Tuck's Revenge (8 page)

From that point on he would take precautions
to be more careful when approaching these situations. It wasn't
like Tuck hadn't been hit or beaten before. But he was smarter than
that, and realized these people were ready to go off at the drop of
a hat, he needed to be ready to deflect it when they did.

On his ride back, he couldn't help but think
of the reality that might come one day when he would be the one
that came out on the bad end of the deal in a fight. During his
time in Vietnam, he often wondered what death would be like, and
how it would come to him. He wondered if it would be a quick death,
or slow agonizing. He knew it was something that he or anyone else
didn't have a choice about most times. But one thing he was
relatively sure of, he’ll most likely not live to be old or die a
natural death.

Between now and when his time came, he had to
be sure never to become the kind of man that Bill or even Steven
came to be, or he would be doing all this for nothing. He realized
there was a line you just don't cross, and it is a very fine line
between being what he was now, and what Bill and Steven had
become.

Tuck knew Steven way before Bill turned him
into what he ended as. And that was only because Steven didn't
think for himself, and he’d always been that way. Even though
Steven had his own mind and didn't have to follow Bill where he led
him, he understood how it could happen. And for that he forgave
Steven, but not when he allowed Bill to take him over that line.
Tuck knew if he lived long enough, he would meet people he wanted
to trust, and even people he needed to trust in order to survive.
But he also knew he would never trust anyone enough again that he
wouldn't be ready to take their life if it came to it.

As Tuck got back to the motel, he got to
wondering how this situation was going to come out with this guy.
In his mind, he equated it with stepping into a nest of bees and
hoping none would sting him. He was ready to swat and stomp them if
they took a notion to try.

When he walked in the door of the motel
office, the man looked at him and said, "Well that didn't take too
long.”

"No, the lady at the antique shop gave me an
address, and it took me right to the problem.”

"From the looks of the side of your face, you
had some difficulties.”

Tuck laughed and said, "Yeah, he sucker
punched me and had me for a minute. I was tired from the ride and
needed to lay down for a minute anyway.”

The man laughed. "Well, some of our people
want to meet with you. How do you feel about that?”

"I'm fine with it. What kind of people are
they?”

"They're just business people like me. Is
that a problem?”

"No, it's not a problem. I'm just looking for
some good people to ride with. Do you know anybody like that?”

"I sure do, same people I am talking
about.”

Tuck asked, "What kind of guys are they? What
I mean, are they like Bill and some of his people, where I'd have
to watch my back all the time? Because I don't need people like
them.”

"I know these guys pretty well, and I think
they'd be worth talking to.”

"How do I find them?”

"I can arrange a meeting here in a couple of
days. Why don't you hang around and rest up while I set everything
up?”

Tuck agreed, and told the man to set it
up.

*****

On the day of the meet up, Tuck woke early as
always. When he looked out the window of his room and down into the
parking lot, he noticed several more cars than usual. So he got
dressed and went down to the office for his morning coffee,
available to the guests in the lobby. There were several people
standing in the backroom of the office, grouped up and talking.
When they saw him walk in, one man reached over and swung the door
closed, as if to be uninviting him to listen in on what they were
saying.

Glory stepped out to the desk and her eyes
narrowed at him and she put her hand on the desk and leaned
forward. Tuck wanted to grin but he held it in, this was the first
woman he had actually been attracted to for more than a quick fuck
in a long time. There was something about her that screamed
‘bitch’, and yet it attracted him.

“So, see you are back. Guess all the boys are
here to talk to you?” she snapped.

“Don’t know about that,” Tuck said, taking
another drink of his coffee.

“Yeah, well I do. And let me tell you
something, mister,” Glory said and leaned in farther. “You coming
around here and getting these guys riled up, you better be able to
back your bad ass attitude.” Glory said, “And if you think about
bringing trouble here, think again. My dad don’t need that
shit.”

“Think your dad is the one who is leading
this, so sorry if I decline to actually listen to you.” Tuck
smiled.

Glory lowered her eyes into a glare and she
said, “Whatever, just make sure you don’t piss me off, or you will
be seeing the end of my gun again.”

Tuck laughed loudly. He was going to get up
and approach the little spitfire but Boots popped his head out and
nodded to Tuck.

“Nice talking to you, Glory,” Tuck said and
the woman in question rolled her eyes and then sat down at the desk
while he went for a refresh on his coffee.

Tuck finished putting coffee in his cup and
walked on back with the rest of the group. And as he walked into
the room, he noticed there were people from all walks of life. A
couple of them had suits on, while others had sweats and tennis
shoes and looked like they were going jogging, while others looked
like they were dressed to go grocery shopping.

They all turned and looked at him, and he
could see by some of their faces a few of them had doubts, while
others were welcoming but had that "wait and see" attitude.

Boots summed up what Tuck had told him last
night, and then everyone looked at Tuck to say something. He stood
and said.

“I'm all about brotherhood and trust, but it
has to be with everyone involved, or a group like this can never
work. I have a price on my head, and I am looking to pay it off. I
also need to find somewhere to settle, and truthfully, since I have
no other ideas, and Boots here is the first one to help me out, I
figure here will be a good place. Could be wrong, but I am hoping
not. Boots said some of you have had a problem with Bill in the
past, some of the crap he’d been doing.”

As Tuck spoke, the people gathered in the
room seemed to be listening more intently now. He had their
attention, and saw it as an opening to hit them with the question
he primarily wanted an answer to.

"What I need to know from you is what do you
want out of this, or do you even want to stay in it? If you stay
in, we will have to come to a mutual agreement we're going to work
with one another instead of against each other. Because I'll tell
you straight if someone comes after me, they better succeed. If
they fail, I will get the name of the person who sent them, and
then I'll get them. We will never get anywhere by working against
each other. The only way we'll become strong like we need to be, is
if we work together.”

“So if you want to get out, then please do so
and there will be no bad feelings or backlash. If you stay in,
you’ll carry on as usual, except you won't report to just me. In
the next few weeks, we'll be looking into putting together a
council to report to, and I'll be conferring with them on a regular
basis. It's not going to be a one-man show anymore. I want this to
be a real "organization" where people dedicate themselves and
people feel safe working with us. Because if we go around plotting
and killing each other all the time, there will soon come a time
when nobody trusts anybody else, and that's not a place I want to
be, do you?”

Tuck stopped for a moment to let his words
sink in. "In closing, I want to let you know I’ll be looking into
getting all the names of everyone associated with us. In the next
few weeks, I’ll be contacting all of them. So if you have a list of
members, I'd like to have them, and we'll compile the names and
contact them all. Thank you all for coming.”

As the meeting broke up and everyone went
their separate ways, Tuck turned to Boots and asked, "Who do you
know that would be good to serve on a council?”

"Well, that would take a little thought, but
I bet we could come up with some good people."

"These people seem to know and trust you. How
do you feel about being my liaison until I/we get a Board of
Trustees or a Council set up?”

"Sure, anything I can do to get this mess
straightened out, I'm willing to help.”

"Good, give the people that just left some
time to think about it and decide what they want to do. Then
contact them in two or three days and prompt them to talk to others
they know to let them know what is going to happen. Also let them
know I am staying here for a couple of weeks. If anyone comes
asking for me, tell them I'm in the last room on the end. It may be
a good Idea to not put anybody in that room or the one next to it
for a few days in case anybody wants to come calling on me.”

"Okay. Do I need to make sure my insurance is
paid up on the motel?”

"That may be a good Idea.”

"Oh shit. I think I'll do that first.”

"If anything happens, just stay out of the
way until it's over. And stay on your toes for the next few days,
things may get interesting around here.”

"Oh boy. Well, been needing to do some
remodeling anyway.”

So, as preparations were being made, and
phone calls placed, Tuck got ready for whatever was going to come.
As the days passed, it stayed quiet. It wasn’t until the fifth day
when three military style vehicles pulled in and faced the last
room where Tuck was supposedly staying.

Tuck had seen them pull in and knew this
wasn't good news, so he grabbed his gear and got out of sight. Half
a dozen men jumped out of the vehicles with weapons. Tuck
immediately went in the bathroom and out the window, down the back
of the units until he came out the opposite end that led to the
street.

He walked up the sidewalk, and noticed a car
sitting across the street with two men watching the goings on and
talking on two-way radios. As the guy talked on the radio, he
noticed a man with the group in front of the motel room responding
back.

Tuck carefully retreated so he could regroup.
After looking the situation over for a second, Tuck decided to make
a move on the car across the street. He stayed in the blind spot of
the vehicle and slipped up behind them. As he reached the car, he
pulled out his knife and pistol. On the passenger side, he put his
knife under the man’s ear and pushed it in about a half Inch, then
pointed the pistol at the driver.

He instructed them to freeze, then get out of
the car slowly on the passenger side. They did as instructed, and
as the driver stepped out he made a move for the knife, and Tuck
pushed the knife in to the hilt and the man was dead instantly.
That made the driver stop in his tracks when he saw Tuck was
serious, and then he followed the instructions to the letter. Tuck
still had the pistol pointed at his head, the man no doubt knew
Tuck wouldn't hesitate to use it.

With the driver in tow, Tuck made his way
back to the motel office. As they walked inside, Boots came out and
told Tuck he saw two men go around toward the back. Tuck told the
driver to take out his radio, call his teammates, and order them to
stand down or he was going to die.

The driver started to say something, and Tuck
drove the knife in his leg and said, "Do It now or you're going to
die. You have thirty seconds to order your men to stand down or
I'll put a bullet in your head.”

The driver picked up the radio and told his
men he was held captive and to drop their weapons. With a little
hesitation and bewilderment, the men did as ordered and laid their
weapons on the ground.

Tuck told them to put their hands on their
heads and walk toward the office, and they all complied to that
order as well. When they got to the office, Tuck ordered them to
lie on the ground. Tuck disarmed them, then allowed them to sit up.
He asked Boots to collect the weapons out by the trucks.

While the manager was gone, Tuck looked at
his captives. "How did you know I was here and what room I was on?”
No one answered him.

"Last time, how did you know I was here and
what room I was in?” Still none of the men answered him so he
stepped over to one of the men and put his knife in the base of his
skull. "Okay again, how did you know?”

That time, two different men were ready to
talk. The driver told them to keep their mouths shut and Tuck cut
his throat. "Talk. And you better tell me the truth.”

One of the men said, "Look, man, we were only
doing what we were ordered to do. We didn't know where we're going
or what we're doing until we got there.”

"Who was giving the orders?”

"It was the guy in the computer shop outside
Elkhart, Indiana, but I don't know his name.”

Tuck called over to Boots. "You know of a
computer shop outside Elkhart, Indiana?”

"Yeah, that's Harold’s place.”

"This man says that’s who ordered the hit on
me.”

"I don't doubt it. Harold was a good friend
of Bill, and he's not much of a team player. He was talking about
taking over until you showed up.”

"You men want to live?” They shook their
heads yes.

"Tell you what's going to happen. I'm going
to give you forty-eight hours to make it to Lincoln, Nebraska. Stay
on highway eighty, and if our men see you go there within
forty-eighth ours, I won't come hunt you down. When you get to
Elkhart, you go in and take care of Harold for me, and send me
proof he's dead, and I won't come hunt you down. If after about a
week I don't get word Harold is gone, then I'll go take care of
Harold myself, right after I hunt you guys down.”