At All Costs (Whiskey Bend MC Series)

by KJ Dahlen

  Luna’s face burned as she put up her arm to hold the rest of her shirt in place as Doc cut the shirt low enough to see how much damage the bullet had done.

  Aries moved out of the way but he didn’t move far. When her shoulder was revealed Aries growled, as did several of the other watching.

  Luna hung her head as they viewed her scars, at least the scars they could see. No one said a word as Doc worked to clean her skin and view the actual damage the bullet had done. When he patched her up and covered her wound, he looked into her eyes. “You’ll be fine. Sorry about your top though.”

  Luna nodded but didn’t say a word. The next thing she knew Aries was draping his vest over her shoulders and pulling it around her front to cover her. She lifted her head and smiled slightly at him.

  Lucifer took a step toward her but stopped when Aries glared at him. He growled in response but didn’t come any closer. He turned his intimidating glare at Luna. “Ok Luna Mathias, just what the hell is going on here? Who was that man in the woods and why is he after you? Why did you come to us?”

  Luna began to tremble at his questions. She didn’t have any answers for him. She lifted haunted eyes first to Aries then she swung her eyes over to face this Lucifer. She noticed how cold she was just then, and she began to shiver. “I don’t know who the man is but I can only imagine what he wanted.” She clasped her hands together hard. “I think he might be the one who shot Judge Bennett and Colleen Donner.”

  Lucifer looked furious and began to pace. “What the fucking hell did you bring here woman?”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she hung her head lower.

  “Lucifer,” Aries called out. “Let’s get the rest of the story before you start cursing her.”

  Lucifer paused then turned to her and demanded, “What else? What else aren’t you telling us? Are you on some kind of hit list or something?”

  Luna lifted her head and faced the other man. “Oh, god no.” The cold inside her intensified and her hands worked even harder. She was rubbing her skin so hard it was turning a deeper red. Her eyes grew more haunted at the thought.

  Aries frowned when he noted the signs of trauma setting in. He reached out and stilled her shaking hands. His frown deepened when he noticed how cold her fingers were. He knelt beside her and laid his hands over hers. “It’s okay Luna, you don’t have to be afraid. We aren’t going to hurt you. You’re safe here with us.”

  Luna turned her head slowly to see his face. “But you don’t understand. He’s a killer. The judge and the DA died because someone paid him to kill them.”

  “What did you say?” Lucifer asked loudly.

  Luna closed her eyes and nodded. “Last night I woke up when my phone rang. I was sleeping so I wasn’t with it at first, but then I heard a man say h-he received my payment and within twenty four hours my legal problems—would be over and the witness would be—dead.”

  Her words came out in bits and pieces but everyone standing within the range of her voice heard them.

  “When I asked him if this was a joke he hung up on me.” Her voice dropped to a mere whisper.

  “How did he know where to come looking for you?” Lucifer asked.

  “I have no idea,” she admitted. “I went to Charlie to tell him about the call I got and he told me someone killed Judge Bennett and Colleen Donner early this morning. He wanted me to go and report the phone call to the police force in La Donna as they had a bigger police force and I did but they have their own problems.”

  Lucifer looked at his men and asked, “What kind of problems?”

  “The FBI and SEC were there. Sam, he’s an FBI agent, he thinks their case could be related to the killings here.”

  The men began to grumble all around her.

  Luna leaned toward Aries. For some reason he made her feel safe.

  “And you brought us into this mess? Why?” Lucifer growled.

  “I’m sorry.” She tightened her fingers on Aries. “I didn’t mean to involve anyone, I just ran. I had to find a place to hide when this killer broke into my house and the cabin was right there. I didn’t mean to involve you.” She sobbed. She pulled her hand away from Aries and wrapped her arms around her waist as tears rolled down her face. Rocking back and forth, she couldn’t look at anyone.

  ~*~

  Aries rose to his full height of six foot five inches and he took a stance in front of her. Lucifer still towered over him, but he didn’t give a shit. He glared at Lucifer and the rest of the men. “That’s enough. She didn’t do this intentionally, but I think we should help her. Obviously, the threat is out there and the bastard who’s after her isn’t going to quit until she’s no longer a threat against him but I’ll be damned if she’s going to face him alone.” He looked over at his President and said, “If you won’t help her, then I will on my own.”

  “Aww fuck,” Lucifer swore. “I never said we wouldn’t help her. We just don’t need this right now.”

  “And she does?” Aries grumbled.

  “I didn’t say that either.” Lucifer swore again. “Don’t fucking put words in my mouth.” He paced a few minutes then turned to Luna and Aries. “For now, let’s get some sleep. We can go over this in the morning, when we are all fresh with clear minds.”

  Aries growled under his breath and reached down to help her to her feet. “Come on, I have a room here you can get some sleep.”

  Luna didn’t say a word as she was led down the hall. They got to a room with the word Sargent in Arms on it and he leaned forward and threw the door open. Ushering her inside, he snapped on the light. There was a bed, a dresser and a small table and chair in the room. It was clean and the bed was made.

  Luna moved over to the bed and sat down on it. She looked around the room but didn’t say anything.

  “You should try and get some rest. I’ll be outside the door,” he told her.

  Luna felt her heart jump in her chest. She didn’t want him to leave her alone. “Can you stay with me?”

  Aries stared at her for a long moment. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Luna hung her head. “I understand. I’m—sorry,” she whispered brokenly.

  Aries growled and walked over to where she was sitting. Kneeling in front of her, he lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “No baby girl, I don’t think you do. If I stay in this room with you, you won’t be alone in that bed. You’re hurt and scared and you don’t need me on top of all of that. I sleep alone for a reason and it ain’t pretty.”

  Luna was curious now. With him this close to her, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She lifted her hand and placed it against his chest. His heart was pounding too. Her hand crept upward first to his neck then to his jaw. Looking at his eyes, she didn’t say a word.

  “Baby, you’re playing with fire right now.” His eyes were staring at her almost as if he were looking deep into her soul.

  “I don’t even know your name, but I know I need you right now. I don’t want to be alone. Yes. I’m scared, I’m terrified right now but you make me feel safe. I don’t know why or what this means but I need you to stay.”

  Aries closed his eyes and he leaned into her hand. “My road name is Aries. Everyone calls me Aries. The reason I didn’t think I should stay with you was because I have nightmares, bad ones. That’s why I don’t stay here, why I have my own cabin. The flashbacks from the war haunts my dreams and I can’t handle the memories very well.” Luna went to drop her hand, but Aries wouldn’t let her. His hand covered hers keeping her hand right where it was.

  “I understand about nightmares. I have them too. I get so twisted in fear I can’t even think sometimes. Something bad happened to me a year ago. My ex- boyfriend attacked me— he almost killed me. If a neighbor hadn’t heard my screams, he would have killed me.” She paused then went on, “I know that doesn’t compare with what you went through, but it still damaged me. It was just one more rotten thing in my life. I can hide the scars he left but I can’t hide the nigh
tmares he left me with.”

  Aries looked saddened for a moment then he spoke, “Come on let’s get some rest. It’s almost morning and Lucifer is gonna want his answers soon.”

  They laid down together on top of the covers. He put her back to his front and when he wrapped her in his arms Luna was warm enough. Aries pulled up an extra blanket to cover them and within minutes, they were both asleep.

  Chapter Six

  Early the following morning Sam’s phone began ringing and when he answered it he found Benny was on the other end. After a few minutes, Sam found out all he needed to know. He hung up and gave the woman waiting there with a grim look. “We may have stumbled onto to more than we bargained for.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Molly asked. “What did we find out?”

  “Benny dug a little deeper into Cooper Connors’s background and he found out some very interesting things.”

  “What sort of things did he find?” Molly frowned.

  “How about the fact that Cooper Ethan Connors died as a child along with his parents 27 years ago in a car accident. The social security numbers for the dead kid matches the one Connors used when he joined the police department three years ago. Before then, there was no record of Cooper Connors anywhere.”

  “So who is he then?” she asked.

  Sam shrugged. “He could be anybody. I asked Benny to run his fingerprints again through everything we have and he’ll get back to us if and when he finds out something new. For now, we’re the only two people other than Benny who knows about Cooper and I want to keep it that way.”

  “Did you say one of the names that came up as a partial match was Seth Brown?” Molly asked as she remembered something about the story Luna had been following up on. She’d read through the files Luna left with hem and that name stood out for some reason.

  Sam checked his list and nodded. “Yes, that was one of the names, why do you know him?” he asked.

  Molly shook her head. “No I don’t know him but I may know of him.” She went to the print version of Luna’s information. “I think your friend Luna mentioned his name in her investigation.”

  “What was in her file?”

  “It looks like she was following up on a phone call from someone in prison. From her information, this guy is currently he’s on death row but he won’t live to be put to death. He’s dying of cancer but he wanted to tell her about a man he met fifteen years ago in Detroit.” She handed the file to Sam. “This is a hardened criminal who admits he is exactly where he belongs. He claims he’s done some bad things in his life but he wanted her to know about someone he worked with a long time ago. He said he didn’t know his real name but he knew him as Bruce Getting. They pulled a couple of robberies together and this guy Mike thought they made a good team. Until one night Bruce did something that made him uncomfortable. They were robbing a house on the south side of Detroit when the owner came home and surprised them. Mike wanted to get out of the house before they were discovered but Bruce told him to hide. Mike told him to duck down behind the couch and wait. He looked up just as Bruce grabbed the homeowner by the throat and snapped his neck. He dragged the body beyond the door and calmly closed the door.”

  “What happened next? Did he ever say?” Sam asked her.

  “He said and I quote- ‘I couldn’t believe it but he said Bruce went back to robbing the place. He acted as if nothing had happened. When I asked him if the murder was necessary, Bruce just shrugged.’ ” Molly shook her head. “Her notes say that most of what Mike told her was unbelievable until she checked it out. That’s when she knew it was true.”

  “How does this tie in with our case?” Sam asked.

  Molly held up her hand. “Okay, listen to the rest of the story. He told her Bruce scared the hell out of him. He thought nothing of snapping a man’s neck then continuing to rob the man. Over the next few days, Mike expected the police to come knocking on his door about the robbery and murder. He said he wanted to leave town but Bruce told him if he told anyone about his involvement he would kill him and no one would ever find his body. Then a few weeks later, he said it was time to leave Detroit. He said he was going to New York and he wanted Mike to come with him.” Molly shook her head and continued to read from the notes Luna had given them, “Mike didn’t want to go to New York, but he said he felt he didn’t have a choice. When they got to New York, Bruce stunned Mike by getting a job as a parole officer. He had all the paperwork in order and he applied for the job and got it. Mike said he was asked to answer the phone for Bruce and gave the person calling fake information. You see while they were in Detroit, Bruce was taking online classes to set up his new identity.

  “Interesting,” Sam noted. “So he just sets up new identities that pass through the system.”

  “Yes, her notes say Mike said he was an intelligent man with organized skills. By the time they left Detroit, he had changed his name and profession and he had all the paperwork in place. When they got to New York, he was Seth Brown. One day, while Seth was at work, Mike borrowed Seth’s computer, and he found a slew of information regarding at least five other identities in five other states. He also found a number of new identities, along with other online registrations for other careers. He said one of the classes was police procedures and criminal law.”

  “Are you saying Cooper Connors could be the same man Mike knew fifteen years ago as Bruce Getting and Seth Brown?” Sam asked. He was stunned by this information. If this was true, they were dealing with a criminal mastermind.

  “It is possible,” Molly agreed. “In fact, I think it’s more than possible.” She searched the table for another file. It had the name Seth Brown on it. She opened the file and handed Sam a photograph. It was a younger Cooper Connors. His hair had been dyed and he wore a moustache and goatee. “Your friend Luna is very thorough in her research.” She brought out another file with the name Dan Tanner. “She found him again in St Louis.” She opened another file with the name of Dino Lorenz. “And again, in Seattle.” She had another file with the name Patrick North. “In Chicago.” She handed him six other files each with a different name and city attached. “Also in a number of other places I haven’t had time to check out yet.”

  Sam looked at the files for a while then handed them back to Molly. He wore a stunned look on his face and he contemplated the evidence Luna had uncovered. He stood and began to pace while he bounced ideas out loud, “He can change his name and occupation for a new identity in every city he goes to. That means he can become anyone he wants. We have to stop him here and now. If he slips out of town now, we might never find him again.”

  “There’s more,” Molly added.

  Sam glanced at her. “What do you mean there’s more? What more could there be?”

  “Do you remember when she asked if you’d ever heard of the small town of Little Creek, Illinois?”

  “I remember.”

  “When she spoke to Mike he told her to go there and look up an old case. He found a reference to it on Seth’s computer one time. He said the case involved the murder of a man by the name of Wes Tuber. It seems Mr. Tuber surprised a thief and was stabbed to death for his trouble. Mr. Tuber was robbed of about a thousand dollars and a case of very special cigars.”

  “What does that have to do with this case?” Sam asked her.

  Holding up the files, she said. “This man is an assassin for hire, one that leaves no trace, no physical evidence to connect him to the rash of murders behind. Our own files tell us that. The police in each and every town reports no evidence is left behind. But he does, in fact. She’s barely begun to investigate but so far, she’s been able to discover seven murders in three different cities that could be his.”

  “How did you know if he leaves nothing behind?” Sam asked.

  “Because the killer isn’t as careful as he thinks.” Molly grimaced. “Mike told her something about our killer that I don’t think he even realized he did.”

  “And what would that be?”
Sam was intrigued.

  “This particular killer smokes a cigar after each kill and not just any cigar, he smokes a particular brand. Her notes claim she checked the evidence in each case the cellophane and the band was present and picked up as trash. The police didn’t even know what they had.” Molly dug out a photo in one of the files and handed it to Sam.

  It was a photo of crumpled cellophane and a cigar band. He reviewed the picture and found the Arturo Fuentes Cigar brand. He glanced over at Luna. “Let me guess, the case of cigars that went missing in Little Creek were Arturo Fuentes.”

  “Mike thought Bruce or Seth or whatever his name really is began his career in Little Creek, Illinois eighteen years ago. The cigar bands were found in every scene she was able to uncover. I might be willing to bet the police would find them at the scenes of the murders yesterday morning too.”

  “If they knew what to look for, they might find it,” Sam reasoned. “The only thing is if Cooper knew we were looking for it, he would make sure the evidence was never found.”

  “And it would never be found again,” Molly said. “Right now, he doesn’t realize that we know his telltale signature.”

  “And we can’t tell the police, because he is the police, if this guy is Cooper. We don’t really have any hard evidence, only circumstantial. This guy...” Sam picked up the old photo. “This photo looks like a young Cooper Connors but could be anybody. We all age differently. It might not be the Cooper Connors we met this morning. We need to find a money trail from these murders and see if they tie into the scam we’re here to try to solve. I can get Kelly Steward to see if she can find one.”

  Molly flipped through one of the files and handed him a piece of paper. “These are all the names she could find. I have no clue if one of them is his real name or not.”