Chapter 53

Six months had passed. Six months since Mattie took the mission of infiltrating the Establishment's Headquarters and acting as a double agent. Was this hell ever going to end? Brie asked herself this question daily, but she put on a brave face, not just for her husband and kids, but for the other wives. They tended to lean on her for their strength. To vent her frustration, she threw herself into her morning workouts, pushing herself to do more and go longer. David watched her in amazement. He worked out beside her every day for over a year and had never seen her push herself like she was at that time. He was proud of her for finding an outlet that worked for her.

To build a better bound between the families, once a week after the kids were in bed, Mike had decided that they needed a family game night. It was a way for them all to take their minds off of the shit that was happening outside their door and to focus on what was really important. So, every Tuesday night, they played some silly little game to cheer everyone up. Some nights they play guys against girls. Some nights they played as couples. Hell, some nights Mikey got a wild hair up his ass and decided to mix up the teams. He was the one who set this shit up so he got to do whatever the hell he wanted.

During one of these family game nights, Mike decided that they, for some odd ass reason, needed to play hang man. "Have you lost what's left of your fucking mind, brother?" Dan asked him as they all sat down and got ready to play.

"Maybe so, but shit, I'm running out of ideas here."

"We could have played couples Monopoly instead of this shit, Mikey. Seriously", David said.

"Well, bloooooooow me!", Mike said with a laugh.

"Noooooooooo thanks!" John laughed.

"That's Tina's job anyway, Mikey. I really sure that she'd kill anyone who tried, no matter what sex they were", Brie said as she set a bowl of chips on the table and handed her man a beer. He kissed her and whispered a thank you in her ear.

"I want one!" Mike said.

"Want one what? A kiss? Does Mikey want a kiss from Brie?" Brie teased.

"Hell no. I want a beer."

"Your legs ain't broke, bitch", Brie said as she walked into the kitchen again to help Kristen and Tina finish up with the snacks.

"That's my bitch, Mikey. Go ask your bitch to get you a beer and see what she says", David said, then took a sip of his beer.

"Your bitch loves you. Mine thinks I drink too much", Mike said with a laugh.

"Maybe that's because you do", Tina said as she walked in, but handed him a beer anyway, after drinking half of it in one swallow.

"Hey, what about daddy?" Mike asked with a laugh.

"Daddy needs to get his shit together before Mama makes him sleep on the couch", Tina said as she took a seat. All Mike could do was shake his head.

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The game was underway. The teams were set and each couple had to guess. The team that got the word or phrase chose which of them went and did the next one. The catch was that you could only do a phrase that came from the lyrics of a song. David and Brie were clean sweeping everyone. "We have a system", was all David said when asked how they did it.

While Mike and Tina took their turn at the board, David got a phone call. He took it right there. "Hello? Holy shit! Yes, he's one of us! Don't believe me, call the General." He hung up. "I need to step out of the room for a moment. I'll be right back", he whispered to Brie as he stood up. It was their turn to guess a letter, so he shouted out "V" as he walked from the room.

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"Hello, David", said the gruff bass on the other end of the line.

"General, Brie's brother has been captured, but it wasn't by the Establishment", David said immediately after the General picked up, "it was by us."

"Shit!" the General exclaimed. "I'm on it, David. Don't worry, he'll be free within the hour. Give your wife my personal guarantee on that", and the General hung up.

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David came back in the room a little more somber than usual. When he took his seat next to Brie, he leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Matt's been captured by our side. The General is working on his release."

Brie's eyes went wide. "NO", she gasped. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, been tortured a little, but the General gave me his personal guarantee that Matt will be free within the hour."

"He'd better be or the General is going to have to answer to me."