Steven was driving when his cell phone went off. Pushing the intercom button, he turned on the speaker. "Hello?"
"Ah Patrick... why am I not surprised to find you on the other line." Brian's voice spoke.
Before Steven had a chance to respond Patrick quickly removed the cell phone from its consol, taking the conversation private. "Can I help you?"
"Where's Daryl... is we with you?" Brian asked.
"Yes." Patrick replied flatly.
"Can I speak with him?"
Patrick looked in back of the car where Daryl was sitting, his ears covered by a pair of Steven's headphones, his head moving to the beat of the techno CD Steven had wanted him to listen to.
"He's occupied at the moment... can I take a message?"
"No... I have a better idea. Let's all have lunch together. I'm sure you can arrange that."
"He is going to be pretty busy today."
"Don't worry... I won't be taking much of your time. I just want to check up on him. He made a big decision today... a lot sooner than I guessed he would. I have you to thank for that. Your bank account will soon reflect my gratitude."
"No need to do that."
"But I insist. Just be sure you, Daryl, and that cute brother of yours driving next to you are at Marriot on Sixth Street sometime around noon. Have a good morning."
"But..." Patrick said to a now dead phone.
"What's up?" Steven asked after Patrick returned the cell phone to the consol.
Patrick looked back to make sure Daryl was still listening to music before turning the car radio on full blast. "That was Brian."
"That jerk!" Steven shouted only for his brother to raise a finger to his lips.
"What did he want?" Steven asked in a quieter voice.
"He wants to have lunch with us."
"I hope you told him to shove it."
"I did but..." Patrick said, glancing at the cars around him. "We're being followed."
"Should we try to get away?"
"No... I don't think that would do any good. I think your car is bugged."
"But you can get rid of them... can't you?" Steven asked.
"If I had my gear with me... yeah."
"Tell me you at least have a gun on you."
"Do I ever leave the house without one?" Patrick said, lifting up his pants' leg, to reveal a small handgun strapped to it.
"So should we stop by the house and get your stuff?"
"No... not worth the risk. He wants us over for lunch so we better do it. If I start removing stuff now, he might think we don't plan on showing up... that would be bad." Patrick said as he took out his own cell phone.
"Don't you worry about your phone being bugged?" Steven asked as his brother put an ear piece into his ear.
"They could have but it wouldn't do them any good. The signal on my phone is double encrypted and uses a different frequency then what is used with normal cell phones."
"I wondered why yours was so big... I thought you were trying to compensate for something," Steven joked.
"Very funny," Patrick said as he started dialing a number. "Hello Alex?"
"Alex?" Steven almost choked.
Alex had been one of Patrick's on and off lovers going all the way back to when the two met in basic training. Whereas Patrick had joined to help pay for college, Alex wanted to be a career soldier. Steven had often listened to the almost comic adventures the two men had back during the first Gulf Wars. After leaving the military and getting a degree in criminal justice, it was three years before the two cowboys were reunited. Alex, having gotten caught giving a blow job to one of his instructors in officer's training, had been pushed out of the service. The man's love for guns and covert ops however did not let him leave the military lifestyle completely.
Steven did not know for sure what Alex did for a job but deep down he suspected that the man had become a gun for hire. Not just once had his brother received a long distance phone call from Alex sending Patrick off packing to some far corner of the Earth. The last time had been during the US invasion of Afghanistan, with his brother being gone for almost three weeks. When he came back it was with a black eye, a chipped tooth, and an arm that Patrick claimed was only broken but Steven was sure had received a bullet.
Now it seemed Patrick was going to collect the favors he had earned from all those times he had to go save Alex's ass.
"Well?" Steven asked after his brother had removed his ear piece.
"Got him curious so... he has agreed to help," Patrick chuckled.
"That all?"
"You know Alex... always eager to help a friend."
"He wants to fuck you... doesn't he?"
"Alex has never fucked me Steven."
"You mean Mr. Commando is really a nellie bottom?"
"I didn't say that either..."
"Then what?" Steven demanded.
"If you've not noticed Alex can be a little obsessive," Patrick said.
"I have noticed that."
"Have you never noticed how immaculately clean and tidy he is?"
"So he doesn't have anal sex because he doesn't want to get dirty?"
"Exactly."
"But isn't being a soldier a dirty business?"
"That's the funny thing about it... so long as he has a gun in his hand he doesn't care about getting dirty. He's wanted to fuck me for a long time but you know I would never allowed firearms in bed... especially if they're used is sex-play."
"So what is he going to do to help?"
"Well for starters he's going to case out the Marriot and find out what room Brian is staying in. If I remember correctly the area is crowded with tall buildings, so there will be no problem for him to set up a sniper position."
"A sniper... is that really necessary?" Steven asked shocked.
"Just taking precautions. If all goes well Alex will meet us back home... then the real planning can start."
"Planning for what?" Daryl asked... having just reached the end of the CD.
The twins looked at each other nervously.
"We are going to hook up later with an old army buddy of mine," Patrick said.
"Neat," Daryl said, taking the headphone off.
Seeing a juice bar just off the road, Steven pulled into its parking lot. "I need a drink."
"This early?" Daryl asked confused.
"I think I need one too. You got your flask on you?"
"Never leave home without it," Steven said, opening open his coat to show the silver flask.
Come on Dare... we need to talk," Patrick said.
After entering the juice bar and being served a round of foamy pina coladas, Steven took out his hipflask and emptied its contents into both Patrick's and Daryl's drink, leaving his own untouched.
"I don't drink." Daryl said, pushing the tall glass away.
"Trust me, you want to," Steven insisted. I want to but one of us has to drive."
"Just tell me what you two have to say. I'll decide later if getting drunk would be the appropriate response."
"Your call was traced," Steven said while Patrick was busy draining his drink through a straw.
"I don't understand."
"While you were listening to music Brian called."
"Brian?" Daryl said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"He's here in town. He wants us to bring you to the hotel he is staying at to have lunch with him."
"Brian is here?"
"Drink up," Patrick suggested, pushing Daryl's glass back in his direction.
This time Daryl did not hesitate. "Gosh I forgot how awful this stuff tastes," he said, after taking a swig, a foam mustache left on his face.
"You've had alcohol before? Steven said surprised.
"Brian's father kept a stash hidden in the root cellar. We would sometimes spend whole nights down there," Daryl explained before gulping down more of the spiked drink.
"Hehehe... I knew you had it in you," Patrick chuckled.
"Hey... don't expect me to make a habit of this," Daryl replied, his glass already half empty.
"Well Dare... what do you think?" Steven asked when he noticed Daryl cheeks were now flushed.
"About Brian? Sure... let's go see him."
"Do you really want to do that?" Patrick asked worriedly.
"Why not? I'm actually happy he finally got the courage to leave home."
"But do you know why he left home?" Steven asked.
"To get away from his father... the Father," Daryl laughed, his voice starting to slur.
"Dare... Brian is the Father. He's here to bring you back home," Steven said, regretting that he had put so much vodka into Daryl's drink.
"Hahaha... but Brian hates his father. He wanted to get away as much as I did."
"Dare you're not listening... Brian is the Father. He now leads New Hope."
"What?" Daryl asked confused, reaching to finish the last of his drink.
"I think you've had enough," Steven said as he took the glass away.
"I don't understand... Brian's dad said he would never let a fag like his son lead the church," Daryl said, leaning back in his chair.
"Well he leads it now Dare," Steven said, elbowing his brother.
"Things fell apart after you left Dare," Patrick said, no hint of drunkenness in his voice.
"How so?" Daryl asked, shaking himself as if to clear the fog in his head.
"Brian led a secret revolt... people died, his father is now locked up in a mental hospital."
"A mental hospital? That can't be right," Daryl insisted.
"Brian had his father shunned Dare," Patrick said.
Hearing that word did more than several pots of coffee could in clearing Daryl's mind. "No... I know Brian. He would never do that to a person, even his own father."
"I don't understand it myself, so you will have to question Brian yourself over his motives." Patrick said.
"Brian is really now the Father?" Daryl said, in a tone that showed that he still did not fully believing it.
"He is," Steven said, reaching under the table to hold Daryl's hand just to find that Patrick's was already there.
"And he wants to bring me back to New Hope?"
"He does," Patrick nodded.
"I don't want to go back."
"We know... that's why I called my army buddy. We're all going to work together to see that nothing happens to you," Patrick promised.
Just at that moment a shadow fell on all three men. Looking at its source they saw three broad shouldered men dressed in black suits.
"Secret Service?" Steven chuckled.
"No..." Daryl said, recognizing the small circular pendants on their lapels.
"Friends of yours?" Patrick asked.
"No, I don't know any of them... which has me worried."
"The Father sent us to remind you that you all have a busy schedule to keep and should be hurrying on," the man on the left said.
"Who are you? You're not from New Hope," Daryl demanded
"You have been gone a long time Mr. Gavin. Things have changed... for the better," the same man said, as if daring anyone to say otherwise.
"We were just leaving," Patrick said as he helped Daryl stand up.
Back in the car, the twins heard Daryl let out a deep moan. "What has Brian done?"
"I take it that those three were members of your church?" Patrick guessed.
"If they were... they sure didn't act like any Blessed I have ever known."
"They sure did to me," Steven grunted as he put the car into reverse. "Cold, stoic, robots."
"Exactly... which is almost the opposite of how the people in New Hope really act."
"I don't get it... when I first met you, you were pretty cold and stoic," Steven said as he drove out of the parking lot.
"That was because I was trying to... to hurt myself. I wanted to experience what my brother went through."
"You were shunning yourself," Steven said flatly.
"Yes... yes I was," Daryl admitted.
"So how do people back home act?"
"Cheerful... happy... a bunch of cheerful happy lemmings," Daryl replied.
"Well those three were anything but cheerful... they were plain creepy," Steven grunted.
"And armed to the teeth," Patrick added.
"Really?" Steven asked surprised.
"Each one had minimum of three guns apiece and at least one knife."
"What have you done Brian?" Daryl said again.
"So where do you think the Father found these thugs?" Steven asked his twin.
"I don't know... I'll have to get my people on it."
"They're not from New Hope or even Montana," Daryl replied.
"They did have sort of a citified look to them," Patrick agreed.
"Where are we going?" Daryl asked.
"We're getting this shit over with now," Steven said.
"Good idea... he wouldn't be expecting that," Patrick agreed.
"I don't understand... we are going to the hotel now?" Daryl asked.
"Yep... that's unless you really don't want to see Brian?"
"No, I need to see him. I need answers," Daryl replied.
"Good because we're almost there." Steven said, pointing to the Marriot Hotel.
Well folks the Centurion and the Academy are now on sale, 4 dollars off the original price for those still waiting to get a pair of the books off Amazon. The third book Angels Ascending will soon be out so keep your eyes out for it when it comes out in print. Just finished a move so things have been pretty hectic but otherwise alright in the usual stressful kind of way. Take care.
JMH
trandar2002@yahoo.com