“Fine.”
“I’ll text you when I’m on my way and you can meet me at Alton’s place.”
“Bring some raw meat.”
“Excuse me?”
“He’s got a big, angry dog. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
“See you this evening.”
“Can’t fucking wait,” I replied, my voice laced with sarcasm.
“You did good, Parrotti,” he said.
“Thanks, I guess,” I said, hanging up the phone.
I sighed and laid back on the bed, my gut telling me everything about this was dead wrong.
CHAPTER 33
NATE
“I’m telling you, I think this is a bad idea,” Eli said, before getting on his bike.
“All he can do is say no again,” I replied, before sliding on my helmet. “And at least he’ll know we tried. The worst that can happen is we waste a few gallons of gas.”
“I guess,” he replied, starting up his engine with a mighty roar. The ground beneath our feet shook, the windows of the nearby clubhouse rattling in their frames.
I’d come away from the meeting with the Gods feeling the need to get away. And all this drama, not to mention the way I was feeling after kissing Donna, had me thinking about my old man. Asher killed his own brother for attacking the woman he loved. Sure, she was young but Dad really loved her. And then, not only did he shoot his brother in blind rage, he accidentally killed the love of his life, too.
It was heart-wrenching when you thought about it.
My old man was a good guy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we all have our faults, I’m aware of that. But, at the end of the day, Asher was a man’s man, a stand-up rock-solid father and I missed him like fucking crazy.
The fact that he refused to see us ripped my heart into shreds.
Desperately, I wanted to tell him that I still loved him, that I understood why he did what he did. I wanted him to know that I still respected him. I didn’t care what anyone else thought. To me, he was still noble.
Eli, I think, was still holding onto a bunch of anger. Our father’s split decision had changed all of our lives, after all. Eli’s anger was only natural. It would eventually evolve into something else, just like mine had. Which is why I was a little surprised when he agreed to my suggestion to try to visit him again today.
I didn’t question him, though, I just jumped on my bike and hoped he’d follow. And he did.
We drove to Salem side by side, and I thought of Donna the entire time. I wanted to tell Eli that I’d kissed her, but I knew he’d disapprove. Even worse, he might even tell Grace or Ryder and the last thing I wanted to do was have that conversation.
We parked our bikes in the parking lot and walked towards the gates, tall barbed-wire trimmed fences towering overhead.
“This place gives me the fucking creeps every time,” Eli said.
“Me, too,” I replied.
We checked in and waited in a large room, both of us wondering what would happen, but doing our best to talk about anything else.
“How’s Sophia?”
“She’s good,” he said. “Visiting her cousin on the east coast.”
“She’s good for you, isn’t she?”
Sophia and Eli had fallen in love while Eli was helping Solid Ground with a job, the same job where I’d gotten my ass bit off that I’d told Donna about. Everything I thought about always came back around to Donna lately, and I realized I was quickly becoming obsessed.
That kiss had wrecked me and instead of providing any sense of relief from my constant yearning, it’d only made things much worse. If I’m honest, I’ll admit that coming out to see my old man was really just a distraction from all of that.
Donna needed to work.
She didn’t need me in her way.
When she was ready — if she was ready — she’d come to me, she’d let me know. In the meantime, I had to be satisfied with nothing more than the memory of that epic kiss. So a distraction was definitely in order.
Sitting around thinking about it all day would only be torture.
Sitting here staring at Eli staring back at me and wondering if today was the day our old man would change his mind was only slightly less torturous.
When he walked into the room, we both stood up in complete surprise.
Despite the orange jumpsuit, he actually looked good.
Clean-shaven, a little slimmed down — he was actually smiling.
“Dad!” Eli said, throwing his arms around him.
“Hello, son,” he said, patting his back roughly. He stared at me over Eli’s shoulder and I smiled at him.
“Hey, Dad,” I replied, a wave of love washing over me at the sight of him. He hugged me and it was like going back in time, to a simpler, happier time, when we were all together and everything was the way it used to be, the way it would never, ever be again.
“Nathaniel, you look good, son,” he said, staring me down, before sitting down and gesturing for us to do the same.
“Thanks,” I replied. “I can’t believe you finally agreed to see us.”
“I was wrong about that, son,” he nodded, my own eyes shining back at me as he peered over the table at me. “I need you two. You’re the only family I have left and I shouldn’t have shunned you. I’m not proud of what I did, not one bit. I’ll regret it till the day I die. But I’m not dead yet and if you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for wrecking your entire lives, it would mean the world to me.”
“Wow, Dad,” Eli said, shaking his head. It’d been months since we’d seen our old man and most of that time I wasn’t sure we’d ever see him again. Having him welcome us back with open arms was unexpected.
“I was a sonfoabitch, I know it,” he said. “I probably don’t deserve your forgiveness. But I’m asking.”
“Dad, we love you,” I said. “We’ve always loved you. Of course we forgive you.”
I looked over at Eli and he nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, boys,” he said. “You’re all I’ve got left.”
“We aren’t going anywhere,” I replied.
“I got your letters,” he said. “I’m glad to hear you joined up with the Gods. They’re a good group of guys.”
“They’ve been good to us,” I said. “And we don’t have to do the risky shit anymore.”
“I’m proud of you boys. You took care of the other guys when I couldn’t. You really stepped up to the plate and made something good out of a terrible situation.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I said.
“So, what else is going on? You two finally find any women that’ll put up with your bullshit?” He winked, and for a minute the background fell away and he wasn’t my old man locked away in prison, he was his old self, ribbing us as usual.
“Eli found a girlfriend,” I said. Eli kicked me under the table.
“What’s her name?” Dad asked.
“Sophia,” I replied. “You’d like her, she’s a great lady.”
“What about you?”
“Nate has a hard-on for an FBI agent,” Eli blurted out.
“No, I don’t,” I lied. I most definitely had a hard-on for Donna, there was no denying it. I wasn’t exactly ready for my old man to know that, though. As far as I knew, Donna was just going to be a one-night stand, if even that. Sure, I hoped for more, she was an incredible woman, but I was hesitant to jump the gun and declare it some great romantic love so soon.
“You hanging out with the FBI these days?” Dad asked, with a raised eyebrow.
“Have you seen the news?” Eli asked. “There’s a serial killer dumping bodies up and down Highway 6. The first one was dumped just outside the gates of the Gods’ property.”
“No shit?”
“Yep, they’ve killed four women already,” Eli replied. “FBI’s been crawling all over the place, looking for evidence. They searched the place up and down. One of the agents is a pretty little blonde with a sweet ass that Nate can’t keep his
eyes off of.”
“She must be mighty pretty for Nate to get all bothered,” Dad joked.
“I’m not bothered!” I insisted.
They laughed together and I couldn’t help but join in. It felt damn good for us all to be together again, even if Dad was wearing that stupid orange jumpsuit and a huge guard was standing behind us, breathing down our necks.
“How’s Crow handling these murders?” Dad asked.
“Crow?” Eli asked. “He seems fine. Why?”
“His old man was a convicted serial killer,” Dad said. “Almost got away with it, too. Took the Feds fifteen years to find him. Finally got a match on some trace DNA evidence or something and they came knocking and took him away. I’d imagine this brings up a lot of shit for Crow. He and his old man were pretty close.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
“He asked me to keep quiet about it when he joined up with our club,” Dad said. “I obliged. Seemed like the right thing to do.”
I nodded, thinking about Crow, thinking about all the other guys that we called family. I had no idea Crow had such a dark past. It made me wonder what I didn’t know about the others.
“Do you think we need to talk to him about it?” Eli said.
“Nah, why bother if he doesn’t bring it up himself?” Dad replied.
“Yeah,” Eli agreed.
“What about the others, Dad?” I asked. “Is there anything we need to know about anyone else?”
“Nate, none of us are angels, you know that. We wouldn’t have been bikers if we didn’t have demons. Sure, Crow’s old man did some horrible shit. But the others? Yeah, they’ve got stories, too. Hell, Blade’s mother beat the daylights out of him when he was a kid. How he doesn’t hate women is beyond me, but he loves them like they’re the only reason to stay alive. Ziggy’s old man killed his mother, right in front of him. It goes on and on. I never talked about their pasts, because those are their stories to tell. I’ve probably said too much already.”
“We’ll keep it to ourselves,” Eli said.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Just keep a close eye on the guys,” Dad said. “We were always living on the edge. I’ve been worried about how they’re all coping with all these changes.”
“They seem to be doing fine, Dad, don’t worry,” I said.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” he said, smiling over at us. He reached over, grabbing our hands. “More than anything, I’m glad to see my sons. I’m proud of you both.”
“Times up,” the guard barked over our shoulders.
Dad squeezed our hands tightly before standing up and nodding firmly.
“See you next week?” he asked.
“You bet,” Eli said.
We watched him walk away and Eli whispered to me.
“What the hell just happened?” he asked.
“We got our old man back,” I replied, with a slow, uncontainable smile spreading across my face.
CHAPTER 34
DONNA
“You brought some friends,” Alton said, as Randolph and I walked up his driveway, followed by a group of officers.
“Can we talk for a moment, Mr. Alton?” I asked. He put a hand on Sunshine’s collar, nodding as he walked off the porch. The dog stayed behind, keeping a close eye on the visitors.
I closed the distance between us and pulled out the search warrant.
“Mr. Alton, we’re searching all the properties in the area,” I lied. The only other property we’d searched was the Gods’, but he didn’t need to know that. “This is a search warrant for your property, inside and outside.”
“Is that so?” He said. “You still didn’t find your killer?”
“The investigation is still ongoing, Mr. Alton,” I said. “This is my partner, Agent Randolph and these people behind me are going to help with the search.”
“Do I have any say in the matter?” he asked.
“No, sir, the warrant is signed by a judge,” I replied.
“Well, have at it, then,” he shrugged. “Sunshine, come.”
The dog ran down the steps and stopped at his side.
“Thank you, Mr. Alton,” I said. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
Randolph and I stepped into the cabin and paused just inside the door, letting our eyes adjust. Dark and musty, the place was stuffed to the rafters with old furniture, boxes, stacks of newspapers, dusty books and a menagerie of other items.
“Jesus,” Randolph whispered, under his breath.
“You take the living room. I’ll take the bedrooms and kitchen. Tell the others to process everything outdoors first.”
“Will do,” he said.
I walked down a dark, narrow hallway and found the first bedroom. It appeared to be a guest room, with an old, ripped quilt thrown over the bed and boxes stacked on top of that. I opened one of the boxes and found even more books, old hardback fiction — mysteries and thrillers — even a few memoirs, but nothing remarkable at all. Apparently, Alton liked to read.
I walked back into the hallway, entering another bedroom, this one more lived in. A worn dog bed lay at the foot of the unmade bed. I flipped on a light and slowly walked around. Pushed up against a wall under the window was a low-slung dresser various old black and white portraits propped up against the mirror, pictures of what I assumed were Alton’s family members. In one of them, a pretty young woman stood stoically next to a little boy that looked a little like Alton might have at that age.
Next to the photos lay a simple wooden box. I flipped it open and saw it was filled with jewelry. An assortment of men’s rings lay scattered on a bed of red velvet. Mostly tarnished silver and gold bands, one had a single tiny diamond in the middle. All of them were in need of a good polishing. A broken men’s Timex lay upside down, next to a pair of Ace of Spade cufflinks. Everything looked at least ten years old, if not more — except for one very shiny, very new, very expensive looking diamond ring that beamed up at me like a star.
Lightbulbs burst in my head as I took out my phone and snapped a quick picture of it. I walked over to the window and dialed a number I’d saved days ago. She picked up on the first ring.
“Valerie, hello, this is Agent Parrotti. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”
“No, not at all,” she said, the sadness still dripping from her voice. “How can I help you?”
“Well, I need to ask you a question. You said Veronica was newly engaged, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“As far as I know, there was no mention of a ring in the coroner’s report. Did she wear a ring?”
“I thought they were keeping it for evidence,” she said. “She had a beautiful ring. If I can get it back, I’d be so happy…”
“Would it be okay if I sent you a photo, Valerie? I can text it to you right now. Would you look at it and tell me if it’s the same ring?”
“Of course.”
“Hold on a second, I’ll send it now.”
Quickly, I pushed the buttons on my phone, sending the photo and pausing while she looked at it.
“Did you get it?”
“Yes, that’s it! That’s Veronica’s ring!”
I took a deep breath, nodding, my heart skipping a beat.
“Thank you, Valerie. I know this is so hard and we’re working very hard to bring whoever did this to your sister to justice.”
“Thank you, Agent Parrotti. Can I get the ring back? I know her fiancé would want it back.”
“It will take a while, but eventually, yes, you can have it back, Valerie.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Of course. And remember, if you think of anything else, please let me know.”
“I will.”
I hung up the phone and walked out to find Randolph. When I showed him the ring and told him Valerie identified it, he almost jumped in joy.
“Thank fucking God, I’m so sick of this case,” he said.
“You and me both.”
“You wanna do the honors?” he asked.
“Sure,” I replied, walking out of the house. “Keep an eye on the dog, will you?”
“I got your back,” he said, holding up a grocery bag full of meat he’d brought.
“Mr. Alton,” I said, walking up to him. “I found a diamond ring in the jewelry box in your room. Can you tell me where you got that?”
He paused, rubbing his neck and looking up at me sheepishly.
“I knew you’d find that,” he said. “But it’s not what you think.”
“What is it then?”
“Look, I hike a lot. Few days ago, it was really nice. We hiked a little further than we usually do and I came across the body, her hand sticking up out of the dirt all limp and dead. That ring was all muddy, but I could see it was worth something. It’s hard living up here. I don’t have any income, outside of what the government sends me each month. I grabbed it. Thought I’d sell it. I knew it was wrong. I’m sorry.”
“That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think, Mr. Alton?” Randolph said.
“You gotta believe me!” he yelled. “I didn’t kill nobody!”
“Mr. Alton, we’re going to need to take you down to the station for questioning,” I said. “Can you turn around and put your hands behind your back?”
I pulled out my handcuffs and waited.
He shook his head.
“What about Sunshine?” he asked. “It ain’t her fault. You can’t take her to the shelter. She needs someone to take care of her. She don’t know how to survive on her own!”
I stared down at the dog, completely convinced she could make it on her own if necessary. She looked up at me with soft eyes and my heart melted.
“I’ll make sure someone takes good care of her, Mr. Alton,” I said.
He leaned down, murmuring in her ear, before nodding and pointing at me.
“Go to the nice lady, Sunshine!”
The dog wobbled over and sat at my feet.
“Thank you, Mr. Alton,” I said, handing my cuffs to Randolph, just as a news van pulled up in his driveway.
“What the hell?” I said, glancing at Randolph. “How did they get here so fast?”
FALLEN GOD_GODS OF CHAOS MC_BOOK EIGHT Page 11