Grizzly

by KJ Dahlen

  “Anything we need to worry about?” Gunner asked.

  “I don’t think so. Fifteen years ago we were tracking a killer, my partner and I found him, he shot my partner and I dropped the fucker. My testimony put the old bastard on death row and now fifteen years later, he says he’s got evidence he was on the other side of the state at the time. This is a last ditch attempt to avoid the needle.”

  “Yeah, well good luck with that.” Gunner shook his head.

  Grizzly sat down on the edge of the bed and watched Teddy as Patriot cleaned the scratch on his arm. He couldn’t believe what happened earlier. The Teddy Alexander he knew of wouldn’t have missed that shot. In fact, he should be a dead man right now. So why had her shot gone so far off the mark?

  He figured the real question was why she’d been there in the first place. What brought her here to this part of the world and was there someone else out there waiting for him to walk into their trap? Did he have a target on his back? If so why?

  Chapter Three

  A few hours later, Grizzly sat in the infirmary rereading the file he’d taken from the Marshals. The tab on the file read Darren Nixon.

  He’d forgotten half the details of the case, as it had been fifteen years. It was only when he read the name of Darren’s initial victim that his heart sank. Darren had murdered Teddy’s grandfather, Theo. Then after a short hunt and a police chase, the man murdered Abe before sending him to the hospital.

  He looked over at the girl lying on the bed. She was sleeping peacefully now and he had to wonder why she was even here. Her regard for law and order was well known. She was the latest generation to serve and everyone knew family meant a lot to the Alexander family and especially, to her.

  He remembered seeing her standing beside the coffin at her grandfathers’ funeral. She looked so small standing there alone while her dad gave the eulogy. Her mother was sitting in the first row but hadn’t bothered to even look at her daughter.

  He did remember the pain in her eyes that day. She looked so alone and was just a kid when her grandfather died. Now, he knew there was something wrong. She never would have done what she did otherwise. To come here and try to kill him just was not in her blood, it opposite of what he knew to be there in her. It went against everything she ever stood for. He just had to get her to tell him what was what. What had she meant earlier about not being able to save her dad? Was Ethan in danger? What about her mother? Although he never cared for Reva Alexander, she was still the girl’s mother.

  So many questions and no answers. He gazed down at the file again and wondered if they had missed something all those years ago. Darren Nixon had no reason to kill someone like Theo Alexander. They didn’t move in the same circles and they had no other reason to even come in contact with each other.

  He sat back and was lost in thought for a moment. Why had Theo been killed? The general consensus was it had been a random killing but what if it hadn’t been? What if there was a reason Darren had murdered him?

  He pulled out his cell phone and sent his old boss a text. He needed to find out if there was something out there, they hadn’t found yet. Had the real truth been hidden for fifteen years?

  Looking over at the girl he couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was going on here.

  Patriot came back into the room.

  Grizzly got to his feet. “I need you to stay with her until I get back. I need to talk to Gunner.”

  “Ok, sure Gunner wants someone with her 24/7 anyway until we know why she tried to kill you.” Patriot nodded. “I’ll be here.”

  Grizzly went to the main room and found Gunner, Boone, Jett and Cobra sitting at a table.

  Skeeter, Gypsy and a few of the other brothers were sitting there as well.

  Grizzly sat down at Gunner’s table and flopped the file down on the table.

  Gunner looked over at Grizzly then his eyes went to the file. “What’s up?”

  “You know that matter I told you about before? The one I might have to go back and settle?”

  Gunner nodded.

  “I handled this case fifteen years ago,” Grizzly explained. “My partner and I were given a hunting case after a high profile murder happened. It took us three months to hunt the fucker down but we finally found the little maggot. He wasn’t going down easy though and in the showdown, he put a bullet in my partner’s head and one in my shoulder. I pumped eight into him and his arm and before I passed out, I knew my fellow Marshals were on the scene. The bastard’s name was Darren Nixon. Before he went on trial, I tore his fucking life apart and we found evidence that put him on death row.”

  Gunner nodded. “I see. So...?”

  “Now after fifteen damn years, he says he has evidence that would put him far enough away from the scene that would prove he didn’t kill anybody. That he only shot my partner and me because we shot at him first.”

  “Ok but what does that have to do with the situation here?” Boone asked.

  “The man Darren Nixon was accused and convicted of killing was Theo Alexander.” He paused when they gasped. “Coincidence? I think not. Darren now says he didn’t get a fair trial, that the Marshals set him up for Alexander’s murder.” He nodded at the file on the table. “I have a feeling we might have missed something back then. I’m hoping Teddy might know something about her Grandfather that we don’t. I asked my old boss for everything the Marshals had on this case and I’d like the MC’s help in sorting this out.”

  “Why our help?” Cobra wanted to know. “I mean I know I’m not part of this MC but why not go to your Marshals for help?”

  Gunner rapped his knuckles on the table, as was his habit when he was thinking. He looked over at Cobra and nodded. “In our business, we work hand in hand with the Marshals and the Rangers. But as an MC, we tend to think differently than either of the other two. We think more like the average Joe on the street.”

  “Besides,” Grizzly drawled. “I know I can trust these guys a tad bit more than I could another Marshal. Another Marshal would be seeking fame and glory for solving a big case like this one from fifteen years ago. If I made a mistake, another agent wouldn’t mind seeing me fall flat on my face. The brothers here always got my back and would help me find the truth first.”

  “So did you ever meet Teddy before today or what?” Skeeter asked.

  “Yeah,” he admitted. Hanging his head for a moment he told them, “Fifteen years ago, she was nothing but a little scared, heartbroken kid when I saw her. She was standing beside Theo’s casket. Her dad, Ethan was giving the eulogy and her mom was sitting in the front row with a bored look on her face looking at something on her phone.” Shaking his head he admitted, “That’s why this doesn’t make sense to me. Teddy grew up in her father and grandfather’s shadow. Law and order mean the world to her. I don’t know what put her in that tree this morning but it was worth her life or someone else’s life to see me dead.”

  Cobra snorted, “Well, she missed you by a mile and that’s pretty hard to do.”

  Grizzly shook his head. “I’m thinking she missed on purpose. I can’t swear to it but I thought I heard her say she was sorry to her dad. She was sorry she couldn’t save him.”

  Gunner sat up in his chair and frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. Makes ya wonder why she would say something like that?”

  Grizzly nodded. “I know but that’s what I heard just before Patriot fixed up her arm. Then she offered no resistance and simply handed over all her weapons.”

  “Yeah,” Boone shook his head as a smile appeared on his face. “That surprised the hell out of me. I never knew she had half of what she turned over.”

  “That’s why I want to reopen the murder case against Darren Nixon. The Marshals caught and convicted him and we thought we had the right reason why but now, I think we missed something back then.”

  “Like what?” Jett asked.

  “Like maybe the real reason someone wanted Theo Alexander dead,” Grizzly stated. “We found Nixon, found evidenc
e we needed to convict him. We went to trial and managed to make our case against him. Twelve jurors found him guilty and sentenced him to death row. But I can’t help but think we convicted him more on the murder of Abe and shooting me more than the murder of Alexander.”

  “Maybe we should look more into what Alexander was doing at the time he was murdered,” Gunner suggested. “Maybe there was something you missed back then, or did not think to be looking for.”

  “Gunner,” Boone chimed in again, “This case goes back fifteen years. It isn’t going to be easy to try and piece it all together anymore. People move, people die, evidence is lost in the system and people just plain old forget.”

  “You’re right on every one of those counts and probably more but I’m doing this with or without your help.” Grizzly growled.

  Boone held up his hand and growled back, “Hold on, I never said we wouldn’t help you man, I was just pointing out the pitfalls dammit.”

  Grizzly nodded and turned to Gunner. “I’m having all the files and the evidence brought here, so we can go over everything we had fifteen years ago when Nixon went to trial. I’m hoping there’s something there, maybe we can find something fresh, find out the why of this senseless act.”

  “Maybe I can help,” a voice called out from behind them.

  Grizzly turned and found Teddy standing there with Patriot holding on to her.

  “What the fuck is she doing in here?” Gunner snapped at Patriot.

  “She wouldn’t stay in bed. She said she had to talk to Grizzly,” Patriot grumbled.

  Grizzly got up and walked over to her. He leaned down and looked into her eyes. “Are you feeling all right?”

  Teddy nodded. “You may not believe this and I wouldn’t blame you if you turned your back on me for what I did, but before you turn me into the police I-I think—no, I need to tell you why I took that shot this morning.”

  “Honey, we may not turn you into the cops,” Gunner told her. “You shot a member of our MC and that means you could face a tribunal, not the cops. That’s attempted murder in anyone’s books and we take that shit or anything like it as anything but serious. That’s just how we roll.”

  Teddy nodded. “I understand. But I didn’t wake up three days ago looking for a reason to kill a man. That’s not how I roll. I took an oath when I joined the force to serve and protect. I believe in law and order, not chaos and killing.”

  “Then why did you take that shot?” Patriot asked her.

  Teddy looked like she could crumble at any moment.

  Grizzly swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the table. Sitting down, he held her in his lap rather than allow her to sit on her own.

  Gunner gave her a harsh stare. “You said something about three days ago, what happened then that brought you here today?”

  “Three days ago, my dad disappeared,” she told them while looking heartbroken.

  “What the fuck?” Cobra swore. “What does that have to do with you shooting our man Grizz?”

  “I think this might explain it.” Patriot came forward and laid her cellphone on the table. The photos were open on it.

  Gunner reached for the phone and began flipping through the pictures. He passed the phone around the table and no one said a word as they viewed the evidence.

  When the phone made its way around the table and back to Teddy, she picked it up and found the voicemail she hit play and put the message on speaker. “Good morning Teddy, I see you got the photos I sent you this morning. For now, your dad is still alive but he probably won’t stay that way very long unless you cooperate. I need you to kill a man for me. They call him Grizzly and he’s part of the Savaged Souls MC but he’s also a US Marshal. He owes me a debt, he’ll finally pay back. He took my dad, so now I’ve got yours and I will kill him, but don’t worry I won’t yet.(laughing) I’m giving you three days to get the job done or I will kill your dad. And if I do, you’ll never find his body. I’m a bit smarter than that. I don’t leave evidence behind. I will never sit on death row for years, waiting for the needle that will end my life. I’m giving you three days then after that, you can kiss your dad goodbye. He’ll be on his way to hell where all good cops end up.”

  They all heard him laugh out loud, then they heard a woman’s chuckle.

  “Three days little girl, or your dad is dead.” He snorted. “Maybe I’ll kill him anyway. But you’ll go to jail for murder and I’ll wave as I see you drive past in the back of a cop car in handcuffs. Those bastards do love their handcuffs don’t they? What the hell am I saying, you are one of them, aren’t you? Oh, the irony of this situation. A cop killing a biker. Now, that’s almost funny.”

  The room was silent as they digested what they’d just heard.

  Minute after minute they just sat there, then Gunner asked, “Do you know that voice? Have you ever heard it before?

  Teddy raised her head. “Yes, I know it. I also know the woman’s laugh. I know who’s holding my dad hostage and wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. In fact, they probably already have killed him.”

  “Who is he?” Cobra wanted to know.

  She turned her head to answer him with tears in her eyes, “It’s the bastard my mother has been seeing behind my dad’s back... for a long time now.”

  Chapter Four

  Teddy hesitated to say more as she gazed at the floor.

  As she paused, something snapped in Grizzly’s brain when he heard the voice mail. He knew exactly who was speaking and he growled out loud, “Levi Nixon.”

  Teddy and Gunner both snapped their heads around to stare at him. “How do you know that?” Gunner demanded.

  Grizzly snorted. “I saw him at the trial every day and the day his dad was convicted, he said he would get him out of jail. He was very loud in his slanderous and fault finding of the verdict. He vowed his dad wouldn’t die behind bars.” Shaking his head, Grizzly seethed. “This is his way of making sure that happens.” Looking over at Teddy he asked, “Do you know who the woman is?”

  “Yes, her name is Reva Alexander,” Teddy stated.

  Gunner was a bit startled as he stared at her. “Your mother?”

  Teddy nodded.

  Grizzly felt disgusted by this. “That’s just twisted and so wrong, on so many levels.”

  Teddy snorted. “You think that’s twisted?” Shaking her head, she told them, “That’s only the beginning of a plot you cannot imagine. Three days ago, I found out my entire life has been a lie. Or so my mother would have me believe.”

  “What does that mean?” Gunner asked with a frown.

  “According to dear old mom, Ethan is not my father, a man named Darren is. That was news to me. I’ve been on this earth for twenty eight years now, and I was under the impression all these years that Ethan Alexander was my father.”

  “She named Darren Nixon as your father?” Grizzly growled.

  Teddy hung her head in shame. Sighing she admitted, “She had me when she was seventeen. Her father insisted that she marry the man she claimed as my father, so by the time I was born, she had married Ethan Alexander. She never mentioned this man, Darren Nixon until three days ago. She told me he was someone her dad never would have let her go on a date with, let alone marry but she claimed she has loved him all this time.”

  The entire room went silent as they thought about what she was saying.

  Finally, Boone asked, “What kind of mother does that to her kid?”

  Teddy just sat there on Grizzly’s lap. Tears ran down her face and she couldn’t look at anyone. “That woman has never been a mother to me. She may have given birth to me but some women should never be mothers and she’s one of them.” Her words were barely whispered. “She’s been indifferent to me and my needs from day one. My dad and granddad raised me, Reva didn’t. She was too busy having her hair and nails done or shopping until she dropped to even care whether her daughter lived or died.”

  Still in Grizzly’s lap, he wrapped his arms around her hugging her closely. He took her h
and wrapping his fingers around hers and just held her hand.

  “Do you have any idea where they’re holding your dad?” Cobra wanted to know.

  “After my grandfather died, my dad moved us to Beaumont. He’d gotten a good job there. I graduated from high school in Beaumont and joined the force there as well. For some reason, my mom has been going to a house just outside of town. I didn’t know for the longest time but I followed her one day and saw this man Levi greet her at the door.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “If I had to guess, I’d say they had him at that house.” She tried to pull her hand out of Grizzly’s.

  Grizzly wouldn’t let her go.

  She couldn’t look at him as she said, “I wouldn’t be surprised that Levi did what he said he would do, my dad might already be dead.”

  Gunner shook his head. “You don’t know that for sure.”

  Teddy raised her head and looked him in the eyes, “Don’t kid yourself, cause I’ won’t. Reva never loved my dad, she told me that much three days ago. She’s been indifferent to me my whole life. I never knew why but now it all makes sense. She’s been carrying on behind my dad’s back with Darrin until he went to prison. She would disappear for days at a time, sometimes. She would never tell us where she went but she told me three days ago, she went to the prison to visit with the man she had loved all these years.” She shook her head, “If she loved him all these years, why didn’t she just marry him instead of my dad?”

  Cobra snorted, “If she’s who I think she is, her daddy had something to do with it. Logan Riggs is a power hungry bastard, he never would have let her marry a man like Darren Nixon.” Shrugging he added, “He probably didn’t give a fuck who she slept with, but he didn’t want her marrying a man that would bring him down like that.”

  Skeeter snorted. “Her daddy is Logan Riggs?” Shaking his head, he went on, “Well, now the pieces are falling into place.”