TLR Chapter 52

After the Fourth of July frustration, Greg had headed back to the bungalow he shared with his partner, Tank.  The two men cuddled in bed with Greg getting a couple of hours sleep before he had to start his regular shift at 2 a.m. the following morning.  Something nagged at him all morning but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.  He usually worked a split shift and today was no different so when he got off work at 6 in the morning, he crawled back into bed with his partner and was asleep when the younger man got up to head to work at 7:45.  But it was a restless sleep with his mind working overtime to bring the memory from the night before to light.  He finally gave up on getting any rest about eleven a.m.  He puttered around the bungalow then dressed in his guard uniform.  At 1:30 he got out the makings and started setting the table so he could eat with Tank when the young maintenance man came home for his lunch. 

“Hey, G, you don’t look so good,” Tank said as he walked into the kitchen and stopped in front of his lover.  “Maybe you should call in sick and go back to bed.” 

Greg sighed when the younger man engulfed him in a protective hug.  “This is all the medicine I need, Boo.” He moaned out using his special name for the man that held his heart.  A name he would never use in front of Tank’s friends but one that deep down he knew his boy loved.

The men stayed connected in each other’s arms until Tank pulled back and raising up a little pressed his cheek to Greg’s forehead.  “Hmmm, no fever,” he whispered.

“I’m not sick, Boo, just tired.  I didn’t sleep much after you left this morning.”

“All the more reason for you to call in sick and go back to bed, young man,” Tank scolded his lover.

Greg brought his hand down in a halfhearted smack to Tank’s firm hip.  “Hey, who’s the top around here?”

Tank had the good sense to blush.  “Sorry, G, but I worry about you.”

“I know, Boo, I know,” his top said kissing Tank’s pouting lips.  “I’m really ok though and I’m looking forward to spending a quiet evening with you.”

“Hmmm, me too, G.” The younger man grinned returning the kiss.

“Now, let’s eat.  We don’t have much time before we both have to get back to work.”

Both men walked hand in hand out of their bungalow. Greg dropped Tank off in front of the lodge where he was servicing the AC unit then headed to the Security office to start the second half of his shift at 3 p.m.

It wasn’t until close to 5 p.m. that afternoon as he was leaving the security office to go on his rounds that Greg remembered what had been nagging at him.  He had seen a spark of light in an area behind James’s house the night before during the Fourth of July party.  He had started to explore the area but got the call about fireworks being set off in an unauthorized part of the resort which led to finding the miscreants at the Dog Park.  He thought that maybe he should meet up with Martin on his rounds since they had the same shift and check it out.  Greg keyed his radio the see if he could find the other security guard.  “Martin, this is Greg, come in please, over”.  

While he was waiting for a response he saw the shadow of two large men roll across one of the walls of the lodge.  He immediately knew one was Duke but wasn’t sure who the other was.  Just then his radio crackled with Martin’s voice.

“Martin here.  What’s up, Greg. Over.”

“Hey, Marty, I was wondering where you are.  Wanted to meet up with you and check something out. Over.” Greg explained.

“I’m on my way back to the resort.” Martin answered.  “Should be there in a few minutes. Over”

“Meet me at the security office.  We can leave to check out what I want to look at from there. Over and out.”

Hearing the security guard’s reply Duke and the other man turned back to talk to him.  “What’s going on Greg?” he asked.

“Hi Duke.” Greg said turning toward the two men.  He recognized Dean, Duke’s baby brother, immediately.  “Hey Dean, you’re a little late for the fireworks, aren’t you?”

“Good to see you again, Greg.”  Dean greeted the man.  “Yeah, I was going to be here in time for the festivities but I got held up at work so I came this morning instead.” He continued, “Sounds like I missed all the excitement. Duke was telling me a few of the brats decided to shoot off some fireworks of their own at the Dog Park. Said James was real upset because he could see this whole place go up in flames. Now that would have been a real shame.”

Greg nodded. “Yes, it would have been and James was quite upset, but apparently Jeff and Heath along with Jax helped things to get better for him. Or at least that’s what Mutt told Tank this morning and never being one to keep a secret from me; my guy let me in on what happened after we got the brats back to their tops.”

"I don't know how you do it." Duke said affectionately.  "I can't get that man to say two words to me where one'll do."

"We've been together for a while now." Greg laughed. "It took a long time for him to open up to me as well, so don't feel badly.  The problem is once he does start talking, I can't get him to stop.  I'm glad he told me about what happened though. The last thing James needs is more stress."

Duke nodded. “Yeah, he looked quite a bit happier and calmer this mornin’. Was even talkin’ about a contest for the best behaved brats to be able to have the honor of setting off the fireworks under his and Jeff’s supervision next year.”

The men waited outside the security office where Martin met them. He heard their conversation and added, “That sounds like a good idea. Maybe it will cut down on another incident like this one.  Might keep some brats from being jealous because the others got to do something they couldn’t.”

Dean nodded. “Sounds like a good idea at any rate.” He agreed smiling.

Greg smiled at Dean, “So are you going to stay for a while.”

“Not too long I’m afraid.  I’ll have to leave tomorrow afternoon because I have to be back at work Monday morning.” Dean said with a little grimace.

Duke teased, “The fun of becomin’ an adult.”

Dean lightly cuffed Duke and Duke returned the favor with a grin.

Martin shook his head at the brother’s antics.

“So, Greg,” Duke asked becoming serious again, “What do you need Martin to help you check out?”

Greg kicked a small stone off the path at his feet.  “Just before Jeff called me about the rogue fireworks last night I thought I saw a spark of light close to that rocky area behind James’s house. So now that the excitement is over I thought Marty and me would check it out.”

Remembering the conversation he had with Jeff and Coral when he came home Thursday night the big man said, “That’s the area Bo found the boot tracks, Greg.  Dean and I’ll come with you and Marty just in case.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah I remember you tellin’ me about there bein’ some kind of trouble.”

“Should we call, James or Jeff?” Greg asked.

Duke rubbed his chin.  “No, let’s not alert them or any more of the security guards until we see if we find anything first.” He answered.  “No use worrying everyone if it’s nothing.”

Martin nodded, “That’s a good idea. No use of sounding the alarm until there’s real trouble.”

Greg said as the four men discussed things, "Marty you ready to go check things out with this posse?" He glanced at Dean and Duke.

Martin laughed.  "Sure thing, bro.  This must be important if you're bringing the big guys."

Duke and Dean grinned at being referred to as the “posse”.

Greg got serious. "I don’t like that I thought I saw somethin' behind James’s house last night."

Duke said, "Bo had pictures and shared them with Jeff, Coral, Shorty and me. I certainly would be concerned too. I don't like to think of someone lurkin' around James's home."

"I'm with you guys 100%, but does someone want to clue me in?" Dean questioned.

Duke nodded. "Sure bro. Do you remember me tellin’ you about some trouble a few days ago?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, I said that earlier, but you didn’t give me any details.”

Duke said, “Well Bo came to Jeff regarding some piles of cigarette butts and mini liquor bottles as well as some pretty large footprints in the back of James's house. Some were a bit old, but others were only a few days old.  He also found an impression of a canoe over by the inlet to the lake that Jax used to get on our lake. "

"So you think the light Greg saw could be from the intruder?"

Duke nodded. "It could be that he was lightin' up a cigarette."

"Do you have any idea who it might be?" Dean asked.

Duke shook his head. "I suspect it could be that dirt bag Gene, but we have no proof. Coral took plaster imprints of the footprints so we can see if they match."

"Gene?  You mean the big thug we ran into when we helped Mutt out?" Dean growled.  "He better hope it's not him.” 

Duke nodded. "Yes, the very one...this time you won't stop me will you?" Duke asked with a feral smile. "My arm's all healed now."

Dean chuckled. “We’ll see big brother. I still don’t want you in any trouble despite yourself.”

Duke smiled at his baby brother and tousled his tight curls.

Dean ducked out from under Duke’s hand.  “He’d have to have some pretty big cojones to come after Jax after the warning we gave him.”

"We're never going to find out if we don't get a move on." Martin laughed.

Greg smiled. "True, let's go men." He led the others toward the area where he had seen the light last night. They went there in a roundabout way so as not to warn the intruder that they were on to him, should he still be there in the daylight.

As Duke walked along with Greg and Martin, Dean next to him, they approached from the edge of the property, scanning the area carefully.  There was a small clearing bordered by the woods on one side and a boulder strewn slope on the other.   A small creek trickled down near the slope toward the lake beyond the trees where the light had been seen.  The four men hunkered down and surveyed the area.  At first they didn’t see anything.  The edge of the clearing was beginning to be shrouded in shadows from the afternoon sun. 

“There's someone across the clearing." Martin whispered.  "Under that big White Pine."

Greg took out his binoculars and shaded them so they wouldn't reflect and said, "It looks like a fairly large man." He passed them to Dean. "What do you think? You've seen the man before."

Dean put the glasses up to his eyes and ground out. "If that ain't Jax’s step daddy then it's his twin." He said handing the binoculars to his brother.

Duke took the glasses and his face darkened as he growled. "Let's go and make sure that bastard never has the courage to come on TLR property again." He began to move toward the man.

"Wait," Martin whispered as Greg put a hand on Duke's arm.

Duke looked at Greg. "For what?"

Greg glanced at Martin. "We should have a plan."

"If we just walk up on him he'll get away.  We need to split up." Martin agreed.

"Duke, let's get around behind him and let Greg and Martin walk up on him." Dean suggested.

Duke looked at Greg, “Yeah, let’s not go off halfcocked. Why don't you and Marty circle around in back and approach from behind and Dean and I will come from the front in the same manner. This way we have him surrounded?"

“He knows us and will bolt if he sees us so we need to get behind him." Dean patiently repeated.

Duke looked at his baby brother and grinned. "Dang, when did you get so smart?"

"I learned everything I know from you, big bro."

"Go on, get behind him." Martin said.  "We'll give you five minutes and then walk up on him.

Duke grinned and knuckled his baby brother's curly head gently and then listened to Martin's instructions. "Okay five minutes." He glanced at Dean and grinned. "Got that?"

"Yup," Dean followed his brother through the boulders until they were on the other side of the clearing with Gene, none the wiser, between them and the other two guards.

Five minutes later and seeing that Duke and Dean had reached their goal Greg got Martin’s attention and signaled him to move in.

Marty started walking across the clearing with Greg about 20 feet to his left.  They weren’t as tall or massive as the two men across the clearing but they did make an impressive presence as they moved closer to Gene.

Duke waited with Dean in position to grab the cowardly man if he came their way.

Gene, his focus on James's house didn't notice the two big men coming toward him until it was too late to run.  ”What do you guys want?" He hissed at them.

"We're guards at the resort," Martin answered,

Greg arched an eyebrow.  ”A better question is who the hell are you and what are you doin' on private property?"

"Private property?  I didn't see no signs," Gene grunted as he stood to his full 6’ 3”.  It was a tactic he had used most of his life to intimidate anyone who had ever challenged him.    

Greg growled not backing down from the big bully. "No? There are signs posted all over the place...either you’re blind or you sneaked in here by a method that bypassed the signs." 

"And by the looks of things you've been here before." Martin added.

Dean looked over at Duke.  He could see him losing the battle to wait for Greg to call him in.

Greg pointed at the bottles and cigarette butts. "Those are yours and they don’t look very fresh, what the hell are you doin' here and what do you want? I should haul you into Masonville and have the Sheriff run a check on you and put you in jail for trespassin'."

Duke gave Dean a sign and they made their way to the edge of the woods, not showing themselves, but being close enough to capture Gene if he tried to make a break for it.

"I...I'm just checking up on my son, ah, step son." the intruder answered.

Duke, hearing this came up behind Gene ready for action. "Like hell. You were told to never lay eyes on the boy again. He wants nothin' to do with the likes of you."

Gene visibly shrank at the sight of the two men that made him back down in front of his wife.  He remembered the fear he felt when the bigger man almost laid him out for stomping on Jax’s chess set.  "He's mine not yours.” Gene smirked when he got his wits back.

Duke moved closer and looking down on the coward in front of him said, "He's twenty-one and an adult. He can choose who he belongs to and who he doesn't. Thank God he isn't from your seed."

When Dean saw Duke step up to the coward he followed him.  "You better change your attitude before I do what I wanted to do at your house, little man." Dean hissed.

"Yeah and what was that?" Gene hissed back.

"This." Dean said and slugged Gene right in the mouth.

Duke watched as the big man crumpled to the ground.

Dean shook his hand out and waited for Gene to get up.

"I'll sue this place," Gene stammered spitting blood as he spoke when he could finally move.

Greg looked at Martin. "We better get him up."

Duke shook his head. "No...Let me." He stepped up to the man and taking him by the neck yanked him upright and held him dangling in the air with his good right arm. His left one wasn't quite up to strength yet.

"Go ahead, little man.  I don't work for the resort.” Dean challenged the creep struggling to break away from Duke’s grip.

Duke said, "I don't think there'll be enough of you left to sue anyone once the vultures pick your bones clean."

Martin stepped up to Gene.  "I don't know who you are but it looks like you were warned never to harass Jaxon and you are clearly trespassing." He paused to let the words sink in.  "This is a big resort and a lot of places to get lost in."

Greg said, "A person could be lost for days and not be discovered."

Duke said, “Well unless a black bear found them."

"You ca...can’t threaten me," Gene squealed.

Duke shook the man. "We're not threatenin' you...just advisin' you of the dangers out here." He said, "There are even moose out here.  If they have a mind to they will attack you and can do some serious damage."

Greg added, "Not to mention deer and...oh yes, the wild boars."

"And then there is always Jaxon's two partners who would love to get their hands on you after some of the things they have found out about you and how you treated their partner." Martin chimed in.

"Whatever that kid said was a lie." Gene squawked.

Duke tightened his grip on the man's neck. "Remember I told you there were many ways of hurtin' a man without actually killin' them...well, sometimes they don’t survive."

"From what I've heard it's you who's doin' the lyin' maybe I should take you to his partners...one's the doctor and saw firsthand your handiwork and the other...well he owns this place." Greg said.

Duke said, "Aw...we shouldn't bother them with this scum. We can just take care of it for them."

Greg pointed out, "Well we could take him to Jeff. I know he'd love to have a go at him for what he did to Mutt."

All the color drained from Gene's face remembering what he had done to Jax and then to his friend, Mutt, when he showed up at his house in Elmville.  Knowing he wouldn't come out on top if any of the scenarios the men had mentioned happened he finally conceded.  "OK, OK, I'll go."

Duke said, "That's not good enough."

"W...what else do you want me to do?"

"What I'd like you to do isn't legal." The big man stated.

Dean watched his brother ready to stop him if he needed too.

Duke began to pick up the heavy man to slam him to the ground, hoping to break him into little pieces.

Dean grabbed Duke's arm.  "He’s not worth it, Bro." He warned. 

Duke's grey eyes had flinty flecks of anger in them, but he lowered the man to the ground and gave him a hard shove making him land on his backside.

Martin stepped forward and squatted down in front of this poor excuse of a man.  "This is what's going to happen, Mr..." he looked up at Duke.

"Thomas," Duke spat out.

"Mr. Thomas.  You are going to leave the resort and never come back.  You are also never going to cause any trouble for the resort or Jaxon.  Do you understand that?"

"Yeah I understand." Gene mumbled.

Greg hauled the large man to his feet. "If you ever show yourself here again or cause any problem for anyone here, including Jax or his partners I don't think Dean over there will be able to stop Duke from breaking you into little pieces."

Duke flexed is fingers as though itching to put them on the man once more.

"Yeah, and I live in Elmville so I will keep an eye on you." Dean growled.

"I don't live there anymore. Thanks to you two my wife kicked me out." Gene confessed.

Duke gave him a look. "Good it’s about time she came to her senses.  Where do you live now and don't lie because we can track you down. We want to keep an eye on you."

"Nowhere," the defeated man answered.  "I was gunna grab the kid and head west, thinkin’ that maybe she’d get back together with me."

Duke shook his head. “That plan sounds even stupider than thinkin’ you’d be able to take Jaxon from here. That young man isn’t goin’ anywhere. You couldn’t get him to leave here even with a crowbar to pry him away.”

Gene looked at the other men and sighed.

"My advice to you is you’d better head west on your own and never come back." Greg said, "Remember we know your name and even if you change it we'll know. Security people have their ways of knowin' things."

"There ain't any place you’ll be able to hide.  The owner of this resort has a wide network of friends." Martin added.

Duke and Greg both nodded. "Oh yes, it stretches beyond your dreams."

"I'll leave and never come back," Gene promised.  "There's nothing for me around here anymore."

"Good." Duke said looking at the others, "Let's escort Mr. Thomas off the property."

"Do you have a car around here?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, it's parked off the road a couple of miles from here.”

"Well, how about me and Greg escort you to it and see you on your way?"

Duke looked at Dean and quipped, "How come they get to have all the fun?"

"Come on, Bro, I'll buy you a steak to gnaw on." Dean laughed.

Duke said, "All right. Let's go to the lodge."

"We’ll catch up with you two back at the resort," Martin promised as he and Greg moved off with Gene between them.

As the five men moved away they never saw the bright blue eyes watching them from higher up the rocky slope.