Old Lady (Iron Disciples Book 2)

by Daniella Tucci

  Love your Auntie Swift

  I set aside the letter before it gets too smeared with my tears. I have cried more the last four days than I have in fourteen years and I can scarcely stop. But these tears are different. They’re absent the anguish I have been feeling. They’re more like tears of healing. With each drop that escapes the corners of my eyes my soul feels just that much better. It’s like the tears are beginning to wash clean the blackness of my heart and soul. For the first time in…I don’t know how many days I’m starting to feel like I have taken a step back away from the abyss. I don’t feel like I’m about to be swallowed up by my feelings and that’s a huge fucking relief!

  I can’t believe my aunt heard and understood what I was saying to her that night and I can’t believe she was lucid enough to write to me about it. As trite as it sounds, I feel like I’ve been given a new lease on life. I have a chance now to be different and if I don’t take this opportunity and do something with it…then my auntie was wrong about me and I am a bad person. I don’t believe I’m a bad person, not anymore. It’s time to call Stacy and face the music. I pick up my cell phone to make the call. It’s well after one in the morning. I decide to wait till the morning.

  At first I think it’s going to be impossible to sleep, but having unburdened my conscious somewhat I find I am actually relaxed and have no trouble sleeping. When I finally wake it’s close to nine in the morning. Time to call Stacy and face the music.

  She answers just before it goes to voicemail. “Hello?”

  “Hi Stacy.”

  “Oh my god, I can’t believe it! Is it really you Morgan! I have been trying to get ahold of you like, forever, and so have Jason and Brian too.”

  Brian is my direct supervisor at Capital America. He’s my only supervisor really, and has the power to fire me or promote me. The fact that he’s trying to get me on the phone can’t be good at all.

  “What the hell does Brian want?”

  “Maybe you should hear it from him first.”

  Shit! “Hear what Stacy?”

  “Just call him.”

  “Can you at least give me an idea? I’d kinda like to know what I’m getting myself into before I talk to him.”

  After a long pause she finally answers. “It’s about your job Morgan. Be prepared to fight for your career; that’s all I know.”

  “Shit! You…never mind. I guess I had this coming didn’t I?”

  “Just call him.”

  “Fine.” I reply. “I’ll call ya later.”

  “Bye…and good luck.”

  This I did not see coming. I look at my phone. It’s July 16th. Oh fuck! I was supposed to be at work a week ago. So he’ll be pissed, so fucking what? I’m one of their biggest producers. No fucking way they’re going to can me!

  I dial Brian’s cell number. He answers it right away.

  “Morgan? It’s about freaking time! Where the hell have you been?”

  “I’m doing great, thanks for asking. How about you?”

  “Morgan you need to come in today. We have to talk.”

  “I’ll be in next Monday. We can talk then.”

  “No,” he replies. “We need to talk today. Mike from legal is here so the three of us need to meet. I need you here by 4:30.”

  “What the hell is legal doing there?”

  “Just come in Morgan.”

  “Tell me why you have legal counsel in your office waiting to meet with me.”

  “Really don’t want to do this on the phone Morgan.”

  “Well I don’t want to come in today. I’ll be in Monday. Whatever you have to say can be said then.”

  “Don’t even think about showing your face here Monday if you can’t come in today! You’re in big trouble Morgan.”

  “Because I’m a week late? After all the years I’ve put into the firm? After all the fucking money I’ve made you? Seriously Brian?”

  “Not my decision Morgan. You put your license in serious jeopardy by consorting with a known outlaw biker gang. How could you not think it would come to this? This gang you’ve been hanging with, The Iron Disciples, they’re under an investigation for a half a dozen crimes that fall under RICO. Your name has come up in their investigation. You could end up going down as an accessory to who knows how many crimes.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? I have done nothing wrong here. I was just…well I dated a guy who was in the club but I never participated in any crimes. I wasn’t even present during anything illegal.”

  “So you had no knowledge of any crimes either before or after they happened?” He asks. “Is that your official stance?”

  “Yes…I…I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “And you refuse to come in today?”

  I’m pretty damn sure it won’t do any good to come in. He’s already made his mind up. I can feel my heart beginning to sink. Trading stocks is my life. It’s what I do and I’m a damn good trader too. If I never traded another stock again my trailing fees would still net me six figures annually. They fucking better not try and take that away from me.

  “I’ll come in Monday.” There I’ve drawn a line in the sand. Let’s hope it’s not the wrong move. I really need to call a lawyer.

  “I’m sorry Morgan, but you leave me with no choices here. As of today you’re suspended from trading at Capital America. Jason and Stacy will be handling your clients until this can all be straightened out.”

  “What about my trailin-”

  “You’ll still get your trailing commissions unless it becomes necessary to let you go. Do you have any questions?”

  “So you’re stealing my clients are you? How the fuck do you sleep at night Brian?”

  “Hey don’t you go accusing me of stealing. You got yourself into this mess. I am just giving you some time to get your ass out of it. You do that and you can have your clients back. Now go get your shit together Morgan and don’t show up until you do.”

  How the fuck can Stacy be dating the Disciples Sargent at Arms, the club’s enforcer, and not be under investigation herself? Somebody’s been talking, that’s how. Somebody ratted me out. Now who would gain form that? Jason and Stacy, that’s who. That little slut! She fucking ratted on me! At least it looks that way. I need a lawyer.

  “Dammit!”

  I throw my phone across the room and lie back on the bed fuming. Those fuckers are gonna take my clients, then my trailing commissions, and split up the spoils amongst themselves. I wonder what kind of deal Brian offered them. Even if you split my trailing earnings three ways it would still probably gross 50-55k each. Fuckers!

  Then it hits me again like a ton of fucking bricks. None of this shit matters anyway. I’m going down for what I did to Cade anyway. Small comfort my trailing earnings are gonna be when I’m sitting in a cell for the next forty years. But what if what my aunt said about me not being a killer is true? I need a drink. I search around the mess of bottles for one that’s not empty but I got nuthin. Then my auntie’s voice pops into my head.

  “Make it right Morgan, you’re better than this. Lay off the drink and make things right.”

  Crap…the only way to make this right is to turn myself in. They’re gonna find me anyway. If not the police the club, and I really don’t want to come under the club’s brand of justice. Jail for the rest of my life would be the kinder gentler way to go. I hobble across the room and retrieve my phone. I have to call that bitch Stacy and tell her what I’ve done. Seems like she doesn’t know it was me or she would have said something. She answers on the first ring.

  “So how’d it go?” She asks right away.

  “I think you already know that Stacy. But that’s not why I called.”

  “What’s going on then?”

  I take a deep breath. This is possibly the hardest phone call I have ever had to make. Yeah…definitely the hardest.

  “Um…I don’t quite, know how to say this Stacy…but I guess I’m gonna turn myself in tomorrow…”

  “What?”

 
; “I’m the one who did it Stacy. I had way too much to drink and-”

  “What the hell are you talking about Morgan?”

  “What do you mean what? I’m the one who…” I can’t even say it. “I…you do know what happened to Cade right?”

  “I don’t know I haven’t talked to him in a week. Shooter would know though.”

  Something’s not adding up here. She appears to know nothing. Everything as far as she’s concerned is normal. I don’t get it.

  “Stacy, about a week or so ago I woke up in a hotel with blood all over my clothes and I had one of Cade’s shirts and it was covered in his blood. That was all my doing Stacy. You have to know about that. Right?”

  “Geeze Morgan, I don’t kno-”

  “I killed him Stacy. It was me who did it.”

  I’m starting to get a little angry here. It’s bad enough that I have to confess to this shit, and now I have to convince my friend, my former friend, that I did it. Something weird is going on here.

  “When did you do this… this heinous crime?” She asks me.

  “I don’t fucking know. More than a week ago I guess. I’ve been hiding out in hotels rooms ever since.”

  “Morgan, I don’t know what you think you did, but you did not kill Cade. You had a shit load of Sangria to drink that night and you spilled it on you and Cade’s clothes. Do you not remember any of this?” She asks.

  Color me speechless. “I-I don’t remember a damn thing from that night Stacy.”

  “Oh man… Morgan. Can I just say one thing here?” She continues on without waiting for me to reply. “You should like, never drink again. I mean it, not one damn drop.”

  “You don’t think I’ve already done that? These last four or five days have been living fucking hell! I even called my aunt that has Alzheimer’s and confessed to her I was so freaking desperate.”

  “Don’t ever drink again Morgan!”

  “Yeah I heard you the first damn time Stacy.

  I can’t believe this. How can I have thought I murdered Cade? My hands are starting to shake. Oh my freaking god, am I getting a new lease on life here? I’m not going to prison then?

  “So…how’s Cade then?”

  “Like I said Morgan, I haven’t talked to him in almost a week. Actually longer than that ago. I saw him after that party but we really didn’t talk. He was still pissed at you and so therefore, pissed at me just because we’re friends. My only saving grace here is because I’m Shooter’s old lady.”

  Wow, then its official, Stacy and Shooter. But that still begs the question, how the fuck is she not in trouble with the club and the whole RICO deal? I’m guessing I wouldn’t be either if someone hadn’t thrown my hat into the ring, so to speak. I wonder if there is any way that someone could not have been Stacy. I have no friends to speak of, and I really don’t want to alienate Stacy. She has become a friend of sorts over the past month and I would like to keep it that way. I just don’t know how I’m going to find out if she is guilty or not.

  “You still there Morgan?”

  “Huh? Yeah, I’m here. It’s just that I have been thinking I’m going to jail and now…well now I have my future back so it’s a lot to think about.”

  “Well…you should call Cade for starters and make that right. Who knows, maybe he’s already forgiven you.”

  “You really think that? The former president of the Iron Disciples forgiving someone who ratted on him?”

  “You barely ratted on him Morgan. Ratting is like going to the police right? You didn’t go to the police and you just told another member your suspicions. That’s not really ratting on him; not technically at least. Call him. You might be surprised at what you hear.”

  Can I trust Stacy now? If she’s the reason I got in hot water at work she could still be conspiring to fuck my life up. She may want me to call Cade when that could be the worst advice ever. I don’t know what the hell to think right now.

  “I’ll think about it.” I finally reply. “Right now I’m gonna shower and get something to eat. I’ll call ya later.”

  “Call me when you’re ready for some coffee.” She replies.

  “Later.”

  “Bye Morgan. Good to hear from you again.”

  “Yeah…bye.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Business as Unusual

  The Disciples, the Outkasts, and the Latin Kings have a meeting…

  Cade and Eddie are the first to arrive at the salvage yard on the outskirts of town for their meeting. They get off their bikes and proceed to walk around the yard looking for any sign of a trap. Ten minutes later their back with the bikes satisfied that today’s meeting will go on without a hitch.

  “So why the sudden meet?” Eddie asks his brother.

  “Your guess is as good as mine.” Cade replies. “I haven’t heard there have been any problems with our business, have you?”

  “It’s been quiet. None of our inventory has been lost and those new car washes we’ve been using to wash the money have worked incredibly well. I can’t see where there would be any complaints from the Kings or the Outkasts. I mean we’ve jus-”

  Eddie stops abruptly when he spots two approaching SUV’s about a quarter or half mile from the yard. There’s only one way to get in and out of the salvage yard so the approaching vehicles will probably enter through the gate then split up to come at the brothers from two different angles; if they’re hostiles of course.

  The second Cade spots them he’s jumping on his bike and firing it up. He reaches inside his cut and pulls out a Glock 17 9mm pistol. Eddie does the same and the brothers spin the throttle and shoot towards the yard’s entrance. They get about thirty yards when they both realize they won’t make the entrance in time. They screech to a halt. Cade figures they have about four minutes to hide or take cover or something.

  “Look he shouts to his brother. We go out on the open road and they’ll slaughter us. We can’t outrun those things anyway; we’ll just get mowed down. Our only play here,” he says pointing to the junk surrounding them. “Is to use all this crap as a shield and just shoot it out here in the salvage yard. You just got the one gun?”

  “I got my Glock as well.” Eddie pats his right ankle. “And my .380 here for close quarters. What about you?”

  “He holds up his Glock, then reaches into his saddle bags and produces a sawed off shotgun and a Colt Commander. “I got about twenty rounds for the shotgun and two extra 16 round mags for the Glock and two 8 round mags for the Colt. How many you got?”

  “I got two extra mags for both guns. The .380 only holds 8 rounds in each mag and you know how many the Glocks hold.”

  Cade looks towards the highway. Both vehicles have covered about half the distance to the yard. That gives them about two minutes now. They quickly ditch the bikes at a place that is both hidden and not far from them. If they can just even the odds they may be able to shoot out the tires of the SUV’s and make a run for it on the open road. All they need to do is disable the lead SUV in a place in the yard where the following vehicles can’t get around. The other vehicles could back out but that would give the brothers time to get out and maybe back into town.

  Cade nestles himself about five feet from his brother. They’re both surrounded on all sides but the front with stacks of engines and parts from engines. It’s actually pretty damn good protection. He sets the Colt along with its spare mags on the ground at his feet. He holds the Glock in hand for the initial action. The Colt he’ll use when the Glock runs dry. He rests the shotgun in his lap then looks out across the horizon for the approaching enemies.

  “Who do you think it is?” He asks Eddie.

  “Gotta be those Juarez boys right? They must have over powered the Kings and are moving in.”

  “Makes sense, but I hope to hell you’re wrong. Wouldn’t we have heard something on the street?” Cade asks. “I can’t see them making that big a move and keeping it under wraps. There are just too many Kings around there to keep them all silenced.
”

  “Probably right. So what’s the strategy here Cade?”

  “Well…since they are probably only expecting the two of us at the meeting and for us to be lightly armed, they probably only have three or four guys per car so that leaves three or four guys for each of us. You can take four on your own can’t you Eddie?”

  “Piece of Cake.”

  Both vehicles split up now and make for opposite entrances. As Cade’s adrenaline begins to surge through his body his mind strangely take a detour in Morgan’s direction as he recalls the early days of their budding romance. His cousin was out for the night and they had the house to themselves; a rare treat in those days.

  Almost a month ago…

  Morgan and I collapse on the sofa, heads pleasantly spinning from drink, good food, and laughter. That seems to be a rare thing between us; laughter. It’s not that we don’t have anything to laugh about, it’s just that all the other stuff in life tends to drown out that lighter side that I think both of us do have. She flops down on the couch first and I follow suit and manage to get a fiberglass foot up the ass.

  She howls with laughter and says to me. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to shove my foot up your ass Cade.”

  “Not half as long as I’ve wanted you to do it.” I reply laughing.

  I’m pretty sure absent the two bottles of wine consumed betwixt us that would not have merited more than a dry chuckle. I hop up quick for fear of either breaking her leg again or enjoying the sensation. I’ve never been one for anal play but there’s always a first time; hopefully not with her giant cast though.

  “When are you going to get that damn thing removed?” I ask her.