7
“So what are we going to do with him?”
Caston ran his hand through his white hair, studying the man on the ground. They had found him tracking them not long ago, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen him before. Still, none of his men recognized him. He was the leader though, and if he didn’t know him then how could it matter? Still, he had an uneasy feeling about the man. Where had he seen him before?
Caston wasn’t sure. Under normal circumstances, he would just slit the guy’s throat and leave him behind. But there was a quality about this guy that intrigued him. Even passed out on the ground he could tell that he was well-groomed. He didn’t want for anything, unlike most of the other people they stumbled across. It was clear that the man had somewhere that he was calling home and Caston wanted to know where it was. The Rough Riders were getting low on supplies, but if this guy had what they needed, then it was his responsibility to make sure that they took every last bit of it. The land was becoming less giving and Caston knew that he would have to find something soon to provide for his crew. The only thing keeping his men loyal was a full belly and enough adventure to keep them busy. Without those, his men would surely turn against him like jackals.
“Why don’t we wait till he wakes up and see where it is that he is camping out? I’m sure that there will be something there.”
Caston went through the man’s bag and noticed a pink scarf tucked delicately inside. It was clear that the scarf wasn’t something that belonged to the rugged man who had been tracking them. Caston gave it a smell and the strong scent of lilac filled his nose. He was filled with excitement as he realized that the scarf belonged to a woman. It was something that they hadn’t run into in a while. Caston was more than willing to be patient if it meant that he would get one of his baser needs taken care of. He would have preferred a woman over food and he was sure that the six men with him would feel the same way. Only problem was that once they got their hands on one, they never made it very long.
“Do you want me to wake him up?”
He shook his head. “No Lee. We don’t have too much else to do but wait. The weather is looking like a storm anyways.”
Lee nodded, but wasn’t too happy about the order. He wanted to be the one that found out what was going on. He, like many of the other men, was getting restless. They were ready for something to make their hearts beat a little faster. They were long due for some excitement, and torturing the strange man would be enough for Lee.
Caston could see the way his men were starting to get restless. He didn’t show them the scarf, but stuck it in his pocket and had a couple of them help the man up. “Let’s get in for the night so we don’t get caught in the rain. I’m sure the guy will be up by then.”
“What do you think he was doing boss?”
Caston shrugged, not sure what to make of it. It had been years since anyone had gotten so close to him. The man was clearly searching them out, not something that the Rough Riders were used to. Most smart people stayed away from the motorcycle gang. They ran the turf around there and it made Caston sure that the dark-haired man was there for some kind of vengeance. Vengeance was something that he could understand. It was only when he considered the possibility that Caston started to relax. He could understand pride and ego, but he could also understand revenge. Caston was sure that he was owed some many times over, but not just yet.
“I think he’s here to get information, or maybe even take me out. I don’t know, but I want him tied up well so that when he does come around, there is no way for him to get a chance to do any of that.”
Lee nodded his head and started to smile. There was a chance that he was going to be able to hurt someone that day. It had been too long for all of them. It had been weeks since anyone had been stupid enough to fall into their path. Now that there was a chance of something happening, Lee was starting to feel like his old self.
They dragged him into the house that they were going to be staying in for the night. Even though Caston wasn’t sure what to do with him, he knew that he didn’t want him able to get free. He didn’t wake up as they moved him around, and that made Caston worried that they had hit him too hard from behind. He may never wake up, but if he did, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.
***
Michael gradually came to and heard the men’s voices. He had woken up in a dark room by himself. There was a thick feeling in his head and though he wasn’t sure where he was, he recognized the emblem on a jacket that was left in the room with him. It was all that Michael needed to know. He had been looking for the gang and just when he had found them, someone had hit him from behind and he had seen blackness. It was rather strange to find himself right where he had wanted to be, though Michael had hoped for the element of surprise to be on his terms. He did get a surprise, but it wasn’t quite what he had been hoping for. Instead he was tied and gagged.
“I see you’re up.”
Michael’s face turned to take in the older man with the grey eyes that had haunted his dreams for years. He had seen them before in his past, and suddenly Michael knew that he had found the man he was looking for. But what was he supposed to do now?
He started to make noise behind the gag and the man shook his head. “There is no need to struggle. This will be the end for you. Tell me what I want to know and I will make sure you don’t suffer too much.”
Michael didn’t like the sound of that and he certainly didn’t like the idea of anything happening to him before he got his revenge. His mind went to Jessa for a minute and he wished he had never left. He wasn’t worried about something happening to him or him not being able to finish what he had set out to do. What would really bother him more than anything else was the fact that he may not be able to see Jessa again. It was in that moment that he realized she was the only one that mattered to him.
Another man took Michael’s gag off after a few minutes and he shot daggers with his blue eyes. “Do you know who I am?”
Michael nodded. There was no sense in pretending that he didn’t know exactly who he was and what he was capable of. Caston seemed to like the answer and smiled to himself, nodding his head.
“Good, then who am I?”
“You are the man that I am going to kill.”
Caston chuckled a little, but he didn’t like the look in the man’s face. Even though he was tied up and he was surrounded by several men larger than himself, the man in front of him was quite sure of his words.
“What is your name?”
“Michael Santino.”
“And why, may I ask, would you want to kill me M Michael?”
“Because you killed my wife and child.”
Caston sighed and nodded his head. “Yes I think that would do it, but why do you think you will succeed? Look at you.”
Michael didn’t care. He knew that he had not come all that way, walked all of those miles, to simply fail. It was his destiny, and though he didn’t know how, he knew that he was going to walk away from it all. He had to get home to Jessa and nothing was going to stop him from doing so. Not even the devil himself.
THE END