Beginning of the Reckoning

by Vera Quinn

  Five days later

  I am sitting in Hacksaw’s room waiting for him to get out of church so we can go home. I was released from the hospital earlier today and I have never been so glad to be away from anywhere so much in my life. Okay, maybe that little dark room I was held in. I have been poked and prodded and x-rayed to name a few and if the doctor had not released me, I was ready to call Em and plan an escape. Hacksaw kept telling me to be patient and let myself heal. Eat the green jello and chicken broth like they say. I am not a fan of hospital food or green jello and don’t get me started on their sticky oatmeal and runny egg substitutes. I must say that Hacksaw has had the patience of a saint with me through my whining and I feel guilty about the whining, but it didn’t stop me. I know the doctors and nurses were doing everything to get me out of there. I know that not only Hacksaw’s club brothers came to visit me but so did Callie and Gertie even though they have not caught everyone that is involved with the murders and kidnappings. Em called to make sure I was alright. We will be going to Texas to have another memorial for Sarah as soon as the logistics are handled so we can all do it safely. Hacksaw told me that Tara lost her and Rome’s child and my heart broke for the couple. I wanted to go and visit with Tara as soon as she woke up in the hospital but the only people she would see were Rome, Bourbon and Joey. Hacksaw told me not to take it personally because Tara wouldn’t even see Callie, her sister-in-law, and I try not to. I know everyone needs to respect their privacy. Some people just want and need privacy at times like these but I texted Tara and she said we would see each other soon. I don’t know exactly how Tara feels but I understand the way a woman can just feel empty inside.

  Speaking of that, Laura called me to check on me and it was a good conversation. When we hung up the phone I didn’t feel the despair I once did. I’m not saying I am ever going to feel a complete disconnect from Adeline and Lucas but I didn’t go into a deep depression. That’s progress in the right direction. I loved hearing about the two children and the pictures she sent me on my cell phone but I can breathe. I can breathe because I have a focus. I’m not saying that Hacksaw has taken their place. I am saying Hacksaw has showed me I have my own life to live and I want to live it. I want to love, I want to be loved and I want a future to dream about and Hacksaw has shown me that. I love that man and I hear my biological clock ticking loud but if all the ticks, tick away, and children are not in my future then I can accept that. Hacksaw has been loving and strict about my care. He treats me like I am precious to him but doesn’t mind putting me in my place if I try to push myself. He holds me every night when I sleep and his sexy as hell body is driving me crazy but he won’t let me get carried away the way I want to. I’ll bide my time because when it happens it will be explosive in all the right ways. I’m the happiest I have ever been in my life even though I know that the danger isn’t completely gone but I trust my man to keep me safe.

  I walk into the meeting and look around the table at my brothers. Everyone has grim looks on their faces. Our club is divided about the fork in the road we have come to. Rome is the brother I am most concerned for right now. He has always been the quiet one with a level head but losing his child has driven him to a breaking point and he wants blood. I can’t say I blame him. I have my own need for revenge and I will get it. We both will. Today we decide how we are going to proceed with getting retribution for the loss of one of ours and the pain to our family. Bourbon and Rye are not included in today’s church. Today are members only. Bowie and Crockett are in their usual places. Devil is at the head of the table and Rome is half way down the table on the right. His head is down so I can’t read his face. Everyone leaves their guns and phones and takes a seat at the table. I take my place to the right of Devil. Devil stands and bangs his gavel. Everyone goes quiet and waits for what he says.

  “Oz bring everyone up to date on what we have learned,” Devil says. Oz stands and tells everyone what he told Devil and myself last night. “I finally received the confirmation on Lisa Becker. She was legally born Lisa Linden to Alice Linden. There were some complications during the birth and this woman had to stay a few extra days in the hospital and Lisa’s birth certificate hadn’t been recorded yet so she decided to list Trent Black as the father and change Lisa’s last name. The father had to sign the birth certificate so that could happen and someone did but it is not Trent Black’s signature. Nowhere close. The day Alice left the hospital she took the baby to a fire department and dropped her off. The man that was on duty should have followed procedure and turned the baby over to social services but he didn’t. He called the mayor of the town. The mayor’s last name was Becker. An uncle to Tim Becker. That’s how the Becker family in Florida became involved. It took them a while to find Alice Linden and she agreed to sign over adoption papers if the Beckers didn’t try to contact the father listed on the birth certificate. They agreed.” I can’t wait. I need to ask.

  “If the Becker’s have such a load of money then why do they need to do a back - alley adoption? Seems like their money could buy their way into any adoption agency,” I ask Oz.

  “I don’t have that answer yet, but when I was doing the background on Lisa again, I did a little digging into Crystal and Tim. Their family money may be old family money but it is old family business money. Crystal’s family has ties to one of the biggest crime families in Florida and Tim had some sealed records of his own. He spent some time in a mental institution,” Oz answers my question. I nod my head yes. “Lisa and the three men that were with her landed in Quebec. Then they rented an SUV and there’s been no sign of them since. The SUV was abandoned in Montreal. I hacked into security camera footage and identified King. I have pictures of the other two but not a one of them was wearing their colors and I don’t know who they are. I need everyone to look at the pictures to see if anyone can identify any one of them. That’s all I have.” Oz sits down.

  “Chief hit the Possessed Blood Souls clubhouse last night as we agreed on. The re was only the SAA Kong and two prospects there. They have the three men at the BlackPath clubhouse and burned the club to the ground which wasn’t much to begin with. Chief said it looked like the place had been abandoned for a while. Holes in the damn walls and there was no electricity, no alcohol, no food and the rooms were bare. Kong didn’t even fight them. Chief said Kong is eaten up with cancer and is nothing but skin and bones and he had nowhere to go so the two prospects stayed with him. Chief doesn’t think he is going to get much out of any of them. Diz hasn’t been very forthcoming either. He did say that their club was divided and that King had started using drugs just like his brother Duke had and spending all the club’s money to supply his addiction so they lost a lot of their members. Any member that questioned King’s action either disappeared or was found dead and King was blaming the BlackPath MC for it. We should have taken the whole damn club out when Duke was dealt with,” Devil finishes.

  “Are we still on lockdown and when can we get our businesses back to running complete schedules?” Slick asks.

  “I want to go after them,” Rome speaks up. Devil sits down. “I think we are going to be cautious but we don’t need everyone living at the clubhouse. I still think we need to travel in groups and we need prospects on our families and we need to resume full work weeks except for Oz, Tito and Rome. I want you three on tracking and getting information. Trigger is going to be here to help. Bourbon and Rye are sticking around too. They’ll be gone for the holidays but will be back to help. Brain is working on things for Chief and Sarge and Shield are on it. Micah is on her way here to pick up Maddie and Hanna will be staying in Texas when we go for the memorial for Sarah. She’s staying with family since she is pregnant. That will free up some prospects for work.” Devil turns his attention to Rome. “Rome, I can’t imagine what you and Tara are going through and you will get your payback, but we need to do this smart. That child Tara was carrying was Feral Steel blood and we all want club justice and we will get it. Just give us a little time to do it the safe w
ay. We also lost Jay and I don’t want any more of our blood spilled.” I don’t think that helped Rome but he isn’t protesting. “If you go after these men who is going to be here to help Tara? Just give us a little time.” Rome sinks back in his chair not agreeing or disagreeing.

  “You are Feral Steel now , Rome. You can’t go off chasing these people by yourself. When a Feral Steel family member bleeds we all bleed. When you hurt, we all hurt. Do you think I don’t want my hands around these assholes’ necks for what they did to Joy? We’ll get them. They won’t lie low for long, they’ll come at us again, but we are going to be ready this time. We will all get club justice as a family,” I tell Rome. Rome is quiet as is his norm, but I think he gets it now.

  “Jay’s family had him cremated and are having a memorial in two weeks. They’ve been waiting for our go-ahead and it is time. They are having a small service at the First Baptist in town and then a gathering at their home. Callie and Gertie are helping with the food. I expect everyone to be present except the ones left at the clubhouse for security purposes. They’ve asked me to say a few words,” Devil updates us. “Possum has more tests to have done for his back injury but they are releasing him from the hospital for outpatient testing. He’ll be at his parent’s house until they make sure how they are going to proceed with care. I want his medical bills covered and money for whatever he needs. Joey has been released but it will be another two weeks before he can go back to light duties at the earliest.” Devil looks at Rome. “And brother, I have not forgotten you are supposed to have rest for the next few weeks so only computer duty for you and no long hours. It will do us no good to run everyone into the ground. Take the time to recover so we will be ready when these assholes come out of hiding.” Devil looks at Tito. “Do we have anything else? We need to find out who these people have working in the PD or if they just paid someone off for a one-time thing. Follow the money trail. I know this is not the time to bring this up but Tito approached me with an idea for nomads and we are not going to vote on it now but I want him to bring it to the club so he can talk to each of you outside the meeting. I have discussed it with Chief and he is open to a discussion about it but that’s as far as the discussion went. Tito, floor is yours.” Tito stands up and looks around at everyone and then starts talking.

  “I told Devil that after what happened to Sarah that I need some space to ride freely out on the highways just to clear my head. I know everyone here is family but like Hacksaw pointed out to us one day, the club is settling down or some of us are. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I need the wide-open road and some of you have expressed the same. I suggested to Devil that we organize some nomads. I know since Devil has been President and the shit Stone pulled we are building our numbers and recruiting prospects so we cannot afford to let loose of very many members. We have worked closely with the BlackPath MC here in Oklahoma and Texas. We’ve also worked with the Rebellions 4 Blood MC in Texas and the Troubled Fathoms MC in Colorado. What if each club chose a member or two and let the nomads travel between the clubs where needed. That would give any of the clubs ten extra men when needed. We can make contacts on the road and Devil has talked about branching out with another chapter of the Feral Steel MC so we could find the perfect place. The logistics would need to be worked out between the clubs about who would be in charge and colors or even if it is possible. I think if we could iron out the logistics it could be beneficial to all the clubs.” The brothers don’t have much of a reaction.

  “Chief’s club might work but we don’t know much about the Troubled Fathoms MC and the BlackPath MC in Oklahoma and the Rebellions 4 Blood MC are outlaw. How would that work with us staying on the right side of the law?” Crockett asks.

  “That’s something else we would need to work out,” Tito answers. Devil stands back up. “I wanted Tito to bring it to the table but it is a new idea and nothing we need to vote on now.” Devil looks at Tito. “I want you to work out the logistics and then bring it back to the table for us to discuss further. I want the money situation, legalities, who will be in charge and how many members from each club we are talking about. Then and only then will we bring it to the other three clubs.”

  “Gentry Wilde wants to work with us to find Lisa but he hasn’t given us an answer about why Becky didn’t know Lisa came from money and why Lisa didn’t live like she was rich. He must know why or it seems he would since they were family of sorts and he kept in touch with the family. I don’t trust him. Have we gotten his background search in yet?” I remind Devil. Devil looks at Oz.

  “Wilde’s criminal record is clean but his b usiness as a private eye is very lucrative for him. He is worth over seven figures just in the States. He has offshore accounts also and his client list is questionable. He has ties to the Mexican mafia families,” Oz tells us.

  “Don’t we have enough trouble right now without getting involved with the Mexican mafia families?” Bowie asks. He has a good point. “I agree ,” Ridge speaks up.

  “Me too,” Thrasher adds.

  “Anything else from anyone?” Devil asks and looks around. No reply. “Let’s vote on Wilde. Raise of hands is all we need. Everyone for severing ties with Wilde raise them hands.” Everyone’s hands go up. “Well that was easy. Hacksaw, talk to him one more time and see if he has any more information and then cut him loose. Is everyone in agreement with taking care of Jay’s memorial, taking care of Possum’s medical bills and his caretaking or do we need a vote?”

  “Does anyone disagree?” I look around and no one speaks up. “We’re good Prez.” “Alright then, we vote on what happens to Diz. Floor’s open.” Devil gives the club the choice. I know what my vote is.

  “I motion for club justice and giving Rome, Tito and Hacksaw their chance at this asshole,” Tex speaks first. “I second the motion ,” Cowboys says.

  “Club justice,” comes from Bowie.

  “Club justice,” Crockett agrees.

  “Club Justice,” Edge, Ridge, Thrasher, Creole, and Slick all say in turn. All eyes go to Rome and myself. “Club justice ,” Rome says in a strained voice.

  “Club justice,” Tito says with hate in his eyes.

  “Club justice,” I agree.

  “Club justice,” Oz hits the table as he says it.

  “Club justice ,” Devil says and bangs his gavel. “Motion approved. Diz will be dealt with after we get a drink. In our next church I think it is about time we vote on Bo. He has shown he is an asset to the Feral Steel and it time to make him a brother or not.” Bo will make a good brother. “We go back to a full work schedule on Monday.” Devil bangs his gavel one last time to let everyone know it is time to get our drink. I am going to sneak in and check on my woman and then rain some hurt down on one of the men responsible for hurting Joy. I have wanted this all week and now it is time.

  I can finally take B home. Micah is on her way but it will be a while before she gets here. I need to see my twin, ever since she was kidnapped and held against her will, she has sounded different on the phone. I just wish that we could have our boring ranch lives back. I love our sister Callie and her family but the dangerous lifestyle they lead is not something I am accustomed to. I know it is not their faults and I am not putting any of this at their feet but murders, kidnapping and drugs are not my small town normal. I just want B safe. I wonder if this is the kind of things that happens in B’s dad life. He is the vice president of the Troubled Fathoms MC in Colorado. He and his brother Krill lost their dad and grandmother a few years ago in a house explosion due to club business. None of this is what I would want for B, but then again, I may walk across the street tomorrow and get hit by a bus. No one is guaranteed an uneventful life. I have gone over these things a million times since B has been born. The only thing is I cannot imagine my life without is that little girl. She is my life. I am watching Kellan and Killian play with B. They love their cousin and she loves them. I must admit, I am a little sad to be going home too. B doesn’t have anyone to play with at home. She ju
st has Micah, aunt Deb and me to play with.

  “Are you alright Maddie? You look a million miles away,” Kat says to me. Kat is Callie’s mother-in-law and she is here visiting with Bourbon. Sometimes I think the two of them are in love but other times they act like they can’t stand to be in the same room with each other. I don’t know what their complete story is, but they have been this way for a couple of years. It’s none of my business so I don’t ask.

  “Just thinking about the long ride home.” It’s not the complete truth but I don’t want to explain the everyday dilemma I go over in my head about telling Dra about B. Callie is under the assumption that I told Dra. I didn’t lie and say it, but I didn’t deny it either. I just don’t want to argue about it. I am protecting my little girl.

  “Have you ever thought about staying? There’s always a place for you here,” Callie says coming in with another basket of clothes to fold. Callie sits the basket in the middle of the coffee table and Kat and I both go over to help fold the neverending laundry. The three children are busy playing with their blocks. The boys build them up and B pushes them over and then they all laugh.

  “I think Devil has his hands full of people to take care of right now and I would miss home anyway. I’m a homebody. I was raised on a ranch and I miss it when I am gone.” Everything I am saying is true.

  “I just wish you lived closer, so our children could grow up close, and I miss you when you are not here,” Callie tells me. “It isn’t that long of a trip and you can bring the children to visit any time you like. They would love the animals and the wideopen space to play.” I have invited Callie many times to visit the ranch and so has Micah, but she isn’t going to leave Devil long enough to come visit. They are so in love and I guess I can understand that. The doorbell rings and we all look at each other. We know we are safe because there’s a prospect right outside. Callie gets up to go open the door, but right as she is going Killian starts crying and she turns to her son. Kellan and Killian are fighting over one block. I see B thinks it is funny. Kat picks up B and snuggles her to keep her away from the little argument between brothers and the doorbell goes off again. “I’ll get it.” I stop at the front window and look out to make sure the prospect is still there. Bo is standing by his bike but he is watching whoever is ringing the doorbell. I can’t see who it is from here so I go to the door and open it. I can’t believe my eyes and I can see the man is just as surprised to see me opening the door. Callie has Killian on her hip as she comes up behind me.