Page 38 of Ride the Whirlwind

“We are getting close to the gates. You can see the guys guarding them.” Ardan pointed ahead, his voice thick and shaky. “That one over there with the huge beard is Digger, and then Wheeler, Chain, Speed...”

“Man, slow down. You’re more excited than a three-year-old visiting the zoo for the first time.” Brodie shook his head, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Seven hours of flight, one hour of driving, and you haven't stopped talking for a second. I guess breathing is overrated, huh?”

“I bet Paisley is going to be the first one to greet us,” Ardan continued, ignoring Brodie's comment, “then Axel, and of course their cousins and partners in shenanigans. My sweet Tarrin and my brave Lorcan and Cian will also be there, and I just...” The man stopped for a second, his turquoise eyes glistening with tears. “Gods, I missed them so much!”

“Welcome home, boss. I can't tell you how happy all the guys are that you’re alive and well,” one of the massive guards at the gates greeted Ardan, who opened the door and stepped down from the car, hugging him. “Doc Douglas is our hero.”

“Happy to see you, too, Digger,” The Base's boss said, disentangling from the embrace. “You have to thank Brodie here, too. He nursed me back to health after the bastards guarding that place whipped me and left me for dead.”

“It's an honor to meet you, sir.” the guard dipped his head respectfully. “If you ever need help, please let me know. I'll do anything in my power, and so will the rest of the guys.”

“Thank you, Digger, but I only came to stay a day or two. I'll accompany Doc Douglas, Mister MacGowan, and his protegees back to San Francisco. There is a job waiting for me there, and I'll start to slowly build a life around it.” Brodie smiled.

“I hope you'll visit us again sometime.” Digger nodded, gesturing to the other guards to open the gates and step aside. “We would like to spend some quality time in your company,” he added, saluting Brodie military-style.

“Lothier, will you please stop the car? I think we'll walk from here,” Ardan said, gazing lovingly to Alasdair, who smiled at him and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “Pater, don't you want to join us?” He turned to Fabian, whose sapphire eyes were shining affectionately at the familiar sight.

“Of course, I do, dear boy, and I think Matthew would like it, too,” the older man answered in a soft voice, looking at the young ex-CIA agent, who nodded shyly.

The four men climbed down from the vehicle, but they only took a few steps when four little children came running straight to them, filling the air with their giggles and making Ardan kneel, arms wide open. “Papa, you're home,” Paisley said in a high-pitched voice, covering the man's cheeks with sticky kisses. “Axel missed you, too.” She pointed to her twin.

“Is it so, my prince?” The man hugged the little boy's small form to his chest, lost in adoration. “Papa missed you so, so much,” he continued in a gentle voice. “I promise you I'll never leave for so long.” He caressed the children's fiery red curls so much like Alasdair's.

“Daddy said you were very, very, very sick,” Paisley spoke in a voice tinged with sadness, “and stayed there to get well. Can you play hide-and-seek with us now?”

“Please, Uncle Ardan?” Selma, Ezra and Peyton's daughter, who came accompanied by her twin sibling Alexis, brought her hands together in a pleading gesture. “Please, play with us!”

“Granddad!” Paisley, then Selma, Axel, and Alexis abandoned Ardan, throwing themselves into Fabian's open arms. “The kitties became veeeery fat,” the little red-haired girl whispered in his ear, a little disappointed.

“That's because they will give birth to other little, pretty, purring kitties in a few weeks.” The man tenderly smiled against Paisley's cheek.

Meanwhile, Brodie also climbed down from the car and got close to the little group. His eyes dampened at the sight of Fabian surrounded by the four little children, and he understood why Ardan kept talking about that place for almost nine hours straight. The Base was a sanctuary for abused and neglected kids, but also a safe haven for the one who built it.

Right then, six boys came running from the gates heading straight to the little group of men and children. They stopped a few steps away from Ardan, happiness and disbelief mixed on their faces. The curiosity got the best of Brodie, and he got closer, witnessing another heartwarming scene.

Two of the boys, taller and most likely older than the rest, wrapped their arms around Ardan, putting their heads on the man's shoulders. After staying like that for a good few minutes, they started to speak at the same time, tears running down their cheeks. From where he stood, Brodie couldn't understand what the kids were saying, but, judging by the look on Ardan's face, they were telling him how much they missed him.

His sons. The man was happy for his former cellmate, but his heart hurt when he realized how he had wasted thirty precious years of his life. He should have rejected Lester's offer back then, should have ran away and hide in a small, quiet town and kept a low profile instead of choosing to live in a cage. Ardan's melodious voice calling his name brought Brodie back to reality, and he walked to the group that was getting bigger and bigger.

“Come closer. Don't be shy. The inseparable four want to meet you.” Ardan smiled radiantly, gesturing to the group of teen boys who replaced the two from earlier. “There's plenty of room for a group hug. These two are really small. This is my son Tarrin”—he indicated a fragile blond—“this is Ira, his best friend, and these two are Pater's nephews, Elias and Abernathy.”

“We may be small, but we are a lot faster than them.” Tarrin grinned, extending a hand in Brodie's direction. “I'm very happy to finally meet you, sir. I can't tell you how grateful I am for everything you've done for Pater.”

“I'm happy to meet you, too, kiddo.” The man took the blond's hand, giving it a light shake. “Your Pater did all the hard work. He's a hell of a fighter, and now I can see he had so many reasons and people to fight for.” Brodie smiled, his gaze resting on the four boys, then switched to the two from earlier who were flanking Alasdair, chit-chatting with him. “You have a beautiful family, my friend.”

“Yes, I do.” Ardan's eyes became incandescent as he looked around, taking in each and every adult and child who came to greet him. “The gods smiled down on me,” he continued, tears of gratitude pooling in his eyes.

************

Ames paced the living-room of his New York apartment, feeling like a lion put in a cage too small to contain its greatness. His carefully laid plans went down the drain, and he watched helplessly how everything he built collapsed like a house of cards in just a week. Judging by how the events progressed, it wasn't going to end soon.

To his great, unpleasant surprise, Senator Osborne, who seemed to miraculously come back after spending almost a month in a comatose state, died a week earlier. When he went to the deceased politician's residence to offer his condolences, Ames was kicked out by Cliff, the senator's son, who had the bodyguards escort him outside the property and tell him to never come back.

Enraged by the goddamn bastard's ungratefulness, the man wanted to teach him a lesson, so he contacted Dawson and ordered him to expose the secret prison, showing the senator's role in establishing it. Ames thought he would have a stroke when his loyal minion told him the beasts were transferred to a maximum security prison, and the “special inmates” disappeared without a trace.

New shit added to the pile Ames was already buried under as Dawson was under investigation by Internal Affairs for police brutality, abuse, and the hiding and destroying of evidence in the Godfrey MacNamara murder case. The man suspected it was the doing of that little bitch Nicole, Senator Osborne's niece, to whom Dawson was married.

A couple of years earlier when she’d foiled his attempt to poison his ex-wife's children so he could cash the insurance money, the cop wanted to kill the goddamn woman, but Ames talked him out of it. He thought they could use the Senator's affection for her to their advantage, but he was bitterly wrong as the whore dug his and Dawson's grave instead.

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