by K. J. Dahlen
Stone’s hands came up to frame her face. His thumbs gently wiped the tears away from her cheeks. “You will be safe. You belong to me now and he won’t get close to you.”
McKenna shook her head. “I can’t ask you to stand between him and me. Please don’t ask me to do that. I’d rather give up my life than cost you yours. Maybe if he gets to me, it will be over.”
Stone shook his head. “For Hades, it will never be over. He will continue to kill until he’s stopped by a bigger force than he is. That’s just the way he is.”
“Besides all that, you’re under our protection as well,” a man’s voice assured her.
She turned and saw Deke Tory standing next to his father Sam. He was the one who spoke. She quickly looked around the room and noticed the looks on every face there. She could see rage and determination in their eyes. McKenna shook her head. “But I can’t ask you to put yourselves in danger like that.”
“You aren’t asking us to do anything.” Deke shook his head. “You’re only part of this equation. This goes beyond just you. We’re doing this for every one of his past victims and every one of his future victims. Like Stone said, this asshat isn’t going to stop until someone else stops him.”
“Why would you do this? Why would you put yourselves in danger for a complete stranger? Someone you don’t even know.”
Deke glanced around the room. “We aren’t like the other clubs. We’re all good men and a little rough around the edges but we don’t run guns or drugs.” He held up his hands. “Not to say we haven’t done in the past, but we don’t do it now. This club is legit. Sure, we own a strip club but the women who work there do so because they want to not because they have to. We have a code we live by. We have to stand up for what we believe in. We never raise a hand against a woman or a kid. We aren’t perfect by any means, but we stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. And we stand together. We know we’re stronger as a unit than we are alone. As long as the cause is just, we’re a force to be reckoned with. This is a just cause.”
“But you’re putting your lives on the line against a force you can’t imagine.”
Sam snorted. “After what this fucker has done, the world is gonna be a better place without him in it.”
Before she could answer him, her phone rang. The sound echoed off the silence in the room. McKenna frowned as she pulled her phone from her pocket. Caller ID said the caller was unknown and she had a sinking feeling in her gut. Glancing at Stone, she answered the call. “Hello?”
“You didn’t come home last night, darlin’. I missed you,” a whispery voice came through the speaker.
McKenna began to shake as she put the call on speaker. “Who is this?”
A short laugh followed. “Oh, I think you know who I am.”
Gasps could be heard in the background but no one broke the tension in the room.
“I don’t actually,” She whispered. “What do you want?”
“I want you. When I saw you in Boston we connected, you and I. I felt it and I know you did too.”
“But I didn’t,” she whispered. “I felt nothing but horror for what you were doing. You took a woman’s life that night and many more since then.”
“They weren’t the one but you could be.”
McKenna looked into Stone’s eyes as she spoke, “The one?”
“All my life.” His voice dropped down to above whisper. “I’ve been looking for a kindred spirit. A spirit like my own.”
McKenna gasped and her eyes rounded with horror. “You think I’m like you?”
“Not what I’ve become but what I once was, perhaps.” His voice softened. “Back before the killing started.”
McKenna felt Stone’s arm come around her again. She was numb as the feeling of pure evil spread within her. “But I’m not like you at all. You don’t even know me. Did you know all the other women at all? Did you even know or care about who they were? Did you even take the time to know their names?”
“They were all whores!” He screamed. “Each and every last one them thought they could get away from the enviable by offering me their bodies. They thought having sex with me would save their lives. They deserved what they got.”
McKenna shivered as his words rang out.
“Would you offer me your body if you thought it would save your life?” he asked her.
“No,” she gulped and croaked out the word. Her throat was suddenly dry and she could hardly speak.
“No, I didn’t think you would. I think you would face your death with a dignity those other women didn’t have. Death comes for all of us. It begins the moment we’re born and only when we are gasping our last breath in this life, is death really satisfied. But that’s not the real struggle we deal with every day of our lives.”
“And what is?”
“The right to survive. That’s the real struggle we have to deal with. That and how we face death when it finally comes. Will you face it with courage or fear? Will you welcome death’s embrace or fight it with every fiber in your being?”
“I don’t want to die,” she assured him. “I want to live and discover what real living is supposed to be. I want to learn to love someone with all my heart. I want to know the feeling of growing a child within my body, I want to feel the excitement of real passion.”
“We all die a little more every day,” Hades reminded her. “And we don’t always get what we most desire. Most of us only get what we desire. We only get what we have the power to reach out and take with our own hands.”
McKenna wondered where this was going and she felt maybe the men in this room might get some information if she kept this killer talking. “And what do you desire? What do you truly want out of this thing we call life?”
There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the call. “You know something?”
“No…what?”
“No one and I mean no one has ever asked me that question before.” He told her. You see, you and I are alike. You question what you don’t know and you learn from it.”
McKenna’s nerves snapped and suddenly her fear evaporated. “You and I ae nothing alike!” she yelled into the phone as her hands shook. “You are a sick fuck who enjoys making other people suffer. You crave watching the terror in a woman’s eyes as she fights for the right to live. You enjoy the blood they spill. That’s just sick.”
Hades chuckled at her outburst. “Oh, but those things are truly wonderful to watch. You get a feeling of power as you watch them struggle. You get to a certain point in the fight where you and you alone have the power to let them go or take everything they have for your own. I may have taken their lives but they gave me so much more than that. Each one of those women gave me a small piece of their souls.”
“That just goes to show the whole world what a sick fuck you really are,” McKenna seethed at him.
“Watch what you say to me bitch. I can take you easy or hard. The more you piss me off the harder it will be. Right now, I’m on the edge but if you push me, I can keep you alive for days and watch you suffer. I can make it, so you’ll beg for death to take you.”
“Fuck you!” McKenna cried out. “Fuck you and the demented freak you are. I’ll see you in hell before I beg you for anything, even death.”
Everyone in the room heard him scream in rage as he ranted and raved his displeasure at her. “I’m going to find you bitch and when I do, I’m going to kill you slowly. I’m going to watch you bleed for days. I’m going to watch as you get weaker and weaker from blood loss and then the moment you pass into the next world, I will watch your eyes. I’m going to take your soul. I’m going to take it all, not just a tiny piece of it but the whole fuckin thing. I’m going to own it and you can’t stop me.”
Stone reached over, and taking her cell, he ended the call. Hades words terrorized her almost to the brink of madness. She looked close to the edge and he needed to bring her back. “Sweetheart…” he called out. “Babe, look at me.”
McKenna kept h
er head down as if she didn’t hear him. In reality, she didn’t. Her mind remained wrapped around Hades’ threat.
Stone grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit. “McKenna, I need you to look at me,” he called out a little louder.
McKenna snapped her head up and she stared at him with blank eyes.
Stone growled. “McKenna, look at me.”
Turning her head, she focused on him “What?”
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. “He won’t get to you, I swear.”
McKenna shuddered in his arms. “That man is just plain crazy,” she murmured. She looked up at him and asked, “How did he get my phone number? How did he know where I live or that I didn’t come home last night?”
Stone shook his head. “I don’t know but I’m going to find out.”
A few minutes later, Matthias came over to where Stone and McKenna were sitting. He reached out his hand to Stone. “Jonah and I will be on our way. We just came to let McKenna know about Brittney and we don’t want to get in your way. You guys are doing shit we don’t need to know about, don’t need to know, don’t want to know. Just keep this girl alive, that’s all I ask.”
Stone nodded. “He won’t get close to her and when it’s done, I’ll let you know.”
“Good, I’d like to close the file on this sick fuck.” Matthias gazed into his eyes.
“Don’t you worry about that.” Stone growled. “We’ll close this file and burn it into the ground.”
Chapter Seven
About midmorning, the front door opened and several men came into the clubhouse. Stone turned to see his second in command- Dewey Mann walking toward him. “Dewey.” He grasped the other man’s hand. “Glad you could get here so quickly.”
Dewey grinned. “Yeah, who do I have to thank for the ride?”
“That would be me.” Mountain stood up.
Dewey and the men with him slowly tilted their heads back as they watched the big guy get to his full height of six foot eight inches. Dewey held out his hand. “Thanks man.”
Mountain shrugged. “He…” He jerked his thumb toward Stone. “Seemed to think he needed you guys here. We’re under a timeline here. We got a madman after an innocent woman and a lost little girl.”
Cassie came through the doorway from the kitchen with a smile on her face. “We can take the little girl off the missing person’s list. My men found her. They’re taking her back to her mother at this moment.”
“Maybe they should bring them back here, just to be on the safe side,” Deke suggested. “I’d hate to think this maniac could get to them again.”
Cassie smiled. “Don’t worry about that. Amos is taking them to a safe house for a while. He and the others will keep Trixie and Jerah Dawn safe until this is wrapped up.” She looked over at Stone. “They’re out there watching the streets for your man. If they spot him, they will call in his location. They know better than to try and take him.”
Stone nodded. “More eyes looking is better.” He paused then asked, “Did he hurt her?”
Cassie shook her head. “He scared her that’s all. He didn’t really hurt her. Jerah was smart and did nothing to piss him off.”
“Did she say what happened?” Deke asked.
Cassie shrugged. “All she would say was he brought her to a warehouse tied her up and left her in a locked room. She was waiting for him to come back but he never did. He did tell her to wait for him that he would be back for her.” Shrugging she added, “My guys got there first.”
Dewey and the others glanced toward Cassie, then Dewey turned back to Stone. “Pappy, what the fuck is going on here?”
Stone exhaled deeply. “We need you guys here to help us track down a killer. Ten years ago, he was a member of the Hell’s Fire Riders. We knew him for three years before he disappeared.” He stared at Dewey for a moment then added, “He’s after my woman and I’ll be damned if he’s going to get to her.”
“Your woman?” Dewey looked shocked.
“My woman.” Stone growled. “He’s been playing fuckin mind games with her for four years now. He thinks he’s got her where he wants her, but he doesn’t know we’re here. We have to stop him before he can get to her.”
“Who is this guy?” Dewey asked.
“His given name is Jon Ronin, his Rider’s handle was Hades Ghost.”
One of the men dropped his duffle on the floor with a loud bang. “Hades? Are you fucking kidding me?”
Stone turned toward the man and shook his head. “I only wish I was, Recon. He’s back and he’s as sick as he ever was.”
“Damn, Pappy.” Recon dropped down into a chair. “When he disappeared in Iraq, we all were hoping the desert would claim him.”
“Well, it didn’t.” Stone snarled. “He got back home somehow and has been perfecting his craft. He’s murdered at least ten women in the last four years. God only knows how many before the police caught up with his doings.”
“And how did the police catch up with him?” Dewey asked.
“Six women stumbled across his latest murder scene four years ago.” Stone said. “One of them was my woman. She’s been running and hiding since then. Now he’s found her for the fourth time and this time he plans to end the game.”
“Is this the game he told us about in the sand box, boss?” Recon asked.
Stone nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
“Well fuck.” Recon growled.
Dewey looked between the two men. “Will one of you guys explain to the rest of us what this game is all about?”
“Like all of us, Hades is looking for the perfect woman,” Stone explained. “From the way he spoke to McKenna this morning he thinks he found her.”
“Thinks he found her?” Dewey repeated Stone’s statement.
Stone nodded. “Yeah, he thought he found a deep connection in McKenna, now he knows no connection exists, so he plans to kill her.”
Recon scoffed. “I’m surprised he hasn’t killed her already.”
“Well, he definitely wants her dead now,” Deke told the group of men.
“That ain’t gonna happen.” Stone growled.
“Exactly what does Hades consider ‘the perfect woman’?” Dewey had to ask.
‘I asked him that once,” Recon replied to this. “At first, he wouldn’t say anything. Like he had to think about it, then what he said made me shiver. He said she would have a body that didn’t quit, a mind that was sharp, and an attitude that would challenge him on every level. Oh, and she had to have deep blue eyes he could lose himself in.”
Stone paused then demanded, “Are you sure he said blue eyes?”
Recon nodded.
“McKenna’s eyes aren’t blue, they’re green.”
They all stood for a long minute, looking around at all the tables full of files, laptops and men.
“Where do you want me Pappy?” Recon asked.
“I want you to work with Deke’s man Zipper and see if you can try and locate Hades. He has to be living somewhere in this city. Check the city cams and traffic cams.”
Recon shook his head. “How the hell are we supposed to do that? Do you have any idea how big this city is?”
“I know but we have to try.” Stone nodded. “I just wish we had more info on this guy.”
Recon smiled. “Oh Pappy, ye of little faith. Remember than tape recorder I always used to carry around with me?”
Stone stared at the other man for a moment. “Yeah, what about it?”
“I recorded everything over there. You guys didn’t know it but I was going to write a book about what it took to be a soldier during wartime. It was something I wanted to do back then. I got more of Hades than I ever thought I would use, but every night I’d transcribe it from the tape to a computer.” He held up a flash drive. “Maybe there is something in here that can help us run this fucker down.”
Stone grinned. The man earned his name, Recon every day back then and now too. He felt a little relief and hope. “Go for it.”
“And the rest of us?” Dewey asked. “What do you want us to do?”
“We need to come up with a plan of attack. Find a weakness, something, anything we can use against him to bring him to us.” He turned to the back wall. “We have the police files from his latest murders. Look through them. Familiarize yourselves with the way he kills. We’re down to eight hours before he comes after her. He may not know it yet, but he’s lost his hostage so the timeline may move up.” He paused then added, “We also have to lock down this place. I want you guys in the woods watching the perimeter, in case he does find us, I don’t want him inside the fence.”
“But your guys know this asshole right?” Dewey asked. “Can’t they find him?”
Stone shook his head. “I want a new perspective on him. You guys are military trained, so is he. You guys have planned attacks, so has he. You guys have been in the thick of battle…”
“So has he,” Dewey repeated. “Yeah, yeah we get it.” Glancing at the men he brought with him, he gave the orders. “Okay guys, you heard the man, let’s dig up as much as we can on this guy.”
Stone led Dewey over to the table where everyone else was sitting. He motioned at the group. “Everyone, this is my VP Dewey Mann. Dewey, this is Deke, Sam, Cassie, Mountain, and Gator.”
Dewey nodded at them. “And the woman? Where is she?”
Stone went over to the corner where McKenna sat.
She’d wandered over here a while ago and just sat with her back to the wall, not saying anything to anyone. Her eyes looked so lost. He hated to see that look in them but at the moment, there was nothing he could do about it. Helping her up to her feet, he brought her over to meet Dewey. “Babe, this is Dewey Mann.” His arm went around her waist and she had a grip on his hand that told anyone who cared to look that she wasn’t letting him go anytime soon. “He’s gonna help us run down Hades.” He looked toward Dewey. “Dewey, this is my woman, McKenna Sawyer.”
McKenna looked from one to the other. “Can you find him? Can you stop him? I really don’t want to die.”
Stone drew her into his arms and held her close. He looked over her head and glanced at Dewey. He could see the other man’s shock then he noticed something else in his eyes. He saw determination.
