Dangeruss & Tazer
Chapter 15
A few months before Patrick Kane’s kidnapping….
Marcus Kruger walked out of Johnny’s Ice House. It was a sunny, windy afternoon in Chicago. And it was a Wednesday, hump day.
He reached his car, parked in the normal, mundane spot. He loaded his equipment into the trunk, when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He whipped around at once and saw two large men. One was black and the other was white. The white man had a short crew cut and facial marks that seemed like dents, that made him scowl. His eyes were a scary grayish color, that glowed with darkness.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m Sean Avery, and this is Michael Crabtree. We need a favor from you.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. Michael smirked, slyly and it made the Chicago player a little uneasy, but he held his ground. “What is it?”
Sean grabbed Marcus by the collar of his practice jersey and dragged him away from his car, over to a more private parking spot. He shoved him against a black Charger. “We need some information on Patrick Kane. Think you can help us?”
“And before you answer, you may want to see this,” Michael added on, as he held out his phone toward the frightened and skeptical Blackhawk.
Marcus shakingly reached out and took the cell from the man and looked at the screen. He gasped immediately, almost dropping the device. He shoved it back out at the man, who took it from him. He couldn’t shake the image of seeing his best friend on the team, tied up and forced to be in front of a camera like that. It was terrible!
“Where’s Brandon?”
“We’ll release him, when you’ve agreed to help us out!”
“What did you do to him? Let him go! You’ve got no right keeping him tied up like that!”
“So, have we got us an inside man?”
Marcus was still in shock and horror, but he nodded, absent-mindedly. He didn’t want to know what would happen if he refused. He wanted Brandon Saad to be okay and to be let go. To be safe.
Sean patted him on the head. “You’ll be fine. You’ll do fine. If there is one thing I know, it is that Chicago Blackhawks make perfect spies!”
“And traitors!”
“Oh, yeah, that too! They make great traitors too!”
They shoved Marcus away from the car and got in. Sean took the driver’s seat. He rolled the window of the Charger down and smiled at the petrified centerman.
“Look, Marcus, meet us here again tomorrow with information about Patrick’s fears. Got it. We’re gonna hold onto Saader a little bit longer, just in case. Maybe the threat of his death will help you to do the right thing. It’s your choice; his life is on your conscious.”
Marcus Kruger slowly nodded, as the car peeled off, out of the lot. He was freaking out. But he had to betray one teammate, in order to help another out. He would get Patrick’s fears and maybe a little more. He had to ensure Brandon’s safety.
To be honest, Marcus cared more about Brandon, than the show-off of Patrick Kane.
****
Marcus tapped Patrick Kane on the shoulder during practice later that evening. He had spent hours trying to gather his courage and get his mind wrapped around the idea of betraying the greatest, most popular goal scorer Chicago had ever known.
The blonde haired man spun to him. “Marcus?”
The centerman kept his control and cleared his throat. “I’m just curious, but is there anything you can’t do?”
“On the ice or off?”
“On.”
Patrick chuckled at the random question. “Krugsy, man, why the random question?”
“I just want to know. I mean you seem like you could do anything! You could be blindfolded and still own an opponent!”
“Blindfolded? Well, I’m not so sure about that….” Patrick slapped his teammate on the back. “Maybe with an eyepatch, like a pirate?”
“Yeah.”
“My strengths just make it harder for rivals to deal with me!”
“Right.”
“They have to work extra hard.”
“What about fears? Don’t you have any fears?” He made the question try to not seem so obvious and random. And he didn’t want Patrick to be skeptical of him and question him. He hoped that the timing and tone of his voice helped to disguise everything.
“You’re silly, Krugsy. I do not have any fears…well except for snakes! I guess if someone threw a snake on the ice, I’d freak out, but other than that, I haven’t a clue. Are you trying to sell me out to someone?”
“No!” Marcus snapped a little too harshly.
Patrick took a step back.
“Sorry. I’m just going through some problems of my own. I was hoping maybe you had some tips on how to deal with and manage fear.”
Patrick folded his arms and smiled. “Buddy, what kind of fears are you experiencing?”
“If I make a bad play and the opposing team scores.”
“That’s a common one. Our good ole captain used to have that! He doesn’t anymore. I’ll have to hook you both up for a talk. All I can tell you is that any fears I have, I can quickly conquer by listening to music.”
“Oh, okay. I tried that.”
“Dude, you need to relax. It’s gonna be okay, and I’ll let you in on a little secret, I’m afraid of missing in a shootout, getting injured, getting hit with a puck, having another game-winning puck stolen from me. Trust me, there are some serious fears that I have.”
“I thought you just told me your only fear was snakes?”
“Because I didn’t realize how torn up about this fear thing you are. I’m willing to lend you some of my darkest secrets, Marcus. I trust you will keep them to yourself.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Thank you. I’ve never told anyone those fears, not even Johnny.”
“I won’t tell anyone else, you have my word.”
“I’m going to go shoot some pucks, and I’ll make sure to tell Tazer about your issues and worries.”
With that the blonde man launched off, scooping a puck into his blade and pulled his creative shootout skills, easily fooling the back-up goalie. He laughed, as he rounded the goal and pointed.
“You gotta learn to stop those!” Patrick chuckled, before going again.
Marcus watched them, his heart breaking into two pieces. How could he betray Patrick Kane? Then he remembered seeing Brandon Saad gazing into the lens of a camera, as his picture was snapped. The blood that covered his face and stained his torn and ripped up shirt. A sign of a struggle. And the bruises that caked his skin from someone beating him up. Finally the ropes that bound him to the chair, helpless to move. Helpless to go anywhere. Let alone escape.
The Blackhawk player knew what he had to do. And though he knew it wasn’t right, he walked off the ice, down the tunnel and into the Ice House’s locker room. He undressed himself and pulled on normal clothes, a t-shirt and shorts. Then he walked outside, carrying his equipment, bag and sticks and loaded them into his car.
As he slammed the trunk shut, he spotted the black Charger. The window was rolled down and the black man was beckoning to him to come over with a flexing index finger.
Marcus gulped. He stalked over, reluctantly and leaned against the door.
“So what do you know?”
“He’s afraid of snakes.”
“And?” Michael pressed.
“Come on Kruger, we don’t have all day and neither does Saader!”
“He’s fearful of missing in a shootout, getting injured, getting hit with a puck, you name it. Anything he doesn’t do already, the opposites of him. That is what he is scared of. Is that good enough for you?”
Sean and Michael shared a look with one another, before nodding in unison.
“That’s fantastic information!”
“Now, can you let Brandon go?”
“We will. But you must continue to do as we say, if you slip up….well, we know where Saader is and we can easily track him down and kill him!”
Marcus nodded, vigorously. “I won’t let you down!”
“Great. Why don’t you go get us Lil Kanerboo’s schedule. We gotta know where he’s going and what he’s doing.”
“You’re not going to hurt him are you? Why are you having me look into Patrick?”
“The less you know the better.”
“I have a score to settle with him, Marcus. In 2010, your buddy did a very bad thing and he must pay for it. Just know that we’re going to meet up with him and have a little talk.”
“Okay. But please don’t hurt anyone. You could end up in jail.”
“The law’s got nothing on us!”
****
Marcus Kruger continued to gather all kinds of information for the two. He gave them Patrick’s practice schedule, his eating schedule, free time schedule, every single thing he did. And he even gave them Patrick’s home address. More secrets were shared and transferred to the two villains.
Until finally, it came to be the night of Patrick Kane’s grand kidnapping. Sean and Michael made sure Marcus still had no idea, as they snuck in easily and captured the blonde Blackhawk. His teammate still had no idea about the crime, when Jonathan found out. And still nothing was known when Patrick was held in the Greenhouse.
He finally found out via the news. He was shocked and furious. He heard the Blood Brothers forcing Patrick to muffle a sound for the ears of his best friend. He was certain that Patrick Kane had been kidnapped by the two men and was being held hostage. He was also certain that they had bound and gagged the poor forward. It was terrible and Marcus knew he was not in the clear. He had helped to do this.
He had to tell Jonathan. But Sean Avery and Michael Crabtree were coming to him. They needed his help again, but after finding out he had been lied to, he wasn’t so sure. If they killed him so be it and he would tell them to kill him, before they even laid a finger on Brandon.
He sat on his couch, when the bang on his apartment door sounded. He turned off his TV at once and stood up. He answered the door and allowed the men in. He knew that they would get in anyway.
“Kruger, ready to help out again, you little Swedish traitor!”
“No! I’m not helping you anymore!”
“Awe, come on, man, why not?”
“You lied to me!”
“Yeah, so!”
“You promised not to hurt Kaner!”
“Did we promise anything like that, Crabs?”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
“You told me you were going to talk to him and now you’ve kidnapped him, bound and gagged him?”
“We tried talking to the guy, but he wouldn’t listen!”
“You KIDNAPPED him!” Marcus shouted, his voice and anger bouncing off his walls. “Forget it, I’m out of here! I’m not helping you guys anymore!” He pushed his way through the two men and headed for the door.
“What about Saader?”
Marcus paused. He spun around. “You won’t touch him! Kill me, because I will fight you! I’m going to go tell Jonathan what you have done!”
“No you are not!” Sean spat, raising a black hand gun in his hand. It looked like a standard police weapon. He pointed it in the direction of Marcus. “Crabs, grab him!”
Marcus didn’t move, as Michael seized his arms and forced him back over to where Sean was. He kept the gun trained on the Blackhawk, as he was forced to stand still, before the man. Michael let go, as Sean moved the gun around and placed it right in front of Marcus’ head.
Inside he was terrified, absolutely panicked, but he maintained his composure and stood up straight, wearing an indifferent expression. Sean rolled his eyes, pulled back the trigger and shot him in the head.
Marcus Kruger fell backward and landed on the ground, instantly bleeding out.
“An eye for an eye, ashes to ashes, dust to dust and it serves you right, you dirty traitor,” Sean Avery spat on the dead body, as he lowered the weapon finally and sheathed it back into its holder in his coat.
The two walked out, leaving Marcus to bleed out. And he was dead within the next twenty minutes.
Marcus Kruger walked out of Johnny’s Ice House. It was a sunny, windy afternoon in Chicago. And it was a Wednesday, hump day.
He reached his car, parked in the normal, mundane spot. He loaded his equipment into the trunk, when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He whipped around at once and saw two large men. One was black and the other was white. The white man had a short crew cut and facial marks that seemed like dents, that made him scowl. His eyes were a scary grayish color, that glowed with darkness.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m Sean Avery, and this is Michael Crabtree. We need a favor from you.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. Michael smirked, slyly and it made the Chicago player a little uneasy, but he held his ground. “What is it?”
Sean grabbed Marcus by the collar of his practice jersey and dragged him away from his car, over to a more private parking spot. He shoved him against a black Charger. “We need some information on Patrick Kane. Think you can help us?”
“And before you answer, you may want to see this,” Michael added on, as he held out his phone toward the frightened and skeptical Blackhawk.
Marcus shakingly reached out and took the cell from the man and looked at the screen. He gasped immediately, almost dropping the device. He shoved it back out at the man, who took it from him. He couldn’t shake the image of seeing his best friend on the team, tied up and forced to be in front of a camera like that. It was terrible!
“Where’s Brandon?”
“We’ll release him, when you’ve agreed to help us out!”
“What did you do to him? Let him go! You’ve got no right keeping him tied up like that!”
“So, have we got us an inside man?”
Marcus was still in shock and horror, but he nodded, absent-mindedly. He didn’t want to know what would happen if he refused. He wanted Brandon Saad to be okay and to be let go. To be safe.
Sean patted him on the head. “You’ll be fine. You’ll do fine. If there is one thing I know, it is that Chicago Blackhawks make perfect spies!”
“And traitors!”
“Oh, yeah, that too! They make great traitors too!”
They shoved Marcus away from the car and got in. Sean took the driver’s seat. He rolled the window of the Charger down and smiled at the petrified centerman.
“Look, Marcus, meet us here again tomorrow with information about Patrick’s fears. Got it. We’re gonna hold onto Saader a little bit longer, just in case. Maybe the threat of his death will help you to do the right thing. It’s your choice; his life is on your conscious.”
Marcus Kruger slowly nodded, as the car peeled off, out of the lot. He was freaking out. But he had to betray one teammate, in order to help another out. He would get Patrick’s fears and maybe a little more. He had to ensure Brandon’s safety.
To be honest, Marcus cared more about Brandon, than the show-off of Patrick Kane.
****
Marcus tapped Patrick Kane on the shoulder during practice later that evening. He had spent hours trying to gather his courage and get his mind wrapped around the idea of betraying the greatest, most popular goal scorer Chicago had ever known.
The blonde haired man spun to him. “Marcus?”
The centerman kept his control and cleared his throat. “I’m just curious, but is there anything you can’t do?”
“On the ice or off?”
“On.”
Patrick chuckled at the random question. “Krugsy, man, why the random question?”
“I just want to know. I mean you seem like you could do anything! You could be blindfolded and still own an opponent!”
“Blindfolded? Well, I’m not so sure about that….” Patrick slapped his teammate on the back. “Maybe with an eyepatch, like a pirate?”
“Yeah.”
“My strengths just make it harder for rivals to deal with me!”
“Right.”
“They have to work extra hard.”
“What about fears? Don’t you have any fears?” He made the question try to not seem so obvious and random. And he didn’t want Patrick to be skeptical of him and question him. He hoped that the timing and tone of his voice helped to disguise everything.
“You’re silly, Krugsy. I do not have any fears…well except for snakes! I guess if someone threw a snake on the ice, I’d freak out, but other than that, I haven’t a clue. Are you trying to sell me out to someone?”
“No!” Marcus snapped a little too harshly.
Patrick took a step back.
“Sorry. I’m just going through some problems of my own. I was hoping maybe you had some tips on how to deal with and manage fear.”
Patrick folded his arms and smiled. “Buddy, what kind of fears are you experiencing?”
“If I make a bad play and the opposing team scores.”
“That’s a common one. Our good ole captain used to have that! He doesn’t anymore. I’ll have to hook you both up for a talk. All I can tell you is that any fears I have, I can quickly conquer by listening to music.”
“Oh, okay. I tried that.”
“Dude, you need to relax. It’s gonna be okay, and I’ll let you in on a little secret, I’m afraid of missing in a shootout, getting injured, getting hit with a puck, having another game-winning puck stolen from me. Trust me, there are some serious fears that I have.”
“I thought you just told me your only fear was snakes?”
“Because I didn’t realize how torn up about this fear thing you are. I’m willing to lend you some of my darkest secrets, Marcus. I trust you will keep them to yourself.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Thank you. I’ve never told anyone those fears, not even Johnny.”
“I won’t tell anyone else, you have my word.”
“I’m going to go shoot some pucks, and I’ll make sure to tell Tazer about your issues and worries.”
With that the blonde man launched off, scooping a puck into his blade and pulled his creative shootout skills, easily fooling the back-up goalie. He laughed, as he rounded the goal and pointed.
“You gotta learn to stop those!” Patrick chuckled, before going again.
Marcus watched them, his heart breaking into two pieces. How could he betray Patrick Kane? Then he remembered seeing Brandon Saad gazing into the lens of a camera, as his picture was snapped. The blood that covered his face and stained his torn and ripped up shirt. A sign of a struggle. And the bruises that caked his skin from someone beating him up. Finally the ropes that bound him to the chair, helpless to move. Helpless to go anywhere. Let alone escape.
The Blackhawk player knew what he had to do. And though he knew it wasn’t right, he walked off the ice, down the tunnel and into the Ice House’s locker room. He undressed himself and pulled on normal clothes, a t-shirt and shorts. Then he walked outside, carrying his equipment, bag and sticks and loaded them into his car.
As he slammed the trunk shut, he spotted the black Charger. The window was rolled down and the black man was beckoning to him to come over with a flexing index finger.
Marcus gulped. He stalked over, reluctantly and leaned against the door.
“So what do you know?”
“He’s afraid of snakes.”
“And?” Michael pressed.
“Come on Kruger, we don’t have all day and neither does Saader!”
“He’s fearful of missing in a shootout, getting injured, getting hit with a puck, you name it. Anything he doesn’t do already, the opposites of him. That is what he is scared of. Is that good enough for you?”
Sean and Michael shared a look with one another, before nodding in unison.
“That’s fantastic information!”
“Now, can you let Brandon go?”
“We will. But you must continue to do as we say, if you slip up….well, we know where Saader is and we can easily track him down and kill him!”
Marcus nodded, vigorously. “I won’t let you down!”
“Great. Why don’t you go get us Lil Kanerboo’s schedule. We gotta know where he’s going and what he’s doing.”
“You’re not going to hurt him are you? Why are you having me look into Patrick?”
“The less you know the better.”
“I have a score to settle with him, Marcus. In 2010, your buddy did a very bad thing and he must pay for it. Just know that we’re going to meet up with him and have a little talk.”
“Okay. But please don’t hurt anyone. You could end up in jail.”
“The law’s got nothing on us!”
****
Marcus Kruger continued to gather all kinds of information for the two. He gave them Patrick’s practice schedule, his eating schedule, free time schedule, every single thing he did. And he even gave them Patrick’s home address. More secrets were shared and transferred to the two villains.
Until finally, it came to be the night of Patrick Kane’s grand kidnapping. Sean and Michael made sure Marcus still had no idea, as they snuck in easily and captured the blonde Blackhawk. His teammate still had no idea about the crime, when Jonathan found out. And still nothing was known when Patrick was held in the Greenhouse.
He finally found out via the news. He was shocked and furious. He heard the Blood Brothers forcing Patrick to muffle a sound for the ears of his best friend. He was certain that Patrick Kane had been kidnapped by the two men and was being held hostage. He was also certain that they had bound and gagged the poor forward. It was terrible and Marcus knew he was not in the clear. He had helped to do this.
He had to tell Jonathan. But Sean Avery and Michael Crabtree were coming to him. They needed his help again, but after finding out he had been lied to, he wasn’t so sure. If they killed him so be it and he would tell them to kill him, before they even laid a finger on Brandon.
He sat on his couch, when the bang on his apartment door sounded. He turned off his TV at once and stood up. He answered the door and allowed the men in. He knew that they would get in anyway.
“Kruger, ready to help out again, you little Swedish traitor!”
“No! I’m not helping you anymore!”
“Awe, come on, man, why not?”
“You lied to me!”
“Yeah, so!”
“You promised not to hurt Kaner!”
“Did we promise anything like that, Crabs?”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
“You told me you were going to talk to him and now you’ve kidnapped him, bound and gagged him?”
“We tried talking to the guy, but he wouldn’t listen!”
“You KIDNAPPED him!” Marcus shouted, his voice and anger bouncing off his walls. “Forget it, I’m out of here! I’m not helping you guys anymore!” He pushed his way through the two men and headed for the door.
“What about Saader?”
Marcus paused. He spun around. “You won’t touch him! Kill me, because I will fight you! I’m going to go tell Jonathan what you have done!”
“No you are not!” Sean spat, raising a black hand gun in his hand. It looked like a standard police weapon. He pointed it in the direction of Marcus. “Crabs, grab him!”
Marcus didn’t move, as Michael seized his arms and forced him back over to where Sean was. He kept the gun trained on the Blackhawk, as he was forced to stand still, before the man. Michael let go, as Sean moved the gun around and placed it right in front of Marcus’ head.
Inside he was terrified, absolutely panicked, but he maintained his composure and stood up straight, wearing an indifferent expression. Sean rolled his eyes, pulled back the trigger and shot him in the head.
Marcus Kruger fell backward and landed on the ground, instantly bleeding out.
“An eye for an eye, ashes to ashes, dust to dust and it serves you right, you dirty traitor,” Sean Avery spat on the dead body, as he lowered the weapon finally and sheathed it back into its holder in his coat.
The two walked out, leaving Marcus to bleed out. And he was dead within the next twenty minutes.
Notes
Poor Kruger.....he really didn't have a choice..........
Next up Jermaine Kearse enters the tale! Stay tuned!!! :)
Fun fact time: Patrick Kane really is scared of snakes, he revealed it in an interview! So if you want to know how to terrorize Kaner, use snakes! ;)
@EvelynaKitty
Alright! I shall wait then ;)
9/19/14