by KJ Dahlen
Just then, Sam and the others joined her.
She looked up at the man they had with them and glared at him. “I should have known it was you Archie. You couldn’t hit the side of a barn.”
Archie snarled and tried to get closer to her but the men holding him held him back. “You whore! I should had taken the time to aim better. That bullet should have gone through your dammed head.”
Sydney winced at his words but slid off the table and faced her brother. “Yeah, you should have. Dad isn’t going to like the fact you missed and then got caught afterwards is he? What? Did Liam escape, leaving you behind to face the music alone? That sounds like something he would do.”
Archie glared back at her. “You know the rules.”
Sydney nodded. “Indeed I do. At least you know what’s coming. You know he won’t come for you, you’re on your own.”
Archie snorted. “He’ll bring hell to this town and he won’t stop until you’re dead and this MC is down bleeding all over the ground.”
Now it was Sam turn to snort. “You don’t know us very well if you think we’ll fold that easy boyo. We aren’t gonna be that easy to put down.”
Archie looked over at the other man, “You won’t stand a chance against my father’s army.”
“Let him come then, this time it’ll be us that shows him the road to hell.” Sam nodded. He reached out, grabbed Archie by the collar, and dragged him over to the back of a truck. Throwing him over the edge of the back, he heard a thud when Archie dropped down to the bed.
Archie screamed. “You lousy bastard, I need medical attention!”
“Oh, shut the fuck up you pussy. You’ll see our medic when we get back to the compound.” Sam looked over at James. “Let’s get back and meet with Deke.” Looking over at Sydney he asked, “Are you ok darlin?”
Sydney nodded.
“Ok then, let’s get back to the compound then.” Sam threw his keys at Mountain then got behind the wheel and started up the truck. Backing it out of the shop, he slammed on the brakes and had to smile when Archie screamed again as he slammed into the side of the well. With his hands tied behind his back, he couldn’t stop his roll and slamming into the side of the truck hurt like a sonofabitch.
James just shook his head at Sam’s actions. He ushered Sydney to his car and got her settled. He nodded to the others and drove to the compound. When he pulled in behind Sam, he saw Deke and a couple of others join them.
Deke went first over to the truck his dad was driving and looked in the back. “Who the fuck is this and why is he bleeding?”
“He’s one of her brothers.” Sam motioned toward Sydney. “He’s bloody because he took a shot at Sydney and we shot back.” He snickered. “We sorta took exception to him shooting into the Morgan brother’s shop.”
Deke raised an eyebrow. “He was stupid enough to shoot into the shop?”
Sam sneered. “Not only that but he threatened us by saying his daddy would come here and wipe us out after he shot her of course.”
Deke threw his head back and laughed. When he could finally catch his breath, he turned to Sydney again and asked, “Oh, please tell me who this all powerful man might be.”
“Flynn Dell,” she whispered.
Deke did paused at this. He turned and glared at Archie. “So tell me this, which one of Flynn’s brats are you?”
Archie just glared back at him.
Sydney answered him, “He’s Archie. I have two more brothers, Liam and Nash.”
“And do they all want you dead?”
“Pretty much.” She shrugged. “You see I wouldn’t play my father’s game and use my memory for his gain.”
“What the fuck does your memory have to do with anything?” Deke frowned.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Archie shouted. “She can remember anything she reads! My dad wanted her to use her skills to blackmail the big wigs. He could bluff his way right up to the governors’ mansion.”
Sydney scoffed. “There is no way that would ever happen. Oden Connors is grooming his kid for that seat.” Shrugging, she pointed out, “At least he’s respectable, or so the people think he is but in all reality, he’s a bigger crook than our father would ever think to be.”
Deke frowned and looked at her, then to James. “Let’s get inside and we’ll talk about this.” He nodded at his men. “Let show Mr. Dell where he’ll be staying for the next few days.”
“I need medical attention asshole!” Archie yelled as Deke’s men dragged him from the back of the truck.
“And you’ll get it asswipe, when it suits me, not you.” Deke growled back. He nodded at the men holding Archie upright. “Take him downstairs and show him a cell.”
The air was rumbling now, as five bikes rolled in the compound.
“You better not fight this,” Deke threatened. “Or I’ll have Mountain carry you downstairs. Believe me when I say, you don’t want to fight with him. He’s not the gentle type.”
“Fuck you!” Archie swore.
“No thanks, I prefer my own woman.” Deke flipped him off.
“Oh yeah, maybe before this is over, I’ll have to check her out before I kill her,” Archie muttered under his breath.
Deke moved quickly and grabbed the other man by the throat. His fingers tightened and he watched for a moment while the other man’s face turned purple. His fingers biting into his skin deeply. “You don’t even think about hurting her or anyone else here, or I will end you before you get the chance to confess your fucking sins to us.” His fingers tightened fractionally then he let up. “And make no mistake, you will confess before you go to hell along with you father and brothers.”
Archie spluttered and gasped loudly. “I’ll never confess to you, you aren’t a Priest.”
Deke pushed him away and then laughed. “Yeah, you’re right about that. I’m not one but there’s one coming. The underworld nicknamed him the Priest I didn’t.”
Archie paled. “You know the man they call the Priest? Are you fucking kidding me?”
Deke made a point of looking down casually at his watch. “He should be here in about three hours or so depending on traffic. Oh, and I told him to bring whatever he needed to question you.”
Archie fell quiet and swallow hard.
Deke had no sympathy on his face for the other man. Stepping to one side he watched as Archie was dragged into the clubhouse then he turned to Mountain. “I heard one got away.”
Mountain snorted. “Oh, he didn’t get far. Amos was watching out for us as usual. Word on the streets told him there was trouble and you know him, he ain’t going to let that slide. He’s about ten minutes behind us.”
Deke nodded. Turning to where James and Sydney were standing, he motioned them toward the door.
Once inside, Deke led them all to a table and as they were all sitting down he looked at Sydney. “So why did your brothers shoot at you?”
“Because a person doesn’t betray my father and live?” She shrugged.” That’s all the answer I got really. I know too many of his secrets and where the bodies are buried. When I walked out on him ten years ago, I broke his faith in me.” Shaking her head she added, “He can’t afford me to live and keep his empire at the same time. He’s been looking for me since I left.” She motioned her head at James. “Very early this morning, he took me back to Glen’s Falls. I told him I couldn’t be there but he said he needed his equipment. We were there all of twelve minutes and someone saw me. They followed me here and now, that you have Archie, my dad will come for him, if only to put a bullet in both our heads. Liam got away and will let him know where to find us.”
“No, he won’t,” Deke replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. “He never got the chance to call home. My men got him and they are bringing him here as well.”
Just then, the double doors were thrown open and four men struggled to get a fifth man inside.
Mountain got up and went over to grab Liam and get him under control.
“Watch hi
s foot, he likes to catch you off guard and then kick you to get himself away,” Sydney called out.
Mountain grunted when Liam did exactly what she said he would do. Mountain reared back his huge fist and laid the other man out. “Little fucker.”
When Liam hit the floor, he didn’t even groan. He was out cold.
Sydney just shook her head but never said another word.
Mountain glanced over her way. “How did you know?”
She shrugged. “My brothers like to fight but none of them like to lose. Liam’s trick is to kick out when you least expect it, Archie likes to head butt, he has a very hard head and he hits you to hurt. Cause nothing else matters to him but to leave you in pain.”
“And Nash?” Deke asked with a raised brow. “What’s his little tell?”
Sydney seemed to drift away from the group and her words were soft, almost a whisper, “Nash likes to sneak up behind you and wrap a rope around your neck. Nothing else matters to him except strangling you into unconsciousness. It gives him almost a high to watch as you struggle.”
“You sound like he’s done that to you before,” Chance remarked.
Sydney didn’t say a word but instead she pulled down the neck line of her shirt and showed then the scars she had on her neck. It was a thin line burned deep into her throat.
“When did he give you that?” James asked in a cold deep voice.
“I think I was fourteen? It was shortly after my mom died. I was fair game to their brutality then.”
“Your father didn’t stop them?” Deke asked.
Sydney shook her head.
Deke turned and glared at Liam then looked up at Mountain. “Take him downstairs and put him in a separate cell. I don’t want the two of them to be able to make contact with the other one.”
Mountain dragged Liam down the steps not caring if the other man could feel it or not. He simply didn’t care.
“So tell us about you,” Deke opened the conversation. He sat back in his chair and stared her down. “What kind of secrets is your dad so worried about you spilling?”
“My father was born and raised in Bangor, Maine. He lived there with my mom and Liam was just a baby when he was run out of town by an MC. I wasn’t born yet, so I don’t know the whole story but it seems he was part of this MC until he got caught skimming the books and while trying to get some dirt on the wrong person.”
Sam snorted.
Deke frowned as he looked over at him. “Dad do you know anything about this?”
“Yeah, I know about the asshole,” Sam admitted. “That was way before I was president. Old Rockhound was president back then. Flynn Dell was trying to patch in but he made a bad mistake, one that almost cost the MC everything. He was trying to push a man that couldn’t be pushed. This guy was connected, everyone knew this except Flynn and Flynn got some dirt on him and thought he could use it to his advantage. When Rockhound got a warning about it, he threw Flynn out before things got out of hand. He also warned Flynn he’d better get his family out of town before this guy caught up with him or they’d never find the bodies.” Sam shook his head, “That’s why when I saw Flynn all those years later, I was surprised he was still alive.”
Sydney nodded. “My father finally got what he wanted. He found a way to get the information he needed to set up his own blackmail schemes. He began gathering thieves and criminals and called them the Raiders. The more he got the greedier he became. He wanted more and more. He always kept the evidence in a locked safe. He didn’t know it at the time but I remember everything and there was one time I saw him dialing the combination. After that I could get into the safe anytime I wanted.”
“What was in the safe?” Deke wanted to know.
“All his blackmail schemes and the price each man was paying him. If anyone found out what my father had on these men it would result in their going to jail for a very long time. If they found out their secrets weren’t as safe as Flynn told them, my father would be dead and his body would never be found either. Him or my brothers.” She paused then added, “Not even the Blue Devils MC was safe from him. When I wouldn’t do his dirty work, they found another way to get the information from the Devils. Information that would put the Devils in prison for robbery, mail fraud and murder. That’s the only reason they’re working with him. Flynn found their secrets and blackmailed the whole MC.” She paused and added, “Needless to say, they aren’t happy about it either. Flynn keeps them on a very short leash.”
“What do you suppose old Lincoln would do if suddenly, the information wasn’t with Flynn anymore?” Sam asked. “How does your dad keep everything straight in his mind?”
Sydney smiled. “He doesn’t. That’s why that safe is so important to him. It holds all the evidence he needs but there’s one thing about my dad that no one else knows but me.”
“Oh, what’s that?” Deke leaned forward in his chair.
“Flynn Dell can’t read.” She dropped her bomb on the stunned group. “He made sure the boys could read because he had to have someone who could read the information he was always collecting. He never got very far in school but he made sure the boys could read and write.”
“What about you?” James asked.
Sydney shrugged. “I was only his daughter, he never cared about me until after my mom died and I revealed my secret one night by mistake. Once he knew I could remember everything I read, I suddenly mattered to him. I didn’t go to school proper but my mom made sure I could read and write. I learned through books.”
“Do you think your brother was telling the truth?” Sam asked. “About your dad coming here to pick them up and wage a war on us?”
Sydney thought for a moment then shook her head. “He can’t come here. He’d never leave Glen’s Falls because he knows if he does, he puts his whole empire at risk. His Raiders are the worst scum he could find. They’d steal from their grandmothers and think nothing of it. He knows they’d steal him blind.” She shrugged. “Of course, he might send in his Raiders to do the job, he would rather sacrifice them than his own self any day. He figures he could get more men anyway.”
“Your dad is a real prince isn’t he?” Chance looked disgusted.
Sam looked over at Deke and saw the look on his face. “And just what are you thinking about boy?”
Deke leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Normally, I wouldn’t even consider this because I don’t butt into other clubs activities.’ He looked at Sydney for a moment before he added, “But this might be a blessing in disguise.”
“What might be a blessing in disguise?” Sam asked.
“Flynn is down his two oldest sons, if he sends his Raiders here, he’ll leave himself wide open. All we’d have to do is make a phone call to the Devils and tell them where the safe was and how to get into it. From what I understand about Glen’s Falls, is the fact the Devils hate the Raiders and vice versa. If we give them the information they need to take back the evidence Flynn has, then they would be in power and Flynn would be running for his life. He’d lose everything he ever had.”
“That would be a recipe for murder son, and you know it,” Sam told his son.
“True enough it would be, and there will be innocents hurt, but right now there’s a town of people that will be killed anyway if the Raiders and the Devils go to war. We can handle the Raiders who are sent here, but if we don’t warn them more people could die, more innocent people could die than actually need to. The Devils could storm Flynn’s gates and that is a war that would be contained to the Raiders and the Devils. We could be saving lives too, Dad.” Deke turned to look at Sydney. “But this is your call. This is your family we’re talking about taking out here, your dad and brothers. The only family you can call your own.”
Sydney shook her head. “No sir, they’re not. The only family I ever called my own died at the hands of my father when I was fourteen years old. Those people are not mine, they never were.”
“What do you want us to do here?” Deke asked her.
James just wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly.
Chapter Six
Deke went into his office armed with the information he would need to pass along to the President of the Blue Devils. He’d already told Amos and his group to watch for any strangers in town as they could be out there looking for Sydney or one of her brothers.
Deke chuckled as he remembered their conversation.
“Amos, we might have trouble coming out way shortly.”
“Oh yeah, what might that be boss?” Amos asked.
“We might have some real snakes coming to our town nosing around, maybe looking for information on a pair of lowlifes we got in our cells right now.”
“And what did these lowlifes do, per say?”
“They were hunting their own sister to put a bullet in her head.”
“They what?”
Deke could hear the confusion in his question. “She’s a daughter of Flynn Dell but she walked away from her family ten years ago in Glen’s Falls. This girl has had a hard life and she’s been hiding and just trying to survive her whole life. She got hooked up with James now, and he’s claimed her. Theo and Bastian are on their way here to take care of another matter but somehow Flynn tracked his daughter here to Troy. We got two of her brothers after the shooting as you know, but the older brothers thinks his dad will send the Raiders after them both.”
“So boss, what are you gonna do about it?” Amos asked. “We can watch the street.”
“That’s all I want you guys to do is watch for them and alert us if you see anything. You can’t get mixed up in this fight. I don’t want you guys hurt. Cassie would never forgive me.”
Amos chuckled. “Boss, we may be old but we are not without our own resources. We have the bodies we need to fight our own war if we have to.”