Hawk

23 - Where there's a will, there's a way

Hawk

Half an hour later, everyone is around the oak table, ready for Church, looking to Kong for an explanation. If we’re to go to war for him and his girl, then we need to know why.

“First off, I just want to thank you all for what you did today. What you were willing to do if it came to it.”

Each man tips his head. Kong doesn’t need to thank us; we’d have done it for any one of us in this room. We’re always there for each other, no matter what, no questions asked.

“Why don’t you explain how you ended up with Click’s daughter.”

Kong sighs but nods at Shepard before looking at everyone around the table. He takes a deep, sighing breath.

“I met Alison when we were nine. We went to school together. We were best friends from the off. Click didn’t like me, and he made no secret of it. He made my dad’s life hell, yet he didn’t stop Alison and me from being friends while we were young, at least. The man never made any sense.”

Kong doesn’t need to tell us that. Click is mental.

“At one point, my dad tried to keep me away from Alison. Click took offense, and my dad ended up in the hospital for a week.” Jesus! “My dad was a quiet man; he worked hard in his hardware store and tried to keep himself to himself. He suffered from PTSD due to an accident when he was in his twenties, and he wasn’t the kind of man who was strong enough to stand up to men like Click.

“He wanted to move Mom and me out of Claxton and away from those assholes. Click made my dad’s life a misery. He told my dad that the Coyotes would follow wherever he went and make him sorry. The freak didn’t want me near his daughter, but he didn’t want my dad to be the one to make that decision, so he allowed Alison and I to be friends.”

Kong rubs his forehead with his fingertips.

I don’t even want to imagine what it was like growing up in the same town as those motherfucker.s, let alone having their President terrorizing my vulnerable father.

Not that my dad is vulnerable. Jack Anderson is not a man to be fucke.d with. If you came for him, he would have no problem popping a cap in your head.

We all met Kong’s dad a couple of years ago before he passed away. The man was jittery, on edge, and didn’t want his son joining us, understandably, after what we just heard.

It was apparent to anyone with eyes the man couldn’t defend himself, especially against men like Click. Of course, the old cunt would pick up on that and take advantage of it.

“When Alison and I were fourteen, Click invited me to dinner. Alison begged me to go. She thought Click was finally okay with us being friends and that he wanted to show us that he approved. She was so innocent-minded, even with a dad like that, that she believed what he told her. I went because it made her happy.”

Kong shifts in his seat.

“Click showed me just how sick and twisted he could be that night. He plastered on a fake smile, giving me a false sense of calm. He still scared me half to death. In my fourteen-year-old mind, Click was the devil, no matter how nice he acted.”

He still is the fuckin.g devil.

“His wife served dinner on a silver platter. Literally.” He sniggers sarcastically. “Click made some big speech about nothing of any importance to a kid, and then he lifted the lid... I’ll never forget Alison’s screams and the way my eyes were locked on what he served up.”

“What was it?” Ace asks.

“A baked dog’s head.”

Everyone murmurs inaudible words of disgust. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us that the sick fuc.k did something like that. It’s still sickening to hear it.

“My dog.”

How did I know that was coming?

“I knew right away that it was Bud because he was still wearing his collar.”

“He murdered your dog?”

“Yes, Stryker, he murdered my dog, cooked his head, and served it to me as a warning. A warning of what would happen to me should I ever touch his daughter. Alison’s mother dragged her out of the room because she was hysterical. Click sat calmly in his chair and told me that would be me if I ever went against him where Alison was concerned.”

“Yet you still did.” Mike chuckles, but this is no laughing matter to Kong. I also now have a better understanding of why his two huge Rottweilers mean so much to him. Loyal pets that will quite literally tear a man apart if Kong snaps his fingers.

“Not until we were eighteen.” Kong smiles slightly. “I didn’t want to admit I felt anything for her. I didn’t want Click coming after my family. My dad was quite ill by that point, and I couldn’t risk Click pushing him over the edge. So, I fought what I felt for Alison and told myself I didn’t want her.

“However, there came a day when I just couldn’t fight what I felt for her any longer. I know I should have fought harder, but when you love someone, it ain’t as easy as some would have you believe. Alison and I had to sneak around to see each other to ensure no one cottoned onto what we were to one another.

“After graduation, Alison left for college in Texas, and I would go up there to visit and spend time with her. While she was there, my parents moved out of Claxton and here to Bardsville. I met you guys and joined. I kept the fact that I even knew Alison from everyone because I knew how much you couldn’t stand the Coyotes. I also wanted to protect Alison.

“When we were twenty-two, and she was home from college, Alison told me she was pregnant. I told Shepard the truth because I felt like I owed it to my Prez, to be honest.”

Pity Shepard never thought to tell the rest of us this snippet of information. If he had, we would have been more prepared for this.

“Shepard warned me not to bring trouble to the club, which I have never done. He also told me that I could tell everyone the truth if and when I felt it necessary. I’m sorry I kept it from you all, but I thought it would be too dangerous. I had to keep Alison and the baby safe.”

“You don’t think you would have kept Alison safer by staying away from her?”

I look at Gunner and see his eyebrow raised. The man has a point.

“It’s not that easy when you’re that deeply in love with someone, Gunner.” Ghost rolls his eyes.

“Exactly.” Kong sighs. “I never thought Alison would get out from under her father’s hold, so I should have stayed away from her. But it physically hurt even thinking about ending things. I was worried about what Alison would tell her father about our child. I told her to lie because it was safer, but she refused. Strangely, Click didn’t come after me, though he made Alison swear she would never see me again. She agreed, but that clearly didn’t happen.

“When Teddy was born, Alison allowed me access because she made Click see it would be for the best. She told him it would bring war with the Snakes if he refused. He obviously didn’t want that. So, Click made all the arrangements, and he would send one of his club’s women to meet me and hand Teddy over. That same woman would pick him up again a few hours later. Then you guys started asking more and more who his mother was,”

“Alison is your kid’s mom?”

Kong nods at Jett.

We all knew the man had a son. He’s not telling us anything we don’t know in that sense. We’ve met the little man a few times when Kong had access. He never told us much about Teddy’s mother. He’d never go into detail, and now I know why.

We’d figured out Alison was Teddy’s mother before Jett asked. But I guess he wanted clarification.

“Yes, Alison is Teddy’s mother. We’d been making plans to get Alison and Teddy away from Click. I was this close,” Kong holds his finger near his thumb as if showing how close he almost was. “But that bastard must have realized what was about to happen. Alison is pregnant with our second kid, and Click has my son.”

“How the fuc.k have you been seeing that psycho’s daughter all this time without anyone finding out?”

“With all due respect, we don’t have time for this, Veep. Click will know by now that Alison is missing, and he’ll want blood. Prez, he has my boy, and he’ll think nothing of killing him to teach Alison a lesson.”

“We’ll get him out of there, Kong, but we need an airtight plan. We can’t afford to make mistakes when there’s a three-year-old involved.”

We do need an airtight plan, but I doubt we have time to sit here planning the abduction of a three-year-old child. He could be dead before we even get to the Coyotes clubhouse, if he’s even there, and that’s before we make plans. Not to mention, we need to collect weapons, the truck, and... Calm down, Hawk, where there’s a will, there’s a way.