CHAPTER SEVEN
Raven made his way to their table. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Melora. He reached for the coffee pot and poured some coffee into a cup. When he brought it to his lips, he finally looked away from her. After he took a gulp of the hot brew, he reached out his hand to Deke.
After Deke, he shook Gator’s hand then Sam’s. “Good to see you again my old friend.” He turned to Reva and asked for more coffee.
Raven’s men stepped forward and as each of them grabbed a cup.
Raven turned to Mountain. “Good to see you too, old man.”
“Well, it is and again it isn’t,” Mountain agreed as they shook hands.
Deke observed the men Raven brought with him. Turning to the other leader he asked, “Who are your men? I think you should know we’re on lockdown and having this many strangers is making me a bit jumpy.”
Raven glanced at his men and nodded. “I don’t blame you. This is Gunny, Rembrandt, Conner, Sal, Gremlin, Big Tony, Trainer, Fubar, and Grandy.” He paused then glared at Deke. “You understand why I had to bring a small army. A threat has been made against me and the Ghosts and I need to learn the truth behind it, then I need to act on that truth to resolve it. I didn’t want to bring this to your town but I have no choice.”
Deke nodded. “I do understand and I want to help. I don’t want this feud any more than you do and I hope we can keep the causalities down to a minimum.”
“Yeah, well I understand that I’ve been lied to for the last two years. I want to know how and why,” Raven commented. He turned to Melora and said, “I hear you’re in some trouble with one of my men.”
Melora snorted. “Whiskey isn’t much of a man, more like a parasite, a blood sucking mealy mouth worm.”
“Yeah, he’s been off the grid for a while now,” Raven agreed. “Been thinking about cutting him loose then I heard he was trailing a woman who might have murdered Baily Walker. Senator Walker wants you really bad. He wants to know what happened to the kid.”
“So Whiskey blamed this on me?” She sneered. “That figures. He always was a pig.” She got to her feet and reached into her back pocket. Deke had returned her phone to her earlier. She searched through her phone and brought up the video then handed it to Raven. “This is what really happened that night.”
As Raven watched the video, his frown deepened. His face turned to stone when it finished. He handed the phone back to Melora. Turning to Deke, he shook his head. “Whiskey’s a dead man, he just don’t know it yet.”
“He’s got at least two other men with him and there’s another man at your club,” Deke informed him. “Melora thinks the woman Izzy is being held hostage against her will in order to give them information on where Melora is.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Raven nodded. “Izzy has proven she doesn’t want to be with him but until she says something no one else will help her.” He shrugged. “That’s just the way it is in our club.”
“She won’t say anything until she has no other choice,” Melora added. “You need to get her away from Jonesy and keep her safe until Whiskey is caught.”
Raven nodded. “Don’t worry about Jonesy. He’s earned his pain. The club will take care of him.”
“I don’t care about Jonesy, or Micah or Lightning. They had their chance to stop him but they didn’t. They even helped him get rid of Baily’s body and helped to cover up his death and disappearance. As far as I’m concerned, they can fry alongside Whiskey.” Melora seethed.
“The only problem is how are we gonna stop Whiskey?” Sam asked.
“We lure him into thinking he’s gonna get to me,” Melora answered.
“That’s not going to happen,” Mountain assured her. “He isn’t going to even breathe the same air as you if I have anything to say about it.”
“That makes two of us.” Sam growled.
“It’s the only way to draw him out,” Melora protested. “We know he’s close but we don’t know where exactly. I thought I heard his bike in town a couple days ago but I haven’t seen him yet. Nor have I called Izzy either. He might be waiting and searching Boston for me yet. She told him I was there over a week ago. All we do is let him close enough, then you guys can take him. I don’t care what happens to him once you guys get a hold of him. Micah and Lightning either. They’ve been chasing me for two fucking years and I’m tired of jumping at shadows and living in the cold. This needs to be over.”
“If I’m not mistaken Iceman saw Whiskey and his group here yesterday,” Deke spoke up. “I can’t say anyone has seen him since then though.”
“Why didn’t you send me the video two years ago?” Raven asked. “If you had, you wouldn’t have had to run at all.”
Melora glared at him. “I don’t know you man. How was I supposed to know you would stand up for me against one of your own?”
“You could have asked anyone here.” Raven shrugged.
“I didn’t know anyone here two days ago, let alone two years ago.” She scoffed. “Besides, I wouldn’t have trusted them anymore than I would have trusted you at that point.”
“And why is that?” Raven wanted to know.
Melora sneered as she flicked her fingers toward his cut but she knew better than to touch it. When she was younger, one of the waitresses at the bar she worked at had done just that, touched a members cut, as they call it, and she’d been hurt for it. They broke her fingers. Bikers didn’t want you to touch them unless they meant something to you. “People fear this vest for a reason. I didn’t know I could trust it, not then. I would watch your men and let’s just say, I wasn’t impressed by their actions.”
“You feared what you did not know.” Raven shrugged. “That’s hardly my fault.”
“True enough, but I was smart enough to steer clear. I’ve seen bikers hurt the people I worked with before, just for touching their cuts. I’ve had enough heartbreak in my life. I was barely surviving and it hasn’t gotten any better since then.” She shook her head. “Whiskey isn’t holding together very well. The last time I saw him, he looked like he was coming down off a bad high. He was dirty, jittery and had a bad case of the munchies. Micah and Lightning didn’t look so good either. They looked disgusted with him.”
Raven shook his head. “I haven’t seen Whiskey in two months. When I did see him, he told me he had a tip on you and was following through. He vowed to bring you back in one piece, so I could question you about Baily’s disappearance.”
“Now you know that was nothing more than a lie,” Melora grumbled. “One piece, my ass.”
Raven stared at her for a moment. “Have you actually seen him here yet?”
“Not seen him no, but I’ve heard his bike.”
Raven frowned. “You’ve heard his bike? What the hell does that mean? One ride sounds the same as any other.”
Melora shook her head. “No it doesn’t. His bike has a particular whine. It’s the stuff nightmares are made of.”
Raven snorted out loud. “Now, I know you’re making this shit up.”
Melora shrugged. “Not really. Each bike has a different sound to it. Maybe you don’t notice it but I do. His bike has chased me for two years, if you don’t think I know the sound of it, then you’re the crazy one.”
“One thing you should know Raven,” Mountain interjected while looking concerned about Melora’s attitude toward Raven. “Melora is my kid and that bastard isn’t getting close to her.”
Raven raised his eyebrow. “Your kid? I didn’t think you had any kids.”
“I only found out about her four years ago. I never thought I’d find her but I did. I’m not going to lose her again, not to some psycho. Especially…not to Whiskey.” He glanced over at Sam but didn’t say anything. That would be another discussion for another time.
Sam just glared back at Mountain.
Melora looked from her father to her lover and growled. “Both of you need to put your cocks back in your pants and behave. I don’t have time for either of you right now.”
Raven frowned as he looked from Mountain to Sam. “Is there something going on here that I should know about?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, or anyone else’s but…” Melora nodded. “I’m sleeping with this one…” She pointed at Sam. “…And my ‘father’ doesn’t like it.” She air quoted the word father.
Raven paused then nodded. “I can see why. Sam is older than he is.”
She shrugged. “It’s my choice and Mountain doesn’t get a say in my life unless I say so. For all my life, he’s been nothing more than a donor and if he wants to be more he has to prove himself.” She shrugged. “Right now, we have other things to worry about.” She got to her feet. “You need to prove something right here, right now.” She pointed her finger into Raven’s chest.
“What might that be?” Raven asked, though his dark eyes narrowed. Curious to know just how far she was willing to push him. Not many people demanded from him and he liked it that way.
“You need to get Izzy out from Jonesy’s control.” Melora began to pace. “I need to know she’s safe before we get to Whiskey.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that but lady… you need to be very careful what you demand from me. I don’t usually do orders from anyone. You and I aren’t fucking and you ain’t my mother or my sister, so you can’t make demands from me.”
Melora sneered but didn’t say anything.
“I’ll put a call into my VP. Silas will make sure Izzy gets free of Jonesy and that he’s held until we get back for questioning.” Raven reached for his phone and placed the call. A few minutes later, he gave her a nod. Turning to study the rest of the group, he asked, “So how do you want this to go down?”
“I told you, let me lure him into thinking he can get to me, then before he does you guys get to him,” Melora explained.
“And we said that wasn’t going to happen,” Mountain stated firmly.
Melora turned to him and practically hissed. “If he sees or hears that Raven and his guys are here, he’ll run, he’ll go so far underground we’ll never find him, and we’ll lose him. Then I’ll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life and I’m not doing that anymore. I need this pig caught and taken care of. I can’t live in fear another day.” She paused then looked around at all the bikers. “I’m doing this with or without you guys, so either get on board or get the hell out of my way.”
“And how exactly are you planning on luring him in?” Raven asked with sarcasm.
Melora smiled but the humor never reached her eyes. She reached for her phone and dialed a number. When they heard someone answer, she put the phone on speaker and spoke, “Hey Whiskey, my name is Melora, and I think you’ve been looking for me. I just heard a rumor about you and I have to ask, is it true you are nothing more than a liar and a cheat? You killed a man and told everyone that I did it. You’ve been chasing me for two years now and I’m tired of playing you’re fucked up games. You want me, come get me bastard!”
“Where are you bitch?” they heard him swear with a growl in his voice.
“You can find me in Troy, New York. I’ll be the one standing alongside the road giving you the finger. I hope you showered since I last saw you in Boston. You were looking a bit ripe that day. I could smell your stench from twenty feet away. Your hands were shaking so bad, you couldn’t even hold that big old bloody knife you used to slice Baily up with.”
“How did you know about that?” he asked.
“I got it all on video, asshat.” She sneered. “Maybe Senator Walker would like to see it. At least then, he could blame the right person for what happened.”
“He’d never believe it. I’ll tell him the video was doctored and he’ll be stupid enough to believe me,” Whiskey assured her. “I’ve been working on him and telling him Raven can’t get the job done but I could.”
Melora caught Raven’s eyes. “You been bad mouthing your club president? Wow, that’s like slapping him in the face. You’re either a very brave man or very stupid. Me, I’m voting for you being just plain stupid.”
“Yeah and when I take your body back to Walker I’ll have the political power to take the club from Raven. I’ll have the power Raven wants but doesn’t have.”
“You think Raven will give up his patch that easy?”
“He won’t have a choice,” Whiskey foolishly told her. “And when that club is mine, I’ll take it places Raven never would. We’ll be running dope and guns up and down the East coast and there won’t be anyone to stop us.”
“You still have to find me first,” she taunted.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll find you and drag your carcass back to North Carolina. But first, I think I’ll fuck you for a while. I’d been watching you for a while before that night. You never know you might like it and it might keep you alive for a day or two longer. Then I’ll take you out where we left Baily and you can share the same fate he did. No one will ever know what happened to you, just like Baily.”
Melora laughed. “Too bad, Baily didn’t stay there. The hogs never got him.” Then she hung up the call. She glanced over at Sam and then to her father. Finally looking at Raven, she shrugged. “The boy’s got ambition, I’ll give him that. Maybe not dealing with reality but he’s got dreams. He don’t seem to like you at all.”
“I’m gonna grind his bones into dust.” Raven swore through gritted teeth. “I’m gonna start at his feet and work my way up and he’ll still be alive when I do it. I’m gonna enjoy hearing him beg for his life.” Running his fingers through his hair he glared at her. “What did you mean when you told him the hogs didn’t get Baily?”
Melora shivered at Raven’s descriptions of revenge. She almost felt sorry for Whiskey…almost. Even if he didn’t actually do what he said, she knew Raven was not someone to piss off and right now he was pissed at Whiskey. “I hope you make it hurt, he deserves nothing less.” She shrugged, then added, “Someone may have moved the body before the hogs got the scent of his blood.”
“What happened to his body?” Mountain asked.
“It’s safe that’s all I’m going to say.”
Deke got up and went to join Zipper in his corner. After speaking to him for a minute, he came back to the table. “I have Zipper tracing Melora’s last call. He should be able to tell us where Whiskey is.”
“That might help,” Raven replied. “But how are we going to lure him to us?”
“Before we do that, I think Senator Walker needs to know what happened the night Baily disappeared,” Melora suggested. “Whiskey’s been lying to him and blaming me for what happened. I didn’t even think about Walker coming after me too. At least if we show him what happened, he’ll know the truth.”
Mountain nodded. “That’s a good idea baby.”
Melora snapped her head in his direction. “I’m not your baby. I’m a woman full grown.”
Mountain’s lips thinned and his eyes narrowed at the tone of her voice. “You’re my daughter whether you like it or not. Neither of us can change that no matter what we really feel.”
Melora’s lips thinned and her eyes narrowed as she glared at the man who was her father. “You can’t just barge into my life at this point and start telling me what to do. I’ve been making decisions about what I want to do and what I want in my life for years now. I have kept myself alive without the help of a man too. I understand you didn’t know about me until recently, but you know what? I did know about you.” She kept glaring at him as she continued, “I listened to my mother talk about a man she met years before and maybe in my mind, I knew some of what she told me was a fantasy on her part but I don’t know what kind of man you’ve become. So please don’t tell me what to do or think. I can do that for myself. My mother taught me how and I’ve learned the rest of it on my own.”
“Did you ever think for one moment that I would like the chance to know you?” Mountain asked.
Melora leaned over the table toward him. “Then get to know the woman in front of you, not the little girl I was a long time ago. That little girl is all grown up now. I can’t go back to being her again.”
“Are you even gonna give me a chance?” Mountain asked. “Or will you let the bitterness of me not being in your life hold you back?”
Melora sat back and stared at him for a moment then nodded. “That’s what I’ve been doing huh? Ok, I see your point. All I can say is I will try, if you can, I can too.” She got to her feet. “But first we have a killer to find.”
“I think you should send the video to Walker first thing,” Raven interjected. “He’s got a bounty out on your head and he needs to rescind it. Or at least, get it on the right person’s head. Whiskey thinks he’s got clout with Walker behind him. Let’s take that clout away, then we can hunt him down.”
Zipper got up and disappeared for a moment, when he returned he had a vest with him. Handing it to Melora, he explained, “This vest has a tracking unit in it. Wear it at all times. If he does manage to get to you, at least we’ll know where to find you.”
Melora slipped the vest on. It claimed she belonged to the Sin’s Bastards.
When Mountain saw it, he growled but didn’t say anything.
Sam grinned but didn’t say anything either.
“First, let’s give Senator Walker something to think about.” Melora pulled out her phone and wrote a quick email to the Senator from the number Raven gave her. She told him who she was and what the video was all about, then she told him what Whiskey’s future plans were. She told him he could view the video anytime he wanted to find out the truth then told him where she was, she hit the send button and closed her phone. Slipping the phone back into her pocket Melora casually poured herself another cup of coffee. Before she could take a sip, her phone rang.
When she answered the call, she heard Izzy on the other end. “Hey girl!”
“Are you okay?”
“I am now.” She chuckled. “Thank you for getting me free of this creep, although it took you long enough.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t put it together until now,” Melora replied quietly. “I guess I didn’t listen very well did I?”
“No, but you listened when it counted and that’s all that matters,” Izzy reminded her. “You got me out of there. Jonesy had just gotten a call from Whiskey and he wasn’t happy about it.”
“What did they do to you?”
“That’s a story for another day,” Izzy said. “Can I come where you are? I really need to see for myself that you’re still alive.”
“Yeah, I’m in Troy, New York. Staying with some friends.”
“Okay baby girl, I’m on my way.” Izzy laughed.
“Yeah, yeah. It ought to be interesting anyway. I’m staying with the Sin’s Bastards MC, I found my father and he’s one of the Sons of Satan MC and Raven from the Ghosts of Dixie is here and everyone is hunting Whiskey.”
“Wow, you guys are going after Whiskey?” Izzy’s voice held fear. “You be careful girl, he wants you dead. Hopefully before anyone knows the truth.”
“Yeah, the man is crazy. He put the blame for Baily on my head. But it’s too late, people know the truth now, Raven, Walker and everyone here knows what really happened. At least I don’t have to run anymore. And I got one more card to play that he don’t know about.”
“What did you do? What are you talking about, one more card?”
“Hey, we’ll talk about that when you get here. I want to see for myself that you’re all right.”
“I’ll be there sometime tomorrow. Love you baby girl. Please be careful. Whiskey is a mean sonofabitch.”
“Love you too. I’ll be careful. He isn’t gonna get me, not now.” Melora hung up the call and turned back to the table. Everyone was staring at her. “What?”
“What are you planning?” Mountain asked. “You said you had one more card to play?”
“Yeah, what might that be?” Raven asked.
Melora frowned. “If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise now would it?”
“I think you’d better tell us anyway,” Deke demanded. “I, for one don’t like surprises.”
“I plan to turn the tables on Whiskey. He thinks he’s got me just where he wants me, on the run and afraid of him. Well, I’m tired of living in fear. Now it’s his turn to be afraid. All I ever needed was for one person to believe in me, just one.” She turned to look at Sam. “And now I have that.”
Sam gazed steadily back at her.
“So what are you going to do?” Raven asked.
“I need to find a way to get the underground looking for him. Every city has them and they’re the people you see every day and tend to overlook. He thinks he’s free and clear to move around the city looking for me. But I know him better than he knows himself. Right now, he’s so strung out on dope he doesn’t know shit. If we play on his fears and paranoia, we can send him over the edge. We need to split Micah and Lightning away from him. There’s one thing I’ve noticed about Whiskey, he doesn’t do so well by himself. He has to have somebody to order around. Alone, he’s a damn coward, that’s why he always has someone with him.”
“What underground are you going to get to look for him?” Deke asked.
“How about the guys at Redemption House?” Cassie asked from behind them. She and Peaches had joined the group a while ago but hadn’t wanted to get involved in the conversation.
“Who and what is Redemption House?” Raven asked.
Melora smiled. “That would be perfect. Do you know them well enough to ask?”
“Redemption House is my dream,” Cassie replied. “I know it well and I know the guys would be happy to help.”
Sam nodded. “Your idea might just work.”
“What is Redemption House?” Raven repeated his question.
“It’s a half-way house for people that need a second chance. The guys who work there are homeless vets. They lived on the streets and know everyone,” Cassie explained. “If anyone can do this, they can. They can be your underground team. In fact, I’ll bet they would think this great fun.”
“This isn’t supposed to be fun, Spitfire.” Deke growled. “This guy is crazy and could hurt somebody.”
Cassie walked over to her husband and cupped his face between her hands. “Honey, these men know what they’re doing. They’ve been to places you and I will never even know about. They have put their lives on the line for their country and been spit and stomped on for their efforts. They can do this, all we have to do is ask. I’m willing to ask.”
“I’ve been to Redemption House and I watched these men,” Melora interjected. “I’ve even spoken to some of them. When you’ve lived on the streets you know how to hide, how to watch what’s going on around you and how to disappear when you need to. In fact, it was one of those men who told me about the warehouse behind the shop. He said it would be warm and dry and safe.”
Cassie smiled. “Frankie or Gus?”
“Gus.”
Cassie looked around at everyone assembled. “These men know this city, every nook and cranny. They know every side street and every dead end. They can watch this city and no one will ever know they are even there.
Melora grinned. “It was Frankie in fact, who gave me the idea. He was talking about how they play this game. They follow someone they don’t know just to find out what they do. It doesn’t hurt anyone and he claims it keeps their skills sharp.” She turned to Gator. “They followed you one day just for shits and giggles.”
Gator held up his hands. “I don’t want to know and neither does anyone else.”
“Are you sure about that?” She teased. “They were impressed.”
“Drop it woman.” He growled.
“Okay, okay, your secrets are safe with me,” Melora assured him. “If we’re going to do this, we have to get these guys in place before Whiskey gets here.”
“He’s about an hour out boss,” Zipper announced. Looking up from his computer he told them, “He was coming from Boston area. Not the city itself but the same area.”
Deke stared at the others then looked over at Cassie. “Can you get them moving? Set up a perimeter and tell them to watch for anyone wearing a Ghosts vest. They all three should be together at this point. Tell them to just watch but not to engage. We just want eyes on them.”
“Yeah, I can do that.” Cassie nodded.
“Please tell them thank you from me.” Melora looked at Cassie. “They don’t really know me but I appreciate their help.”
Cassie paused and stared at her, like she knew just about all there was to Melora…She had lived a life similar to hers. Then she nodded.