“It’s all a little overwhelming,” she said as her eyes darted around the great hall and at the men sitting at the bar. “Do you really live here?”
I barked out a laugh. “No-one actually lives here. Although you’d never realize it. There always seems to be someone around. Some guys stay in the bunk room from time to time. For others, there are a couple of rooms upstairs they use when they um... need to, but a few of us have our own space. I have a cabin out in the mountains, I call home. The others thought it best not to go there in case Dolmilo already had my home address.”
“I see,” was all she answered.
I opened the door to my room and pulled her inside before heading to the closet. “There’s not a lot I can offer you for bottoms at the moment, but I have a T-shirt you can wear. The showers that way if you want to freshen up.”
“Amber mentioned that she’s left some clothes I could try out in a spare room.”
I popped out for a few minutes to retrieve the clothes, and Hope grabbed a dress and some underwear and headed into the shower room when I returned.
I sat and wondered what the fuck was wrong with me. Hope was becoming more and more withdrawn from me, and I wasn’t helping. Walking into the kitchen and seeing her smiling at Charlie had brought a smile to my own face, but that fled as quickly as hers did when she saw me.
Hero complex. What a fucking joke! I didn’t know how to help, especially as I was a large part of the problem.
~
We joined Caleb and the others in his office feeling at least a little cleaner, even if bed was still beckoning. He leaned back in his chair and stared at Hope. He’d changed a lot in the last month or so since Amber had come back into his life. He was happier and more easy-going than I’d ever seen him. Cane said he was back to the man he was before his father died and Amber left, but I’d only known him for a short time before that. Despite everything that had happened between them — her leaving him for four years and not even telling him about Charlie — they picked up right where they left off. Within weeks they were married and enjoying their life together. I didn’t know how the fuck he could do it.
“Jameson’s headed to New York,” Caleb said, shuffling some papers around his desk. “He knows a few people who might be able to put a stop to Dolmilo’s crusade against you.”
Lucky shook his head. “We really need to learn more about that quiet fucker,” he said, and I couldn’t help but smile. Jameson was already a higher member of the club when I joined. I’d heard a tale or two of him turning up at Midnight Anchor one day wearing a suit and tie, but nobody seemed to know anything about his past. He preferred it that way. But he had a naturally commanding presence and it was easy to see how he’d been welcomed into the higher ranks of the club. Over the last year or so, we’d got a glimpse into his previous life, and it seemed it included some pretty powerful people.
I motioned for Hope to sit and took the chair between her and Rex. Lucky perched on the side unit and Cane was sitting close to Caleb on his side of the desk. Hope had started to turn pale again, so I put my hand on knee, hoping to calm her.
“Rex,” Caleb prompted.
“Okay, here’s what I was able to find out. Mickey Dolmilo was able to get his appeal heard on the basis that a law enforcement affiant provided false information in their affidavit in support of the arrest warrant. Which was impossible to prove either way as all the details regarding the case, including the warrant and affidavit, were conveniently lost.”
Hope shook her head and gritted her teeth. “So, just like that they let him out.”
Rex nodded. “I’m not saying the whole thing isn’t fishy. It damn near reeks of corruption. But it is what it is.”
“Someone at WITSEC had to have destroyed the evidence and told him where I was.”
“It seems likely,” Caleb added. “It also seems likely that Dolmilo knows exactly where you are now.”
“Then nowhere is safe.”
I squeezed Hope’s knee and reached for her hand. “We’ll figure this out, even if you have to be surrounded by a hundred brothers a day, we’ll keep you safe until Dolmilo’s stopped.”
“And how long will that take?” Hope stood and paced the small room. “How many people could get hurt because of me? What if he decides to grab someone you know to draw me out?” She gestured at Caleb. “Your wife or daughter? How can you keep everyone safe? No, I should go. I should never have put more people at risk.”
Caleb’s face darkened at the mention of Amber and Charlie, but he stood calmly and faced Hope. “You’re not going anywhere,” he said and glanced at me.
I stood and placed my hands on Hope’s shoulders to stop her from pacing. “We’ll figure it out,” I said. “Now, sit down and trust us to work things through.”
The daggers she shot me from her eyes we’re enough to say I’d hear about this later, and the smirk that appeared on Cane’s face told me much the same. But she refrained from saying anything now and took her seat before very calmly asking what exactly we planned to do.
Rex cleared his throat. “I suggest you start with your Marshal friend, Weathers. I did a little research on him and he was retired from service three months ago.”
“And how exactly will that help?” Hope asked.
Rex shrugged. “I just think it’s strange that he took early retirement at the same time Dolmilo was released. If he was Dolmilo’s mole inside WITSEC then it might be safe to contact them and go back into hiding. The only way we’ll know for sure is if we speak to him.”
I retook my chair and nodded. The thought of Hope leaving me again brought a tightness to my chest, but the important thing was to keep her alive, even if that meant she had to leave me again. Not that we were together now anyway.
“It’s a place to start,” I agreed. “You got a location on him?”
Rex nodded. “He’s out in California, San Bernardino.”
“Great,” Caleb said, leaning forward in his chair. “I’ll see if Amber can get you on a flight to Ontario. You can grab a hire car there.”
“If they let you have one,” Lucky added, smirking. “You totaled the last one you rented.”
“I’m coming with you,” Hope said before any of us had the chance to respond. She put her hand up when I tried to protest. “I’ll go crazy if you leave me here, and I have a right to find out for myself if Weathers handed me over to Dolmilo.”
Lucky chuckled and shook his head. “I think I remember an old movie with this plotline,” he said. “A woman and her ex-fiancé have to find his handler when the guy he sent to prison comes after him.”
“Yeah,” Cane said. “Sound’s great. Did everything turn out okay in the movie?”
“It’s a movie. Of course, it did. Just watch out for cockroaches in the shower and stay away from zoos and tigers. Although, if I remember correctly, it was the tigers that saved them in the end. So, if you do happen to pass a tiger pit, be sure to push Dolmilo in.”
Hope smiled. “That’s settled then. I’m going with Bono.”
Chapter Twelve
Hope
Ten hours later, after a day’s rest, in the spare room and not Bono’s, and a hearty meal to see us through the night, we were on a flight from Denver to Ontario. It felt strange to have just traveled across the country only to be headed back west, but it was what it was. I had expected more of an argument from Bono regarding my tagging along, but as soon as I mentioned that there were no safer places than airports these days and that Dolmilo would never think I would try to reach Weathers in person, not after driving all this way in the opposite direction, he relented. Caleb had wanted to send Lucky with us too, but no-one else was keen on the idea and it was soon dropped.
By the time we’d arrived and grabbed the rental car waiting for us, I was fueled mostly on coffee and nervous anticipation. I’d always liked Weathers. He’d seemed to want to make sure I was safe and comfortable in my surroundings. He had also been the only one to sympathize with my leaving Bono behind, even if he’
d never suggested I take him with me into the program. The more I thought about it, the more I doubted he would have betrayed me to Dolmilo. But the truth was, I couldn’t be certain who to trust.
The sat nav directed us to an apartment complex, and a sign out front indicated a parking lot nearby. Bono followed the signs and guided the car into the lot, which was situated underneath the complex.
Bono stopped the car, reached over, and squeezed my hand. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.
I scoffed. I was sure I didn’t, but what choice did I have. My heart raced and my palms were sweaty. A part of me wanted Weathers to be working for Dolmilo as that may mean I could go back into hiding through WITSEC, but a bigger part of me wanted it not to be him, and not just because I liked him. If it wasn’t Weathers, I’d have an excuse to spend more time with Bono.
“Do you think it’s a good idea to see him it now,” I asked. “I’m not sure how I’d react to someone knocking on my door a little after two in the morning.”
“It’s as good a time as any.”
It was far too easy to enter the building and head straight up to Weathers’ door on the fourth floor. I couldn’t help but note the lack of security. I guess years of looking over my shoulder had me questioning everything.
My heart thundered when Bono lifted his fist and pounded on the door. “Craig Weathers. I need to talk to you,” he called and knocked again. “Open the door, Sir. It’s an emergency.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there in a minute,” a grumpy voice called through the door. The sound of a bolt being drawn and a chain rattling followed. “Who the hell are you?” Weathers said as soon as he’d opened the door a crack.
“My name is Bono Travers. I need to talk to you about Mickey Dolmilo.”
From my position behind Bono, I couldn’t see Weathers’ reaction, but I heard the disdain in his voice when he scoffed. “Yeah. Well, I want nothing to do with Dolmilo or anyone who associates with him.”
A wave of relief washed over me at his words. Only someone who hated Dolmilo could speak about him with such venom.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the hell away from me,” Weathers said and slammed the door.
Bono knocked again. He was about to say something when I decided it best to speak instead.
“Craig. It’s me Hope Fisher,” I said. “I need your help.
“Hope.” The door opened a crack again. Bono stepped back. Weathers looked haggard and older than when I last saw him almost two years ago. He’d gained a fair bit of weight too and his robe didn’t quite stretch around his stomach. But his eyes lit up when he saw me, and he unfastened the chain lock and ushered us both inside.
Weathers’ apartment was nicer than I thought it would be given the outside. The hall area was painted an earthy green, which changed to a kind of mushroom brown in the living area. He switched on the main light and motioned for us to sit on the leather couch, pulling the gun hidden from behind his back as he did so. He didn’t point the thing at us, but he didn’t put it down either.
He ran his free hand over his thinning white-grey hair and pointed to the open plan kitchen. “I’m gonna need a coffee to function at this time of night,” he said. “Can I get you both one?”
“Black for me, please?” Bono said.
Craig gave him a quick salute and smiled at me. “Cream and two sugars, if I remember correctly,” he said.
“That would be great, thank you.”
Bono sat back in the chair and pulled me back with him. “My money’s on Dolmilo’s mole not being your friend here,” he said.
I huffed out a sigh of relief. “Mine too.”
Within a few minutes, Craig had given us both our coffees and taken the chair opposite us with his own in hand. The gun, thankfully, had been left in the kitchen area. He took a sip and shook his head. “I’m glad to see you alive,” he said after a moment.
“Did you have reason to think she wouldn’t be?” Bono asked.
“God help me, the second I heard Dolmilo was out, I thought you were a goner.”
Bono growled and sat forward, his face like thunder. “And yet you did nothing to warn her.”
Craig only shook his head in response and stared wistfully into his coffee cup. “I wish that I could have. Damn well got coerced into early retirement before I could though.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“No. It’s not okay. I should have done something. I should have driven down and warned you. Tried to help, even without WITSEC.”
“Then you also think someone inside has been feeding Dolmilo information.”
“Oh, there’s an insider alright. Do you know how many witnesses I’ve handled in my thirty years of service?” He raised his hand to stop us from answering. “Over two hundred. And do you know how many I’ve had to move because their location has been compromised? Six. And the other five was because they were stupid and tried to contact someone from their old life. You, Hope, are the only person I’ve had to move because Dolmilo learned where you were. I had my suspicions but couldn’t prove anything. And then when all his case files went missing and it was clear he was getting out, I started setting in motion a new ID and location for you. But my boss had other ideas. He drummed up some fake charges relating to cocaine and told me to take early retirement or face prosecution. He had me packed up and out of the office before I could gather my thoughts.”
“Then, it’s your boss who’s working for Dolmilo?” Bono said.
“I’d stake my money on it.”
My head swam. If a high-up in the US Marshals was on the payroll of a mafia hitman, someone who had managed to destroy files, get Craig out of the way, and had unlimited resources at his disposal, then what hope on Earth did I have of getting out of this unscathed.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I said, standing, not sure if I was about to throw up.
“Down the hall, second door on the right,” Craig motioned.
“Everything okay?” Bono asked.
I hesitated mid-step and placed my arm on his, wanting nothing more than to fall against his chest and cry my heart out. Instead, I patted his arm and told him everything was fine before continuing to the bathroom.
Once inside, I stared at my reflection in the mirror for countless seconds. God, I looked old. I felt old too, even though thirty-three was anything but. I felt as though I’d lived a hundred lifetimes, and half of them in the last few days. I huffed out a breath and splashed water on my face before patting it dry and opening the door.
Craig’s voice reached my ears and I hesitated. “So, you’re Bono Travers,” he said. “It took me a while to remember the name. You’re the fiancé she had back in L.A.”
“I am,” Bono said.
“It damn near broke my heart the way they separated you two kids, but by the time I got involved, they’d already staged Hope’s death and you’d enlisted.”
“You never told Hope that.”
“No. It broke her heart leaving you. The less she knew of the life you were living, the less chance there was of her contacting you. You know, there’s a light in her eyes when she looks at you that I’ve never seen before. It’s good that you kids found each other again. No matter how this turns out.”
“It’ll turn out with Dolmilo dead.”
“I hope so.”
I made a show of shutting the bathroom door loudly and heading back to the living area. Bono stood, and said it was time for us to leave.
“Thank you for your help, Craig,” I said.
He pulled me in for a hug. “Take care of yourself. I don’t have much of a position these days, but if there’s anything I can help you with, you call, you hear?”
“Will do.”
Bono shook his hand and we left the apartment. Despite, not really learning anything that could help my situation, and the overwhelming doubt that had plagued me inside, I felt strangely positive for my future.
Chapter Thirteen
Hope
We drove back to the airport and were on the first plane back to Denver. I managed to grab some sleep on the flight and only woke when Bono announced we were landing. It was a little after ten in the morning. Bono had updated his brother on his new phone before we left, and Rex along with Lucky met us at the airport.
Traffic was a nightmare and it seemed to take forever for us to arrive back at the clubhouse. The atmosphere that greeted us when we did was chaotic and full of noise.
“Why don’t you head upstairs and get some rest,” Bono said. “I’ll talk to Caleb and join you in a little while.”
I nodded in response, too tired to wonder what he meant when he said he’d join me. When I’d made it upstairs, I decided that I had no desire to sleep alone and headed into Bono’s room instead of the one I’d slept in the previous day. Or was it night? I’d lost all sense of time lately, spending my nights awake and my days asleep.
It was bright daylight outside, but thankfully, Bono had some heavy-duty blinds to block out the light, and the room plummeted into darkness as soon as I drew them. Only a faint trickle of light seeped into the room around their edges. I had a quick shower and dried myself before climbing into his bed, breathing in his musky scent, and allowing it to soothe my mind.
I stirred when a hand stroked my hair behind my ear. Half opening my eyes, I saw Bono sitting on the bed beside me. “Everything okay?” I mumbled, still half-asleep.
“Everything’s fine,” he answered. “I’ll leave you to get some rest. There’s some ice-water on the table if you need a drink.”
I reached out and grabbed his hand. “No. Stay. Lie with me for a while.” I shifted over in the bed and Bono stripped before climbing in beside me. Without thinking, I nestled my head beneath his chin.
“You feel so good in my arms,” he whispered. “Almost like a dream.”
“If this is a dream. I never want to wake up,” I said and opened my eyes. Bono was smirking down at me, and I burst out laughing. “When did we get so cheesy?”
“I don’t know. I think we were always a little on the cheesy side.”
Forever Midnight MC Collection: Books 1-3 Page 33