Tuck's Revenge (9 page)

He watched for their reactions. “Now you may
think you can run and disappear, but you know we have the people to
find you, so I wouldn't try to run. Sound like a good deal, or do
you want to die now?”

"No, sounds like a hell of a good deal.”

"Okay, do you all have the money to get
back?”

The men shook their heads yes.

"Your forty-eight hours are start now."

They rushed to get back to the truck, but
Tuck stopped them.

"Whoa. Take your guys with you.”

The guys ran back, grabbed the two dead men,
and then went toward the trucks again.

"Don't forget the one across the street on
your way out.” Taking one of the men’s pistols, he handed it to the
smartest looking of them. “Here, use this on Harold when you get
back.”

The men headed east. After they'd left, the
motel manager told Tuck, "That was a ballsy move giving that guy a
loaded pistol.”

"I was close enough if he tried to turn it on
me, he'd been dead before he got it off safety.”

"I didn't know we had people in Lincoln,
Nebraska."

"I didn't either but they think we do, so it
worked.” The manager walked away laughing.

"Don't let your guard down for a few more
days yet, it might not be over.”

"That's what I was afraid of.”

After another nine days, everything stayed
quiet, and Tuck started to relax. Two weeks later, Tuck started
getting a few votes of confidence from some in the organization
across the country after many found out Harold, the guy from the
computer shop, had been neutralized.

A few days later, Tuck got a call from Glory
at the front desk, and said there were a couple of guys to see him.
He went over to the office and saw it was two of the men who’d
tried to lay siege to his room.

One of the guys said, "Can we talk to you a
minute?”

"Sure, what do you need?”

"The other night after we left, some of us
got to talking about our situations. We decided we need a new
leader. Someone who knows what he's doing, and is more interested
in taking care of business than going out for revenge. We were
wondering if you might let us join up with you?”

"I need men with me, but how do I know I can
trust you?”

The guy said, "We do as we're ordered. We are
soldier’s fighters that need a leader. I can't prove you can trust
us any more than you can prove we can trust you. But in time, it
will come naturally.”

"You know how to ride a bike?”

The guy said, "Yeah, most of us ride, but we
haven't had the opportunity lately because we've been playing
soldier in military vehicles, but we can ride I assure you. Most of
us don't have a bike like you have, but I can see what we can come
up with if you'll let us ride with you.”

"Okay, go see what kind of men you can gather
up. We need only men we can trust, and ones that can think on their
feet. I'm still working on getting a base of operations other than
this poor guy’s motel. I think he's already had all the excitement
he wants from me, so I'll probably be moving to a new location
soon, but I don't know where.”

That's when the guy said, "We know several
good men who will come with us, they just don't want to play army
all the time. We want to live and have some fun, then take care of
business when we need to. We were being used as a Hit Squad with
these other guys, and we were wondering why we got to the point of
eliminating more people than we were recruiting? Lately, we’ve been
in a position where we didn't really want to be, but we didn't know
how to get out without becoming another one deemed a loose cannon
like you were. We agreed to join up to be part of a cohesive group,
not an eventual statistic that was only here to further an Ideology
of others that sit in judgment.”

"Well, if you’re with me, we will be a group.
But we will be a group that is in place to take care of problems
within the organization. We have a lot of things to do, and some of
those things aren't going to be pleasant. But we have to clean up
this mess before we can start anew a different way, and hopefully a
better cohesion and understanding about who we are, and what we
need to mean to each other. Things are going to get ugly for a
while, and unsavory things will have to be done to get this the way
we need it done. But after we clean it up, all we'll have to do is
maintain it.”

The guy told Tuck, "Hey, that all sounds
good. How soon do you want all the guys together?”

Tuck looked at the motel manager and said,
"Can you stand for me being around here a few more days?”

The manager smiled and said, "Sure, man,
you're welcome here as long as you need.”

"How about meeting here in a week?”

"That'll be great. We'll see you in a week.”
They shook hands and headed for the door. And as they were leaving,
Tuck said, "By the time you get back, lose the military shit and
put on some real clothes, and come back on your bikes.”

The guys smiled and said, "Sure will, and
we'll see you in a week.”

*****

Tuck said, "Well we’ve got a lot of decisions
to make, and I'm glad you're here to help. It seems a lot of the
people like and trust you.”

Boots said, "It's because some of these
people within the organization I've known for years. Even before
there was an organization, some of us were friends and working with
each other.”

"How attached are you to this motel? I mean,
would you consider serving on the Council, sort of be my eyes,
ears, and even my voice when I can't be there?”

"It would be my privilege. We can put someone
older here to run it, and I could go wherever we need to go.”

"Fine then, it's settled. You'll be in the
Council, and I won't have to worry so much about what's happening
there.”

After the week passed, Boots and Tuck had a
Council picked out, and were waiting for members to show up for a
meeting to see if they'd accept the positions. While they were
sitting there, they heard a rumble coming from outside.

Boots said, "Either your guys are here, or
we're being invaded.”

They both got up and walked outside. Between
thirty and forty men on motorcycles pulled into the driveway. When
Tuck saw them, he experienced his first real sense of
accomplishment in months. As he welcomed them, and as they were
parking their bikes, Tuck told them to come in and they would get
them setup in some rooms. After they were settled and rested,
they’d get together and talk. After an hour or so, they all
gathered in the back office.

Tuck welcomed them all and then explained
they were coming as assassins for the organization but more as
protectors of the group as a whole. "Were any of you in Vietnam?”
About a dozen of them raised their hand.

"I went to Vietnam, but to hear the
government’s story I deserted, but I was still there nearly eight
years. I stayed in the jungle until I got word the war was nearly
over, and I turned myself in. While I was in the jungle, a lot of
the other guys were telling stories about me, and they started
calling me “The Lone Soldier’, and some called me ‘The Ghost’.”

They looked at each other. A couple looked
surprised. "Yeah, we heard of you when we were over there. Is it
true you killed a few hundred Vietcong?”

"I was out there a longtime, and I didn't
keep count but it was a lot.”

After they all had a long talk, and found out
who Tuck was, they all gained the utmost respect for him.

After many questions, Tuck said, "I had a guy
make a statement the other day that gave me a good idea for a club
name. How does ‘The Death Merchants’ sound for a Motorcycle
Club?”

Family: a group of people united by certain
convictions or a common affiliation

Tuck liked the area he was in right now
because of the weather, which was favorable for a lot of good days
to ride. He was looking to find a headquarters in that part of the
country. Luckily, Tuck found an old warehouse just forty miles from
the motel he'd been staying, and it was perfect for what he
needed.

He told Boots about the building and asked
him what the best way to handle getting it would be. Boots said he
would make some calls to the new council members, and see about
getting the funds to buy it. They were asking seventy thousand for
the old warehouse, but Tuck thought he’d be able to get it cheaper
if they had cash to lay out in front of them. Boots thought he knew
the building he was talking about, and if it was, it would be a
good place.

Tuck said it even had some office spaces
where he thought it would be a good place for the Council to meet.
It also had a large open area where they could open some kind of a
business and make some income too.

Boots said, "Well, if you want to go before
the Council with the proposal for it, they'll listen and take it
under consideration. If you want to convince them, just tell them
your plans for it as a Council chambers and also a business to
bring in some income for the organization, and they'll look harder
at it that way.”

“I’m planning on going up to the northwest to
take care of some business and get it out of the way. I was hoping
to get a place set up for the guys before we left, so it would be
in stages of becoming a reality by the time we got back.”

"How many more guys you going to need?”

"As many good people as I can get, why?”

"You remember those guys I told you I knew?
Do you still want to meet with them?”

"Sure, I'd like to talk to them. Are they
already with the organization, or are they outside the group?”

"A couple of them are with us, but most of
them are riding solo but looking to get in a club."

"When can we meet with them?”

"I can set it up for a couple of days. I
wanted to ask you before I invited them down.”

"Hell yeah, call them and have them come down
on Saturday, and we'll have a sit down.”

“I’ll get it set up.”

While Tuck was waiting for the guys Boots
knew, they went to talk to the Council about the building. When he
talked to them he told them what Boots said to bring up, and they
agreed to purchase the building.

Tuck set the paperwork in motion, and the
title company was working on it and they should be ready for him to
sign the papers in about a week. When Tuck heard that, he figured
he would put off going up to the northwest trip until after he got
the papers signed and talked to Boots' guys. It would give his guys
more time to get ready anyway, and he still had to take them on a
dry run to see how they performed before they got up there. If
Boots' guys ended up coming in with them, he could check out their
skills at the same time.

When the day came he was to meet with the
guys Boots knew, he had all his guys come in to have the sit down
with him, so everything would be upfront for them to see. As the
guys walked in, they were leery and unsure of what they getting
themselves into, and Tuck knew where they were coming from. To ease
their minds and make them feel more comfortable, Tuck thought it
may be easier if he put his guys and the new guys in the same room
together to start out with to let them get to know each other
before Tuck talked to them.

As they came in Tuck cracked a joke. "Would
you feel better if you had a gun right now? I know I would.”

It got a laugh out of a couple of the
guys.

"I think I'll let all you guys get acquainted
for a bit before we get started. All of you talk and get to know
each other until I get back.” He left and went to the office to
talk to Boots for a few minutes. Tuck told Boots that the guys were
nervous about the situation, and what he did to calm them down.

Boots said, "They'll be alright in a bit.
I've already told them a little about you and how you were.”

Tuck replied, "Well hell, no wonder they're
nervous.”

After he gave them some time to settle down,
he walked back in, sat at the table, and asked all of them to sit
down. He explained the function of the group, and it's place within
the organization. He told all of them what would be their
particular function, and what would be expected, including all the
pros and cons involved.

Soon he realized some of his men had probably
already explained to them who he was and how he’d been called ‘The
Ghost’ in Vietnam and what he’d done while there. They probably
also told them what they’d seen him do since they’d been around
him, because they seemed impressed and honored to be asked to join
him.

Tuck didn't want them to ride with him
because of what he’d done in the past, but more for who he was as a
man. Tuck mentioned he wanted them to be seen as a group, and as a
functioning unit that worked together, and was there for each
other. He also wanted to stress upon them, even though he was in
charge, they were all seen and respected as individuals and not
expected to blindly follow him into something they didn't want to
be in.

They weren't a military unit, but more of a
brotherhood. "If you are married and have a family, and we’re going
into something that will be dangerous or life threatening, I’d
rather you stay back and out of the fray. But if you are, and still
insist on going with us, I won't keep you from it. I just want you
to know you have the option if you want it.”

After their talk, all the guys wanted in
without question. It was good because it meant another eighteen
guys were added to Tuck’s group. He was looking at having close to
a fifty-man club behind him, and he saw it as a good start. As he
stood from the table, he said aloud, "Gentlemen, welcome to the
Death Merchants, glad you're aboard with us.”

There was a loud roar from all the guys, with
cheering and clapping. It made Tuck proud to know he was finally
part of something meaningful. He saw himself and his club growing
and getting stronger. Becoming a real brotherhood like nothing he’d
ever had in life, and certainly nothing he ever had while he was in
Vietnam.