Ryker by Jeneveir Evans
Chapter 38
Reaching out to rescue one another under ANY condition is an eternal measure of love.
~Ronald A. Rasband~
Shadow
November 20th, 1999
South Dakota
Before we left, we had already known that Pappy’s people would be getting all but two of the girls so for this mission we only took three vehicles. With time so critical, we’d left before a complete plan was in place. Cell phones saved our asses on this mission. Many calls had been placed between our Brothers at home and Ry and his men.
Through one of the many discussions on the way up, we learned it was possible that not only had Loth’s men picked up Venom’s daughter Savii but possibly her cousin Karina too. We wouldn’t know that one hundred percent until we rescued the girls. If that was the case, we would be taking those two girls with us.
It had been decided that the majority of the team would go to the stash house, rescuing the girls was our top priority. I was leading the team going to HRMC’s compound. There would be seven of us to handle the job at the clubhouse. Boomer and Basher were our EOD men. Ranger, Zane, Jace and Brick made up the rest of the team.
Ry had told us of a good spot for Ranger to take up position. He’d let us know where all the men usually patrolled, if they even did. Ry indicated that in all of King’s arrogance that he didn’t think anyone would dare attack his club so was sloppy about having guards.
Ronin was leading the second team. Cas and Ghost were the EOD men. Viper, Blood, Slaughter, Reb, Pred, Creed and Brick made up the rest of that team. Since they were going to rescue the girls, Sophie was with them.
Draven gave Ronin and Vip directions to the location of the holding facility and where they could hide their vehicles. Until the team had the location secured, Sophie would stay with the SUVs.
Ry had given us excellent information about the layout of HR’s compound. It was close to twelve-hundred hours when we pulled into the area where Ry told us to hide the Suburban. We carefully scouted the terrain around the compound before meeting back up to finalize our plan.
Ranger’s position would let him eliminate anyone who tried to leave by the front exit. The rest of us were going to the rear of the building and planned to terminate any individual who was outside.
When Boomer and Basher started setting the charges at the rear of the structure, Zane and Brick were clearing one side of the building and Beau and I were clearing the other side. The four of us would then sweep the front and remove any targets. Once that was accomplished, we would stand overwatch at the corners of the clubhouse.
Jace was with us since he knew what Brawn looked like. We didn’t want to accidentally eliminate him. We were hoping against hope that he could go ahead with the initial plan to get out of the clubhouse. If not, then we would have to reassess our strategy.
Not knowing when this meeting would occur, we took turns taking tactical naps as the afternoon wore on.
~*~
Ronin
Draven had given us some damn good information. We arrived roughly at twelve-thirty and were able to conceal the vehicles from the road on a nearby trail that Draven had indicated. Even though he’d detailed the complete layout of the grounds, we geared up and surveyed the area. This was a little tricky to do.
On the far end where we parked was a wooded area. It was roughly forty-feet from the woods to the outhouse that had been built at the end of the holding facility. Down the rear side of the building, where we were told the girls were being held, it was approximately sixty-feet until there was scraggly ground cover. That side was going to be a little tricker to get through without being noticed if we had to accomplish the mission during daylight hours.
But neither of those sides were as exposed as the entrance side or the side facing the road. The entrance side, where the road into the structure was located, was completely clear for approximately eighty-feet. From the main road, there were five chicken houses, one right behind the other with roughly thirty-feet between each. This area between them was totally wide open with no coverage for the entire length.
While our reconnaissance let us know what we were facing, it would benefit us if this shit didn’t go down until dusk or later. That was a hard thing to hope for too, because we knew even as we surveyed the area, that there were young girls in the structure being brutally violated now.
Yet if we had any hope of getting them out alive, we needed the cover of darkness, because our recon showed us that there wasn’t a fucking man outside on watch. That meant we would have to infiltrate the damn building and right now, we knew that included at the very minimum at least eight LW’s men. Brawn had indicated he thought the number was close to fifteen. What it amounted to was the fucking fact that we didn’t have a clue how many were actually inside.
If we attempted to do this too soon, we could potentially be going up against at least three times the number of men than we had. We needed King and his men to leave for a couple of reasons. One, it would lower the number of men we needed to eliminate and, two, we needed King back at the clubhouse where he would hopefully call for a ‘secret’ meeting. That would get everyone inside the clubhouse that were to be taken out.
There was one other reason we wanted a lower count of men. When we breached the facility, with fewer men inside, they would be more apt to panic which would allow us to terminate the men before they had a chance to think about killing any of the girls.
Once our surveillance was complete, we gathered at the SUVs and finalized our plan of attack.
It was decided that Viper, Reb and Pred were going to slip back to the target house and be on overwatch. They knew what King’s men looked like and would be able to let us know if all of the HR men left.
Waiting was a bitch, but until we got the go, there wasn’t anything else we could do. Knowing we would only need a moment's notice to take the stash house, we took turns taking tactical naps.
~*~
Around sixteen-hundred we heard several bikes start up and leave. Less than two minutes later, Reb and Pred showed up. Viper stayed on overwatch but he sent Reb and Pred to let us know that it was King, Brawn and three of King’s men who had left. It looked like the meeting was going to be today after all. We all had fucking hoped that was the case.
I put in a call to Shadow to alert him that they should have incoming before long.
Fifteen minutes later we were in position. Five men would breach the front door and three the back. Cas and Ghost would stay outside and start setting the explosives. We were again on hold until we heard back from Shad.
~*~
Shadow
Ronin’s call let us know that King, Brawn and three others had left the stash house. If they were headed to the clubhouse, it should take them approximately twenty minutes to get here. Since it was now the downward slope toward dusk, Ranger melted into the woods to get into position.
Lucky for us, but unlucky for King, the fucker didn’t try to keep the woods around the compound cleared any distance from the fence. Hell, we had found several places the chain-link had been cut open. Others had obviously slipped in and out of the grounds many times.
All of us were gathered close and our eyes were drawn to our watches over and over. Seventeen minutes later, we heard the throaty sounds of bikes on the driveway leading into the compound. As soon as we saw five headlights enter the gate, I immediately called Ry to get his men to the Hell Hole, then we slipped into our positions behind the clubhouse.
For all of this to work, Brawn needed to get out of the building. If King did send someone to check on him, we needed that man to go back inside before we started eliminating any guards.
Before long a text came in from Ranger simply showing the number 3. That meant we had three guards out front. The back door opened and we saw a man rush out of the door, headed toward one of the trailers. Three men exited the door behind him, laughing.
One man shouted, “Damn, Brawn, what’s the hurry.”
We didn’t even need Jace’s quietly whispered, “Brawn,” to know who the man was. He’d played his part well.
We didn’t want to immediately start eliminating guards and have a man come out and notice what was happening and possibly alert the men inside. So Brawn knew to wait approximately twenty minutes to see if anyone checked on him. Once the time was up, he was to get the hell out of his trailer and off the compound.
Either way, if he was checked on or not, he was supposed to call Ry as soon as he left the grounds. Ry would let Brawn know to head to the Hell Hole fast. On the same dirt track we had left our vehicles, T had parked his vehicle there several days earlier for Brawn to use.
I was impressed with how Ry’s men had already worked out a lot of the little details that sometimes tripped up a plan.
Less than twenty minutes later, a man exited the back door and headed toward the trailer that Brawn had gone into. Everything was plain as day to us since we were wearing our night vision goggles. The man opened the door and stepped inside. Since the door stayed open, we could see him take a couple of steps before he stopped. I think every one of us had to bite our lips to keep from laughing.
“Jesus Christ, Brawn. Did something crawl up inside your ass and die?” he shouted.
Brawn yelled back, “Get out of my house, you fucker. Can’t you tell my damn gut is in knots.”
The man laughed. “I’ll let King know you won’t be back anytime soon.” Then he left Brawn’s place. He didn’t even close the door.
That had worked out beautifully. Once he was inside, I sent the ‘Go’ text to Ronin.
“Let’s rock and roll, boys,” I whispered.
And that was what we did. It wouldn’t have mattered if we had used a dull knife to do the job. Everything went so smoothly it was like slicing melted butter. We made it back to the Suburbans and Boomer detonated the triggers. The ground shook as the clubhouse was blown sky high. Ranger made it back to the vehicles within a couple minutes.
“Mission accomplished, Brothers,” he stated. “Let’s head out.”
~*~
Ronin
Unlike our last mission, I wouldn’t be the one to breach the door. Blood and Slaughter would. They were SEAL brothers and were used to working with one another. It was always a good thing to keep men together who were familiar with the way the other responded to any situation that might arise. Creed and I would go in second, him low and me high. Brick would bring up the rear. Viper, Reb and Pred would breach the back door.
When I received the ‘Go’ text from Shad, I immediately sent one to Viper, then we were on the move. The closer we got to the door, we could hear the sounds of men talking. I only heard two that sounded halfway sober.
While Cas and Ghost started setting the charges, Blood and Slaughter rushed through the door with the quiet cough of their silencers steadily making a tapping noise. Creed and I were right behind with our guns being discharged too. One of the men got off a shot and I saw Creed flinch and heard a grunt. He never slowed down so I had to assume he was okay.
It took us less than a minute to clear the front room. Then Blood and Slaughter took the left side of the hall while Creed and I took the right. Brick stood at the opening of the hallway and monitored it and the front door.
The military had lost an asset in Creed. The fucker never faltered as he opened the door and entered the room. A man was on a mattress holding a girl in front of him. He had a gun pointed directly at Creed. Creed never hesitated, he shot a bullet between the bastard’s eyes before the man had the chance to blink.
Other than Creed being creased by a bullet on his left upper arm, no one was hurt.
There were six girls being held. None of the girls in the first four rooms were Venom’s daughter. I prayed like hell, if she was indeed here, that she was located on the other end of the stash house.
~*~
Viper
After receiving the ‘Go’ from Ronin, the three of us breached the back door. I heard grunting from ahead of us. We silently cleared each room as we made our way down the hall. Because of Draven’s description of the building, we knew the next area was an open space. With guns drawn, I eased my head around the opening enough to see four men. They were going at two girls who were on tables.
I closed my eyes a second because I knew this was going to hit Reb and, especially, Pred hard. I turned to them and held up four fingers. They nodded. I stared intensely at Pred, willing him to understand what my stare meant. I knew he did when he swallowed hard. I saw Reb do the same thing out of the corner of my eye. They now knew what they were about to encounter. It was better that they did, now there wouldn’t be any chance of hesitation on their part.
The moment I indicated ‘Go,’ we rushed the room. Four shots, four hits, three dead men, one still alive. The last one was on the floor clutching his right shoulder, his gun had fallen out of his hand. Pred walked over to him and unloaded five shots into the bastard. He’d had the presence of mind not to shoot more than his silencer could handle. A quick glance at the man’s cut let me know that Pred had just killed the Prez of Lucifer’s Wrath, Loth.
One of the girls on the table whimpered and Pred’s head snapped toward the sound. Through one swollen eye, the girl took in Pred, her other eye was completely swollen shut.
We were in our normal attire, all black including our balaclavas. The girl tried to move away from Pred as he stepped toward her. He froze.
Then I heard him say quietly, “Savii?”
The girl’s one eye opened wider. It was her. Christ, I struggled to control my emotions. This poor girl had been brutally raped, beaten and tortured. She had cuts all over her body.
In a voice so soft it was almost hard to hear, Pred uttered, “‘Silly Savii, the sting of the venom will never harm you.’ You’re safe now, Savii. Your dad sent us to rescue you and take you home.”
Savii closed her eye and tears slipped down her face.
~*~
Reb retrieved Sophie and the SUV. He brought it as close to the front door as possible. It had quickly been determined that Savii and her cousin were the only ones who were beaten badly enough for Sophie to examine. The faster we could get the rest of the girls to Pappy’s team, the quicker they would receive medical attention.
Sophie checked Savii and Karina over as fast as she could. Without having equipment available to double-check her diagnosis, she determined that Savii probably had cracked ribs but none felt completely broken. While her face was swollen from being beaten, there weren't any knots or places bleeding on her head. Sophie said Savii’s one eye was responsive to light, she told us she wasn’t forcing the other one open to check. So for now she was ruling out a concussion. There were multiple cuts that needed a few stitches, but none were deep enough to have done any internal damage. Sophie took care of those quickly with butterfly sutures.
Savii wouldn’t think so, but she had been lucky. Loth and his men hadn’t gotten serious yet about killing her. They were too busy enjoying the pain they were inflicting.
There was the possibility that her cousin Karina had a mild concussion. One of the men had slugged her hard enough to knock her out. She had been raped and beaten, but she had been spared being cut. That had been kept solely for Savii.
After Sophie was through with the girls, Pred carried Savii and Reb took Karina out to one of the SUVs. Someone else had brought up the other vehicle and loaded the other girls in it. I had a deja vu moment when Savii wouldn’t let Pred go. It made me think of Jace and Zoey. Pred didn’t even try to argue with her, he just got into the vehicle and held her in his arms. He ended up holding her the entire trip home.
I called Venom and let him talk to Savii. She couldn’t do anything but sob. I let him know that we had both girls and were taking them to IA’s clubhouse. Apparently, after he’d settled down some, he’d talked to Dog and Doc and he wanted Savii brought back to ARMC’s compound. Karina’s parents were meeting us in Brookings to get their daughter.
Spyder and Venom decided that they were taking care of the rest of Loth’s chapter of Lucifer’s Wrath before Savii went home. From what I understood, it was already being dealt with. Their brothers that had remained in Minnesota were already on the hunt for the rest of Loth’s LWMC members. Everyone except Spyder, Venom, Sinner, their club’s Enforcer, and Spyder’s son Terror were headed back in the morning to join in the hunt.
Word had already gone out from the other two Lucifer’s Wrath chapters that they didn’t have a beef with IA and they weren’t going to offer asylum to any of Loth’s men. It seemed Loth had stepped on way too many toes over the years and this was their “Fuck You’ toward his chapter.
I’ll admit, it was a very satisfying sound to hear that building explode as we left. We made a brief stop to hand off the other four girls with Pappy’s people, then we met up with the rest of our Brothers and headed toward Brookings then home.
The trip had been successful and we’d gotten the girls out alive. Now the hard part for the girls began. Learning to live with what happened to them.
~***~