Tuck's Revenge (7 page)

"Okay, I'll tell you. I only know him as
‘Homeboy’, he has a big scar all the way across his forehead and he
has a shitty prison tat on his arm of some bitch named…”

Bill whispered, "Cynthia."

The guy shook his head and confirmed it.

"You know how to find this guy?” Tuck
asked.

"Yeah, this sonofabitch was one of the guys I
told you about in my old crew when I first started this.”

Tuck said, "I thought you got rid of those
people?”

"This guy is someone I went to school with,
and grew up with. I let him stay breathing because he was going up
north, and I didn't think he'd ever cause me any problems.”

"Makes me glad I didn't have a lot of
friends.”

"Well yeah, I guess we learn as we go, don't
we? Do you know where to find this, Homeboy?”

"Yeah, he won't be hard to find. I'll make a
couple of calls and locate him in a day or so.”

Tuck turned around and reached down to the
man writhing in pain on the ground, and stuck his knife in the base
of his skull, which killed him instantly, then he stood and walked
toward the house, and on his way by the other guy, in one fluid
move, he reached out and snapped the guy’s neck.

Bill and the other members of the group stood
there in amazement at the ease Tuck could kill a man. One of the
members of the group told Bill, "Nice guy, where did you find
him?”

The big mouth who messed with Tuck earlier
said, "Yep, I think I'm going to like this guy.”

They laughed, and then walked up to the porch
to get out of the sun. In a few minutes, Tuck walked out of the
house, and asked Bill, "You ready to go get that truck off the road
now?”

Bill said, "Sure.”

Everyone else stood as well and said, "Let's
all go get it.” One of the people told Tuck with a half grin, "I'll
hold the explosives for you after you take them out.”

Tuck had earned his place, and showed his
worth to the others. He was accepted by the flock from then on. He
disarmed the explosives, loaded up all the bodies he left scattered
around, and took put them in the truck, except for the two members
of their group that were killed. They decided to bury those bodies
on the grounds.

Bill asked Tuck how he wanted to get rid of
the other guys and the truck.

"We're down here close to the border aren't
we?”

Bill said, "Yeah, it's about an hour
south.”

"Good. I hear drug deals go bad in this area
all the time.” They waited until after dark and then Tuck headed
south with the truck filled with dead guys. Bill and one of the
other guys followed him about forty miles down some old ranch roads
until they came to a remote enough location. They poured gasoline
all over it, set it on fire, then Tuck got into Bill’s truck and
they went back to Bill’s place. After they got about two miles down
the road, they heard an explosion and saw a ball of fire rise into
the sky. Bill looked at Tuck,

"Looks like another drug deal gone bad to
me,” Tuck said with a smile. They got a laugh out of that as they
made their way back. Once they made it back, the rest of the group
was sitting around out back waiting on them. They all sat around
and talked for a while until Tuck said, "I think I'll turn in, it's
been a busy day. Got to get up early tomorrow.”

Then Bill asked, "You have plans?”

"No, but knowing you, I bet you've got
something in the works.”

Bill smiled and said, "We do have an
agenda.”

*****

Bill was already awake and in the middle of
breakfast when Tuck walked into the kitchen the next morning. Tuck
grabbed a cup of coffee and they headed out back.

"Are we going back today?”

Bill said, "Probably tomorrow. I have someone
coming in today I want you to meet.”

"Well I hope the company today doesn't bring
friends like the ones yesterday.”

Bill smiled and said, "I'd be really
surprised if that happened.”

"Is this person coming someone you've known
for a while?”

"Yeah, I trust this guy with my life, just
like I'm coming to trust you. This guy is somebody I knew in
Vietnam, and he's a good man. In some ways, he reminds me of you,
and I think you two will get along well.”

"You know how I get along with other people,
so don't get your hopes up.”

Bill smiled and said, "Well, he'll be here
soon, so we'll see.”

"Well, Bill, I've seen pretty much everything
here on your little ranchette between here and the front gate. If
you don't mind, I think I'll take a stroll and check the rest of
your place when the sun gets a little higher.”

"That'll be fine, just watch out for the
scorpions and the rattlesnakes.”

Tuck laughed and said, "I always do.” He went
into the house and returned with his knife and pistol. "You feel
like a walk?”

"No, you go ahead, I've seen the place
before. And besides, I have to wait here for our guest. He should
be here in an hour or so.”

"Okay then, I'll be back in a while.” Then he
stepped out, walked toward the back of the property, and
disappeared into the brush.

As Tuck was walking, he came across a small
stream and the water trickling in it was calming, so he decided to
sit and just relax for a while. Tuck tried to think back at the
last time he was in a safe place where he could relax and collect
himself for a while. And he knew those situations didn't come along
very often, so he liked enjoying them when they came along. Before
he knew it, he had been gone a couple of hours, and he figured he
better be getting back. So he got up and started on his way back,
but his instincts told him he had better check out the situation
before he walked on in.

He decided to go around and position himself
where he could check out the house from a distance. As he came up
to the ridge on the west side of the house, he stood and watched
for activity. Tuck noticed that there was a new truck parked in
front, and he wondered if that was the one Bill had been waiting on
or somebody else. So he decided to stay out of sight and slip in
the front door. As he reached the front, he could hear laughter
coming from inside, so he knew there was nothing necessarily
nefarious going on, so he opened the door and stepped inside
quietly. As he was moving across the floor of the front room, he
heard Bill talking to someone about him. He was saying, "He went
for a walk to check the place out and he should be getting back
pretty soon.”

“You gonna kill him then?” someone asked.

Bill chuckled. “Yeah, figure we can lay some
of this shit on him and let us get away free and clear. Thought we
might be able to use him, but nah, especially since we had this
shit set up for too long. Boss wants him dead, so he is dead.”

“Why all the other crap, you know at his
hometown?” the man said and Tuck narrowed his eyes and pulled out
his gun. He could not believe what he was hearing. Who the hell was
the boss who wanted him dead? Shit, his world was falling apart and
for some reason he was a target? Shit, he had only been home a few
months, couldn’t have pissed anyone off too bad yet.

“Don’t know, man, following orders, shit, you
didn’t have to live in that pissant town making solid background
story before the dude came home, it was hell. We give him another
week, make sure he does what we need him to do in order to take the
fall and then he is gone and so are we,” Bill said and Tuck
frowned.

He turned and slipped away, thinking whoever
the boss was just bought a fucking war. Tuck wasn’t stupid, he
needed money, and he needed help, he was going to get both.

Torture: the action or practice of
inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them
to do or say something, or for the pleasure of the person
inflicting the pain

As Tuck was going through Elko, a town in
northern Nevada, he saw something on the outside of town. He had
been on the run for months, since he didn’t have the resources that
Bill and his people had, Tuck needed to work for it, and he did.
For two months, he had worked in a no named shop just for money.
Then he began to do his research and he was ready to figure out
what the fuck was going on now, he was also looking for a little
help.

It was a motel with familiar writing on it,
so Tuck pulled in to scope things out. As he walked into the
office, the person behind the desk was a middle-aged man wearing
non-conspicuous clothing, but what caught Tuck’s eye was the sign
on the wall that was an old saying in Vietnam. "We the unwilling,
led by the unqualified to kill the unfortunate, die for the
ungrateful.” Unknowingly he had met the man who would change his
life once again, this time, in a good way.

Tuck smiled and said, "I like your sign. Were
you in Vietnam?”

The man said, "Yep, for three years and then
I came home.” The motel manager grinned and said, "They call me
Boots, but name is Don Wilcox.”

"Okay, why Boots?”

"I imagine because that's all I ever wear are
boots. I hate tennis shoes, and I don't even own a pair of dress
shoes, I only have boots.”

"Boots is a good name. Nice to meet you,
Boots.”

"Glad I met you too, Tuck. I get a good
feeling about you being here.”

"Yeah, I've just been home about a year now.”
That was all it took to strike up a conversation about the war, so
Tuck humored the man for a bit.

Then Tuck, seriously tired of the game he was
playing because he was ready to begin his path of vengeance
finally, said, "I noticed your sign outside. Do you know Bill?”

Don looked at him and said, "You know
Bill?”

Tuck said, "Sure do. I met Bill in Vietnam,
then met up with him again after I came home.”

Then Don asked, "Have you seen him
lately?”

Tuck looked at the man’s eyes and said,
"Yeah, I saw him a few months ago when I dropped by his place.”
Then Tuck pulled out his pistol, and told the man to go into the
backroom. The man backed up and Tuck followed him into the room off
the back of the office. There was a woman inside, and her eyes got
wide when she saw Tuck and Don in the doorway.

“Hey,” she yelled and Don looked over his
shoulder.

“Glory, calm down, everything is good,” Don
said.

“Good? Dad, you gotta be kidding me!” Glory
snapped and Tuck finally took the time to look at the woman, she
was gorgeous, red hair, and a full body.
Damn
, he thought,
he would totally like to have a go at her, but there was business
to take care of, and it didn’t include fucking. He took his eyes
off her for a moment.

“Glory, I got this,” he snapped.

“Yeah I see that,” she drawled and then Tuck
heard the distinctive clip of the hammer of a gun. He eyes went
back to the woman and he grinned. Yeah, he could totally get on
board with some of her.

“Damn it, girl, gimme that,” Don snapped and
stepped back and held out his hand and the woman shrugged and
plopped it in her father’s hand.

“Whatever, I am going out for coffee, you
want some?” she asked, like having a man hold a gun on her father
was an everyday occurrence. Tuck frowned and blocked the
doorway.

“I don’t think so,” Tuck growled, this was
getting out of control.

“You do not want to stand between me and my
coffee.” She laughed and walked right up to him and pushed her way
through the door. Tuck was stunned, did she not see the killer her
was. What the fuck?

Don chuckled. “Sorry, man, you aren’t gonna
scare my little girl with that little gun, she can shoot a flea off
a mouse. Now, why don’t we have a conversation that doesn’t
involved guns.”

Tuck turned to the man and frowned deeper, he
had no idea what the fuck was happening, but somehow he had lost
control over the situation, and he didn’t like it. He had a plan,
and that didn’t include what was happening right now. He glared and
then snapped.

"Bill is going to be dead, I will kill him
because he is trying to kill me.”

The man smiled and said, "Deemed a loose
cannon were you? I mean, that is the way Bill works, so we have
something in common.”

"Yeah, that's what he said. You too?”

Don leaned back in his chair, folded his
hands across his stomach, and said, "Well, I knew Bill was making a
mistake when he took up that practice of getting rid of people he
saw as threats. I tried to tell him a couple of years ago to not
listen to that idiot friend of his. He didn’t like that I
challenged him so he tried to have me killed too.”

"You survived, I would assume that would mean
you worked something out. What friend was that?”

Don said, "They called him Trey, but his name
was Roger or maybe Robert I think. I only met him once, but he was
a smartass and didn't use his head. What we worked out was, he left
me the hell alone, and I didn’t reciprocate his attempt on my
life.”

"Didn’t work out like that for me. Do you
know where I can find this guy?”

"He lives out in Carson City somewhere from
what I'm told. You can talk to the people at the antique shop on
the west end of town, they weren't too happy with Bill there at the
end either. They might know right where to find the guy you're
looking for.”

"Well, what am I going to do about you?”

"You're going to do what you think you have
to do. But I'm worth more to you here and breathing than I will be
dead.”

"Can I trust you?”

Don smiled. "Not yet, but you will in
time.”

"Okay, I'm going to Carson City and I don't
want them knowing I'm coming. If I get there and I'm sure you
didn't give them a call to warn them, I'll let you live. But if I
get there, and there is even a hint they know, I'll be back here to
see you.”

*****

Tuck saw bubbles in the blood from the knife
wound, and he knew the man was drowning in his own blood. He walked
back to the bike, started it, and sat watching as Trey’s body went
limp, and he knew he was dead. Then he slowly rode away.