by K. J. Dahlen
“No he didn’t.” She met her father’s eyes. “But he learned it a week later.” She lifted her cup to her lips and didn’t say anything else.
Mountain didn’t ask either.
Before their conversation could continue, Sam came out of the room. He paused for a moment then made his way to their table. Grabbing a cup, he poured them all a fresh cup of coffee. “So do you have any idea what Raven will do when he gets here?” He asked as he gazed at Mountain.
Mountain stared at the other man with a hard look. “Raven is a good man and he runs a tight club. That Whiskey did what he did isn’t going to sit well with him. Whiskey’s been in trouble before and this time, he went over the line.”
“Have you heard anything about this in the last two years?” Melora spoke up.
“Actually, I have.” Mountain nodded. “I was in Raleigh last year making a run to Raven’s club and the cops thought they found a piece of Baily’s shirt. The cops came over to the club and talked to Raven. They said someone was hiking in the woods and found a place where the hogs were digging. They found three pieces of cloth that didn’t belong there. Raven was crazy, wondering what the hell happened. Now, I guess we know.”
“Was there anyone in his club who tried to play it down?” Melora asked. She still had one secret but she wasn’t willing to share it just yet.
“There was one man and his woman. I think his name was Jonesy. He said the cloth could have been anyone’s. He didn’t think it proved anything. He tried awful hard to get everyone to think Baily just took off.”
“I can’t believe Jonesy ever had a woman.” Melora scoffed. “He doesn’t usually go that way.”
Mountain chuckled. “Yeah, well Izzy didn’t seem to appreciate him either.”
Melora sat up straight and turned her head to Mountain. “Izzy?”
“Yeah. Little bit of a thing, long dark red hair and—”
“Green eyes?” Melora looked pissed. “That son of a bitch, that dirty rotten son of a bitch.”
“Who?” Sam asked.
“Whiskey.” Melora seethed. “Whiskey has control of Izzy. Every fucking time I called her, she told him where I was. Now I know why he was right behind me every time I changed cities.”
“How do you know she just didn’t give you up?” Mountain asked.
“Because Izzy wouldn’t have done that, not to me,” Melora defended. “Jonesy isn’t a good man, if she’s with him it wouldn’t be because she cared for him. He’s a pervert that likes little boys. Izzy is too smart for that.”
“How do you know?” Sam asked.
“Izzy and I met when we were both sixteen. I’d just ran away from yet another foster home and she had walked away from hell she lived with. We hooked up from necessity but became friends that winter. When you have no warm place to live you and there’s no food, you tend to appreciate who you’re sharing a place with. We had to steal to live that winter and I taught her how to do it without getting busted. We also learned self-defense together. I had her back and she had mine. Now those bastards are using her to get to me.”
“How do you figure that?” Sam asked.
“We made a vow eight years ago. We vowed no matter what happened in our lives we would always have each other’s backs. If she’s with Jonesy right now, she doesn’t have a choice. Whiskey threatened to kill her and she probably thinks her best bet and mine is to give them the information they need and…” Melora stopped and thought about something. She snapped her fingers. “Of course, that’s what she’s doing.”
“What are you talking about?” Mountain asked.
“She’s been trying to tell me all this time.” Melora looked distracted as she thought about it. “I didn’t put it together until right now.”
“I think you need to explain,” Sam urged.
“Every time I called her to let her know I was okay and where I was, she reminded me I wasn’t alone. As long as I had her, I would never be alone and that she had my back. I thought she was giving me encouragement but she wasn’t, she was trying to tell me they were watching her.”
“What are you going to do?” Mountain asked.
“I’m going to get her out of there,” Melora vowed.
“How the hell are you gonna do that when you’re here and she’s there?” Deke asked as he joined them.
“I don’t know but I need to get her out of harm’s way,” Melora replied in a firm tone.
“Maybe I can help with that,” a voice rumbled from the front door.
Everyone turned to see an older man standing there. His hair was long and black. His face looked worn and there was a scruff of black along his jaw. His eyes were dark and at the moment there was a stormy expression in them. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. The only color on him was on the leather vest he wore. He stood there with nine other men and all of them looked tired and ornery.
“Raven, welcome,” Deke stated.
Gator, Sam and Mountain all got to their feet.
Melora just stared at the man.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Raven made his way to their table. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Melora. He reached for the coffee pot and poured some coffee into a cup. When he brought it to his lips, he finally looked away from her. After he took a gulp of the hot brew, he reached out his hand to Deke.
After Deke, he shook Gator’s hand then Sam’s. “Good to see you again my old friend.” He turned to Reva and asked for more coffee.
Raven’s men stepped forward and as each of them grabbed a cup.
Raven turned to Mountain. “Good to see you too, old man.”
“Well, it is and again it isn’t,” Mountain agreed as they shook hands.
Deke observed the men Raven brought with him. Turning to the other leader he asked, “Who are your men? I think you should know we’re on lockdown and having this many strangers is making me a bit jumpy.”
Raven glanced at his men and nodded. “I don’t blame you. This is Gunny, Rembrandt, Conner, Sal, Gremlin, Big Tony, Trainer, Fubar, and Grandy.” He paused then glared at Deke. “You understand why I had to bring a small army. A threat has been made against me and the Ghosts and I need to learn the truth behind it, then I need to act on that truth to resolve it. I didn’t want to bring this to your town but I have no choice.”
Deke nodded. “I do understand and I want to help. I don’t want this feud any more than you do and I hope we can keep the causalities down to a minimum.”
“Yeah, well I understand that I’ve been lied to for the last two years. I want to know how and why,” Raven commented. He turned to Melora and said, “I hear you’re in some trouble with one of my men.”
Melora snorted. “Whiskey isn’t much of a man, more like a parasite, a blood sucking mealy mouth worm.”
“Yeah, he’s been off the grid for a while now,” Raven agreed. “Been thinking about cutting him loose then I heard he was trailing a woman who might have murdered Baily Walker. Senator Walker wants you really bad. He wants to know what happened to the kid.”
“So Whiskey blamed this on me?” She sneered. “That figures. He always was a pig.” She got to her feet and reached into her back pocket. Deke had returned her phone to her earlier. She searched through her phone and brought up the video then handed it to Raven. “This is what really happened that night.”
As Raven watched the video, his frown deepened. His face turned to stone when it finished. He handed the phone back to Melora. Turning to Deke, he shook his head. “Whiskey’s a dead man, he just don’t know it yet.”
“He’s got at least two other men with him and there’s another man at your club,” Deke informed him. “Melora thinks the woman Izzy is being held hostage against her will in order to give them information on where Melora is.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Raven nodded. “Izzy has proven she doesn’t want to be with him but until she says something no one else will help her.” He shrugged. “That’s just the way it is in our club.”
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��She won’t say anything until she has no other choice,” Melora added. “You need to get her away from Jonesy and keep her safe until Whiskey is caught.”
Raven nodded. “Don’t worry about Jonesy. He’s earned his pain. The club will take care of him.”
“I don’t care about Jonesy, or Micah or Lightning. They had their chance to stop him but they didn’t. They even helped him get rid of Baily’s body and helped to cover up his death and disappearance. As far as I’m concerned, they can fry alongside Whiskey.” Melora seethed.
“The only problem is how are we gonna stop Whiskey?” Sam asked.
“We lure him into thinking he’s gonna get to me,” Melora answered.
“That’s not going to happen,” Mountain assured her. “He isn’t going to even breathe the same air as you if I have anything to say about it.”
“That makes two of us.” Sam growled.
“It’s the only way to draw him out,” Melora protested. “We know he’s close but we don’t know where exactly. I thought I heard his bike in town a couple days ago but I haven’t seen him yet. Nor have I called Izzy either. He might be waiting and searching Boston for me yet. She told him I was there over a week ago. All we do is let him close enough, then you guys can take him. I don’t care what happens to him once you guys get a hold of him. Micah and Lightning either. They’ve been chasing me for two fucking years and I’m tired of jumping at shadows and living in the cold. This needs to be over.”
“If I’m not mistaken Iceman saw Whiskey and his group here yesterday,” Deke spoke up. “I can’t say anyone has seen him since then though.”
“Why didn’t you send me the video two years ago?” Raven asked. “If you had, you wouldn’t have had to run at all.”
Melora glared at him. “I don’t know you man. How was I supposed to know you would stand up for me against one of your own?”
“You could have asked anyone here.” Raven shrugged.
“I didn’t know anyone here two days ago, let alone two years ago.” She scoffed. “Besides, I wouldn’t have trusted them anymore than I would have trusted you at that point.”
“And why is that?” Raven wanted to know.
Melora sneered as she flicked her fingers toward his cut but she knew better than to touch it. When she was younger, one of the waitresses at the bar she worked at had done just that, touched a members cut, as they call it, and she’d been hurt for it. They broke her fingers. Bikers didn’t want you to touch them unless they meant something to you. “People fear this vest for a reason. I didn’t know I could trust it, not then. I would watch your men and let’s just say, I wasn’t impressed by their actions.”
“You feared what you did not know.” Raven shrugged. “That’s hardly my fault.”
“True enough, but I was smart enough to steer clear. I’ve seen bikers hurt the people I worked with before, just for touching their cuts. I’ve had enough heartbreak in my life. I was barely surviving and it hasn’t gotten any better since then.” She shook her head. “Whiskey isn’t holding together very well. The last time I saw him, he looked like he was coming down off a bad high. He was dirty, jittery and had a bad case of the munchies. Micah and Lightning didn’t look so good either. They looked disgusted with him.”
Raven shook his head. “I haven’t seen Whiskey in two months. When I did see him, he told me he had a tip on you and was following through. He vowed to bring you back in one piece, so I could question you about Baily’s disappearance.”
“Now you know that was nothing more than a lie,” Melora grumbled. “One piece, my ass.”
Raven stared at her for a moment. “Have you actually seen him here yet?”
“Not seen him no, but I’ve heard his bike.”
Raven frowned. “You’ve heard his bike? What the hell does that mean? One ride sounds the same as any other.”
Melora shook her head. “No it doesn’t. His bike has a particular whine. It’s the stuff nightmares are made of.”
Raven snorted out loud. “Now, I know you’re making this shit up.”
Melora shrugged. “Not really. Each bike has a different sound to it. Maybe you don’t notice it but I do. His bike has chased me for two years, if you don’t think I know the sound of it, then you’re the crazy one.”
“One thing you should know Raven,” Mountain interjected while looking concerned about Melora’s attitude toward Raven. “Melora is my kid and that bastard isn’t getting close to her.”
Raven raised his eyebrow. “Your kid? I didn’t think you had any kids.”
“I only found out about her four years ago. I never thought I’d find her but I did. I’m not going to lose her again, not to some psycho. Especially…not to Whiskey.” He glanced over at Sam but didn’t say anything. That would be another discussion for another time.
Sam just glared back at Mountain.
Melora looked from her father to her lover and growled. “Both of you need to put your cocks back in your pants and behave. I don’t have time for either of you right now.”
Raven frowned as he looked from Mountain to Sam. “Is there something going on here that I should know about?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, or anyone else’s but…” Melora nodded. “I’m sleeping with this one…” She pointed at Sam. “…And my ‘father’ doesn’t like it.” She air quoted the word father.
Raven paused then nodded. “I can see why. Sam is older than he is.”
She shrugged. “It’s my choice and Mountain doesn’t get a say in my life unless I say so. For all my life, he’s been nothing more than a donor and if he wants to be more he has to prove himself.” She shrugged. “Right now, we have other things to worry about.” She got to her feet. “You need to prove something right here, right now.” She pointed her finger into Raven’s chest.
“What might that be?” Raven asked, though his dark eyes narrowed. Curious to know just how far she was willing to push him. Not many people demanded from him and he liked it that way.
“You need to get Izzy out from Jonesy’s control.” Melora began to pace. “I need to know she’s safe before we get to Whiskey.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that but lady… you need to be very careful what you demand from me. I don’t usually do orders from anyone. You and I aren’t fucking and you ain’t my mother or my sister, so you can’t make demands from me.”
Melora sneered but didn’t say anything.
“I’ll put a call into my VP. Silas will make sure Izzy gets free of Jonesy and that he’s held until we get back for questioning.” Raven reached for his phone and placed the call. A few minutes later, he gave her a nod. Turning to study the rest of the group, he asked, “So how do you want this to go down?”
“I told you, let me lure him into thinking he can get to me, then before he does you guys get to him,” Melora explained.
“And we said that wasn’t going to happen,” Mountain stated firmly.
Melora turned to him and practically hissed. “If he sees or hears that Raven and his guys are here, he’ll run, he’ll go so far underground we’ll never find him, and we’ll lose him. Then I’ll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life and I’m not doing that anymore. I need this pig caught and taken care of. I can’t live in fear another day.” She paused then looked around at all the bikers. “I’m doing this with or without you guys, so either get on board or get the hell out of my way.”
“And how exactly are you planning on luring him in?” Raven asked with sarcasm.
Melora smiled but the humor never reached her eyes. She reached for her phone and dialed a number. When they heard someone answer, she put the phone on speaker and spoke, “Hey Whiskey, my name is Melora, and I think you’ve been looking for me. I just heard a rumor about you and I have to ask, is it true you are nothing more than a liar and a cheat? You killed a man and told everyone that I did it. You’ve been chasing me for two years now and I’m tired of playing you’re fucked up games. You want me, come get me bastard!”
“Where are you bitch?” they heard him swear with a growl in his voice.
“You can find me in Troy, New York. I’ll be the one standing alongside the road giving you the finger. I hope you showered since I last saw you in Boston. You were looking a bit ripe that day. I could smell your stench from twenty feet away. Your hands were shaking so bad, you couldn’t even hold that big old bloody knife you used to slice Baily up with.”
“How did you know about that?” he asked.
“I got it all on video, asshat.” She sneered. “Maybe Senator Walker would like to see it. At least then, he could blame the right person for what happened.”
“He’d never believe it. I’ll tell him the video was doctored and he’ll be stupid enough to believe me,” Whiskey assured her. “I’ve been working on him and telling him Raven can’t get the job done but I could.”
Melora caught Raven’s eyes. “You been bad mouthing your club president? Wow, that’s like slapping him in the face. You’re either a very brave man or very stupid. Me, I’m voting for you being just plain stupid.”
“Yeah and when I take your body back to Walker I’ll have the political power to take the club from Raven. I’ll have the power Raven wants but doesn’t have.”
“You think Raven will give up his patch that easy?”
“He won’t have a choice,” Whiskey foolishly told her. “And when that club is mine, I’ll take it places Raven never would. We’ll be running dope and guns up and down the East coast and there won’t be anyone to stop us.”
“You still have to find me first,” she taunted.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll find you and drag your carcass back to North Carolina. But first, I think I’ll fuck you for a while. I’d been watching you for a while before that night. You never know you might like it and it might keep you alive for a day or two longer. Then I’ll take you out where we left Baily and you can share the same fate he did. No one will ever know what happened to you, just like Baily.”
Melora laughed. “Too bad, Baily didn’t stay there. The hogs never got him.” Then she hung up the call. She glanced over at Sam and then to her father. Finally looking at Raven, she shrugged. “The boy’s got ambition, I’ll give him that. Maybe not dealing with reality but he’s got dreams. He don’t seem to like you at all.”
