Catching Phoenix: Renegades MC Story

Chapter 45

The room was eerily quiet, except for the sound of the newscasters reporting on the devastation that hit the base in Iran. Their findings so far showed that there were no survivors and the nation was in an uproar over demanding retribution.

Even though I knew it was coming it was hard to see the images as they flashed before your eyes. Screen after screen showed satellite video footage of the smoke still billowing up from the rubble. The makeshift buildings were now leveled, military equipment laid in piles of contorted metal, and fallen debris was everywhere. Total fucking destruction.

Some images it was hard to even see what you were actually looking at but that really didn't matter. The President sure knew how to make a statement that was for sure.

"Damn that man sure doesn't fuck around does he?" Axel mumbled as one image zeroed in on the remains of a destroyed helicopter. Fire still eating away at the metal, no one present yet to put out the flames.

As I leaned back further in my chair I agreed with him. It takes a lot to impress me, but the President had managed to do that and then some. Hell even I couldn't pull off something like this is such a little amount of time and definitely not to the magnitude. Then again with all the money and resources I just dumped in his lap he had an abundance of more leverage to carry out his agenda.

"So let me get this straight. He rounds up all the men, deploys them from where ever the fuck they currently are - over to Iran, only to be blown up? How do they know they got the right guys? Those lists could be false you know?" Tank questioned as he sat staring at the screens.

And his question was a valid one. Luckily the answers were in the folder I took with me after my very enlightening meeting.

Before I could talk Hacker jumped in. "Their system was shit. We cracked their pansy assed code in a few hours of how they moved men around and used them, once we did the information fell right in our fucking laps. The lists were cross referenced and then re-cross referenced. They had guys at every European and Middle Eastern US military Base – to cover any tracks, destroy Intel, hide the assumed dead soldiers, you name it they did it and the fuckers documented all that shit like morons. So this shit is tight – those fuckers deserved what they got in my opinion, goddamn traitors."

Well at least I knew where Hacker stood on all this, then again his skills have been so useful these last few weeks that Agent Timmons had even tried recruiting him to the FBI – of course after Hacker got done laughing his ass off he declined with a no way in fucking hell.

But not all the guys have been as deeply involved as Hacker was. So when I showed back up after my Presidential visit they all sat stunned silent after I finished relaying what I knew. It was only when the news started rolling in the next day did the reality of it hit home.   This mess that I started, that we all started had snowballed into one gigantic fucking mess.   A mess so unimaginably huge that this was the only feasible way of shutting it down.   

To these men honor meant everything and if you had none you were of no use to them. I secretly envied the Renegades because of their commitment, honor and loyalty to each other. Axel was their leader and I now truly believed they would follow him to the depths of hell if he needed them to.  Looking around the room I saw each man held the same look on their faces – determination with a hint of pissed off. They knew we weren't done by a longshot but it was a start. Our mission was far from over and not one man declined when I asked for volunteers. 

Just then an image popped up on the screen that drew my attention.

General Kenneth Dawson. Confirmed dead. Leaving behind two children, his wife proceeding him in death.     The newscaster relayed.  Along with a list of his accomplishments and awards.

A sharp wave of sorrow hit me, followed immediately by anger.

This was not my Dawson. Not a man who I believed had such a deep love of this country like I did.  Not the man I once believed I would follow to hell and back if needed. Ironically that's exactly where he led me, I just didn't know it at the time. His betrayal hurt just as much as Ian's. He trained me, guided me. I looked up to him, shit he was the father I never had, always taking me under his wing. 

And he was now dead. So on top of the anger I felt...relief. Christ was I fucked up or what? There definitely had to be something wrong with me.    

Hell Harley's therapist would have a field day with me.

"So that's all of them huh?" Trigger asked. Up until now the man had said few words all week and I didn't blame him. Ian was his brother and this situation was hitting him harder than me.

"Not exactly but the President's team will quietly round up the rest and deal with them out of the public eye. Our job is to find the remaining – Ian and an unknown. Right now they are all figuring out that the shit has hit the fan and are scrambling. Most likely they have gone dark – which will make our job harder. I already have Albert scanning for any links so we will wait to see what he comes up with and go from there."

"Well count me in" Hacker replied.

"Me too." That came from Tank.

An echo's of me too's filled the room and each man nodded their head in my direction.

Christ, I don't know why but it felt damn good to have their support. Catching Mac's eye, he smiled, confirming that he knew his point was made.

Looking around I took in the room littered with bikers and Harley.

Yeah we weren't Norman Rockwell's version of a family but shit that sounded boring.

Yeah, my family was way fucking cooler than that.