The only difference was, he never came home from work.
I begged my mother for years to tell me what happened, but she wouldn’t. She told me that her and dad simply stopped loving one another, but it didn’t explain why I never heard from him. Why he never called on my birthday and why I never saw him at Christmas. It didn’t explain why Mom was so quick to clean out his side of the closet and rid any memorabilia of him from the house.
I hated her for it for so long.
And then, she got sick.
Cancer was a bitch, and my mom fought hard. The first time she beat it, but the second time around she was tired. Tired of working and tired of crying. Tired of fighting and tired of scraping by. I watched her waste away in a hospital room for months before the tumors finally took her under, suffocating the life from her as I held her hand. It wasn’t until she breathed her last breath that she told me the truth.
What really happened with my father all those years ago.
I drew in a shallow breath as a knock came at my office door. I wiped at the tears underneath my eyes, then cleared my throat and fluffed my hair. It was probably one of the older lawyers coming to see how I was adjusting, and it wasn’t going to look good if I was crying on my first day.
“Miss Williams?”
“Come in, Mr. Scott. The door is open,” I said.
A man with snow white hair stepped in with a massive smile on his face. I stood and reached my hand out for his, shaking his broad, strong hand. I looked him in his eyes to let him know I was serious about this position. Then he took a seat in the rickety chair in front of my desk as I sat back down into my chair.
And that puff of air that shot out from the cushion seat caused him to chuckle.
“We did the best we could under the circumstances,” Scott said. “But when our secretary told you to requisition whatever you want, she meant it. We have a budget in place to update office spaces as necessary, so put in for a new chair.”
I watched him wiggle in his seat as the wood bowed underneath his weight.
“Make that two seats,” he said.
“Will do, sir,” I said. “Once I find the requisition sheets.”
“Those along with the rest of our forms are in the filing cabinet to your right. The keys you were handed when you came in not only lock your office and the front and back doors, but there’s a key on there to open and close the cabinet.”
“Duly noted.”
“I’m here to welcome you and then to apologize,” he said.
“Why apologize?” I asked.
“I told you that you wouldn’t see any clients until tomorrow. However, an emergency proposition has dropped into my lap and both Rose and I are booked solid until seven tonight.”
“Then I’m more than happy to take it on,” I said. “Who’s the client?”
“You will be assisting Rose with a retainer client. They seem to have gotten themselves into a bit of legal trouble and there are some things that look very fuzzy.”
“Is Rose someone I should know about?” I asked.
I watched Scott grin at me before he gave a light chuckle.
“I see neither of us did our research,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I have something to admit, but if you’re as perceptive as I take you to be, then you already know.”
“I’m still not following, sir.”
“I hired you because I thought you were intriguing. It’s not simply what’s on paper that makes me want to hire someone, it’s also their purpose for being hired. I have to admit, I was interested to see why a young woman fresh out of college would want to come to a woodsy place like Redding for her first job.”
“I figured as much,” I said.
“It wasn’t until I shook your hand that I realized how serious you were about this.”
“You could tell by a simple handshake?” I asked.
“I’ve been working in this field a very long time, Miss Williams. I can tell many things by a simple handshake.”
“So, what is the research I did not do?” I asked.
“Rose is my wife,” Scott said.
“And she’s helping with the case?” I asked.
“My wife’s name, is ‘Rose Lowen’.”
I felt the pieces fall into place as I nodded and started to laugh.
“Didn’t take your last name, I presume,” I said.
“She’s a firecracker and a very independent woman. We started our own practice thirty-some odd years ago. Her idea she built from the ground up. I’m simply along for the ride.”
“But she obviously gave you permission to hire someone on,” I said with a grin.
“And I don’t believe you’ll disappoint. You’ll be helping my wife on a recurring client. The Dead Souls.”
“Is that… their name?” I asked.
“You have much to learn about this area. But for now, all you need to know is that a local group of individuals keep our law firm on retainer in case they get into trouble. The police around here like to bully people that don’t exactly fit in with the ‘norm’, so we step up to the plate once that happens.”
“I take it Rose will fill me in further?” I asked.
“She will. She’ll be in your office in about an hour. I was sent to give you the heads up.”
“Well, thank you for it.”
“And by the way? The name’s Bradley Scott. You can drop the ‘Mr. Scott’ nonsense.”
“Sorry, it’s a bit of a habit, growing up in Texas.”
“I’d like to bite it in the ass now before it starts,” he said with a grin. “Enjoy Rose! She’s a heck of a woman.”
“If she married you, she’d have to be,” I said with a grin.
“I like your spunk, Monroe. I think you’ll fit in just fine.”
I shook Bradley’s hand one last time before he left my office. A client. On my first day. At a law firm who had retainer clients with names like ‘Dead Souls. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that sounded like a gang of some sort. A group of thugs or whatever. And if there was one thing I wasn’t going to do, it was defend someone who was actually guilty.
And I was going to make that very clear to Rose.
Chapter 3
Knox
“What the hell happened out there?” Diesel asked.
“None of them wanted to talk,” I said. “All they wanted to do was beat the shit outta us and kick around the damn beer we brought.”
“I don’t give a fuck about what happened with the Black Saddles. What the fuck’s all this mess I’m hearing about you killing someone? I didn’t want you to fucking kill people, Knox. Only talk!” Diesel yelled. I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear.
“I didn’t kill anyone, Diesel.”
“Not what I’m hearing,” he said.
“Well what you’re hearing is wrong.”
“There was a body bag on the scene, Knox. I know what your charges are.”
“I didn’t kill him, Diesel. It was a set up. Blaze was still talking shit to me before we started dashing into the woods. Yes, I probably broke a couple of his ribs. But that bastard was still alive and well when we took off.”
“If you punctured his lung, he could’ve choked on his own damn blood.”
“He also would’ve been coughing it up. Which he wasn’t. I heard his threats. He was still yelling at me as we ran.”
“What was he saying?” Diesel asked. “What the fuck caused you to fly off the handle?”
“Hey, you said don’t throw the first punches,” I said. “He threw the first punch.”
“So, he hit you first.”
“Yes. That man took me to my fucking knees before I did something about his mouth.”
“What the fuck did he say to you, Knox?”
“Diesel, he knows about Canyon,” I said letting out a long sigh.
The phone call fell silent as I stood at the telephone. These police officers were fucking quick to book me and get
me in some community fucking holding cell. And I didn’t like it one damn bit. I saw people eyeing me that I didn’t want looking at me and I knew this wasn’t a good situation. A couple of the cops had gotten to some of The Black Saddles as well, which meant we were all locked up in the same damn room.
Separated by only a few bars of iron.
“What exactly does he know about Canyon?” Diesel asked.
“Not much,” I said lowly. “He called her my sister, but he fucking knew about her. There isn’t anyone in this damn city who knows about her except for you guys. And you’re the only one who knows who she actually is.”
“And you’re sure he mentioned Canyon?”
“Diesel, when I was on my knees, he told me I looked just as good as fucking Canyon from the behind.”
“He did what?”
“He made a crude fucking comment about my ten year old-... sister,” I said.
“I would have killed that motherfucker on the spot,” he said.
“And now you know why I flew off the fucking handle,” I said.
“Okay, look. If you’re sure that asshole was still alive when you left, then I believe you. We’ll call up our lawyer and get you the hell outta this, and in the meantime I’m gonna poke around and figure out who the fuck’s been opening their damn mouths about your life.”
“Thanks.”
“I gotta ask you this to help me, but are you sure me and the guys are the only ones that know about Canyon?”
“Yes,” I said.
“No drunken nights where you got lippy with someone? Did you talk about Canyon to one of the guys in a public place? A bar or some shit?”
“No, this is the most public place I’ve mentioned her before,” I said.
“Okay. Then the only thing I got to go off of is the fact that one of our guys is running their mouths when they don’t need to be. The only other option is that The Black Saddles somehow came into contact with your mother and pieced it together. Any way that could’ve happened?”
“My mother and her live in Anderson. On the south side. They’re nowhere near here,” I said.
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’m gonna dig around and see if The Black Saddles have tried to pull their shit in that area as well. I don’t wanna start pointing fingers at our own until I ain’t got any more options.”
“I hear ya. Another question before I get kicked off here.”
“What’s that?” Diesel asked.
“We got anything in the way of protection in jail?”
“I can work on it and get you something. Why?”
“Because the cops snagged a couple of The Black Saddles, and the only thing separating us right now is a row of iron bars.”
“Shit. Okay. I’ll work on that first, then place the call to our lawyer, then get to digging on all this Canyon shit that’s come outta left field.”
“I didn’t kill him, Diesel.”
“And I believe you. That’s why we pay our lawyer what we do. To help us in situations like this. You hang tight, okay? Don’t start shit.”
“I didn’t start it the first time and look where I’m sitting,” I said.
“Don’t start shit in front of the fucking cops,” he said.
“Fine. But get me outta here. I’m useless in here, and if someone goes after Canyon-”
“Oh, that shit ain’t happening. Not on my watch. You’ve got my word on that.”
“Thanks, Diesel.”
The cop at the desk was eyeballing me hard, so I hung up the phone and let the asshole lead me back to the holding cell. I didn’t like sitting and waiting. Wasn’t in my blood to do that shit. I was an action man. I wanted to get out and help. I wanted to get on my fucking bike, ride all the way to the south side of Anderson, and make sure no one had placed a hand on my damn family. I hadn’t seen them in almost three years, but I sent money every damn month. Money my Momma could use to help raise Canyon so she wasn’t footing all those damn finances by herself. I sent pictures to Canyon in letters on her birthday and toys for Christmas. I wanted her to know that her Daddy was thinking of her even though he couldn’t be there to celebrate.
But fuck me if someone was gonna mention my damn daughter like Blaze had.
I knew I didn’t kill him. I knew what killing someone felt like. I knew what it felt like from the barrel of a gun, I knew what it felt like with the tip of my boot, and I knew what it felt like with my bare ass hands. That fucker wasn’t dead. I hadn’t kicked him hard enough or nearly enough times to do that to him. Grave got to me before that shit happened. I knew he was hurt. Groaning on the ground like the pussy he was, but he wasn’t dead.
I heard him fucking shouting after me for fuck’s sake.
The police officer threw me back into the holding cell and I stood up to face him. What the hell was he doing, throwing me around like that? I loomed over the man and he cowered, shutting the door quickly to lock me in with all the town drunks and domestic abusers who took pride in beating their wives.
“The hell you looking at?” I asked.
I panned my gaze over to the holding cell next to mine and I saw them. The Black fucking Saddles with their bullshit navy blue cuts. Fucking navy blue when ‘Black’ was in their damn name. I hated everything about these guys. Everything they stood for and all their dumbass tactics to try and take our territory. I watched the two guys stand up and head for the row of iron bars that separated us, and I looked over to see the police officer pleasantly distracted.
Great.
Just fucking great.
“We’re gonna get ya, you know,” one of them said.
“You killed Blaze, and that shit ain’t gonna fly,” the other said.
“I didn’t kill your pathetic prospect,” I said. “That man was yelling at me as I ran.”
“Like a pussy,” the guy said as he laughed.
“I don’t know. If I recognize you right, you were cowering behind a damn tree while your prospect was throwing punches,” I said.
“I was not,” the man said.
“Wanna bet?” I asked.
The two men lunged at me, pushing their arms through the iron bars. The men in my cell stood up, ready for a fight as they all stood behind me. The police officer leapt from his chair and ran over to the holding cell, then aimed his taser gun at both of them before he started screaming.
“Sit the fuck down or I’m gonna shoot!”
I eyed them heavily as the guys in the cell cracked their knuckles. So, this was the hierarchy of jail. The guys I was in the holding cell with were my buddies now, which meant if any of their shit traipsed in there I’d be expected to defend them on a moment’s notice. I didn’t know what kind of men they were. I didn’t know their damn names or know the kind of shit they were capable of. And I wasn’t about to start defending the scumbags of the earth just because we were in the same damn cell together.
“We’ll get you,” the man said. “Sleep with one eye open, asshole.”
“I won’t have to,” I said. “Because you’ll be in here much longer than me.”
The guys sat down on the other side of their cell before the cop had a chance to break in his shiny new taser gun. Everyone backed off and went into their respective corners as I slumped into a chair in the corner.
Fuck.
Just fucking great.
This was exactly what I needed. Some fucking sitting and waiting game while Diesel organized a group of guys to help me with a potential rat among them. It was hard to believe, that one of them would talk about Canyon that way. I trusted those men with my life over and over again, and the idea of betrayal in that form boggled my damn mind.
Was one of them really capable of that shit? Or had something else taken place I didn’t know about?
The only rule I left Momma with was to not come into Redding. Ever. Not alone, and certainly not with Canyon. They could go anywhere and do anything, but our territory was off limits. It was the only way to fully cut ties with them and keep them safe from all th
e shit I was in. It protected them if we ever got caught running and laundering money, and it protected them if shit like this kicked up with rival gangs.
At least, it was supposed to.
Was it possible Momma came into town with Canyon? If it was, why the hell would she risk something like that? Why would she go against the only rule I had to raising Canyon? I wasn’t dictating what she could do. I didn’t send her a fucking food list or outline what parenting shit I wanted her to do with Canyon. For all I cared, the woman could raise her Catholic and send her off to a damn convent!
All I asked for was to keep their asses outta Redding.
My momma was bullheaded, but she wasn’t stupid. It was hard for me to believe that she’d go against that one fucking rule for any reason. But it was also hard for me to believe that one of the guys would betray me in the foulest form. Talking about our operations was one thing, but spilling shit about families? That was a whole different ballpark that came with its own set of rules in The Dead Souls. We took family seriously. Both the family we had with the club and the family we tried to keep secret and protected. I wasn’t the only one shielding people I cared about from this lifestyle, and I wasn’t gonna be the last.
But we didn’t fucking talk about it.
Ever.
The only time we ever talked about it was after patrols. A few times a year, a few of us would be sent out in regular gear with regular attitudes to check up on families. Sometimes it was Diesel riding out to pass by my momma’s house and sometimes it was Grave. A couple of times Mick had gone and once I’d sent both Rock and Grave when I caught wind that Canyon was sick. But that was it. They came back, reported what they saw, then we got on with our lives.
I’d done it with their families before, and they did it with mine.
I saw the cop in the corner move from his chair before he walked over to my cell. He ripped the door open and motioned for me, his eyes glaring and his jaw clenched. Holy fuck, Diesel worked fast. I grinned as I got up, then threw a careless wink at The Black Saddles before I made my way for the door.
“Yes, officer?” I asked.
“You’re being transferred,” the officer said.
Knox (Dead Souls MC Book 1) Page 2