Chapter 4
Jenna
One year later.
Oh how my life has changed in less than a year. Instead of being blessed with one child I gave birth to twins, Ryder Jameson and Whiskey Rose Taylor. Both came screaming into this world and I have never heard sweeter screams. I cried, they cried, and I swore I saw tears in my nurse’s eyes. I was alone that night in the hospital and that was the last night I was ever alone. The twins can be a handful, but when I started over here in Texas it meant building friendships with people I just met. None of my family or friends know where I am. I keep in touch by social media, text and phone calls. They only know I needed to start over where Chase and the memories of the child I lost would not be everywhere I turned. I sold our home, land and Chase’s interest in his business and with the money from Chase’s life insurance it’s enough for me to never need to work again. I can't sit idle like that, I would go crazy. I bought a small country home with a barn and some animals, nothing big, but that will change as soon as I’m finished nursing these two babies. I'm going to make this place a working ranch raising cattle. This is and will remain our home; the place I raise my children and make our future.
I think of the man I called Whiskey sometimes. I still haven't taken another man to my bed. I think Whiskey ruined me for any other man. I had my sweet Chase memories and then my take-charge Whiskey dreams and that is enough. Those memories and the children take up the rest of my life. My mind wanders to the what ifs from time to time, but I shut that door quickly. I can’t look behind and still go forward. I wouldn’t trade my life now for anything and I wear that guilt every day. The guilt of not having Chase by my side because I was in too big of a hurry, the guilt of not being able to protect my unborn child and then not giving her a proper name because her dad and I had not chosen one. Then there is the guilt of not letting Whiskey know he is the father of two amazing children and depriving my children of having a relationship with their father. May God forgive me because I can’t forgive myself, in any of it.
I have thought about opening that file on Elijah James and track him down, but it all goes back to him keeping his word to me and walking away the next morning and I won’t go back on my word to him of doing the same thing. One day fate could step in but for now I am counting my blessings.
Chapter 5
Grinder
Present Day
I sit at my desk waiting for my daughter Lexi to get here and going over business with Eagle and Trapper. Eagle is our numbers man and keeps our books. We are adding some more sleeping quarters in the compound and we are trying to make sure some of those expenses are going to help us with our deductions this year with the government. My grandpa would raise holy hell if he knew that the Deacons of Peril MC filed tax returns. The shit I had to do to dig this club out when I was made the President took more than five years to get settled. We are now in good standing; anything that could close our club down gone. I’m not saying we are upstanding citizens but on paper we are legal. Eagle makes sure of it. He has an eagle eye for numbers, and he knows his shit with a diploma to prove it.
“Boss, we’re looking good with the addition. All the materials are coming in on time and any subcontractors we have had to use have their paperwork up to date. Seal pulling his crew in has helped a lot and Chipper has scheduled his two crews for when we’re ready for the trim and windows. I’m just waiting to get a final invoice from the electrician and that’s about a month out, but he has been close to his bids on each phase.” I think all the brothers have been waiting for the other shoe to drop on this expansion. It has been way too smooth; even the weather has cooperated. I know Eagle will stay on top of it. Our club is growing with our children growing up and new recruits being plentiful.
The Deacons of Peril MC isn’t the stain on our town’s reputation as it was at one time. People respect us out of necessity. We run this town and we keep it clean of drugs. This town has a sheriff and one deputy, and they are the corrupt kind, so people call the club when they need help. The law we enforce is the old law of the land. You abuse your family, we put a beatdown on you that you will not forget. Do it again, then you go to ground. You want to steal from hardworking people then we will burn you down and leave you with nothing. You get the drift, do unto others as you want done to you, because in the town of Peril, Texas that’s what you will get. This town can be a quiet neighborly town in the light of day but when the sun goes down the scum comes out to play. We are far enough from the big-city lights to stay small town but close enough to commute to the city to work.
This place wasn’t even a town when my grandpa and some buddies set down roots here. When I say they built this place from the ground up that is exactly what I mean. The Deacons Of Peril MC was founded here before we even had a gas station and the snooty part of this town needs to remember that before we decide to turn our backs to the shit that takes place here, and let them fend for themselves. We have cleaned up the things my old man took this club into and turned everything back to the way it should have been all along. With the expansions we are making and the small businesses we are putting our money into Peril will only grow stronger. Yeah, it’s time for some easy for a change.
“I got a call from Sid this morning and he needs some muscle for a new transport route the end of this month and he wants extra brothers on the one going to Frisco at the end of next month. He’s having problems with the local cops in Chandler and is trying to find a way around it but wants extra men until he has it all arranged.” Trapper sounds bored.
Sid has been nothing but a pain in our ass since we started doing protective rides for him. All we are there for is to make sure his men don’t end up dead. We don’t ask questions about what they’re transporting but we make sure that we protect ourselves. Six of our brothers along with his men protect one van of cargo. We have our suspicions on what the cargo is, but we don’t ask. It never comes close to Peril, and if the cops show up, they’re on their own. Our runs go easy most of the time, but we aren’t the only people he has working for him and Sid is an asshole to everyone. He is his own worst enemy. What Sid doesn’t know is there are always extra men on his ride. No one in the club is going down for a stupid mistake that Sid makes so I have backup always close.
“Have Leach check out the routes and Eagle,” I look at the man, “check out the problem with the local cops. I don’t want to step in a big pile of shit that Sid caused. We need to find more local investments that will cover what we make from Sid and shut down our business with him. He’s becoming a bigger headache than is healthy and I don’t want any of us to end up in a jail cell because of him.”
“I agree.” Trapper never has liked Sid. I hear the light knock on my door. Lexi’s timing is perfect.
“I think that’s everything for now. Trapper ask Seal to come see me when he’s finished today.” I need to make sure that Seal isn’t having any problems with pulling off his other contracts to help us on the addition. We all have assets and businesses that have very little to do with the club. We learned that lesson fast when the government tried to seize some of the club’s assets in my early years as president.
“Will do and I will put feelers out to make sure Sid is being honest with us on his reasons for changing routes.” Trapper is always one step ahead. We have been best friends since we were in diapers and the only way I wanted to be president, is if he was my second in command. Trapper opens the door and smiles at my oldest daughter Lexi as him and Eagle walk out. I am surprised to see Max with Lexi. He should be in the shop or helping Seal.
Max, Liam, and Lexi are my children with Deidra. Max is the oldest and in two months he will be twenty. He is just like me in looks and actions. He started prospecting for the club when he was just sixteen years old to the dismay of his mom. I tried to advise him to wait until he was eighteen, but every time I turned around he was here, so I decided to give him a shot at being a prospect and he has never let me down. I am damn proud that on his twentieth birthday he
will get his patch.
Liam just turned eighteen and he is, well him. He takes after Deidra in so many ways including wanting to be more than he is. Don’t get me wrong, I love all my children the same, but Liam and I have a strained relationship. I think he resents me for divorcing his mom and I can’t blame him for that. Deidra and I decided after Lexi was born that we would divorce and that has a lot to do with the fact that Candy came up pregnant months after Deidra found out she was pregnant with Lexi. Not a good situation and it was made worse by all the phone calls from the gossiping people in our small town. Candy let everyone that would listen know I was going to be a daddy to two babies and not one. Since Deidra couldn’t save face, divorce it had to be. It was all my fault and I accept the blame. I knew Deidra’s rules and the one thing she would not put up with is people gossiping behind her back. We divorced on friendly terms but that touched Liam the most and he still holds that against me. Liam graduated high school the top of his class and he’s taking this year off to decide his next step. We only talk when I make it a point to make it happen which is a few times a week. We have brunch every Sunday as a family, then I make sure we see each other at least one other time during the week and a text or phone call. I am a man to tell my children I love them so even if Liam is pissed at me, he hears it. If I can, I send a group text every night to tell them all I love them—I do. Some people find that weak, my old man would say it if he was still alive. I don’t give a flying fuck. My old man never said the words. I am my own man and family doesn’t make me weak, it makes me the man I am, strong and determined. Liam and I will find our way. I won’t accept anything else.
Lexi is sixteen going on thirty. She has her own personality and has always been so independent. She is intelligent and too beautiful for her own good. She loves to read and always has some book in her hand. She’s sweet and for being a teenager never gives us any trouble. She doesn’t have a rebellious bone in her body. She is daddy’s little girl and better remain that way for years to come. I just wish I could have all five of my children together at one time for a real gathering or even a meal. The two mothers will not let that happen. Where Deidra and I get along like the friends we are, Deidra and Candy hate each other and both become screeching and screaming banshees when they are anywhere around each other. They don’t want their children to have any kind of relationships. Now Max, Lexi, and Trace ignore the two women and get along as brothers and sisters should, Liam and Dixie not so much.
Dixie is fifteen years old and she goes from throwing temper tantrums because she can’t get her way to sneaking out her bedroom window to date a dead man walking. I can’t even think about it right now, but I have eleven more months to think about the torture I will put him through. He is doing time in state prison for crimes committed while my daughter was with him. He is getting special treatment while he’s inside bought by his dad, the sheriff. The day he walks outside that gate his days are numbered.
Trace my thirteen-year-old son is another chip off the old block. He’s been playing football since he was in the peewee league and he wants a new dirt bike this summer. We are a big beautiful family and I hope soon we can all fit in the huge cabin I just built. I know it’s time for some of them to leave home, but they can still come to visit.
I look at Lexi and she looks nervous and my eyes go to Max. “Aren’t you supposed to be either in the shop or helping Seal’s crew this afternoon?”
“I asked if I could take a late lunch so I could come with Lexi to discuss something with you.” That has me on alert. I look at Lexi and she seems almost timid. My children have nothing to be timid about with me.
“Is Candy giving you shit again about seeing Trace?” Max gives me that lop-sided grin that looks so much like the one I give people.
“Candy won’t bother us anymore about Trace. The last time that happened, Trace threatened to move in with you and that shut her up fast. I’m trying to be respectful to Candy, but she’s a damn bitch.” That is true but I can’t let Max and Candy have a yelling match in front of Trace.
“Just try to stay clear of her and I’ll have words with her. Is that what this was about?” I look at the two of them. Then a thought pops in my head.
“Lexi if you came to tell me you’re pregnant, I will kill the little shit that touched you.” Max starts laughing and Lexi looks pissed.
“I’ve gone on two group dates Dad. I am still a virgin and that’s not funny. Jeez, I’m not Max and Liam who nail anything that wiggles. This is so sexist. I believe when Max and Liam turned fourteen you tossed them a box of condoms and told them to suit up if they were going to play. I was sixteen before I could even date.” She’s right but it is what it is. I smile. Max laughs.
“Damn Lexi, relax. Dad is joking. He knows you’ve only been on two dates and where you went. I was tailing you the whole time. Do you really think after what Dixie did he is leaving anything to chance?” Max is right. I was just trying to put Lexi at ease. I know Lexi is responsible and Deidra had to take her to a female doctor last year for severe cramps and they put her on birth control pills. I trust Lexi and she doesn’t lie to her old man because she has no reason to; I will love her regardless.
“That was so not right,” Lexi tells us but she can’t help but smile.
“So, what has you so riled up Lexi, just tell me?” I look at my daughter and she looks at Max and he nods his head.
“Do you remember the classes I am doing online for college credits?” I think for a bit.
“Yeah, dual credits, right.” I’m proud of Lexi keeping her mind on the future.
“One of the classes that Stacy and I were taking had this extra credit to do with genealogy and DNA searches and we both thought it would be an easy thing to do. You know get mouth swabs and then write a research paper on the pros and cons of doing the process. Mom signed the paperwork so I could participate. The thing is, there was also a part of it that we could do to see if we had any relatives registered and actively looking for family members.” Lexi stops talking and looks at Max. I am going to need to talk to Deidra about her signing anything where our children’s blood can be run for DNA. I can see there is more to the story.
“What Lexi is trying to tell you is that you may have two more kids in this world Dad. Lexi came to me and asked if I would get tested too and I knew this was something that needed to be brought to your attention.” I sit back in my chair and then pick up my phone and send my attorney a text. I am not going to make a bigger issue of this until I need to.
“Don’t do anything further until I talk to my attorney. Lexi, how reliable are the tests?” I ask her.
“Very reliable. Do you have any idea of who the mom is? All I know is that they are an eighteen-year-old male and an eighteen-year-old female. They are full siblings. They won’t give any other information out because of privacy protection laws. Will you find them dad?” Lexi is very family oriented and I know this will worry her.
“Of course, Dad will be going bring them home. They are family and have our blood in them.” Max knows me well.
“We need to all take a deep breath and slow down. I am going to get everyone that I know on this. If I have more children out there then we will find them, and I will find the person responsible for keeping our family from us.” My mind tries to go back over the last nineteen years and there have been many women on runs, in other clubhouses, and trips. I tried not to play in my own backyard but after one of the women I fucked came up with chlamydia, I learned to wrap it up. Nothing or no one comes to mind. They were all one-night stands. I rake my brain for who I need to get on this, and I know Tanker is my man. “You two keep this between us. I am going to handle it. Lexi have you finished the course up?”
“Yes, I was just following up with the family search for my own curiosity. I’m glad I did now.” Lexi is right.
“I am sure there is some room for error in the test, so don’t get your hopes up until we’re sure.” The only regret I would have, if this is true, is the t
ime we lost. Someone would pay for that. I always wanted a big family, hell, we have a big family by today’s standards but there’s always more love to go around. I had bought Candy and Dixie a house in a nice neighborhood across town from Deidra, so they would never have to lay eyes on each other. Deidra and I had been divorced for a few years, but like I said before, our town is small, and there was no reason to rub our business in the town’s face so my children would suffer. When Candy got pregnant with Dixie she changed. She became a woman I didn’t even recognize most of the time. I ended things with her, but I still took care of my family and as long as she had Dixie with her that included Candy. We had a lot of trouble going on at the club at the time and once we had finished it, we had a week of nothing but partying at the clubhouse. Candy ended up back in my bed and six weeks later her test was positive. I had myself snipped two weeks later. Where Deidra and I have remained friends and work for the good of our children, Candy fights me on everything. I had to take her to court to protect my rights and to keep Dixie and Trace safe. Candy now understands that unless she negotiates with me, she only gets the money the judge decided that I had to pay. Candy is too lazy to work unless it’s on her back and I have always known that. That’s how we met. I don’t hold it against her. Life is hard on a woman so if we can agree on the kids and she doesn’t throw too much attitude then she gets an envelope from me with enough money she can live a comfortable life on above the child support. I also pay the taxes on the house, all upkeep on it, and the utilities until Dixie and Trace turn eighteen or move in with me. I don’t pry into her private life, but the thing is she’s still holding out for my patch. It will never happen, and I have come out straight and told her, but she won’t give up. I stick to club girls and Candy isn’t welcome at the clubhouse which she hates. I am lost in my thoughts of all my choices in life. Eighteen years of not knowing two of my children.
Twisted Tales of Mayhem Page 42
