GGS: Good Gaelic Souls A Biker Saga (G.G.S) (33 page)

Mac stopped and downed the rest of his drink, "On my last month out, I got the call that my wife was in the hospital. She had been beaten and raped, but they assured me that she and the children were fine. By the time I made it back to the states, the story had changed several times. It wasn't until I spoke with my wife, that I found out that it was a high ranking officer that had raped my wife. He wasn't just anybody, he was the grandson of a 5-star General. He had already been whisked away and the military had closed ranks. They called my wife a liar, swore that she seduced him and screamed rape when he wouldn't leave his wife for her. I was trying to find  information on where this fucker was, battling with the military for justice, when we found out that she was pregnant from the rape. When I told them that I was going public if they didn't let me at him, everything escalated.

His countenance changed, his face twisted in pain, "I had two choices Strangler, take an honarble discharge and what seemed at the time a large sum of hush money, or pursue the matter further and be ruined for life in every since of the word. They even threaten to make life hell for my children. Brother, I've seen what the military can do. I know the power that they have over people's lives, and how with a nod, they can destroy anybody at anytime. I now had a third child on the way, and their mother needed me as much as they did. If I killed him, went public or did anything other than what they offered, my family was fucked. They even tried to force her to have an abortion because they feared the evidence of a DNA test. But I wasn't about to let them put her through that. I still had a little something that I had learned overseas up my sleeve. You see I had never been debriefed coming back in, things were all awry and on the brink of a scandal. Protocol was neglected, so I negotiated to give them the information they wanted, in return for taking the forced abortion off the table. They needed the intell badly enough that it worked, and we disappeared and moved on."

Strangler could only imagine what it was that he wasn't saying, but nothing that he said indicated that he wasn't being truthful, he was just giving the highlights. He continued to watch and listen as Mac told his story, "We immediately dropped off the grid, and spent the money on a mental health therapist and living expenses. By the time we had our fouth child, our daughter, the money was gone and I had to go to find work to maintain the family. For awhile it was good, until the bottom dropped out of that too. Shortly after that, we met Stax at the lake and ended up here." He looked at Strangler, and with a lump in his throat, exclaimed," So, to answer your question, we need someplace to belong. We need a safe place for our children to grow up. We need to surround ourselves with good souls that can teach our children how to be strong, productive, loving people. They have no aunts, uncles, or grandparents, they only have us. It's been hell just trying to raise ourselves in this fucked up world, and if something happened to us, our children would be orphans. We don't just
want
to be here, we
need
to be here."

Strangler had been weighing his story, watching his body language, listening to the inflections in his voice and studying the signs of stress in his face. There were no lies here, no attempts to decieve, this man had just been as honest as a man could be. The president of the G.G.S. stood up and walked around the desk, putting his hand out to the prospect. Slapping Mac on the back, he said, "Let's go see what your wife can do to those targets out back. I hear she had a damn good teacher."

As they headed out to the temporary target range, Strangler sent out a mass text, which read, '
Cruinniú at 1900'
. There was a new option on the table, it needed to be addressed and voted on, and he had little time to waste.

Chapter 22

"Food for Thought"

In the office, before the cruinniú the Officers had gathered and everyone was up to date, including Stax. They were all torn, as to the risk of involving other people, but on the other hand, it would take more bodies than they had to survive a full onslaught. It wasn't an ideal solution, but it was another tool made available to them, as long as the club agreed to call on them.

At exactly 1900, Strangler raised his glass into the air, "
May the road rise up to meet you!
Know that you are loved!"
After the crowd returned the sentiment, Strangler asked Mac and Mavis to share their personal story with the club members. Afterwhich, he advised the assembly that Mac would outline an option that he felt could assist them in their efforts to defend themselves. For the sake of time, Strangler wanted an immediate vote tonight, either they would choose another path, or they would accept help from outsiders. It was up to them, he already knew which way he had hoped it would go. Watching the faces of the club for signs of acceptance, he initially saw distrust. But at least they were paying close attention, that in itself was a good sign. The Gaelic Trio had given Strangler the heads up that Mac had something big to offer, and now they too watched and waited, trying to read the faces in front of them.

When Mac had finished and taken his seat, Rage took the floor. He expounded on the fact that additional forces were exactly what was needed. "
We have everything that we need, except more capable bodies.
" He went on to explain the benefits and drawbacks of such a large occupation coming in to stand with them, and ended his pitch by adding, "
But it would only be a temporary occupation, and one that would allow us to get back to normal as quickly as possible. I for one, am opposed to being overtaken and losing any chance of living the life we have been building for ourselves and our families. Remember, we didn't search for this help, it was delivered to our doorstep. Karma may well be on our side.
"

After the Officers had spoken, the club came alive with much debate and many heated discussions. As soon as someone stood up to declare their concerns, another stood up to debate the ultimate outcome, both with and without such assistance. Long into the night, the talk continued, and ever so slowly it became apparent that the club was going to vote for the Supporters to stand with them. Once Strangler saw that the tide was turning, he relaxed a little and reminded them that time was not on their side, and a vote would be necessary within the hour.

Once the voting was done, it had been decided to have Mac contact the Supporters and advise them of the situation. After he made contact, he told them that it would be morning or later before they had a good idea of how many, if any at all, were willing to come and stand with them. In the meantime, Strangler organized a team to find out what they had on hand for extra bedding. "You may need to have extra on hand, but the majority should be self sufficient." Mac advised, "They'll arrive with their own vans, tents and sleeping equipment. As far as firearms go, you won't need to worry about that either. Just feed them, allow them to use your facilities and give them instructions. They won't require anything else."

Strangler was relieved to hear that, so he focused on the issue of food preparations. "Della, you pick out a team for the kitchen, prepare to be busy as hell if we get lucky. Make sure you have two shifts, and remember to keep it simple. This is gonna put a strain on our provisions, especially if this takes awhile. Let's just be thankful that we have an industrial size kitchen."

He turned to Samson, "Is there anything still hanging in the smokehouse or in the Slaughter house freezers? Samson nodded, "Yep, we couldn't fit everything in the truck last trip, and there is still a shitload of canned foods in the warehouse. You want I should take a team and a truck back down there?" Strangler turned to Della, "Is there anyroom in the freezers, refridgerators or walk-ins? Della answered, "
I can make room, but if they can bring the freezers themselves up here, we could put them in the laundry room behind the kitchen. As far as the cases of canned foods, we can stack them anywhere. Since they are going to be in the warehouse, look around for all of the big pots that you can find, and see if there are anymore cases of disposable dishes, cups and plasticware."

Strangler now turned to the Trio, "I know ya'll have been outside lately, is it safe for them to go out there now?" Moby chuckled, "
We'll now, I'm thinking they'll be needing a tour guide or three. You guys make a list of whatever you can think of that you may be needing. I'm thinking we're gonna need more whiskey and toilet paper for sure. I'll grab those cases of moonshine out there too. Don't forget that we still have the overflow supplies down in the garage."
He winked at his two partners, "
We were right to wait."
He said, and turning back to Strangler he advised, "
We'll leave out in thirty minutes. Samson and Twitch need to get about twelve strong men together and suit up. We'll take the Big Rig and make it easy on us."

Strangler looked at Moby with suprise, "You need 15 men and a Kenworth to get a few extra provisions?" The wyly old Gael answered with a crooked smile, "
Loose ends my brother, loose ends. These here bones are a wee bit tired, you understand. We'll just be needing some extra muscle is all."
As he opened his mouth to insist on an explaination, Strangler's new cell phone went off. "It's the Sheriff, I'll be back." He told everyone as he answered the phone and headed towards the office.

Stax stayed with Della long enough to oversee the list of provisions and then headed to the office. "We'll send out a text if we need to meet again tonight." She told everyone before she adjourning the cruinniú. When she entered the office, Strangler was hanging up the phone. "What's going on, baby?" She questioned. He looked up in frustration, "Not sure, yet. He started asking questions about what kind of terms we are on with some of the local MC's, but I cut him off and told him that I wasn't playing that game. He's not using me to gather that kind of information, I've already told him that. He said he just wanted to know if there was a particular club that I would  personally trust with something important, but before I could speak he put me on hold. When he finally came back on the line and I asked what he was getting at, somebody walked in or something happened, and he said, "I'll call you back within the hour" and hung up."

"Ok then, this could take a minute. Good thing I adjourned the meeting, I told them that you would send a text out if you needed to update them on anything." Strangler reached up and touched her face, "Thank you Angel, I like the way you think. No reason to leave them to sit and wait, there's nothing else to say and they would just end up getting drunk if they sat there too long."

"You want to go sit at the bar and wait?" She asked, after several minutes of silence. "No, but I'll have one with you here if you want to throw a couple together. I don't want to get in the middle of something just to have him call back and interupt it. I'm trying to figure out what it is Bob was trying to achieve." Stax stood up to make the drinks, but seeing the stress in his face she said, "Why don't you go take a quick shower baby, I'll have it ready when you get out. You need to relax, and if Bob calls back, I'll bring you the phone." Strangler looked at his watch, it was already after midnight, he hadn't realized that the meeting had went on for five hours. "Good idea, be right back." He said, getting up. He walked over and gave Stax a kiss before heading to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, she heard the shower turn off and she began to mix their drinks. He came back in looking a little less haggard and wearing fresh clothes. "Thank you Angel." He said, rubbing her backside as she placed the drink in front of him on the desk. "Nothing yet." She advised, when she saw him looking at the clock. "Whatever it is, it has to be important for him to be calling so late." He said absently, his mind still going over several different scenerios. "I wonder if this group of Supporters will care to involve themselves in something like this." He said aloud. She understood that he wasn't posing a question, and said nothing. He had too much on his mind for small talk, and nothing that she could say would be helpful after they heard from the Sheriff. "Sometimes less is more." She thought.

Thirty-five minutes later, the phone rang. It was the Sheriff again. Stax had just walked out to go to the bathroom, and when she returned Strangler was listening intently to whatever it was that Bob had to say. Sitting down at the desk across from him, she tried to hand him a cigarette, but he didn't acknowledge it or her.

"Good to know, but we already knew that it was a possiblity, doesn't do us much good though." He answered, glancing over at Stax. This didn't sound so bad, she thought as she watched the hint of a smile began to appear on his face, but it disappeared before it could form. "What?" He exclaimed, "When?" Stax felt cold, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. "How many?" Strangler banged his fist on the desk, "Shit, how bad? He stood up, "I'm on my way." He said into the phone, "Fuck that, this is family. I won't leave them out there goddamn it." Her heart sunk as she watched him shaking his head. "No, they are my responsibility, I'll handle it." A minute later he said, "I'll figure it out Bob. You've seen what we have here, that's not an issue." She watched his body language, it wasn't good news, she could tell that much. His agitation was increasing by the minute. Whatever it was, he was adament that he was going to be the one to do it. Several scenerio's went through her mind, none of them good.  "Exactly how in the fuck will you accomplish that?" He asked as began pacing the office. 

While on the phone with Bob, his personal cell phone went off and she lost track of what he was saying. She picked the phone up off of his desk and read the incoming text from Samson. "
Need to talk. Ur not gonna believe this
." Two minutes later a text from Twitch came in, "
Holy fucking shit Prez, did you know about this
?" Stax read both texts several times, her mind trying to imagine what had freaked them out like this. For the moment, she held her tongue. "One crisis at a time." She reasoned, waiting for Strangler to finish his conversation with the Sheriff.