“Yeah, babe, take care of your man.” Cathy maneuvered Crank until she got him out of the room and up the stairs. It wasn’t an easy feat, he was all hands and kisses. Any other time she would have been thrilled with the attention. Now, not so much. It did surprise her that him holding on to her, basically groping her, wasn’t causing any flashbacks. But she knew this man, knew that if she uttered the word no, he would stop, even in this state. Finally getting him in the room, she half pushed and tripped him at the same time, so he fell onto the bed. He laughed a little and held out his arms.
“Come here, baby, I just want to hold you for a while, it’s been so long. I just want to feel you in my arms.” Cathy laid down next to him. He was right, it had been too long, and she missed him, missed this, too.
“Stay with me?”
Cathy kissed his chin, “Yeah, I’ll stay with you, babe. Just go to sleep, okay?”
“Yeah, I need some sleep, I’m just so tired you know,” he slurred.
“Yeah, I know.”
“I love you, Cathy, always have. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, babe, me too.”
Cathy waited until she heard his snores and knew he was out cold for the night. She was sorry too because it all finally clicked for her, she knew what she needed to do. She got up, taking Cranks boots off and covering him with a blanket. Kissing his forehead, she said, “I love you, Collin,” then stepped away, looking at him for a while before she left the room. Blade was waiting for her on the top of the stairs.
“Is he all taken care of?” Blade asked
“Yeah, he should sleep it off,” Cathy replied tiredly. “I’m going to head out.”
Blade was like everyone's father and asked, “Sure, that’s the right thing to do, Cath?”
“Yeah, Blade, I think it’s the only thing I can do. But do me a favor, keep Misty away from him tonight. I locked the door, but that bitch will pounce as soon as she sees me leave. Tomorrow, when he’s sober if he wants that skank, she can have him.”
“Cath,” Blade said sadly.
“No, Crank is a grown-assed man, he can make his own decisions, good or bad. I can’t be his conscience anymore, got enough of my own shit to deal with.”
“Yeah, I can see that, but just so you know, Misty won’t be trailing after him tonight.”
“Thanks, Blade. See you later.”
“Cathy, you okay? If you need anything…”
“Yeah, I know, heard it all before, Blade, and appreciate the offer, but I’m thinking I know what I need to do. Just keep him safe, okay, old man?”
“You have my word, hon.”
“That’s all I can ask, thanks, Blade. See you around.”
Cathy got out to her car, never looking at the people still roaming around the Clubhouse. She had too much on her mind. Could she really do it, could she leave Crank and everyone else behind to get herself back together? Did she even have a choice? If she was going to do this, she was going to do it now. It only took two rings.
“Hey, Katie, it’s Cathy. Got a minute?”
“Damn, girl, is everything alright? It’s three in the morning.”
“No, everything is pretty shitty, actually.” That felt good, saying out loud to someone that her life was crap, instead of just saying it was fine. That she was fine. She really hated that word because she didn’t think she would ever be fine again.
“Really? Well hell, it’s about time,” Katie laughed. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll make it happen.”
Cathy knew Katie would get it; they had become close over the years.
“I need you to tell me where to go to get treatment for PTSD. I don’t want it to be here; Lexington or somewhere further. Inpatient treatment.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“No, I don’t want it, Katie, I think I need it.”
“Okay, I’ll get the information for you, but could you do something for me first?”
“Sure.”
“I want you to go see Dr. Kayla Stewart. She’s the therapist I recommended to Addy, and she’s in your area. I’ll even call her and set up an appointment for first thing in the morning. Well, for later this morning. Are you good with that? Or do you want me to make those arrangements now for emergency placement?”
Cathy knew what Katie was asking. She wanted to see if she felt like she was going to hurt herself. Cathy wasn’t that far gone.
“Yeah, I can do that, but why?”
“Because I think you need to talk to her. I’ll text you her address.”
“Okay.”
“Alright, good. Let me make some calls, and I’ll get back to you with what I find out. We can figure everything else out after you talk to Dr. Stewart.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter 7
Crank woke up with the worst hangover he could remember having. Hell, he didn’t even remember making it back to his room. He groaned, rubbing his temples; he was too old for this shit. At forty-two, he wasn’t an old man, but he sure as shit knew better.
The pounding on his door matched the pounding in his head. Getting up carefully, he threw the door open, surprised to find Cinny standing there with a scowl on her face. Cinny, or Cinnamon, was a Club Puppet and usually one of the nicest people around.
“Tuck wants to see you in his office, now.” That was all she said before she turned and walked the other way. Shit, how much had he drunk last night? Better question, what the hell had he done to piss off Cinny? He couldn’t remember shit.
It didn’t take him long to get down to Tuck’s office. He hadn’t wasted his time with a shower or the pain relievers he badly needed. Nope, he just put his boots on, sans socks, and left the room. He was already on thin ice with the Club, no sense in tempting fate. Knocking on Tuck's door, he didn’t wait for a response, the man was waiting for him.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yeah, we need to talk about a few things. Have a seat.”
Tuck looked just as pissy as Cinny had, making Crank rack his mind for what he could have done now. Hell, he just seemed to be fucking up all over the place.
“You look like shit.”
“Thanks, I feel like it too. What’s going on Tuck? No bullshit.”
“Well, last night Blade dragged Cathy out of her bed to come down here to put your ass to bed.”
“What?” Crank yelled, but he was starting to remember a few bits and pieces of the night before. He could remember telling Misty to move on and being pissed his talk earlier that day hadn't resulted in her banishment. But the bitch kept on coming back to him, and he had kept drinking, getting drunker and drunker, trying to lose himself in the booze. He remembered talking to Blade and Crash but his mind was still cloudy due to all the booze he had consumed. Then he remembered Cathy, seeing her yelling, to her touching him, oh hell.
“Yeah, so she came down here and found you with Misty, again. Dragged your ass to your room while you groped her, then left. Called me this morning and said she was going away for a while, that she needed some space to figure things out, and she wanted me to let you know. Told me that she couldn’t talk to you, right now. Care to tell me what the fuck happened up in your room?”
“Fuck you, Tuck,” Crank stood up, making the chair he was sitting in hit the wall, “even drunk off my ass, I would never hurt a woman, especially my fucking woman.”
“Calm the fuck down. I haven’t accused you of shit, just telling you what I know and asking.”
“Screw you, Tuck!” Crank yelled and went to the door, but Blade was there, standing in his way.
“Sit your ass down, boy. Your head ain’t in the right place to be charging after that girl. She was okay when she left last night, said she made some decisions, that’s all. Give her the same respect she gave you.”
Defeated Crank righted the chair and sat down. Fuck! Blade took a seat next to him and Crash walked in. “You called me?”
“Yeah, have a seat, we needed to discuss the Vultures. Jinx w
ill be down in a minute.”
That got Crank's attention.
Jinx came to the door, but didn’t go in. “We doing a situation report on the Vultures?”
“Yeah, Crank wants to get his head back in the game, thought this would be an excellent place to start.”
“Agreed, but is it okay to take this to Church? I have a bunch of stuff to show you and this office is gonna get a little crowded,” Jinx said, looking into the hallway.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Tuck stood up, gathered some files, and walked out into the hall, Crank at his heels, and knew immediately why Jinx had looked into the hall. The hallway was lined with his Brothers—Link, Whiskey, Talon, Creed, Brass, and a few others.
“Well, damn, boys,” Tuck said, “looks like it’s a party. Let get this shit done.”
For the next three hours, he and the guys went over everything they had which amounted to nothing. But one name came up again and again, James Haslet.
“So basically, we need to find our old prosecuting attorney?” Crank asked.
“Yeah, man, we’ve been looking, but he either has accounts we can’t find or access to a shit ton of cash. There hasn’t been any movement on any of his accounts,” Jinx confirmed and added, “or someone is hiding him and fronting the bill.”
“Or that,” Talon agreed.
“Reagan has been going through his accounts, looking for anything that might give us a lead, but she hasn’t found anything, yet,” Tal said.
“What about Suzie, has anyone asked her to run a trace on the man? Get his known associates and backtrack through their files and accounts?” Brass asked.
Crank was surprised at the man’s demeanor, he was usually the prankster, the one who got everyone laughing. On missions, he was a complete professional, but this was prep, and his demeanor was serious. He noticed Tuck watching the other man, too; looked like he wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“We can have Carri ask her to look into it, Suzie works for her on occasion. But since Suzie isn’t a part of the club and has made it known she doesn’t want to be,” Tuck said looking right at Brass, “we need to keep her participation to the minimum. We can’t protect her if this goes south and so far, everything attached to this asshole goes south and women end up getting hurt.”
Crank watched Brass for his reaction; the man was visibly angry at Tuck's words, but only nodded when Tuck was done. Crank had been so far out of the loop lately because of everything going on, but he would bet his last dollar something happened between Brass and Suzie. He knew the man had a crush on the sweet little waitress slash bounty hunter, but the vibes he was putting off meant that crush had turned into something else.
“Are there any more strings we can pull to see what falls out? This is kinda iffy if you ask me. The man was the county prosecutor for years. There has to be more, a mistress, or hell, even a convict who should have gone down, who got a lighter sentence or off altogether, something?” Crank asked.
“Carri has been looking into his case files as discreetly as possible, but she hasn’t found anything. If the man tried a case, he almost always went for the full ride. She’s looking into another angle. There’s an assistant prosecuting attorney who has a record not so nicely sealed up. He’s known to slack on the job and more than one criminal has gotten off because of it,” Link said.
“Yeah, that fucker, Carson Wells,” Talon added. Crank knew Talon had a beef with the man; hell, so would he if Wells had charged him with attempted murder and rape.
“You’re thinking Haslet assigned cases to Wells knowing he would fuck up. Makes sense if he was making backdoor deals. It also gives Haslet a patsy if everything goes south. Do we know if there are any disciplinary recommendations in Wells’ file from Haslet?” Crank asked.
“As a matter of fact, we do. There are more than a few, but not enough to fire the guy. Just enough to say Haslet was looking into complaints and taking action,” Tal said smiling ear to ear.
“We also know Wells isn’t our guy; he’s in so much debt from his three ex-wives, the man drives an older model Kia. His house is also on the verge of going into foreclosure, and he’s not known to be the brightest bulb in the pack.”
“Well, he might not be our guy, but desperate people do desperate things like maybe putting their old buddy and boss in touch with people who can get things done,” Crank verbalized his thoughts. “Did Wells try any cases involving members of the Vultures?”
“Not that I found, but I only did a cursory look through the files. I can run a search specific to Vultures members and cross-reference it to known associates, girlfriends, family members, things like that.”
“That brings something else up. We haven’t talked about Jamieson Sinclair in a while; he’s still in the wind. Any possibility of him being involved?” Tuck asked the group.
“I don’t know, man,” Link answered, “it’s possible. He has knowledge of the Sinclair land, and he was known to be a piece of shit, always looking for the get rich scheme, but I don’t see him helping someone out without a payday at the end.”
“Yeah, I have to agree with that,” Whisk said. “Jamie wouldn’t get his hands dirty unless he was getting something in return, but I still don’t understand. How is he so far off the grid? The man served time, yet there isn’t a parole violation or anything, so no one but us is looking. Doesn’t make sense.”
“Agreed, I think we’re going to have to put Jamison Sinclair on the back burner for now and concentrate on what we know. That brings me to the Vultures.” Tuck’s statement got Crank's attention. “We took out seven here at the club. Whisk, Creed, and Slim took out two more at the caves. Link got the guys at the house, but there were more. DNA matches came back this morning to two of Cathy’s attackers. Shade’s guys picked them up a couple of hours ago.”
“What the fuck man?” Crank stood up and yelled. “You didn’t think to start this off with that information?”
Tuck stood up too. “I didn’t start off with that information because I knew once I said it, you wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else. They’re in lockdown. We can’t touch them.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, asshole.”
“No, you’re not listening, we can’t touch them, but I think there’s a way for us to talk to them, make it known their time spent in County isn’t going to be a cakewalk if they don’t give up what they know.”
“Bullshit!” Crank yelled. “Those fuckers know they’re dead men walking, they aren’t going to give us shit. I say we let them get bail, then I’ll get the fuckers to talk,” Crank said, cracking his knuckles.
“And you would be the first one on any fucking cops radar if they came up missing or damaged.”
“You got that right.”
“You can’t touch them. Think of your woman; having those assholes behind bars might help her to heal. Might give her some closure or some shit.”
“Having them six feet under would give her all kinds of fucking closure.”
“Yeah, but having you in a six-by-six wouldn’t.”
Crank started pacing. He needed to find Cathy before she heard this, he didn’t want her to be alone. Blade blocked the door, “Sit down son, you need to listen to the rest.” Crank didn’t want to hear the rest, he wanted to find his woman and make sure she was okay. Damn it. But he did, he went back to his seat and sat down like a good little boy and waited for the other shoe to drop.
Tuck didn’t make him wait. “We had the DNA analyzed from the guys we took out here at the Club; only one was a match. With the two in custody that makes three, but there were four different samples found on Cathy. One of them is still out there. We don’t know if he’s running scared or what. But we do know that Satan’s Vultures have disbanded their Kentucky chapter.”
“Get me a meeting,” Crank said through gritted teeth. “I don’t give a shit who you have to bribe or beg. Get me a meeting with their Mother chapter. I want those two fuckers, and I want them right fucking now.”
“I know Brother, and I’m already working on it,” Tuck said, looking him straight in the eyes. Crank knew the other man would move heaven and earth to make the meeting happen.
“Do we know his name? The last one?”
“Yeah, man one goes by the name of Slick, aka Edward Blank.”
“We find him, he’s mine, no day in court. Justice will be served by my hand. You get me?” Crank stood up, putting his hands on the table and looked at every member of his Club. “I said, do you all get me?”
“Yeah, man, we get you, and we’ll be standing right by your side when it happens.” Blade bellowed then stood up and placed his hand on his chest and started to repeat the Clubs mantra. Once he started, every Brother in the room joined.
I will defend my Club
I will protect the weak and the freedom we all seek
I will sacrifice all, so the RBMC will survive
I will fight to the death, so errors of our past don’t repeat themselves in the future
Anyone who threatens this Club or its members is my enemy
I will live by this code until my last breath
Ruthless Bastards in life
Ruthless Bastards in death
Ruthless Bastards forever
“Those fuckers threatened our Club and hurt our women,” Tuck stated, once they were done. “We will hunt him down, and we will enact justice at our Brother’s side. All say you!” There was a loud shout of Yay! as every man slammed their fists against the table. Crank joined in. Damn right, those fuckers were as good as dead, and he couldn’t be happier.
Chapter 8
Cathy knocked on the door of the old Victorian farmhouse. It seemed odd to her that a therapist wouldn’t be in a medical complex or office building of some sort, but both Katie and Addy had recommended this woman, so she just went with it. Plus, there was a sign next to the door, Dr. Kayla Stewart, so she knew she had the right place. Cathy heard a bark and turned around. She knew that dog, she had spent a lot of time with her.
Crank: Ruthless Bastards (RBMC Book 4) Page 5