Chapter Six
“So what is the plan, Colonel?” Viper asked.
“We have eleven hours to find the fucker and kill him,” Stone announced. He looked at his men. “I’m going to need Dewey and the boys on this one. Hades knows us but he doesn’t know them. He’ll never reason we called in the troops.”
“Better call in Recon too,” Doc reminded him. “He can work with Deke’s man Zipper and the Intel output will double. Besides, he knows Hades too and might think of something we forgot.”
“Get them up here as quickly as you can. We’re running out of time and his hostage is only five years old.”
“What?” Doc scowled.
“Hades brought Trixie home from that bar, then took her kid so she would call McKenna with the message.” Stone growled. He glanced over at Sam. “Can you get someone over there to stay with her? I don’t want her left alone.”
Sam nodded. “I can get one of guys over there right away.”
“Also, get a track set up for an incoming phone call to this phone,” he ordered as he extended McKenna’s cell. “If Hades does call her, I want his location. We have to be ready for anything at a moment’s notice.”
While Doc made the call to Texas, Stone went to the timeline Calico had set up the day before. He searched each and every item the police had gathered as evidence.
Stone prayed he would find the key to find Hades, without giving up McKenna.
Mountain joined them and when he got caught up on what was happening he placed his own call. He called his buddy, Mike.
“Yo, Mountain, what’s shakin?”
“Mike, I gotta a favor to ask.”
“You name it.”
“I need you to fire up your engines and get some men to New York ASAP. We got a five year old hostage and a woman in trouble. This one is bad Mikey, real bad.”
“If they can be here in thirty, I’ll get them to you in three hours.”
Mountain closed his eyes. “Thanks man, I owe you big time.”
“Hey man, I got your back,” Mike assured him then hung up.
Zipper walked over and handed Stone McKenna’s cell. “Tracking on,” he said then turned away.
Mountain now looked over at Stone. “If your guys can get to the Sabine Pass Freight Flight counter at the airport in thirty minutes I got them a ride. They can be here in three hours.”
“Great, the sooner we get everyone on board with this the better.” Stone stared down at McKenna’s cell phone. “I’ll get my phone, give Dewey a call and let him know.”
While Stone made his call, Reaper and Calico were at the timeline looking things over. Calico was looking for that one piece of evidence everyone tended to overlook. He knew most criminal were caught because of a stupid mistake on their part.
He searched the photo of Jon Ronin and he could feel the man’s arrogance. In the tilt of his head and the cocky, smug grin on his face. The eyes themselves seemed to be daring whoever was looking at the picture to come at him. Yeah, there was arrogance present but there was also an emptiness behind his eyes that spoke volumes. This man didn’t only face death—he was death itself, just waiting for his next victim.
Calico was looking for a way to cheat this death. He knew as well as anyone there was always a way if you were smart enough to find it. In this instance, he needed to be smarter than death. He walked over to Zipper. “Have you found anything recent on our mark? The only thing the military has on him is at least a decade old.”
“Yeah, I know but the day Jon Ronin disappeared in Kabul was the day Jon Ronin ceased to exist altogether. Who he became I have no idea but I’m narrowing it down. Using the police reports I’m finding an interesting pattern to follow.”
Stone joined them. “You’ll have help in a couple of hours. My man Recon has skills. He also knows Hades and can help you fill in the blanks.”
Deke and Cassie came in the backdoor and Deke joined them. “What’s going on?”
Stone told him about the phone call from Trixie and the fact that Hades was now holding a five year old hostage.
Cassie growled and stomped off to the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later, she returned. “The guys are on it.”
Stone paused and was almost afraid to ask, “What guys are on what?”
Cassie turned to him with flinty eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest. “My guys are searching this city for your man Hades. When they find him, they’ll call in his location. When they find Jerah Dawn they will bring her back home to her mother.”
“What makes you think your guys can find Hades?” Stone asked gritting his teeth. This could just backfire and have Hades going deep underground. “Your guys should stay out of things they don’t understand.” He growled.
Cassie took a step toward him and poked him in the chest. “Don’t you tell me shit like that. You don’t know these men and what they can do. If anyone can find this asshole, my men can. They have forgotten more about this kind of operation than you or your men will ever know. They know every street and abandoned building in this city. They can blanket this city in no time and no one even knows they’re there. Between your men and mine, I’ll take mine any damn day of the week.”
Stone couldn’t think of anything to come back at her with, so he kept his mouth shut. He was a guest here. He didn’t want to start anything to get him and the boys kicked out before they found Hades.
Cassie gave him a slight sneer and went back to the kitchen.
Deke turned to stare at Stone with his eyebrow quirked.
Stone had to ask, “Can they really find the girl?”
Deke nodded. “They can. They can also help find your man Hades. Like she said, all someone has to do is ask for their help.”
“Who are these guys anyway?”
“People society and the government threw away.” Sam looked angry. “Soldiers, sailors and infantrymen. They have more brains together than today’s army ever had and experience to go with it. Cuz they got old, the government thought they were used up. These men are not used up, they’re just getting their second wind. Cassie has given them that, a second chance and they won’t let her down, which means they won’t let you down either. These men would kill for her. They are the men who helped her set up Redemption House. They would all die for her if the need ever arose.”
Stone turned his head and stared at the young woman standing in the kitchen. She was a beautiful woman and he couldn’t help wonder what she’d done to garner such devotion from a group of men who would be willing to put their lives on the line for her. He turned back to Sam. “What’s her story Gunny?”
Sam shook his head. “That you’re gonna have to ask her or Deke about. It ain’t my story to tell.” He paused then added, “But if you do ask, be polite about it. Show her respect and she’ll do you the same but if she tells you not to touch her, don’t fuckin touch her. She will take you down before you can take a breath.”
Stone’s eyebrow shot up in disbelief. “I have several inches and almost a hundred pounds on her and you’re telling me she can take me down? What the fuck Gunny?”
Sam chuckled. “Don’t let her size fool you Colonel, she’s taken down larger than you already. Earned the name Spitfire.” He stopped smiling and stared at his former commander. “Are we going to be safe here? I’m talking about the women and kids. If your man Hades comes here hunting McKenna, will he take down anyone else to get to her?”
“Anything with Hades is possible. When he worked for me over the sand box, he went after his target alone but it’s been ten years and more than one sunset since I’ve seen the man. I’d like to say no, but I can’t in all honesty. If her men can find the girl and get her back to her mother then Hades loses his hostage. Will he take another one? I believe he would and he won’t care who she is or who he has to kill to get her.”
“That’s not what I was hoping to hear Colonel.” Sam shook his head.
“I won’t lie to you Gunny. I ain’t made that way. You asked, so I told you the truth. Do I want it to be different? Hell, yeah I do. I wish Hades had an ounce of honor left in his body but I don’t think he does. When I knew him, he took the fuckin orders every man jack of us has to take but he held back just enough of his dark side to do it. That dark side has been out for a while now and it’s ruling him. Think of your worst fuckin nightmare and that’s Hades.”
Sam was about to reply when the door opened and Detective Matthias Jones and Jonah Trent walked in. They paused and searched for McKenna. When they didn’t find her, they joined Stone and Sam.
“Why did you come back here?” Stone asked.
Matthias frowned. “I have news that McKenna needs to know.”
“And what would that be?” Sam asked.
“The killer found another of the five women that were with her that night in Boston. He murdered her just like his other victims. Except for one little difference.”
“And what would that be?” Stone wanted to know.
“He stabbed her and left the feather like always but this time he left a note written in the victims’ blood. It was a note to McKenna herself.”
“What the bloody hell?” Stone growled. “What the hell did the note say?”
“It said and I quote, ‘McKenna, I will find you again and when I do this won’t hold a candle to what I do to you. You are next.’”
“I have to ask, was this kill the same or worse than the one before?” Stone asked.
Matthias shook his head. “This one was the worst I’ve ever seen.”
“How did he sign it?” Stone asked.
Matthias frowned. “What do you mean, how did he sign it?”
“What name did he used to sign the note?” Stone explained carefully.
Matthias frowned and reaching inside his pocket, he pulled out his phone. Hitting some buttons, he brought up the note in his pictures folder. Flipping it over, he flashed the photo to Stone.
Stone’s throat tightened as he read the missive from Hades. When his eyes dropped down to the signature he saw for himself the name Jon Ronin used to sign his little love note. There as big as day was the name Hades Ghost.
“What does it mean, that he’s using his full military handle?” Sam asked.
“I’m not sure but I don’t think its good news,” Stone concluded. “Right after he got the handle, he insisted we shorten it to Hades. He liked being the ruler of the underworld but he didn’t much care for the idea of being anybody’s ghost.”
“So what does it mean that he signed the note Hades’ Ghost?” Sam asked.
“Fuck, Gunny, I don’t know.” Stone ran his fingers through his hair. “I just don’t know.”
A door opened down the hall and everyone turned to view McKenna walk toward them.
When she got to where Stone was standing, he could see she was trembling. He handed her phone to her. “Sorry, it rang earlier and I kept it.”
She looked nervous as she took the phone back.
Leaning toward Stone McKenna whispered, “What’s going on? Why is everyone staring at me?” Turning her head, she saw Matthias and Jonah standing there. Her hands were trembling.
Stone wrapped his arms around her. “Hades struck again.”
McKenna closed her eyes and melted into his embrace. “Who?”
She heard someone clearing his throat behind her. She peeked out of the safety of Stone’s embrace and she found Mathias.
“It was Bethany.”
She cringed and shivered when he spoke her name. McKenna wrapped her arms around Stone’s waist. For a moment, she couldn’t even think. Her heart was breaking. Tears rolled down her face and soaked into the material of his shirt. She began to rock back and forth, so very near the edge of losing her mind. “He’s going to find me. He’s going to find me and kill me,” she whispered as she wept.
Stone’s arms became steel bands as he held her close. “No he won’t. Baby, he’ll never get close to hurting you. He’ll have to go through me first.”
McKenna leaned back and looked into his eyes. “You can’t stop him. You told me yourself he’s like a ghost. Nobody sees him until it’s too late.”
Stone’s hands came up to frame her face. His thumbs gently wiped the tears away from her cheeks. “You will be safe. You belong to me now and he won’t get close to you.”
McKenna shook her head. “I can’t ask you to stand between him and me. Please don’t ask me to do that. I’d rather give up my life than cost you yours. Maybe if he gets to me, it will be over.”
Stone shook his head. “For Hades, it will never be over. He will continue to kill until he’s stopped by a bigger force than he is. That’s just the way he is.”
“Besides all that, you’re under our protection as well,” a man’s voice assured her.
She turned and saw Deke Tory standing next to his father Sam. He was the one who spoke. She quickly looked around the room and noticed the looks on every face there. She could see rage and determination in their eyes. McKenna shook her head. “But I can’t ask you to put yourselves in danger like that.”
“You aren’t asking us to do anything.” Deke shook his head. “You’re only part of this equation. This goes beyond just you. We’re doing this for every one of his past victims and every one of his future victims. Like Stone said, this asshat isn’t going to stop until someone else stops him.”
“Why would you do this? Why would you put yourselves in danger for a complete stranger? Someone you don’t even know.”
Deke glanced around the room. “We aren’t like the other clubs. We’re all good men and a little rough around the edges but we don’t run guns or drugs.” He held up his hands. “Not to say we haven’t done in the past, but we don’t do it now. This club is legit. Sure, we own a strip club but the women who work there do so because they want to not because they have to. We have a code we live by. We have to stand up for what we believe in. We never raise a hand against a woman or a kid. We aren’t perfect by any means, but we stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. And we stand together. We know we’re stronger as a unit than we are alone. As long as the cause is just, we’re a force to be reckoned with. This is a just cause.”
“But you’re putting your lives on the line against a force you can’t imagine.”
Sam snorted. “After what this fucker has done, the world is gonna be a better place without him in it.”
Before she could answer him, her phone rang. The sound echoed off the silence in the room. McKenna frowned as she pulled her phone from her pocket. Caller ID said the caller was unknown and she had a sinking feeling in her gut. Glancing at Stone, she answered the call. “Hello?”
“You didn’t come home last night, darlin’. I missed you,” a whispery voice came through the speaker.
McKenna began to shake as she put the call on speaker. “Who is this?”
A short laugh followed. “Oh, I think you know who I am.”
Gasps could be heard in the background but no one broke the tension in the room.
“I don’t actually,” She whispered. “What do you want?”
“I want you. When I saw you in Boston we connected, you and I. I felt it and I know you did too.”
“But I didn’t,” she whispered. “I felt nothing but horror for what you were doing. You took a woman’s life that night and many more since then.”
“They weren’t the one but you could be.”
McKenna looked into Stone’s eyes as she spoke, “The one?”
“All my life.” His voice dropped down to above whisper. “I’ve been looking for a kindred spirit. A spirit like my own.”
McKenna gasped and her eyes rounded with horror. “You think I’m like you?”
“Not what I’ve become but what I once was, perhaps.” His voice softened. “Back before the killing started.”
McKenna felt Stone’s arm come around her again. She was numb as the feeling of pure evil spread within her. “But I’m not like you at all. You don’t even know me. Did you know all the other women at all? Did you even know or care about who they were? Did you even take the time to know their names?”
“They were all whores!” He screamed. “Each and every last one them thought they could get away from the enviable by offering me their bodies. They thought having sex with me would save their lives. They deserved what they got.”
McKenna shivered as his words rang out.
“Would you offer me your body if you thought it would save your life?” he asked her.
“No,” she gulped and croaked out the word. Her throat was suddenly dry and she could hardly speak.
“No, I didn’t think you would. I think you would face your death with a dignity those other women didn’t have. Death comes for all of us. It begins the moment we’re born and only when we are gasping our last breath in this life, is death really satisfied. But that’s not the real struggle we deal with every day of our lives.”
“And what is?”
“The right to survive. That’s the real struggle we have to deal with. That and how we face death when it finally comes. Will you face it with courage or fear? Will you welcome death’s embrace or fight it with every fiber in your being?”
“I don’t want to die,” she assured him. “I want to live and discover what real living is supposed to be. I want to learn to love someone with all my heart. I want to know the feeling of growing a child within my body, I want to feel the excitement of real passion.”
“We all die a little more every day,” Hades reminded her. “And we don’t always get what we most desire. Most of us only get what we desire. We only get what we have the power to reach out and take with our own hands.”
McKenna wondered where this was going and she felt maybe the men in this room might get some information if she kept this killer talking. “And what do you desire? What do you truly want out of this thing we call life?”
There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the call. “You know something?”
“No…what?”
“No one and I mean no one has ever asked me that question before.” He told her. You see, you and I are alike. You question what you don’t know and you learn from it.”
McKenna’s nerves snapped and suddenly her fear evaporated. “You and I ae nothing alike!” she yelled into the phone as her hands shook. “You are a sick fuck who enjoys making other people suffer. You crave watching the terror in a woman’s eyes as she fights for the right to live. You enjoy the blood they spill. That’s just sick.”
Hades chuckled at her outburst. “Oh, but those things are truly wonderful to watch. You get a feeling of power as you watch them struggle. You get to a certain point in the fight where you and you alone have the power to let them go or take everything they have for your own. I may have taken their lives but they gave me so much more than that. Each one of those women gave me a small piece of their souls.”
“That just goes to show the whole world what a sick fuck you really are,” McKenna seethed at him.
“Watch what you say to me bitch. I can take you easy or hard. The more you piss me off the harder it will be. Right now, I’m on the edge but if you push me, I can keep you alive for days and watch you suffer. I can make it, so you’ll beg for death to take you.”
“Fuck you!” McKenna cried out. “Fuck you and the demented freak you are. I’ll see you in hell before I beg you for anything, even death.”
Everyone in the room heard him scream in rage as he ranted and raved his displeasure at her. “I’m going to find you bitch and when I do, I’m going to kill you slowly. I’m going to watch you bleed for days. I’m going to watch as you get weaker and weaker from blood loss and then the moment you pass into the next world, I will watch your eyes. I’m going to take your soul. I’m going to take it all, not just a tiny piece of it but the whole fuckin thing. I’m going to own it and you can’t stop me.”
Stone reached over, and taking her cell, he ended the call. Hades words terrorized her almost to the brink of madness. She looked close to the edge and he needed to bring her back. “Sweetheart…” he called out. “Babe, look at me.”
McKenna kept her head down as if she didn’t hear him. In reality, she didn’t. Her mind remained wrapped around Hades’ threat.
Stone grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit. “McKenna, I need you to look at me,” he called out a little louder.
McKenna snapped her head up and she stared at him with blank eyes.
Stone growled. “McKenna, look at me.”
Turning her head, she focused on him “What?”
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. “He won’t get to you, I swear.”
McKenna shuddered in his arms. “That man is just plain crazy,” she murmured. She looked up at him and asked, “How did he get my phone number? How did he know where I live or that I didn’t come home last night?”
Stone shook his head. “I don’t know but I’m going to find out.”
A few minutes later, Matthias came over to where Stone and McKenna were sitting. He reached out his hand to Stone. “Jonah and I will be on our way. We just came to let McKenna know about Brittney and we don’t want to get in your way. You guys are doing shit we don’t need to know about, don’t need to know, don’t want to know. Just keep this girl alive, that’s all I ask.”
Stone nodded. “He won’t get close to her and when it’s done, I’ll let you know.”
“Good, I’d like to close the file on this sick fuck.” Matthias gazed into his eyes.
“Don’t you worry about that.” Stone growled. “We’ll close this file and burn it into the ground.”