by K. J. Dahlen
“She got him from her mother,” Deke explained. “I want to thank you for what you did today.”
Leon shrugged. “I didn’t do all that much. Made a few calls.”
“I also want to thank you for giving Cassie money to see her dream come true,” he said. “Without the money, Redemption House wouldn’t have gotten off the ground.”
Leon frowned. “What the hell are you talking about? I don’t know what Redemption House is.”
Deke frowned. “Cassie said you gave her the startup money.”
Leon shrugged. “A few weeks back, Peaches asked for some money. She wouldn’t tell me why she wanted it and at the time, it didn’t matter. I gave her the money. I have no idea what she used it for.”
Deke nodded. “She gave the money to Cassie. It was Cassie’s dream to start a second chance house for people who had nowhere else to go. She wanted to give them a safe place to come to while they got their lives back on track. She claims that while she and Peaches were living on the streets, there was no place to go where she felt safe.”
Calderone tightened his hands into fists. “At least she was able to keep them both safe and alive.”
“Maybe when she’s better, she’ll tell us more about this Redemption House. I’d like to hear all about it,” Leon commented. “Maybe even become a silent partner.”
“Yeah, you and me both,” Deke said.
Zipper came over to the group and motioned his head at Deke. “I think I got something you should see, boss.”
Deke stepped away from Leon and Calderone and walked with Zipper over to his table.
Zipper had a makeshift computer station set up and nobody bothered him when he was there. He keyed his monitor up and pressed a few keys.
Deke could see security cameras and when Zipper touched the screen, he saw one pop up and fill the monitor. It showed Cassie being hauled away by her hair. At one point, Robbie turned his face just enough to get his picture taken.
“I’m sorry man, I didn’t check this earlier, Zipper told him.
“Print that photo,” Deke ordered. “I want it sent to my phone. At least we now know what the fuck he looks like. I need you to send it to Sullivan too. Now, we have a face to hunt down.”
“I’d like a copy as well,” Leon told them. “My people can use it to find this little bastard.”
Calderone, Peaches and Iceman joined them. As well as Deacon and Gator.
When Peaches saw the photo, she got very quiet. She couldn’t take her eyes off his face.
Iceman frowned and pulled her close to him when she began to tremble. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked her. Looking at Leon and Calderone, he shook his head.
“That’s Robbie isn’t it?” she whispered.
“Yes Peaches, it is,” Deke replied. “Do you remember him?”
“Not from growing up. But I know him. He’d been coming into the club before all this happened.”
Deke frowned. “He’s been to Dirty Dancing?”
Peaches nodded her head. “He always gave me the creeps, like I knew him from somewhere, but he never really looked at me. He was always hanging around Bambi and Jasmine. He would sit there and watch them. He always gave me the creeps.”
Deke turned to Gator. “Get both of the girls on the line and find out if they know him. Double security at the club. We need to protect the girls.”
Gator nodded.
Deke turned back to Peaches. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Peaches shrugged. “I knew you were different than most clubs but it never occurred to me you would protect us that much.”
“He may be hiding here and not in Boston anymore,” Calderone said.
Deke turned to Zipper. “Get this photo out to our guys and Amos too. Get them all looking for him. I want this bastard found if he’s in my city.”
“Sent it to my phone too,” Iceman requested. “I can get it to my men and they can search Boston for him.” He looked over at Deke. “My people can look in places the badges can’t get to, you know that don’t you?”
Deke nodded. “I do.”
“I have men out there as well,” Leon informed them. “Between us all, he won’t have any corner to hide in. We’ll find this bastard.”
“Peaches.” Deke turned to her. “I want you to stay here under our protection.”
“We can protect her just as well if not better than you can.” Calderone sneered.
Deke turned to him. “I’m aware of that as I’m sure she is. Iceman too, but she means a lot to the woman down the hall and I’m not taking any chances something will happen to her. As long as Peaches is safe and alive, Cassie has peace of mind and right now, she needs that more than ever.” He turned and thumbed the monitor. “That bastard got too close this time. I’m not giving him a second chance.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I know Cassie is out of the woods,” Peaches told them all. “So stuff your dicks back in your pants boys and behave.” Then she turned and walked down the hall to Cassie’s room and closed the door behind her.
“That’s my girl.” Calderone grinned.
Deke chuckled. “Well, she is Spitfire’s best friend, so we can expect no less.” He was thinking Cassie and Peaches spent too much time with only each other when they were younger. But he felt very glad they had.
“Let me ask you this,” Leon spoke. “Do you really think his threat to me is real?”
Deke turned his head slowly to view the older man. “Yes, I do. He’s got a warped sense of right and wrong and his mother has fed him one lie after another all his life. He believes you molested her and fathered him. He told Cassie he was coming after you. Once you’re dead, he promised to come find Peaches again.” He shook his head. “I’ll be damned, if he’s gonna get close enough to her to breathe the same air she does.”
“He won’t live long enough to take a breath,” Iceman vowed.
“I didn’t think he could get to Cassie either, but he did.” Deke growled low. “I’m not making that mistake again.”
“Okay, okay boys,” Leon argued. “Like Peaches said, put your dicks back in your pants. It’s time to come up with a plan of attack. Let’s get his photo out, so our men will know who to look for, then we have to decide what we’re going to do once we find this bastard.”
Deke glared. “Do?” He shook his head. “We put him in the ground. Or, what’s left of him.”
Twenty minutes later, the photo had been sent not only to the Vincinti family but also to the Sinner MC’s and to Lance Sullivan. Amos acknowledged the photo and said he would spread the word. Soon, there wouldn’t be anywhere for Robbie to hide and the best part was…he didn’t even realize it yet.
CHAPTER TEN
Robbie watched the people shuffling by without really seeing them. He’d gotten back to Boston hours ago and found a quiet place to think. He thought about how his life had gone to hell. From an early age, he knew there was something off about his mother. He’d seen the indifference in her eyes every time she bothered to look at him.
He’d watched the other kids too. They meant very little to her as well. He knew the only thing his mother cared about was the money she made from selling the kids that came and went from the house. He didn’t know what happened to them after they left, but he did know they might have a better life than he did. When he thought about that fact, it did bother him. Every time she glared at him, every time she slapped him for disobeying the rules, he learned to hate her a little more. The only good thing about growing up in that house was knowing his mother hated Cassie more than she did him.
But after Cassie left with Peaches, his mother’s hate turned back to him full time. When she first locked him that room, he felt he’d done something wrong. After a while, he realized he was no longer useful to her. When he first realized she’d locked him in, he had fought through his panic. He’d been fifteen the first time she’d left him there for days without checking on him. When she finally came back for him, he’d been careful no
t to make her mad.
He also began searching for his own way out. He knew he couldn’t depend on her anymore. He’d been able to come and go when he wanted to, and that had given him the freedom she never suspected he would have.
Now as he sat in the shadows, the darkness around him didn’t bother him. He’d overcome his fear of the dark a long time ago when he’d become something the city feared the most. His first kill had thrilled him like no other and the others had been good but not as great as the first. He kept chasing the thrill but it was never the same.
Today, had been good for him. He wished he would have had the time to watch as the wolves ripped her apart, but he knew he couldn’t stay. He had too much other work to finish. Now that Cassie was dead, he could go after the man he hated almost as much as he hated his mother.
Leon Vincinti.
But before he could go after someone as important as Leon, he had to have a plan. That’s why he was sitting here alone in the dark.
Off in the distance, he heard the roar of motorbikes but he didn’t give them much thought. He felt safe because no one knew who he was. People change as they grow older and he’d always been careful about avoiding looking at anyone. He had also avoided any cameras wherever he went. No one knew his face.
As the sounds got louder, he still didn’t pay any attention to them. When the first bike passed him, Robbie didn’t move. He could see others hurrying back into the shadows but he paid them no mind. When the second motorcycle passed and slowed down shining its lights on him, he lifted his hand to block the light from his eyes.
The bike passed him then turned at the next corner. Robbie listened but the bike sounds faded. He got up and moved away from where he had been sitting. He didn’t look right or left, just straight ahead. Moving deeper into the shadows, he began paying more attention.
As he was walking away, he heard another growl of a bike behind him. Moving closer to the buildings, he turned away as the bike passed him. When the bike stopped, Robbie froze.
“Hey man, gotta a light?” the biker asked.
Robbie shook his head. “Don’t smoke.”
“Thanks anyway.” The biker rolled away very slowly.
Robbie waited until his engine faded. Then he walked a little faster. He wondered why the biker stopped. They usually didn’t. He’d been watching the streets for a while now and this was unusual. He didn’t know what it meant but he wasn’t sticking around to find out.
Robbie made his way back to the house where he knew he’d be safe. Not looking right or left, he made his way through the city. When he finally got to the house, he made his way around to the back. Glancing around, he pried the siding to one side and slipped in.
~* * * *~
Robbie didn’t see the bikes on either side of him watching his progress.
The man watching from the woods noted his return and the way he got inside. When he made a call, he spoke quietly. Then he leaned in close to a tree and waited for backup. The moon shone on his vest and anyone who was looking could see the Sinner’s logo along with the name Preacher. It wasn’t long before he heard several pair of footsteps coming through the trees where he waited.
“Are you sure it was him?” one of the men asked.
“Who else would know where the back door was?” Preacher grunted.
“So what do you want to do with this idiot?” another man asked.
Preacher glanced over at him. “Well Dix, I called Iceman and told him we’d found the little fucker. He said to take him over to the clubhouse and wait for him. He also said to keep him alive but if he got a few bruises, he didn’t care. What does that tell you?”
The one called Dix grinned. The moonlight shone brightly off the gold tooth he had. Dix glanced at the other two, Jake and Stinger.
They were smiling back. Then they all started toward the house.
Preacher stopped them. “Dix, I want you and Jake to go through the front door. Me and Stinger will wait here in case he tries to leave before we get the chance to meet him.”
“How do we find him once we’re inside?”
“There’s a small door next to the fridge. Follow the hallway and you’ll find him.” Preacher grinned. “Remember…Iceman wants to talk to him, so let’s not hurt him too bad.”
~* * * *~
Iceman hung up the phone after the call from his man Preacher. He almost smiled…almost. He turned and walked over to Deke and Leon. “I found him.”
Deke turned and stared at the other man. “Where was he?”
“Boston. My men followed him back to his house. They’re going to go in and get him, then take him back to the clubhouse. I can guarantee he’ll be alive, but he may be slightly bruised and battered by the time we get there.”
“Can your men bring him out here?” Leon asked.
Deke snapped his head around to stare at the older man. “Why would we bring him all the way out here?”
Leon smiled but it didn’t reached his eyes. “I’m thinking the country would be a better place to question him. Less busybodies around to interfere with us.”
Deke smiled. “Less people to hear him scream too.”
Leon nodded. “Well, there is that too, of course.”
Deke turned to Iceman. “Can you bring him to us?”
“Absolutely.” Iceman grinned. “He’ll be here as soon as the boys can get him here.”
~* * * *~
Robbie groaned as the car came to a stop. His eyes were swollen and his ribs hurt like hell. A few hours ago, two men broke into his mother’s house. He’d watched from the safe room while they ransacked the house. He felt safe in the room no one else knew about. He watched as they stumbled around the kitchen. Then he’d been surprised when they got to the door. He’d locked it from the inside but they broke through the lock. He thought he would get away clean but when he went through the secret door he made years ago, there had been two other men waiting for him.
He barely got out, when they grabbed him. One of the men threw a punch that sent him to his knees. The other man grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. The first guy swung and connected with his jaw. Robbie grunted and felt his lip split.
Then he felt a boot kick him in the gut. He doubled over in pain and must have blacked out at some point, because he didn’t remember anything until he came to, in the truck of a vehicle. When the car stopped, he was slammed up against the interior of the trunk.
When the lid was opened, he saw five men standing there. He didn’t know any of them. He was hauled out of the trunk without ceremony and thrown to the floor. Looking around, he saw he was inside what looked like a warehouse.
With his hands and feet duct taped behind his back, the other men had to almost carry him. He couldn’t scream in his rage because his mouth also was duct taped. When he looked ahead to see where they were taking him, he noticed several men waiting for him.
As they got closer, Robbie recognized at least some of their faces. One was the man Cassie had been sleeping with. Information gathered said his name was Deke Tory. He looked at the other men standing there and his eyes connected with an older man’s. He knew this face, it was the face he’d been hoping to see. This was the man he’d been looking for most of his life. Leon Vincinti.
Robbie struggled to get free. He wanted to see Leon lying on the ground as he beat the hell out of him. Instead, he was thrown on the ground in front of them. He grunted when his body slammed down on the concrete floor.
Deke reached down and grabbing the tape covering his mouth, he yanked it free.
Robbie hissed as the tape was ripped from his face. “You bastard!” he shouted. One of the men standing behind him kicked him in the ribs and Robbie grunted.
Deke squatted down beside Robbie. Grabbing his chin, he turned Robbie to face him. “So this is what you look like. Not much to see really.”
“Fuck you.” Robbie sneered.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Deke let out a cold laugh. He glanced at the others standing th
ere then turned back to Robbie. “Oh that’s right, you can’t do that can you? Cassie made sure of that a long time ago. How does it feel to know that a ten year old girl damn near cut off your dick?”
Robbie felt the cold invade his body. The cold was always present when he knew he would spill blood. It had been present the night Cassie cut him and it had been there when he took her into the woods. He gazed at Deke and turning his head, he stared at Leon. “I got my own back when I watched her die. She was screaming for you to save her, but you weren’t there. Instead, there were wolves waiting to tear her apart.”
Deke slammed his fist into Robbie’s face.
When his fist met bone, he could hear the crunch beneath the man’s large fingers. Robbie laughed despite his pain. He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth. “Did you get there in time to see her? Was her body all torn up?”
“I got there in time to free her before the wolves got to her, you piece of shit.” Deke growled.
Robbie’s eyes got big. “You liar!” he shouted. “She’s dead because of me! She died the same way she killed me, alone and bleeding. I made sure of that. She’s dead.”
“No Robbie, she’s not,” Deke assured with a cold grin. “She’s alive and so is my child.” He brought out his phone and showed Robbie a picture of Cassie resting on a bed.
Robbie groaned. “What the hell does it take to kill that bitch?” he mumbled.
“I understand you threatened my life as well,” Leon spoke.
Robbie glared at the man. He’d hated this man most of his life and now, he was face to face with a killer. Staring into Leon’s eyes was like looking into a mirror, there was no sign of life in them. No sign of mercy or hope, no sign that he had a soul.
“I’ve never even met you before today, nor have I harmed you in any way, so why would you threaten my life?” Leon asked.
“Because you made me what I am!” Robbie shouted.
Leon smiled but no humor showed in his eyes. “I made you what you are?” he repeated. “And pray tell…how the hell did I do that?”