GGS: Good Gaelic Souls A Biker Saga (G.G.S) (28 page)

He looked at Strangler, "Most people aren't even aware that you own this property and those that are, have no idea what the hell you are doing out here. But word is starting to get around faster now." Bob nodded at the Trio across the table, "Kudo's to you guys for leaving all those trees between you and the road. Nobody can see this shit, but I suppose that was all part of your plan. That and the fact that you guys do the work yourself, has kept the street talk down to a bare minimum. Most people, like myself just thought it must be a house shaped on the outside to look like a Castle, you know, those crazy Gaels and all." He said smiling.

Again, he paused for a quick sip, "But I regress, let's get back to the update. As far as we can discern, your location still evades them, but they are not going to stop. You can't exactly hide a fortress. During their ill-fated meeting last night, one of them mentioned it would save time if they just flew over the area. They would probably use a chopper but they could also hire a small plane," He noticed their furrowed brows, "Hold on folks, we've already alerted the aviation authorities, if they file a flight plan for this area, we'll know. However, if they get an independent under duress, like say, a crop duster, our chances slim down a bit. Or, they might have their own plane and pilot available to them. We just don't know what kind of resources they have. The other side of that coin is that the community is now very aware of what's going on, and they are beginning to get involved. If said crop duster were to be approached, we may still get word, if he survives. We are getting more and more information from people that normally won't talk to us. But they are beginning to understand what could happen to their own peaceful way of life if something like a cartel-mafia-bad ju-ju, type of organization actually planted permanent roots here. The media has begun to take notice too, and the general population across several states  has an ear to the ground. People that they know are missing, and it's in their own best intrest to be involved. Once we do get word, we're getting it out there quickly."

He continued without pause, "To be honest, I wouldn't exactly be shocked if people began to offer to stand with you sooner or later. I wouldn't count on it, but I wouldn't be suprised either. The world is full of people ready to make a stand, they are just looking for the right motivation. When an atmosphere like this starts brewing, the survivalist and activist get their panties in a wad and show up everywhere. Who knows, it could be the extra help you need as far as numbers go anyway. You guys are far enough from town that if something happens, we wouldn't know it, and if it's part of a turf war type thing, the authorities wouldn't be in any hurry to send you aid or medical assistance. The've made that very clear. So my question to you now is, do you need anything that I might be able to help you with?"

Stax stood up and fixed everyone a double, this news was disturbing to say the least, but it was looking like they might have a little more time than they originally thought. Very little, but at least this day and possibly one more. She spoke up, "Strangler, if they still don't know where we are yet, you could give the teams a little more time to gather while they are already out there." He nodded and pulled out his cell phone. "Send the message, give them until three o'clock if they need it. Tell them to keep me posted."

He looked over at the friendly Sheriff, "Bob, lets take a minute before we continue. I want to show you something." He saw the looks that the Trio was giving him now, and he made light of it by saying, "Don't sweat it my brothers, I'm not going to show off your Dragon." Standing up, he motioned for everyone to join him. They followed him to the kitchen, and Bob marvelled at how well stocked and efficient everything was. Then they headed to the Barracks and he opened the big doors so that Bob could get a good view. "We have pretty much everything we need to survive for a while," he said to the Sheriff, who once again was in awe of what he was seeing, "Our problem now, is the number that you just gave us, four hundred or more against sixty." Crossing the hall he opened the door to the Daycare, "This is my biggest concern." Strangler confessed, as they watched the children playing with their toys. "I want to go outside and play!" They heard a little boy's voice telling Cat, she smiled and tousled his hair, "
Nay lad, not this day. When we can we do, and when we can't we wait
.
Let's see if anyone wants to hear a story
." Shutting the door he headed back to the office, and continued talking as they walked. He was telling Bob that as far as supplies went, they would be fine for quite awhile. They didn't have to worry about water or electricity being cut-off by the enemy, as they were on well water, solar panels and the like. But he did have one very important issue that he needed to address, and Bob was his only option at this time.

They went  to the office and sat back down at the table, at which point Strangler approached the subject that was most on his mind, "Bob, I have every confidence that we can hole up here and defend ourselves, but on the chance that this goes south, there is one thing that I am going to ask of you." Strangler stopped, searching the face of the Sheriff, who seemed mildy suprised that he would be asking for anything at all, "If it's
our bodies
that start falling, and I ask you for a chopper, can you get me one that can take the children to safety?"

Bob looked at this big biker, who in all of this turmoil had the safety of the children on the top of his priority list. "I will do everything in my power to make that happen." he told them, "It shouldn't be too hard either, cause you see, my cousins husband is the pilot for our medical chopper," he flashed a grin, "And he owns a pretty sweet Harley too." He added as he took a drink and inquired, "Where exactly would we land it, surely your roof is full of solar panel?"

Strangler wasn't about to discuss what was or was not on their roof, but before he could answer, Rage spoke up,
"In the green, exactly five acres back in a direct line behind the Castle, there is a clearing made for that purpose. When they return for a second load, they should see another clearing exactly five acres back to the west of the first. If a third trip is necessary, go five acres to the east of the first. That way, if they see the where the first pickup was and they head out that way, there's still plenty of woods between them and the chopper."
Rage saw the look on the Sheriff's bewildered face, and was amused. What he didn't notice, was the look on Strangler's face, and it wasn't a pleasant one.

Although impressed with their foresight and strategic ability, Bob still had a concern. "What if, when they fly over trying to locate you, they see your clearings and decide to use them to land their own chopper? As Moby's face twisted up into that old familiar smile again, he nudged Griff. Reaching across the table, he grabbed the bottle of moonshine and stood up, taking a swig. As Moby spewed the whiskey forward, Griff held out his lighter and a large flame came forth from Moby's mouth. Laughing, Rage answered smugly, "
That my good Sheriff, is when we get to introduce them to our Dragon.
" And as a unit, the Trio lifted their glasses in the air and shouted 'Hoorah'.

The room broke out in laughter, and Stax took that moment to refill everybody's drink. "Last one for me," Bob told her, "That's not my bike out there." A text message came in from team egg-farm across the street, Strangler opened his cell phone and read, "Eggs gathered, Chix released- ETA 10." Strangler forwarded the message to Della who would be responsible for supervising the eggs that were being brought from the walk-in cooler across the street. If need be, they would have to be taken to the upstairs kitchen. "One less thing." Said Samson as the next text came through, this time from the smokehouse, "Loaded-ETA-10" Strangler handed Samson his phone. "Advise Della, and then inform the tavern wenches that she made need some help, especially when the team from the slaughterhouse arrives. We should be hearing from the others soon."

Turning back to the Sheriff, Strangler asked him, "Anything else we need to know Bob?" The Sheriff reached in his pocket and pulled out two cell phones. "I just bought and activated these, one for you and one for me. This is the only way that you and I should communicate right now. It should be safe to speak freely, just know that when you call, I may not be in a position to immediately answer. I will make every effort to be as quick to respond as I can."

They listened intently as Bob named off the small clubs that he was aware of, which had patched- over under duress. "There seems to be alot of activity and communication going on between the larger clubs now, especially since what happened to Slacker and the ol' lady they mistook for your dancer. We have no way of knowing this for sure, but it looks like the larger clubs may end up circling their perverbial wagons under the white flag to merge forces. It won't last, we know that much, but it should work to their advantage long enough to get through this take-over attempt. It will get nasty soon enough, but to tell you the truth, I'm thinking it's gonna get nasty here first. I'm sure you've already considered the fact that if they get their hands on this fortress, they would have an advantage like no other. Shit man, they could hold off the military from here. Once they get a gander of what your sitting on, they will realize that nothing else would better suit their purpose. That's a no brainer, but the sad truth is, if they have more bodies than we figure, by the time they find out where you are, you could be looking at even larger numbers. We still don't know what they have above the state line. In reality, you could be looking at a thousand strong arriving at your gates."

Once everything had been covered, the Sheriff stood up to leave. Unfortunately, he wobbled a bit when he did, and Strangler wouldn't let him take off yet. "Let's go get you something to eat Bob, I can't let you leave like this." he laughed, "Let's go have a seat at the 'monster bar' and I'll get the girls to make you some coffee and a nice big sandwich."

Chapter 19

"Never what it seems"

By two in the afternoon, the teams had returned from their gathering missions, and were seated in the Bar Room enjoying a late lunch of soup and sandwiches. For the first time since they arrived, everyone was talking and acting normal. The officers sat together at their table and watched the crowd interacting, they almost seemed happy to be here. To help them relax while they could, Strangler stood up briefly and let them know that according to the new information he had acquired while they were out, it was more than likely that they were not going to be confronted today. An applause broke out, and he decided to wait until later to give them the entire update. "We'll go over everything else later, enjoy your lunch." He told them and sat back down. "Let them rest and relieve some stress now," He counseled the others at the table, "We can fill them in with the details later over drinks."

He called Serenity and Lee from behind the bar telling them to go get their lunch and come sit with them. "Me too? At the officer's table?" asked Lee, "I thought that wasn't allowed." Strangler smiled and replied, "You've earned it, thank you for all you've done to help. These guys can fix themselves a drink if need be, and tell Della to come and sit with us too." They left and a few minutes later returned with their food and took a seat. He sent a text to Cat, advising her to let the teens watch the children so that she could join them for lunch. "I want you both to help me out with something," He told the girls as they ate their lunch, "I want you to take Mavis under your wings and teach her how to tend bar. Slacker will be down for awhile and you don't need to be stuck behind the bar all day. She can be your relief until she can fly solo and then she can take over." The girls looked at each other and back at Strangler, it was Lee who spoke up, "But we like handling the bar, we want to. We don't mind training her, but we don't want to walk away from it." Strangler smiled, "Don't forget, we also have a bar upstairs, there will be plenty for you to do, but mainly and most importantly, I want you to get to know her and learn what you can about her. Capiche?" Feeling like she was on a secret mission, Serenity answered, "Capiche Sire." Looking back at Lee, she giggled, "Looks like were going undercover. Lock and load, baby."

"Lee, do you know how to shoot a gun?" Twitch asked seizing the moment, as Lee's smile faded away quickly. "Why, will I be required to shoot someone?" She questioned, fear apparent in her voice. Strangler was less than thrilled at Twitch's line of questioning at a time when he was trying to encourage relaxation and give people a chance to think about anything other than this shit. Before his new Sgt. could take the conversation any further, Strangler steered it off in another direction. "Too funny Lee, but that's not what he meant. Every year at our B.B.Q Benefit, we have a target shooting contest, kinda like a 'Turkey Shoot' except the winner gets a big fat sow that's ready for slaughter. " He looked down at the end of the table at Twitch, who got the message quick enough. "Yep, that's right," Twitch offered, "And I'm keeping an eye out for anyone who might be my competetion this year. I want that big ass pig." He said smiling and went back to eating his lunch. Lee accepted the clarification and the angst left her pretty face, "In that case, then yes I know how to shoot. We'll the basics anyway, I've shot out at my brothers ranch. We shoot at bottles and cans mostly, but I'm not especially great at it. I probably hit 4 out of 10 on an average." Strangler decided this conversation needed to end on a good note."That's better than most, good luck at the B.B.Q. we certainly need a fresh winner." He said, nodding in Twitch's direction as he changed the subject.

For the next hour or so, it was pleasant to be in the Castle. Slowly, people began to start milling around, checking on things, getting themselves a drink and socializing. Several had went straight to the showers upon their return from their mission and was just now finishing their late lunch, these were the ones who had to work with the chickens or in the meat houses. Everything was accomplished that they had set out to do, and nobody was in a big hurry to start unloading it all just yet. They were happy to have a reprieve and it showed on their faces.