by KJ Dahlen
Annie leaned closer and whispered, “I’ve found proof my dad was working with Blacky. Gunner allowed me access to Blacky’s files and I found the connection there. But I found more than just that. I may have found another of Blacky’s recruits here in the club.”
Harry froze and slowly lowered his cup to the table. “Do you know his name?”
Annie nodded. Without saying anything out loud, she moved her head around and found Scorpion staring back at her. Then just as slowly, she turned back to Harry and sipped her own coffee.
Scorpion got up and walked out of the club.
A moment or so later, they heard his bike start up and drive away.
Harry let out a sigh and wiped a line of sweat off his brow. “Maybe he won’t be back.”
“We still have to tell Gunner and Boone. They need to know they have another traitor in the house,” Annie told him. “Blacky said he had four men and this man only makes it two. There should be two more since they did away with Arizona.”
Harry nodded. “Could be but these men saw MC justice today, do you really think they want to be discovered now?”
“No, but do you think a man like Gunner will settle for having traitors in his club?”
Harry shook his head. “No, I don’t not any more than I think my own dad would.” He looked at her carefully before he asked, “Are you sure you’re okay with your dad facing MC justice? I know you said you were but I want to ask again.”
Annie nodded. “When my father left us behind, he stopped being a husband and a father. Any man that can do that, doesn’t deserve the title of a dad. And he was never a good man from day one. I used to watch my parents fight all the time. He had no boundaries. She took his abuse and protected us most of the time. Until she couldn’t anymore.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why but she loved that sonofabitch until the day she died.”
Harry didn’t say anything, after all what could he say? Sometimes love causes people to do strange things.
Winona slowly climbed the steps to her new apartment and once she entered, she leaned against the wall for a moment. She still felt wrung out but her tears were gone at least. The sun was on its way down and they had a lot of work to do before they could go to bed tonight.
Then everyone began invading the small apartment, as they all got busy cleaning and setting up furniture. When they were almost done, Winona called for pizza.
As they were all sitting there eating and talking, Gunner received a text from Cobra. He looked down at his phone and growled at the message he found there. He looked over at Winona then over at DeeDee.
“What is it?” DeeDee asked. The pizza she had just eaten now felt like a lead ball in her belly.
“When Cobra and his boys got to Moss Bluff, they found the bakery burned to the ground.” He looked over at Winona. “I’m so sorry baby.”
Winona set down her half eaten slice of pizza. Swallowing hard, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter dad. I was never going back there anyway.”
“It does matter.” Gunner growled. “Those bastards had no right to burn you out.”
“It might not even have been Blacky’s men who did this,” Winona told him. “Mrs. George’s family was pissed when they didn’t get what they wanted from her when she died. It could have been them or Blacky’s men.”
DeeDee went over to her daughter and pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry baby.”
“You didn’t do this.” Winona shook her head. “It could have been either party and we may never know for sure. All we can do is start over and hope this doesn’t follow me here.” She looked around the room. “I cannot, no I will not bring this mess here. If this was the George family, they got their revenge. I lost everything she left for me. It hurts, yes, but I can rebuild. With this place, I can make it into something better. She gave me so much growing up and she taught me to never give up on my dreams. I can’t let her down and I refuse to give up. Her family is rotten to the core and all they wanted was the money she and her husband worked a lifetime to get.” Winona chuckled. “Instead, she left them all one dollar each so they had no recourse to sue the courts.”
“How much money are we talking about anyway?” Gunner wanted to know.
“Five hundred thousand dollars,” Winona told them.
One of the brothers whistled.
Winona nodded. “I bought the building and set up the bakery with almost half of that money. I banked the rest of it and began putting money aside for expanding. I have enough money to start over and this time, they have no fucking claim to the money.”
“They had no claim to the money the first time.” Boone growled. He looked over at Gunner. “I want this place wired with video and sound.”
“You’ll get it.” Gunner nodded. He got up and walked to the window overlooking this part of the city. He saw a warehouse nearby that he thought would be useful for the kid’s club. He called Boone over and pointed to the warehouse. “I think we could settle there and that way we can watch over this place as well.”
“We need to get together and decide what we want to offer the kids as far as benefits and such,” Boone suggested.
“And we will but first, we get my daughter’s bakery set up.” Gunner smiled and nodded. “Along with setting up protection for Winona.”
“I had insurance for the place in Moss Bluff,” Winona offered.
“Don’t you worry,” Gunner assured her. “We’ll be checking with the police and the arson squad about who did this.”
Winona shook her head. “What more can go wrong?”
“Don’t say that girl,” Gypsy shushed her. “You’re almost inviting more trouble saying things like that.”
“Well, what more trouble can find me?” Winona asked.
Dana glared at Annie and Harry. They hadn’t said a word to her the whole time. She felt slighted. But nobody else other than Skipper had spoken to her either. She’d seen Scorpion get up and walk out. She wondered why he did that but she didn’t really care.
She finished her coffee and wondered when and who was going to prepare dinner. When her phone pinged, she looked down and saw a message from Jett. She smiled softly but that smile turned into a frown when she read what he had to say.
He texted ...We aren’t going to be able to come back tonight as someone burned down Winona’s bakery in Moss Bluff. We’ll return sometime tomorrow after we speak spoken to the police.
Dana’s eyes blurred with tears as she realized she was going to miss him. Shaking her head, she wiped them clear and realized this had to do with Winona again. Damn, she was always messing everything up!
Just then, her phone pinged again, and Dana frowned as she noticed it was an unknown number, so she waited for the message to come up. When it did, Dana gasped and began to tremble.
The message read: “Dana, I’m watching you and I’ve learned something interesting, your family doesn’t seem to want you anymore. But don’t fear, I still want you. I’ve watched you grow up and decided that I want the pleasure of breaking you. You are such a spoiled little shit I can’t wait to teach you some manners. Your father and the brothers have spoiled you rotten and now, it’s finally starting to show. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you better than they ever could. In fact, I might even enjoy it but I can guarantee that you won’t. I know you don’t like pain that much. I can’t wait. To me, you’re no club princess and I’m no prince. I’m going to enjoy watching you bleed when the time is right. I’ve always heard it’s possible to see the exact moment the soul leaves the body. I can’t wait to see if your soul is bound for heaven or hell. Which do you think will come for you? The light or the shadows? Your time is running out... wait for me. I’m closer than you think.”
Dana lifted her head to look around the main room and saw only Harry and Annie sitting at the other table. Skipper was also sitting alone at a table, the place was eerily quiet . She needed her father or Jett and right now, neither one was here.
There was nothing left for her to do but f
orward the message to her father’s phone and wait. She closed her eyes and prayed he wouldn’t blow it off. Then she took a deep breath and pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled to the hall and walked down to Rigger’s room. Knocking on the door, she heard him call out.
She opened the door and held out her phone.
Rigger looked at her pale face and trembling hands as he took the phone from her. He looked at the message and his eyes widened.
“I sent that to my father. I’m hoping he asks you to trace it. Please help me.” Dana stumbled over to his bed and sat down. “I think I’ll just stay here until he gets back.”
Rigger nodded and turned to his computer to track down the phone number. A few minutes later, Rigger’s phone went off.
It was Gunner and he wasn’t happy.
Chapter Six
Winona was wrapped in Boone’s arms as she sat on his lap, when her phone pinged with an incoming message. She almost didn’t bother looking at it because she was just too tired. Everyone was just finishing eating the ten pizza’s Gunner had ordered.
She dug her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the message.
Winona: You think you are so smart, don’t you, cookie maker? You got the VP in your bed, the brothers literally eating out of your hand and Gunner wrapped around your pinky finger. Well, you are not smarter than me. I will pay you back for all that you have done. I also have plans for your spoiled bitch of a sister. Your time is running out... wait for me. I’m closer than you think.
Her eyes widened, as she felt sick and began to tremble.
Boone sat up and looked down. He read the words on her phone and swore viciously.
Just then, Gunner’s phone pinged with a message. He peered down at it and growled. Then he looked over at Boone noting the look on his VP’s face.
Boone looked up at Gunner. “Dana got one too?”
Gunner nodded.
Boone tightened his arms around his woman and just held her as he passed her phone to her dad.
Gunner read the words of the message and nearly broke the phone he was so pissed. Gunner looked over at Winona and shook his head. “Baby girl, I know you don’t want this but you have to come back to the compound with us. In fact, we all need to get back there right away. You aren’t safe here tonight and I will not allow you to put your life on the line because of that bratty sister of yours. There’s safety in numbers and we have to protect you.” He got up to move away from the group to make a call.
Winona just wrapped her arms around Boone a little tighter. At least while being held by him, she felt safe.
Boone tipped her face up to his. He could read the fear there but he could also read the trust she had in him and Gunner. “I love you, I hope you know that,” he whispered
“I love you too,” she whispered back. “This has to do with Blacky doesn’t it?”
“I think we’ve only just started to understand and begin to dismantle Blacky’s empire,” was all he could say.
Winona planted her face in Boone’s chest. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled his scent and it calmed the fear inside her. She really didn’t want to go back but she knew she had to for her own safety. She couldn’t be selfish and make Gunner worry about her unnecessarily. Or divide the men he counted on for the safety of everyone.
She already felt guilty enough taking Boone away from the club. She took another deep breath and made up her mind. She would go back. She would just have to overlook Dana. She raised her head to Boone and whispered, “I guess we have to go back, huh?”
“I’m sorry baby, but it would be for the best.” Boone nodded.
“Ok, I’ll go, I won’t say anything to her, but I won’t take her shit either.”
“I’ll be there with you and she’d better not dare pull any shit with you,” he told her.
Winona snorted. “Don’t bet a dime on that, cause you’ll lose. I can’t promise I won’t punch her, but I’ll do my best to walk away rather than start anything.”
Gunner was still over in the corner talking on the phone. He forwarded the message from Winona’s phone to his then sent it to Rigger. He came back to where his daughter and the men were. “We need to go back to the compound and lock it down. We may have another traitor in our ranks and we need to find him.” He looked over at DeeDee. “This bastard is only beginning his game. He wants to destroy me for some reason and he thinks by threatening my girls that he can hurt me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes after you as well.”
DeeDee looked back at him and she paled a bit.
“Well, we aren’t going to let him get close to you or yours, boss.” Gypsy growled.
The other men there nodded in agreement.
“We might have more than one though boss,” Tramper told him. “Remember Blacky claimed he had four of his own men? Arizona was the only one we’ve found so far.”
Gunner scowled and ran his fingers through his hair. “We have to get back and find out who they are and neutralize them. I just found Winona and DeeDee and I’m not going to lose either of them. I don’t want to lose Dana either.” He moved away and sent a text message to Jett. The other man needed to know what Dana was going through. Then it would be up to him what he did. He again came back to look around at everyone. “Let’s go back to the compound and find the other three traitors. This club needs some damn peace.”
An hour and a half later, they arrived back at the compound. In the meantime, Gunner and a few of the men set up cameras wired for sound with alarms on the bakery to make sure it was safe. Someone had already burned down her bakery in Moss Bluff, he didn’t want them to do the same thing here.
The sound of the bikes arriving had Dana leaving the table in the main room and opening the door. She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at Winona and DeeDee as they got off the back of the bikes. When Gunner got closer she said, “I wasn’t sure you got my message.”
“Of course, I got your message girl. You sent it to me, didn’t you?” Gunner growled.
“There was a time when you would have come home right away, not linger for an hour before coming back to check on me,” she reminded him.
“Yeah well, things have changed. I had stuff to do before I came. I had to get your sister some security at her bakery.” Gunner glared at her.
Dana gave a harrumph but didn’t answer him. Instead, she turned her head and glared at Winona. “Rigger and Annie have been busy here too.” She now turned to DeeDee and said in a sly tone, “Why didn’t you ever tell us Blacky had a brother?”
DeeDee looked shocked and frowned. “Because he doesn’t have a brother anymore, he died way back when.”
Gunner nodded. “Caden was killed because Blacky interfered with this club, causing his own brother’s death... and I was voted in as President and since then this club has been legit.”
Dana sneered not looking at her father, just at DeeDee. “Not according to what Annie found. He does have a brother named Caden and a half brother named Tanner.”
”Tanner Hall?” DeeDee shook her head. “He’s not Blacky’s brother, never was, nor ever will be. Oh, he wanted to be but he’s not. His mother listed Blacky’s dad on his birth certificate and lied about it for most of his life but when it came down to it, DNA proved he wasn’t Tanner’s father. Blacky’s dad did have an affair. He strayed like an alley cat and Tanner’s mom was one of those women but the baby she had wasn’t his. Blacky’s dad threw her, Tanner, and the real father out of the town we were living in.” DeeDee looked up at Gunner. “Tanner didn’t take it well at all. He punched the Blacky’s dad right in the mouth before he left, then vowed he’d get his revenge on the old man.”
“And just why should we believe anything you say?” Dana asked snarkily.
“Little girl...” Gunner growled low. “Don’t start shit you can’t back up. DeeDee explained this and I believe her.”
“But dad,” Dana whined.
Gunner held up his hand stopping Dana from saying another word. Th
en he took DeeDee’s hand and walked into the clubhouse.
His movement caused Dana to step back, forcing her away from the door.
The rest of the group followed in behind them and each of them glared at Dana.
Gunner walked over to the table where Annie, Harry and Rigger were working on their computers.
DeeDee went with him, as he wouldn’t let go of her hand.
Annie looked up and apologized to DeeDee, “I’m sorry Dana jumped to conclusions as she has been listening to what all we have been finding. We did find a DNA blood test between Tanner Hall and Blacky’s dad, Terrance Wilder. You are right, they are not related.”
DeeDee shrugged. “That doesn’t mean Tanner ever accepted it, even with the proof he had in his hands. He grew up in Blacky’s shadow, so all his life and with his mother’s lies about who his father was it only fed his hatred of the power Blacky held.”
“Do you know what he looks like?” Annie asked. “Cuz that would really help identify him.”
DeeDee shook her head. “I haven’t seen Tanner in like twenty five plus years. I’m sure he’s grown into a man, whereas the last time I saw him, he was a boy of fourteen.” She thought for a moment then looking up at Gunner she said, “There was one thing that I do remember about him though, Tanner was always getting into trouble as a kid and one time he lost part of his little finger on his right hand. So that might help to identify him?”
Gunner snapped his head up at that little bit of information. He slowly turned his head to look at his VP. Boone nodded and together they said, “Scorpion.”
Annie nodded. “He was here earlier but left in a hurry. It was while Skipper was talking to Dana. Shortly after that, she got a text message that shook her up badly.”
“He’s been here for two years.” Gunner looked pissed. “That bastard has been living here for two fucking years! Watching and waiting for just the right time to pounce.”
“Makes a person wonder if Blacky knew one of his recruits was his hated imposter brother?” Boone put the question out there.
