by Paula Cox
“Is your father a Bull?”
The voice was quiet for a moment. “Yes.”
“Why should I believe anything you have to say? Why should I believe you over the Hellhounds?”
“Have they offered proof of what they say? I’m prepared to offer proof of what I say.”
“No. But they can’t prove they didn’t do something, now can they?”
“Maybe not, but I can prove they did.”
I paused as I thought it over. It was a lot to take in. Just when I thought I was coming to terms with Cain and the club, this pops up. I wanted to just end the call and pretend none of this had happened. I wanted to go back to feeling comfortable and protected by the men Cain called brothers. But I couldn’t. Not now.
“Can you send me the information?”
“Send it how?” the voice asked.
“Email. Dropbox. Something electronic.”
“These are papers, sweetheart, kept in a folder.”
“Every heard of a scanner?”
The voice huffed out a sigh. “Okay, fine. But it will take a little time. There are a lot of papers.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I gave her my email address and had her repeat it back to me. “Send them there when you are done. I will look them over and call you back.”
“Expect it tomorrow.”
The promise of information that the Hellhounds had killed my parents had a chilling effect on me. Despite my efforts to hide it, I knew I was acting differently around everyone. They noticed, as Cherie and Eva both asked if I were okay, but, once again, being pregnant saved me from having to explain.
“Are you ready to go?” Cain asked me later that afternoon.
“Yeah,” I mumbled and rose. I kissed him, wanting to feel that spark, but it was missing.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah…just tired. Being pregnant sucks,” I murmured.
“We’ll get you home. I’ll order takeout.”
“Thanks,” I said as I turned away. I just wanted to get home and get the day over with, all my thoughts on what tomorrow would bring.
***
I awoke early the next morning, before Cain, and checked my email. Nothing. I was still debating on what to do when he stirred. I curled up in his arms and lays still, listening to him breathe as he swam up out of the darkness of sleep.
“Good morning,” he mumbled as his embrace tightened down. “Feeling better?”
“Some.” I had claimed last night that I was feeling out of sorts, which was true as far as it went. I just didn’t explain my turmoil was emotional more than physical.
“Can I get you anything?”
I wanted to tell him that he could get me away from the Hellhounds, that he could come back to New Orleans with me, but I didn’t. “No. I’ll be better later.”
“Nothing serious, I hope?” he asked.
“I hope so, too.”
We pottered around his apartment and I had to resist the temptation to check my phone every thirty seconds. It would chime when an email arrived, so I forced myself to wait.
We were on the way to the clubhouse when I heard my phone chime in my purse. I wanted to snatch it up and look, but with Cain sitting so near, I didn’t dare, so I ignored it.
As Cain and the rest of the Hounds finalized their assault plans on the Bulls, I had a few minutes alone. I checked my messages and there was one email. I opened it and there was only a link to an online file storage site. I followed the link and began to browse through the pages and pages of documents.
The evidence was circumstantial, but damning. There were pictures of men in Hounds colors loading crates into a van, more pictures of them unloading crates from a different van, and pages and pages of handwritten notes. But most damning of all, was a ten page narrative, neatly typed and signed by my father and another man, which described the Hounds illegal activities. All in all, it looked like a packet of information that I imagined a cop would use when building a case to present to the District Attorney.
There was no proof that the Hounds had actually killed my family, but it was clear that my dad was closing the noose around their neck. What I didn’t know was who Thomas H. Kendrell, the other signature on the paper beside my father’s, was. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t figure out how to ask a Hound without tipping my hand that I had something I didn’t want them to see.
I picked up my phone and dial the number from the paper.
“Hello, Alex. Did you get my email?”
“I did. Who is Thomas H. Kendrell?”
“That’s the man that was going to sell out the Hounds.”
“I thought you said your father was selling out the Hounds.”
“No. I said my father was a Hellhound. Kendrell was the man that the Hounds worked through to import the guns.”
“Where did you get this information?”
“My father got it from Kendrell.”
“How?”
“By doing what he was told. My dad was just a junior member of the club at the time. He had been a member for only a year or so when the club found out they were under investigation. He and two other members of the club killed Kendrell, and your father, to stop the investigation.”
“I asked Thad about my parents. He said the Hounds didn’t do it. Nothing in this packet shows that they did either.”
“Come on, Alex! Open your eyes! Your dad was a whisper away from shutting them down! Do you think that the Hounds wouldn’t kill to protect their turf?”
I knew they would. They were planning how to do that very thing in the other room right now. “No, I know they would. Why are you telling me this? There has to be more than just revenge. Why not go to the cops?”
“Because, Alex, despite what the Hellhounds may have told you, the Bulls don’t rat. But when we found out that you were mixed up with your parents’ killers, I thought you deserved to know the truth. And if it hurts the Hounds, so much the better.”
“So what do you want from me?”
“Nothing. I want you to leave. I want you to hurt Cain by leaving and, by extension, hurt the club when he finds out why you left.”
“What if Cain leaves with me?”
“Even better. Without Cain, the Hounds won’t have such a lock on the gun business.”
“And you want to take that over.”
“We are going take that over. We have a new supplier that supplies better arms at lower prices.”
I almost smarted off that the Hounds were onto them, but held my tongue. I trusted Cain to not hurt me, but I wasn’t ready to give the rest of the Hounds a pass on that if I were to truly fuck them.
“So you told me all of this so I would leave, and maybe take Cain with me?”
“Yes. It makes our job that much easier. Now, if you wanted to tell me what the Hounds are up to, I can make it worth your time.”
“How?”
“We can help you with your…condition. You need money, right? Would, say, twenty-five thousand dollars be useful right now?”
“You would give me twenty-five grand to tell you what I know about the Hounds?”
“If the information were worth it. This is a high-stakes game, worth a lot of money. It is worth the twenty-five if you can help us cut the Hounds out.”
“If you have this all sewn up, why do you need me?”
“Never underestimate your enemy, Alex. The Hounds aren’t going to go quietly. We know they are working against us. Our customer has delayed the pickup of his next shipment. We don’t know why, but we suspect it is the Hounds. If you could tell us what they are planning, we can be ready for it.”
“What if I don’t want to get involved?”
“Then Godspeed to you.”
“I’ll think about it,” I finally said.
“That’s fine. But don’t take too long. This is a limited-time offer.”
“I understand,” I said before I punched the button to kill the call.
Chapter 30
I sp
ent the rest of the afternoon sitting around the clubhouse, talking with whoever happened to be around at the time. I was torn. My opinion of the men and women of the Hellhounds hadn’t really changed. Only a few were even around when my parents were killed, and none of them were this Kendrell. But by the same token, they were still members of a club that had probably killed my family. I couldn’t look past that.
When Cain reappeared, he was jubilant, pulling me to my feet and spinning me around before kissing me lustily. “It’s set! It goes down Friday, and all the other clubs are on board. They are going to back us up and provide us with eyes and ears. The Bulls are totally fucked, and they don’t even know it yet!”
“Why are they helping you?”
“The Triple-Ds and Cuernos del Diablos see it as elimination of a competitor, so they are all in on that. They agreed to let any of the Bulls’ women walk without interference. The Shades and the Bulls have been butting heads over territory for the last couple of years, and the Creepers want in because they don’t want to be seen as weak by sitting this one out.”
“That’s all the clubs?”
“All the players. There are a bunch of in-law clubs that mind their own business, and we mind ours. They don’t really have a dog in this hunt.”
I looked at him. Day after tomorrow and this will all be over, but it didn’t resolve the issues with my parents. “Take me home, please.”
“You don’t want to stay? The old ladies and the girls are going to be here a little later. There is going to be some drinking and some fighting, and probably some fucking…and maybe all three at the same time.” He said with a big grin.
I smiled slightly as I looked at my shoes. “No. You can come back later if you want.”
His face became serious. “Are you okay?”
His tone made me look up and I could see the concern in his eyes. “I’m fine. I just want to be alone with you.” I could see he was torn. “It will be okay if you want to come back.”
“Thad! I’m taking Alex home. She isn’t feeling well,” he said.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Thad said, looking at me as he walked over. “You’re going to miss all the fun.”
“I’m sorry. I told Cain he could come back.”
Thad shook his head. “No. His place is with you. If you get to feeling better, come on back. Otherwise, don’t worry about it.” He looked at Cain. “Take care of her. If she needs anything, call.”
“I will. Come on. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. Just take me home, okay?”
***
It was still early, barely four o’clock when we arrived at Cain’s apartment. I hadn’t been able to keep my hands off of him in the truck, holding his hand as we rode along in silence. He tried to draw me out, but I just shook my head as I stared out of the side window at the passing buildings.
“Why don’t you go back to the party for a while?” I asked. I had decided that I was leaving. I wasn’t going to turn on the Hellhounds, but I couldn’t stay. If he left, I would be gone when he got back.
“Nope. Can’t do it,” he said with a grin and squeeze of my hand. “I have to be around to take care of my girls.”
I smiled. He used that phrase a lot. “How do you know it’s a girl?”
“You told me, remember? Back when you were bitching at me about getting killed or going to jail, and leaving ‘her’ alone.”
“That was just a choice of words. I don’t know if it’s a girl.”
“It’s a girl. Trust me. I would like to have a little girl and I always get what I want. I finally got you didn’t I?”
I smiled slightly but ignored the question. “What if it’s a boy?”
“That will be good, too. We’ll just have to try again.” His eyes widened in exaggerated surprise. “Maybe it’s one of each! That would be awesome!”
I snorted. “I’ll remind you that you said that. Cain?”
“What?”
“Come away with me.”
“I will,” he said with a smile.
“You will?” I could hear my surprise in my own voice.
“I talked to Thad. He said he was okay with the idea of me moving to New Orleans. I spend so much time on the road to there anyway. We just need to work out the details.”
“You won’t leave the Hellhounds?”
“I won’t have to! Thad’s a good guy. When I told him about your family being in New Orleans, and how you wouldn’t leave them, he said we could try to work something out.”
I could feel my excitement die. “Yes. That’s good.”
“You don’t sound excited.”
“No. It’s good. I worried that if you left the club, you would always hold that against me.”
He smiled, a broad, full tooth, grin that gave away his feelings. “No. But I can’t say I was looking forward to leaving. But now I don’t have to. As soon as the Bulls thing is settled, let’s talk about how to make this work, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay,” I mumbled.
Moments later Cain stopped his truck in front of his apartment. “We’re okay?”
“Yeah. Take me to bed and hold me? I feel so… afraid.”
“Why? Is it the Bulls thing?”
“Yes.”
He leaned over and kissed me softly. “Don’t worry, okay? With all the other clubs watching our backs, we couldn’t be safer. Really.”
We walked up the steps to his second story apartment, hand in hand. I didn’t want to go, but with Cain staying in the Hounds I knew I had to make a clean break. I would leave tomorrow, the day before the confrontation with the Bulls. As we stepped into the apartment I began to cry, and I wasn’t even sure why.
“Hey! What’s this?” Cain asked as he pulled me to him.
“I don’t know. Hormones, I guess.” I sniffed. “It’s going to get worse for you before it gets better, I’m afraid.”
“Come here,” he said pulling me along to the bedroom. He sat down on the side of the bed and kicked his boots off before laying back, patting the bed beside him. “Anytime you need a shoulder to cry on, mine’s always available.”
I looked at him lying there, offering me comfort and support and I made a sound, half sob and half laugh. “I’ll get your colors all wet.”
“They’ll dry.”
I started kicking off my shoes, but didn’t stop there. I completely disrobed before crawling onto the bed. When I had started shucking my clothes, he had sat up and did the same before flopping back onto the bed.
As I moved in close, he caught me and gently caressed my growing stomach before kissing it softly. He looked up at me and smiled, his face softening as he looked into my eyes. “I’ll do anything to take care of my girls.”
He lay down and pulled me into his embrace. I propped on him and snuggled in close, enjoying the feel and the warmth of his skin against my own.
We lay quietly for a long time as I drifted in a semi-awake state, time losing all meaning. He made no move to seduce me, but as we cuddled, I began to feel a spreading warmth. I wanted him, to feel his touch one last time before I left forever. I wanted to be with him, that much I was sure of, but I couldn’t be part of the club that had probably killed my parents, no matter how much I might have cared for him.
I reached up and my lips gently touched his. He kissed me back, letting me set the pace. “It has been a rocky road for us, hasn’t it?” I whispered.
“Yes. But it has been worth it. You’re like no other woman I have ever met.”
“The mother of your child?” I asked as I kissed him again.
“Yes. But there’s more. I would do anything for you, Alex. Anything.”
“Would you leave the Hounds if I asked you to?” I asked, unable to let it go.
“Yes. But now I don’t have to. Do I?”
I looked into his eyes and I could see the pleading there. “No,” I murmured as I kissed him, more forcibly this time.
He returned my kiss in kind and I moved up higher onto his body so
I could reach his lips better. He wrapped me up and rolled me over to my back, but supported himself on elbow and knee. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him down, his chest pressing into my own, but he still supported his torso so he wasn’t pressing on the baby.
When I relaxed my embrace he pulled back and looked into my eyes, and I smiled. I saw the same look in Cain’s eyes that I saw in my grandparents, but more.