“Sorry, what?” I wasn’t expecting that question. “Oh. Yeah well, we’re getting to know each other.”
“Bullshit.”
“Really, we’re not serious.”
“I was born at night, Alexander. Not last night. I know you. Anyone with eyes can see the two of you belong together.”
I laugh.
“What?” she asks.
“I’ve barely been under your roof for a day and you’re playing matchmaker,” I point out with a smirk. Nancy stares over at me. “Keep those eyes on the road, sis.”
She shakes her head and turns her head to face forward again. “Well I hope you don’t let her slip away just because I like her.”
“There it is. You approve. Bring out the bubbly then. Big brother’s getting hitched!” I announce, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“You’re a cynical assclown sometimes.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I answer, just to provoke her. “This is exactly what I needed this morning. A hefty dose of sibling bickering.”
My sister is miffed now, and taking it out on her stick shift. She accelerates, pulls out on the one-lane stretch of highway into oncoming traffic to get out from behind a slow as fuck minivan driver, and merges back into the right lane. She flips on her indicator light and turns off the highway less than a minute later. “The building’s a few blocks from here.”
After parking in a nearby lot, me and Nancy head up the street to the large warehouse. She nods to the middle-aged man working at the front desk, and he buzzes us into the long, wide, fluorescent-lit hallway lined with metal doors large enough to drive a moving truck inside. She leads me to the end of the corridor and steps into a waiting warehouse-style elevator.
“It’s on the second floor,” she chokes out, already upset again.
I reach my hand out and find hers. “Are you sure you want to do this right now?”
“Yes. We need this.” She takes a breath and straightens up to get off the elevator. “The best way to get this done quickly is for you to go in and decide what you want. Once you figure that out, I’ll help you clear a bit of space upfront. That way, once everything has settled down, you can come back to haul them away.”
“I can pretty much guarantee you there’s nothing in there that’ll leap out at me,” I say as I follow her. Nancy opens her mouth to speak at the storage room door, but I beat her to it. “Don’t stress out, all right? I’ll check through everything before I decide.”
“Fine.” She finds the key, places it into the locking mechanism, then she stops. “Are you ready?” she asks looking up into my face.
“Nope, but let’s do this. One and done.”
Three hours later, I’m still sorting. Fuck. No wonder Nancy hasn’t gotten rid of a thing. How could anyone let these thing go? I sure can’t. All I’ve managed to do is move things around. The massive locker contains furniture, photos, clothes, keepsakes, trinkets, and even trophies from grade school sports.
“I am not helping, am I?” I huff out, wiping the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. I sit on the piece of sectional sofa I’ve just moved and slump back to rest my head.
Nancy smiles and sits beside me. We both stare at the semi-transparent plastic containers stacked on the dusty shelving unit against one wall. “I don’t know. I kind of like the sofa here in the center of everything.”
“How about I pay for the next, I don’t know, say fifteen years of the storage lease, and call it even?”
“Nice try.”
A blue and white porcelain oriental vase in one of the containers catches my eye. “Wait. Is that Mom’s prized flower vase?” I ask, getting up to check the box. “It is. Remember how Dad used to hate that thing?”
Nancy nods. “Yes. He’d bring her flowers, and she would only use this particular one, which would get them bickering every time.”
I snap open the box lid and lift out the vase. “For some reason, Dad hated it.”
“And they’d go all quiet and cuddly after their little tiffs,” Nancy adds.
“Maybe I’ll take this home with me when this is all over. It’s strange…”
“What?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t remind me of that night, I guess. You know, for porcelain, this thing is damn heavy.” I turn the vase upside down to check whether the manufacturing stamp looks mass produced or more like a one-of-a-kind. Something clinks around inside, but doesn’t fall out. “Hey, listen to this.” I shake it around. Something metal is definitely inside. “I think this thing has a trick bottom. Here. You try.”
Nancy comes to my side and takes the vase in two hands. She shakes it around, then she looks inside, turns it upside down, and shakes it again. “You’re right.” She passes it back to me. “Weird.”
I run my hand along the edges, feeling for a groove or some sign of another opening. “I don’t know how they did this.”
“Wait, let me try something.” She takes the vase again. “My hands are smaller,” she says, hugging it with one arm and slipping the other hand inside. “I’m totally gonna break this if my hand gets stuck.”
“No you won’t. I’ve got WD-40 in my truck if that happens.”
Her eyes light up. “I feel something.”
Nancy lifts out the false bottom. She passes it to me, then lifts out a key. “What the hell?” she exclaims, dangling it on the keyring that holds it.
“That looks like it’s for a safety deposit box.” I take it and check the tiny emblem etched at the top. “I know this bank. It’s the Costa Verde Savings and Loan. Do you remember that bank in town?”
“I think so. Do you think the box is still in Dad’s name?”
“Only one way to find out. He or Mom went to a lot a trouble to hide this key. Do you feel like taking a drive? But we’ve gotta stop for some coffee.”
She grabs her purse near the front and pulls out the locker key. “You lock up and I’ll bring the car around.”
24
Axe
“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” I ask, climbing out of the driver seat. I look down the sleepy main street of our hometown from all those years ago. “Hardly anything’s changed.”
Nancy steps outside and smooths out her suit jacket. “I’m surprised this place isn’t a ghost town by now.”
We stride toward the front entrance of Costa Verde Savings and Loans. “This bank’s probably the only thing keeping it alive.”
“I just hope this key is enough to get us access,” Nancy mutters as we enter. “We don’t even know whose name the box is in. If there’s still a box.”
“We’ll find out.” I look around the stylish, modern interior of the bank. I glance down at my leather cut, t-shirt and jeans, then I check what my sister wears. Nancy fits right in here. Me, not so much.
“Good morning. How can I help you?” one of the tellers greets us from behind the security glass at her station.
I clear my throat, aware of how out of place I look, but don’t give a damn at this point. “We’re here about a safety deposit box one of our parents owned.”
The teller nods. “May I see the key?”
“Sure,” Nancy answers, taking it from the side pocket of her purse. She passes it through the opening in the security glass.
“And what are your parents’ names?”
“Natalie and Alain Voltaire,” Nancy tells her. “I’ll write it down as their names have a French spelling.”
“Thank you. I’ll check for you.”
The teller takes the key and written names to a coworker sitting at his desk in an inner office. After a brief chat, the man checks something on his computer, then nods to the teller.
She returns to us with a smile on her face. “If you’ll both just show me a piece of identification confirming that you are Nancy Voltaire and Alexander Voltaire, I’d be happy to take you to open the box.” The teller accepts our driver's licenses and Nancy’s proof of name change. “Follow me.”
She leads us past a security guard and ar
ound a corner into the open bank vault. With a gesture, the teller points to a small private viewing room. “If you’ll have a seat in there, I’ll bring you the box.”
Me and Nancy take a seat facing the door.
“Are you nervous about what’s inside?” Nancy asks me.
“I’d say more curious than anything.”
“Maybe it’s… ahhh, who knows.” She leans back in her chair and we wait.
The teller returns a few minutes later and places a large strongbox on the table. “Thanks for your patience. This is it.” She turns the key on the side but leaves the lid down. “I’ll leave you to it. Let me know when you’re finished.”
I open the lid when we’re alone again. “Okay, well it’s not wads and wads of cash, or a secret insurance policy we didn’t know about,” I say, lifting out an index card folded in two. “That’s all?”
Nancy leans forward. “What’s on it?”
I open it and almost fall out of my chair from the shock of it. The four names scribbled out are bad enough, but they’re written in Mom’s handwriting, not Dad’s. My shaking hand passes it over to Nancy. “Jesus fuck. What the hell was Mom into?” I ask.
I get to my feet and start pacing as I run agitated hands over my head, gripping my hair by the fistful.
“What?” Nancy shrieks after her eyes scan the words and pour over them. She snaps her head up to me so quickly that her bangs whip off her face from the jolt. “But…I don’t understand. Why did Mom have a list with these names?”
I can hardly contain myself. The four names seem to have blazed onto the back of my eyelids and my vision.
Director Harvey Bain, Nevada Department of Public Safety
Keith Jackson
Vincent Belmont
Colonel Arthur Travis
“I don’t know, but we can ask at least one of them what the fuck is going on as soon as we make it back to your house.” I snatch the card and slam the safety deposit box lid shut. Forcing myself to focus, I do my best not to panic. “Let’s get some answers.”
“Wait. Can we ask Kade and Keith to meet us away from the house?” Nancy asks, following me outside. “I don’t want things getting ugly in front of the kids.”
“Fine. Tell him where we are. He can meet us at the diner across the street while I ingest an insane amount of coffee.”
I stretch out in the back corner booth of the bistro Nancy has picked out. I may be stretching, but I’m in no way relaxed. Why would Mom have put these four names together, locked them in a bank vault, and hidden the key in the secret compartment of a vase? She could have written this down days, weeks or even years before she and Dad were violently murdered in their own home. It has to be big.
“Kade’s old man better have some answers,” I tell Nancy.
I can’t wait to hear what my brother-in-law and Los Diablos president has to say about his father’s name, Keith Jackson, being on the list. Kade is unlucky in a way. He’s low-hanging fruit, the closest and easiest person to tackle today. I’ll see Vincent pretty soon. Probably next. The former Director Harvey Bain is now Nevada State Governor Bain. Even he was accessible. His son, Jordan Bain, is Sabrina’s best friend, and happens to be the same Jordan we rescued from the Los Diablos jail all those long months ago. The only person on the list I have no idea how we’ll access is for former Colonel Travis. Today, he’s General Travis, and from my knowledge, we have no common contacts, family, friends or associates. Not that I know of, anyway.
“Are you sure we can do this in here?” Nancy asks.
“Why not? You picked the place. Plus the coffee’s pretty good.”
“I’m just worried that…promise me you won’t lose it in here, all right?”
“We can chat in his truck if you prefer. That will be completely private.”
“You’re probably right,” Nancy chokes out.
I reach across the table and place my hand over hers. “Hey. He’s the one who’s got to explain himself. You have no reason at all to be nervous.”
“Really Alexander?” She pulls her arm away. “The grandfather of my children could have had something to do with Mom and Dad’s deaths. And Vincent too. Somehow, Mom knew something that connected the four of them. No matter what he says, our lives are forever changed because of that list.”
I agree with her wholeheartedly, but the last thing I want to do is freak her out more. “Are you sure I’m the one you’re worried about? Because from where I’m sitting, he owes you a heck of a lot more than he does me. In any case, they’ll be here soon. Let’s try to reserve judgment, okay?”
Speak of the devil, Kade waves from the front door minutes later, motioning for us to meet him outside. I finish my cup of coffee, help Nancy to her feet, and we join Kade. No one speaks. Nancy can’t even look at her husband at first. She always gets quiet before she unleashes her wrath, and fuck, does she ever know how to raise hell. All the designer outfits, shoes and handbags in the world can’t take the badass out of my sister.
We follow Kade to the side of the building where two black SUVs are waiting. Nancy is giving him the evil eye the entire way.
“Pops is here,” Kade says, pointing to one vehicle. He spins around to face Nancy. “I took the kids to stay with my mother, and left some of the boys to keep watch. What’s this about, honey?” he asks, taking a step toward her.
“Don’t even try to act like you’re innocent,” Nancy shouts. She backs away and folds her arms over her chest so he won’t touch her. “You know something. I can see it all over your face, and there’s no way your father would willingly show up today on just what I said over the phone. Tell me, what does he know about my parents’ death?”
Kade’s eyes dart all over the place. He walks over to the wall and leans on it, almost doubled over with his hands on his knees as though he might puke.
“Dude, you’d better start talking, because right now you’re looking real sketchy,” I say. “And guilty.”
Kade lifts his head. “Nancy, you need to know that I had no idea about any of this until today when I picked him up from their house.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Any day now,” I growl as Kade takes his sweet time to explain. “You’re upsetting the mother of your kids…and the one she’s carrying. Talk.”
Kade takes some effort to straighten up. “Let’s just speak to Pops. He can start from the beginning.” He tries to put his arms around Nancy again, but she isn’t having it.
I give a less than polite nod to the four bodyguards Kade has brought along in the second SUV. One of them opens the rear door of the vehicle Kade’s father sits in. I jump in beside him. Nancy takes the front passenger seat and Kade takes the driver seat.
“Good morning, Mr. Jackson,” I greet the older man, out of respect for my elders and nothing else. I nod over at him, noticing the man’s face and physical build is an almost exact carbon copy of Kade’s, except for the spattering of gray hair on his sideburns.
“So I hear the two of you found out some things about Natalie and Alain,” Mr. Jackson asks. “Care to share what you know?”
Nancy turns from her spot in the front seat, posture tight as she avoids Kade. “All we have is your name, and a few others. Please Keith, just tell us the truth.”
The old man sits silently for a few moments, looking out of his window pensively. “I suppose we could say this all started when Natalie and I were in high school. I was in my senior year, and she was a freshman. We were the only two military brats in town back then, so we quickly figured that out right off the bat.”
He runs his hand through his hair. “I was a bit of a rebel back then, and I may have told her that once I turn eighteen, I’d show up at school in my dad’s army gear from head to toe, minus the weapons, of course. It was just as a prank, you know? I guess you could say that Natalie took it upon herself to make sure I didn’t do anything foolhardy around the other kids. Anyhow, it was about a week before my birthday. I had driven my car to school, but it was
a real beater. The alternator acted up all the time. The thing wouldn’t start that afternoon, so I walked, figuring I’d take the shortcut behind the school that ran right through the woods to the back of my house. That was the fastest way to borrow some jumper cables and be back on the road.”
“You found my mother in the woods?” Nancy asks, probably hoping he’d move the story along and get to the point a lot faster than his current speed.
“Yes I did, dear,” he confirms. “Natalie lived three houses down my street, so she took that shortcut every day. We walked into those woods that day, but the world got a little bit darker after we walked out. I mean, how shocked and frightened would you be to see your dads leaving the woods with their commanding officer after agreeing to an off-the-books kill order?”
“None of them saw you?”
He shakes his head, his movements pensive and slow. “No, but Natalie and I were naïve. We confronted our parents later that night.”
“What was their explanation?” Nancy asks.
“We were quickly and firmly warned to forget that we saw or heard anything, and to never utter a word of it to anyone. Heck, my old man actually threatened me that we could be charged with treason. Of course, we kept it to ourselves, and our parents made a point of it too, to protect us. After that, we put it behind us. We moved on. Natalie and I barely kept in touch, except for the fact that our parents remained neighbors right up until they passed on. Years later, I met Kade’s mother. Natalie got married to Alain. We had you kids, then about six years before Natalie and Alain were…before they passed, I came home from work to find a note shoved under my front door, warning me that I was in danger.”
“Who was it from?”
“Natalie. I didn’t know what it was about, but I was curious. I went to see her and Alain that night. She brought out some of her dad’s files, files she kept years after he passed away. Files she shouldn’t have had in the first place. Everything was coded like gibberish. She had a lot of theories but honestly, the only thing we knew for sure was the list of names. And that this was a big secret our parents kept close to their vests to protect their former commanding officer… a man who moved up the ranks faster than anyone ever did, an individual whose family quickly became a powerful voice in politics.”
Filthy Savage (Satan's Saints MC Book 3) Page 15
