in violence by my cold blooded daughter in fact. Tortured and haunted by her for her entire childhood. But she had this light inside her and thought about or others before herself. It was at first, disconcerting to me. As no one could be that pure. In my world, there was only avarice and greed. But she proved herself to be selfless and kind over and over. Then a day came when I looked into the eyes of death. I mean a good look. It is true when they say it flashes before your eyes.” He shifted in his seat and looked over at Bastian. “Then I was offered a choice. I could get a do over if I wanted it. A chance to redo my life. I had finally learned to forgive the biggest injustice that had been done to me and I found I wanted something more. I took that do over and began using what I’d learned while being a hitman to do the work for the people oppressed by organizations like SANG group. Evil is out there in many shapes and forms. And take it from me, some of those shapes and forms may surprise you just before it takes your life. Bastian, James and I have learned how to find the real evil. Together, we work to fight this evil. If we say we can take out the SANG group, you should believe we can take it out. The world would be a better place without them in it.”
Bastian nodded.” My story is different. Well... maybe not. I met a woman who is now my wife. She was to be one of my victims. I was hired to grab her. Someone I would have torture then kill to get the information she had.”
Annie and Becky stared at him with round eyes.
He caught their look and laughed. “Come to find, love does conquer evil.”
Damen stared at Bane with total awe and curiosity. “But you were a legend, still are. You gave that up? Just because of your niece?”
“A very foul man went after my family for another reason entirely. I’d finally found someone who believed in me...The new me, and he wanted to take her away from me. I couldn’t allow that to happen. She deserved to live the same as you do. I took out the threat to her life and I gave her the same chance she gave me. A life for a life.” Bane paused and admitted, “My life never mattered much to me. I always felt my soul was incomplete so the world would never miss someone like me, but when I met her, I knew the world would miss someone like her.” He turned to look at Becky. “And she’s a lot like you.”
Becky blinked at him.
“I’ve been working for them for some time now,” Damen spoke. “I know many of their backdoors.”
“James seems to think you’re ready for your own do over.” Bane stared at the other man. “Is that what this is?”
Damen nodded. “For a long time now, I’ve barely been able to follow orders given to me by Levi. My heart was sick when he sent me down here to find his daughter. I’ve been watching her for weeks now and she’s got a spark inside her I’ve never seen before. I wanted to protect her instead of turning her in to a man like Levi. Because she had something so rare I wanted it for myself.”
Bane smiled. “I know that feeling very well.” He glanced over at James and gave the man a nod. “You’re right, he’s ready.” Bane then swung his gaze to Gunner and Cobra. “Levi is growing impatient. He left Kansas City early this morning with two other men. They should arrive within the next two hours.”
“And just how do you know this?” Gunner asked.
“We are having them followed of course,” Bastian assured the group.
“If he’s coming, he’ll have more than just two men waiting for him,” Damen told them. “The two men at his back are probably Peter Longview and Ben Langley. Each of them has five men under them, the same as Jase and I did. There could be as many as twenty men in the shadows waiting for the word to start shooting.”
“That’s what we needed to know.” Bane nodded at him. “We already assumed this but not the actual count.”
Damen went on, “Some will come in on foot, but most of them will be up high in the trees. The