by K. J. Dahlen
Cricket laughed out loud. “Yeah, but think of all you would’ve missed. Besides, you know you love them like crazy.”
Deke grinned. “Yeah, I do at that.” He sighed heavily. “But I could sure use a break from all the drama around here lately.”
“I’m hoping I can get my uncle to just go away,” she told him. “He and Michael can just leave and never come back and I would be happy.” She looked away for a moment. “Maybe I should think about moving on too. I have brought enough trouble to your MC.”
Deke shook his head and studied her for a moment. “You don’t have to do that, you know. Cordy’s actions brought trouble here, not you. You have saved my children more than once now. I also know Raine doesn’t want you to go anywhere without him.”
Cricket laughed. “Yeah, I would really miss that man.”
“I think if you left, he would follow you, maybe all the way to hell and back.” They now entered through the main gates of the club. Deke’s men gathered near the parking area.
Cricket stared out the window for a moment at the club entrance. “You know my mother always said, home is where the man you love is. I love that man, so I’ve got nowhere else I’d rather be than right here. I was hoping you wouldn’t make me leave.”
Deke looked surprised for a moment. “Why would I make you leave?”
“Bane Jessin.”
“Honey, you can’t help who your family is any more than anyone else can. It just so happens that your family is notorious.” Deke parked the car.
She sighed heavily. “Let’s get this over with. I want him gone.” She opened her car door and waited until Deke got Jemmia out of the back seat.
By then, six other men were waiting.
Deke opened the trunk and they lifted Michael out. One of the men untied his feet but left his hands tied behind his back. “Take this piece trash into the club boys,” he ordered.
Cricket followed them into the clubhouse and when they stopped, they were in front of the table Bane was sitting at.
He looked up slowly. His eyes never flickered when he saw his son’s battered body. When he shifted his eyes to Cricket, his gaze held no emotion at all.
She laid the backpack on the table. “I’ll make a deal with you.”
“And what would that be?” Bane asked as he raised a brow.
“I’ll give you the fucking daggers if you take this piece of shit and disappear. I don’t care where you go with him but I don’t ever want to see either of you again.”
“Agreed,” Bane replied instantly.
“I don’t want to see you, either of you again. You understand?” she repeated.
Bane nodded.
“I will tell you this. He wants you to teach him all you know.” Cricket leaned closer as she spoke, “He thinks you’ll teach him the trade and then someday, he’ll take over for you.”
Bane shrugged. “It could happen.”
“I think he plans to kill you one day, maybe as soon as you’ve taught him all you know.”
Bane turned dispassionate eyes to his son and sneered. “He could have tried. But I’ll take him with me and we won’t be back.”
Cricket pushed the backpack toward him. “I hope you choke on these, I really do. I hope you won’t retaliate against the club for beating the hell out of him. He hurt Cassie and used Jemmia to get me to take him to the daggers. He had the beating coming.” Then she turned with a wince as her hand went to the bandage on her back and went down the hall to her bedroom.
~* * * *~
Bane lifted his coffee cup to his lips and took a drink.
Deke stared at him for a moment, then asked, “Are we good?”
Bane nodded once. “We’re good. Apparently, my son needed a lesson and he got one.”
“Then, I think it’s time you and Michael left. You’ve outstayed your welcome.”
“We’ll be gone in a few minutes.”
“See that you are.” Deke turned and went to the back door.
Bane sat there a few minutes longer, then looked over at Michael. He found the boy glaring back at him. The gag in his mouth held him silent. Bane leaned down to cut the rope binding his hands together.
Michael groaned as feeling came back to his arms. A second or so later, he ripped the gag out of his mouth.
Before he could say anything, Bane leaned closer and held his finger up. “Do not say a word until we are out of here. I don’t care what your excuse was, you got what you deserved. Now, get to your feet and walk behind me. Keep your damn mouth shut.”
Michael got up and followed his father out of the clubhouse and all the way to the car.
A few minutes later, the car left the compound and headed back for Geneva.
Half way there, a light flashed inside the car and there was a loud bang, but the car never stopped. It kept going.
~* * * *~
Utica, New York…
Bastian watched the dawn rise from the top loft of the barn. In the distance, he could hear the farmers beginning their day but when he glanced over toward the city of Utica, he couldn’t see any signs of life there yet. He knew he had to take Sawyer home but he sure didn’t want to. He wanted to keep her.
Deep down, he knew he couldn’t but it didn’t help. They had made love three more times during the night and when he left her bed a short time ago, she’d been sound asleep. He’d never felt this way before for any woman. He didn’t know if it was love or not but he did know he couldn’t afford to fall in love with anyone. His lifestyle wouldn’t permit it. He knew no decent woman would care for what he did. He knew they would try to change him and that he couldn’t allow.
He had enough money to last him a lifetime but he didn’t do what he did for the money, he did it because this was all he knew. Getting people to spill their secrets wasn’t a job for the queasy. It took skill and guts to do what he did. The need to break a person anyway he could, helped. Causing someone pain didn’t turn his stomach if he had to do it. He didn’t feel the need to do it, it just sometimes was the only option. He never killed unless he had to. The last time was those two hitmen. Both had more than their share of blood on their hands and they had become dangerous to the Family as well.
He knew he couldn’t keep her but giving her up was going to bother the ever loving shit out of him. The only saving grace would be that he could check up on her from time to time. He could follow her and make sure she was okay, maybe even get close enough to rub his body against hers without her knowing it was him. It was sick and he knew it, but there wouldn’t be anything else he could have of her.
Bastian got up and went over to the stairs. Opening the heavy door, he went downstairs and didn’t stop until he got to the room Sawyer was in. He paused for a moment just inside the door and stared at her. She was still bound and blindfolded. He knew he had to leave her that way. Oh, how he wanted to gaze into her eyes as she came. To see the fire there that she felt for him. To have her hands roaming over his skin and do all the things she kept whispering about last night. His chest tightened. I have to live without that.
He went over to the table in the corner and picked up a syringe. Moving over to the bed, he slid the needle into her leg and pushed the plunger down. When the syringe was empty, he lifted her off the bed. It would be easier for her and less stressful if she were out for her return trip.
For the next thirty minutes, he gently bathed her body. His eyes were drawn to her bare skin. Smooth as silk. Committing every crease, every bit to his memory. It would have to last him a lifetime. He tried to just bathe her without any sexual thoughts. He wanted her aware, awake if he made love to her. If she only knew how he really felt for her. But no one but him would ever know.
He gently dried her off and dressed her with care. He paused at the sight of her damp hair. She had different hues and tints, some blonde like streaks as well and he remembered the first time he ever saw her mane. He figured at the time it was dyes or hair products, now he could see she inherited it from her father. It was
natural. So beautiful, so different, much like his own light hair, so blonde it was almost white. He let out a sigh and shook his head. The next time he saw this mane, she would be entirely separated from him again, never knowing he was there.
Carrying her out to the car, he laid her carefully on the back seat. Before he left the barn, he tucked his gun with the silencer into his pocket. He never trusted anyone. This policy had kept him alive. Then he placed a call to Leon. There was a wayside near Amsterdam that backed into a wooded area. He would wait for Leon to come and collect his bounty there.
On his way to the meeting place, Bastian wondered what Sawyer thought of last night. He couldn’t help it. Last night had been the fulfillment of a dream for him. When he’d seen her in the warehouse last year, he’d fallen hard for her. When he’d seen what Jack and John had done to her he almost killed them then and there. He’d never felt such feeling for anyone. No one better ever hurt her in the future either, or they would be sorry.
When he reached the wayside, he pulled into the woods and hid his car. Scouting the area cautiously, he didn’t see anyone else there yet. Then he lifted her out and carried her to the picnic area. He laid her on the table and carefully undid the bindings on her hands. Taking off the blindfold, he brushed the stray hair out of her eyes. His kissed her closed eyelids and caressed her soft cheek.
Pressing his lips against hers, he kissed her one last time. “I think I could love you,” he whispered in her ear. Then he heard it. The sound he was dreading. A car engine slowing down to turn into the wayside. He also heard the sound of a cycle traveling with the car.
Bastian reached up and took off the necklace he’d worn for the last ten years. Slipping it around her neck, he tucked the pendant into her shirt. Then he got up, walked to the trees and disappeared.
When he knew no one could see him, he turned and watched as a car stopped beside the table Sawyer was laid out on. The bike following the limo stopped and Bastian watched as a big man got off and stepped over to her. Calico. At least he would be there in her life now, as well as her mother. Her father gathered her up in his arms and held her close. He had tears rolling down his cheeks.
Bastian watched as Leon and Calderone Vincinti stepped out of the limo then went to the table. He saw Leon pick up the box next to Sawyer. In the box was the item Max had originally paid him to find.
Bastian reached for his phone and called Leon. “I see you found the Hand and Sawyer.”
“Yes, we did,” Leon confirmed, “I figured I’d have to pay for the item before you returned it.”
Bastian chuckled. “Max paid for its return. I have my ethics, old man.”
Leon chuckled at his sass. “May I ask how you found it?”
“Sawyer was with her mother when Jolene took the piece. Malvin followed them home that day. When he didn’t find it in the house, he staked out the only other place they stopped at. The Northridge Church.”
“So, it’s been at the church all this time?” Leon asked.
“Yeah, it was still there yesterday when I went to get it. Oh, by the way, you don’t have to worry about Malvin anymore. He tried to surprise me with a flashlight upside the head but I took care of him.”
“Thank you. He’d already killed one of my men the day before yesterday. The others found his secret rooms and a very interesting set of books. It seemed Malvin had his own gig going on in that town. Glad to know he’s out of the picture as well.”
“I didn’t hurt the girl. I want you to know that,” Bastian finally told him. “I do not kill innocents, ever. Despite what the rumors say.”
“I can see that, thank you.”
“Yes, but just don’t let it get around, okay? Tell her father to take good care of her or the next time I take her, I will keep her.” Bastian ended the call before Leon could say anything more. He turned his back and waited until he heard the bike start up. He couldn’t watch as she was carried away from him. Only when the wayside was quiet again, did he turn. The place was empty and he couldn’t stand the silence anymore.
Bastian got into his car and drove back to the barn. When he got there, he went into his living room and directly to the bar. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey and sat down on the sofa. Ripping off the cap, he lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a long swig. The liquor burned his throat all the way to his belly.
He found nothing in the liquid fire, so he put the cap back on the bottle. Drinking wouldn’t help the situation and he knew better. In his line of work, he always needed to be sober and aware. But now, he was too aware…it was going to be a long night.
~* * * *~
Lake Placid...New York
Sam sat down on the corner of the sofa and stared at the older man in front of him. “Well Sarge, time has been good to you.”
Stone Masterson laughed out loud. “Yeah, fuck you too, Tory.”
Sam chuckled and shook his head. “So…are you gonna tell me what the hell you’re doing in New York when your club is in Texas?”
“The boys and I are setting up a network,” Stone replied.
“What kind of network?”
“The kind that will help a woman or kid in trouble. I want to set up a network nationwide that can provide a safe place, maybe a new start for these women.” He looked away for a moment then looked back at his old friend. “I’m also looking for my sister. I haven’t seen her in about fifteen years or so.”
Sam frowned. “What happened?”
“I was a snot nosed kid when I left home to join the core,” Stone explained. “I was mad at the whole fucking world but mostly at my stepfather. That man was truly a beast and he was a mean drunk. Anyway, when I left…I left behind a younger sister and my mother. I hated leaving them with him, but my mom knew the old man would likely kill me if I didn’t go. They came to see me after boot camp and they told me things were different, they were better. They were lying to me but it took five years before I knew it. By then, I was overseas and couldn’t get back to do anything about it anyway. My sister kept writing and I told her I would come back for her one day. The next time I was stateside, she met me. Surprised the hell out of me. She told me she’d gotten away from him and that she was okay. I talked to my mom and she told me not to worry about her, she was all right. I went back to work with the core and didn’t worry about it….” Stone paused as if the memories were too much.
Sam waited silently for him to continue.
“…Well, years passed before I knew the truth. Sadie kept in touch and so did my mom. Then twelve years ago, I get the news my stepfather was dead. I came home to find a cluster fuck. My sister was gone and had been for a long time. My mother wasn’t the same woman I left when I joined the core and my stepfather died after almost killing my mom. I got my mom set up in a nice place but she begged me to find Sadie and bring her home. I looked everywhere for her every chance I got, but you know how the core is, they don’t give you much time on your own. Then came the day five years ago when everything I worked so hard for was suddenly gone. My last assignment nearly got my whole troop wiped out. We were set up and when shit hit the fan, my boys paid the price. I was all done after that. I came home a full bird Colonel. The men who were left of the troop came with me and we settled in a place called Sabine Pass, Texas. We started our own MC and over time, we began to grow. Most of us are vets, some of us are damaged vets but together, we make a hell of a team.”
“How does all this work with finding your sister?” Sam asked.
“The boys needed something to do, you know? To give them a purpose again, then we stumbled on the need for this sort of thing. We found a woman, beat almost to death and left on the side of the road. Her old man likely wanted her to die but we took her in, gave her a chance to heal and got her set up in another town. She’s okay and well on her way to having a good life. She got us started and before we knew it, our network had grown.”
“Okay, that explains what you do but why are you here in New York?”
“I’ve been looki
ng for my sister all this time,” Stone explained. “One of our ladies lives out here now and she mentioned a place in the area called Redemption House. I was hoping that if Sadie were in the area she might go to a place like that. The last time I heard from Sadie, she was in Albany. We were in the area dropping off another lady and I knew you were here, so I called.”
Sam grinned when Stone mentioned Redemption House. “That little girl you saved tonight, the woman that runs Redemption House is her mother.”
Stone was astonished. “Really? I thought your son was her father?”
“He is. Cassie has quite a story to tell, but Redemption House is her dream. It has been doing really well. There is such a need for places like that.”
Stone nodded. “I’ve been listening to horror stories from the people we rescue about how bad it is to live on the streets. I was hoping to find this Redemption House and learn how I can build one in my town.”
“Cassie is the one you need to talk to then.”
“Maybe I can ask her to help me find Sadie at the same time.” Stone let out a heavy sigh. “I just want to know she’s okay and give her the chance to find me. I would dearly love her to come home.”
Sam glanced at Stone’s vest and smiled when he read the name of the MC. “Hell’s Fire Riders huh? Seems I’ve heard that name before.”
“Yeah.” Stone chuckled. “I know you have. That’s what they used to call us when they sent us into battle.”
“That’s because we were the group that got the job done,” Sam quipped. “We would rain hell’s fire down on the enemy and watch it burn. It helped that the flames of hell burned the hottest.” He paused then added, “I’ve been keeping track of you, old man. I’d catch a word every now and then, and I can truly say I’m proud to have served with you.”
Stone shook his head. “I should have gotten out a long time ago.”
“No, you stayed because there was a need for men like you,” Sam argued. “You taught them boys how to become good men. They may not admit it, but they needed you and you were there.” He got to his feet and looked around. “When you get done here, come on down to Troy and meet Cassie. She can get the word out about your sister and I know she’ll be happy to tell you about Redemption House.” Reaching out his hand he grasped Stone’s and shook it. “I got my own past to set right, so I got to go.”
