by KJ Dahlen
Shay nodded. “But before I can, I need rock solid evidence he assisted his family in breaking the laws.”
“It's all fucking right here and you know it.” Cobra growled.
Shay turned to glare at the other man. “I need someone else to prove it. It can’t be just Michael’s word.”
“His word isn’t good enough?” Gypsy grumbled.
“It has to be independently verified,” Shay insisted.
“That’s horseshit and you fucking know it.” Gypsy growled.
“Maybe, but it needs to happen. In the government, we cannot go on witch hunts unless the evidence is verified,” Shay admitted. “Owen’s career goes back twenty four years and every day of those twenty four years will come into question if this goes forward.”
“If?” Gunner questioned. “If this goes forward? It has to go forward and to hell with Owen Evers. He signed up for this when he changed his name and helped his family get the connections they needed to sell their shit too.”
“We don’t know that’s what happened yet.” Shay shook his head.
“Follow the money,” Inez called out from the doorway. She turned to Dewey and asked, “Can your wife follow the group’s money to find out where it came from?”
“She can try, but I have a feeling it was mostly cash transactions and that is harder to follow,” Dewey told her.
“It’s a place to start.” She shrugged. Looking over at Shay, she took note of his frown. “Of course, you would know better than I would where to start. As well as what to do. Me, I’m a nobody.” She turned and walked to the kitchen.
“Ok, you told him and now, he needs to leave here.” Gunner got to his feet. “He’s just outstayed his welcome and doesn’t need to be here.”
“We’ll verify what we can and work with Trudy on the other end,” Rigger agreed with Gunner. “All we can do is send you the information and let you know what we find.”
Shay just shook his head. “I can’t just go back to DC now. I need something more than just this.”
“And we’ll get it to you as soon as we know and whatever we find can be verified by a second source.” Rigger glared at him.
“That wasn’t what I meant and you know it,” Shay grumbled.
“It's what you said, word for word man.” Gunner shook his head.
Pappy reached into his back pocket and pulled out the letter to Shay they found in Michael’s stuff. He tossed it to Shay. “I think this is for you.”
Shay caught the letter and froze when he saw the handwriting on the outside of the envelope. “Mallory.” He tore open the letter and he began reading the words his sister put on paper before she died.
Moments later, the letter slid from his fingers and fell to the floor. He hadn’t even read the second and third pages of the letter yet. He looked utterly devastated. He looked over at Pappy and whispered, “She named John Reed as the man who poisoned her. She knew him through our parent’s political parties. She told me she’d seen him lunching with two of his friends and he sent her a drink. She didn’t want it but he wouldn’t let her refuse it. She said he wouldn’t quit watching her until she finished the drink. Later, that same evening, she began feeling sick. She said Michael ran some tests and found she was poisoned. They kept it from Inez until they couldn’t anymore, then they told her it was cancer as they didn’t want her to be afraid. But she told me who poisoned her and why.”
“Why would Reed poison her?” Pappy wanted to know.
“Because I was getting suspicious of Owen even back then. He wanted to divert me from getting too close to discovering him and his group. Owen made a big mistake at the time and he was busy trying to get me not to look into a shipment of rockets going to a place they had no business being shipped to. And to a man that was on a list of known terrorists.” Shay bent over and picked up her letter. He straightened it out and shook his head. “Reed gave her the poison which would divert my attention and allow Owen time to get the shipment off. Damn it. I need to get to Michael’s house. He always kept notebooks with the notes on his work. Maybe if I can find the one he kept about this poison I can use the notes to nail Owen and his father with her murder.”
Pappy picked up a small notebook and held it out to him.
Shay took the notebook and stared at him.
“This is the notebook with his notes about his wife’s poisoning. It lists her symptoms and what he did to combat them,” Pappy explained. “In the end, nothing helped but the man did a hell of a job trying.”
“How the hell did you get all this?” Shay wanted to know.
“He included it with the paperwork about Jared Revers and Owen Evers.” Pappy nodded.
Shay looked down at the book in his hands. This was Michael’s account of what his wife went through after she was poisoned. He’d been so wrong all this time. He treated Mallory’s daughter like she didn’t matter. All because he thought Michael had betrayed his sister. Shay had listened to his parents back then, they never liked Michael because he wouldn’t kowtow to them and become a real doctor. He preferred to work in research where he believed he could do the most good and not go into plastic surgery to make more money than he needed. They wanted bragging rights but Michael wouldn’t cooperate with that. He stuck to his guns and went into research. That made him an enemy in his parent’s eyes and to his great shame... his very own eyes as well.
He reread his sister’s letter as he felt such sadness and shame for what she had suffered. She recalled how she went to pick up the phone so many times to call him, sometimes just to hear his voice but then she remembered the conversation they had the last time they spoke. Shay had tried to get her to come back to the family, to leave Michael and Inez to come home. But Mallory would never do that. She loved her family and she would never leave them behind. Not even for him.
That broke his heart. She reminded him that he wasn’t there for her when she needed him and she could forgive him for that but then she reminded him he was never there for her daughter and that she wouldn’t forgive him for. Inez was innocent of any sin and she wrote that Inez was her daughter too. Then she told him she wanted to be buried in Vermont next to her husband.
Dewey’s phone pinged. He read the text from his wife then looked over at Pappy and Gunner. “She found a trail that leads directly from the money to John Reed and his cronies, including Owen Evers. It goes back fifteen years and brings up several names on the terrorist list.”
“Is there a transaction of ballistic missiles sent to a man named Rashid Luna by Owen Evers?” Shay asked quietly.
“No but there is one that was sent by Barry Severs,” Dewey told him. “A deposit transaction in an account under that same name for fifteen million, two days later.”
Shay looked over at Rigger. “Can you move the money they made all this time?”
“I could but it wouldn’t be legal, man.” Rigger shook his head.
“I don’t care. I’m done at the Pentagon anyway, but I want to take those bastards down before I’m done.” Shay growled. “I’m going to hang them all out to dry and I don’t want them to have anything left. I’m looking to disgrace them publicly. I want them all behind bars and broke.”
“If you’re serious, you need to have someone in the know backing you up that’s above and over Owen’s position,” Pappy advised.
Shay nodded. “I have just the man in mind. Peter Howe. He’s been working behind Owen’s back. He’s thinking like me that Owen has something to do with arming our enemies and he’s been trying to track down who’s behind this. If I give him a head’s up on that list of names Michael sent, he’ll be able to gather the evidence we need to take them down. But I want them broke before we do it. I don’t want them to be able to hide behind their money anymore. They think they can do anything because they have a big fucking bank account. I want to take that away from them.”
“You can get that setup from anywhere,” Gunner reminded him. “We will keep you informed of everything we learn from now on, but you
can’t stay here. Inez needs our protection but you don’t.”
Shay glanced at the kitchen door. “Can I at least try to make amends?” he asked.
“I won’t let you hurt her anymore.” Gypsy growled as he got to his feet.
“I’m not trying to hurt her.” Shay shook his head. “I’ve had very little to do with her most of her life and I just don’t know how to talk to her.”
“She knows how much you hated her dad and so, she thinks you hate her too.” Pappy raised a brow at him.
Shay shook his head. “When Mallory fell in love with Michael Black, my parents were ready to groom him for their society level but Michael was his own man, fully capable of taking care of his family without taking a dime from them. He didn’t want to be a plastic surgeon, he wanted to do research. Mallory believed in him enough that she finally stood up to our parents. They didn’t care for that much and they turned their backs on her. I was busy trying to get my career going, so I wasn’t home much. But I heard everything my parents said and well, I guess I turned my back on my sister too. Much to my own shame, I wasn’t there for her when she needed me to be. Then after I thought Michael had betrayed her and then Mallory died, I turned my back on both Inez and him.” He sighed heavily as he paused. “Then came the night four months ago when I got a call from Michael. He told me what was going on and that he and Inez were in real trouble. When he told me about the formula he’d been working on I was more interested in that than I was saving either of them. When I got to the house that night, I could see it was on fire. I pulled Michael’s body from the house and I went looking for Inez. When I didn’t find her, I called the number Michael had given me and she answered it. I told her to make her way to Texas and to give the items to a man named John Crowly. I didn’t know she was on foot or that Dino March was trailing her. I just didn’t think about it. I called her a few months later and found she hadn’t reached Texas yet and I got a little pissed. I decided to just let it go. Then I called again a few days ago. She told me about Dino and I got here right away. I really had no idea she’d been out alone on the road this whole time.”
“That’s no excuse man.” Pappy shook his head. “You took an oath to protect the innocent and you failed big time.”
“We got her now.” Gypsy glared at him. “I’m claiming her and I’ll be damned if anyone, even you will ever hurt her again.”
“There is only one thing I want from you.” Inez stood in the open doorway of the kitchen and glared at her uncle.
“What is that?” Shay asked.
“I want to bury my parents together. But I don’t want my mom in Maine. I want to bring my mom down here, so they can be together in death like they were in life.”
Shay exhaled hard and shook his head. “That’s going to be hard to do. My parents, your grandparents will never allow it.”
“You mean the grandparents I’ve never even seen? The ones who have never seen me, won’t allow it?” Inez stared at her uncle. “Tough shit, she was my mother.”
“She was their daughter first,” he argued foolishly.
Inez clenched her fists for a moment, as a single tear rolled down her face. “You and them can go to hell.” She turned and went back into the kitchen. As the door swung shut, they all heard the sound of breaking glass. Then a loud thud as if something or someone had landed on the floor.
Gypsy looked stricken as he rushed toward the kitchen.
Gunner pulled him back just before he reached the door. Grabbing his arm, Gunner growled in his ear, “You aren’t going to be any use to her if you go in there halfcocked and get yourself killed.”
Turning his head slowly to look at Gunner, he seethed at him, “Fucking. Let. Me. Go.” When Gunner released him, he reached for his weapon and eased the door open.
They all could see her lying on the floor with her eyes open, while writhing in pain. She was holding her shoulder and her hand looked bloody.
Gypsy pushed the door open a bit more and they could see the back door glass had been shattered where the bullet had come through it. Glass was scattered all over the floor. “Baby, I’m going to crawl over to you, then you need to take my hand.”
Whimpering in pain, Inez nodded.
He crawled over on his belly while keeping his head low, then he dragged her closer to him. When she was close enough, he gathered her in his arms and hauled her into the main room.
Patriot was there to check her over and he motioned for Gypsy to carry her into the Infirmary.
Pappy and Gunner followed.
Shaking his head at the man, Boone held Shay back by placing his hand onto Shay’s chest. He slowly shook his head, his eyes hard. Then he motioned for several of the men to hit the roof to see if they could find the shooter.
Rigger switched on the security camera feed, trying spot the shooter. He looked up at Boone as he went toward the roof stairway after getting his sniper rifle from the lockup. He called out to the VP, “Southeast corner. He’s sitting in a tree four posts out from the fence line.”
A few minutes later, a single rifle shot was heard.
Savaged Soul Brothers poured out of the clubhouse and not ten minutes later, they all came back, with two of them dragging a wounded Dino March into the clubhouse.
Dino was cursing and swearing at them, calling out for medical attention.
They slammed him down onto a chair and tied him to it, then the waiting game began.
Chapter Thirteen
Gypsy held her, as Patriot cleaned her shoulder so he could see where to dig the bullet out.
Inez tried not to cry out as she instead, bit at her lip until it almost bled.
“Hey you,” Gypsy called out softly. “Don’t bite your lips. I plan to use them later and I hate the taste of blood.” He teased her.
Inez half chuckled and half sobbed as she rested her forehead on his. She looked over at Patriot and asked, “Am I gonna lose my shoulder doc?”
“Well, getting shot in the same shoulder within days certainly doesn’t help,” Patriot replied while not looking at her. “So you may never be able to play the piano again.” He chuckled a bit. “But the fact it was a long shot and the window slowed down the speed, it didn’t do too much damage. But you are going to be sore for a while and I really suggest that you take things easy and eat some decent food, so you can get your strength back faster.”
Inez nodded. “I hear you doc.” She lowered her head. Then raised it again and looked at both men. “I think it was the letdown I was feeling before and I didn’t have much of an appetite.”
“Let down?” Patriot asked.
She nodded. “I finally finished my dad’s last request. I was feeling lost and alone and then Shay called. I mean the man is my uncle but I don’t really know him. My mom told me when I was little that her parents were still alive but when I asked why they didn’t come around she told me they had had a big fight and her parents were mad at her over something stupid. She would never tell me what though. We were a happy family. I guess I didn’t miss what I didn’t have.” She dropped her head and fiddled with the edges of the sheet that covered her lap. “Having now met my mom’s brother, I see I didn’t miss out on all that much, did I? I can only imagine what my grandparents are like. But I’d rather not. I’ll just remember my mom and my dad and to hell with the rest of them.”
Gypsy tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of her face and said, “Well honey, you got me now, you don’t need them.”
Patriot snorted, “You also got the club too, sweetheart.” He ignored Gypsy’s growl at the endearment. “You found a new home and a new family with us.” He was just finishing up dressing the new wound when Gunner knocked on the door and opened it.
“Is she okay?” Gunner wanted to know. When Patriot nodded, he came further into the room to see for himself. “We got the shooter. It’s Dino March.”
Patriot shook his head. “Is he wounded?”
“Yeah, he took a bullet to the leg but there’s no need for you to hurry.
He ain’t going anywhere.” Gunner scoffed. “It’s not like he doesn’t deserve the pain.”
Inez shook her head. “Maybe he does, but that isn’t for you to determine is it?”
“You would show mercy to a man that for the four months has hunted you with the objective to kill you?” Gypsy grumbled under his breath.
“One of the lessons my parents taught me from a very young age was to never judge a person, as only God can do that.” She shrugged. “Maybe Dino March does deserve the pain of being shot, he certainly deserves to go to jail for what he did to my dad and tried to do to me. I’m sure a man like him has done many terrible things and maybe you did the world a favor by stopping him. But he isn’t the only one that needs to be stopped now we know there are more than just him, isn’t there?”
“You leave that mess in our hands and your uncle's,” Gunner told her. “Owen Evers won’t see us coming until it's too late for him‒ much less the others‒ to hide.”
“I’m going to take her to my room for some rest while we deal with Dino.” Gypsy gathered her up into his arms and took her down the hall to the bedroom they shared. Once inside, he helped her change her shirt and tucked her into bed. “You get some rest. You’ll be safe in here.”
She looked deep into his eyes and knew what he was going to do. “You can’t kill him. Not in cold blood. He may deserve it but you can’t do it.”
“I thought you just said it wasn’t up to us to judge people.” He teased her.
“I did but after I remembered what he did to my dad, I changed my mind just a little. The man has no honor. He deserves some pain, ok... maybe a lot of pain. He certainly caused me enough to last my lifetime.”
Gypsy’s lips crushed hers for a moment then he ripped himself away from her. “You get some rest. I’m going to see what’s going on.”
Inez nodded then laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. She had no more energy to fight sleep anymore and she was sleeping before Gypsy went out the door.
