Hard Proof (Notus Motorcycle Club Book 1)

by Debra Kayn

  Gracie unlocked the front door and swung it open. Clara's heart exploded in relief at finding Lieutenant Gomez.

  "The doors open," she said into the phone. "There's an officer here."

  "Go ahead and disconnect the call. The St. John's Police Department will take care of you now."

  "Thank you." She disconnected the call, looked at the Lieutenant and blurted, "Someone was in the house and peed on the floor of my room."

  Lieutenant Gomez held out his arm. "I’m going to have officer Whitley escort you to my patrol car while we check out the rest of your house and take a look at your bedroom. He'll stay with you. There's a blanket on the backseat if you're cold."

  Not alone anymore, the shock of finding out that someone had been in their house, in her room, hit her. Chills went through her. Her teeth chattered, and she refused to let go of Gracie when her sister tried to get inside the patrol car. Tumbling onto the seat, she rocked back and forth.

  "I can't believe this is happening," she whispered. "We live in a good neighborhood in a townhouse."

  Gracie cradled her head in her hands. "This is unbelievable. Who would break into our house?"

  "I don't know," said Clara.

  "Do you think we were robbed?" Gracie hooked her arm through Clara's. "I unlocked the door when the police came, so I didn't forget to lock up when we left this morning."

  Clara shivered. "I don't know, but I don't want to go back in there."

  A low rumble filled the vehicle and grew louder. Clara turned in the seat and spotted Wayne riding toward the house. She slapped Gracie's leg to get her attention. "Wayne's here."

  She reached out and felt along the door. "Where's the stupid handle?"

  "It's a cop car. There are no handles in the back seat," said Gracie.

  Clara knocked on the window and raised her voice. "Can I get out?"

  The officer opened the door. "I'll need you to stay—"

  "My boyfriend is here." Clara pointed to the street. "Please."

  Wayne jogged up the driveway and caught her outside the cop car. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him hold her while her body shook.

  "What the fuck happened?" Wayne set her on her feet without letting her go.

  "Someone broke into the house." Clara turned when Gracie stepped out of the car.

  Wayne held out his arm and motioned Gracie forward, wrapping her in their hug, then rubbed both of their backs. For the first time, she noticed tears on Gracie's cheeks.

  "Someone peed on the floor in Clara's room," said Gracie.

  "On your shirt," added Clara.

  "It'll be all right." He took the blanket the officer handed him and wrapped it around Gracie and her. "I'll take you back to my house for the rest of the night when they give you the okay, and we'll deal with everything tomorrow."

  "Thank you," said Clara, echoing Gracie.

  Lieutenant Gomez walked out of the house, talking on the mic of his radio strapped to his shoulder. When he approached them, he first looked at Wayne, then faced Clara and Gracie. "We've checked the whole house, and it's safe to go back in. We need one of you to walk through and let us know if anything is missing. Usually, on a break-in, the perpetrator is looking for money, jewelry, phones, laptops, television. Considering you're both females, look through your clothing. In the kitchen, look for consumables...wine, alcohol."

  "I'll do it." Gracie stepped out from under the blanket.

  Anxiety filled Clara getting separated from her sister. She handed the blanket to Wayne. "I'll go with you, sis."

  The last thing she wanted to do was go back inside. Her security stolen, she rubbed her arms, feeling violated. She shivered. Someone had been in her room and peed on her carpet.

  Inside the house, Gracie grabbed her hand. Clara scanned the room. Nothing was out of place. The new lamps sat on the end tables. Every picture was on the wall. Even the throw pillows were sitting in the corner of the couch and the blanket folded over the back of the chair. They walked together into the kitchen. The one bottle of wine they had sat on the second shelf in the cabinet. The block on the counter held all the knives.

  "Everything is here," said Gracie, tugging her toward the stairs. "Let's hurry and check upstairs."

  "I don't want to go in the bedroom." Clara covered her nose with her free hand.

  "We'll stay in the hallway. Tomorrow, we'll hire a carpet cleaning company to come in and clean your room." Gracie squeezed her hand. "It'll be okay, sis. I promise."

  Outside of her room, she found her phone on her dresser where she'd left it. Her closet was closed. Gracie let go of her and tiptoed around the outer room, looked in the closet, the dresser drawers, and peeked in the bathroom.

  "Everything is here. I don't see anything of yours missing. Do you?" asked Gracie joining her in the hallway and handed Clara her phone.

  Clara shook her head. "Let's do your room and the bathroom, and get out of here."

  Doing the same inspection in the other rooms, there was nothing out of place. Gracie grabbed her coat on the back of the chair at her desk and put her hand in the pocket, pulling out a twenty-dollar bill. "That's the only cash I have at home."

  "Yeah, everything was in my purse, which I had with me and left on the kitchen counter." Clara walked out of the room and down the stairs. "We should look in the garage."

  Together, they opened the door and flipped on the light. Besides the garbage can, the washer and dryer, Clara's car, they only had a few boxes they hadn't unpacked with items they wanted to keep of their dad's when they'd sold his house. The tape holding them together hadn't been tampered with.

  Clara led the way back to the living room, anxious to have Wayne at her side. Lieutenant Gomez and Wayne stood by the front door talking quietly. She went to his side and leaned against him.

  "There's nothing missing." Gracie slipped on her coat.

  Lieutenant Gomez lifted his notepad. "Because of the mess in the bedroom, do you have someone who is angry with you? An old boyfriend? A customer? A neighbor? Usually, when this kind of thing happens, it's a hate crime."

  Clara shook her head. "No, we don't have anyone angry at us, not that I know of."

  Gracie repeated the same. "How would someone break in if the front door and back door are locked.

  The lieutenant looked at Wayne and nodded. "The passenger side window on the car parked on the street in front of your house has a window broken."

  "That's my car. The window wasn't broken before," said Gracie.

  "You have a remote garage door opener in your car?"

  Gracie frowned. "Yes, between the front seats out of sight."

  "I found the remote sitting on the driver's seat and have given it to Wayne for safe keeping." Lieutenant Gomez slipped his notepad in his back pocket. "People are always surprised to hear that remotes give criminals easy access to the garage. They can get in and out in a hurry without any of the neighbors noticing or hearing them breaking in."

  "God," mumbled Gracie pressing her hand to her forehead and half turning away. "I never thought someone would break into my car."

  "I'll make a report, but unless we have some idea who would be harboring feelings toward you or have a suspect, we don't have anything to base a search on." Lieutenant Gomez talked into his radio and then looked at Clara. "If you come up with anyone you suspect, feel free to call me, and I can investigate."

  She nodded. "Thank you, and thank you for getting here so fast."

  "Clara?" said Gracie.

  The fear in her sister's voice sent a new wave of shivers through her body. Clara turned and found Gracie staring at the bookcase. "What's wrong?"

  "T-the picture is gone," whispered Gracie reaching for her.

  Clara wrapped her arms around her sister, her gaze going over every shelf. How could that be?

  The picture of their mom holding both of them when they were one year's old was the only photo they had of her. The one they found after their dad died hidden in a box in his closet. It was how they
remembered their mom looking before the memories in their heads faded, and all they could remember was how wonderful she smelled, like sugar, and how she laughed, how she would touch them with soft hands.

  Chapter 21

  Shut tight in the garage of his house with Notus members, Wayne kept his voice low. "I don't like it."

  "There's nothing linking the serial killer with the break-in at the twins' house." Thad stood from the corner of the desk.

  "Fuck that." Wayne planted his elbows on the surface of the desk. "There's no link between the Morgan case and the Hillard case, but we all damn well know that two girls go missing within two weeks of each other and both of them end up dead that the person responsible committed both crimes. This is St. John's. Even if we include Portland in the demographics, two murders with young victims is a rare occurrence. Now, Clara's house gets broken into, and someone takes a piss on my shirt in her room. If the serial killer is targeting Clara or Gracie, we need to catch the son of a bitch who is responsible before someone gets hurt."

  "Are the women staying with you until this asshole gets caught?" Chuck teetered on the back legs of the chair.

  "I'd like them to, but we'll see what they say. As for tonight, they're here." Wayne shook his head in frustration. "I left them in the house because they wanted to take showers. I should get back in there. They both need to sleep. They're wound up tight, and I'm sure they'll want to take care of cleaning up the mess the asshole left in Clara's bedroom tomorrow."

  "Will they be opening the bar?" Glen pushed the skull cap halfway off his head before yanking it back into place.

  "I'm sure they will. They were worried about closing up while the police inspected the alley. They won't want to close the bar again, so soon," said Wayne.

  "Then, we'll make sure someone is at the bar, and a couple of us will guard their house when they're working." Glen pointed at Thad. "We'll guard the block tomorrow night until we know more about what is going on."

  Wayne ran his hands over his face. "I'm going to bed. Feel free to crash or lock the door when you leave. I'll get ahold of everyone once I know what is happening."

  It was after five o'clock in the morning, and he was glad tomorrow was Sunday, and he didn't need to work. Whatever Clara and Gracie planned to do after they rested, he'd stick right by them. There was no way he would let them out of his sight. When his head was clearer, he'd figure out what he was going to do come Monday when he was due in at work.

  "Hey, Wayne," said Thad.

  Wayne turned around at the door. "Yeah?"

  "We'll get him, and we'll keep her safe." Thad lifted his chin. "We'll do what we couldn't do for Thalia. For Rich."

  Wayne looked at them all, lowered his chin, and walked into the house. He'd witnessed the truth, the loyalty, the dedication in each pair of his MC brothers' eyes. They'd crossed the line before. They'd killed four rapists, a child molester, three murderers, and a man who'd killed his wife and daughter. In all nine cases, the courts fucked up and let them loose back into society.

  Devoted to bringing justice, they worked with law enforcement to keep punishment fitting for the crime and put their energy into finding other people's lost loved ones while they hoped Rich would come home. But sometimes, the courts failed everyone, and Notus extracted their own punishment for the victims.

  That information was kept inside the club and with the person who hired them. Each individual had too much to lose by telling others. It wasn't a job he enjoyed. It was necessary.

  Upstairs he walked into his room and found Clara covered up in his bed and Gracie sitting on the edge of the mattress talking to her sister quietly. He cleared his throat, and they both turned to him.

  "Everyone doing okay?" he asked.

  Clara sat up. "We're okay. It felt good to shower."

  He looked at Gracie. "The spare room down the hall has a bed you can crash in."

  Clara sat up and tossed the blankets off her legs. She wore one of his shirts and now that he looked, Gracie had on one of his shirts, too. It never entered his mind that they left without any of their belongings.

  Clara walked around the bed and kissed him. "I'm going to sleep with Gracie. Neither of us feels like being alone. She's set the alarm on her phone so we can get up in time to open the bar. That way, too, you can sleep in."

  He tagged her arm and kept her from walking away. "You're sleeping with me."

  "I can't leave Gracie by herself," she whispered.

  "I'll be fine." Gracie lifted her chin.

  That stubborn, proud expression on Gracie reminded him so much of Clara, he softened. He turned Clara around, patted her ass, and said. "Both of you climb into my bed. I'm shutting off the light so I can get undressed."

  Clara crawled across the mattress and settled herself in the middle of the bed. He waited for Gracie to move and she remained on her feet.

  "You touch me or pretend to..." Gracie lifted her hands and made air quotes. "Get us mixed up while you're sleeping because you have a sick fantasy about twins, I will punch you right in the balls."

  Wayne bent his arms and showed her his palms. "I can tell you apart, and you're sleeping on the other side of the bed. I'm beat. You're beat. We need some fucking sleep, so the faster you jump into bed by your sister, the sooner we can get some shuteye."

  Gracie hurried around the bed, slipped under the covers and rolled to her side with her back toward Clara. He shut off the light, stripped down to his boxers, and got in bed beside Clara, who rolled toward him and hugged his side.

  He closed his tired eyes and exhaled loudly, his body already relaxing now that Clara was beside him.

  Several minutes later, Gracie whispered, "Night, sis. Love you."

  "Night. Love you, too."

  Without missing a beat, both women said, "Night, Wayne. Sleep tight."

  He grunted. Clara lifted her head. He could feel her looking at him in the dark. He patted her ass, and she laid down. Then, he murmured, "Night."

  His life had changed when he'd met Clara. It wasn't the first time he'd had two women in his bed. But this time, he only wanted one of them. He'd do whatever he needed to do to make sure Clara remained in his life, and that included protecting her sister, too.

  Chapter 22

  The banging of pots and pans came from the kitchen of Vavoom's. Clara wiped down the last table. She'd expected to be dragging ass today after a sleepless night at Wayne's house after the break-in, but nervous energy kept her moving.

  Gracie pulled the tray full of napkins, salt and pepper, Tabasco sauce, ketchup to the next table and set about filling the items. "We need to talk fast while Paxton is busy and Wayne is gone. Are you still thinking we should keep quiet to the police about who we suspect broke into the house?"

  "It's the only thing we can do." Clara looked over her shoulder before moving closer to Gracie. "Nobody would believe us. Certainly, not the police. And if we told Lieutenant Gomez who we suspected, it would blow our chances at asking Notus to help us. They'd be obligated to inform the police. We need to wait. I have zero confidence that the police can catch him. They've had twenty-four years to find him, and they haven't."

  "I agree." Gracie spilled the salt and picked up a rag to wipe the sprinkles off the table.

  Clara pressed her hand on her lower back and arched her spine. "We need to be really careful, sis. The likelihood that it was him that broke into the house is rare...like winning the Lottery rare. But he took the picture of mom. We can't ignore that."

  Gracie raised her brows. "Believe me, I'm not. I just don't understand. Did mom's murderer have a sick obsession with her? Maybe it wasn't a random crime. And, how would he know we're her daughters? Nobody knew us here before we moved back. We were so young when Dad moved us away."

  "If it was him, this is scary." Clara leaned closer. "Maybe we're paranoid."

  "I just don't want to be stupid. It makes sense to us because we've been obsessing about mom's murder for the last two years since finding out, but for the pers
on responsible it's been twenty-four years. That's a long time. It's almost unbelievable that if it were him, he'd pick our house and find mom's picture." Gracie retied her apron. "You need to talk to Wayne."

  "If we're wrong about him, we're both going to prison if he goes straight to Lieutenant Gomez." Clara pushed the cart and followed Gracie to the next booth. "He's given me no sign that he'd agree to work with us without involving the police. He's all about working with Lieutenant Gomez and focusing on the victims, not the suspect."

  "He's falling in love with you. That can only help us," said Gracie.

  Clara's throat tightened. He wasn't the only one falling in love. She found it hard to move forward with their plan because her feelings toward Wayne were real. If he agreed to find their mom's killer, he had more to lose than they did if the job failed. If he agreed to their request, would their love survive the ramifications that would come afterward? They'd both have to live with their decisions for the rest of their life.

  "I'm scared. Now more than ever with the break-in." Clara rubbed her eyes, remembered she had makeup on and stopped. "I have so much to lose."

  Gracie sat down on the other side of the booth and whispered, "You have more to lose than me now. That's why it's up to you to talk to Wayne or not. I will love you no matter what you decide."

  She looked into a face that mimicked hers. The same eyes, the same mouth, the same nose, the same hair. Before they'd learned the truth about their mom, they'd lived a comfortable life. Their father loved them. They both had jobs they enjoyed. They'd accepted how normal of a life they had together.

  Then, everything turned upside down. The unconditional love they remembered coming from their mom would not be tarnished. The anger they felt toward her murderer turned into hatred once they let the truth sink in.

  "I'll talk to him in the morning before work. I don't want to spring this on him tonight." Clara blew out her cheeks and caught movement in front of the window looking out to the sidewalk. "We need to unlock the door. There are customers coming."

  Gracie reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "Wayne will be back to spend the rest of the day and night with us here. We're safe. Let's just get through the day."