Finding Needles (Charon MC Book 10)

by Khloe Wren

  With a frown he took in my desk and the pile of files I had sitting beside me. I had them stacked so no one could see the names on them. Dad took client confidentiality extremely seriously, which was why I was screwed if he found out about my call to Ryan.

  “Well, I trust that you’re going to see to it that it’s done as a priority. I’m sure you’re aware of what the good book says about those who defy the work of the Lord?”

  There wasn’t a damn thing good about whatever the fuck book this man read from, because it sure as hell wasn’t a Bible. Before I lost my temper and said something my father would regret, he came out of his office, obviously having heard what this asshole just said.

  “Pastor Godfrey, I certainly hope I didn’t hear you threaten my secretary just now.”

  He turned to face my father, all charm and smiles once more. “Of course not, merely enticing the girl to work more expediently.”

  Dad frowned at him, clearly unimpressed with his big words and bullshit attitude.

  “She would no doubt work faster if people didn’t come in harassing her. You are not our client in any matter at this time. And even if you were, it is not the client who tells my secretary what case to work on, but me. I’d suggest you take your leave and don’t return until you’ve been contacted to do so.”

  His face turned an interesting shade of red and he opened his mouth, no doubt about to spew some other thinly veiled threat at my father, when my dad raised an eyebrow. “I would think very carefully about what you say next. I’d hate to lose a file because I got angry and couldn’t remember where I left it.”

  I wanted to laugh so badly, but managed to keep my face in a neutral expression until after Pastor Godfrey stormed out of the door, letting it bang closed behind him. Only then did I let a small chuckle escape. “Look at you go, Dad. Thanks for that. That man gives me the creeps.”

  He sighed and came over to my desk. “Yes. He is a man I wish had never found our town.” He closed his eyes and dropped his head for a moment. “I’m not sure what he’s said or threatened with Barbara with, but it concerns me. Even more so now that he seems to want things done so quickly. I wish I could talk her out of it. I went over again on Saturday to attempt to do just that but she’s adamant this is truly what she wants.” He sighed heavily again. “If only Ryan had stayed longer after the funeral...”

  He wandered back to his office, completely obvious to the tears that were in my eyes in response to his final comment. Maybe I should try to call him again? See if he’s made plans to come down here yet. I had no doubt that Pastor Godfrey would be on his way over to Barbara now to tell her she needed to call dad and get him to speed things up.

  I gave Dad ten minutes to make sure he’d moved on to work on something else before I brought up my internet window again. Typing in “The Chosen Way” I hit enter but didn’t get much. Looked like they didn’t even have a website. Damn.

  I flipped through the files until I got to the Perry’s file, and looked quickly through my dad’s notes. I’d been with him Friday night, but if he’d gone over there again on Saturday, she may have said something else he’d noted on the file that would give me a clue. There would be a dictation in the system that I could listen to as well, but if I did that, Dad would see I had that one open out of turn and I’d get busted with my snooping.

  “What the fuck?”

  I paused on a note. She’d called on Sunday and given information for the transfer. I frowned at the name that looked familiar. Drake Industries. Packing away the Perry’s file, I moved back to my computer and pulled up the filing system, typing in “Drake Industries” in the search bar. And whistled under my breath at the results.

  “Dammit. How have I not noticed this?”

  Although, even if I had noticed, I wasn’t sure what I would have done about it. It wasn’t like he was being technically illegal. People were gifting the properties to him. One commercial building and three houses. The commercial property was the same address where Ryan’s father’s funeral had been held, but the three houses were all within a four block radius of each other. That motherfucking con man already had four properties in town. I delved further as I pulled my note pad over toward me, jotting down the address and names of who’d previously owned the properties. Rocky Gully wasn’t a huge town, had no big strip mall or anything like that, but it was big enough I didn’t know these addresses off the top of my head. Only one of the names looked familiar to me. Mirabelle, a girl who had been a few years below me back in school. Looked like I’d be going for a drive on my lunch break. I chewed my lower lip as I wondered what I could do with this information, with what I might find out this afternoon. Should I try to speak to whoever was living in those houses?

  The phone ringing broke my concentration and I absently reached for the receiver as I turned to a fresh page in my note pad.

  “Good morning, you’ve reached Brookes Lawyers, how can I help you?”

  “Oh, Elizabeth, how are you dear?”

  I winced. Barbara. And I could put money on what she was calling about. I really hoped that Ryan was on his way to help deal with this shit, because I had no clue how I was going to be able to remain professionally impartial as a woman I cared about got taken for a ride that was going to cost her everything she owned.

  Chapter 3

  Needles

  “I need more information before I can keep looking. So far the man’s a fucking ghost. The Chosen Way isn’t online at all, which isn’t uncommon. Generally, these fuckers don’t want their followers online talking about what they’re doing. Let’s head over there. Drive around some, set up some cameras. Hopefully we can spot the fucker and get a photo of his face. I can use that to search for him. You sure you don’t want to go talk to your mother? Or maybe this Bess chick?”

  I heaved a sigh. Fuck it all. Of course Keys hadn’t been able to find shit with the small amount of info I’d brought to the table.

  “Ma will get defensive if I come straight at her asking questions. She’ll get royally pissed that I didn’t bring Ashlynn to see her, too. And she’ll definitely tell Bess’ old man that Bess called me. I would prefer to not cost her her job and family over this if I can help it.”

  Keys shut his laptop and added it to an already full looking bag.

  “What the hell have you got in that thing?”

  He gave me a grin wide enough it actually looked a little evil.

  “Toys, my friend. All sorts of fun toys.”

  Arrow strolled in the door and eyed the bag Keys tossed over his shoulder. “You looking to rig Rocky Gully as tight as you have Bridgewater, brother?”

  “I’ll make a start on it.”

  I had no clue what the fuck these two were talking about, and to be honest, right at this moment I didn’t fucking care. Standing still wasn’t my thing. “We going for a drive, or what?”

  Arrow nodded. “Got a cage ready to go. We could find you a loaner bike, but I think at this stage a cage will be more discreet.”

  Couldn’t fault that logic. Unfortunately. “Good deal.”

  I followed the two men out of the clubhouse and slid into the passenger side of the older model Toyota RAV4 as I cursed myself for not taking any photos of the man at the funeral. Could’ve given Keys a better chance at finding any information out there sooner. But nope, the only pictures I’d snapped on that trip had been of Ashlynn, and one or two of Bess that I’d managed to get when she wasn’t glaring at me. Other than that, my phone had stayed tucked away for the most part.

  As we rolled into Rocky Gully, I pointed out various landmarks and shit as we went. Keys stopped here and there and quickly hid tiny cameras. So that’s what he meant by toys. At the third stop, I turned to Arrow.

  “He do this a lot, then?”

  Arrow grinned. “Keys is as about as paranoid as you get, but it’s paid off more than a few times. Scout’s eldest, Ariel, ran off soon after they adopted her. No one had any idea where the hell she’d gone off to. But thanks to Ke
ys, who’d low-jacked her shoes and bag, he found her in no time. We’ve made it in time to save our women a few times thanks to him, too. So we all look the other way when he starts planting fucking cameras everywhere. He’s no perv. He doesn’t check shit unless he has to, so don’t worry about him stalking you around town.”

  I laughed. “Man would get bored pretty damn quick following my ass around.”

  We drove past The Chosen Way’s building a few times before Keys found a spot he was happy with to park, so he could go and do his thing once more. He’d taken his cut off before the first stop so he just looked like a random guy walking down the street, checking out the odd house or building. He was that fast at hiding those little micro cameras of his.

  “Don’t those things need batteries and shit?”

  Arrow shrugged. “I don’t even pretend to understand the tech he uses. I asked once but he lost me with his very detailed response. Now, we mostly just accept that it works and move on. Much simpler.”

  Keys returned and we headed off in the direction of Bridgewater, but before we did, he pulled into a parking lot and pulled his laptop out. “Let me just check the feeds are working.”

  Curious, I watched over his shoulder as he flicked between each of the cameras.

  “You’re fucking kidding me.”

  Keys paused the feed. “What? You know that car?”

  I scrubbed a palm over my head. “Yeah, I fucking know it. That’s Bess.”

  “She have a reason to be driving nice and slow past that fucker’s church in the middle of the day?”

  “Must be on her lunch break. And I guess she doesn’t think I’m coming to sort this shit out and is taking it into her own hands. Damn woman. We need to go to her place. Hopefully she’s gone home for the rest of her lunch break.”

  “Wouldn’t she go back to work?”

  “Nah, she only lives a few blocks from where she works. And that girl’s never been a morning person. Highly doubt she’d get up earlier to make herself lunch when she can just go home and eat there each day.”

  We got back onto the road and I directed Keys until we were outside Bess’ house. Memories of our night together flashed through my mind as I slid out of the car and strode up to her door, pounding on it when I got there.

  “Bess! Open the fuck up!”

  The door swung open to reveal a very pissed of Bess. “So you decided to come home after all.” She huffed and slammed her hands on her hips, which pushed her tits out, distracting me. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing right now? Half the town doesn’t need to know you want my damn attention.” She stopped her rant and her eyes widened as her gaze focused past me. I guessed Arrow and Keys had walked up to join me.

  Keys stepped forward, level with me. “How about we take this inside, yeah? No need to have the whole street in our business.”

  I winced at his words. Fuck. Pounding on her door like I had really hadn’t been necessary. When would I stop being an asshole around this woman?

  With another huff, she moved out of the way and I followed the other two inside after taking a glance up and down the street, grateful to find it as empty as it had been when we’d pulled up. Hopefully all the noise hadn’t carried far. As I walked through into her place, I caught a glimpse of her bed through the open door to her room and once more, flashes of her naked and writhing under me filled my mind. How I’d ever thought one night with her would be enough, I’d never know. Because that plan sure as hell backfired. I wanted her even more now that I knew what I was missing. But she hadn’t wanted me again. She’d been so fucking cold as she’d shown me the door before the sheets had even cooled. That had another wave of anger flowing over me, reminding me why we were here. She’d put herself in fucking danger today. I spun on her, stalking her across the room as she backed up against a wall.

  “What the fuck were you playing at earlier, driving past that fucking church all nice and slow? You trying to make yourself a target, Bess?”

  She went from cowering female to warrior woman in the space of a heartbeat. Slapping her palms against my chest, she forced me to take a step back before I braced myself for the next impact. “What do you think I was doing? I called you. I risked everything to let you know what was going on and you blew me off. What? You think I care so little for your mother I wouldn’t try to help her just because her own son wouldn’t? That fucker has somehow brainwashed her into this scheme. She’s not the first, and I doubt she’ll be the last.”

  I opened my mouth to tell her how fucking stupid it was for her to go casing the fucking church, or whatever the hell she thought she was doing, when Keys nudged me over and took my place in front of her.

  “Bess, what do you mean she’s not the first? What have you found out?”

  She eyed Keys like he was a rattlesnake and my anger deflated like someone popped the damn balloon that had been holding it. She risked herself first to tell me and then again to help Ma because she believed I wouldn’t. The fucking woman was trying to go for sainthood or something.

  “Bess, this is Keys and that’s Arrow. They’re part of the Charon MC over in Bridgewater. I went to them to get help to deal with this guy because he’s too big for just one person to take down. I didn’t blow you off, babe.” I paused to sigh. “You can trust them.”

  Then I moved away and sat heavily on her couch. This whole situation was such a fucking mess, and my feelings for Bess weren’t helping. We’d been friends. She was the cute girl I kept safe at school growing up. Then we spent nineteen years apart, and when I saw her last month, a completely different feeling took over at my first sight of her. Lust. She’d grown into one hell of a stunning woman. Pair that together with her sass and guts, she was damn near irresistible. But I had to. She didn’t want me like that. The cold way she’d shoved me out the door after our one night together told me all I needed to know about how she felt about where I stood on that front.

  Elizabeth

  He hadn’t ignored my call. He’d gone and got help instead of running in blindly.

  I wasn’t sure how to feel. Ryan was confusing the hell out of me. When we’d spoken on the phone, he’d been such a brash asshole that I’d mostly just wanted to shake him, but despite his harsh words, he’d obviously started planning on how to deal with the situation as soon as he hung up from our call. Which, apparently involved another motorcycle club. I turned from where Ryan sat looking defeated on my couch to the older man beside me. Keys. What kind of name was that?

  “If I tell you what I know, you can’t ever let on where you got the information. I might work for my father, but he’s extremely old-school and if he finds out I’ve blown client confidentiality like I have, I’m going to be out of a job. He may even cut me from my family.”

  With a gentle smile, Keys led me over to a chair at my kitchen table before sitting next to me.

  “Not sure if you’ve heard of our club before?”

  I’d heard the odd mention of them, but I’d not paid much attention. MCs didn’t really touch my life here. “Only in passing.”

  He nodded. “The club was named after the Greek ferryman, the Charon. His job was to ferry souls either to Hades or the Elysian Fields. Heaven or hell. It was his sole choice on where he would take a soul. Our club plays that role when we need to. Situations like with this Godfrey bastard, where the law can’t or won’t step in, we do. We step in, investigate and handle it. No one will find out where we got our information. Your name won’t leave our lips. But we need to know what you found out so we can go in and fix this shit before anyone else gets hurt.”

  Wow. So the Charon MC was all for vigilante justice. I’d been a legal secretary for long enough, I knew the law didn’t always get it right. Hell, the very fact James was alive and well was proof of that. I couldn’t help but wonder what this club would have done if they’d known about what he’d done. Ryan shifting from the couch drew my attention back to the current situation. He sat on my other side while the other man, Arrow, took the re
maining seat opposite me, speaking as he sat.

  “If your dad finds out and you lose everything, you come see us. You drive straight over to Bridgewater. If you’re not brave enough to come to the clubhouse, go to Marie’s Cafe. Marie is our president’s old lady—you tell her what happened and she’ll get you taken care of.”

  Ryan straightened and I swear I heard him growl. “Your dad kicks you out, you call me, Bess.”

  I turned to him, more than a little shocked. He didn’t seem to even want to acknowledge I was alive since our night together but now he wanted to play my hero all of a sudden? This man confused the hell out of me. “But you’ll probably be back in New York. What can you do from there? I can’t move to New York. I, ah, I can’t do big cities. Not anymore.”

  That was more information than I should have said. Dammit. He frowned my way but I wasn’t going to let him ask the questions he was clearly thinking. I turned to Keys, focusing back on Godfrey.

  “Barbara’s property isn’t being transferred to a person, but rather a company. Drake Industries. When I saw that, I did a search and found four other properties that have been transferred to him in the past eight months since he came to town. There’s one commercial property—his church, then three homes. All three homes are within a four block radius.”

  As I spoke, Keys pulled his phone out and was typing in a note. “Thank you, Bess. I’m sure I’ll be able to track down his past better with that information. But I don’t need to look into him to know he’s dangerous. Bess, you have to let us do this. You need to just act normally. Don’t attract his attention. You’re pretty and young, he could easily become fixated on you. Especially since, from what I can see, you work for the only lawyer in town. He would consider having someone on his side in that office of benefit.”

  I nodded. “Dad is the only lawyer in Rocky Gully. I’m holding off creating the documents for Barbara, but I won’t be able to stall them for long. Godfrey was in first thing this morning, then within ten minutes of him leaving, Barbara called to ask us to please get the work done as soon as possible. Why would he be in such a rush?”