Tate

by KJ Dahlen

  “You wouldn’t happen to have any proof of what you just told us would you?” Cobra asked. “I mean it’s a good story but at the moment that’s all it is... a good story.”

  Doubletap stared at him for a moment. “Yeah, I got proof but who’s going to believe an ex-con trying to clear his name?”

  “I would,” Nita spoke up. She was sitting at the table with the other women and had been listening to his whole story. She got to her feet and went over to stand beside Tate.

  He smiled for the first time as he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close to him.

  She looked up at him then back to Doubletap. “Julie has a friend who’s an attorney, something big with the state, if we could get him interested in proving your story, we can nail the whole damn bunch of them.”

  No one said a word for a moment then Harry spoke up, “Or if we can get Racer to talk about what happened to Becky, we can get the FBI involved and he can clean up this mess as well since think it’s all lumped together somehow.”

  Doubletap turned his head to stare at Harry. “It is I think. With Bandit being the one who really killed James and set Racer up for his murder, but we’d have to find the money he took that night.”

  “And Racer thinks that money is here inside the clubhouse,” Creed stated. He looked over at his dad and brothers. “We found a lot of money inside the safe but nowhere near ten million dollars’ worth.”

  “And Bandit would have hidden it where no one else could find it, Doubletap added, “Only he knows where it’s at but he needs to get his hands on it before he disappears to set himself up somewhere else, somewhere where no one has heard of him before.”

  “How do you know that’s his plan?” Tate asked.

  “Snake told me one time when he came to visit me in prison. It was just after Creed got out. He told me I might as well think of this prison as my home because I wasn’t going to leave those walls. He and Bandit had this plan all along. They’ve been setting up this MC to take the fall for years now. But they needed a big enough cache of money to start all over.”

  “How the fuck did you get out already?” Creed asked. “I thought you had two more years.”

  Doubletap shrugged. “There was something in Snake’s eyes that day that alerted me I had a target on my back. The next week another prisoner came up behind me with a shank. He wasn’t expecting me to react the way I did but I managed to get the shank away from him. Only problem was a guard found me fighting for my life. He saw and heard everything that went on during that fight. The other prisoner told me he was there to kill me for Snake and when the fight was over, I dropped the shank as the guard finally hit the other guy and knocked him out. The next day, the warden looked into my record and found the first assault wasn’t my fault either. As I had already served my time for the manslaughter charge, he petitioned the judge and they released me.”

  “Snake didn’t happen to tell you where the money was hidden did he?” Cobra scoffed.

  “No he didn’t.” Doubletap shook his head.

  Nita frowned as she remembered something from Bandit’s visits to her years ago. She looked up at Tate.

  When Tate saw her face he asked, “What is it?”

  “Do you remember that man I told you who used to come visit me at Andrea’s house? The man who told me his name was Dale Montgomery?”

  Tate nodded.

  Everyone was listening now.

  “I think he was trying to trigger my memories somehow. He kept asking me questions about this place. As I didn’t remember it, I wasn’t much help to him but he kept asking me the same questions anyway. Something about secret rooms, did I know of any secret rooms. As I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about I told him once if I were going to have a secret room, I’d put it in plain sight. Somewhere where no one else would even know it was, like maybe under the staircase or something like that.” She shrugged. “I have no clue why I thought of that but that’s what I told him. He seemed very excited about that idea.”

  Tate looked over at his father.

  Silas swore under his breath. “No fuckin way.” He walked over to the wall that housed the staircase going to the second and third floor of the clubhouse. He leaned down and pressed the corner of the molding along the floor. It separated from the wall and Silas was able to turn the piece of wood enough to find the keyboard behind it. He pressed the keys and when he hit enter, a section of the wall popped open.

  Everyone in the room gasped as Silas pulled the door open, revealing a small cubby hole behind the wall panel. Inside the cubby hole was safe and several duffle bags. The duffle bags were black and medium in size but they all looked full.

  Silas turned to look at Tate with a raised eyebrow. “I’d almost forgotten. It has been nearly twenty years since we built it.”

  Tate, Cobra and Doubletap assisted in taking all the duffels out of the cubby and placed them on the tables. There were four and they were all very heavy. Two of the bags were labels that had Racer’s name on them. The other two were just as full but they weren’t labeled.

  “Well ain’t this a kick in the head?” Silas scratched his neck in bewilderment as he stared at the bags.

  Tate squatted down and opened the safe. He also had forgotten this as some of his memory had been lost in that beating he took from Bandit and his crew all those years ago. Now he remembered this. It was still full of the money he and his father had set aside to restart the MC. He closed and relocked the safe then went over to the bags. “What are we going to do with all this cash?”

  Doubletap stood up. “Racer owed me a hundred grand. It was legitimate, lawful money from the clubs he set up. I only want that and none of the rest.”

  Creed growled, “I told you when you got out to look me up and I would set you up with the new MC.”

  Doubletap nodded. “I know you did but I also knew Bandit was going to get out of going to prison and I told you why. I didn’t want to be looking over my shoulder every day. I was hoping to go somewhere where he wouldn’t find me.”

  Daniel spoke up, “Yeah, well I think we need to stop that from happening in the first place. We can call the FBI and hand over the evidence you have and get Bandit charged with everything under the correct name. Both he and Snake need to face a judge.”

  There were several ayes sounded from the members.

  Doubletap looked from member to member and finally nodded. “Ok, I can do that much before I leave.”

  “But why do you have to go at all?” Nita asked.

  He turned to look at her. “I can’t stay here. Even though I didn’t hurt you or didn’t allow you to be hurt, your old man and son will never trust me again and I don’t blame them.”

  Chapter Nine

  Nita looked over at her husband.” Tate... he saved my life. He didn’t have to do that. He could have left me to that...”She shivered.”...to Racer. It was Racer’s fist that nearly broke my jaw.” She again, looked over at Luke-Doubletap. “This man never touched me, except to lead me away from Racer.”

  Tate sighed and rubbed his hand over his hair. “I think the fact that you protected her and stayed with her will overrule any objections we might have, that plus the fact you can put Bandit and Snake in prison will help too.”

  “What my dad said.” Creed nodded. He held out his hand again to the man, just like he’d done when he’d been about to walk out of prison that day.

  Doubletap paused then took it.

  Creed dragged him close to him. “Just so you know, this won’t ever happen again right?” he whispered. “If it does, I will put a bullet in your head, no doubt. Understand?”

  Doubletap nodded. “Understood.”

  Creed released the other man and smiled. “Welcome to the Lost Sons MC.”

  Doubletap shook his head and looked around.

  Nita smiled. “Thank you, boys. Thank you.” She then leaned her head onto Tate’s shoulder.

  “Now, did Racer say anything about what that money was going to
go for and why Bandit took it?” Cobra asked. “Did he say anything about what he was going to do with it?”

  Doubletap seemed to pause at this then he answered, “I know he and his partners were running a couple of night clubs in Kansas City. He even mentioned one exclusive club. He told me they had a deal with Bandit to deliver drugs, a deal he had set up ten years ago, but that would have been before he took over this club.” He paused then remembered something else Racer told him. “He did mention he was moving to a town called Jasper. He said he had a special club there and he wanted to move that club to another town closer to the river to make transportation easier?”

  “What was he transporting?” Cobra wanted to know.

  Doubletap shrugged. “I have no idea, but the man is a sleezebag.”

  “Do you know the name of his club in Jasper?” Annie suddenly asked.

  Doubletap shook his head. “No but from the way he was talking about it, it wasn’t a club just anyone could get into.”

  Annie looked over at Harry and her eyes held hope for the first time in a very long time. Harry went over to her and held her. “We can check it out.”

  “I won’t give up on finding her,” Annie told him. “I know she’s out there somewhere.”

  “Baby, I promise we’ll find her. We won’t stop looking until we find her.” Harry assured his girl.

  Annie faceplanted in his chest. “I’m sorry, I know you guys are busy trying to get back what you lost six years ago, but I just can’t forget Becky. She would never give up on me and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna give up on her.”

  “I know honey but we have to stay under the radar.” He reminded her. “If the men that took her have any clue we’re still looking for her, they might just hurt her or worse. Remember, they don’t want us to find her.”

  She looked up at him. “Give me five minutes alone with Racer and I’ll get the information I need.”

  “Harry just stared at her. “That ain’t gonna happen sweetheart. I don’t want you to have those memories. We’ll take care of Racer and we’ll get the info he’s got to tell us. Don’t you worry about that. But I don’t want his blood on your hands.”

  But...” Annie was prepared to argue.

  Harry put a stop to that. “I said no and that’s what I meant. No. You let us do this. We’ll take care of Racer.” He stared at her hard.

  “Ok baby.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his briefly. “But if you need help I’ll be right here.”

  Jett paused to search the perimeter again. When Cobra asked him to check things out, it didn’t take him long to get the same vibes his President and Tate had gotten earlier. Changing into his camo clothing, he smeared the black on his face and snuck out the backdoor.

  He was armed to the teeth and in the zone he needed to be in, to track down his enemy. He had military training for just this sort of thing. He’d used his skills over and over in the past years but now he felt this is what he should be using his skills for. He appreciated what he’d learned in the service but now he felt his skills were needed to protect his brothers in arms, his MC.

  Moving quickly but barely making a sound, he outskirted the perimeter of the compound. Hiding in the shadows of the late afternoon, he paused and raising binoculars to his eyes, he began searching for any sign of an intruder.

  Using heat vision glasses he found one glowing blob. Pushing those glasses to the top of his head, he brought his binoculars back to his eyes. That’s when he saw his man talking on a short wave radio. He knew there was more than one man here but where was his buddy?

  Jett knew the second guy had to be close by so, as that type of walkie was close range. Again, he put the heat seekers on and began studying the edge of the property. Then he smiled as he found the second man. They were far enough away from each other it should be easy to take first one then the other out.

  Moving quickly and quietly, he snuck in on the first man and managed to get close enough to take him out. Pressing on the nerve in his neck the man didn’t even have the chance to struggle or call out. He dropped down to the ground unconscious.

  Jett ziptied his hands behind his back then tore off some duct tape and taped his mouth shut. Then he found the second man and managed to take him down as well. Then he loaded both bodies in the truck the second man had and drove them back to the compound. Sometimes his job was just too much fun. He smirked.

  Swiftly, he relieved both men of the weapons and cell phones then searched them before he drove them inside the gate. He found a few interesting items between them and the truck they were driving. Only someone who knew about certain things would know what those items were.

  When he pulled in men poured from the clubhouse they came over to the truck and checked out the back.

  Creed looked at the two men and had someone drag them downstairs to the second cell.

  Jett followed him and Cobra down the steps. Then he moved close to talk to Cobra.

  When he told him what he’d found Cobra was surprised in a way but just shook his head at the news.

  When Racer saw them come down, he began to look a little nervous. He didn’t say anything but his lips tightened and he didn’t meet anyone’s eyes.

  Tate walked up to the bar on Racer’s cell and glared at him. “You’ll be happy to know we found the money Bandit took from you.” Tate just smirked coldly at the man.

  “You have no reason to keep me here then.” Racer snarled. “Let me take my money and I’ll disappear. You’ll never see me again.”

  Tate snorted. “You really are a fool if you think that will happen.” Then he shrugged. “Maybe I’ll let you watch us burn it though.”

  “Why would you burn ten million dollars?” Racer gasped. “That’s insane!”

  “ No! Taking my woman was insane, motherfucker!”

  Racer lowered his head.

  “Tell us about your exclusive clubs?” Tate taunted him.

  “How the fuck did you find out about them?” Racer raised his head. “My clubs are underground clubs and not everyone knows about them.”

  “You don’t need to know how we found out.” Tate growled. Then he held something up in his hand. “Did you know that your friends over there...” He motioned at the second cell. “Had you tagged and bagged?”

  “What does that mean?” Racer looked entirely confused and angry at the same time.

  “They have a tracer on you. Now I’m not a betting man normally, but I think they got a tracker inside your body somewhere. They’ve known where you were for some time I’m betting.” Tate looked over at Cobra. “He tells me they were using a scanner to find you.”

  Racer face went blank for a moment then his eyes burned with rage. “Those fucking sonsofbitches!” He struggled with his bindings but couldn’t get loose.

  Next, Tate showed him a rifle. “They had this in their truck. Doesn’t look to me like they were going to let you walk away from this compound even if you did manage to get free.” He turned and began walking toward the door of the cell. Just before he went through it, he turned and asked Racer, “Where is Becky?”

  “Who’s Becky?” Racer demanded.

  Tate stared coldly at the man. “Is that how you really want to play this?”

  Racer shrugged the best he could. “Why not?”

  Tate shook his head. “I guess we’ll find out then huh?” With that, he disappeared through the doorway.

  Cobra and Jet followed.

  He went up to the ops room. Just as they walked in, they watched the monitors.

  Racer had twisted his body to stare at the other cell and found two pair of eyes staring back at him. “Hey boys,” Racer snarled. “Fancy meeting you here, especially with a rifle nearby.” He growled. “Did he tell you to track me down and take me out? Is this him finally making his move on me?” He shook his head. “Well if you get out of here in one piece, you tell your boss I won’t forget or forgive him for this. And that one day, I’ll repay this favor. You tell your boss I’ll be coming for hi
m one day very soon. Then we’ll see whose left standing when the smoke clears.”

  Tate smiled.

  Cobra shook his head. “Doesn’t tell us nuthin’ though.”

  Tate signaled his sons.

  They went out.

  Tate, Cobra and some others joined them in the cell area again.

  Two of the brothers carried a barrel into the room and Tate snapped on an exhaust fan Racer hadn’t seen before then.

  Cobra and Creed each carried a black duffle bag down there that Racer knew well. Those were the same duffle bags he’d last seen, a year ago.

  Tate opened one of the bags and began dumping bundles of hundred dollar bills into the barrel. When he reached about the fifty thousand dollar mark, he reached for the lighter fluid and squirted the money with the fluid.

  Then Tate turned his head and stared at Racer. He flicked the grill lighter and the money began to burn.

  Racer growled and struggled with his bindings but couldn’t get loose. “You bastard, that’s my money you’re burning!”

  Tate continued to stare at him as he grabbed more bundles of cash to feed the fire with them. He didn’t say a word but then he didn’t have to.

  Racer yelled out in desperation, “Stop, you lousy bastard! What the hell do you want?”

  “You know damn well what we want,” Creed growled.

  “Fuck you!” Racer screamed. “If I tell you anything, I’m a dead man and you fucking know it.”

  Tate shrugged and threw more of the bundles into the flames. By this time, the duffle bag was close to half empty.

  “Even if I tell you... you’ll never find the club, it moves around the all the time. You need an invitation to even get in,” he screamed at them. He began to sweat as Tate continued to dump the money into the flames.

  “Where is Becky? What did you do to her?” Tate asked calmly.

  Racer pressed his lips together and didn’t say anything for a moment. Instead, he watched as Tate threw even more of his money into the fire. “You lousy bastard. That’s my money.”