by KJ Dahlen
“Why are you on lockdown?” Munroe narrowed his eyes at him.
“We don’t have to tell you that Sheriff,” Moon stated. “It’s club business and none of yours.”
“Get your boss out here!” Sheriff Munroe growled as he glared at the two of them.
“He isn’t gonna tell you anything different than we have.” Moon shrugged. “But I’ll go get him. You know, since you asked so nicely and all.” Moon scoffed snidely. He turned and ambled toward the clubhouse.
Stinger just watched the Sheriff carefully. He knew the man was up to something but what that was he wasn’t sure, yet.
Moon came into the clubhouse.
Ajax and Fireball were there waiting for him.
“What does he want?” growled Fireball.
“He wants to come in and search the compound for an escaped prisoner, or so he says.” Moon shrugged.
“An escaped prisoner?” Ajax raised an eyebrow. “Did he say who this dangerous person is?”
“Nope, said it wasn’t our business.” Moon shook his head. “Stinger told him he wasn’t coming in while we were on lockdown. When he asked why we were locked down, I told him it was club business and none of his.” Moon cocked his head to one side. “You don’t suppose Karly is the escapee he’s looking for do you?”
“Well, she wasn’t due to get out until next week but she said she was released early,” Ajax stated. “We have to believe her.”
“Why don’t you just ask me how I was able to walk out of the prison?” Karly’s voice sounded from behind them.
Everyone turned around.
She stood there with a look of defiance on her face. “Carlson took me out in the middle of the night. Did I want to go? Hell no. I knew it was wrong but he told me if I caused a fuss, he’d have me back behind bars and he would throw away the key. I barely got an apartment before he came for me. If Sheriff Munroe is looking for an escaped prisoner, it’s probably me but he would know that wouldn’t he? He was there that night in the warehouse. He helped Carlson drag me out of there. I thought I was dreaming when I saw him but I guess I wasn’t.” She hobbled over to the table and sat down in a chair with a wince. The bruises on her jaw were barely there now. Shaking her head she said, “I knew this was too good to be true.”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Fireball stated as he clenched his fists at his sided.
She raised her head and stared at him with tears in her eyes. “But according to the law, I should still be in prison.”
“You never should have been there in the first fucking place!” Fireball exclaimed. “And I’ll be damned if you’re going back.”
Ajax grinned. “Shall we go out and tell that bastard to get bent?”
Fireball looked over at Nuero. “You keep her in here. I don’t care if you have to sit on her to do it. Don’t let her come outside or near a window. I don’t want that fucker to see her. Understand?”
Nuero nodded and moved over to stand next to Karly.
Fireball glared at Ajax and growled, “Let’s tell that fucker where to go.”
Ajax motioned for him to lead the way.
When they arrived outside, they saw the Sheriff glaring at them from the other side of the gate.
He didn’t look happy.
Ajax walked closer and noted the Sheriff’s look got sourer as they came closer. “What can we do for you today, Sheriff?” Ajax finally asked in a breezy tone.
“I demand access to the compound to search for an escaped prisoner. She walked out of a Texas prison a few days ago. I have reason to believe she’s behind your fence.”
“Why do you think that?” Ajax crossed his arms over his chest. “These are private lands that the MC owns and you can’t just push your way in here. We haven’t done anything wrong and you have no grounds to search here if we don’t want you to, not without a warrant. Do you have a warrant?”
“Not yet, but I can get one.” Munroe growled.
“You do that and I’d like to read what your reasons are for thinking we would knowingly harbor an escaped prisoner. We uphold the law here and you know it.”
“Is that right?” Munroe asked interestingly. “Is that why you and your men were seen on the grounds of Joel Fletcher’s home after three men in hoods threw Molotov cocktails at it? That is... after they beat the hell out of him and that granddaughter of his.”
“Now, how would you, who were nowhere near the place, know about those three men in hoods?” Fireball asked. “If you were there, would you have arrested them or us?”
Munroe turned his head to glare at him.
“But you weren’t there, were you Sheriff?” Ajax asked.
“How the hell do I know you guys weren’t hiding your identity by wearing the hoods? Huh? Answer me that fools!” Sheriff Munroe snarled.
“If we were going to do something like that Sheriff, we wouldn’t be worried about hiding who we were,” Ajax assured him.
The Sheriff glared at the men behind the gate. “I’ll be back and when I do get back, I’ll be bringing some deputies with me and we will search these grounds. I know you’re hiding something. You wouldn’t be so unwilling to let me search if you were innocent.”
Ajax glared back at him. “We aren’t letting you because you have no cause to search this place. We haven’t done anything wrong here and I’m not letting you steamroll over the law.”
“We’ll see about that, won’t we? I’ll be back with a warrant, I can assure you.” He began walking toward his car, and then turning back, he smirked. “In the meantime, you’ll understand if I have the place watched right?”
“You do that.” Ajax nodded.
They watched as he drove away while making sure he threw gravel all over them as he took off.
Ajax looked over at Fireball and Stinger. “We need to call Randall in before that bastard gets back here with a warrant.”
Randall was the club’s attorney and he was good. As they were a lawful MC, they didn’t need him very often but now, they would need him to stand with them.
Ajax reached for his phone and called the man.
Chapter Four
Within the hour, Randall was pulling up to the gate and when it opened, he drove through it. He watched in surprise when it closed right after he got through it.
Randall got out of his vehicle. Looking around, he noticed two men on the roof with rifles in their hands as they watched over the compound. “You expecting an invasion or what?” he asked the Prez of Thor’s Hammer.
“You might say that,” Ajax replied. “Come on inside and we can talk.”
When they were inside, Ajax briefly filled in the attorney what had happened in the last few days, including finding Karly and what Carlson had done to her. He told him what the Sheriff had alleged and the fact he claimed to be coming back with a warrant to search the property.
Randall listened, all while never asking if Karly was here or not, he didn’t want to know.
A little while later, the Sheriff returned and he had several deputies with him. In fact, he had more than anyone had ever seen before.
Randall asked if all those men were registered deputies. When Ajax told him he didn’t think so, Randall made a phone call. He didn’t tell them who he called or why.
After making them wait a few more minutes, just for good measure, Randall, Ajax, and Fireball walked out to the gate.
A very pissed off Munroe and a dozen men were lined up on the other side.
Ajax knew three of regular deputies but he didn’t know the rest of the men. At least, he didn’t until he happened to look down at their boots. At least three of the men had silver tips on their boots. He raised an eyebrow at the Sheriff then leaned over and whispered something to Fireball.
Munroe stared at Randall. “Who is this joker? He wasn’t here before when I stopped.”
“I’m the club’s attorney,” Randall spoke to the Sheriff as he showed him is ID through the gate. “I understand you went to obtain a warrant to search the prop
erty. May I see it?”
Munroe growled and handed over the paper he got from the judge. He poked it through the fence and waited until Randall read it.
Randall looked up at the Sheriff and then noted the men beyond him. “Why does a town this size have so many deputies? Isn’t that a little overkill?”
“Only three that I can see are actual officers of the law,” Ajax told his attorney.
“Can they by law, search the property?” Fireball asked.
“The property yes, but there’s no mention of the buildings on the warrant,” Randall announced.
“What the fuck are you playing at?” Sheriff Munroe spat. “Of course, I can search the buildings. They are on the property ain’t they? As such, I have the right to search them.”
“No Sheriff, you don’t have that right,” Randall informed him. “You have the right to search the property but not the buildings. You can’t open any of the doors and look inside any of the buildings. You can’t even peek in any of the windows, as it’s not in the warrant. But you can search the property. And only the property. Oh, and only those of your men that are lawfully deputized, are allowed in with you.”
“We’ll see about that.” Sheriff Munroe snarled. “I’ll look where I want.”
Just then, several state police cars came up the driveway.
Munroe frowned as he watched the State police stop their vehicles and a half dozen or so officers came toward the gate.
One of the officers looked over at Randall and asked, “What’s all this about Randall?”
“Hey Rick.” Randall pushed the warrant through the gate. He turned to Ajax and Fireball. “Meet State Trooper, Rick Stephans.”
Officer Stephans took the warrant and read it, then nodded. “Ok, it says he can search the property, so what?”
“He thinks he has the right to search the buildings as well,” Randall informed the officer.
Stephans shook his head. “That’s not on the warrant. Sorry Sheriff, you can search the property but not the buildings. You should have checked the warrant better.”
“But I can see the property! I want to search the buildings,” Munroe snapped.
“Then you should have stated that on the warrant,” Stephans told him.
“Also, he’s got more men than are legally deputized here,” Randall objected.
“Is that so?” Stephans asked. “Well, how ‘bout you let us run their creds through the state and find out? Otherwise, no one goes in. This is private property and they don’t have to let you in.”
“I have a damned warrant!” the Sheriff exclaimed. “I can go in and search if I want to.”
Officer Stephans raised a brow at him. “Then my men and I will walk with you just to make sure you obey the warrant you have.”
“I don’t need a damn babysitter!” Munroe roared.
“It’s the only option you got. You got the warrant but you can’t search the buildings, as they aren’t included in this warrant. Your option is to get another warrant or search what you can and forget the rest.”
“It isn’t worth it Munroe,” one of the men with the silver tipped boots told him. “We aren’t going to find anything here, especially with them here. They will make sure we follow the law in this instance.”
“I am the law in these parts!” Munroe snarled.
“Well, you fucked up this time didn’t you?” The man sneered. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll be in touch with you later.” He and several other of the men standing there went back to their vehicles and drove out.
The Sheriff and the three legal deputies were left behind.
Officer Stephans asked Munroe, “Do you want to search the property now?”
“No I don’t want to search the property now,” Munroe mimicked him. “I’ll get a proper warrant and do the job right.” He stomped over to his car and took off recklessly, almost plowing into one of the state vehicles sitting there.
The three deputies he’d brought with him just shook their heads and headed toward their own vehicles.
Silence reigned for a moment as the dust from the police cars settled down.
“So what were they really looking for?” Officer Stephans asked Randall.
“A young woman they claim walked out of a Texas prison a week early and without her discharge papers,” Randall explained. “Of course, in reality, she was escorted out after dark by a Corrections Officer with questionable motives. She was then beaten to hell and dumped on the property by said Corrections officer and the Sheriff himself. They were hoping to officially find her body on the side of the road but they didn’t.”
Stephans looked intrigued. “I’d like to hear more of this story. We’ve been hearing things about this county for years now, but we’ve never been able to find anything, not yet.” He shrugged. “You hear whispers and rumors but the people around here are too scared to tell us anything.”
“I do know the Sheriff railroaded a young woman into prison for eight years and she didn’t do anything wrong,” Ajax interjected. “He lied to the courts, he lied under oath, and he lied to us. He told us my brother died when she held his head under water and he drowned as a result when in fact...he died of three stab wounds to the chest.”
Stephans nodded. “I remember that case. Matthew Trance was your brother?”
Ajax nodded. “That Sheriff got a seventeen year old girl put in prison for eight years for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was a witness to the murder but she claims she didn’t see the face of the man who did commit the murder. She was put under the watchful eye of the same Correction Officer who walked that second prisoner out of the prison without the correct paperwork.” He paused then added, “The second woman was placed in the same prison to keep an eye on Wynette and report back to the guard.”
“Is there any chance this Wynette remembered something more than was reported?” Stephans asked.
“We’re still looking into that but there might be,” Ajax explained. “That’s why the Sheriff wants to find her. We think he wants to shut her up before she says too much to the wrong person.”
Stephans looked solemn. “I’d like to hear more about this case. If there’s enough merit to it, I can steer you to the right people. It’s beginning to sound like this town is hiding a secret.”
“You have no fucking idea what this town is hiding.” Fireball growled. “We’ve been here for better than ten years and we’re just discovering it.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” Stephans shook his head. “Small towns are reluctant to let anyone new into their circles. As an MC, you had one strike against you before you even got here.”
Ajax snorted. “Aye, you got that right.”
“So what do you think this town in hiding?” Stephans finally asked with a slight frown.
Ajax looked over at Fireball and they made up their minds. Fireball would stand behind whatever Ajax wanted to say.
Ajax turned to stare at the Officered Stephans for a moment before he asked a simple question, “What do you know about a man named Leo Holder?”
Stephans’ frown deepened and he swore under his breath, “Hell, he’s here? We haven’t known where he was for five years. Are you sure, he’s in this area? Is that what this town is hiding?” He shook his head. “Dayum.”
Chapter Five
“What’s going on here, Lieutenant?” one of the other officers asked.
Stephans turned to look at the men who came here with him. “The state has been looking for Leo Holder for a very long time. He’s suspected of being a chemist involved in designing specialized drugs that are flooding the streets. We just never knew where he was located.”
Ajax nodded at him. “He’s been in this area for a while now. We know he was here eight years ago and he was just seen not too long ago as well.”
“Can we get eyes on Holder?” Stephans asked. “We need to verify he’s in the area before we bring in the big guns.”
“We need permission before we can ok that,” Aj
ax told him. “I need to ask Wynette. This is about her and what she saw when my brother died. She was blamed wrongly for his death and spent eight years behind bars to keep this secret.”
Stephans nodded. “If this is true, we might be able to get her name cleared.”
“That’s all well and good but can you give her those eight years back?” Ajax narrowed his eyes at him. “Can you take away the horror she lived with every fuckin day she was behind bars due to a lie this town told the courts?”
Stephans just stood there looking at them. “No I can’t do any of that. All I can do is clear her name and take down the ones who did this to her.”
“Have you ever lived in a small town Lieutenant?” Ajax asked him.
“I was born and raised in Shreveport sir.”
“Then you have no clue just how tight a small town can be.” Ajax shook his head. “They will protect their own, no matter how bad it gets. The people don’t like change and the change needed in this town runs deep. We may not know just how deep this goes but it’s deeper than any of us realize. The plot goes back to a family who’s been big around this area for decades. A family that probably settled this town. One that expects the people here to protect them like they have been doing for a century now.”
“That would be the Zetran family I take it,” Stephans acknowledged.
Ajax nodded.
Stephans looked like he’d just sucked a sour lemon. “Damn. You’re right, that’s going to be hard to prove without solid evidence. Do you have any?”
Ajax shrugged. “We aren’t sure yet.”
Stephans took a card out of his pocket and handed it through the fence line. “When you figure it out, give me a call. I would so love to be the one to finally root Leo Holder out of hiding.”
Ajax took the card. “If we find anything, I’ll call.”
They all watched as the State police got back into their vehicles and drove away.
Fireball turned to his president and asked, “What did you think of that?”