by Vera Quinn
“Did we figure out which prospect is missing?” The last time I knew we still weren’t positive of which one it was. The Tyler Chapter or Mother Chapter usually have seven to ten prospects at a time in different time frames of being a prospect and then we have hang-arounds that want to be a prospect. The hang arounds are kept around to measure their skills and see how loyal they can be. They get the total shit jobs. Then they work themselves into a prospect position if they put up with our shit without bitching and whining, but they never know anything about club business. The closest they get to our business is cleaning the damn toilets and keeping the floors clean or on a good day they may get to clean our damn kitchen. The prospects still don’t know any more business than the hang arounds until they have been here over a year and show they have initiative and most of all loyalty and the information is still on a need-to-know basis. A prospect does his time for anywhere from a year to fifteen months but never going over two years. If after two years we don’t have enough confidence in a man to become a brother, then he is just not going to get the cut and we let him go. I am trying to remember the faces I saw earlier when I came in, Reynolds. “It’s Reynolds, isn’t it?” I look at Shine.
“He can’t be found anywhere, and we can’t get to the security feed until Shield and Stealth are finished with it to make sure.” Shine states in a flat voice. This is hitting Shine hard. He sponsored Reynolds.
“He was here. I saw him with my own eyes.” Shine shakes his head yes. “I don’t think he would be taken to be tortured. He knows nothing. He’s been a prospect for less than six months and everyone knows prospects are on a need-to-know basis. He can’t tell them anything.”
“That’s true but these assholes don’t make any sense at all. They killed innocent people that weren’t even involved with any of this. Tell me one of the club girls that were here that would put up a fight. The Hell Keeperz MC is into human trafficking. Wouldn’t they take them and sell them to the highest bidder or use them for club entertainment, but they killed them? Those girls may not have been innocent, but they were always easy on the eyes and not above flaunting it.” Rebel is right. This is why we can’t get our hands on the Hell Keeperz MC because just when we think we know what they are about they head in a different direction and flip the script. It’s like we are dealing with different people.
“What if we haven’t been looking at the big picture like Cap is always saying? What if there are more of the Hell Keeperz that we thought and the community people what if that isn’t the only group of them? We went off what Chief and Sarge brought to us but what if they weren’t aware of all the players. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Separate groups that have different goals. Working separate but together and each one has a separate way of handling things, but Rebel is right, we have something they want besides Charity and Faith. It’s damn important to them.” My head is throbbing, and I would like nothing more to sleep for a straight twelve hours. I hear a knock on the door and I instantly go for my gun. Shine and Rebel both laugh at me.
“Killers don’t usually knock before entering a room.” Shine says but Shine isn’t the one who was shot at tonight.
“Better safe than sorry motherfuckers.” I grind out. Rebel gets up and opens the door and Shield is standing there. Rebel walks back to his chair and Shield shuts the door and walks over to Shine’s desk and looks at Shine.
“Cap was right. Someone has tampered with your surveillance feed and it has been going on for a while. I am not to the point of accusing Red Cap with doing it but there is no way that he wouldn’t have detected it if he had been paying attention, but Red Cap has another problem that may have kept him distracted so he wouldn’t pick up on it. When I was working on surveillance Stealth turned that room inside out. He found a stash of hundred-dollar bills and a big bag of oxy in one of the air vents and syringes, a kit, and heroin under the closet rug. There was a hiding place underneath it. I know that your club has a rule against drugs, but he is either using or dealing. I would have your doctor check his body for tracks while he is out and run some blood test on him to see what is in his body.” Shine shakes his head at me and I text the doctor to let him know what we need done.
“How do we find out what went on in the clubhouse tonight? I want to know who was doing what and how this went down.” Shine asks. “I need the information yesterday.” Shine’s impatient for answers.
“What my brother is asking is if we can get anything off the security footage?” I try to take the edge off Shine’s words.
“I understand you being fucking pissed, but I can only do what I can here. I don’t have my equipment, but I have an idea and Stealth thinks it will work too.” Shield is speaking in a calm voice and Cap seems to trust these outsiders. I am not so sure about that. They are not my brothers or my family.
“Go ahead we are waiting.” The way Rebel just said that tells me that he and I are thinking the same thing. Right now, we need to play our cards close to the vest. Shield shakes his head like he can’t believe we are questioning anything he does.
“Let me copy everything on the system. Everything on the computer and send it to a buddy who owes me a favor. He’ll be able to tell us what was done to the security and how they did it. If it was done remotely instead of by someone here he will be able to tell us that too.” Shield looks at Shine, but he must know we will need to discuss and vote on this and our time is limited before Red Cap regains consciousness and he will want back on that computer.
“You know that the club will need to vote on this and we don’t have enough time. Our financials and holdings will be on that computer along with personal information on our members.” Shine is staring Shield down, but the big man doesn’t seem to be sweating it.
“I would not hook you up with anyone I do not trust with my life. That’s not how I roll. This man is the best at discretion and he lives like a hermit, off the grid. No one will get to him to get to your information. I am one of his three friends and the other two are Stealth and Sarge. I give you my word on it.” Rebel and I are in this room, but this conversation is between Shine and Shield. I wouldn’t want to be in Shine’s shoes right now, but I know he will make a decision that is good for the entire club. “Your doctor can put an IV in Red Cap to keep him asleep, so you can get your vote in. The doc will need to give him something to keep him asleep but not a deep sleep if he is watched close it shouldn’t be an issue unless he has something else in his system and your doc can check that first, to know what to give him or not give him. I was a medic and it can be done.” Shine looks at me and then Rebel. Rebel lifts his shoulder and then relaxes them.
“Con, call doc and tell him he needs to rush that blood test and then do what needs to be done. Then call church for one hour from now. Most of the brothers are here but let them know this is mandatory.” Shine looks back to Shield. “Have you and Stealth ever thought that this may be exactly what this was all about tonight. If we put our information out there and we are hacked while doing this then we will be knee deep in shit.”
“We’re already knee deep in shit Brother and have been for a while. I have my own idea on that though, let’s play a few games with this. I am sure Shield and all his computer savvy can figure a way out to send out one or two downloads that are full of shit and then send the real one on the down low. Can’t you Shield? If that is the plan, then they will be chasing their tails this time trying to figure out what is real while we put the right information in Shield’s friend hand. Can you do that Shield?” Rebel must have something up his sleeve. His face has this evil look. “If the Mother Chapter is willing, can you transfer the information on a computer or one of those flash things and then change all information on the program on the computer?”
“I think you may be right. Can you tell if anyone copied information off that computer today?” I think about it for a minute. “The thing is that could also mean that Red Cap is being set up to take a fall.” All eyes are on me as I think this out, so everyone can hear it. “Brain
was taken out trying to protect Charity and Faith. He wasn’t a Demented Revengers member, but he was helping us on intel. They could have taken him out of commission without killing him, but they did an overkill on him. I think that shows they wanted him out of the picture. If we jump to the conclusion that Red Cap is guilty then he also will be out of the picture. Then there was Brody’s partners, Shane and Tyler, they both did intel and they bought one of them and killed the other. Tip,” I look at Rebel, “has only been around for a few years, but with all the other intel brothers gone, who are we going to get our information to. I think we need to proceed with caution. We need deeper background checks on our intel brothers and if we do this thing with the flash drive and doctoring the books then we need to make sure we are trusting the right people, or this situation is only going to get worse. We need to take this to the table.” I look at Rebel and I know that Tip has not given him a reason to distrust him but if we want to be able to go on the offense then we need to leave no rock unturned. “We also need to make sure all the outsiders are here to help us and not help themselves.” I swing my head towards Shield.
“I won’t take that personally. If I was in your shoes I would be doing the same thing, but I will need to tell Sarge about it and if he says to cooperate with you, then that is what I will do. We have friends to help with the background searches if Sarge decides we should help. We have been helping because Chief is helping, but that could change. I know what you are saying is coming from a practical place, but my President has a temper that you do not want to ignite.” Shield’s face never changes or shows any emotion. I would rather deal with a hot temper from Sarge than deal with a man that shows no emotion at all. Shield keeps his shit locked down tight and it will all resurface one day.
“Fair enough. I would expect no less from any brother from any club. That’s loyalty and that is something that everyone should understand. Can you explain to me in plain terms what could have happened to the security feed and how can we fight it, so it won’t happen again? When it comes to tech work on a computer most of us don’t get it passed turning the damn thing on, but I need to give the brothers something they can understand and a thought of how to fix it. That’s all I am asking for right now. Then I will be having a meet with Sarge and work out an arrangement. Surely, you can understand that since we have been hit from every direction and we don’t know who to trust.” Shine is stating it nicer than I would but that is why he is the President. Shield is looking straight at Shine and they are in a stare down. They are measuring each other up without saying a word. I look at Rebel and he is concentrating on Shield also. This is not how I handle things. I know that Shield is a straight shooter and the only way he would lie or tamper with any information of ours that he has is if Sarge orders him to. Shield is a trustworthy man but his brother Stealth, that one I don’t trust. Sarge, he is a toss-up. If Sarge gives you his word, then he will stick to it, but his loyalty is to Chief, his brothers and his club. I don’t know the whole story about Sarge and Chief, but it runs deep.
“Just from what I noticed from looking at the video feed it looks like the migration manager is not set right and the tamper detection in the IP camera is not set to send an alert when the camera is tampered with. I could go in and check it out but whoever tampered with it might have set up an alert to be sent to them if it is messed with. That would defeat the purpose of not letting on that we know someone has been up to no good. They could also be using VideoJak or UCSniff. They both alter the feed in separate ways. I don’t know why Red Cap wouldn’t have the feed encrypted so any tampering would be noticed but all that needs to be verified. This is more of a guess without digging in. If they used the UCSniff they had to be close. They would need a laptop plugged into the network so at some time or other they would have had to have physical access to the network. That’s what you can take to your brothers.” Shield tells all this with a worried look on his face. “If Red Cap didn’t recognize what was going on then he’s not worth your time as a tech guy. The good thing is your security system has the storage capacity of a lot of hours of security feed so maybe we can get a timeline of how long this has been going on.” Shield looks at Rebel. “My advice for you, Rebel, is to have us or someone to check your footage out too, and then check out your own tech guy out like Con suggested. I would also be examining your financials. Your treasurer may have the books balanced, but you need to be in touch with the bank to make sure of your actual balance.” Shield is right, and Shine is shaking his head in agreement.
“I think that all sounds like a plan, but I need to take a vote. Thank you, Shield and we will be in touch after church.” Shield gets up from his chair and walks to the door and starts to open the door but stops and looks back at Rebel and Shine. “I think Red Cap and Tip are good men. I have never felt suspicious of either one, but I can tell you what I have found. Since we have been here helping deal with the community and the Hell Keeperz MC, I have come to expect the unexpected. I would investigate their close families and friends also. Sometimes it isn’t what we do but what others do when we aren’t looking.” Then Shield opens the door and leaves closing the door as he goes.
“He’s right you know. I know Tip has a few friends he has brought to the clubhouse that we know very little about. When we did backgrounds on them it was the bare minimum. Doesn’t Red Cap have an ex that has started sniffing around him again. I think Katie was saying something to Gracie about her last week. She’s not very well liked around the ol’ ladies or the club girls.” Shine opens his desk drawer and starts going through some papers and then pulls out a file.
“Tisha Sparks is her name and her and Red Cap were together straight out of high school until she left Red Cap for an older man with a lot of zeroes in his bank account, but she cleaned Red Cap out too. She left him with an empty apartment, maxed out credit cards, an empty bank account, and pissed off attitude.” Shine looks up at us. “She started coming back around about a year ago, maybe a little longer. She’s a total bitch. I treat Wrinkles better then she treats Red Cap and I had a word about her disrespect at the clubhouse. It’s not just the women that don’t like her, no one does.” Shine isn’t wrong about that. I have witnessed Tisha talking shit to Red Cap more times than I can count. Wrinkles, Shine and Katie’s golden lab, is treated with way more respect. I have told the bitch to leave the clubhouse a few times or to shut her yapping. I never understood why Red Cap would put up with her. Red Cap is a good brother and he treats his woman better than she deserves. I would’ve already put her in her place. No woman lasts long that doesn’t respect the Demented Revengers MC. We can go around and round this subject. My head has a dull throb and my body needs some food and then some sleep.
“I am going to send that text but most everyone is here and helping clean up. I will round them up and then get something to eat.” I look straight at Shine. “First I want to know about Faith. Where the hell is she and what has she gotten herself into?” Rebel and Shine both give a little laugh, but when I raise my eyebrow to Shine he knows I am past controlling myself.
“Send the text, Con. I will have one of the prospects bring us some food because you are going to want to sit down for this one.” Damn, I knew it. I take my phone out of my pocket and send off a group text to save time. Shine is sending a text of his own. He puts his phone down on his desk. Rebel kicks back and props his boots on Shine’s desk. “You need to sit down for this brother, it’s going to take a while, after I tell you everything, I think I have come up with a solution to some of the drama that Faith keeps finding herself in, if you’re willing.” I give up and sit back in the chair beside Rebel as Shine begins the story of where we are going to meet with Faith tomorrow and the leads she has come up with or as much that she told Charity. That woman is going to be the death of me yet.
Chapter Nine
Faith
I wake with the light peeking through the windows. I don’t even remember falling asleep last night. I thought I would’ve been waking up ever
y few minutes like I have been since I left the compound. I yawn and stretch my arms. The hot shower felt wonderful on my body last night, but when I got out the only thing I wanted to do is sleep. I thought I would just shut my eyes for a few minutes. I never made it downstairs to talk to Cooper and Sean. I start to get out of bed and then I see a sandwich and a bottle of water on the nightstand next to the bed. Someone had checked on me and I didn’t even hear them enter the room. I was careless. I get out of the bed and walk to the door and check the lock and it’s locked. I don’t know why that gives me a warm feeling, but it does, and I don’t know why I feel safe here, but I do.
Today is going to be a difficult day. I am going to hear information on my family, and I know I am never going to be the same again. I don’t know how I know, but I feel it in my bones. Then on the other hand I’m going to need to face Brody and explain why I took off in the middle of the night. I think Rebel is going to be more pissed, but I’m worried about Charity and Brody. Whatever touches my sister also touches Brody. I don’t know who will show up this morning but if it’s not Con, then I’m okay with it. I’m not ready for his condescending attitude. I don’t think I ever will be. Now if I could just get over the way my body reacts when I see Con or how I react to his voice and him being close to me. I pull myself out of my inner thoughts and away from Con. I have more important things to concentrate on today. I walk into the bathroom and get a quick shower to tame my hair and to get this day started.
I am dressed and down the stairs because I want answers. I stop halfway down the stairs when I hear voices that I recognize but the one voice I was expecting I haven’t heard and one that I didn’t want to hear is loud and clear, Con.
“I am claiming Faith as mine. I understand she’s young, but she’s mine, none the less. I had talked to Charity before we left this morning and if Faith is on board with it or not, she’s my responsibility and I don’t care who likes it or don’t. We voted in our club last night and it’s a done deal. Age of consent is seventeen in the state of Texas.” Con is talking to someone in that tone that drives me insane. The one that gets on my very last nerve.
