by K. J. Dahlen
An hour after Judson sent a copy of the book to Stone; he got a reply, though none of them discussed it yet. They had transferred the girl’s suitcases to Michael’s truck and had grabbed breakfast then were just about ready to get back on the road when a knock sounded on the door.
Michael glanced at Gage and Judson then reached behind him for his gun.
Gage pushed both women down on the floor behind one of the beds and produced his own weapon.
Judson slipped behind the door with his weapon ready as well.
Michael stepped up and peeped through the peephole. He half turned and frowned. “Who is it?” he called out softly.
“Judson, it’s me Ben Malloy. Kenn sent me to escort you guys in.” Came the gravelly voice from the other side of the door.
Gage who’d been standing over the women felt Willow move. When he looked down at her, he saw the fear and pain in her eyes as she stared at him in absolute terror. He frowned but before Michael could open the door to the room, he pushed both women into the bathroom and partially closed the door.
Michael frowned at him but Gage shook his head and motioned for him to open the door. All three men watched as the tall grey haired man walked into the room.
Gage stared at him for a moment, taking in his appearance.
Ben was tall and his once dark hair was turning grey. His jaw was clean shaven. He wore slacks and a jacket his shirt was dark but not one you’d wear with a suit. He could see a scar on Ben’s cheek of an old wound that healed long ago and he could also see a fading tattoo on his left hand.
Ben looked around the room at the three men. “Is this everyone?” he asked.
“Why are you here again?” Judson asked ignoring the question. “I told Kenn we’d be in DC later this afternoon.”
Ben nodded. “I know I was there in his office when you called this morning. He wanted someone to escort you in. Someone to watch your back in case of another attack.” He shrugged. “I flew in by copter, so we could ride back together.”
Gage looked at Michael and gave him a signal.
Michael turned to Ben. “That won’t be necessary. I know my way back and there isn’t room in the truck. Just tell Kenn I’ll call when we get there.”
Ben hesitated then said, “Kenn sent me to watch your back. I’m just trying to do my job here, man.”
“I know and I appreciate it. I’ll make sure Kenn knows how it went down,” Michael assured him.
Ben looked conflicted for a moment then nodded. “Ok man, but you’re making a mistake. I could help you if you let me.”
“Appreciate it, we really do but I have things to do between here and DC.” Michael shrugged.
Ben nodded. “Ok, I guess I’ll see you later then.” He looked around the room taking in everything, then made his way to the door.
Once it was closed, Gage went to the window and watched as he walked away. When Ben got to the curb, Gage noticed he got into a car with three other men. When the car pulled away, he watched until the vehicle turned the corner.
“What the hell was that all about?” Michael demanded.
Gage glared at him for a moment. “There was something about him that had Willow freaking out. I think we should find out what that was before we just accept what he says, don’t you?” Gage went to the door of the bathroom and pushed open the door. He found Phoebe and Willow huddled in the corner. Phoebe’s arm was around Willow’s shoulder and Willow was crying. Gage went over to her and squatted down beside her. Grabbing her chin, he tried to raise her face but she flinched away from him.
Curling into Phoebe’s embrace, she wouldn’t look at anyone.
“What the fuck happened to her?” Gage growled.
Phoebe gazed at him with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know. She heard that man’s voice and she went somewhere in her mind that wasn’t good for her. We were watching from the crack in the door and when she saw him, she went pale and crawled into the corner then started shaking. The only thing is—I think she lost her voice again. She tried to say something a couple of times but she couldn’t get any sound to come out. Something about him terrified her so bad, she can’t speak.”
Gage ran his fingers through his hair and stared at Willow. “Damn,” he swore quietly.
Chapter Four
Gage helped Willow to her feet and brought her out into the main room. He led her over to the table and sat her down.
She gripped Phoebe’s hand all the way and when she sat down, she pulled Phoebe down too.
Gage knelt in front of Willow and carefully brushed her hair away from her face. “Willow, I know you’re afraid of something, but you don’t have to be. I can and will protect you. Phoebe is here as well as Michael and Judson. Nobody here will hurt you.”
Willow raised her eyes to his and stared at his face. She wanted to believe him. She began to reach out for him but she couldn’t quite reach him. Instead, Gage grabbed her hand and raised it to his lips.
When his lips touched her skin, she felt safe. It began as a tingle from the spot his lips touched her fingers and spread up her arm and to her chest. The coldness in her chest when she heard his voice began to thaw.
“Sweetie, what happened just now?” Phoebe asked. “Did you know that man?”
Willow opened her mouth to try to speak but no words came out. She grew frustrated, pounded her hands on the table and tried to speak again. Her words didn’t come. She tried again, but still nothing. Then she saw the pen and paper on the table and grabbed it. When she finished, she shoved the paper at Gage and pointed to the words she’d written.
He was there the day my grandpa was killed. Scar on right cheek. Tattoo on his left hand, an eight sided star. He dragged the killed Viper out of the cabin that day. He also came back the day they set fire to the cabin. I saw him both days.
Gage read the words then handed the paper to Michael and Judson. Judson read it over Michael’s shoulder and swore.
Michael read her damming words and ran his hands over his head. Kneeling beside Gage, he turned her face to Willow. “Are you absolutely sure it was the same guy? Ben Malloy is a member of Homeland Security. He works with Judson.”
Willow nodded her head slowly. Then she tapped the paper in his hand. She mouthed the words, “He was there. I saw him, I heard his voice.”
Michael turned his head and glared at Gage for a moment. “We are in trouble man. I need to talk to Kenn.”
Gage nodded. “I need to update Stone on this. If the Vipers are this deep in our government, the whole nation is in trouble. We may not be able to stop what’s coming.” He grabbed his phone and dialed Stone’s number. He moved away from everyone else when Stone picked up the call. “We got problems here man.”
“I know,” Stone told him. “I’m glad you called back. We were able to verify your girl’s account of the murder of her family eighteen years ago. She was telling the truth about that.”
“Yeah, I know,” Gage replied. “But that’s not why I called.”
“Then why did you call?” Stone asked. “We haven’t had time to get into the book stuff yet.”
“We just got a visit from someone that works in Judson’s office,” Gage explained. “Willow freaked out. The man was there the day they murdered her family. He was there as a Viper.”
“Shit,” Stone swore. “Is she sure?”
“Hey man, just his voice threw her so far into the past, she couldn’t speak.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“The day her grandfather died, he knew the Vipers had found him. They had some kind of a deal going and someone screwed it up. The Vipers murdered her family, all except her grandpa and two of her uncles, when she was six. Grandpa took her and went into hiding. They found them two years later. She was eight years old and her grandpa did what he could to keep her safe. He hid her away and told her not to say a word. He didn’t want her to die, so he made her promise to be quiet. She saw the gun fight, she witnessed her grandfather and two uncles and several mem
bers of their MC die under a hail of bullets. She stayed hidden for days until the fire they set forced her to leave her hiding place. She ran for the woods behind the cabin expecting to get shot in the back. Her fear was so great, she never said another word until yesterday. But today when she heard Ben Malloy’s voice, she remembered her fear. She said he was there at the cabin that day. She knew he had a scar on his cheek and a tattoo on his left hand. It was a tattoo of an eight sided star.” He paused then added, “Boss, she never saw him today. She described him without looking at his face.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Stone asked after a moment of silence.
“I don’t know man,” Gage admitted. “She hasn’t spoken yet.”
“Where are you headed now?”
“Michael seems to think we should head to DC. He’s talking to his boss right now.”
“Are you taking the girls with you?”
“Yeah, we are,” Gage answered. “I’m not leaving her behind.”
“I’ll have Trudy check out Ben Malloy and see what she can find on him. I’ll be in touch in a couple of hours. If something happens before then, let us know. I’m calling Shay about this. I’ll let you know what he says.”
“Do it quick then, we’re heading out on the road soon.”
“I will,” Stone said and hung up the phone.
Gage turned to see Michael and Judson frowning at him. “What’s the matter?”
“I just spoke to Kenn,” Michael informed him. “He swears he never sent Ben to intercept us.”
Gage swore under his breath. “I saw Ben get into a car with three other men and drive away.”
“So where do we go from here?” Judson asked. “I have serious doubts we’ll make it to DC.”
“Stone is going to call in Shay and update him,” Gage informed them.
Michael whipped his head around to glare at his brother in law. “Who the hell is this Shay character anyway? You’ve mentioned him before and I don’t know him.”
Gage shrugged. “His name is Shay Montross. Stone knew him years ago and he’s a bigwig with the government. Stone trusts him for some reason and I think we should too. He helped us out when we were cleaning up the first mess with these pricks. He’s got an agenda and Stone is helping him set up a network to watch for terrorism here.” He shrugged again. “I’ve never met the man, but I trust Stone.”
“So we can’t take the direct route to DC but we still need to go there,” Judson surmised. “Our intel says there’s something brewing there and we have to figure out what it is.”
Gage scoffed. “I know what it is and its nothing good.”
Michael and Judson turned toward him.
Michael barked, “What is going to happen? What are the Vipers going to do?”
“Assassinate our President and take out our government.”
“What the fuck?” Michael exclaimed. “How the hell are they going to do that?”
“Trudy is working on the details as we speak,” Gage assured them.
“Who the hell is Trudy?” Judson growled.
“Don’t ask and I won’t have to lie to you,” was all Gage would say.
“How do you know all this?” Michael finally asked.
“Let’s get on the road,” Gage suggested, avoiding his question.
Michael ran his fingers through his hair. “I think we should spilt up.” He glanced over at the women then back to Gage and Judson. “Gage, take your bike and Willow, Judson can take Phoebe’s car and I’ll take Phoebe with me. If we all take a different route, one of us should make it. Right now, they are looking for three men traveling together. Besides, they can’t follow all of us.”
Gage mulled the idea over. “We shouldn’t go to your house in the city. Do you have a safe house that only you know about? If Malloy is part of the Vipers then we can’t trust just anyone. We have to keep a low profile until we can get backup.” He glanced at Michael and Judson. “You guys packing?”
Michael nodded.
When they looked over at Judson, he shook his head. “I flew commercial, remember?”
“I have an extra piece,” Michael volunteered. “We’re about four hours away.” He glanced at his watch. “I do have an old safe house in Falls Church. We can all meet there and Kenn can get us into DC.”
Gage and Judson nodded. Gage then looked over at Willow and Phoebe. “Are they going to go along with the plan?”
Michael quickly glanced at the two women. “They don’t have a choice. I’m not going to chance that the Vipers don’t know about them by now. If they find out who Willow really is, they will come after her for sure. I have a feeling the real reason they killed her entire family hasn’t been revealed yet. The Vipers wouldn’t hunt down an entire family for no reason. Even if it’s a gun deal gone wrong. They took two years to find grandpa and when they did, they killed him and everyone with him. We need to know why. We have to protect her until we know.”
Gage sighed. “So I’m not the only one who thinks there is more to her story.” He glanced over at Willow. “I’ve got Trudy looking into it. If there is anything to find, she’ll find it.”
Michael turned to look at Gage. “Seems to me, Willow will tell you. Since you are the first person she has spoken to in all these years.”
Gage paused and stared back at his friend as this fact never occurred to him. He gazed over at the petite woman and he felt a warmth while just looking at her. He tried to shrug the feeling away, but it remained.
An hour later, they left Pittsburg. Willow and Gage were on his bike as Judson drove Phoebe’s car while Phoebe and Michael drove away in the black truck. All three vehicles took alternate routes and Michael and Phoebe got to the safe house first.
Michael waited before he called Kenn to check in.
An hour later, Kenn walked in.
Michael reached out his hand. “Kenn, long time no see.”
Kenn smiled and shook his hand. “And you my friend. Man, it’s good to see you again.”
Michael he stared at his old boss. “We’ve got a situation.”
Kenn frowned. “What kind of situation? Say what was that thing with Ben Malloy this morning? I didn’t send him after you.”
Michael sighed. “Yeah, we know and he’s part of the problem we find ourselves in.”
“Tell me,” Kenn demanded.
“I found out the Bleu Vipers have been here a lot longer than we thought.”
“How much longer?” Kenn asked. “They came up on our radar about six years ago for the first time.”
Michael nodded. “That’s what I thought too, but I found out different today. They have been here almost eighteen years.”
“What the hell?” Kenn exploded. “Are you sure?”
“Do you know the name Jonah “Dogwood” Connors?”
Kenn’s frown deepened. “I haven’t heard that name in a very long time. If it’s the same man I’m thinking about, he died about sixteen years ago. Led an MC in Massachusetts, if I’m not mistaken.”
“That would be the man I’m talking about,” Michael replied. “He and his MC ran guns back in the day. The ATF and DEA could never find anything when they searched his place, time after time, even when they knew he picked up a shipment and were able to track it back to the MC. Once it got to his place, they could never track it. Eighteen years ago, old Jonah lost half his family in a shooting. He lost a son, a daughter in law, his own wife, two small grandkids and some of his men. He and his other two sons and the rest of his men got away that day and they were able to drop out of sight for two years. Then someone found him and finished what they started. Murdered everyone there, or so we thought.”
“What do you mean we thought?”
“There was one witness that got away that day,” Michael informed him.
“Who?” Kenn frowned.
“Jonah’s eight year old granddaughter lived through the shooting. She was the only one that made it out of the bloodbath.”
Kenn shook his head. “How the he
ll did an eight year old live through that?”
“Jonah hid her away that day. He told her she couldn’t call out no matter what she heard or saw. To stay put and be quiet. She saw everything that happened. More importantly, she saw what happened after the shooting stopped. She saw the men that came inside to make sure the job got done.”
“And they were?”
“Bleu Vipers.” Michael confirmed.
“How can she be sure?”
“She drew the tattoo she saw on their wrists. She also saw it again yesterday. On the wrist of the man that left me this.” Michael motioned toward a small box on the table.
Kenn walked over to the table and peeked in the box. His eyes widened when he saw the bomb Michael had taken from under his truck. “What the hell?”
“She knocked on the door very early this morning,” Michael explained. “We hadn’t gotten more than a couple hours of sleep after driving most of the day yesterday when her pounding woke us up. When I opened the door, she and her friend rushed in and her friend began telling us there was something wrong. Her friend told us what Willow saw.”
“Why didn’t Willow speak for herself?”
Michael shook his head. “From what I understand, Willow hasn’t spoken a word since her grandfather hid her away sixteen years ago.”
“What did this girl see?”
“She was inside the back of the truck and she saw three men approach. One man stood guard while another guy slipped under the truck. She heard him doing something but more importantly, she saw his wrist. She saw the tattoo and she remembered seeing it on the men that shot her family. She came to warn us about the bomb. She was so scared, Kenn.”
“What happened then?”
“We tried to get more sleep but it didn’t work. She began having a nightmare and when she woke up, she’d flashed back to the day her grandfather died. She found her voice after sixteen years of keeping quiet and she told us what happened and why. She said her grandfather wanted the truth told. She identified the men that killed her family as Vipers.”
Kenn looked confused. “How could she know about the Vipers?”
