Dark Mind (Dark Series Book 1)

by H. R. Owen

  My car starts with a loud growl, just like it always does.

  Hearing a tapping sound on the closed window, I notice Dahlia’s standing there, signaling for me to wind it down, and I do as she asks.

  “Callen, if Hunter won’t see you, take those papers straight to Bill. This involves him, too. And Harmony told me she knows he’ll want to see them. Tell them she sent you,” Dahlia explains.

  My hands cover her face, and I pull her down to kiss me. My tongue runs along her lips, and she returns the favor. “Fuck, your sexy, Dahlia. I’ll be back soon. Please be careful,” I demand. I take off, heading out on the highway.

  The same old man is working the gate when I arrive at the clubhouse.

  “Great, here we go again,” I mumble to myself.

  Pulling my car up in front of the gate, the old prospect greets me. “Callen, he’s not here,” he berates.

  “Got a message for Hunter and Bill, call them and tell them they will want to see this. Harmony sent me,” I say waving the papers in front of him. The prospect calls it through and opens the gates after his phone call ends. “Thanks, old man. Hey, by the way, how did you manage to make prospect at your age?” I ask.

  “Ha. Ha. Ha. You really think I’m a prospect? Last one got himself dead, right here. Let someone in and cost a few lives, so now boss wants a real man guarding his castle. It was my idea to wear the cut, trick those fuckers into thinking I’m a weak old prospect, then I’ll blow their fucking brains out. Also, I’m a sick fuck and thought it would be fun wearing a dead man’s cut,” he explains.

  Not even I’m that fucking twisted.

  “Who was it that killed the prospect?” I ask him.

  “Club business,” that’s all he says as he waves me through the gates.

  Pulling the Impala up to the front of the garage, I’m greeted by Hunter opening my door.

  “Get out, we need to talk,” he spits.

  Once I’m out of the car, Hunter leads me up to his father’s office where Bill sits waiting for our arrival.

  “So… Callen. Been fucking the devil, have we?” he asks.

  My blood boils at his words, but I know I have to keep my cool or I won’t be walking out of here alive. “What are you talking about, old man?” I question.

  “Dahlia Moore… Garrotte. The woman who killed your friend. You’re fucking her, right?” His question comes out more a statement.

  “She mine. Yes. But she didn’t kill Bates. Turns out Vince hired her for the hit, but she faked his death. Just found out yesterday when Bates showed up at my doorstep,” I explain to him.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. Why are you here? You got four of my men killed with your snooping, you know. Why do you think Hunter’s been blowing off your calls?” Bill questions.

  “That wasn’t my intention, and I’m sorry about your men. I had no idea about any of this shit. Here…” I hold out my hand, “… a message from Dahlia for both of you,” I say placing the papers on his desk.

  “Bates is alive? Fuck me,” Hunter chimes in.

  “Sit,” Bill demands before I can reply to Hunter.

  I do as I’m asked and sit across the table from him while he opens the folded papers. Hunter joins his father in reading the message I’d passed over. It doesn’t take long before they’ve gone through each piece of paper.

  “Fuck,” Hunter spits out, hitting the wall beside him.

  “Look, I don’t know what’s written on there, but I think it’s supposed to be a bit of motivation for your club to help us take down Vince and his men,” I voice.

  Bill clears his throat and sits upright. “You’re on, Callen, we’ll help. Hunter, go fill the guys in. We start today,” Bill announces.

  “Can I ask why you’re so keen to help now? What’s on those pages?” I ask.

  Bill throws the pages down on the table in front of me and storms out the door. I guess that means I have to read it for myself.

  Dear Harmony,

  My beautiful daughter.

  Vince has threatened to have you killed if I don’t go with him, and I just can’t risk that. I know he won’t be kind, and he will try to hurt me, but I think I’ll live through this knowing you’re safe. Be strong my baby girl, I know you will be, you’re already as tough as they come.

  Please don’t tell your father or brother what’s happened to me, they will try and get revenge and get you all killed in the meantime.

  However, please tell them both that I love them, and I’m sorry.

  One day, when you find a man you love and have children of your own, you will understand why I’m doing this.

  My family will always come first, even if it costs me my life.

  Love you always,

  Mom.

  P.S We will meet again soon.

  What the fuck did I just read?

  Is Harmony Hunter’s sister? Bill’s daughter?

  How did I not know this?

  Hunter’s been my friend a long time now, and I’ve never heard anyone talk about Harmony. The next two pages contain images of both of them. One is a drawing of a cute little red-haired girl, and the next looks like a map of the town. A small x sits over an image of what looks to be the factory that used to be an old slaughterhouse. It’s been abandoned for about twenty years now. Ever since Vince bought it out. In the left-hand corner of the page are the words “When the time is right, dig.”

  What the hell is that supposed to mean?

  The sound of the door slamming behind me makes me jump out of my confused state. The banging is followed by yelling.

  “He’s a fucking dead man. My mother still better be alive,” Hunter spits.

  “Hunter… Harmony’s your sister?” I ask him.

  “Yes, Callen. Bill didn’t want anyone to know about her. Too dangerous of a life for a little girl. He kept her guarded until she hit sixteen, then she came in demanding to work for him. That girl’s always been batshit crazy. She’s proved it over and over again that she can hold her own, though. Everyone still thinks she’s just a runaway that Bill took in, but now I think it’s time for the truth. Get the club stirred up,” Hunter voices.

  He sounds like a proud brother even if he did call Harmony crazy. “Get my sister to call me. I need to know if she’s been to the old slaughterhouse, and figured out what that shit’s all about,” Hunter continues, pacing the room as he speaks.

  “Okay, Harmony can fill you in on the plan. She and Dahlia seem to be running this show,” I voice out on a laugh.

  After saying goodbye to Hunter, I decide on going for a drive in the opposite direction of home, just to buy a present for Dahlia. I really hope she likes it and doesn’t get offended by it.

  Dahlia and Harmony are sitting in the living room when I arrive home, the floor covered in papers and food wrappers. One guess who the food wrappers belong to.

  “Hey, darlin’… Harmony. I think we have a few things to talk about. Hunter’s your brother. What the fuck?” My voice sounds out pretending to be offended.

  “Harmony? The sleaze ball’s your brother?” Dahlia chimes in.

  “Yes, I couldn’t tell anyone. Conditions on my father letting me work for him. Which I also couldn’t tell anyone, since I was used for getting into other clubs. Anyone found out, I’d be dead,” Harmony states.

  “Harmony, your brother wants you to call him,” I say as I take Dahlia’s hand, pulling her up from the floor. “And you, sweetheart, you need to come with me,” I demand.

  “Harmony, make sure you get rid of all your food wrappers,” I order.

  “They’re not mine, Callen. Looks like my appetite’s rubbing off on Dahlia,” she says.

  “Wow, darlin’, don’t start eating like them or we’ll all be broke,” I tell her.

  I help her clean up, and then she follows me up the stairs and into the bathroom, and when I turn to look at her, there’s a fire lit in her eyes.

  I run my hand along her cheek, and I brush my lips against hers. “Here, I bought you a gift,”
I say, pulling a paper bag out of my back pocket.

  Dahlia pulls the new set of wires out of the bag and runs her hand along the engraving on the handles ‘C and D… Dark together.’

  “Oh, Callen, I love it,” she cries out kissing me hard.

  “We don’t have much time, darlin’, but I need to fuck you before we leave. In case anything happens to either one of us, I need to know how you feel in case this is the last time,” I tell Dahlia.

  Tears form in her eyes, and one single tear streams down her cheek. My tongue finds her tear and licks a path back up to her eye.

  “Don’t cry. Just show me how much you love me,” I demand.

  Dahlia drops to her knees in front of me pulling my pants down to my ankles. She places her hands on my ass and squeezes tight, forcing my hands to grip tightly around the edge of the sink. Her tongue runs up along my shaft, and it twitches at her touch. My hard cock finds her perfect lips and slides inside.

  At first, she takes her time working her mouth over my shaft with slow movements, then she frantically starts working me more. Hard and fast. I look down and brush her hair out of her face so I can see her when I come. She looks up at me, and her eyes meet mine. That’s it. She looks so perfect sucking my cock in between her lips that it makes me explode. My body shudders as she sucks back my hot stream and continues to work me until I’m finished.

  “Holy fuck, darlin’,” I grind out between my teeth.

  “Your turn,” I tell her pulling her up off her knees and pushing her back against the sink.

  I make her come twice just with my mouth, and then we come together while I’m buried deep inside of her.

  We will not lose this fight.

  I need Dahlia.

  I need to fuck her, and kiss her, and tease her, and love her, every day.

  There’s no time to lay around with her at the moment, even if that’s all I want to do. We have to bring down Vince’s empire.

  dahlia

  Callen bought me a gift that will come in handy, starting tonight. We had planned on driving into Vince’s town and attacking there, but Hunter advised that there’s quite a few of Vince’s men here, and we all agreed on getting them out of the way first. I suggested to Callen that Harmony and Bates should go to the factory and attempt to figure out what the words on the map mean, while he came to the apartment with me. I figure that there are a few men still after me, and what better place to get to me than in my own apartment. Callen agrees with my decision, and it’s almost as though he wants me to be in charge.

  At first, I was so frightened he would only want the pure and innocent side of me, but I think he’s actually a bit more turned on by my dark side.

  The drive to the apartment is relaxed and easy, and even Callen’s got a smile on his usually brooding face. The idea of us working together just feels right. It’s like we’re meant to be doing this together.

  Callen pulls the car up to the curb in front of the apartment, unbuckles his seatbelt, and slides straight out of his seat. The passenger side door opens, and I’m greeted by a familiar face. Ricky. The guy who works at the corner store. The one who used to eyeball Harmony all the time.

  “Ummm… hey, Ricky. What are you doing here?” I ask him even though I have a fair idea of who he is. Callen has already shifted around to my side of the car and has his gun pointed at Ricky’s head.

  “We need to talk. I’m not here to hurt you. I promise. Now please get that gun away from me. If you shoot me, you’ll never find Sandy,” he berates.

  “Sandy? Who the fuck is that? And why do we care?” Callen asks.

  “Sandy’s your friend’s mother, the one who Vince has locked away,” Ricky states in an arrogant tone.

  “Shit! Okay, let’s talk. But my gun’s not going away just yet.” Callen drops his gun only slightly, holding it pressed against Ricky’s back.

  “Come on upstairs, Ricky. It’s far too open out here, and I don’t feel like being shot… again,” I tell him.

  We all head up to my apartment noticing there’s no lights on around the place, and there’s also no one to be seen. It’s really unusual, there’s usually a few people around the building, and the lights from the other apartments never seem to be off. I’m thinking this is a setup, and I might have to kill Ricky soon. Instead of feeling nervous or scared, I feel fucking excited.

  We arrive at my apartment and the door is once again unlocked. Pushing it open, I flick on the light switch. Nothing. Looks like the power’s been cut.

  “Nice move, Ricky, cutting the power. You do know who I am, don’t you? You know I can take you down before you can blink,” I spit.

  “Believe me, sweetheart, I know you could. I cut your power so we can talk without being seen. I’ll get my head blown clean off if they think I’m trying to help you,” he explains.

  “And why are you trying to help?” Callen chimes in.

  “Because Vince fucked me over, too. He had the woman I loved killed. I’ve been working for him for ten fucking years now. Guess he thought my girl was a distraction or some shit like that. To be honest, she was a distraction. I had to make him think I had no idea about her death. I told him I thought she ran away because she was scared of the life I live. I’ve waited years for the opportunity to get back at that son of a bitch. I have a lot of information, and you guys have a lot of men, so what do you say? Want to bring this fucker down together,” he roars.

  You can hear it in his voice that the story he’s telling us is true, but I still find it a bit strange.

  “Why come to us now? How do you know how many men we have and what we plan to do with them?” I ask Ricky.

  “Oh, Garrotte. You have no idea, do you? Someone went straight to Vince and told them you were coming. Turns out, someone in Hunter’s club has been sharing information,” he reveals.

  “Don’t fucking call her Garrotte. Her name’s Dahlia. And who the fuck is this snitch?” Callen questions Ricky after protecting me.

  He knows I hate being called Garrotte.

  “Sorry. Dahlia… not sure on names, but the guy’s old, maybe in his sixties. He’s been working the gates the last few days after the prospect got himself killed,” he tells us.

  “I know the fucker,” Callen spits out.

  “So… anyway… Vince has decided to send his men here instead of sitting around waiting for you all to go shooting up his neighborhood. They’re all in town now, and they’re not going to wait for you all to make your first move. Call Hunter and tell him to clear out the clubhouse, that’s where they plan to go first. Meet me at the corner store at five o’clock tomorrow, and I’ll let you know what their next moves are. And one more thing… I need you to shoot me. Just nowhere that will cause too much damage. I’m supposed to be bugging the apartment, and if they know you’re here, and I let you two go, then I’m a dead man. At least if you shoot me, I can say you shot me and then took off straight away,” Ricky begs.

  Bang.

  Callen doesn’t even hesitate.

  “Fuck! Okay, tomorrow… five o’clock. Shit!” Ricky orders between painful cries.

  Callen shot him in the leg, right between his ankle and his knee. The bullet only just grazed Ricky’s leg, but it looked painful enough. Callen grabs my hand and pulls me along behind him, running down the stairs and back to the car.

  “Quick… get in, darlin’. We don’t know how many more there are, and we could be outnumbered. Fucking Ricky,” Callen shouts.

  When we get back in the car, I’m about to praise Callen on his acting skills, when he pulls the car out jerking me around, spinning the tires and taking off up the road.

  “Wow! You played that one a little too well,” I proclaim.

  “Sometimes you just got to play along, sweetheart. Call Harmony and tell them to go straight to the lake house and stay away from the factory for now. Tell her we’ll fill them when we get there and to be on the lookout for anyone on the roads in town,” Callen demands.

  Callen calls Hunter and in
forms him about the old man working for Vince and tells him to get his men out of there. I call Harmony. Bates and her are almost at the factory. I explain a little of what’s happened and give her the address to the house. She assures me they will turn the car around and head straight there.

  We’re driving through a back road out near Callen’s parents’ lake house. The road’s quiet, not a car to be seen. Thank God nobody followed us. Pulling into the driveway, we notice that Harmony and Bates are already here and waiting for us on the balcony.

  “Hey, guys… sorry about the turnaround, but I think we might have to come up with a new plan,” I state.

  We all enter the dusty, worn-down house, and there’s nothing but silence. I really don’t know how anyone will be able to sleep in this house tonight, so I start picking up rubbish and go looking for some cleaning items. I’m lucky to find an old broom and a rusted old mop and bucket to clean the floors with.

  “Here, Harm… you’re on floors,” I demand passing her over the broom. She scowls at me but starts sweeping anyway.

  “Bates… start wiping shit down,” I order.

  “Darlin’… what exactly is going on? The place is trashed, I don’t think anything will help right now,” Callen explains.

  “Well, what else are we going to do? Sit on top of a heap of shattered glass? Here… make yourself busy,” I spit, handing Callen a pile of bedding I found in the linen closet.

  All the bedding was folded neatly inside cotton bags and still smells quite clean, especially after sitting here for such a long time. The beds are covered in dust and God only knows what else, so I have Callen throw them out into the old shed.

  After Harmony finishes mopping, I lay the bedding out onto the freshly cleaned floor. At least if anyone wants to sleep, there’s a makeshift bed, an uncomfortable one, but still better than nothing.

  It takes about three hours to get the place cleaned up and in a slightly liveable condition.