Ace's footsteps thundered up the stairs. “Jesus fuck.” Ace recoiled at the sight of the bodies stacked like cord wood. “We're going to have to open those, aren't we?”
“Yes. We are.” Train wished that they'd have brought his truck; he had a kit to deal with things like this. “You're gonna want to cover your nose. Look in the medicine cabinet for some vapor rub. It'll help with the smell. Do not throw up.”
“That was one time, once!” Ace protested but began to look for the vapor rub. He found it and a box of disposable gloves underneath the sink. “You doing the honors or am I?”
“I'll do it,” Train replied.
“You think Info did them both?”
“That's the most likely assumption.” Train didn't like to rush to conclusions, but in this case he might just make an exception. “It's going to be hard to tell how long they've been like this with the window open. It's probably just above freezing in here.”
The vapor rub did help lessen the scent, but Train still felt his stomach clench and roll. Ace turned a shade of green but managed to not puke all over the place. After looking at the contents of the first bag, it had been Norma Rae, Train told Ace to go and start searching the house. There was no way to tell cause of death, and he doubted that they'd ever know, unless they caught Info and he told them. It might not even matter. Norma Rae was dead. Gagliardi was not going to be a happy camper, especially with Info still running the streets a free, breathing, man.
Train took off the disposable gloves and tossed them in the trash can. He'd take the bag with him when they left. He dialed Buster. The President answered on the first ring; he'd been waiting for the call. As vaguely as he could, Train informed him of the situation. He kept his own thought that it might be better for Gagliardi to never find out that the girl was dead to himself, let Buster run through his own options.
“Can you get rid of the house?” Buster's question took Train by surprise. It was an extreme option, and frankly he was a little offended Buster had to ask.
“Of course I can,” he huffed. “Consider it done once we finish taking a look around. I'll be in touch when we're on our way back.” Train ended the call and went to find Ace.
The house didn't have much to tell, aside from the fact that it hadn't had a good cleaning in a while. Train actually felt like fire was probably the only way to get the place clean. Train grabbed a plastic grocery bag and collected all the receipts and papers that he found. Ace discovered a stash of porn magazines and a computer filled with kiddie porn images.
Train opened several windows, creating airflow which any fire they managed to set would need to grow. There were enough household items flammable enough to spread the fire, and he'd cut the gas line in the kitchen. Once again, he really wished they'd brought his truck because he had a few things in the back that would have made him feel much more sure that everything would end up ash.
“I might have found something,” Ace announced. “Looks like the girl was keeping a journal. I'm just skimming through but the entries stop about two weeks ago. Might be when he killed her. He killed Cane right after she got here. She wrote about it.”
“Take that with us. You got anything else of hers?”
“Just a purse. There's no wallet or ID of any kind in there.”
“It'll burn, just like the rest. We're going to need to move fast once it starts.”
“Not a problem. I want to get home, take a shower. I feel like I fucking stink.”
“You do,” Train replied without missing a beat. “But that's really nothing new.”
<#<#<#<#
Train had started to read Norma Rae's journal on the way back home, as best he could with just the flashlight on his phone as a light source. He'd seen enough to have figured out the pharmacy that Info used in Detroit; he took several monthly medications apparently. From the date on the entry, he should need a refill soon. It was the first solid lead they'd had in a while.
He'd finished the journal after they'd gotten done at the table. The meeting with Anzaldi was the following day. They'd need to leave at dawn to be on time, which meant that if he went home to go to sleep, he'd lose half an hour or more of the two hours of rest he could get if he stayed at the clubhouse.
Meg still hadn't returned his calls; he was starting to regret the message he'd left her in anger. She'd probably listened to it and was having a meltdown. Great. Just great. His head started to pound, and Train knew that sleep wasn't going to happen. He settled down on the bed anyway, shut his eyes. He might not sleep but maybe he could manage to get some rest.
No sooner than he was relaxed and calm, there was a knock on the door. An impatient knock that repeated until he got out of bed and opened the door. “What?” he snarled the words, glared at Ace.
“Sorry to wake you. I couldn't sleep. I was keyed up, decided to go and send you a link to one of the movies we talked about earlier. I sort of got into checking them out and I...”
“Get to the point, Ace.” Train had seen the look on Ace's face before. He didn't know why the man was nervous, but he didn't like it. “Spit it out.”
“One of the videos, it's of Meg.”
Train didn't hear him right. He couldn't have heard him right. “What did you just say?”
“Don't kill the messenger.” Ace held out his tablet. “Here. See for yourself.”
“This isn't funny. My old lady is not some fucking porn slut.” Train snatched the tablet. “This joke is going to cost you some teeth, funny man.” He hit play when the screen saver cleared, not sure what he was going to see, but it couldn't be Meg. It wouldn't be Meg.
Except it was. She was younger, thinner, but it was her. If he hadn't been able to see her face, he'd have still known her for her ass. She was on a couch, on her knees, apparently taking all comers. There were two men in the video. Train continued to watch, unable to look away as she let them do anything and everything to her. Things that she wouldn't let him do. Things that she'd said she'd never done. The confusion he'd felt at first was burned away by his anger.
The tablet cracked beneath his grip and the images stopped, but the sound of Meg in the throes of orgasm rang in his ears over and over again. He dropped the mangled plastic to the floor, looked up at Ace. “You watched that?”
“Not all of it. Not once I realized it was her. I don't know what to say, Brother. I don't.”
He wasn't the only one. Train didn't know what to say, but he knew what he had to do. “Send the link to that to my phone, now. And give me your keys.”
“Whoa, hold on. I don't know what you're thinking, Train, but going to Meg right now is not a good idea.”
“Give me the keys and get out of my way.”
“What's going on here?” Buster stepped out of one of the other rooms dressed only in his jeans. He hadn't gone home after the meeting either. No one had. “Some of us are trying to sleep.” Neither man answered, and he walked over to them. “Maybe you didn't hear me, I asked what is going on here?”
Train listened as Ace told Buster. He wasn't the only one. Other doors had opened, but no one was saying anything. They were all taking in the new cold hard fact that Meg was a closet porn star. He'd fallen in love with a porn star. A woman who got paid to fuck. How had he not figured it out? He always figured shit out.
She'd tricked him. If he'd have known the truth, he'd still have fucked her, but it would have stayed just that. He'd have never gotten involved, not with her or the boys. He loved those boys, even Joshua who he hadn't gotten to know that well before he'd gone away, and especially Leo.
Train headed for the stairs, but Ace blocked his path and then Danny. He heard people coming out of the doors now and soon he knew that short of taking them all on, he wasn't getting past them. “Listen to me, Brother. Listen to me.” Buster stepped in front of him. “I need you to focus, Train. I know it's awful to ask, but right now, Nightshade needs you to focus on the meeting with Anzaldi.”
Nightshade needed him. His club. His Brothers. They
were the only ones who had never betrayed him. Fuck Meg and her lies. Fuck her. He wasn't going anywhere.
Chapter Sixteen
The sound of the doorbell startled Meg. She nearly fumbled the cup of coffee in her hand. For the second time today she had no idea of who to expect on the other side of the door. Monroe had been a good surprise; she hoped that her luck continued. Nancy Firestone, Leo and Joshua's caseworker, was the last person that she expected to see. “Nancy, hi. Did I know that you were coming?”
“No,” the woman replied. “I need to come in, Ms. Castle.”
“I need to go and get Leo from school,” Meg told her. “So, if we could make this quick, that would be good. I don't like making him wait.”
“Are you alone in the house, Ms. Castle?”
“Yes,” Meg replied with a frown as she noticed the police car sitting at the curb. “What are the police doing here?”
“For my safety, I requested an escort, in case Mr. Grimes was here.”
“Train? You're scared of Train?”
“You're not?” She countered. “Are you aware of his criminal history and his current criminal associations? He's part of a gang.”
Meg bit her tongue before she could tell the woman to go fuck herself with the stick that was obviously lodged up her ass. “He's part of a social club,” she replied instead. “And whatever he's done in the past, he's paid the price required by society, so why would I hold it against him? Is that why you're here? Because of Train?”
“I'm here for an unscheduled home inspection,” Nancy replied, her expression sour. “Are you denying me entrance?”
“No. I never said that. Please, come in.” Meg stepped aside and shut the door behind Nancy. “I've got nothing to hide.” The woman searched in a way that made her feel like she did have something to hide and made her wonder if Train had left a gun upstairs. He always had at least one with him. Her stomach twisted and churned sickly, just waiting to hear Nancy call out that she'd found something.
Meg thought that maybe the woman was a little disappointed she hadn't when Nancy came back into the dining room. “Aside from everything needing a good cleaning, you've met the requirements for housing Leo. A little more time spent with a mop and bucket would do wonders.”
“I'll take that under advisement,” Meg answered even though she knew that the house was clean, perfectly clean. She used the mop and bucket two times a week on the floor. Nancy Firestone was nitpicking, and that didn't bode well for her. There was a feeling of dread coiled tight inside of her stomach, as if she already had two strikes against her and was just waiting for the third to land.
“I'm going to be completely honest with you, Meg. We've received several calls voicing concerns for Leo's safety.” Nancy Firestone sat down and folded her hands on the table. “What do you have to say about that? Before you answer, I need to you be aware that I'm going to record this conversation.”
“I'd say that if anyone has concerns about Leo's safety, they're wrong. He's perfect safe here.” Meg didn't want to say too little, but she didn't want to say too much. “Who is making these accusations?”
“You're not entitled to that information, Ms. Castle. Now, I have some questions. Please answer as honestly as possible.”
There were plenty of questions about Train; how long had they been together and when had he moved in? Was he ever left alone with Leo? Did he go along on the visits to Joshua? Meg answered all with the truth, even though she saw the judgment in the caseworker's eyes. Fuck her. There were questions about her finances, questions about where Train's money was coming from. Meg continued to answer, held her body still, and met Nancy's eyes.
“Our offices have managed to locate Roxanne “Roxie” Devlin. She's no longer a Devlin. She's Roxie Lewis now. Did you know that she had gotten married and neglect to share that with us?”
“I haven't heard from Roxie since she abandoned her children.” Meg wasn't exactly surprised that Roxie had married, really she didn't care. “Why are we talking about her?”
“Once our office was able to contact her and inform her of the fact that Josh no longer had custody of either boy and Joshua had been institutionalized, she became concerned. Yesterday, her lawyer requested a hearing to apply for custody of both boys.”
“Are you fucking serious? She abandoned them!” Meg gritted her teeth together, kept her voice below a shout with effort. Roxie had no right, no right in the world. She'd walked away from her children, left them with Josh despite knowing who he was, and she wanted to come back now? Screw that. Screw her.
“There was a family court judge available this afternoon. The hearing is scheduled for half past three today.” The caseworker acted like Meg hadn't even spoken.
Meg flipped her phone over on the table, saw that it was almost three o'clock. There was no way for her to get Leo and get to the courthouse in time, not when Train had taken the truck this morning. While she was looking at the phone, it rang. It was Train.
“Do you need to get that?”
“Are we done here?” Meg asked. Nancy shook her head. “I didn't think so. No, I don't need to get that.” She reached out and silenced her phone. “I do, however, need to be done with this soon. I need to go and get Leo.” She folded her hands in her lap.
“Actually, you don't. He's already been picked up and taken to the courthouse for the hearing.” Nancy informed her. “Depending on the outcome, he'll either be brought back here or given back to his biological mother.”
“I need to get to the courthouse then. We're done here.”
“No, we are not.”
“Yes, we are.” Meg rose to her feet. “Fuck you. Get out of my house.” She was going to the courthouse, getting there in time to tell whatever judge hearing Roxie's case what kind of person she really was. She'd abandoned those boys to chase a dragon. She didn't deserve them back, ever.
“Ms. Castle, perhaps you don't realize the gravity of the situation. We need to finish this interview!”
“Get out,” Meg screamed the words this time. A familiar and frantic feeling rose in her chest. She grabbed her phone, took her purse off of the back of the chair and headed to the hallway to put on her boots.
“Ms. Castle, this is not making you look very good. I have to put your sudden hostility into my report.” Nancy Firestone came to a stop in front of her, tapped her foot impatiently.
“You do that,” Meg snapped. “I really don't care.” She turned around, not noticing just how close the caseworker had gotten to her. Nancy went down on her ass hard, and her face turned bright red. She was back on her feet in a flash.
Everything happened so quickly after that, Meg could only feel confusion. The woman began to scream, loud cries like she was being murdered with an ax. The two officers from the car outside were inside right after that, and then she was in cuffs, being read her rights. It was only once she was in the car that Meg recognized one of the officers as one of the two who'd been at the school when Joshua had his episode and was taken away. He wasn't the one who had been friendly with Monroe. In fact, he seemed pretty pleased to have her in the back of the car.
“I want my phone call. I want a lawyer.”
“When we get to the station, you can get your phone call,” Officer Callahan informed her. “Of course, I'm in no rush to get to the station. You know, not everyone in blue thinks Nightshade walks on water.”
<#<#<#<#
There were three other women in the cell with her. One was so drunk that Meg wondered if she was alive until she started to puke. The other two appeared to be friends; the way that they were dressed suggested they'd been hooking or maybe stripping. Meg sat on a bench, avoided prolonged eye contact and waited to be taken to make her phone call.
Officer Asshole had taken his sweet time driving to the station. They'd gone on a ride that lasted close to three hours, and she figured she'd been sitting here waiting for at least another few hours. Maybe it was more. Maybe it didn't matter. The custody hearing had already happened,
the future of the boys was already decided, and the fact that she was still in a cell made her think she knew which way the hearing had gone.
The sound of jingling keys caught Meg's attention. “Hey!” She called out at the sight of a uniformed officer, not Office Asshole. “Hey! I need my phone call.”
“Castle?”
“Yes.”
“There's no need for a phone call, the charges against you have been dropped. I'm off shift in twenty minutes, I can take you home if you want.” The second offer was made in a lower tone so only she could hear. His name tag said Reed.
All That Matters (Nightshade MC Book 3) Page 21