At All Costs (Whiskey Bend MC Series)

by KJ Dahlen

  “Mike may have given us the key to unlock this flash drive.”

  “What do you mean?” Sam asked.

  She smiled. “He told Luna the password he used when Cooper was Bruce. Let me try that and see if he kept it.” She typed in the words and waited. When the computer began beeping and the files opened up, she glanced back at Sam and smiled. “It worked. Now let’s find out what our guy has been up to.”

  The computer screen showed several files each with a different name. Molly clicked on one of the names and brought up the file. It was one of the names Mike told Luna about. She swallowed hard as she read the account of what he’d done under the name of Bruce. She hit the print key.

  Clicking on another file she read the first couple of entries then hit the print key again. By the time she was finished, she had a copy of everything Cooper Connors had done in the past few years. Each were in different cities where he committed different crimes but they all had one thing in common, the names changed but the man was the same.

  While she was waiting for the printer to finish printing, she noted a file with the name Father on it. Clicking on it, she brought up a list of names along with a question mark behind some of them. Some of the names had been crossed out but there were seven names that still had a question mark behind them. She hit the print key to print out the list.

  Sam sat down next to her and began reading the files as she printed them off. When the last one printed and read he turned it print side down and wiped his face. “My god, this man is pure evil.”

  “We need to get this guy, before he leaves here and starts all over somewhere else.” Molly gulped heavily.

  Sam shook his head. “This man has no conscience and no sense of right and wrong. And Mike only hinted at what he was capable of. The ring he was working in New York was high end. He took seven parolees and gave them a clear invitation to rob upper income people. They netted over three million dollars in fenced goods. That alone means the value of the stuff they took was worth a lot more than they got. Then before he moved on, he murdered all seven men.”

  “That’s just plain sick.” Molly shuddered.

  “Do you remember the T.V. show The Pretender?” Sam asked. “Cooper, like the main character, can become anyone he wants to be. Unlike the character in the show, the one who tries to right the wrong Cooper doesn’t care who he kills. He’s the perfect serial killer and he needs to be stopped.”

  “Can you tell how long he’s been doing this?” Molly asked.

  “These files go back fifteen years but my bet is he’s been doing it a lot longer than that.”

  “That’s about the time Mike met him in Detroit,” Molly mentioned. “I wonder how he came to be here at this particular time?”

  “Does it matter?” Sam asked.

  “I think it does.”

  “Why?” Sam shrugged.

  “Think about it for a minute. He’s had a good job in every town he lives in but he’s also got something to hide going on at the same time. In New York, he was a parole officer and had a robbery ring going on. In Detroit, he was working as a CPA during the day and robbing people under cover. Here, he’s a police officer during the day and a hit man at night.”

  Sam picked up the last page and frowned as he read the list of names. “What is this?” he asked.

  “Remember when I mentioned Bruce’s obsession with finding his father? This is a list of names he considered candidates.”

  Sam dismissed the list. “We can’t worry about his obsession right now. We have other more important things to worry about.”

  Molly picked up the list and reviewed it again. It might be meaningless to Sam but she wasn’t so sure it didn’t have some importance to the man they knew as Cooper. It could be the one thing that blew this case wide open.

  Chapter Ten

  Luna stood at the window in Aries’ room and looked out at the woods surrounding the clubhouse. Aries hadn’t allowed her to go home at all and that was fine with her. She had a feeling her house was under surveillance and she didn’t want to be anywhere near it.

  She did miss her phone through. She had a feeling something was happening in La Danna and she was missing all the action. Nathan wouldn’t be happy about her being MIA but she wasn’t too worried about that. If he fired her over this, then she would just move on and do something else.

  She did wish she could make contact with Sam though. If what she suspected really were true then Cooper Connors would kill again.

  So intent on her own thoughts she missed the door opening and Aries joining her at the window. The first she realized he was even there was when his arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her back to rest on his body.

  Luna was startled at first and she squealed. Aries let her go, but she wrapped her arms around his and wouldn’t let him release her. “You startled me.”

  Aries shrugged. “I thought you needed a hug.”

  “I did.” She turned her head and quickly stole a kiss.

  Aries groaned and whispered, “You keep that up, and you’ll get more than a hug.”

  Luna turned in his arms and gazed at him intently. Bringing her hand up to his chest, she rubbed along his shirt with her fingers. “Do you want me?” she whispered low.

  When he opened his mouth to talk, she placed her fingers over his mouth. “Don’t speak yet. I need to tell you something and I’m not sure how to say it.”

  Aries moved her fingers from his mouth. “Just say it then, no bullshit.”

  Luna wet her dry lips with the tip of her tongue and her eyes took one last glance at his eyes before they moved down his throat to the center of his chest. With her heart pounding in her chest she whispered, “I have no clue what’s happening to me. I’ve been alone all my life and I never missed having anyone to call my own. My ex doesn’t count. I never chose him really. He chose me then he wouldn’t let go by the time I realized...” her voice trailed away.” “...life hasn’t been good for me but I got through it. I only met you yesterday and already you’ve given me more than anyone else has in my entire life. You make me feel safe. That may not mean much to you but it means a great deal to me.”

  He stared into her eyes as he waited. He knew she wasn’t finished.

  “When you kisses me earlier today I couldn’t get enough of that kiss or you. I need more and I don’t know if you want or need that too. I was sort of hoping you would because I’d like to feel that way again and again.”

  Aries looked down at her and smiled. “You felt it too then?”

  “The spark?” she asked. Her eyes closed and she groaned. “It may have started out like a flash of something, but it quickly became an inferno. I’ve never felt anything like it before.” She paused then looked at his eyes. “Can we see if it could be more?”

  Aries stared at her for a moment then told her, “If we do, I don’t want to stop until it burns us both. It’s been a long time since I bedded a woman and once we start, I may not be able to stop. Are you ready for that?”

  She stared at his eyes then nodded. “Yes. I’ve been ready for a long time, only I never knew it.”

  That was all Aries needed to hear. He picked her up, carried her over to the bed, and threw her down on it. Grabbing the shirt he wore, he tugged it off then his hands were reaching for his belt. The whole time he was looking into her eyes.

  Luna got up on her knees and began stripping off her own clothes. She tossed her shirt to the floor and undid her bra. Lifting it away, her breasts bounced free. She had a good D size breasts. They often embarrassed her as she always thought they were bigger than they needed to be for her small frame but when she looked at Aries staring at her chest with fire in his eyes she was almost glad for their size. She wanted to please him.

  Then when she undid her pants and pulled them down past her hips he was there helping her. She didn’t notice he was completely bare until he pushed her down on the bed. He ripped her jeans off her legs and followed her down.

  Aries was a big man
, huge even but when he laid on her, skin to skin she reveled in his weight. “Oh, my god...” she whispered. Aries started to push away from her but she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him where he was.

  “I’m not squashing you am I?” he whispered as he nibbled on her neck.

  “No....” She groaned as his nibbles turned into nips involving his teeth rather than just his lips. “I need you to kiss me like you did this morning.”

  ~*~

  Aries raised his head and stared at her for a moment, then his lips ascended to hers. He wondered if he should start anything with this woman. Or any woman. He wanted her badly. Last night, she was all he could think about. He’d avoided relationships for a reason. His past was horrific, if he used a word to describe it.... It would be horrific, yes.

  When he’d been tortured after being imprisoned while on that last tour of duty, it had changed everything for him. He came back to the states only half a person. He’d lost the other half back in Afghanistan.

  He never even got in touch with his family. He wasn’t the same man. He couldn’t bring his nightmares to them.

  No, his family was his fellow soldiers. Lucifer, Hades, Demon, Shadow, Zeus, Shooter, Jinx and the rest of his brothers. Being in an MC was easy to him as he’d been in one before he signed up into the military. Bikes had always been his first love. He could tear one apart, fix it and put it back together.

  Now here he was laying on top of one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. Her scent and her sweet face were like a dream to him. He should get up and get out of this room. He should protect her from sharing his nightmares. He should do the right thing for her.

  Shoulds. There were a lot of them.

  Aries stared at her lips. She wanted him to kiss her like he did yesterday. He’d kissed her before without thinking first. He found he was doing a lot of things without hesitation with her. Like keeping her here with him, when he should have let Charlie take her into protective custody. Why did he not just do that? He knew better but with her, his feelings ruled, not his common sense or his brain. He wanted this. He needed this. He wanted to try. The urge to have her—have what she was offering was just too strong to resist.

  He smothered her mouth with his and the electricity pulsing between them blew them away. He groaned as the kiss deepened and they were both lost to its burn. His cock had been hard before but now it was a steel pole and he couldn’t wait to sink it in her.

  His hand went down to her pussy and he groaned again as he felt her warm wet core. He barely got a finger inside her when he felt a rippling and he knew she was coming. He had barely gotten started and she was coming already. He broke the kiss to whisper, “I need to be inside you right now. Are you ready for me?”

  “Yes... please.” She moaned back.

  “I’m a bit on the big size but I’ll go slow. I don’t want to hurt you but I just can’t wait anymore.” He positioned his cock where he wanted it to be and pushed in slowly. Groaning, he gritted his teeth. She was so small he didn’t think he could get all the way inside her.

  Then Luna did something he couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him in deep. Aries swore as he surged deep inside her. Her pussy took as much of him as she could.

  “More, I need more, please. Fill me up,” she begged.

  Aries growled. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re so tight.”

  “I want to feel you. This feels incredible. Please don’t stop.”

  Aries kissed her again and began to move. His thrusts were gentle at first. Her body felt so good and the sounds coming from her throat were driving his crazy. Each thrust was deeper and harder than the one before and then she did something that made him lose all control. She pressed her teeth to his chest and nipped his skin. That little bite made him crazy.

  He roared and pushed all the way inside her, then he did it again and again. Never once did she ask him to stop, instead she seemed to revel in his possession of her. When he felt her body tighten he knew she was ready to come and that was fine with him, he was too but he was determined they would come together. His hand reached down and he found her button. He barely had to touch it before she was flying. She began to scream and he crushed her mouth under his as she fell apart in his arms. She tightened her hold on his cock and he flew off the edge after her. Wave after wave of hot cum poured out of him and he painted the walls of her pussy.

  They both laid there for several minutes as they waited for their heartbeats to slow to a normal pace.

  Aries couldn’t move for a while as spent as he felt. Finally, he tried to move away from her but she held him tightly. “Baby, I’m a big guy I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Oh damn, you just feel so good right where you are.” Then she let him loose and he slid off her but he didn’t go far. He laid beside her and pulled her as close as he could get her.

  She laid there fully exposed to his gaze with her eyes closed for a moment. Then she seemed to remember her scars and panicked reaching for the blanket.

  Aries grabbed her hands and pulled her to a stop.

  She dared to look at him and found him staring back at her.

  “What are you doing?” he asked her softly.

  She couldn’t look at him, so she closed her eyes. “For a moment, I forgot my scars.”

  “Sweetness, look at me.”

  She slowly opened her eyes and gazed at his face.

  Shaking his head he said, “No baby, look at my body. Look at my scars, we all have them.”

  Luna dropped her eyes to his chest and took note of his scars. He had so many it was hard to tell where one stopped and the next one began. Some looked lighter than the others, but his chest was a road map of pain. She reached out a hand and began tracing his past pain. “The difference is you earned these scars by standing tall against the enemy, I got my scars at the hand of a devil. I was breaking up with Joel. He just sort of forced his way into my life and I really didn’t want him but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He ruled everything I did, even what was allowed to wear and eat. Everything. It got worse and worse... till I felt like I was imprisoned and under his rule. I told him I didn’t want to see him again. I overheard him talking to a friend of his and I found out the only reason he pushed me for a relationship was to win a bet. Then he found he wanted to keep me. He didn’t take the news well. t. He forced himself on me, then he said I was going to pay. He told me I was a bitch and he was going to treat me like a bitch. He began stabbing me and I thought he was going to kill me. When he was done, he’d stabbed me fifteen times. I don’t think he would have stopped if my neighbor hadn’t broke in and stopped him.”

  Her words broke his heart. She told him he’d earned his scars but when she told him about how she’d gotten hers, he knew she faced a bigger enemy. Hers was an enemy she knew, one who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  He folded her closer to him and held her for a moment. He could feel her shaking then he felt her tears as the horror of that day washed over her. He felt the rage inside his chest growing until it threatened to spill out. He really wanted to meet this Joel Grant. All he would have needed was five minutes alone with the man.

  Finally, she stopped and he continued to hold her. She peeped up at him and through wet eyes, she smiled. “In case I didn’t say it, that was like wow.”

  Yes, it was. He’d never felt anything like it before with a woman. Aries chuckled and bent his head to kiss her. “It was better than wow. Can we do it again?”

  “Yes please,” she murmured as her lips descended on his.

  Kissing her back, Aries knew that no matter what, this was something he should have done. He would never regret it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sam could feel the tension growing and he felt helpless against it but he knew they needed more evidence on Cooper in order to stop him. The afternoon passed slowly as their apprehension grew. They kept track of the blue sedan outside and they were both waiting f
or something to happen inside the room. They couldn’t even connect him to most of what they had yet.

  “Damn, I wish he would do something other than just sit there,” Molly said breaking the silence that had lasted for a long time.

  “I know what you mean. This waiting is for the birds,” Sam said.

  “Are we sure that this guy is our killer?” Molly asked. “I mean there is no doubt in your mind this is our guy?”

  “He’s the only one it could be,” Sam reasoned. “Benny checked and double checked everything twice.”

  “I wonder if he knows the police found Lester Kratz yet?” Molly asked.

  “What difference would that make?”

  “I wouldn’t think he’d be hanging around outside all this time if he did. I mean what the hell is he waiting for?” Molly wondered. “As far as he knows, there isn’t a connection between him and Lester Kratz.”

  Sam looked back at the car outside. “Damn.”

  “What?” Molly asked.

  Sam pushed the curtain back into place and grabbed his gun. “Cooper isn’t sitting in the car anymore and I didn’t see where he went.”

  “Do you think he knows we switched rooms?” Molly asked reaching for her weapon.

  “I don’t know.” Sam shook his head. “But we have to be prepared for anything.” He went over to the door and looked through the peep hole. From his position, he could see the entire hall and the door to the room they were supposed to be in. When he didn’t see anyone in the hall Sam went back to the window and peeked out at the car again. He turned to Molly and told her. “Check the hall.”

  Molly peeked through the peep hole. She didn’t see anyone in the hall. She started to turn toward Sam when the doorknob turned. She put her finger to her mouth and pointed down at the doorknob.