At All Costs (Whiskey Bend MC Series)

by KJ Dahlen

  He knew who to blame. Everything that happened here was Luna Mathias’ fault. She had a big mouth and he needed to shut it for good. He could feel the control he so highly prized slipping away.

  Cooper had to get it back.

  Reaching for his phone, he dialed a number and waited for her to pick up the call. The phone rang four times before she finally answered.

  “Hello?” her voice sounded sleepy, almost like it was almost forty eight hours ago, before this nightmare started.

  “Hello Luna,” he told her.

  After a slight hesitation she replied, “Hello Cooper or should I call you Jeffery?”

  For the longest time Cooper didn’t say a word as his mind went blank. Choosing to ignore her knowing his true name, he asked. “Did I interrupt your sleep again?”

  “You are making a habit of that.”

  “I would apologize for that but I’m not really sorry this time.”

  “I didn’t think you would be,” Luna commented.

  “The first time is another matter altogether.” He took a deep breath.

  “I was going to ask you about that. Was it really a wrong number?”

  “What else could it be?” Cooper asked. Their conversation was not what he expected at all. He thought she would be afraid of him. She should have been afraid of him, yet her tone didn’t speak of fear.

  She sounded quite calm. “As careful as you are with everything you do I’m surprised you would make such a mistake as that one Jeff.”

  Cooper growled and gritted his teeth. “My name isn’t Jeff, I call myself Cooper now.”

  “Doesn’t matter what you call yourself here, you’ll always be Jeffery Candles to the real world,” she taunted him.

  “You have no fucking idea what or who you’re dealing with here, bitch.” Cooper growled.

  “So what’s going to happen now? I suppose you’re going to come after me?”

  “You don’t sound very worried about that.”

  Luna chuckled. “I’m not you know.”

  “You aren’t what?”

  “I’m not worried about you coming after me,” Luna stated.

  “You should be worried. You know what’s going to happen when I do.”

  “Yeah, yeah, when you finally get your hands on me you’re going to kill me.”

  Cooper frowned. She really didn’t sound like she feared him at all. She sounded almost flippant and he couldn’t have that. “Maybe I’ll start with Sam and then Molly. I’ll let you watch them die knowing you were responsible for their deaths then I’ll take care of you.”

  “You won’t get close enough to do all that damage,” Luna told him softly.

  “What makes you think so?”

  “We’re on to you now. You no longer have your cloak of invisibility to hide behind and soon the whole world will know your story and what you look like.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Just read the morning paper and you’ll know.”

  “Oh, I doubt that. You may have found some pieces to the puzzle but you haven’t found them all.”

  “Maybe but we’ve found enough to crucify you. By the time the sun comes up, everyone will know who you are and what you are. You won’t have a hole left big enough to hide in.” She paused then said, “Maybe even your dad.”

  “What are you talking about?” Cooper demanded. “What do you know about my father?”

  Luna chuckled. “You’ll see.” Then she ended the call.

  Cooper frowned and stared at the phone in his hand. He dropped the phone in the seat next to him. Making a steeple with his fingers, he pressed his fingers to his lips as he thought the conversation he just had. Luna was up to something but what he didn’t know. She couldn’t have found the man who fathered him so quickly when he’d been looking for the bastard for his whole lifetime. Could she?

  ~ * ~

  Charlie sat down at his desk made his phone call. As he dialed the numbers, he thought about how he was going to approach the subject. He didn’t have a whole lot of information to go on but he felt he had to try.

  “Albertville Police Department, how can I help you?”

  “My name is Charlie Boone and I’m with the Whiskey Bend Police Department. I need some information on what would be a cold case. I need to speak to your Captain.”

  “That would be Trevor Horn, one moment please. I’ll transfer your call.”

  A few seconds later someone announced, “This is Trevor Horn, how may I help you?”

  “My name is Charlie Boone. I’m from Whiskey Bend Police department. My badge number is 7000930 and I would like to speak to you about a cold case that could be from as far back as eighteen or twenty years ago.”

  “That is a long time ago but I don’t think I’m the one you want to talk to. I’ve only been sheriff here for the last five years,” Trevor told him.

  “Who do you I could talk to about this case? Who was sheriff back then?”

  “Billy Shire is who you want to talk to. He was sheriff for the last twenty five years before I got the position.”

  “How do I get a hold of Billy Shire?”

  “I can have him here in about half an hour if I need to,” Trevor said.

  “That will work for me. I really need his help with this case.”

  “This involves a current case?” Trevor asked.

  “More than one if I’m not mistaken.”

  “We’ll be waiting for you in half an hour then.”

  Charlie hung up the phone and gave his nephew Demon a call. Twenty minutes later, he was pulling up to the Albertville Police Department. Albertville was a small town with a population of about 700 people. The lights from inside the building reflected outside and lightened the shadows.

  Charlie and Demon went inside to meet with Trevor Horn and Billy Shire. Trevor was waiting for them in the lobby and escorted them to his office where an older man sat waiting for them.

  He was about sixty with snow-white hair and pale blue eyes. His arms were crossed over his belly and he stared at Charlie and Demon for a long minute before he said anything. “I don’t really know what you think I can tell you. I’m not even sure what you’re looking for.”

  Charlie sat down. “I don’t know if you can help me either. This is a long shot for us but one we have to try. We found some information on a case that started here a number of years ago, probably more than fifteen years ago. What we know is that a woman died and her son disappeared. Has there ever been such a case here before?”

  Billy thought for a moment. “I remember one such case, but it wasn’t just a woman who died that day. Her father was also murdered, his neck was slit so deep, he was almost decapitated, and the only suspect was the woman’s sixteen year old son. Her name was Sherry Candles. Her father’s name was Daniel and the boys’ name was Jeffery.”

  “How come you remember the case so well after all this time?”

  Billy shifted in his chair. “I remember the case so well because it was the only case we had here that involved a double murder and it remains unsolved to this day.”

  “What can you tell me about the case?” Charlie asked.

  “Can I ask what this is all about? Why are you so interested in an eighteen-year-old case?” Trevor asked.

  “Because we think Jeffery Candles might just be a serial killer who has just murdered several people in Whiskey Bend.”

  After a moment or two, he spoke “My god,” Billy whispered. “What makes you think that?” he asked.

  Charlie explained, “We have a man who can change his name and profession at whim, although he usually picks law enforcement careers. We know he’s moved around the states. We know of at least seven places he’s been under seven different names and in each place he’s been, several people have ended up dead. What we’re looking for is a warehouse or someplace he calls home. Did Daniel have a warehouse or something like that somewhere here in town?”

  Billy nodded. “Actually, he did. He ran an antique shop when he was ali
ve. After he died, the warehouse was sold. The city held the building for several years then it was bought by a man from Detroit. We haven’t seen him since.”

  “Was the man’s name Bruce Getting?” Charlie asked.

  Billy looked stunned. “How did you know that?”

  “Bruce Getting is one of the names Jeffery Candles has gone by. Cooper Connors is another. Cooper Connors is a cop in Whiskey Bend.”

  “Where in town is the warehouse?” Demon asked.

  “It’s on the far end of town. There hasn’t been much activity out there since Getting bought it,” Billy added.

  “Can you show us where it is?” Charlie asked.

  Billy stared at him for a moment. “If you want to get inside we have to make a stop first. We’ll need a warrant. We can swing by Amos Greely’s house on our way to the warehouse. He’s a judge in Circuit court. We are only going to have one chance at this and I want the case to be airtight with no room for error.”

  “You sound like you have something invested in this case.”

  Billy stood. “I knew Sherry and Daniel Candles very well. I couldn’t believe my eyes the day we found them dead and Jeff was gone. Although I should have known something bad was coming. Sherry wasn’t exactly mother material and she never treated that boy of hers right. When she got pregnant, she thought the old man she was seeing would take her away from this small town.” Billy shook his head. “He was only after one thing and when she gave it away, he was done with her. If Jeff murdered his mother and grandfather, he’s a very sick individual. What he did to them was that bad?”

  Twenty minutes later after a quick stop at the Judge’s house, they approached the warehouse on the end of town. It looked to be a four-story brick building. The streetlights lit up the parking lot. The warehouse stood in the shadows of the night and Charlie could see most of the windows were blackened out on the second, third and fourth floors.

  They walked up to the front door and Trevor came forward with a pair of bolt cutters. He cut the lock, then stepped back to allow Charlie and Billy access to the warehouse.

  Charlie reached over and turned the lights on. He stood there for a moment to have a look around. The main floor of the warehouse looked like an abandoned warehouse should look. Some boxes were stacked along the wall and the furniture was covered with tarps. The air was musty and particles of dust floated in the air.

  From where they stood, they could see a staircase going to the upper floor. Charlie and Billy went over to the stairs and with their weapons drawn, they mounted the stairs and taking one at a time, they reached the top. The blackened windows didn’t let any light in so the second floor was pitch black. Charlie moved his flashlight around until he found the light switch.

  Turning on the switch, he frowned at what he found. Metal shelves lined one entire wall. Each shelf was stacked with various types of metal in its raw state. Against the back wall was an open furnace, a bellows and an anvil. The types of items a blacksmith might use. They walked around looking at everything.

  “I wonder what else he has hidden away,” Charlie stated.

  “Why don’t we find out?” Billy said. “We have two more floors to look at.”

  Charlie and Billy went over to the staircase and continued up to the next floor. When they got to the third floor and Billy turned on the lights they were both stunned by what they saw.

  This floor was immaculate, from the hardwood floors to the drop ceiling. The walls were painted white and they could see the windows were painted black. The stark difference in the colors were pleasing to the eye and set off the displays of mid-evil weaponry on the walls.

  “Wow, this is unreal.” Charlie said, as he stared at the swords and rifles on the walls.

  Everywhere they looked, there was a display of either swords or rifles, some were ornamental and some were real. Down the center of the room were showcases with even more weapons.

  “What the hell is this?” Billy asked. He was stunned by the display of medieval weaponry. He hadn’t realized something like this existed in his town.

  “This guy has a real hard on for guns and swords doesn’t he?” Demon commented as he looked around the room.

  “If I wasn’t seeing this I wouldn’t believe it,” Trevor exclaimed. “Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t this. I had no idea this was sitting right here in this small town.”

  “There’s one more floor and I want to see what’s up there,” Charlie told the men.

  Billy and Trevor joined him and together, they all went up the stairs. When they got to the top and Charlie snapped on the lights, they found themselves looking at a living area. The large room was divided into different areas by the placement of furniture rather than walls. They didn’t see any television but they did find a computer station, complete with laptop.

  They wandered around the loft. The kitchen area was neat and everything was put away. The refrigerator didn’t hold much food but it did hold a case of beer. Charlie shook his head when he looked at the Pabst Blue Ribbon. He closed the door and opened the freezer. He took a step back when he saw what was in there.

  He turned and stared at Billy Shire. “The man doesn’t trust anyone, not even banks apparently.”

  Billy came over to where he stood and looked inside the freezer compartment. There covered in frost were several plastic bags filled with cash. Billy whistled and pulled out one of the bags. He opened it and took out the cash. There was fifty thousand dollars in the bag. He began counting how many bags were in there. He glanced over at Charlie, “There’s more than five hundred thousand in there.”

  “Apparently, he needs a ready available cash supply.” Charlie raised a brow. “He has to be able to set up a new place and a new identity every time he moves on.”

  “Do you have any idea how he earns his money?” Billy asked.

  Charlie nodded. “We have uncovered evidence that while he holds down a respectable job during the day, he also has a not so respectable job on the side. In Whiskey Bend, he was working as a cop during the day and a hit man at night. I heard he worked as a parole worker in New York and ran a robbery ring on the side.”

  “Charlie, I think I found something,” Demon called out. He’d been searching the rest of the apartment and he found something in a blocked off corner of the room, and when they saw what Demon found they were surprised yet again.

  On the wall hidden from the rest of the room was a drawing. At the top was the face of a woman with long flowing hair. In the strands of her hair were names, dates and cities. It was like a road map. Next to her was the outline of a face with no details.

  “Are all these names for people he’s murdered over the years?” Billy asked.

  “I think they are.” Charlie was staring at the woman’s face. “Any idea who the woman is?”

  “That’s his mother Sherry Candles,” Billy told him. He pointed to the face with no details. “That must be who he thinks of as his father.”

  “Do you have any idea who his father might be?” Charlie asked.

  “Does it really matter who his father is?” Billy asked.

  “No, I don’t suppose it does,” Charlie admitted. “But maybe you should know he’s been looking for him most of his adult life. He’s determined to find the man and show him exactly what his childhood was like.”

  After a moment or two Billy and asked, “What do you want done with this?”

  “With all this he has the opportunity to move on and set up somewhere else. We have to take that away from him,” Charlie explained. “We are going to expose his secret in tomorrow morning’s paper, now we have to take away his past. We want to take away his safety net. We want him off balance and desperate enough to make a mistake.”

  “I think if we take over here, you will have done that,” Billy said.

  Charlie nodded. “Me too. Okay, let’s secure this as evidence. This is too big for your department and I have no jurisdiction here so how are we going to do that?”

  Billy smiled. “We
can call in the state police.” Grinning smugly, he said, “I have a friend near retiring but he’s still got his badge. He’d be happy to help.”

  Charlie stared at him for a moment. “Then do it. We need enough officers to be here for as long as it takes to catalog everything. If Cooper comes back and finds only one or two officers he won’t hesitate to kill them and disappear.”

  “Are you sure he’ll come back here?”

  Charlie nodded. “He has to come back here. This is his base of operations. Right now, he has no idea we know about this place and as long as he thinks that, we’re ok.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “We’re going back to Whiskey Bend. I need to tell the others what I’ve found here. As far as I know, Cooper is still there. He has unfinished business there.”

  “What would that be?” Billy asked.

  “He has to murder the woman who discovered his secret. What he doesn’t know yet, is that she’s already spilled his secret to the world.” He glanced at his watch and noticed the time. It was almost morning.

  “How did she do that?”

  Charlie explained as they both had a right to know the details, “Luna Mathias is a reporter, and she did the only thing she could. She exposed his life in the paper. When he reads the article she wrote, he’s going to be very pissed off.”

  “Do you think he might come back here?” Billy asked.

  “He could. He thinks this is his safe haven. He thinks no one here knows who or what he is. Everything in this place he feels connected to in a way we don’t yet understand.”

  “I don’t want him to come back here and start killing.” Billy looked worried.

  “Then get the state police in here and get all this stuff out of here quickly and quietly. He’ll be pissed but he’ll be pissed at Luna, Sam and me. He won’t know anyone here had anything to do with this.”

  “What about you guys? He’s going to come at you with both barrels.”

  “Don’t worry about that. We’re prepared for it.” Charlie narrowed his eyes.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” Billy shook his head while looking concerned. “I remember Jeff Candles and if he’s the man you say he is, he might be coming to Albertville to collect what he needs and when he doesn’t find it, he’ll come looking for you.”