by Nella Tyler
“That’s alright by me,” I say.
Officer Ghent makes his way to Rodney and I look on as he questions him about tonight’s events. I pull out my cell phone to text him: “The officer thinks we watched Boris leave – he asked how we knew he wasn’t home. I told him we don’t know where those guys are. Play along.”
He grins from afar after checking the message and talks to the officer for a short while before he heads back my way. The police cars and the ambulance all disperse and I hold Rodney tightly.
“Why did you tell them that you didn’t know where Boris and Ken were?” he asks as he breaks away from our embrace.
“Because they’re all waiting at the club for us so we can all dish out our own punishment before the cops get there to arrest them.”
“Got it. I can’t say that I blame you. They have all done some pretty horrible shit to your family.”
“You’ve got that right,” I say. “Alright, can we get out of here and get my bike so we can head back to the Lair?”
“Sure babe.”
I pull my cell phone from my pocket and call my dad.
“Hey dad,” I tell him.
“What’s up Trish?” he asks.
“I called Missy for Sasha and she came and took her home,” I tell him.
“Okay, well I need to see her, so I’ll call Missy,” he says.
“Alright. Rodney is going to take me to get my bike and then we’ll be on our way to the Lair to say our piece.”
“Good, see you then.”
We disconnect the call and I look to Rodney.
“I’m ready to roll,” I tell him. He walks over to his bike on the side of Boris’ house and hops on it. He revs it up and rides it slowly to me. Steadying it, I hop on the back and hold on tight.
A short while later, we find ourselves at the gas station where my bike is hidden. I get off of his bike and walk around to the back where I get on and rev it up. I’m eager to get back to the Lair and show Boris and Ken what we’re all made of.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I tell Rodney. I put my helmet on and speed off behind him as we take the paved streets back to the comfort of the dirt roads that surround our little slice of heaven.
We arrive at the Dragon’s Lair and see the accumulated motorcycles parked out front. Before we can dismount from our bikes, I see Missy’s car rapidly approaching.
She parks and Sasha gets out and runs to me. She is cleaner now and has a clean pair of pants on and a bright pink shirt. Her hair is no longer knotted up and filthy. The sight of her like this immediately warms my heart.
Missy exits the car, but I stop her in her tracks.
“I’m sorry, but with the exception of Sasha, this is club business,” I tell her. She looks angry, but heads back to her car and sits in the driver’s seat.
“Let’s go inside, dad wants to see you,” I look down and tell Sasha.
“Alright.”
“Wait, before we go in, I just wanted to tell you that two of the men are inside here with dad and the rest of the club guys. They can’t hurt you here, but you need to know so that you can be strong.”
“Can I kick the fat one?” she asks.
Smiling, I tell her, “Of course you can.”
We walk inside with Rodney right behind us. The club members are happy to see me, but astonishment strikes their faces when they see Sasha next to me. Most of the members begin clapping to find Sasha safe and sound. I scan the room until my eyes meet Boris and Ken and I see them join in on the clapping.
“Sasha, honey!” Dad exclaims and she runs to his arms and holds him tightly.
A few minutes pass and my dad whispers in her ear. She gives him a thumbs up and I wonder what they have up their sleeves.
“Sasha is going to tell everyone what happened to her while she was away.”
A nervous twitch crosses Boris’ face and Ken tries to appear unaffected.
“Are you ready sweetheart?” he asks her before the conglomeration of club members.
She smiles at him and walks to the middle of the club.
“I was walking to school one day and this old guy pulls up in a white van,” she says as I continually scan the room. Most of the members are paying close attention, but beads of sweat pile up on Boris’ forehead.
“So, he tells me that he’s my grandfather and that my mom hates him so I’m not allowed to see him. I feel bad, but he told me that my dad would come and get me. His name is Lester and he’s a total creep.”
Some of the members give off a hint of a smile at her description. She goes on to say, “The other guy in the white van was this fat jerk right here.”
She walks over to Boris and pushes her finger into his giant belly. Anger begins to emerge from the other members’ faces as she continues. Ken looks paler by the minute and I wonder if he’s going to be sick or have a heart attack.
“He drove me to Lester’s house and it was pretty stinky in there, like old people. So, once I figure stuff out, they tied me up at Lester’s house and then something really bad and gross happened.”
“Tell daddy what happened, honey,” my father instructs her.
She walks over to Ken standing there looking scared and she points her finger in his chest. She tells everyone, “This guy covered my eyes and mouth and when I had to pee, they gave be a white bucket. The bad part is that this jerk watched me pee.”
A hush falls over the group of people encircling Boris and Ken and anger turns my father’s face completely red.
“Trish, why don’t you take your sister outside to her mother?” he says, motioning for me to get her outside before a fight erupts.
“Don’t start without me,” I tell him.
He nods in agreement and then I interrupt him to say, “Oh wait, Sasha had something she wanted to do.”
He nods again and I whisper into her ear, “Now is the time if you wanna kick ‘em!”
She smiles confidently as she walks over to Boris and kicks him right in the crotch. He doubles over and the club’s members erupt in a rally to get her to do more. She kicks him again, but this time it’s in the kneecaps and she receives the same applause.
“Again!” they tell her, egging her on. “Get the other one!”
She walks to where Ken is standing and kicks him hard and punches him in the nose. “Take that, you jerk!” she screams at him.
I feel a sense of pride wash over me as these cretins get exactly what they deserve.
Our father walks over to the middle of the room and looks at Ken and Boris as they cower in fear over what’s going to happen next. He gives them a daunting look and they quake with anxiety. He relishes in the moment and the other members cheer him on.
He raises a hand and says, “Shhh, I need these guys to hear what I’m about to tell them.”
The room quiets and he looks at both of them dead in the eyes, one by one.
“You both owe my sweet baby daughter an apology,” he says pacing the floor between the two men.
They both look at her and I can tell that they’re wondering if that’s the only thing that will keep them safe from the impending crush of pain they’re going to feel soon.
Ken looks down at Sasha and tells her, “I am so sorry from the bottom of my heart. I never meant to hurt you.”
She looks up at him and says, “You watched me pee, you pervert.”
“I’m really sorry. I had to watch you. They wanted to make sure you weren’t going anywhere. I didn’t want to.”
He quakes where he stands and Sasha moves on to Boris.
“And you. You helped that old man take me and then you tied me up.”
“I’m sorry, it’s not my fault,” he says.
“You didn’t feed me and then you gave me a bucket to use as a toilet!” she yells at him and the sweat drips from his face.
My father’s anger is apparent and I take Sasha by the shoulder to usher her outside. Her mother emerges from her car and I watch them both climb back inside.
“Take good care of her and don’t let her out of your sight,” I tell Missy.
“I’ll be with her every possible moment,” she assures me.
“Good. My guess is that the cops have already arrested Lester Samson and are probably going to be coming here for the other two goons. She gave a statement to the police earlier, but they’re probably going to summon her to court to testify when the time comes.”
“Got it, we’ll be ready,” she says as she backs the car up and leaves the parking area.
I walk back inside the club’s door and to the back room where everyone waits.
My father, dominating the situation, tells the other members to hold Boris and Ken.
“Make sure they can’t move,” he tells them. Two big and strong men surround both Boris and Ken and they begin to squirm.
“Anything you want to say?” Dad asks them.
I keep myself in the background and I see Rodney making his way to me. He reaches me and holds me tightly as I prepare myself to watch what’s about to happen.
My father paces between them and presses them further. “So neither of you have anything to say for yourselves?”
He listens to the echo of his voice as it bounces off of the walls and throws a punch into Ken’s stomach. He doubles over and my father looks to Boris for an explanation.
“Lester Samson made us do it!” Boris shouts, but it doesn’t stave off my father’s wrath. He throws a swift, hard punch into Boris’ stomach, causing him to double over. As they both try to recover from the blow my dad deals them, he paces the floor again.
“Lester Samson made you do what? He made you kidnap my twelve-year-old daughter?” he asks them angrily.
“Yes, it was all Lester’s idea,” Boris admits. My father looks at him like he could kill him and not blink an eye.
“You’re telling me that old man Lester Samson made you kidnap Sasha? Did he also make you both lie to my face? I gave you the chance to come clean when I asked everyone if they had any information on her disappearance, neither of you stepped forward. Cowards!” he yells.
“Lester told us that we’d both get rich off of this. He said she wouldn’t be hurt and that we needed to help him if we knew what was good for us,” Ken says.
“You can’t tell me that Lester dreamed up this whole thing all by himself,” my father tells them.
“He held us at gunpoint, he told us to help him or die,” Boris says in his own defense.
“Try again,” my father yells, hitting them once again, knocking them both to the floor.
They look up and see the anger register on my dad’s face. My father looks around and gives a wave of his hand to the men around Ken and Boris. The men around them begin kicking and punching at Ken and Boris, leaving their faces bloody and them hugging the floor.
“Please, no more,” Boris begs, his eye black and his lip bloody. Dad draws closer to Boris and asks, “Do you want to tell us the full story?”
Boris looks to Ken, but remains steadfast in his lie. “It was Lester. It was all Lester! He was going to shoot us!”
My father gives another wave of his hand and the men around Boris and Ken begin beating them to a pulp. I watch from afar as Rodney holds me close. I don’t feel guilty in watching these guys go down because of the poor treatment of my sister.
They both fall to the floor as blood gushes from their bodies. My father draws closer to them again and pushes them for more information.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?” he asks them both.
“It was Seth Vinton,” Ken says as he has trouble forming the words. His lips are bleeding and he clutches his abdomen.
Boris looks to Ken as if to say he’s a traitor, but Ken maintains his story.
“It was all Seth Vinton. He put us up to it, he said you would never find out. He told us he would make us rich.”
“And why would Seth Vinton want you to kidnap my daughter?” he questions them.
“He wanted to take over this territory and thought that if we took Sasha, it would be a distraction to the club. He said you guys would all be so quick to focus on the search and you’d be an easy target.”
“Fucking traitors,” he tells them as he kicks Boris in the head and follows suit with Ken.
When my father stops, I hear the sound of a siren emanating from outside of the club.
“The cops are here,” I tell everyone as they back away from Boris and Ken, who lay helpless on the floor in the center of the room.
The police barge in and look around. The officers yell, “Boris Cardov and Ken Clayton!”
My dad walks around the club and over to me and Rodney. Scott Pence looks at the cops and informs them, “That is Boris Cardov and the other guy is Ken Clayton.”
“Thanks, son,” the officer tells him.
They reach down and grab the men by their hands and drag them to their feet.
“What happened to them?” the officer asks anyone who’s listening.
“They fell down some stairs,” my dad offers kindly.
One of the officers looks to the other and says, “We’re going to need to make a stop at the hospital before we take them in for booking. Cuff ‘em.”
The other cop whips his cuffs from his belt loop and places them around Ken’s hands. He reads Ken his rights and Ken nods that he understands. The officer then reaches down with a second set of handcuffs and puts them on Boris’ hands. He reads Boris his rights and he also nods to say that he understands. They yank both men to their feet and cart them out of the club as they hobble on the way out.
I follow them outside and say, “Hey, can I have a word with you guys?”
The first cop comes over to me and says, “What can I do for you?”
“Well, I don’t know if you are aware, but these two told us that Seth Vinton is involved in my sister’s kidnapping.”
“We will definitely look into that. Did they tell you anything else before they suffered their unfortunate falls?”
“Yeah, that Lester Samson was also involved in this,” I tell him.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve already got Lester Samson into custody,” he tells me.
“Okay, good,” I say.
Before the officers can stuff both men into the cruisers, they look at me bewildered and say, “We’ll testify!”
“You better,” I threaten them both.
The officer radios someone and says into his walkie talkie, “We’ve arrested Ken Clayton and Boris Cardov with regard to the kidnapping of Sasha Fitzgerald. They claim that Seth Vinton is also involved. Can you bring him in for questioning?”
A voice comes from the radio saying, “Roger that. We have a car en route to Hayleysville to check out Seth Vinton’s last known address. Over.”
“Roger that. Over and out,” he says into the radio.
“We think this is going to be a pretty open and shut case. We’ll get Seth Vinton and anyone else who’s involved in this situation.”
The officer tosses Ken into the back of his car and slams the back door shut.
“So tell me,” he says. “Did you do all of this by yourself?”
“All of what?” I ask him.
“The whole investigation,” he clarifies.
“No, I had some help. Mostly, though, it was just sniffing out things when they didn’t seem right,” I tell him.
“Maybe you should consider a career in law enforcement,” he tells me with a smile.
“I’ll consider that,” I tell him as he hands me his card.
“You’d make a great detective,” he assures me as he walks to the car and gets into the driver’s seat.
I walk over and he rolls the window down.
“Anything else?” he asks.
“Yeah, make sure you bust Boris for running drugs in our club and the surrounding areas,” I tell him.
“Do you have proof?” He asks.
“I’m sure his stash is probably still at his place. A couple of our newer members told me that he tried to sell the
m drugs.”
“Good thinkin’,” he says. Once I turn around to walk away, they pull out of our parking lot and head out.
I walk back to the club and walk in the door. Once inside the back room, I am in the middle of what looks to be a celebration.
“Get a beer, Trish, you’ve earned it!” My dad yells to me.
I make my way to the bar and order up a beer. I sit there on the old red stool and think about how quickly everything came to pass tonight. Rodney sidles up next to me and occupies the empty stool.
“A toast!” My father yells to the room.
“Yeah!” Everyone in attendance cheers.
“To my wonderful daughter Trish for her amazing detective work. To Rodney Vinton for being an integral part of the team in getting Sasha back and to Jason Maple for his work in helping the case.”
With a raise of our beer bottles, we all collectively cheers each other, clanking our bottles together.
“None of us would be able to celebrate this day without the help of all of you, so I thank each and every one of you,” my father tells us.
“Hey wait,” Jason Maple chimes in.
“Yeah son?” my dad asks.
“Rodney Vinton? Wouldn’t that make him Seth Vinton’s son? Are we hanging out with the enemy?” He questions my father.
Everyone fixates on my father as he prepares to deliver his response.
“Yes and no. Yes, he’s Seth Vinton’s kid, but he’s no enemy of the Dragons. In fact, tonight we’re making him a full patch member of our little club.”
I hold onto him tightly as he smiles and it melts my heart into a million pieces. Rodney arises from the stool, walks over to my dad and says, “Ronan Fitzgerald, the honor is mine.”
I look on with pride as they shake hands.
“This wouldn’t be possible without Trish,” Rodney tells my dad.
Everyone’s eyes are on me and I walk to where my dad is standing with Rodney. The whole room erupts into applause as I hug them both.
“Everyone, I would like to make another announcement,” he tells them.
A hush falls over the room and he says, “As of tonight, not only am I making Trish a full patch member, but I’m also promoting her to the club’s official title of Investigator.”
