by Bella Jewel
Not at all mean.
I swallow and glance at Koda, who is watching me intently now. He wants this story. Maybe more than anyone.
I sigh.
“Ask away. You guys need to know what I know, which means, eventually, I have to tell you. Better now than never, right?”
Malakai looks at me, and his eyes are kind, too.
And I know I can trust them.
“Don’t have to speak until you’re ready to speak ...”
I smile at him, and shrug. “You’re going to find out eventually anyway, and I’m not afraid of my story.”
“Then what are you afraid of?” Maverick asks.
“I’m afraid of you all getting hurt because of me.”
All their heads kind of swing in my direction.
“What makes you think that?” Malakai questions, narrowing his eyes.
“Because I know what you’re dealing with, and you don’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“Dealt with some pretty bad shit in our time, darlin’,” he informs me. “This is just another thing ...”
I bite my bottom lip, then take a big drink.
“It’s not really about bad shit, it’s about the sheer size of what is being run,” I tell him, drinking more and handing my glass to Scarlett, who immediately refills it.
I need alcohol for this.
Lots of it.
“Keep them coming.” I smile to her.
She nods.
“Not about manpower, it’s about how smart you are,” Malakai says, his voice a little gruff.
I’m not trying to offend him.
I glance at Koda. “That’s what he said.”
“Why don’t you tell us,” Maverick adds, crossing his arms and stretching his legs out, “and we can decide. Yeah?”
I glance at them all.
And then I nod.
“Yeah.”
So, I start telling them the story.
~*~*~*~
NOW – CHARLIE
“I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that the person who put a hit on me is my father.”
Scarlett makes a little gasping sound beside me, and Amalie’s eyes bulge. I guess the girls hadn’t guessed that part.
“Had an idea it was family, maybe an ex, but didn’t know it was your father,” Malakai says, sipping his beer and watching me with eyes that tell me he’s taking in every single piece of information I’m about to tell him.
I nod. “Well, he’s my father. Benjamin Masters. That’s his name, though you’ll rarely hear him being called by that.”
“What will you hear him being called?” Koda interrupts, his face angry, hard.
Why is he so angry?
Because I didn’t tell him first.
I glance back at Malakai and hesitate.
“Can trust us, darlin’, I promise you that.”
Scarlett taps my knees, and I look to her. She nods.
I exhale. “Mostly, they call him Shanks. I don’t know why. I never found out. But I just know only very few people knew him as Ben, or Benjamin. After my mom died, I didn’t often hear him getting called by his name.” Koda makes an angry sound, and I glance at him again. “Why are you so angry?”
He shakes his head. “Not. Just keep tellin’ the story.”
Malakai watches him for a few moments then looks back to me. “Keep going. Start from wherever you think we’ll start gatherin’ information.”
“Okay,” I say, sipping more alcohol until my head starts to swim just a little. “My mother died when I was seven. His doing. I was in his office, I don’t really remember why, and these men came in, dragging Mom. I was hiding behind a chair. They were demanding information, and if he didn’t give it to them, they’d kill her ...”
I hate this memory.
More than any memory I’ve had.
I despise it.
I take a deep breath and stare at my feet. “He told them to do it. He didn’t care. And they did. They shot her in the head, right there in his office. He didn’t even flinch. He was showing them that nothing mattered to him. That they could use nothing to weaken him. He then called his men in and had them killed. I was just sitting there behind his chair, confused, I didn’t really understand back then, but it wouldn’t take long before he made sure I did.”
Scarlett grabs my hand, and I look to her. “I’m so sorry about your mom,” she whispers.
I give her a weak smile. “It was a long time ago.”
I look over to Malakai, his eyes are filled now with rage but also sadness. I know by the end of this story, he’ll hate Benjamin Masters as much as I do. Maybe even more. I hope more.
I hope Iron Fury MC is the end to that monster.
“Sorry about your mom, darlin’. Sucks,” Malakai finally tells me.
I nod. “Thanks. Anyway, my father realized something that day. Nobody knew about me. Not the bad people, anyway. Nobody knew he had a daughter, hell, he didn’t know he had a daughter half the time.”
I clench my jaw thinking about it but keep going.
“So, his perfect plan came into action. He was going to use me to get information. He trained me up, like a perfect little puppet. I did what he said, and he didn’t make it hurt. He had me act like I was lost, or homeless, and go and knock on peoples’ doors, asking to borrow their phone. When I was in their house, he would have me use a bathroom, or make an excuse to excuse myself and I’d run off and get any information I could. It worked. People, even the biggest monsters, fell for it. Though some didn’t make it easy on me, and let me just tell you, I experienced way too much as a young girl ...”
“What a ...” Scarlett growls. “What a pig!”
I smile at her, tapping her hand.
“Go on,” Malakai encourages. “How long did this go on?”
“God, a long time, until people finally started putting it together. They started figuring out this girl was going around and information was going missing.”
“So, he pulled it?” Maverick asks.
I swallow. “No, it just got worse, but I really don’t want to go into it. I did a lot of bad things, and please don’t ask me why, I was scared, and I had nobody, and honestly, I knew if I ran, he’d find me.”
Malakai nods. “Don’t need to explain yourself to us.”
“What kind of bad shit did you do?” Koda suddenly demands.
I look to him. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Could fuckin’ help.”
“It won’t fucking help!” I snap. “Back off.”
His jaw clenches.
“Koda,” Malakai growls, “back the fuck down. What she did back then has little to do with what is happening now.”
“You can’t fuckin’ know that. There could be a person, information, somethin’ that might help us find this fucker.”
“I can help you find him,” I snap. “I’m that person. I’m that information. You don’t need them, you need me. So back off.”
Koda glares at me, but I hold it.
I won’t back down from this. He’ll just have to deal with it.
“Can’t deal, brother, walk away,” Maverick says, his voice hard.
“Get fucked, Maverick.”
“Dakoda,” Malakai growls, his voice a vicious warning.
Koda clenches his jaw shut but says nothing more.
I swallow, my fingers trembling, and I stare down at my feet for a few minutes. Why does this matter so much to Koda? I know he’s angry. I know he wants to end this. But why is he so determined to make my life miserable because of it?
“Don’t have to continue, if you don’t want,” Malakai says. “No rush.”
But there is a rush, isn’t there?
He’s after me, and eventually, he’ll find me.
“I’m the reason he went to prison,” I tell them, my voice soft. “I knew it was the only way I would be free. At least, at the time, it made sense. I never thought that one day he’d be out of prison and want revenge. I just wanted ... I wanted
to get away from him. I wanted a life.”
“How?” Maverick asks, his tone kind, but firm.
“The old-fashioned way,” I tell them. “I went to the cops, I found one I could trust, and I told them everything. He was a really nice man. His name was Oliver. He was a detective, and he agreed to help me. I’d do what they asked, they’d change my name, and I’d go free. I just had to work with them. Which meant I went back in, and instead of getting information for my father, I got information against him. It only took a few months, I had a lot of information. And it worked. One day, during one of the biggest tradeoffs, the cops took them down. My father, his closest men, and anyone else they could.”
“And the cop?” Mason asks, speaking for the first time.
I look at him, and I know my face is sad.
I shake my head.
I don’t want to talk about Oliver.
I don’t.
I won’t.
Mason nods.
He gets it.
“So, they took it down,” I say, my voice a little thicker than I’d like, thinking about Oliver and everything he did for me. “Of course, they didn’t get everyone, that’s impossible, but they shut most of it down and it would have continued, but most people would have scattered. They knew they were being watched. The information was too substantial. They weren’t game to take the risk. Obviously, I now know it didn’t fully stop, but without my father, it slowed down.”
“And he knows it was you,” Malakai says simply.
It isn’t a question.
“He knows it was me. The cops changed my identity, and I left. I moved as far away as I could. I tried to start my life new. My father was supposed to be away for life, but he knows people, he is corrupt, and so is the system. So, I guess, somehow, he got out early.”
“And he wants blood,” Maverick mutters.
I nod. “He wants blood. Mine.”
“Gotta know, how did he find you? Was it us? Treyton?” Malakai asks.
I nod. “I’m guessing Treyton. I should have known better than to delve into that world, but I wanted protection. I heard rumors, strange things started happening, and I just knew he was out and looking. I didn’t know who to turn to. I was scared. When Maverick asked me to help, I thought the protection from the club might be enough. I was right, but also wrong. My father is dangerous, and he’s smart. I didn’t realize when I went into it that Treyton was part of the new operation, whatever it is. When I got caught, it all fell together. Treyton figured it out. It didn’t take him long. And he sent my father on the hunt.”
“We were correct in assumin’ that Treyton was workin’ for your father, he was the big silent monster behind it all,” Boston mutters. “Makes sense. We couldn’t fuckin’ find out who was runnin’ it.”
“My father is smart, and he’s good at what he does. You can guarantee he’s even smarter about it now after serving time. He has unfinished business, mostly being me.”
“How’d Treyton figure it out?” Maverick asks. “Curious to know.”
“When he took me, because he knew I was snooping for the club, he didn’t know I was any relation. He had no idea. Of course, I had a suspicion. Once I got out on the streets and the talk started coming in, I knew someone big was behind it, and I had a strong idea who that was. I got scared, came and asked you for money, I was going to give you what information I could and use that money to run, but I screwed up and I got caught.”
My fingers are trembling, so I take another drink. And another.
“Treyton purely took me because I was working for the club, and at that point, you were all getting too close to figuring out that what he was doing, was far bigger than you first thought, and they wanted to take you down. When he was holding me hostage, he was talking to people, telling them he had a girl who was working for the club, name was Charlie. I guess that sparked a question. It must have got back to my father, and he only had to ask one question to know for sure ...”
“And that was?” Malakai asks.
I smile, but it’s sad. “What color is her hair.”
“Your father would know you by hair color alone?” Maverick asks, a little confused.
“A girl named Charlie, which is ridiculously close to Charlene, on the streets asking questions, with flaming red hair. How many girls do you think would be brave enough to enter the streets, looking the way I do, unless they had past experience? He’s not stupid. I’m stupid. Because I should have kept my hair dyed, and I should have requested a completely different name. I was young when it was changed, and the reason it was picked, was special, but I didn’t think it through. I was a fucking idiot. But mostly, I should have never agreed to help you.”
“You’re not an idiot,” Scarlett says. “Not even close. You were young. You were scared. You had just done a massive thing.”
“She’s right,” Malakai says. “Not an idiot at all, darlin’. And we appreciate your help more than you’ll ever know. Because of that, we’ll make sure you’re safe. Promise that. Now, your father put two and two together. He didn’t get to you, though?”
“No. Treyton only figured it out just before you came and took me. I don’t know how much information he told my father. That’s the worst part. I don’t know if he mentioned the club or if he just mentioned me. Either way, he obviously shared my name, and details, and my father figured it out, so he must have given enough for that to happen.”
“My guess,” Mason adds again, “he didn’t mention the club. We’ve had nothin’. Not a thing come back at us. If your father thought we had you, he’d have come in by now.”
“Maybe,” Koda mutters. “Maybe not. He would have known Treyton was dealin’ with the club. Man that smart, he might be watchin’, waitin’ ...”
“He put a hit on her,” Boston says, “which means he didn’t know where she was, or he wouldn’t have bothered. My guess is Treyton wasn’t runnin’ a clean ship. I am thinkin’ the drugs he was usin’ Scarlett to move weren’t part of the operation he was runnin’ for Shanks. I’m thinkin’ Treyton had a dodgy side and was runnin’ two shows, hence why he panicked when the club got involved. My guess? He probably told him he picked up a girl, put two and two together, and we ended him before he said much about the club. Which is lucky for us. Fuckin’ lucky.”
“Think Boston is right, the only upper hand we have right now is that he doesn’t seem to know we have you. He knows you’re alive. He knows you were askin’ questions on the street. But we kept it all pretty quiet. The only person who knew of our involvement was Treyton.”
“And Treyton is cocky,” Scarlett adds. “Boston is right, he wouldn’t have been following orders. Treyton works for Treyton. He was also smart. He would have tried to handle it on his own, I can guarantee it. He was basically running the show, while her father was clearly still coming back into it. He was top dog. And he would have loved that. He hated taking orders, which means it’s highly likely he thought he could sort the issue and end it himself, as Boston mentioned. I would be that’s why he didn’t say anything to her father.”
Malakai nods. “You’re right about that, darlin’, which means for now, we have the upper hand. Won’t last long, though.”
“No,” Koda says, his voice gruff. “He just needs to start askin’ questions, and eventually, our name will get dropped. Treyton had help when he was movin’ drugs on Scarlett’s bus, those people would know our involvement, won’t take long for it to come out.”
“No, it won’t,” Malakai agrees. “Which is why we need to act now.”
“What are you going to do?” I ask them. “Because he’s dangerous, I’ve tried to take it down before, it didn’t work.”
Koda looks to me, his eyes hard. “That’s because you left him alive. We don’t plan on doin’ that.”
I swallow, but I nod.
I want him dead.
I want him gone.
Probably more than anyone.
Definitely more than anyone.
If that ma
kes me equally as big a monster as him, then so be it.
I want him ended.
-10-
NOW – KODA
“Goin’ to take more than I thought to bring him down,” Malakai says, bringing a cigarette to his lips and inhaling deeply.
Laughter can be heard coming from the cabin, laughter from the girls who have taken their party inside after Charlie told us her story. Well, part of her story. She’s leaving things out which Malakai seems to think is perfectly fucking fine. I don’t agree; I think we need to know everything to be able to do this properly, but I’ll bring it up with him later.
“Too right,” Maverick agrees. “Think we gotta come in from a different angle with this one. Charlie was smart, doin’ what she did. For a girl on her own, it was her only choice, and she made the right one.”
“Yeah,” Mason agrees, “but goin’ to the cops is out for us, so is takin’ somethin’ that size on ourselves. We’ll never be able to bring down somethin’ so huge. Not without gettin’ killed.”
“So, what are our options?” Boston mutters, puffing on another cigarette.
“I think we get someone else to do the dirty work for us,” I say, staring at Malakai.
He narrows his eyes. “I’m interested. Go on.”
“People like that got a lot of fuckin’ enemies. Cartel. Mafia. You name it. There are plenty of people that want them gone. All we have to do is set it up, be fuckin’ smart about it, and let them take each other out.”
“How the fuck do we get someone with that high power to get involved?” Maverick grunts. “Never goin’ to work.”
I glare at him. “When you know people, and you’re smart, you just set shit up, make it look like the other end is startin’ a war. We know enough about Benjamin and the show he’s runnin’, and so does Charlie—she also knows names, and people. We dig deep, set it up so it looks like he’s messin’ with their shit, we get information, we basically lead them right to him.”
“Hmmm, can be done, but we don’t have the time it takes to get that kind of information. Won’t be long until he’s on our tail. We need to act fast,” Malakai says, rubbing a hand down his face.