“But he’ll start tearing the town apart if you don’t call him back.”
“We have another day before the deadline is up. He gave me three days so his men could search the town for my location. He needs to find me and try to take me out before he’ll start burning this town to the ground. He lives here too. He has more to lose than I do. He doesn’t want to authorities here sticking their nose into his business that would be suicide for him. We’ll come up with something to prevent that.”
“Bane will bring this town down,” Charlie warned him. She had to grab her throat when she tried to talk, as her voice was almost gone again. “He’s a dirty fighter and has no soul. He won’t care who he has to hurt to get what he wants. And right now he wants you dead.”
“And the Ratz want you dead,” Bull reminded her.
“I know, but the Ratz work for Bane.”
“Where is the flash drive you took from Bane’s desk? Maybe there is something on it that we can use to stop him.”
Charlie looked away from him she said, “When I stay here in Mount Pleasant, I often stay in an abandoned warehouse not far from here. You can see the building from here actually. It’s not ideal but it’s out of the way and hardly anyone comes to this part of town. But I know I’m not the only person who stays there. I’ve seen debris from other people a few times I’ve been here.”
“Are you sure the flash drive is still there?” Bull frowned.
“Yeah, it’s still there. I hid it well enough to safeguard it. In fact all my stuff is there.”
“All your stuff?”
Charlie held her throat, she wanted to speak but couldn’t/
Bull grabbed the other notebook and pen, handing it to her.
She started to write. “I never had much I could call my own. I’m not bellyaching about that but when I turned eighteen I got a copy of everything I could regarding my mother’s murder. It’s mostly police files and newspaper articles. I wanted to know what happened to her. Then I went back to Social services and asked if my mother left any paperwork behind. She had left some, so I got that as well. I couldn’t remember anything about that night but I needed to know what went down. After sixteen years, I didn’t remember what she looked like and the reports and such couldn’t give her back to me. I read some of it but not all of it. It hurt too much but that wasn’t what scared me. I put everything in a strong box and buried it. As soon as it gets dark, I’ll show you where I hid it.” Then she paused and glared at him as she croaked out, “You and only you. I won’t show the asshole anything.”
Bull chuckled. “I think I can handle that.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulder he said, “Now let’s get you something to eat.”
“It will have to be another shake. I don’t think I could swallow anything solid right now.” She grimaced and grabbed at her throat.
Bull didn’t say anything as he opened the door and led her to the second floor. He made sure he stood between her and the others and Charlie didn’t turn her head to look at anyone else in the room.
While she sat at the table watching him make her shake Hawk joined them sitting down across from her. Charlie ignored him and kept her eyes on Bull. When Bull put the shake in front of her, she sipped it carefully still ignoring the other man.
Finally, Hawk leaned forward. “I know you don’t like us right now and believe me there are times I don’t like us either but we need your help in order to help Bull and put an end to Conrad Bane and the River Ratz.”
Charlie picked up her eyes and glared at the man.
Hawk sat back in his chair and stared right back at her. “If we’re lucky, we might even be able to break up the Benali cartel and put Seth Ritcher in jail for the rest of his miserable life.”
“I think I’ve helped you guys all I’m going to.” Charlie stated as she held her throat in order to get her bare whispers heard, “I don’t owe you more than I’ve given.”
“No you sure don’t,” Hawk admitted. “But we need to wrap this up before Bane starts burning the town down and for that we need your help. We need to get our hands on that flash drive.”
Charlie glared at him. “I told Bull I would get the flash drive after dark. I can’t risk being seen out of the streets by the Ratz.”
“But they don’t know any of us.” Hawk pointed out. “All you have to do is tell us where to find it.”
Charlie shook her head. “I can’t tell you where to look for it. It isn’t that simple. I had to make sure the stuff would be safe so I hid it where only I would find it. I have to show you myself and for that we have to wait until dark.”
Hawk shook his head. “That’s hours to wait. We can’t wait that long.”
Charlie snorted then regretted that action as fire erupted in her throat. Instead of trying to speak, she raised her finger and gave him the bird. It was rude but it was the best she could do at the moment.
“Charlie,” Bull warned her. He was leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest.
Charlie turned her head to glare at him but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she continued to sip her shake. Then she spotted a notebook and she got up to fetch it. A few minutes later, she began to write. When she finished, she pushed the paper over to Hawk.
Hawk watched her for a moment then glanced down at the paper. He noticed she’d written out instructions as to where the flash drive was located. Hawk got to his feet and went back upstairs leaving Bull and Charlie alone.
Moments later, Tank and Mustang came down the steps. They paused at the second floor but without saying anything, they continued down to the main floor.
Bull heard the outside door opening and closing.
An hour later, they heard the door to the outside open again. Mustang and Tank came to the second floor. Mustang held a small duffle bag. Without saying a word, he carried it over to where Charlie and Bull were sitting. Carefully setting it on the table in front of Charlie, they waited for her to open the bag and hand over the flash drive.
When she did, they turned and walked to the third floor.
Bull didn’t say anything and Charlie just stared at the duffle bag. After a minute or so, she leaned on his shoulder. “It’s sad isn’t it?”
“What’s that sweetheart?” Bull asked as he handed her the notebook and pen, with a warning brow raised at her.
She wrote it out, “My whole life doesn’t even fill a small duffle bag. Everything I own is in that bag and the bag isn’t even half filled. What does that say about me?”
Bull wrapped his arm around her shoulder and just held her.
After a few more minutes she wrote, “Do I matter to anyone? If I died tomorrow, would there be anyone who cares?”
“I’d care.” Bull stated.
“But no one else would,” she wrote as tears rolled slowly down her cheeks. “Braden doesn’t know me. I love him but he doesn’t know who I am, not really. Maggie asked me to take care of her son and I did but I stayed away for a reason. I stayed away to keep him safe.”
“Don’t you have anyone else?” Bull asked.
“Maggie had an older brother, Jesse. When we were growing up he watched out for both of us. Then when Maggie disappeared he went nuts. He didn’t stop looking for her and when she was found he watched over her. He never left her side. Then when she died and I took the baby he left. I didn’t know it then but he joined the River Ratz. He met me a few months later and told me he was looking for the bastard that raped his sister and when he found him he was gonna kill him.”
“Has he found him yet?”
Charlie shook her head. “I don’t think so. The last time I saw him he was still there.”
“When did you see him last?” Bull frowned.
“The day he slit my throat,” Charlie told him aloud. She met his gaze without a flinch.
CHAPTER NINE
“What?” Bull grumbled as he scowled. His whole body tightened and seemed to grow bigger with his rage.
Charlie nodded as she laid her hand
on his chest. She could feel the furious pounding of his heart through his skin. She kept writing, “He’s the one who cut me. At least he gave me a fighting chance to survive. I’m pretty sure he drove me here too.”
“Are you telling me that someone you consider a friend cut your throat?” Bull’s growl deepened.
“Yeah, but it isn’t as bad as you think.” Charlie tried to defend Jesse’s actions. “If he hadn’t done it, Jermanio would have and he would have made sure he killed me. At least, Jesse didn’t hit anything vital.”
“I’m gonna kill that bastard.” Bull snarled.
Charlie shook her head and wrote, “No you can’t.” Tears welled in her eyes. “He’s the reason I’m still alive. I won’t let you hurt him.”
Bull cupped the sides of her face. “Was he there when this guy beat you up?”
Charlie nodded slowly and wrote her explanation, “Yes he was there but he didn’t hit me. I had to stop him from wading in there and beating the hell out of the guys taking part in the beating. I couldn’t let him betray himself, otherwise they would have killed him too.”
“No baby, he just watched while someone else did.” Bull snarled. “He did nothing to protect you like he should have.”
Charlie shook her head. “You don’t understand. It doesn’t work that way in our world. Our world isn’t just black and white like yours is. Jesse couldn’t let the Ratz know he knew me. They would have killed us both if they knew.”
“Honey, a real man protect a woman, friend or not. He protects her,” Bull stated.
“You really don’t know how living on the streets works, do you?” Charlie shook her head slightly.
Bull’s hands tightened in fists.
“He did the least amount of damage and got me the hell out of there. He did protect me the best way he could.”
“That’s fucked up and you know it.” Bull growled.
Charlie just stared at him for a moment, then wrote, “That’s how people like me live and die. If he had done it any other way, we’d both be dead right now.”
This broke Bull’s heart. He couldn’t imagine living like this and he hated the fact that this was the only thing she knew. He leaned toward her and pressed his lips against her forehead. “You’re right, I don’t understand that way of thinking and I don’t think I ever will. If I had been there, I would have taken those men apart and not left one of them standing.”
Charlie shook her head and wrote furiously, “They would have killed you before you got too many of them. Not one of them would have cared about the man next to him. The only one they look after is themselves. They don’t care about you or anyone else in the gang. That’s what makes them so dangerous.”
“They’re animals,” Bull spat.
Charlie nodded. “Now you’re finally beginning to understand them. The only ones they really fear is Paolo and Bane. They all know Paolo can walk up to anyone of them and put a gun to his head and shoot him dead for absolutely no reason at all.”
“How do you know this?”
Charlie shuddered. “I’ve seen the man do just that. One day when I was watching them, Paolo was discussing something and one of his men disagreed with him, not by saying anything, no he just shook his head at the man. Paolo went over to him whipped out his pistol and shot the man right there where he stood. You want to know what’s worse. Not one of the rest of his men were even shocked at his action. They didn’t even blink an eye, they just stood there until Paolo was done and then they dragged the other body off. They dumped him on the burn pile and a couple of days later they set him on fire. They were more worried about the stink of his body than the fact one of their own was dead.”
“What a bunch of bastards,” Bull muttrered.
“That’s Paolo and his gang of Ratz,” Charlie agreed with a whisper.
“BULL,” someone bellowed from the upper floor.
Bull pulled away and frowned as he stared at the stairway. “I wonder what they found?”
Charlie shrugged. “Maybe you should go and see. Me, I’ll stay here if you don’t mind.”
Bull got up and walked heavily up the stairs. His footsteps echoed in the warehouse.
Charlie sat there. She stared at the duffle bag but didn’t make any move to open it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see its contents again. Some of it she’d read but there was some she hadn’t. Right now, she wasn’t sure she wanted to see everything again.
Twenty minutes later, Bull came back down the steps. When he came into sight of her, he stopped and just stared at her for a moment.
Charlie frowned and began to feel uncomfortable. She got to her feet.
Bull sighed deeply. Holding out his hand he said, “I think you better come with me. We have some questions.”
Charlie took a hesitate step toward him and stopped. “Do I want to know?” se whispered. “I told you I didn’t know what was on the flash drive. Hell, I don’t even know how to run one.”
Bull heard her whispered words but he didn’t say anything, he just held his hand out to her.
Charlie grabbed the bag off the table and went over to him. She didn’t take his hand. Taking a deep breath, she nodded toward the steps. “Why do I feel like I’m walking toward my own execution?” She walked up the steps alone and Bull followed close behind her. Neither of them said a word, not even when they reached the top and Charlie stopped to stare at the other five men in the room.
None of the men seemed happy. She looked from face to face. Starting with Hawk then to Tank and Mustang. From there she went to the one they called Wild Child. Then she came back to Bull. She refused to look at Judge at all.
Then she walked over to the bed, dropped the duffle bag on the mattress and finally turned to glare at Hawk. “Now what did I do wrong?” she whispered as she grasped her throat.
Hawk glanced over at Judge before he addressed her question, “Do you have any idea what’s on this flash drive?”
Charlie shook her head.
“Are you sure you’ve never seen what’s on here?” Hawk had to ask.
Charlie frowned. “I told you I didn’t. I have no clue how to even run a computer let alone use one of those things. Why what’s on there?”
Hawk came forward and gave her some printed pages. Charlie searched his face for a clue as to what she would find. When she couldn’t find out anything, her gaze dropped to the pages and gasped. “What the hell is this?”
Charlie sat down hard on the bed and studied the pages in her hand. The pages told her life story. She frowned as she read the snippets of her life. Bane had the run down on every foster home she’d ever lived in. Several pages fell to the floor as she flash read the pages. “Where did you get these?” she whispered hoarsely.
“Bane had a file on you on the flash drive,” Hawk told her.
“But why?” she frowned as her head snapped up to stare at the man. “I’ve never met the man in person, how the hell would he know who I am? Why the hell would he care?”
“Suppose you tell us.” Judge growled.
Charlie ignored him and continued to look at the pages. She laid them carefully down on the bed and reached for the duffle bag. Opening it, she reached inside and brought out a handful of papers bound by a rubber band. She handed them to Bull. “This is what I found when I was eighteen. I got police reports and social service reports. But what I found doesn’t compare to what Bane had. I’ve never seen half of those reports and I have no idea where he got them or why he would even have them.”
Bull took the reports from her and began looking through them. She was right, this pitiful bunch of reports wasn’t near what they had found on Bane’s flash drive. What the hell was Bane doing with information on Charlie?
Hawk handed her a second set of papers. Charlie looked up searching his face but she couldn’t read anything in his eyes. Then she glanced down at the papers he’d given her. She looked up in surprise at Bull before she went back to the papers in her hand. “This is my mother,” she whispered. “Why
would he have information on my mom?” The more she read the file the more confused she became. The papers told her, her mother’s name was Joni Martin. She came from San Antonio, Texas where she’d grown up with her parents, Gloria and Gary Martin. A newspaper clipping reports a home invasion when Joni was seventeen. Her parents had been murdered and robbed during the break in. The break in had happened when Joni was away from home so she wasn’t injured but when it was all said and done Joni had been left alone. She had no other family. Then less than a year later Joni disappeared.
The next little tidbit had her mother living in Sabine Pass, Texas for a few months before she finally came here to Mount Pleasant. One of the papers in the file was Charlie’s birth certificate. Her heart caught for a moment. This was one thing she’d never had before. When she was found at the age of two, it had been determined that her mother had been hiding under a false name. It wasn’t known why but no one could ever find out her real name. That meant she never knew her real name or real birthday.
Now she had that information. Her real name was Charlie Martin and her birthday was July 4th, 1995. She was twenty two years old. Her eyes went to the place where the father’s name was usually listed but the place was left blank.
When she looked at the next page, she saw a picture of her mother. Charlie caught her breath. Her mother had been beautiful. They shared the same heart shaped face and the same turquoise eye color. Her mother had curly strawberry blonde hair where Charlie’s was jet black and straight. She closed her eyes for a moment and a single tear rolled down her check. Slipping the photo out of the file, she held it out to Bull. “This is my mom,” she whispered.
Bull took the photo and gazed at it for a moment. Then he sat down next to her on the bed. Tapping the file in her hands, he asked softly, “Why does Conrad Bane have a file of you and your dead mother on a flash drive?”
Charlie shook her head. “I don’t have a clue. I told you I’ve never met the man in person. I’ve only watched him from a distance for the last couple of years but I’ve never met him. My mom was murdered twenty years ago. I don’t remember that day very well. I was barely two years old. There’s so much of that day I can’t remember at all. ”
Knox Brotherhood Page 150
