beth fall to the ground. A red spot started to expand across her chest.
“No!’ he screamed, running to her side. He vaguely registered that Sticks had been shot, too. Straight to the heart. He prayed Beth didn’t suffer the same fate. Instant death. Falling to the ground, he pulled her into his lap.
“Honey!” his voice was shaking, “Please!” he begged, “Open those pretty eyes for me.” Beth didn’t move. The rise and fall of her chest was shallow. Sledge knew he didn’t have much time.
“Call 911!” he ordered.
“No need, she will die either way,” Andrews said, walking towards him with Rebecca by his side. She was the one holding the gun. She was the one who had fired the shot that would take his love from him.
“She’s your own daughter!” Sledge shouted.
“Daughter or not, she had the ability to destroy me. I couldn’t allow that,” Andrews retorted.
Sledge could see nothing but red. This sick piece of shit shot his own daughter to protect his career. Sledge raised his 9mm, and rapidly fired off two shots, each making their marks. Shots echoed through the compound. Zander, Diesel, and Viper all emptied the remainder of their clips into Andrews and Rebecca. Overload? Maybe. But Sledge didn’t care. All he cared about was the woman dying in his lap.
Sledge dropped his gun and wrapped Beth in his arms, pressing a hand to her chest. Rocking her back and forth, the world seemed to blur. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t go through that again. What would he do? What would he tell their son?
“Devin, I need you to let go of her. We have to do CPR until EMS gets here,” Diesel pleaded.
Sledge felt hands grip his shoulders and looked up to see Reaper, “Let her go man, or it’s a guarantee she will die.”
Finally releasing her to Diesel, Sledge fell back to his ass. Tears fell down his face. He had never felt so useless. Not even during times of war, his men getting shot, did he feel like this.
It seemed like hours had passed before emergency personnel arrived. Watching Beth be loaded into the back of the ambulance, he prayed he would see her smiling face again.