“I’m just beginning Ace.” I sneered, I ran from the kitchen and leapt on my bike. I skidded out of my drive and shot off. Drake and Apache raced out of the van. They ran towards the house and disappeared inside. Just like Kayleigh Mitchell, it was time for Stacy Conway to die.
◆◆◆
I jogged up the stairs to the offices. Buzz had seen me and lowered the security measures so I’d get through the door. He grabbed hold of me and held me tight in his arms.
“Okay?” Buzz asked. I nodded and held on tight.
“You watched.” I smiled at him.
“Of course, I did. Ain’t stupid. Not leavin’ one of us hanging out there alone. Jesus, Artemis, a dick shot? That bastard won’t walk for a week.”
“Good. Is everything done?”
“Cleared out an hour ago honey, nothing’s left not even a scrap of paper.” Buzz nodded.
“Meet you outside, there’s a tracker on my bike.” I mumbled. Buzz nodded and left the offices, I walked through them, checking everything.
Buzz was right, the clean-up was done and dusted. We’d planned for this, we ran drills every four months. To ensure that we could move the offices within an hour of the alert going off. They’d had three hours, our planning and organisation worked. I walked over to my desk and sat. On opening my purse, I found a sheet of paper. I pulled a pen from my purse and wrote a note.
I stood up and looked around my office and then walked into the command centre. The usually busy room was empty, silent, dead. Nothing but ghosts here. The smell of bleach overwhelmed me, it had been sprayed everywhere. Killing any fibre, fingerprint or skin flake, we may have left behind.
Artemis was closed for business. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I walked to the window and saw Drakes van pulling up. As I thought they’d a tracker on my bike or me.
A bitter smile briefly crossed my lips, and then I hit the escape panel and disappeared behind it. I walked down the dark hallway to a doorway. As I passed through, an EMP pulse hit me that’d kill any tracker on my body.
Noiselessly, I slipped into the dark office and stripped off my clothing and dressed in jeans and a sweater. I pulled on boots and walked out. Two minutes later, I was on the back of Buzz’s bike, and we headed to the forest where the cabins were.
Drake, Ace and Apache walked slowly but with purpose up the stairs. Ace was limping and in obvious pain. Drake was furious at what Hannah had done to his brother. Artemis’s Lowrider was in the garage under the building. The three men had followed Artemis here. Drake was unsure whether to refer to her as Artemis of Hannah, but one thing was certain, he wanted to wring her neck for what she’d done to Ace.
They stopped where the tracker remained stationary and without knocking entered. The offices were dark, and Ace searched and found a light switch on the wall. Ace flipped the switch and looked at the barren reception area that met them.
“Hannah’s gone.” Ace said.
“Bitch has gone.” Drake confirmed as he walked into an office and came out. Drake investigated another room with lots of sockets in the walls and stood in the doorway of a third office.
“Nothing here. This is wiped clean.” Apache said thoughtfully. “The tracker’s last signal is behind that wall.” Apache pointed. Ace and Drake began looking for a hidden button, and Apache found it first. Apache hit it, and they watched as a section of wall slid open.
“Who the fuck is she?” Drake asked, peering into the dark corridor that was revealed. “No one is this good without trainin’. What fuckin’ trainin’ has Artemis had?”
Apache disappeared down the corridor and came back minutes later. In his hand he carried the clothes Hannah had been wearing, including the skirt Ace had slipped the tracker into. It was dead.
“Something hit me as I walked down, a pulse or something. Killed my fuckin’ phone.” Apache growled.
“An EMP pulse?” Drake asked. “Who the fuck is Artemis?”
“Artemis isn’t working alone, there’re at least two men with her.” Apache agreed.
“Buzz and Akemi.” Drake nodded.
“There are more. Let’s get real, it took Artemis two days to lay out twenty gangbangers, couldn’t have done that alone. It took Artemis five more days to wipe the Black Lords groupies from the face of the planet.
We’ve spoken to a couple of the ex-recruits, they’ve described a woman who unless Artemis can grow nine inches, isn’t Artemis. Artemis is not a person, it’s a group. Artemis is just the figurehead.” Ace mused.
“You sayin’ she fronts this group?” His father said, Ace looked at him and nodded.
“Whoever Hannah Mitchell was, she is not that now. Eleven years ago, she found someone who took her and trained her. Trained that bitch hard. Every day Hannah was trainin’. Specialist armed force trainin’, I’m thinking seals or ranger. Hannah gotta have done that shit for at least two years.”
“Why two years?” Drake asked.
“’Cause just over eight years ago Artemis exploded on the scene. Kayleigh disappeared eleven years ago, a difference of three years. Hannah’s been doin’ this shit for eight years. Stands to reason she has others with her. Look at what Ramirez found, one day Hannah’s on a bounty in Florida next in Texas, she can’t move that quick. No one can. There’s more than one Artemis.”
“See I’m not the only one who’s confused what to call her.” Drake muttered as Artemis switched to Hannah and then back to Artemis. Ace winced, and Apache looked sheepish.
“What are you saying Hannah is son?” Apache asked.
“Hannah’s a special mercenary, and she’s not workin’ alone. Hannah told me shit that she could only have happened if she was a merc. I’ve info of a mercenary group that did lots of shit abroad. Brought down Taliban strongholds, no survivors. Those who’d tortured our men had a painful death. Group were the best of the best. Rescued shit loads of our armed forces.” Drake replied, drawing the same conclusions.
“Well-funded. Fuckin’ well-funded, Artemis doesn’t bring in bounties for under twenty k. Only seven times Ramirez found the group stepped out of that zone and each case looked personal. Those involved a kid. Each time she brought the kid back alive. Seven times the perp got dead. Ramirez says nothin’ can be proved, but they think Artemis was behind the deaths. The incredibly fucked up painful deaths of the perpetrator.” Drake concluded.
“Kayleigh.” Ace whispered. “Get Ramirez to dig. Lay money those kids were fucked up.”
“Four were, Ramirez says, the horror will keep the kids in therapy for years. But after each perp died, the kids received a visit from Aunt Alice. Same name, same description and after that the kids slept. The kids didn’t sleep beforehand, but after Aunt Alice visited, they slept, and they slept well.”
“Get Hawthorne to trace the other three, and talk to them, bettin’ they had an Aunt Alice too. Ramirez would overstep his boundaries tracking those other kids.” Apache said. Ace nodded.
“Hannah thinks I’m involved. Says she’s aware Fish, Texas and Dad weren’t. Hannah knew you weren’t, which is why Black Lords paid. I couldn’t get the thread of it, but I think Hannah thought she owed you somehow. This was her paying back the debt. But Hannah thinks I was involved, thinks I gave the fuckin’ order.” Ace turned to Drake.
“Did we find those CD’s that Misty hid?” Drake asked, scratching his chin.
“No.”
“Look under the floorboards.” Drake muttered, remembering what Artemis had said to him. Drake tossed it over in his head.
“Brothers ripped up the living room and bedrooms, there was nothing.”
“Just those four areas? Fuckin’ rip it all up. Expose the beams. Want that shithole gutted. Misty was a stupid cunt, but she wouldn’t leave that shit lying around to be found fuckin’ easy.” Drake ordered. Apache nodded.
“Need to get back. Phoe’s home and I don’t wanna leave her too long.” Ace looked at his brother. They left the empty offices.
◆◆◆
Drake watche
d as Phoe hauled her body out of the chair and winced. He hurried to her side and supported Phoe as she gained her feet. Phoe looked up at him and then dropped her eyes as she’d been doing ever since she’d come out of the coma.
Everything was broken between them, he’d broken it, and Drake couldn’t be more aware of it.
Phoe moved towards the couch where she wanted to rest. Drake kept an arm around her waist as Phoe gingerly lowered herself and then curled up into a ball. He sat in front of her.
“We need to talk.” Drake said, reaching out to stroke her hair. Phoe flinched back, and his hand froze and then dropped to his lap.
“Drake, you made our status very clear, there’s nothing to talk about. I come second to your club. The brothers and club come before your child and me. I understand exactly where I stand.” Phoe told him bitterly. There was anger in her words and Drake thought she was using anger to cover her pain. Drake bit back the angry words that sprang to his lips and took a deep breath.
“Phoe, you don’t come second baby. Rage is about brothers Phoe, old ladies don’t get a say, that’s what I was tryin’ to explain.” Phoe’s eyes gazed at the wall.
“I understood that clearly.” Phoe said shortly.
“No, you didn’t. Not at all. You’re my life, my heart and my soul. My everythin’.”
“Yes, after the club and your brothers. Just once I wanted to come first with a man. Be his everything.” Phoe whispered pain in her voice. Drake had destroyed her that night. Everything good between them had been laid to waste. And Phoe didn’t trust him, and she certainly didn’t trust him with her heart anymore. Then she straightened her shoulders and Drake saw Phoe was readying for a fight. There was his wife. Then again, gazing at Phoe’s face. She might be readying for a blow.
“I’ll step down, black out the patch.” Drake said firmly. Slowly Phoe absorbed his words.
“What?” Phoe whispered so faintly he thought she’d mouthed the word.
“I’ll step down and black out my patch. The club doesn’t come before you. I’m Rage, it’s me, but I can’t lose you or my kid. Won’t be the same man, if that’s what I gotta do but I’ll do it. For you and me, I’ll do it, but I’ll change, you ask that of me.” Phoe laughed, and it was Drake’s turn to pause. The laugh was so full of bitterness, so unlike his beautiful wife.
“I’ve never asked that of you. Never! All I wanted from you Drake was to be loved and cherished. The life I chose to live, valued and understood. Instead, you threw at me that what I did, what I loved, meant shit to you, Drake. You didn’t care that getting Rage answers you fucked over other people, harmed other people. All that mattered was Rage.” Drake rocked back, Phoe rarely swore. There was a fire in Phoe’s eyes, and Drake realised Phoe was coming at him swinging.
“Not all that matters. You and the kid's matter, the baby matters.”
“Oh, we matter Drake, just not enough to you. You quit Rage, it’ll be just another reason for you to push us apart. I can’t live being second best to Rage and your brothers, I can’t live not even being second best. I’m way down in your list of priorities.” Phoe said with such heartbroken sadness Drake’s heart clenched. The fire in her eyes died, and Drake wanted it back.
“Listen carefully, Phoe, you’re not second best to Rage or my brothers, you’ll always come first. I’ll never let you walk or walk away from you woman. You’re mine, always will be. Yeah, I handled the situation wrong. Was so focused on Ace, I didn’t think of the implications for you and the Trusts. That doesn’t mean you come after Rage.
I’ll walk baby, just say the word. Can live without the club and my brothers, can’t live without you or our kids. Can’t imagine a future without you or kids. Swear to you, if any shit comes up again, I won’t drag the Trusts into it.
The club’s male-focused. Phoe, you got no voice in Rage, or what we do, Hellfire is your club and voice. All you gotta understand is you’ll be safe and protected. You let us do what we gotta, but I failed ya. Baby, you got shot ‘cause I wasn’t at your back, and I fucked up.
Fucked up with you, fucked up with kids and fucked up with Trusts. Won’t fuck up again Phoe, please forgive me, please don’t stop loving me.” Phoe gazed into Drake’s eyes and saw he meant what he said.
Phoe wasn’t sure how to feel. She was in so much pain from his betrayal, and yet she could see he suffered too. Should Phoe push past what hurt and anguish Drake had caused her and forgive him? Phoe had forgiven him once before, was that to be the pattern of their relationship? Phoe looked into his eyes and swallowed. Drake would quit the club for her, but Drake wouldn’t be the same man she fell in love with.
Phoe was furious with him as well. Drake had acted as if she’d caused this. He had, by being the stubborn pig-headed man Drake always was. Drake quit Rage? Ridiculous. Stupid man. Drake was Rage, but Drake had to recognise the importance of her job and calling. Phoe wanted to kick him in his shins but thought that may not be a good idea. Phoe settled for giving him the stink eye.
“Next time explain, it’s okay being hard and protective but look what happened this time when you did. I don’t want you to stand down and quit. Just want to be loved. But I won’t forgive a third time Drake, twice now you’ve let me down, I won’t be the fool constantly forgiving someone.”
“Fuck baby, you’ve no idea how much you’re loved. Swear it won’t happen again.” Drake said, taking her in his arms and kissing her. Phoe broke the kiss off and looked into his eyes. Drake let everything he felt show in them, and she settled into his arms. Drake loved her, he just fucked up.
◆◆◆
I sat on my deck and stared at the sun, beginning to rise above the mountains. It was the early hours of the morning and our third morning here. We were in the middle of nowhere, and I could hear birds and animals snuffling in the treeline. Falcon and Nova adored the cabin and had settled in quicker than I could blink.
The cabins were our first fall-back. The funny thing was, they were an hour outside RC, up in the Black Hills. Hide in the open was what we’d been taught, Rage expected us to run for a different state. So we remained here. Sioux Falls was burned for us now.
If tracked, we’d four other places we could run too. As promised to Ace, Stacy Conway and her children ceased to exist. I’d told the kids since the age of seven, that the job I did was dangerous and that one day we may just have to move.
This hadn’t affected their childhood, Akemi and I hadn’t let it. Falcon and Nova had a full childhood and understood that mommy did what she had to. The last few days they’d run through the trees surrounding us. Angel had taken them swimming in a small lake. Nigel and Buzz had set up on arrival. Simone and Butch chased a bounty.
Angel had taken himself off to a cabin within eyesight of our own and was crashing there. He’d claimed it as his own. Kristoff was in a third cabin again within eyesight of mine. The two guys were resting although Angel had a bounty to hunt tomorrow. The entire area had been wired, and early warning devices set up. We’d installed cameras ages ago, and they were online and set to record at the first sign of movement.
So, for now, I relaxed, content in the early morning sun and sat with my feet up on the wooden rails that surrounded the front porch. Communication’s had been redirected from my old phone, which was now disconnected and sent to a new phone. Buzz had hidden the re-directions under a multitude of layers.
I thought back to last night’s meeting where we’d agreed Artemis should continue, but I’d stay out of RC for now. No chance of running into Rage or Hawthorne’s. We’d picked a go-between to take our bounties in. Buzz had decided it’d be him. He'd be racking up a lot of air miles soon. Buzz was unknown and well trained. No one could tail him. He delighted in getting out of office duties as he called them for a few months.
Rage hadn’t stopped looking, and neither had Hawthorne’s. Nigel was threatening to hack Hawthorne’s systems and crash them. I refused to let him do that for now. However, the idea hovered around my mind. Instead, Nigel had ha
cked their system and froze them for forty-eight hours with a warning attached. Nigel was satisfied with that!
Leila Gibson hadn’t been able to crack the hack, and they’d received our warning loud and clear. Of course, looking at my symbol must’ve annoyed the hell out of Dylan Hawthorne. Sipping my coffee, I looked up as footsteps thudded on the porch and Nova landed in my lap. I laughed lightly and snuggled her up in my arms.
“My precious girl.” I whispered in her hair. Nova tightened her arms around me and snuggled deeper. Together we sat there and watched the sun come up over the trees and light up the mountain.
◆◆◆
Drake looked at Ace and Texas as they sat in their chairs. Fish kicked the door shut as he entered after Apache. Everyone looked pissed.
“Hannah did as she said. She’s completely disappeared, and there’s no trace of Stacy Conway, Nova or Falcon Conway anywhere.” Fish stated.
“Not surprised.” Apache grunted. “Hannah’s good.”
“The house has gone up for sale through a third party that leads nowhere, and the bike and car has been sold for cash. The buyer showed up and disappeared before Hawthorne got a lock.”
“Fuck me.” Ace muttered.
“The furniture’s gone. The house is a shell. This woman’s a ghost. Nova and Falcon are simply listed as moving state, Ohio, but no trace of them there. No trace of them registering in a school. They’re gone. Hannah’s cell is dead, and we can’t trace where her calls are being re-routed.”
“Again, not surprised.” Apache muttered. When Fish mentioned Falcon and Nova, Apache’s gaze flicked to Ace and then Drake. Drake saw the burning question in Apache’s eyes, but he’d no answer for his brother.
“We found the discs.” Drake dropped the bombshell. “Hidden in the closet where Misty had tiled the floor. Phoe asked who the fuck tiles a closet, and it got me thinkin’. We have them. I’ve listened. What Hannah said was true. You’re named Ace.” Ace sat up and stared at Drake in shock.
The Hunters Rage Page 9