CHAPTER THREE
Calico walked down the hall in search of Leon or Calderone. When he found them they were in what he assumed was Max’s office.
Leon was sitting at the desk looking at some books. Calderone was at his side reading over his father’s shoulder. Both men looked up when he knocked on the doorframe.
Calico stared at them then stated, “I want to take Jolene back to Troy and her children.”
Leon sat back in his chair and gazed at him for a moment. “Does she remember anything about the beating or what happened before?”
Calico shook his head. “No, she still doesn’t remember anything. I was hoping that seeing her kids might bring back something but I’m not sure her memories will ever come back.”
“That might be too bad,” Leon whispered.
Calico frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure yet, but when I figure it out I’ll let you know.” Leon glanced at his son.
“Will you be in Troy if we need to contact you or her again?” Calderone asked.
Calico nodded. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he had to get Jolene back to her kids. Sawyer and Jordan needed to know she was alive. “We’ll be there.”
~* * * *~
The Vincinti men watched the other man turn and leave.
Calderone turned to his father. “Are you sure it’s wise to let her go?”
Leon shrugged. “We know where to find her. We need to pinpoint when the item disappeared and if she was the one who took it. We also need to find the link to establish Max to this man.” He pointed to the ledger on the desk where Max had written several payments to a man he named ‘The Priest’. “Calico will protect her until we have more information.”
“Let’s hope she gets her memory back,” Calderone stated. “The Council isn’t going to like this development at all. They will be screaming for her blood if it isn’t found quickly.”
“We need to find it before the Priest can get to her. There won’t be anything left of her if we don’t. If he is who I think he is, he won’t stop until she’s dead. He doesn’t like leaving any witnesses behind.”
“Yeah, I know. From what I’ve heard about the man, he’s been very careful in his career. No one knows what he looks like and he maintained that persona to keep his anonymity. Are you sure it’s the same man?” Calderone asked.
Leon shrugged. “No I’m not, but there might be someone I could ask.” He threw the pen he had in his hand on the desk. “Damn it!” He got to his feet and began pacing the length of the office. “Max left us a fucked up mess to clean up.”
“We knew he was hiding something. Sawyer and Jordan gave us a place to start. They told us Max was cheating the Family but we knew that already.”
Leon snapped his head around the glare at his son. “Yes, we knew that but we did not know he lost part of our history. That, the Council will not forgive.”
Calderone agreed. “Do you think that’s one of the reasons he kept her close to him? Could she have used it to keep him at bay?”
“That’s one scenario,” Leon concurred. “If she took it, he knew he had to get it back. It was worth more than his life.” “Then we have to keep her close too, until we find it.”
Calderone shrugged. “And I think for her own safety, we need to keep her out of The Priest’s hands.”
“That might be harder than we know,” Leon stated. “Once he takes a job from what I hear, he won’t stop until he gets what he was hired to find.”
Calderone growled. “Great! Now, we have to babysit a woman who doesn’t even know her own name?”
“Pretty much but we don’t have a choice. We need to recover the item.” Leon looked troubled.
~* * * *~
Sin’s Bastards Mc Compound
Three hours later, Calico turned off the highway and entered the driveway that would lead them to the compound. He felt Jolene’s hands tighten around his waist and he couldn’t help but feel her anxiety.
From the moment she’d gotten on his bike, he felt the past rushing at him. He remembered well the feel of her behind him, the feel of her arms wrapped around his waist, the scent of her shampoo in the air as they rode down the highway. It just felt so right, he couldn’t contain this feeling of everything in his world being back to the way it should have been all these years.
He’d known something was missing all this time and now that Jolene was back, he felt good again.
He pulled up to the clubhouse and shut off the engine. His body still hummed with the reminder of the engine between his thighs. He got off the bike and reached for Jolene’s hand.
She was trembling as she stepped off the bike and looked nervously at the front door. “Do you think they’ll be happy to see me?” she whispered.
“Honey, they are going to be very happy to see you.” He held her hands. “They hated the fact they had to leave you behind but Micah didn’t leave them much choice. If they had stayed, he would have killed Jordan to get to Sawyer.”
Jolene’s lips tightened in anger. “I hope he died slowly and in great pain.”
Calico chuckled. “He did. I made sure of that. He learned the hard way not to mess with what was mine.”
Jolene gave him her own quirky grin, one that he remembered so well. “Good, it doesn’t make up for what he did but it helps.”
“I just wish I could do it all over again.” Calico clenched his fists. “I think I killed him too quick. I didn’t make him suffer enough.”
She tilted her head at him. “Let’s go find our kids.”
Calico decided then and there, he liked the sound of those words.
They walked inside.
The kids were there in the main room. They turned their heads and gaped as the both of them went white in the face. They gasped in unison.
“M-mom?” Sawyer stammered.
~* * * *~
An hour later, Jolene sat at a table with her son, her daughter and Calico.
Sawyer wiped tears from her eyes and stared at her mom. “That sound was the loneliest sound I ever heard when that machine flatlined. It took you away from us. I’m so sorry but I had to get Jordan out of there and somewhere safe.” Sawyer told her she heard the damn machine record a flatline, no heart activity for almost 2 minutes. Then the nurse rushed them out of the room.
Sawyer and Jordan couldn’t get over the fact she was still alive.
“Your dad told me what was going on and why you left.” Jolene hugged her. “Thank you for protecting your brother.”
“No worries Mom, you know me better than that. I’ll always protect him.” Sawyer smiled. “I have since the day he was born.”
“I’m just glad the threat is finally over,” Jolene told her. “We can get on with our lives again.”
Sawyer felt a shiver grab hold of her heart and she whispered, “I hope so.” She so wanted to believe the nightmare was over but something inside her wouldn’t let her. She had a bad feeling there was something more to come. After living under the threat from Micah and Max for so long, she somehow knew it wasn’t over yet, maybe it never would be.
~* * * *~
It was almost midnight when Leon and Calderone walked into the clubhouse. It had been a long day and he knew the day wasn’t quite done yet. He noted Bane sitting at one of the tables near the corner studying the tiger murals that had been in the club as long Leon had been coming here. He went over to sit down with him.
He and Calderone had found what they were looking for earlier in Max’s office. Now he was looking for confirmation. This man would know if anyone did.
~* * * *~
Bane sat in the corner with his back to the wall and watched everyone. He noted the tiger murals again and he still thought it was an odd thing to have in a place like this. Whomever the artist was, they knew how to paint for sure. But in his business, he learned not to be surprised. Surprises like letting someone sneak up in your blind spot could get you killed. His eyes kept everyone in sight. He sighed. It wasn’t that he was looking for a knife in the back, not here. But a lifetime of training was still in place. Lessons learned as a child had become a habit he couldn’t break.
A movement from his left had him turning his head to see what was coming. He saw Leon and Calderone approaching him. He watched with narrowed eyes as the two men sat down at the table with him. They were the heads of the Family. These men were ones you did not cross, no matter who you were.
Both of their gazes watched him carefully.
“Can I help you gentlemen?” Bane asked quietly.
Leon acknowledged his question with one of his own, “What do you know about a man they call The Priest?”
Bane froze for a moment then searched the two men’s expressions carefully. They didn’t look like they meant the question as a threat and he sensed no rage in them. He leaned back. “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of Max Bordeaux and his interest in a woman called Jolene,” Leon stated. “With everything that’s been going on around here, it would be very hard to ignore.”
“Yes, it is almost festive around here at the moment, now that the threat of violence is gone.” Bane rolled his eyes as he agreed. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”
Leon leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table as he regarded Bane intensely. “While going through some of Max’s paperwork I found a number of payments over the years to someone called The Priest.”
~* * * *~
Leon sat back and watched Bane’s face. He was looking for some change of expression in the other man’s face but Bane was too much the professional. He’d seen no hint of anything at all in his stony expression.
Looking straight into Leon’s eyes Bane told the other man, “The man they call ‘The Priest’ is someone you never want to meet, personally. And you probably never will meet him in person, unless you’re the one he’s come to question. I may be the best assassin in the world but he is known as the best interrogator in the world. His method of finding answers is in torture and it’s said he can kill you without leaving a mark. But he isn’t known for killing people, he’s known for digging out secrets.”
“What do you mean never meet him in person?” Leon frowned.
“No one knows what the man looks like,” Bane assured them. “There are no known photos of the man and not even Interpol knows who he really is. He works all over the world, yet no one knows what the man looks like. He hides behind anonymity. He could be standing right next to you in his civilian life and you would never know it. He could be your neighbor, or someone you pass on the street. Like I said before, he is the best in his field.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Calderone stated. He and Leon shared a look.
Bane felt curious. Nothing excited him, but he did enjoy intrigue. “What secrets did Max have that required The Priest’s service and why would he need a man like that?”
Leon sighed. “That is a very good question and one I cannot answer at the moment. I’m hoping to find out within the next few days. I have a team going through his things to unearth his secrets.”
“Do you know who his intended victim is?” Bane asked. “That could give you some information as to the why.”
Leon shook his head. “We don’t really know at this point what Max was doing in his own town. We do know he had his hand in many different projects.”
Bane’s lips thinned. “It sounds like the man loved secrets. You may never know the truth.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Leon admitted.
Bane tilted his head. “May I ask why this would ever frighten a man like you?”
Leon stared at him before answering, “Max represented the Family in this area. He had certain obligations to keep track of and expand upon. We’ve found evidence that he expanded on those obligations and began to branch out on his own. As an organization, we can’t accept that. We demand a certain level of loyalty from our people. It’s beginning to look as if Max’s loyalty was no more than lip service.”
“And that doesn’t sit well with you,” Bane stated.
“It does not,” Leon replied in a flat tone. “Max seemed to be only loyal to Max. That sets a dangerous precedent.”
“One which you will have to set boundaries for and clean up.” Bane nodded.
“Therein lies the problem,” Leon admitted. “We may never know the extent of Max’s empire.”
“But someone out there knows the truth.” Bane understood the problem fully now.
“We just have to find that someone.” Calderone nodded.
“The answer may be closer than you think,” Bane suggested. His eyes moved around the room and found the one woman who might know the truth.
Leon followed his gaze and his eyes found a woman sitting with her kids. “Yes, she may have some of the answers we need but she’s damaged goods and may not remember what she knows. It may take years to find what she knows and that’s another problem. She may never remember. At the moment, she doesn’t remember her own name.”
The woman they were looking at was Jolene. Calico had brought her back earlier in the day. She appeared to be nervous about being reunited with her children.
“She also doesn’t remember the two people she should.” Bane observed. “She doesn’t seem to remember her own children.”
Leon stared at the woman in question. “According to her medical reports she was very near death. In fact, she did die for several minutes then her heart began beating again. The doctor tells me her memory loss may be permanent. She may never remember her previous life. For now, her whole life is a blank slate.”
“And it may remain that way,” Calderone added.
“Then the next best thing may be to talk to her children,” Bane suggested.
“Her children?” Leon frowned. “Why?”
“They were the closest to her.” Bane shrugged. “The way I understand it, she kept to herself and took care of her children. They’re the ones who knew her best. They are the ones she protected all these years. Therefore, they might be the very ones who knew of her secrets.”
Leon glanced at Calderone. “That is true. If she shared her knowledge about Max with anyone, she would have shared it with them.”
“But which one?” Calderone asked.
“I’m thinking the daughter,” Bane stated wisely. “She is older and better able to understand what her mother went through. If anyone knows what her mother is hiding, it would be her. She’s been there the whole time and as a woman, she would have noticed more than her brother. Boys seldom pay attention to emotions the way women do.”
“Point taken.” Leon nodded. “Women also see more than men.”
All three men turned and stared at Sawyer for a moment.
She turned and glared at all three of them, then turned back to her mother.
“She may not know anything,” Calderone pointed out.
“She may also know more than she realizes,” Bane spoke quietly in that low cold tone of his. “If that’s the case, The Priest will not stop until she reveals all she does know.”
“And if that’s true, he may come close to killing her before she tells him what he wants to know,” Calderone stated as he ran his fingers through his hair. “How do we protect her from that?”
Bane shook his head. “You can’t.”
“Can’t?” Leon demanded.
“You can’t protect her at all,” he insisted. “In fact, you won’t even see him coming and you won’t know he’s taken her until it’s too late. That is another thing he’s known for. The Priest gets in and out without being seen. If he has to get in and kidnap her, he’ll take her to an unknown destination for questioning.” Bane shrugged looking around. “He won’t have any problems getting into this place. He might simply walk through the front gate. If he does return her, she’ll be as broken as her mother. Especially, if she doesn’t know what he’s after. He’ll break her for sure. Just how badly is a question only she will answer to.” He shrugged. “Of course, he may not know where she is just yet. That might give you some time to get her to a safe location. But he will find her eventually. He’ll wait until he has a secure place to question her in and then he’ll simply take her. Like I said, you won’t know he’s been here until it’s too late. That’s his MO. Many people have tried to stop him but he’s one that cannot be stopped. He waits until no one is looking for him then he moves in quickly and quietly.”
Leon reached out and offered his hand to Bane. When Bane shook it, Leon told him, “Thank you for sharing your information with us. Now at least, we know what and who we’re up against.”
~* * * *~
Bane watched carefully as the two Vincinti men joined the other group who sat with Deke and some of his other men. He thought about the information he’d shared with the other two, then he thought about the information he’d kept back. He had learned a long time ago not to share fully, everything he knew. In this case, he didn’t think the information he kept back would help anyone.
There was something else The Priest was known for; he kept his anonymity by leaving no witnesses behind to identify him. His victims didn’t live long after he was finished with them and their bodies were never found.
If he had any emotions at all, he would almost feel sorry for this young woman, Sawyer. If The Priest were after her, she wouldn’t escape his reach. In Bane’s business very few had ever earned his respect. The Priest was one of those who did. The other two were now dead, by the Priest’s hands, in fact. Both had been the best hitmen in the business too. Yet, the Priest had got to them and found out what he was hired to find, then they both disappeared.
Bane knew by experience, this interrogator had taken them out. So, his explanation to the Vincinti men about the interrogator not being a hitman may have been misleading.
He shrugged. He didn’t really care about any of it. If The Priest was coming for her though, it wouldn’t matter what the MC did to protect her or even if the Family tried to protect here. The Priest would get to her, period.