by K. J. Dahlen
“So do you think he’s on his way?” Reva asked.
“I would be.” Sam’s words broke the uneasy silence the room had fallen in.
“It’s still gonna take him a while to get here,” Gator added. “A lot of shit can happen between now and then.”
“Don’t you worry about Mountain.” Sam growled. “He’ll move heaven and earth to get here. She’s his kid, ain’t nothing gonna stand in his way.”
Silent, Gator moved to the stove and poured the scrambled eggs into the hot pan. Minutes later, he lifted the pan and began dumping the cooked eggs into a serving dish.
Reva began setting out platters of bacon and eggs and the toast into place.
Sam looked out into the main room and saw everyone sitting at the tables drinking coffee.
Before he could leave the kitchen, Reva handed him a pot of tea and three cups. He moved out to the main room and dropped one cup in front of Cassie. Moving to where Peaches was sitting he left her a cup of the tea. Then he found Melora sitting with Izzy. He joined them and as he poured her a cup of tea, he searched Melora’s face for a moment. The dark circles under her eyes told him she didn’t get much sleep. Sitting down, he watched as she sipped her tea. “How are you doing this morning?”
Melora shrugged. “About the same as last night. Not much has really changed in the last few hours.”
“Did you get any sleep?”
Melora shook her head. “Not really.”
Sam took a deep breath and exhaled. “I called Mountain. I had to tell him what was going on here.”
Melora froze then stared at him. “How did he take it?” she finally asked.
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know, he didn’t say a word.”
“What do you suppose that means?” Izzy asked.
“I don’t know,” Melora said quietly. “I don’t know the man very well. At least not well enough to know what he’s going to do.”
“There isn’t really much any of us can do until we know what we’re dealing with here,” Sam said. “We need some answers before we can form a plan of action.”
“It’s the waiting that’s driving me crazy,” Melora admitted. “It feels like something is crawling all over my body and its freaking me out. The more time that’s passing, the more tiny feet are crawling all over me. I don’t know how Cassie and Peaches are dealing with all this.”
“Those two are stronger than you think,” Sam informed them. “They’ve had to be. They both went through hell to get where they are today.”
Melora nodded. “I’ve heard some of their stories.” Shuddering she went on, “I thought the last two years running from Whiskey was bad but what they went through, what they are still going through is beyond me.”
“They survived because they had to.” Sam stared at her. “The boys aren’t going to give them up to anyone or anything coming after them. They will protect all of you cuz that’s just the kind of men they are.” He paused then faced her, “I know I probably don’t deserve a second chance with you but I want one. I didn’t leave yesterday because of the baby you’re carrying, I just heard someone I cared about died a horrible death and my daughter might be facing the same kind of death. I just needed time to come to terms with it.” Shaking his head he explained, “I’ve faced death before, usually head on, but Junie was part of my past I didn’t want to lose. She was a gentle woman who didn’t deserve the life she got. I thought at one time I loved her, maybe I even did but I was an ass back then and I walked away from the one good thing in my life. I didn’t even realize it at the time.”
“And now?” Izzy asked. “Why should she give you another chance now?”
“Because for the first time in my life, I want a do over. I’ve been selfish and self-centered all my life. I’ve made some pretty bad mistakes and others have suffered instead of me. It’s been mostly my kids but I want a second chance with this one.” He searched Melora’s face and he couldn’t find anything there to continue, but he pushed on anyway, “You’ve made me want to be a better man for the first time in my life and I want that again.”
“What about what she wants?” Izzy asked quietly. “Does what she wants fit into your thinking at all or is this all about you?”
Something hard slammed into Sam’s chest and for a moment, he couldn’t breathe. He hadn’t given what Melora wanted any thought at all. He got to his feet so fast his chair slid away behind him. Staring at her face for a moment, he turned and walked away.
Melora couldn’t look at him as tears rolled down her face. She hadn’t said anything as she listened to Sam begging for a second chance. She hadn’t said anything when Izzy asked him about what she wanted either. She’d been on the brink of giving him what he asked for then Izzy’s question had been asked and she waited for his answer. When he didn’t say anything, it broke her heart.
She got to her feet and ran toward the bedroom she’d shared with Izzy a few hours before. Slamming the door, she threw herself down on the bed and began to cry. For a few minutes, she didn’t realize Izzy had followed her.
Izzy laid down beside her and wrapped her arms around her just held her. When Melora’s tears abated she sat up and said, “It’s gonna be okay girl.”
“How can you say that?” Melora asked.
“Because he’s almost where you need him to be,” She assured her friend.
Melora swung her eyes around. “What do you mean?”
Izzy smiled sadly. “Sam. I mean Sam is almost where you need him to be. Right now, it’s all about him but I have faith he’ll see the light and come around.”
“Come around?”
Izzy smiled. “You love that man and I think he loves you too. He just doesn’t know it yet, but when he realizes it there won’t be any stopping him. He’ll come around, you just have to be patient.”
Melora sat up and wiped away her tears. “Do you think so?”
“Yeah, I do,” Izzy assured her. “Oh, and of course, you’re going to have to deal with your dad now on top of everything else, but I have faith in you.”
Melora giggled. “Yeah, ain’t that a kick in the head? My dad? Wow, this is going to be different.”
Izzy laughed. “That’s the truth. Oh well, at least your dad cares about you” She grimaced. “Whereas mine never did. All he cared about was where he was going to get his next drink.”
Melora wrapped her arms around her friend. “So, not your problem anymore. You’re better off without that in your life.”
“So true.”
“So you think I should give him another chance?”
“Yeah, I do,” Izzy said softly. “But not yet, he has so much to learn first but I think he’ll be a quick study. First lesson he learned was he called your dad to tell him about this trouble.”
“Yeah, but what can Mountain do?” Melora shrugged.
“He can be here for you,” Izzy explained. “And right now you need him, whether you admit it or not, you need your dad here with you. He may have come anyway but this will get him here quicker.”
“Maybe, I just don’t want him to change his life for me.” Melora’s hands spread out over her belly. “I want this baby. I finally have something no one else can take away from me. I’m not so alone in the big old world.” She glanced over at her friend. “I haven’t been alone since we met but this is different somehow. This child is mine.”
“I know and I envy you that,” Izzy admitted. “I wish I could find someone like you have in Sam. Like I said, he’s just what you need, he just needs to need you for the right reasons. You deserve that.”
“Maybe you should hook up with Mountain.” Melora teased her friend. “He might be good for you.”
Izzy laughed. “Yeah right, like he would be interested in someone like me.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Melora asked with indignation. “You are a great person.”
“I don’t know about you but I’m hungry.” Izzy changed the subject. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat. Your baby needs food.�
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Melora got to her feet and wrapping their arms together, they joined the others in the main room.
~* * * *~
Eli Jerroe stood in the woods watching the compound. He’d found them by following a couple of bikers late last night. The early morning air was cool but now that the sun was up it was warming up some. He’d hidden his car off the road and walked as close to the compound as he could get and remain hidden.
He’d seen and followed the chain link fence line but hadn’t found a way inside yet. He did notice the locked gate and men walking around the inside. Glancing down at his phone, he studied the photos of the two women he’d been looking for. He knew they were inside the gates and he needed to get his hands on both of them. He turned and walked back to where his car was parked. Opening up the glove compartment, he reached in and pulled out a small pair of binoculars. He went to the trunk and grabbed a pair of wire cutters just in case he needed them. He needed to verify the women were inside. Once he did that, he could make his plans.
He thought he’d seen one of the women moving around very early this morning but as it was daylight he needed to make sure. Making his way back to where he could see inside the compound, he climbed a nearby tree and settled in for what could be a long wait.
~* * * *~
A short time later, four huge motorcycles roared up to the locked gates at the Sin’s Bustards’ compound. One man came out of the shadows and walked to the gate. He punched in a code and the gate slowly opened. The four bikers rode into the compound and parked just outside the main doors.
A big man swung his leg free of the machine under him and as he removed his helmet, he shook his white hair free. Then he headed inside the clubhouse.
The other three men followed him without breaking the silence.
As soon as he got inside, Mountain’s eyes search for Melora. When he found her, he went over to where she was sitting. Taking her hands in his he asked, “Are you okay?”
Melora nodded, as she looked surprised. “How did you get here so fast?”
Mountain grinned. “I know a guy with a plane. We flew out early this morning.” He looked around the room. “I had to see for myself you were all right.”
“I’m okay. They’ve taken very good care of me,” Melora assured him.
Mountain glanced down at her belly. “Not good enough baby girl, not good enough.”
Melora’s hands covered her stomach. “That has nothing to do with it.”
Mountain’s gaze finally found Deke. He left his daughter and went over to the other man. Holding his hand out Deke shook it. “What have you learned? Anything about the bastard after our women?”
Deke shook his head. “We’re still waiting on answers.”
“What happened that brought on this new threat?” Mountain asked. “I thought this Janelle woman was long gone.”
“I found a book among her things that had a symbol in it,” Leon offered an explanation. “I came to the girls because I didn’t know what it meant. I never expected to be followed or put them in danger.”
“So why is Melora in danger anyway?” Mountain wanted to know. “She had nothing to do with this woman.”
“She knows where this symbol is located,” Sam answered. “She’s seen it buried in the tunnels under Boston,”
Mountain swung his head around and glared at Sam. “I’ll deal with you later, right now I need to understand why my daughter is in this mess.”
Deke motioned for him to sit down. “Reva, can you bring some fresh coffee for Mountain and his men? This might take a while.”
When he sat down his men found seats at another table. After coffee had been served, Mountain sat back and waited for the explanations to begin.
Deke cleared his throat and began, “A long time ago, Janelle Walden acquired a small book. This book was a road map of a kind to a treasure hidden, back when Boston was a major city before the Civil War. This book had a symbol in it. A symbol no one today knew about until Cassie found it in a book in the library. We’re not even sure Janelle knew about what it was. Anyway, when Melora was in Boston hiding from Whiskey she went to the tunnels hidden under the city and she found this symbol carved in a doorframe. She didn’t know what she’d found at the time. Then Leon brought the book here and she saw the symbol.” Deke shrugged. “We didn’t know he’d been followed until later when someone posing as an FBI agent came to Redemption House. Whoever he is, he hacked the security feed and watched as Melora told us about the doorway she found.”
“So what have you done to find out who he is?” Mountain’s eyes glittered as he spoke.
“Zipper is searching facial recognition programs and Leon is doing the same with his people. I have a call into the Boston PD,” Deke explained. “We’re staying together and under guard until we find out who this guy is and what he wants. We think he’s a partner of Janelle’s but we’re not sure.”
“We weren’t expecting you for another couple of days,” Cassie commented.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to be here either for another couple of days but when Bones called me last night and told me what was going on, I called a friend of mine and had him fly us out here.”
“How long are you going to stay?” Deke asked.
Mountain looked him in the eyes. “I’m staying…period. My daughter needs me right now and I want to be here with her. Is that going to be a problem?”
Deke grinned. “Not for me. Always glad to have you.” He glanced over at Sam. “Can’t say the same for him though.”
“He’s not your concern,” Mountain told him. “I’ll sort him out later.”
“Everyone here is my concern.” Deke assured the other man. “Sam can take care of himself but everybody else here is under my protection and I take that very seriously. My sister will join us here later on and she is my concern as well.”
Mountain nodded. “That’s as it should be. I’m here to watch out over my daughter and to help against this threat. I’m not here to take over your job.”
“Good to know,” Deke replied. “How long are your men staying?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“A lot of things.” Mountain shrugged. “They came out here looking for a new beginning, same as me.”
Deke nodded. “Maybe we can work with that. We have a custom motorcycle shop going at the moment, if they’re interested.”
Mountain smiled. “Maybe we’ll give you some competition. These guys like to build hot rods.”
Deke chuckled. “Hot rods huh?”
“Yeah.” Mountain nodded. “Hot rods. Hot rods with a whole lot of speed.”
Zipper came in the back door and looked around for Deke. He had a piece of paper in his hands. Spotting Deke, he rushed over and announced, “I got the little prick.”
Deke took the paper from him and stared at the image there. Then his eyes moved down to the writing underneath the picture. “Elijah John Jerroe. Okay, now we have a name. All we have to do is come up with a connection, if there is one.” He looked over at Gator and handed him the paper. “Call the badge and find out what he knows about this prick. I want everything he has on him. I want his family and friends and what he had for breakfast this morning. Do a search around town and find out where he’s staying. I want this guy.”
Gator nodded and moved away, pulling out his phone.
Leon did the same as he placed a call to his people.
Deke leaned forward and rested his forehead on Cassie’s. For a moment, they were the only two people in the room. His lips touched hers briefly. “We have a name and soon we’ll have him. Then we’ll get the answers and put an end to this madness. I swear I’ll keep you safe from the dark,” he whispered.
Cassie closed her eyes. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“You are my whole world. I’d only give you up if I was dead and even then, I would fight like hell to keep you safe. I’d better let Iceman and Peaches know.”
Cassie watched as he went
over to Iceman. Then she frowned when Iceman growled. Glancing over at Mountain, she found him watching Iceman as well.
Everyone turned and watched as Iceman began pacing.
Finally, they all drifted back to the main table. “What’s going on?” Mountain asked.
Iceman glared at Leon and Calderone. “I’m surprised the two of you don’t know the name Jerroe.”
Leon shrugged. “Why would I know that name?”
“Michael Jerroe is a wanna be. He wants the gold ring and he doesn’t care much how or what he has to do to get it.”
“But what does Michael Jerroe have to do with Elijah?” Calderone asked.
“Michael is his father.”
“And what is his connection to Janelle?” Cassie asked.
“That’s a very good question,” Iceman replied. “I don’t know but he was picked up with the others in the baby ring thing. The last I heard was the feds didn’t have enough on him to make it stick. They had to release him.”
“Janelle had quite a lot of things going beside the baby ring,” Leon volunteered. “We found evidence of several failed enterprises and the makings for more in the room Cassie told us about.”
“She must have had other backers as well,” Peaches added. “That means there will be others waiting for us to make a mistake. We’ll never be free of her.”
~* * * *~
Melora got to her feet and came over to the table. “Then we draw them all out.”
“What are you talking about girl?” Deke growled. “I’m not putting the mother of my children at risk for some foolish plan.”
Melora shook her head. “You don’t understand. I’m not willing to risk my life either but we have to take a stand against these people or Cassie and Peaches will never be free of the past.”
“I can protect my woman,” Deke insisted.
“Can you protect her against the fear that grabs her by the throat in the dead of the night? Can you fight her battles against the boogey man when he steals her dreams, turning them to nightmares?” Melora asked him softly.
Deke looked over at Cassie and saw her tears. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in bubble wrap and keep her safe. Instead, he asked, “What are you suggesting?”
