by KJ Dahlen
“We stop her by learning all we can about her,” Gunner replied. “So we know how she thinks. We find out all her secrets then we act on them. We give her no place to hide and then we go after her. That’s how we earn a living as bounty hunters and we’re the best in the whole state. We always find who we’re after and we bring them to justice.” He turned to Rigger. “I want all the police records about the time she knew the real Calista Jones. I want the report on the fire that killed her parents and her reports from the placements she was in, in the foster system, after they died. I want every report you can find on Karen Hall and Calista Jones.”
“You got it boss.” Rigger nodded and started tapping on his keyboard again.
Janice looked over at Gunner and her eyes glimmered with rage. “How can I help you track this bitch down?”
Chapter Eleven
“We need you to set up legal papers that gives us rights to keep the girls here with us until we can figure this mess out.” Skeeter sighed in frustration. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to turn over either of them to anyone else.”
“I can do that.” Janice smiled.
“Good.” Skeeter looked over at Gunner. “I still have to call Dallas and fill him in.”
Gunner nodded. “Well, get on it then son, we got a woman to track down and she might be closer than we think already.”
Skeeter nodded and grabbed his phone to call his boss. At first, all Dallas did was listen then he grew quiet. He told him that the MC had their own men there looking for her and Dallas growled, “Just keep them out of our way. And she’d better hope the Rangers find her first.”
“And that’s the problem.” Skeeter nodded. “But with her psycho break, she’ll spend time in a wacko unit before she ever sees the inside of a prison.” He sighed and snarled, “After everything she’s done, that doesn’t set right with me. I want her to pay. There’s a possibility she shot Trace and possibly me at the border all those years ago and told the cartel where Mercy and her mom were living. And we still haven’t found the real Calista yet.”
“The real Calista?” Dallas asked.
“Yeah, we figure this bitch’s real name is Karen Hill. She never was Calista Jones. She either stashed her somewhere or she killed her a long time ago. We haven’t found her yet,” Skeeter told him.
“What the hell?” Dallas growled. “Are you sure?”
“We’re still putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but this Karen person is a suspect in a fire that killed her parents when she was nine or ten, then five years later, we think she had something to do with the real Calista’s dad’s death. We think she then got obsessed with Trace a few years later but Trace didn’t want anything to do with her. The fact he went for her best friend and not her, we think was only the beginning of this whole mess.”
“What can I do?” Dallas offered.
“The Savaged Souls are checking out a second house she owns on Hubbard Street. She listed this house in Zoey’s name ten years ago. She might have been setting up another alias for years to come. Oh, did you know she had an insurance policy out on Trace? A rather large insurance policy? Not only that but she’s been collecting his Social Security for Zoey for the last, almost eighteen years. But she is doing all this under the name Calista Jones.”
“What the fuck?” Dallas growled.
“Tell me about it.” Skeeter snorted. “We got Rigger looking for any residences under her real name of Karen Hill. She slips into different people’s lives like most people slip on a pair of underwear.”
“You want the Rangers to pick up the girls?”
“Hell no,” Skeeter grumbled. “Janice is working on getting us custody of the girls until this mess is over. I won’t lose them, not now. She followed us this morning and damn near crashed our truck. She was coming head on when Gunner hit her from behind. We can protect the girls and they are my responsibility.”
“The blood tests came in,” Dallas told them. “Trace is the father to both of the girls.”
“Yeah, well we already knew that didn’t we?” Skeeter replied.
“You want me to contact his parents and tell them about the girls?”
“Not yet,” Skeeter warned him. “We have to neutralize Karen first. I’m not going to put them in danger and the girls are okay right here.”
“Well then, all I can do is wish you luck,” Dallas said. “You work your end and I’ll work mine. Between the two of us, we should be able to find this crazy bitch.”
“She ran me off the road today, Dallas. She didn’t even fucking care that the girls were in that truck either. She had turned around and was coming back for another try when Gunner slammed into her vehicle. When they got to her vehicle, it was empty but bloody. I have no idea how bad she’s hurt but knowing her, she doesn’t even realize it yet. She was looking to kill someone and she didn’t care who. She’s dangerous.”
“Are the girls all right?” his boss asked.
“Yeah, they're fine but they are scared.” Skeeter hesitated then added, “We might have discovered part of what’s going on here. Mercy told us something that just might explain some things.”
“Oh, and what was that?” Dallas was interested.
“She said her mom told her that Trace had said when she was pregnant that he couldn’t bring her over the border when they left. It wouldn’t be safe for her or the baby. He told her he had a stalker that might come after them if she showed up with him. She also told us that an American woman found them in Mexico and tried to hurt them there.”
“And you think it was Calista or rather this Karen?” Dallas asked.
“Yeah, I know it was,” Skeeter growled.
“She really was stalking him then wasn’t she?” Dallas whispered.
“You might need to be very careful until we find her,” Skeeter warned. “She knows you have the power to detain her and she can’t finish what she’s doing behind bars.”
“What can I do to help run her down?”
“Search the city for where she might go,” Skeeter told him. “We have to expose her treachery and give her no safe place to go to. So far, we’ve found two houses, there might be more out there. We’re looking for at least one more house under the name of Karen Hill. If we can drive her into the open by not leaving her a place to hide, we’ll be that much closer to bringing her down.”
“I hear ya, buddy. I hear ya,” Dallas replied. “I’ll work on this end, you work your end and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle. Watch your back. You’ve upset her applecart now, and she might not stop until she puts a cap in your back. She has some dark secrets and she knows they are going to be exposed. She’ll try and stop that by doing just about anything.”
“I know,” Skeeter agreed. “I have a feeling she’ll come for us here and that’s exactly what we want her to do.”
“Why would she do something like this?”
Skeeter exhaled and told him, “Janice thinks the odd behavior is to give herself an out when the cops start coming around. She has a built in alibi. She’s setting up her next identity. She might be working on a new one under Zoey’s name.”
“Which means?” Dallas asked.
“Which means she can’t allow Zoey to be free or possibly even alive,” Skeeter explained. “We’re still trying to find Zoey’s mom.”
“Fucking hell,” Dallas swore. “Let me check something out, I’m remembering something that happened before Trace died. I’ll check things out on my end, you just keep yourself and those girls alive.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Skeeter ended the call and walked over to the girls. He looked at Zoey and said, “You told us before that you were heading out to find your mom, do you have any idea where she might be?”
Zoey looked over at him and nodded slowly. “Maybe, but I don’t know yet.”
Skeeter pulled a chair around and sat in front of her.
Gunner came over to listen to her story.
Zoey tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and she
looked nervous.
Mercy reached over and took her hand.
Zoey looked over at the other girl.” It’s so good to have someone who...” She shook her head. Then she turned toward Skeeter. “Things haven’t been good at home for a long time now. Calista, or Karen or whoever the hell she is, is losing it big time. I mean she’s always been a little off but the last few months, she’s barely there anymore.
“I began looking around the house for some kind of clue as to what she was up to, and I found something I couldn’t explain.”
“What did you find?” Gunner frowned as he moved a little closer.
Zoey got up and went over to the bag she packed before they left. She brought out a small notebook.
Handing the book over to Skeeter he stared at her for a moment then opened the book and began to look at the pages. It was a receipt book and several of the receipts were written out to the same place. Juniper House in Tyler, Texas. “What is this place?” he asked her.
Zoey shrugged her shoulders. “That’s just it? I don’t know what this place is but those receipts go back most of my life.”
“Rigger,” Gunner called out. “I need some info on a Juniper House over in Tyler.”
“You got it boss,” Rigger called out from his table. He typed on his keys and after a few minutes the other man whistled under his breath. He looked up and found everyone looking at him. “It’s a private home, used to give people that shouldn’t be left on their own alone,” he informed them. “They have several suites available for people with problems so their families know they are safe. They can’t get out of there as there are guards posted for the safety of the patients.” Rigger snorted shaking his head. “It's nothing more than a private mental ward. This way, the world never knows they are there.”
“Do you think my mom is there?” Zoey asked. “Has been there this whole time?”
“We don’t know yet sweetheart,” Skeeter assured her. “But we sure will find out. She wouldn’t be paying all these years for an empty room. Someone is staying there.”
“Let me send a team up there,” Gunner volunteered. “Better yet, get Dallas to send a team over there with a warrant. They can at least get information as who is there and why, not to mention how long they’ve been there.”
Janice came up behind Skeeter and placed her hands on his shoulder. “That might not work boys.” She shook her head. “The house doesn’t have to answer anyone's questions as it’s a private home. They would contact Karen before they even opened the door.”
“What can we do then?” Gunner growled. “We need to know for sure if there is a woman under their care and who that woman is.”
“We could really use a federal warrant but I’m not sure my father would help us get one.” She shook her head. “He left here really pissed.”
“Don’t you know another federal judge?” Gunner wanted to know.
“Yeah, I know other federal judges and here comes the sticky point, to get a warrant it could be limited and not get you what you want in the long run,” she explained. “Also, you’re bringing this place under federal scrutiny and that might not be something the house would want. They might have been flying under the radar all these years and if they realize it's coming apart, they might skip out, leaving no trace behind.”
“What does all that mean?” Mercy finally asked.
Zoey turned her head and stared at the other girl. “It means that if they bring this place to the interest of the government they might go in there and kill everyone they’ve been holding and then slip into the shadows only to turn up somewhere else and do the same thing all over again.” She hung her head. “And if my mom is there, she’ll be the first to die.”
Skeeter stared at her face for a moment, he could read the heartbreak on her face. She knew the whole truth and she realized she may never get to meet her real mother.
“What the hell are you all talking about?” A man growled from the main doorway.
They all turned and saw a long lost brother standing there. His name was Beau Jackson and he’d left the Souls five years ago. He had lost his way and just needed some time on his own. He’d gone and until now, he hadn’t been back.
Beau was a big man, standing six foot six and he weighed close to three hundred pounds.
Gunner looked over at him and shook his head.
Whatever Beau had been doing must have healed his soul. He looked better now than he ever did. His dark hair might have a little more silver in it but his eyes were clear and he was back in shape.
“Well Damn, Hello Beau,” Gunner stated.
“Gunner, how the hell you been brother?” He reached out and shook Gunner’s hand. Then he looked around the room. “What the sweet hell is going on here anyway?”
“Oh, not much, Skeeter here has a madwoman after him looking to spill his blood and she’s been holding these two girls hostage most of their lives, she might even have Zoey’s mom being held against her will for most of her life.” He paused then added, “Oh yeah, and she’s also fooling the world while pretending to be two separate people and she’s looking to add a third identity.”
“Don’t forget, she’s bat shit crazy and dangerous as she’s trying her damndest to kill me and the girls.” Skeeter added.
“Well, shit.” Beau shook his head. “Sounds like old times.” He looked over at Gunner and asked, “What can I do to help?”
Chapter Twelve
“We really need to find Calista Jones, the real Calista Jones,” Gunner stated. “We think she’s in a private home. It’s called Juniper House. The occupants of this house can’t get out of there as there are guards posted for the safety of the patients. But it’s nothing more than a private mental hospital of sorts. And the world never knows they are there. See we had discovered that there’s a woman out there that has been impersonating Calista for years now. Her real name is Karen Hall and she’s a killer, literally. She took Calista’s place. Her name and her identity. She’s whacked. She even took some shots at Skeeter today, she missed, and now she’s wounded. Then on his way here earlier, she tried to play bumper cars with him and the girls were in the car. She came too damn close to achieving her goal.”
Beau looked over at the girls and shook his head. “At least the girls are safe for the moment. But I might be able to help you with this Juniper House thing.”
“Oh, yeah?” Gunner crossed his arms over his chest. “How is that?”
“You all know when I left here five years ago I was in a bad headspace. That last mission we were on went so bad and it broke me. Watching that dad wipe out his entire family for no reason just broke my heart. I had to go somewhere and get my head right again. It took me a long time, but along the way, I met some interesting brothers. They had nowhere to go either, so we sort of hooked up along the way.” He sighed. “We stopped in Tyler for a while about a year back. Met an interesting man about that time. They called him Hayes and let me tell you that man would scare the bejesus out of the devil himself. I know I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley when he was pissed.”
“What about this man?” Skeeter asked. “Is there a point to your story?”
Beau nodded. “Yeah, there is and I’ll get around to telling you if you’ll just listen.”
Gunner just smirked at him, same ole Beau.
“You see Hayes had been looking for someone for a very long time. His younger brother Court. Hayes’s old man dumped his wife when he was about ten. Then he took up with a real hussy. This woman was nothing but trash any way you looked at it. When she had his brother, she wouldn’t even take care of the kid. He was just a means to an end. She now had the old man by the balls and she ran him ragged. She took him for every cent he had, then she walked out on him and the boys. Hayes was fifteen at the time and brother DJ was five. His old man tried, he really did, but he was killed in an accident at work about four years later. By that time, Hayes was out on his own. He was in training to become an MMA fighter. He’d left home the year before
and had lost touch with his dad and brother. It was a year before the state found him. They wanted to know where his brother was. He had no idea and set out to find him. It was later he found out DJ’s mom had come forward and took the boy with her. Then he found out it wasn’t because she wanted to, but her ex-husband took out an insurance policy for the boy’s in case something happened to him. Well, she got her dirty little hands on the money and that was all she cared about. She stuck the kid in the Juniper House and just left him there. Now on the surface the House looks okay, but once those doors close behind you, it’s a total nightmare.”
“And Hayes just left him there?” Skeeter asked.
“Oh, hell no.” Beau shook his head. “But he had to find the kid first. His mom sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him where she put the kid. After all, she would have to give up the money if she did. He looked for that kid for six years. He also had to fight to get the money to find him. When he finally found the kid, he went there to get him and was told he couldn’t get him out, as he wasn’t the one who placed him in there. Then he saw what they did to the kid and boys... let me tell you, Hayes was pissed. He watched the house for a while and figured out the comings and goings of the guards. He got in one night and got his brother out of there. Then he got away with the kid and helped him recover. Since then, he’s kept an eye on the place, so if you want to know about it, you really need to talk to Hayes.”
Skeeter looked over at Gunner and nodded.
“Where do we find him?” Gunner asked.
Beau looked over at Gunner. “ Well here’s the thing...I brought them with me. They didn’t want to come in until they knew they’d be welcome so they are waiting for me let them know one way or the other. I know I don’t have the right to just come walking back in here, but I finally got my shit together. And I’d like the chance to become one of you again. And these men need a place they can call home. They are good men, every single one of them, they just need someone to give a damn about them.”