by K. J. Dahlen
“Honey, they are going to be very happy to see you.” He held her hands. “They hated the fact they had to leave you behind but Micah didn’t leave them much choice. If they had stayed, he would have killed Jordan to get to Sawyer.”
Jolene’s lips tightened in anger. “I hope he died slowly and in great pain.”
Calico chuckled. “He did. I made sure of that. He learned the hard way not to mess with what was mine.”
Jolene gave him her own quirky grin, one that he remembered so well. “Good, it doesn’t make up for what he did but it helps.”
“I just wish I could do it all over again.” Calico clenched his fists. “I think I killed him too quick. I didn’t make him suffer enough.”
She tilted her head at him. “Let’s go find our kids.”
Calico decided then and there, he liked the sound of those words.
They walked inside.
The kids were there in the main room. They turned their heads and gaped as the both of them went white in the face. They gasped in unison.
“M-mom?” Sawyer stammered.
~* * * *~
An hour later, Jolene sat at a table with her son, her daughter and Calico.
Sawyer wiped tears from her eyes and stared at her mom. “That sound was the loneliest sound I ever heard when that machine flatlined. It took you away from us. I’m so sorry but I had to get Jordan out of there and somewhere safe.” Sawyer told her she heard the damn machine record a flatline, no heart activity for almost 2 minutes. Then the nurse rushed them out of the room.
Sawyer and Jordan couldn’t get over the fact she was still alive.
“Your dad told me what was going on and why you left.” Jolene hugged her. “Thank you for protecting your brother.”
“No worries Mom, you know me better than that. I’ll always protect him.” Sawyer smiled. “I have since the day he was born.”
“I’m just glad the threat is finally over,” Jolene told her. “We can get on with our lives again.”
Sawyer felt a shiver grab hold of her heart and she whispered, “I hope so.” She so wanted to believe the nightmare was over but something inside her wouldn’t let her. She had a bad feeling there was something more to come. After living under the threat from Micah and Max for so long, she somehow knew it wasn’t over yet, maybe it never would be.
~* * * *~
It was almost midnight when Leon and Calderone walked into the clubhouse. It had been a long day and he knew the day wasn’t quite done yet. He noted Bane sitting at one of the tables near the corner studying the tiger murals that had been in the club as long Leon had been coming here. He went over to sit down with him.
He and Calderone had found what they were looking for earlier in Max’s office. Now he was looking for confirmation. This man would know if anyone did.
~* * * *~
Bane sat in the corner with his back to the wall and watched everyone. He noted the tiger murals again and he still thought it was an odd thing to have in a place like this. Whomever the artist was, they knew how to paint for sure. But in his business, he learned not to be surprised. Surprises like letting someone sneak up in your blind spot could get you killed. His eyes kept everyone in sight. He sighed. It wasn’t that he was looking for a knife in the back, not here. But a lifetime of training was still in place. Lessons learned as a child had become a habit he couldn’t break.
A movement from his left had him turning his head to see what was coming. He saw Leon and Calderone approaching him. He watched with narrowed eyes as the two men sat down at the table with him. They were the heads of the Family. These men were ones you did not cross, no matter who you were.
Both of their gazes watched him carefully.
“Can I help you gentlemen?” Bane asked quietly.
Leon acknowledged his question with one of his own, “What do you know about a man they call The Priest?”
Bane froze for a moment then searched the two men’s expressions carefully. They didn’t look like they meant the question as a threat and he sensed no rage in them. He leaned back. “Why do you want to know?” “I’m sure you’ve heard of Max
Bordeaux and his interest in a woman called Jolene,” Leon stated. “With everything that’s been going on around here, it would be very hard to ignore.”
“Yes, it is almost festive around here at the moment, now that the threat of violence is gone.” Bane rolled his eyes as he agreed. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”
Leon leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table as he regarded Bane intensely. “While going through some of Max’s paperwork I found a number of payments over the years to someone called The Priest.”
~* * * *~
Leon sat back and watched Bane’s face. He was looking for some change of expression in the other man’s face but Bane was too much the professional. He’d seen no hint of anything at all in his stony expression.
Looking straight into Leon’s eyes Bane told the other man, “The man they call ‘The Priest’ is someone you never want to meet, personally. And you probably never will meet him in person, unless you’re the one he’s come to question. I may be the best assassin in the world but he is known as the best interrogator in the world. His method of finding answers is in torture and it’s said he can kill you without leaving a mark. But he isn’t known for killing people, he’s known for digging out secrets.”
“What do you mean never meet him in person?” Leon frowned.
“No one knows what the man looks like,” Bane assured them. “There are no known photos of the man and not even Interpol knows who he really is. He works all over the world, yet no one knows what the man looks like. He hides behind anonymity. He could be standing right next to you in his civilian life and you would never know it. He could be your neighbor, or someone you pass on the street. Like I said before, he is the best in his field.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Calderone stated. He and Leon shared a look.
Bane felt curious. Nothing excited him, but he did enjoy intrigue. “What secrets did Max have that required The Priest’s service and why would he need a man like that?”
Leon sighed. “That is a very good question and one I cannot answer at the moment. I’m hoping to find out within the next few days. I have a team going through his things to unearth his secrets.”
“Do you know who his intended victim is?” Bane asked. “That could give you some information as to the why.”
Leon shook his head. “We don’t really know at this point what Max was doing in his own town. We do know he had his hand in many different projects.”
Bane’s lips thinned. “It sounds like the man loved secrets. You may never know the truth.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Leon admitted.
Bane tilted his head. “May I ask why this would ever frighten a man like you?”
Leon stared at him before answering, “Max represented the Family in this area. He had certain obligations to keep track of and expand upon. We’ve found evidence that he expanded on those obligations and began to branch out on his own. As an organization, we can’t accept that. We demand a certain level of loyalty from our people. It’s beginning to look as if Max’s loyalty was no more than lip service.”
“And that doesn’t sit well with you,” Bane stated.
“It does not,” Leon replied in a flat tone. “Max seemed to be only loyal to Max. That sets a dangerous precedent.”
“One which you will have to set boundaries for and clean up.” Bane nodded.
“Therein lies the problem,” Leon admitted. “We may never know the extent of Max’s empire.”
“But someone out there knows the truth.” Bane understood the problem fully now.
“We just have to find that someone.” Calderone nodded.
“The answer may be closer than you think,” Bane suggested. His eyes moved around the room and found the one woman who might know the truth.
Leon followed his gaze and his eyes found
a woman sitting with her kids. “Yes, she may have some of the answers we need but she’s damaged goods and may not remember what she knows. It may take years to find what she knows and that’s another problem. She may never remember. At the moment, she doesn’t remember her own name.”
The woman they were looking at was Jolene. Calico had brought her back earlier in the day. She appeared to be nervous about being reunited with her children.
“She also doesn’t remember the two people she should.” Bane observed. “She doesn’t seem to remember her own children.”
Leon stared at the woman in question. “According to her medical reports she was very near death. In fact, she did die for several minutes then her heart began beating again. The doctor tells me her memory loss may be permanent. She may never remember her previous life. For now, her whole life is a blank slate.”
“And it may remain that way,” Calderone added.
“Then the next best thing may be to talk to her children,” Bane suggested.
“Her children?” Leon frowned. “Why?”
“They were the closest to her.” Bane shrugged. “The way I understand it, she kept to herself and took care of her children. They’re the ones who knew her best. They are the ones she protected all these years. Therefore, they might be the very ones who knew of her secrets.”
Leon glanced at Calderone. “That is true. If she shared her knowledge about Max with anyone, she would have shared it with them.”
“But which one?” Calderone asked.
“I’m thinking the daughter,” Bane stated wisely. “She is older and better able to understand what her mother went through. If anyone knows what her mother is hiding, it would be her. She’s been there the whole time and as a woman, she would have noticed more than her brother. Boys seldom pay attention to emotions the way women do.”
“Point taken.” Leon nodded. “Women also see more than men.”
All three men turned and stared at Sawyer for a moment.
She turned and glared at all three of them, then turned back to her mother.
“She may not know anything,” Calderone pointed out.
“She may also know more than she realizes,” Bane spoke quietly in that low cold tone of his. “If that’s the case, The Priest will not stop until she reveals all she does know.”
“And if that’s true, he may come close to killing her before she tells him what he wants to know,” Calderone stated as he ran his fingers through his hair. “How do we protect her from that?”
Bane shook his head. “You can’t.”
“Can’t?” Leon demanded.
“You can’t protect her at all,” he insisted. “In fact, you won’t even see him coming and you won’t know he’s taken her until it’s too late. That is another thing he’s known for. The Priest gets in and out without being seen. If he has to get in and kidnap her, he’ll take her to an unknown destination for questioning.” Bane shrugged looking around. “He won’ have any problems getting into this place. He might simply walk through the front gate. If he does return her, she’ll be as broken as her mother. Especially, if she doesn’t know what he’s after. He’ll break her for sure. Just how badly is a question only she will answer to.” He shrugged. “Of course, he may not know where she is just yet. That might give you some time to get her to a safe location. But he will find her eventually. He’ll wait until he has a secure place to question her in and then he’ll simply take her. Like I said, you won’t know he’s been here until it’s too late. That’s his MO. Many people have tried to stop him but he’s one that cannot be stopped. He waits until no one is looking for him then he moves in quickly and quietly.”
Leon reached out and offered his hand to Bane. When Bane shook it, Leon told him, “Thank you for sharing your information with us. Now at least, we know what and who we’re up against.”
~* * * *~
Bane watched carefully as the two Vincinti men joined the other group who sat with Deke and some of his other men. He thought about the information he’d shared with the other two, then he thought about the information he’d kept back. He had learned a long time ago not to share fully, everything he knew. In this case, he didn’t think the information he kept back would help anyone.
There was something else The Priest was known for; he kept his anonymity by leaving no witnesses behind to identify him. His victims didn’t live long after he was finished with them and their bodies were never found.
If he had any emotions at all, he would almost feel sorry for this young woman, Sawyer. If The Priest were after her, she wouldn’t escape his reach. In Bane’s business very few had ever earned his respect. The Priest was one of those. The other two were now dead, by the Priest’s hands, in fact. Both had been the best hitmen in the business too. Yet, the Priest had got to them and found out what he was hired to find, then they both disappeared.
Bane knew by experience, this interrogator had taken them out. So, his explanation to the Vincinti men about the interrogator not being a hitman may have been misleading.
He shrugged. He didn’t really care about any of it. If The Priest was coming for her though, it wouldn’t matter what the MC did to protect her or even if the Family tried to protect here. The Priest would get to her, period.
CHAPTER FOUR
Deke sat alone at one of the tables and waited for dawn to break. It’d been a late night but with everything that went on, the club had been busy until the wee hours. As much as he wanted to be sleeping right now, there was too much happening no one wanted to talk about and if he wasn’t careful, it was going to erupt all over the place.
He certainly wasn’t comfortable with Bane and Michael sticking around and while he didn’t mind Leon and Calderone being here, there was something behind their visit that needed to come out into the open. He had a sense for these things and he’d known the men for a couple of years now. There were just too many secrets and Deke didn’t like secrets.
He was about to get another cup of coffee when Leon joined him. Deke motioned by lifting his cup to ask if he wanted one and Leon nodded.
Deke came back to the table with two cups of hot coffee. He knew better than to ask the other man his business but he had to know. “Is everything all right? Is there something I need to know to protect my club?”
Leon shrugged. “Normally, I would ignore your questions as you have no right to ask, but in this case, I think you should know what could be coming.”
Deke swallowed hard. “And…normally I wouldn’t ask, but so much has happened and I don’t think it’s done yet.”
“You are correct in your assumptions. This isn’t over yet,” Leon concurred. “I can’t tell you everything but I can tell you this much. It seems someone close to us, the Family I mean, has betrayed us. Max Bordeaux was supposed to be a representative for us here in New York. His job was to keep the interest up and support us in a way benefitting both him and us. We found out, he not only had his own businesses going but a sideline as well. When we found out, he’d been neglecting the business he did for us because of his obsession with a woman, we stepped in. We told him time and time again, over the years to give up his obsession with Jolene but he refused to do so.” Leon shrugged. “Max paid us lip service the whole time and we never knew why until lately that is.” He shot a look over to Deke and studied him for a moment before nodding absently.
Deke waited patiently for the other man to continue. He knew the Vincinti men were good at heart as far as it could go, but they were Mob and you didn’t trifle with men such as them.
His patience paid off a couple of minutes later. “As the head of the East Coast Family what I’m about to tell you must stay between the two of us.”
Deke nodded.
“When Max won his position he was entrusted with a very old relic. It had been carved from a very special piece of wood a long time ago when the Family first formed. Italian in origin, of course. Whoever holds this piece of the relic is very powerful within our ranks, he answers to on
ly myself and the Council…” Leon paused then went on, “Apparently, Max has misplaced this piece of history. We couldn’t find it at his home or his office.”
Deke’s mouth went dry. “What are you saying?”
Leon stared hard at Deke as if he contemplated telling him more. “We also found evidence that Max hired someone well versed in the art of interrogations. A man known for getting whatever information he’s hired to retrieve.” He leaned forward closer to him and lowered his voice as he finished, “This man is even more dangerous that the one you have parked right over there.”
Deke sat up slowly. The grip on his coffee cup tightened and the ceramic finally broke. Swearing, he brushed the cold liquid away from him. Glaring at Leon, he asked, “So now on top of everything else, we have a hitman coming after one of them?” He was referring to Jolene or her children.
Leon nodded slightly. “He has accepted payment for his services and we have no way to contact him to call him off.” He shrugged. “Even if we could make contact, we aren’t sure he would simply walk away.”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
“Because the piece of our history is still lost. We need to retrieve it and The Priest may be the only way to get it back. Jolene’s memory may be gone forever, but her daughter may have seen something. She may know where the piece is and not realize she knows it.”
“And you’d like it back,” Deke concluded. He understood the rules of the old Mob. The Family kept tradition above all else.
Leon hesitated, then nodded in agreement. “Yes, I cannot lie, we need the piece back.” He shifted in his seat. “But I’m hoping not at the expense of either of the women.”
“So what are you going to do about this?”
Leon shrugged. “I will do what I must to get the piece back.”
Deke stiffened as the other man’s words sank in. He glared at Leon. “I know violence is a way of life for most but we don’t condone it when it’s used against innocent people. Neither of these women have any reason to fear retribution from us and we will protect them, even against you and yours.”
