by KJ Dahlen
“My dad has a connection to the Satan’s Fury MC,” Traven blurted out.
Chapter Eight
“Your dad did business with Digger Jonas?” Silas scoffed. “That doesn’t say much for Digger.” Silas looked over at his sons, then back to this Traven. “Was it drugs or guns?”
Traven glared at the other man. “I don’t have to tell you jack shit.”
Creed swung the hammer and connected with his knee cap.
Traven screamed in pain and wrestled against the bindings that held him.
Creed leaned forward and got into the other man’s face. “My grandfather asked you a question scumbag. Was it guns or drugs?”
“Drugs,” Traven whimpered. “It was Vison Quest.”
“What the fuck did you do?” Creed growled.
“Dad made a deal with the Satan’s Fury. He was willing to sell them the formula for a shit load of money. We knew we were leaving the country as soon as Joshua got out of prison anyway.”
“And did that happen?” Creed asked.
Traven nodded. “Yeah, we sold the pills and we got a shit load of money.” Traven squirmed and wanted to say something else but he knew he couldn’t. His dad would kill him if the MC didn’t.
But Renegade was watching him close enough to know the man had more to say. He glanced over at Creed and Tate then nodded.
Tate nodded to Creed.
Creed moved in closer and raised his hand again. Bringing the hammer down on the other man’s right hand.
Traven screamed as the tiny bones in his hands were broken by the heavy steel of the hammer. Blood poured from his broken skin and the pain was more than Traven could handle.
“What did you do?” Creed asked slowly.
Traven looked up at him with a pain filled gaze. “The pills are worthless. Dad never added the peyote.”
Creed snapped his gaze over to his grandfather and shook his head. Looking back at Traven he snarled, “You fucked the Satan’s Fury MC and still think you’re connected to them? How fucking stupid do you think we are?”
“We didn’t know ok?” Traven screamed. “Dad does all the mixing, all we do is do is put the shit together. We didn’t know until this morning it wasn’t the right formula.”
“And your dad still thinks he gonna get away with it?” Silas asked astonished. “Doesn’t he know better than to undercut an MC, especially one like Digger’s?”
Traven shook his head.
“Why did you come here?” Jack asked. He’d been silent up to this point but now he had to know.
“We got word that Joshua’s daughter was here,” Traven told them
“The daughter he hasn’t seen in nineteen years, that daughter?” Jack demanded.
Traven nodded.
“What does he want, a loving reunion?” Jack sneered.
Traven swallowed hard and slowly shook his head. “Not quite,” he whispered.
Bullet stepped forward with the phone in his hand. “Who is James?”
Traven had hoped they wouldn’t ask.
“He’s his brother,” Renegade answered this.
“What you got there Bullet?” Creed asked.
“His phone. James is on his way to join this loser,” Bullet informed the group.
Creed turned to Traven and asked, “Why is he coming?”
“In case I fail,” Traven told him.
“In case you fail at what?”
“We were sent here to take out Kalinda. She has a secret we can’t have known.”
“And what is that secret?” Creed demanded.
“I can’t tell you that,” Traven whispered. He closed his eyes and half expected another strike. When it didn’t come, he opened his eyes again and saw Jack standing in front of him and not Creed.
Jack was pissed enough to kill him.
He was about to say something but paused when everyone heard the door of the cabin open. Everyone turned to look to see who was interrupting them and they saw Kalinda standing there with tears in her eyes. She came forward and stopped in front of Jack. “Please don’t do this?” she begged him. “He and the others just aren’t worth it.” She turned to her uncle. “Which one are you?”
“Traven.”
“None of you are worth dying for,” she told him. “I may never remember what you’re willing to kill me to protect.” She paused then asked, “Which one of you mugged me that night im Austin? Was it you?’
Traven nodded slowly.
“Are you also the one who forced me off the road six month later?”
He nodded again.
“Why? Why couldn’t you just leave me alone? I was no threat to you or anyone else. I spent weeks in pain and living in fear.”
“I’m not saying another word,” Traven told them.
“Honey...” Jack wrapped his arm around her pulling her into his embrace. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know but I couldn’t stay away.” She looked over her shoulder at her uncle. “I don’t know that man. I know I was young when I left but I don’t remember him at all.” She leaned her forehead on his chest. She began rubbed the back of her head and suddenly her eyes opened wide and she stared at Traven closely.
Traven recognized her look of horror and swore in his own language. She did remember. She remembered everything now and he knew it. He began swearing at her in Apache.
Renegade stepped forward and swung on him. He hit him in the mouth and Traven went flying. The chair tipped over and he hit the floor hard.
“What the hell was that all about?” Silas wanted to know.
“He wasn’t very nice in what he called her.” Renegade snarled. “She may not know what he called her but I do!”
“Ok, well lets get ready for James to arrive,” Tate ordered. “Jack, get your woman out of here and somewhere safe. Stay with her if you have to. We’ll take her uncles on.”
Jack nodded and turned them both around and walked her out of the cabin. As soon as they were gone, Creed went over to the fallen man. He righted the chair and looked at the man still tied to the chair. “What did she finally remember?”
“Go to hell!” Traven growled.
“Oh, I think you and your brothers will get there first,” Creed assured him.
“Make sure he’s secured before we leave here,” Tate told his oldest son. “We need a roving patrol to make sure none of his brothers get through. This ends today.”
Kalinda stumbled all the way back to the house she shared with Jack. Lola had offered to stay with the baby and when they got home Lola took one look at her and said goodbye. Rosa was napping and that was good. They could talk uninterrupted.
Jack sat her down on the sofa and wrapped his arm around her. “I’m sorry baby.”
“I’m not. I remembered.”
Jack frowned. “What? What did you remember?”
“I finally remembered everything that happened the night my mother and sister died.”
“There was more?”
She nodded. “I was with my dad about a week before this all happened. He got a call from his brothers James and Craig. They called him to meet them out on the road to town. I was tired and didn’t want to go with him but Mom was gone with the baby and he had to take me with him. I feel asleep in the backseat. I didn’t know where we were going or what happened but I woke up to screaming and yelling. I peeked over the seat and saw all my uncles there with my grandpa. They were fighting with two other boys. I mean these boys were very young, then suddenly my grandpa and my dad picked up a rock and began hitting the boys on the back of the head.” She shivered.
Jack held her tighter.
“I remembered screaming but when my dad looked over at the truck I was in I stopped and ducked back down. I peeked around the seat and watched them as they picked up the boys they had beaten bloody. They carried them over to an opening in the hillside and after they disappeared inside, I stayed where I was. My dad and grandpa came out again shortly and when they walked to the trucks... I laid down on the
seat and pretended I was asleep. He drove us home again and then he left me in the truck while he went in to take a shower. When he came back, he had wet hair and clean clothes on. He got me out of the truck and asked me if I was sleeping the whole time we were gone.” She looked over at him and admitted, “I was so scared I couldn’t even speak. I nodded but I think he could see the fear in my eyes.”
“What happened next?” Jack asked softly.
“My mom came home with Rachel. My dad watched me carefully but I was afraid of him. My mom noticed but I knew I couldn’t say anything. When he told her about finding the mine and about his father buying the land it was on she began fussing about it. She thought he would do the right thing and bring in the tribe so they could all gain from the proceeds. Then she and my grandfather got into a fight. That’s when he told her that she better keep her mother shut about the mine if she knew what was good for her.”
He sighed and smoother a hand down her wet cheek, swiping her tears away.
Shaking her head, Kalinda looked over at him. “The night of the gathering, my mom approached the Elders and was going to tell them everything including him helping to kill those young men but my father dragged her away. She told him she was done with him and his family. She was taking us with her and going back to her father’s house. She was sick of lying and watching him do his people dirty.” Tears rolled down her ace. “My dad just lost it. My mom went crazy and began attacking him after he’d hurt Rachel and he didn’t stop beating on her until he couldn’t hurt her anymore. Everyone rushed in and Renegade whisked me away. I didn’t see what happened after that.” She finally ran out of memories. “I don’t know if it was the trauma of watching everything go down or it was the threat of him hurting me but I blanked everything out on the road to Austin.”
There was a knock on the door and when Jack answered it, he found Renegade standing there, along with Tate. He stood back and allowed them in. Renegade went over to Kalinda and knelt in front of her. Taking her hand in his, Jack went to step over to them but Tate held him back.
“He doesn’t get to touch her like that.”
“Son, he’s offering her comfort no one else can offer her at the moment. Her world is crumbling and he was there for her a long time ago. Maybe he can help her make sense of what happened. He’s her blood but you’re her man.”
Jack nodded and waited while Kalinda and Renegade spoke. When he stood up both men joined him. Renegade eyed the two men as they came closer. “She told me what she remembered and that fits with something that happened nineteen years ago.”
“How so?” Tate asked.
“A week before the Elder died, two young men disappeared from the tribe. They liked to take off for a couple of days and walk around the land. They always claimed they were explorers. They were just young , barely eighteen and nineteen. Their names were Ben and Pete Crockett. When they didn’t come back after three days, their father Jerimiah went to the Elders. He thought maybe they were out there hurt somewhere. The Elders got some men together and they went looking for the boys. They looked for three days but found no sign of them. Then a few days later an Elder passed away and the whole tribe came together.”
“So what does that tell you that it didn’t tell us?” Jack asked.
He nodded at Kalinda. “She told me she saw her dad and granddad carry the boys into the mine. I’ll bet if we search the mine, we’ll find their bodies.” He nodded and then asked, “Maybe we’ll solve another disappearance as well.”
“Oh, who else disappeared?” Tate asked.
“Jerimiah Crockett.” Renegade sighed. “When no sign of his sons were ever found, he went looking for them himself. He must have found something and they took him out before he could find the truth.”
“Is there nothing they won’t do?” Kalinda shook her head. “I think the world will be a better place without them in it.”
Silas left the cabin and walked a little ways in the woods. No one else needed to know what he was about to do. He took out his phone and dialed a number he hadn’t used in years.
He waited until the call was picked up and someone on the other end growled at him, “What the ever loving fuck do you want old man? I told you to lose this number several years ago.”
“I know you did,” Silas replied. “I don’t want or need anything from you or yours. I do want to warn you about something though.”
“Oh, yeah?” Digger was curious now. “What are you wanting to warn me about?”
“You may or may not have bought a certain drug that’s doing well out on the street. I don’t know and I don’t care as long as you keep that shit out of my town, you can do whatever the hell you want.”
“Ok that was our deal,” Digger admitted. “What about it?”
“What you thought you bought and what you got in not the same thing. You might be missing the very ingredient you need to make it salable on the streets. You got played. They left out the peyote.”
There was a moment of silence on Digger’s end and then he asked, “And how do you know my business?”
“Like I said, I don’t know nor do I care but the man you’re dealing with is a thief and a murderer. He made the deal knowing he wasn’t going to honor it. We have his son in our custody and he admitted to cheating another MC. This is only a warning from one MC to another.” Silas paused then added, “We used to be friends before the break and this will be the last time I use this number. Take care.”
“Wait... do you know where the man in question is hiding right now?”
“No I don’t but I got first dibs on him. He’s coming here to cause trouble with my family and you know how I’d do anything to protect what’s mine.”
“Yeah, I know all too well. Take care old man and thanks for the head’s up. I’ll have it checked out and get back to you.”
Silas ended the call and walked back to the main clubhouse with a slow walk. He had to push the memories out of his mind to deal with the present and the future. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled deeply and went inside the clubhouse where his three grandsons were making plans.
Chapter Nine
Renegade was standing off to one side talking to his cousin in Alpine. He was telling him about what was happening in Killeen and that he finally found Kalinda. He was listening to his cousin telling him about his great grandfather’s death when he happened to glance over at the sofa. He frowned when he saw the red spot on Kalinda’s head then realized what that red dot meant. He dropped the phone and tackled her off the sofa. He covered her with his own body and scrambled to get her under cover.
Hell broke out as several shots were heard. Breaking glass and bodies hitting the floor beside him. Footsteps and voices calling out and a baby screaming in the background led to the chaos. More shots were heard and then the sound of motorcycles roared.
Renegade was pushed off her and Kalinda was in Jack’s arms. He hugged her close and murmured over and over again, “Are you all right baby?”
Kalinda nodded and looked around “Is everyone else ok?” she asked dazed.
Tate and Jack looked at each other then they all looked down at Renegade who was still laying on the floor. Only then did they see the pool of blood growing around him.
“John!” Kalinda screamed as she dropped to her knees. Searching his body for injury she kept saying, “Where are you hit?”
Renegade groaned. “The little bastard got me in the back. I’ll be ok. I don’t’ think it hit anything vital.” He groaned again then tried to move. “Damn— I never realized a bullet hurt so much.”
Tate disappeared for a moment and when he returned her was holding Rosa in his arms. Kalinda looked up and demanded, “Is she okay?”
Tate nodded. “She’s fine. Shaken up but she’s fine.”
Jack reached down and helped Renegade up on his feet just as the front door opened and people began coming in.
Lola caught her breath on the blood smearing Renegade’s back and clothing. She ran to the kitchen for a hand t
owel and a bowl of warm water.
Creed came over and helped Jack assist Renegade to a seat of the sofa. Annie began sweeping up the shards of glass as Daniel and Harry were stripping Renegade’s clothing off.
Jack stood there with Kalinda in his arms watching the whole scene take place. He felt she was still shaking from her near death and he didn’t want to let her go. He looked over at his dad and Tate was rocking the baby slowly trying to calm her down. He swung around and stared at the window the shots took out. The shots were concentrated in one area shattering the glass. Looking at the shots, he knew whoever was behind the trigger was looking to kill Kalinda in her own home. He thanked the gods that Renegade saw the danger and acted on it.
Kalinda reached out, took their daughter from Tate and all three cuddled together.
Then the door was opened again as Cobra and Thor walked into the house. Silas wasn’t far behind them and he took in the scene at once. He looked over at his son and asked, “Is she ok?”
Tate nodded. “Thanks to Renegade. He took the bullet meant for her.” Looking at Cobra, he asked, “Did you get the shooter?”
Cobra nodded. “We got him.”
Renegade looked up and asked, “Was it James?”
Cobra nodded.
He shook his head and said, “Well, that’s two of the four isn’t it?”
“I have a feeling the worst is yet to come,” Cobra told him. “Her father is still out there.”
Traven watched as a couple of guys secured his brother James in another chair next to him. His knee cap and hand still throbbed but he knew better than to say anything. If these men were anything like his father, they might swing that damn hammer again.
He could have told his brother it wouldn’t do any good to fight but James never did listen. He always had to learn the hard way.
When they were left alone again, Traven looked over at James and said, “What did you do?”
“Tried shooting her but she has more guardian angels than she needs.” James growled.