Condor

by KJ Dahlen

  He started to say something but Talon held up his hand. “Don’t start, this isn’t my idea alright? I didn’t want to bring him here either, but he wouldn’t wait any longer. Apparently, he’s been waiting fourteen years already.”

  Condor stepped aside and the men all came in. There were six men, four brothers and two others he didn’t know.

  One of the men was dressed in a black pinstripe suit. Impeccable from head to toe, so he really stood out, standing among the rest of the men here.

  Condor looked him over then glanced down at his shiny shoes and paused. The man wore shiny black shoes with silver tips. He looked up at Talon and snarled at the well-dressed man.

  Talon read the look in his eyes and turned his head to study the man Archie brought with him.

  Condor played it off and kept his expression neutral. He would bide his time and find out who this guy was. He looked over at Ricki’s grandfather.

  Archie was an older man, but at 68, he was in perfect health. A huge man, around six foot four and a good 280 pounds. Hard work had steeled his build and he hadn’t lost that strength yet. His hair was white just like Ricki’s and his eyes were the same stormy blue gray she had too.

  Condor turned to glare at the older man. “What can I do for you, Mr. Kyler?”

  The smartly dressed man with the shiny ass shoes stepped forward and sneered. “First off, you can show him some respect. He’s earned it.”

  Condor stepped up and got in the other man’s face. “Not here he hasn’t, so back the fuck off. If you want me to rearrange your face just stick it up here and I will do you that favor.”

  “Gentlemen, please, stand down,” Archie’s ordered sharply in a gravelly voice. “Mark, we didn’t come here to start a feud.” He paused and stared at Condor. “This is Mark Saunders, my attorney.”

  Mark took a step back but glared at Condor and the others. “I don’t know why we’re here in the first place, sir. They’re just after the reward.”

  Condor snorted. “Why are you here, Mark? This is just a visit. And what reward are you talking about?”

  “The hundred grand Mr. Kyler put up for any info on finding his granddaughter. The money had gained a lot of interest over the years and the amount is close to two hundred grand now.” Mark sneered. “As if you didn’t know.”

  Condor turned to stare at Archie Kyler. “How long have you been looking for her?”

  “I received a phone call fourteen years ago from a woman named Jasmine who told me I had a granddaughter. I told her to prove it and she said she would but other than that phone call, I never heard anything else from her. I’d almost given up on the idea she was out there.” Archie shook his head.

  “You want to know why she never came forward?” a female voice called out from behind him.

  Condor turned and saw Ricki standing there.

  “It was because Slasher tracked her down and killed her for coming back here. He killed her because she refused to tell him where I was. That’s why she never got in touch with you again.”

  Archie turned his head and stared at the young woman standing there. He looked her over from the top of her head to her small bare feet. He could see the bruises on her face and arms. He winced when he thought about how she got this way. “And you are?”

  “My name doesn’t matter. I don’t matter to you or anyone. Do you know why I don’t matter?” She stepped forward and glared at him. “My mother gave birth to me at home, so I don’t even have a birth certificate. She told me Slasher was my father but I can’t prove it. I doubt he’ll verify it with a blood test, so there’s no other way to prove it. Besides, as he’s tried several times to kill me, I don’t need or want anything more to do with him. As soon as I’m able, I’m getting out of this fucking city and I’ll never come back here.”

  Mark turned to Archie and smiled. “Then we’re done here. I told you they were only after the money.”

  Condor leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Look at the attorney’s shoes.”

  Ricki looked down and gasped. Stepping back, she began to tremble.

  Condor wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him.

  She turned to Archie. “You bastard, you brought him here to kill me, didn’t you?” Then she turned and tried to break away from Condor but he held her too close.

  Archie turned confused eyes to his attorney. “What the hell is she talking about Mark?”

  Mark just shrugged. “I have no clue. I’ve never seen this woman before.”

  Ricki turned and practically screamed at him, “You’re a damned liar, but then I wouldn’t expect much more from one of Slasher’s men. You were there the day they caught me in the cemetery. You watched as they beat the hell out of me and left me there to die. You were there and didn’t stop them.” She almost fainted in Condor’s arms when she collapsed. “You were there...” she barely whispered.

  Archie stepped toward her but stopped when he heard a gun being cocked. He watched her with troubled eyes for a moment then turned toward Mark. “What do you have to say now? You may not know her but she sure as hell knows you.”

  “I have no idea what she thinks she knows but I’ve never seen her before, sir.”

  The men standing there could have believed him but suddenly, Mark was sweating and he looked sort of twitchy.

  To them, those were signs the man was lying.

  Talon turned to Ricki and asked, “How do you know him? How do you remember he was there that day?”

  “The first fist stunned me, by the third fist, I was down on the ground, and I was getting kicked in the belly. That’s when I saw another pair of shoes just standing there, as he must have been watching them kick the hell out of me. The third man hadn’t said or done anything but I saw his shoes. They were shiny black with silver tips. I thought it odd at the moment, then one of them hit me again, and I lost unconsciousness.” She looked up at him and said, “When I came to several hours had passed and I knew I had to hide, so I got as far as the hill and toppled over the edge. I knew I had to get out but I could move anymore. When I woke up again, it was daytime but I couldn’t stay awake. I was cold and damp. The grass was longer where I landed but I still couldn’t move and I began praying to die.” She turned and motioned to Condor. “He found me the next time I woke up.”

  “You saw the silver tips of his shoes and remembered them?” Archie wanted to know.

  She planted her face in Condor’s chest before she answered, “I thought it was odd that a man with silver tipped, shiny black shoes was with bikers in a cemetery.”

  Archie looked down at Mark’s shoes. They were indeed shiny with silver tips. He looked up at the other man’s face and glared at the look of guilt in his eyes. “You’ve known about her all this time, haven’t you?”

  “No, sir I didn’t,” Mark tried to tell him.

  “Bullshit.” Archie growled. “You’ve been trying to get me to stop looking for her all these years, telling me the woman who called me was a liar and just trying to get the money.”

  “That woman was trying to get the money.” Mark tried to argue. “All she ever wanted was the money for status and power. She was a club whore until she found out you were Slasher’s father.”

  “And how the hell would you know all that?” Archie snapped. Before Mark could say a word, Archie held up his hand, palm out. “Don’t bother lying to me again.” He turned toward Ricki. “Your mother told me fourteen years ago that she had a copy of my will. Do you still have that?”

  Ricki nodded then she glared at Mark. “She was still my mother, you bastard. Maybe she wasn’t the best mother she could have been but she was still a person,” Ricki called out. “And he killed her!” Shaking her head she whispered, “She didn’t deserve what he did to her.” She broke away from Condor and went back to the bedroom.

  The men all glared at Mark Saunders.

  Archie shook his head at him. “You are in deep shit, motherfucker.”

  When Ricki returned, she handed Ar
chie a two page report. Then she went back to Condor and wrapped her arms around his waist. Planting her face in his chest, she didn’t say another word.

  Archie looked down at the papers in his hand. It was indeed his last Will and Testament. One, he filed with the courts with Mark’s help twenty-six years ago. He crushed the pages in his hands and glared at Mark. “How long you bastard?” Archie asked him. “How long have you been playing me and letting my son Richard know every move I make?”

  “From the very beginning old man,” Mark finally admitted. “Richy and I were friends in high school but you never knew it because you were too busy to notice. When he finally broke away from your stranglehold and started the club, I told him I would watch out for him. And I did.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Well, that ends right now.” Archie growled.

  Mark smiled. “Only problem with that is you can’t touch me. I’ve done nothing illegal and you’ll never prove it if you did find anything. I walk away a free man from this.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so asswipe.” Talon growled. “You have to answer to us for what you did to Ricki.”

  Mark turned around to sneer at him. “She told you herself I may have been there, but I didn’t touch her.”

  “You didn’t stop them from hurting her either,” Rogue stated. “That makes you as guilty as the ones who hurt her. And we don’t like abusing women as a pastime.”

  “Were you there when they hurt my mom?” Ricki asked without taking her head off Condor’s chest. “Did you watch as Slasher ripped her beating heart out of her chest? Did you hear her screams when he cut her open? Did you see his hands covered in her blood?”

  Archie gasped and closed his eyes against her words. When Mark didn’t answer, he looked at him. “Answer her question. Were you there when this happened?”

  “Yes, I was there.” Turning toward her he asked, “How did you know?”

  “I might have been only a kid but I knew she was coming here for some reason. I followed her. Only I couldn’t find her for the longest time. I finally found her after Slasher got his hands on her. I saw what happened to her and I saw Slasher’s face when it was all done. He truly is a monster. And he still haunted my dreams...” Her voice faded almost as soon as she was done speaking. Then she fell limp in Condor’s arms.

  Condor swung her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom where he laid her out on the bed. Grabbing a washcloth, he wet it and began wiping off the sweat that beaded her forehead.

  Talon, Falcon. Rogue and Archie joined him. They watched as he ministered to her needs.

  “Get that mother fucker out of my house,” Condor told them.

  Talon nodded. “Stinger and one of the brothers took him back to the cells. He won’t be warning Slasher anymore.”

  Condor looked over at Archie. “You got what you came here for. You got to meet her, now I want you gone. You got no rights here.”

  “She’s my granddaughter,” Archie insisted.

  “No, she’s so much more than just that,” Condor countered. “She’s a survivor of your son’s murderous rage and as long as he lives, he won’t stop coming for her.” He glared at Archie. “I’m not going to let him get his hands on her. He’ll have to go through me to get to her. If he tries, I will end him. Just warning you about that. I will kill him.”

  “I’m not trying to stop you.” Archie shook his head. “My son has been going over to the dark side for a long time now. Any feeling I ever had for him died a long time ago. When he left my home to begin his club, he stole a good amount of money from me. It wasn’t the money he stole from me that day that broke my feeling for him, it was the fact he beat the hell out of me and two other men in a rage, like I’ve never seen before.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Talon finally asked.

  “Before I do anything, I’m going to rewrite my will. I’m going to take out any reference to Richard at all and name Ricki to be my heir. Whether she knows it or not, she is part of my family and while I can’t make up to her for what Richard did to her and her mother, I can give her what I took a lifetime to earn.”

  “I don’t want it.” Ricki slowly opened her eyes to glare at Archie. “I don’t want anything you have to offer. Don’t you get that old man? You got nothing I want or need.”

  Condor put his fingers over her mouth.

  She turned her head to glare at him.

  Condor told her, “He’s family and right now, you’re lost. You’ve been on your own for so long, you don’t know what you need anymore. He’s not Slasher. He’s not going to hurt you. Maybe you should give him a chance before you dismiss him completely.”

  “Why? Just give me one good reason why I should trust him.”

  “I’ve been part of this club for a long time. We aren’t related by blood but they are my family. Even a person who has been alone for a long time, needs that. You need that. Right now, isn’t the time to be pushing what’s offered to you, away.”

  “Family means a lot to you doesn’t it?” she asked.

  “Yes, it does and just because we aren’t related, it doesn’t mean we aren’t family.”

  She looked over at Archie. “Do you promise not to try and kill me?”

  Archie nodded, as he looked perplexed by the killing part. “I promise never to raise a hand against you. I’ve wanted to know you since the day your mom called me.” He studied her. “Can you give me a chance to know you?”

  Ricki looked more than a little lost and scared but she nodded slowly. “It probably won’t make a difference anyway as Slasher will be hunting both of us now, but I guess I could try. I still have no way of proving the fact that I’m your granddaughter.”

  “All I have to do is look at you. You carry all the family coloring and if you have a little dark circle birthmark on the back of your neck that’s all the proof I need.”

  Ricki’s eyes got huge in her face. “A dark circle? How did you know about that?”

  “It’s a Kyler family trait.” Archie smiled at her. “You are my granddaughter.”

  “You still got nothing I want or need. I can take care of myself.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “I get that sweetheart, but I’d still like to get to know you,” Archie told her.

  “What is it with you men?” she growled. “I’m not your sweetheart either. Hell, I don’t even know you.”

  Archie chuckled. “Well, you’ll have to get used to it little girl, cuz that won’t change anytime soon.”

  Ricki stared back at him. “It could change tomorrow if Slasher finds out you know about me. He’ll never let it stand. He’ll come after both of us and he’ll make sure he doesn’t miss this time.”

  Archie sighed hard. “I know. Ever since he left, I know he’s been watching and waiting for the right moment to strike at me. I would imagine having a copy of my will spurred that on. But he also had to wait. He knew he couldn’t get the money for a very long time. I made sure of that. The will also lays out the fact that if anything happens to before this year, the police should look into it, and the money should be held in a trust until the investigation is resolved. If my death were labeled a homicide then the money would be frozen for a year and given to a charity of my choice. I wasn’t leaving him any chance to kill me for the money, without trying to make it hard for him to get away with it.”

  Ricki sat up a bit and stared at the man who claimed to be her grandfather.

  “Then out of the blue,” Archie went on. “Fourteen years ago, I got a phone call from a woman who claimed she had a kid by Slasher. At first, I didn’t know what to think, so I asked her for details. She told me all about you. I asked her what she wanted because I thought it was about the money. Do you know what she told me?” He shook his head. “She told me she knew she would pay for her sins, that Slasher was already on her trail, but she asked me to find you and take care of you. She said she always knew she shouldn’t have become a mother because she sucked at it but she did love you in her own way
. She begged me to find you someday and take care of you. She was supposed to call me the next day but she never did. I didn’t hear from her again, and Mark kept telling me she lied to me. I almost believed him.”

  “Now, you know Slasher found her and killed her that night,” Ricki said.

  Archie nodded. “What you said to Mark a little while ago, is that really how she died?”

  Ricki nodded. “The police called my grandmother the next day after they found her body. They didn’t want to tell her but she kept asking them what happened. Then they told her and I was right there to hear every word they said. I knew it was the truth because I saw it happen. That was one thing I never told anyone about. I just couldn’t. I think we both died a little that day.”

  “My son has slipped into the madness of insanity I fear,” Archie commented.

  “No sir, he hasn’t,” Ricki insisted in a hard voice. “He thinks no one can challenge him. He thinks he’s got the power of your money but he knows it won’t be his for another week. Once he gets his hands on that, he thinks he’ll be unstoppable.”

  “Well, he won’t be getting my money. I’ll make sure of that tomorrow.” Archie growled. “In fact, I’ll take care of it right now. I know someone I can call and get the paperwork done tonight. And I know he can’t get to this attorney.” He got up and walked out of the room.

  Chapter Nine

  Talon shook his head. “That man might just start a war, no one can win.”

  Ricki snorted. “I just hope whatever he’s doing, doesn’t get me killed. Slasher will not take kindly to being disowned.”

  Rogue snorted. “He isn’t the only one. His MC won’t like it either.” He looked over at Talon. “We’ve been hearing rumors that the MC is looking for a shot in the arm as far as money goes. From what we hear, they’ve been losing their routes and money is running out. The brothers are not happy with Slasher.”

  Falcon nodded. “The brothers are thinking of munity, is what I hear. But you all know how rumors can be, some might be true while others are all mirrors and smoke. One of the rumors on the streets is that Slasher’s rule is bankrupting the club. I think that’s why they’re getting bolder and trying to crowd us out. I also don’t think all the trouble we’ve been having lately is due to the shippers and builders we hired to rebuild the clubhouse. I’m thinking they’ve been getting help delaying the lumber and such.”