CHAPTER SIX
Later that same evening, everyone was sitting around the clubhouse. Most of them were relaxing when Zipper came in.
Deke glanced up and when Zipper nodded at him, he got up and joined the other man. Zipper handed him something and Deke went back to the table. “Ladies,” He sat down.
Iceman, Sam, Leon, Calderone, Gator, Reva, Cassie, Peaches and Melora were sitting there. Raine, Sabbath and several other members were sitting close by but Deke was looking at the women sitting at the main table. In his hands were three pendants. He gave one to his wife, one to Peaches and the last one to Melora. “I know none of us wants to admit it but I want you three to wear these pendants. Please don’t take them off for any reason until we no longer have to worry about Janelle and her shit coming back.”
“What is this?” Peaches asked as she held the pendant.
“When Leon asked about the symbol this afternoon I had Zipper make these up. They’re tracking beacons. I know I may be overstepping my bounds here, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. You girls might not be in danger anymore, but I’m not willing to take that chance. If this does go south, we have a way to find you.”
“Why would this go south?” Melora asked. She tried to hand the pendant back to Deke but he wouldn’t take it back. “I didn’t even know this Janelle.”
“I know but you saw the symbol on a doorway. If anyone finds out you could be in as much danger as Cassie or Peaches. I’m not going to put your life at risk.”
Melora paled. “But no one but you guys know that.”
“We were talking in a public building. Redemption House is that. It’s not like the clubhouse,” Deke reminded her. “Anyone could have overheard us talking about it and they might talk about it unknowingly. I know we’re safe but someone else might not be. I just don’t want to risk it. Please wear the pendant. Hopefully, we’ll never need it.”
“Put it on,” Sam told her. “I want you and the baby to be safe.”
Leon glanced over at Peaches. “I’m very happy they’re thinking of your safety.”
She put the pendant around her neck. “I just wish this wasn’t necessary. This should have been over with a long time ago. Even from the grave, Janelle is messing with our lives. It isn’t fair.”
“No baby.” Iceman pressed a kiss to her temple. “It isn’t fair but then life rarely is and this is a small price to pay for your safety.” He reached out his hand to Deke. “Thank you for thinking of her.”
Deke grinned. “She may be your woman but she’s part of this family too and we take care of our own.”
“It’s getting late,” Calderone stated. “I think we should all get some rest. Tomorrow is another day.’ He jiggled the baby on his chest. Baby Jesse stretched and settled down again on his grandfather’s chest. “Some of us needs to find their own beds.” He chuckled.
“You and Leon are welcome to stay with us, if you like.” Iceman offered as he got to his feet.
“We’ll take you up on that.” Calderone told the other man. “We’d like to stay a few days if possible.”
“That’s doable.” Peaches grinned as she took her son from Calderone. She turned to Cassie and gave her a hug. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Cassie nodded and got her own children ready to go home. Deke had little Sam and she had Jemmia as they started out toward the back door.
Soon Sam, Melora, Raine and Sabbath along with Gator and Reva were the only ones sitting there. Charlie had gone to bed a while ago.
“I think you need to tell Deke about Adriana,” Melora said quietly.
Sam sighed heavily. “I know. I just don’t know how to tell him he has another sister out there.”
“Well, you’d better let him know soon, Bones,” Gator urged. “If he finds out from someone else, he’s gonna be pissed.”
Melora got to her feet. “Well, I’m going to bed. I’ll see you all in the morning.”
~* * * *~
Eli Jerroe tossed his fake FBI badge with the name of Eli Duggen onto the bed. He then sat in his hotel room and fired up his laptop. He began typing then waiting and typing some more. Frowning, he continued. A half an hour later, he threw the laptop on the bed, got up and began pacing. After a few minutes, he took a deep breath and reached for the laptop again. Typing in key phrases, he waited and finally he connected with where he wanted to be.
Moving around the system, he latched on to the security system at Redemption House. Clicking on the camera feeds, he watched the day’s activity and when he came to the nursery feed, he watched as Leon Vincinti brought the book out of his pocket.
When Cassie opened the book, he zoomed in and gave a soft yell. He snapped a picture of the symbol on the page and saved the image. Then he reached for his cellphone and called his father. “I found it.”
“What is it?” Michael Jerroe asked his son.
“Janelle found a book and in that book is a symbol. I don’t know what it means yet, but Cassie Ryan does and it looks like there might be someone else that does too.”
“Who is the second person?”
“I’m not sure but Leon and Calderone Vincinti came to Troy, New York today. I followed them to a place called Redemption House. I think they came to see Calderone’s daughter, Peaches. She was there according to the cameras. Cassie found the symbol but the other woman motioned toward it. Damn, I wish this had audio.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll take both of them, Cassie and the other woman,” Michael told him. “I’ll send you a couple of guys to help with the extraction. Get them back to Boston and we’ll take it from there.”
“You might be interested in knowing Cassie is married to the President of the local MC,” Eli warned his father.
“I don’t care who she’s married to.” Michael dismissed his son’s concern.
“You might be if you hope to get her out of there unmolested,” Eli said. “Or haven’t you had enough trouble with the police?”
Michael scoffed. “You think the police are going to worry about a couple of missing women?”
“The police might not be worried but the MC? They’re another kettle of fish altogether. I’ve been watching this town all day and the MC is big here. They are everywhere and people respect them. You mess with them and you’re bringing down a whole other level of hurting. Not only that, but Cassie has a bunch of people looking out for her at the Redemption House. They might not be cops but they could be dangerous to us. You didn’t really want anyone knowing about this did you?”
“What are you suggesting?” Michael finally asked.
“Let me talk to this Cassie and see what she knows. I can do this without anyone getting hurt.”
“I’ll give you two days, then I’m sending Butch in.” Michael ended the call.
Eli sneered at the phone. He stared at the computer screen memorizing the faces of the two women he was interested in. Both were beautiful women and while he knew Cassie was married, he wondered about the other woman.
~* * * *~
Deke woke to a knock on his front door.
Cassie groaned as she rolled over. “Whoever that is better not wake up the kids or you’re on baby duty,” she warned him.
Deke walked through his house without turning any lights on. When he snapped on the light out in the front, he saw Zipper standing outside. Opening the door, he frowned. “What the hell are you doing out there at this time of night?”
“I thought you’d want to know we had a breach at Redemption House.”
“What kind of breach?” Deke asked.
“Somebody hacked the security and watched the feed in the nursery today.”
“Fuck,” Deke swore softly. Running his fingers through his hair, he felt more than saw Cassie join him.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Someone hacked into Redemption House security and watched the feed from the nursery.”
Cassie began to tremble. “Oh God, it’s starting again, isn’t it?” she whispered. “We’re never going to be free of her are we? And now she’s got Melora into it.”
“We don’t know that.” Deke wrapped his arms around her. “We got you baby. No one is going to get to you without going through me first.”
“Without going through all of us first,” Zipper stated. “You guys aren’t alone now.”
Deke turned Cassie away from the door. Before he stepped away, he told Zipper, “Make some calls and get everyone here. We’ll parley in an hour.”
Zipper nodded and faded into the night.
Deke led Cassie back to the bedroom. He threw some clothes on.
She sat on the edge of the bed. “Now what?”
“Now we find out how they knew,” Deke replied. “The others are on their way to the clubhouse. We’ll work from there. You and the kids should be safe here.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Cassie scolded him. “I’m going where you are. Me and the kids are going wherever you are.”
“But this is where you belong, safe in our home.”
“Yeah, we thought we were safe here before and Donny still got in,” Cassie reminded him. “Nope, not going to happen again. The kids and I will go to the clubhouse with you.”
“Ok, get some clothes together for the kids and you can go with me.” Deke relented. He went over to her and fingered the pendant. “Make sure you keep this on at all times, all three of you.”
Cassie wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and pulled him to her. As their lips met, she kissed him deeply. The kiss lasted for a couple of minutes. Then she pulled her lips from his. “Never let me go. I don’t want to lose my battle with this darkness. I can’t go back to the way things used to be. Not again.”
“You won’t, I promise,” he whispered. “I’ll never let you go. You and the kids are my whole world. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered.
Deke’s hands slipped down to her ass and he slapped it gently. “Come on woman, let’s get over to the clubhouse. I want this threat gone.”
Cassie chuckled. She broke away from him and stripped off her nightgown. Pulling on her jeans and a shirt, she went to the room down the hall. She packed a bag quickly and quietly. When she was done, she went to one of the cribs and picked up her daughter. Deke was there to get Sam and together, they walked across the yard to the back door of the club.
When they came in, they saw people were starting to arrive. Peaches and Iceman were already there along with Leon and Calderone.
Peaches came over. “I put Jesse in Melora’s room. I set up the extra playpens for Sammy and Jemmia.”
“Ok, thanks.” Cassie went to the bedroom and without turning on the light, she found one of the playpens. Laying Jemmia down, she turned to take Sam from Deke and laid him down. Then she set up a monitor and joined the others in the main room.
“Someone must have followed us here,” Leon suggested.
“I called Amos and he said there was a visitor this afternoon after you guys left,” Zipper informed them. “I searched the feed from the lobby and found this guy.” He showed them the laptop monitor and everyone could see the well dressed young man talking to Amos and Frankie.
Just then, the door opened.
Frankie and Amos walked in. Both men came over to where Cassie and Deke were standing.
Amos noticed the monitor and nodded at it. “That’s the guy. He showed up shortly after you all left this afternoon. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the card he gave them. “Said he was an FBI man and gave me his card.”
“Did he say anything else?” Deke asked.
“Yeah, he asked if Cassie Ryan was around. Said he wanted to check with her on the case they were wrapping up,” Frankie answered.
“He asked for her by the name Cassie Ryan?” Leon asked.
“Yeah, he did.” Amos stared at the other man. “There was something about the guy that just wasn’t kosher, you know.”
Sam came over. “Who is this guy?”
“We don’t know yet,” Deke replied.
“I’m running his face through recognition programs and police and FBI files,” Zipper spoke up.
“Send me his picture and I’ll get my men working on his identity as well,” Leon suggested. “I have other sources I can use.”
Zipper nodded and sent him the man’s picture.
“Do you want us to try and find him?” Amos asked.
Deke nodded. “Yeah, the sooner we find him, the quicker we get some answers.”
Raine tapped Deke’s shoulder and took him to one side. “I can take a couple of guys over to the hospital and keep an eye on Quinn if you like. We don’t know who this guy is and I know you want to cover all the bases.”
Deke nodded. “Thanks man. I’m not sure this guy knows about her but I’m not taking any chances either.” He paused then added, “If Dr. Bright releases her today bring her straight here, both her and Charlie. Don’t tell them anything is wrong just get them here safely.”
Raine nodded. “You got it.”
Deke watched as Raine grabbed Sabbath and Wiley. They left a few minutes later and he heard their bikes start up. Sam joined his son and Deke told him, “They’re watching over Quinn and Charlie.”
“Good. Whoever this guy is, he knows too much.” Sam growled.
“And we don’t know enough,” Deke stated in a low tone.
Iceman joined them. “Maybe we should call in the badges on this one?”
“What are you talking about?” Deke glared at him.
“The guy came from Boston, chances are he lives there. Who better to be in the know than the Boston PD?”
“Lance Sullivan?” Deke wondered out loud. “You might have something there. Let me give him a call.”
~* * * *~
Sam went over to where Melora and Izzy were sitting and squatted down beside her. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he asked, “How are you holding up?”
“What is going on?” she asked as she tried not to lean on his shoulder. She was still upset that he had walked away from her when he found out about the baby. She was trying to stay strong without him but she would have liked to be able to lean on him right now. Glancing over at her friend, she saw Izzy glaring at him.
“As far as I know, someone came looking for Cassie this afternoon. He may or may not have something to do with the woman who made her life a living hell. Her and other kids. Janelle Walden ran a baby selling ring out of Boston. The FBI and Boston badges shut down the ring and Leon and Calderone stopped Janelle but this might be a partner that had nothing to do with the baby ring at all. This man might be a silent partner we didn’t know about until now.”
“And what do I have to do with this?”
“You saw the symbol, you might be the only person who knows where that tunnel is and whoever this guy is he wants what’s in that tunnel.”
“But I can’t remember where it is!” she exclaimed.
Sam looked troubled and concerned for her. “He won’t even come close to getting you or Cassie. We’ll find a way to stop him and anyone else coming after you.”
Melora’s hands spread over her belly. “What if this guy hurts the baby?” she whispered.
“Then he’ll wish he’d never been born.” Sam vowed. “I’ll kill the bastard if he hurts you or the baby.”
Melora wanted nothing more than to be in his arms. She’d always felt safe in his arms and she needed that. She needed to feel safe in this moment of chaos. Wrapping her arms around herself proved to be disappointing, it just wasn’t the same as having Sam’s arms around her.
Peaches and Iceman came over to where they were sitting. Deke, Cassie, Leon and Calderone all joined them.
In his hands, he held a map of the streets of Boston. Iceman laid the map down on the table. “We’ve been talking and the only way to keep you girls safe is to try and find this tunnel.”
Melora shook her head. “But that was months ago and I really don’t remember where I was.”
“Can you at least try?” Cassie begged. “I can’t go into the darkness again. I’ll never find my way back, not again.”
Melora searched her face and saw stark bleakness deep in the other woman’s eyes. Taking a shaky breath, she leaned forward and bent over the maps. Quietly, she began to retrace her journey, “Okay, I was at the Old North Church doing the tourist thing. I turned left and went down Salem Street, then went all the way down to Cross St. I found my way into the Sumner Tunnel and was walking along when I came to a door. The door took me further under the city. At one point, I thought I could hear water all around me. I came to a y in the tunnels and I took the left side. The tunnels there were older, the wood holding them up was rotting and I went to turn back. Then I found another tunnel and followed it for a while. It was then I found the door.” She shrugged. “You can see why I don’t really know where I was. It’s very easy to get turned around down there in the dark.”
Iceman tossed the maps away from him. “Yeah, I can understand that. There are no maps for that far under the city.”
“We still need to identify this guy,” Deke stated.
“Could we go and try to retrace her steps in person?” Peaches asked. “She could show us the way.”
“No,” Deke said. “The air down there is bad enough, when you’re not pregnant but the three of you aren’t going down there, not now.”
“But we can’t sit here and do nothing,” Peaches cried out as she pushed her fingers through her hair.
“Sweetheart, chill. This will be okay, I promise.” Iceman wrapped his arms around her. “Nothing and no one will hurt any of you.”
“I’m sorry but like Cassie, I just can’t go back. I feel like Janelle is still out there waiting for us to fuck up and fall into her hands. We barely escaped her clutches the first time, I know she’d never let us get away a second time. She’s out there waiting to drag us both back into purgatory.”
“Honey, that woman will never bother you girls again.” Calderone promised her. “She’s dead and in hell.”
“But it feels like she’s reaching up from hell for us,” Peaches whispered. “I can almost feel her boney fingers reaching for me.”
Iceman looked over the top of her head and found Deke’s eyes staring back at him. Both men wore the same frustrated look in their eyes. Even though they were holding them in their arms, their women didn’t feel safe and that bothered the both of them.
“Ok, the women can’t go but some of us could,” Gator suggested.
Melora shook her head. “I don’t want you guys to get lost down there. It’s very easy to get turned around in the dark. It simply isn’t worth it.”
“You found it once, we can do it again,” he insisted.
“I found it by accident. What if I can’t do it again? My directions might be off and if it is, you could be wandering around down there forever.”
“We can’t do anything more tonight anyway,” Deke finally said. “I know it’s going to be hard but I think we should all try to get some rest.”
“I can’t sleep anyway.” Cassie moaned.
“Maybe not, but we all need to calm down a bit. Getting worked up isn’t good for the babies. We can go on lockdown and with roving patrols, we should be okay until daylight gets here.”
Izzy got to her feet and dragged Melora to hers. “Come on woman, you need to at least get some rest.”
Melora shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anyway.”
Izzy shrugged. “I said rest, not sleep. Come on, just lay down and close your eyes. Clear your mind at least. The baby needs some quiet time.” She started down the hall. “We can use my room since your room is full of babies.”
~* * * *~
Sam stood there and watched them walk down the hall and disappear into one of the rooms. His hands curled into fists as the door closed, cutting her off from his sight. “She should be with me,” he whispered to himself.
“Yeah, she should be, but she ain’t,” Gator spoke from behind him. “Some men would die to have what you’ve walked away from, time and time again.”
“But I wasn’t running away from her this morning,” Sam insisted. “I was running away from my past with Junie. It hurt to know she wasn’t in this world anymore. I needed time to come to terms with that.”
“Yeah, you fucked up bad.” Gator agreed. “But now you need to think about what’s right for her. This isn’t about only you this time Bones. This should be about what’s right for her and the baby.” He paused and looked around, then added, “Knowing that you’ve walked away before doesn’t give her a sense of security and right now, and she needs that. Even if she wasn’t in trouble, she’d still need to know she could count on you when the going gets rough. She’s never had that before. She’s only had herself or Izzy to be there for her. Then she met her dad and he’s dropping everything to come to her. He’s going to be there for her. She’s going to learn to trust in him when she should be learning to count on you. If you let that happen you’re not much of a man are you?” Gator turned and walked away.
Sam watched as Gator sat down next to Reva. Sam walked over to corner of the room and slid down the wall. When he was sitting on the floor, he closed his eyes and thought about what Gator had said. He had fucked up his life so many times but this was the one time he hadn’t meant to. He realized too late that he had something special with Melora, something he’d been missing before. Something he learned the hard way he couldn’t live without. He’d thought he’d been in love before but he hadn’t. Not really, maybe in lust but this time, he had the real thing and he let it slip through his fingers.
He finally knew what everybody had been trying to tell him all his life. He now knew what it felt like to be in love and because of his stupid fears, he was going to lose it.
There was nothing he could do about Melora at the moment but he could give her the one thing he knew she did need. He could call her dad and let him know about the danger she was in. He might not get here in time but at least he could be on his way. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number he had hoped he would never have to call.
When Mountain answered the call Sam began to tell him about the situation they were in. When he finished, Mountain didn’t say a word, instead he hung up. Sam slowly closed the phone. Turning toward the closed door, he knew he’d done whatever he could to make her feel safe. Closing his eyes, he hung his head and began to pray.