Reagan and Suzie laid out their plan.  The only part that didn’t work out well for them was their current location.  The cabin had electricity, but only from the generator and there was absolutely no WiFi.  No way was she going back to the Clubhouse.  She just couldn’t right now. 

“Brother, their plan is solid, I think we should give them a chance. If we help out, it will take less time, and then we can bring the information to Tuck and the rest of the guys.  Fuck man it's worth a try.”

“Yeah, okay, I have a place not far from here, and it has both electric and WiFi.  I will agree to this as long as you two agree to step back after today. If we don’t get it today, you give it up, understood?

“Agreed,” Reagan and Suzie both said, but it was a lie. Shit, Reagan was pretty sure she saw Suzie crossing her fingers and then hiding them behind her back, Reagan knew exactly how her friend felt.  She wasn’t giving this up, she wanted all those men to pay, and she knew with a little time and effort, she would find a way to do that without putting her ass on the line any more than she already had. “Sounds like a plan.” 

All four of them spent the next little while shutting up the cabin. When Reagan went to get into her car, Tank stopped her.

“No, babe, you’re with me on the back of my bike, and within my sight for however long this takes.” 

“But my car,” Reagan said pointing to it like Tank couldn't see it for himself. 

“I see it, babe, but it’s staying here. I’ll take you everywhere you need to go.” 

Damn this was a huge double-edged sword for Reagan. She wanted to be on the back of Tank’s bike, the feel, the closeness, but she also wanted her car. If she needed to get away and back to the storage locker, she didn’t want him to follow. Tuck had promised he would only show one of the DVDs to him.  If he saw all of it, what would that do to him?  Shit, she didn’t even know how she felt about it all, and she wasn’t related to the man starring in the videos.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Reagan saw Suzie getting into her car. Brass had started up his motorcycle and moved it in front of her. Well, that could work, all she would have to do is borrow Suzie’s car if she needed it; damn she hoped she didn’t need it. Tank was finally acting like the guy she used to know, and she didn’t want to change that.

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

Tank straddled his beast, and Reagan felt the anticipation. She loved riding with him for the last six months, it was the only time she caught a glimpse of the man she used to know.  It also didn’t suck that she got to touch him freely and hold him tight.  Before he wouldn’t have allowed her to do that any other time.  It was always him touching her.

Reagan was surprised when in only about fifteen minutes, the four of them were pulling up to another cabin. This one was bigger and newer, but just as beautiful. If going to Suzie’s family’s cabin felt like coming home, being here with Tank felt like more, she couldn’t explain the contentment or warmth she felt driving down and seeing the cabin. It was everything she had ever wanted for herself. 

Large covered porch, rocking chairs waiting to rock away the stress of the day, dark log siding, and huge windows. The front door was carved with some kind of flowers and vines; it was captivating, much like the man who owned it. 

“Tank, this is beautiful. How long have you had it?” 

“Bought it from a family friend when I got out of the service. I needed a place to unwind, and this fit the bill.  I’ve been fixing up a little each year.”

“All I can say is Wow! Tank, you are full of surprises, I didn’t even know you had a place outside of the Clubhouse, you’re always there.” 

“Babe, I’m full of surprises, just wait and see,” Tank said with a wink. 

The interior of his house was just as good as the exterior. The door opened into a large open space, with a dark brown leather sectional in the middle with of course a huge ass tv in front of it.  Bookshelves lined the walls next to the tv, and much to Reagan's surprise, the shelves were filled with pictures and mementos.  She literally had to pull herself away. Turning, she saw the large gourmet kitchen.  Damn, that place was where dreams were; tall cherry cabinets, gorgeous granite countertops, and a massive island separating the family room from the kitchen.  All the appliances were stainless steel and top of the line.  It was a chef’s dream.

“Wow, I know I said it before, but, Tank, this place is gorgeous. I just can’t get over it. I love everything about it.” 

“Well, you haven’t seen all of it, yet,” Tank said. 

Reagan had seen the stairs leading to the loft where she assumed the bedrooms were and she REALLY wanted to see Tanks bedroom, but he was leading them to a hallway off the other side of the family room. 

There were steps going down to what Reagan assumed was the basement, and she was right, but what really took her breath away was the entire back wall was nothing but windows overlooking the river. This was her dream home, and shit, if it didn’t come with her dream man too. 

Tank started cleaning off the coffee table, and Brass went behind the big antique bar getting bottles of water. 

“Okay, best way I see to do this is divide and conquer. You two ladies do what you do, and I will start making calls. Tank what do you want to do?” 

“I’m going to make some calls too and do a couple of searches. I want to know if Everly has seen anything odd around my parents’ house.”

Reagan and Suzie settled into the basement with their laptops.  Tank had given them his WiFi password, but before Reagan could start anything, Suzie took her laptop, typing frantically for a couple of seconds and then handed it back. 

“I know you trust them, and I have to say I don’t have any reason to doubt them, but just to be safe, I’m setting up both our computers to bounce our signal.  I don’t want anyone coming along for an unexpected ride.”

“Thanks, Suzie, I didn’t even think of that. Hell, I’ve been doing this stuff for months at the Clubhouse, anyone could have hacked me.”

“Another reason why you should have come to me sooner.”

“Listen, Suz, the stuff you are about to see on this is bad.”  Reagan pulled out one of the thumb drives and held it up. “Not just a little bad, either, it’s the stuff that nightmares are made of. I didn’t even look at all the videos, I barely made it through one, just enough to get a gist of what was going on.”

For the next several hours, she and Suzie worked while Tank and Brass stayed out of the way, making their phones calls or doing whatever else they were up to; Reagan didn’t pay them any attention.  She had too much stuff to get through.  When she heard Suzie sniffling she stopped. Shit. 

“Damn, Rae,” Suzie said, tears in her eyes, “these men. Men we’ve seen our entire lives are monsters. How did they get away with this, how hasn’t anyone caught them?  These poor girls, what they put them through. Where did they come from? Why wasn’t anybody looking for them? This stuff spans years, how is this even possible?”

“I don’t know, Suz. I tried to warn you,” Reagan said, hugging her. 

“They need to be taken down. Do you think Tuck’s going to do it, turn over everything to the authorities?  Shit, can he even trust them? These girls need justice.”

“Yeah, I think he can, but there’s more to it. Someone is orchestrating all of this, the money comes in from an anonymous account, and then a new tape is shot. When I was standing outside of that window, I heard them say that they needed to keep the MC busy, but why? They were already doing evil shit.”

“I cleaned and spliced one of the girls faces from the DVD and sent it to a friend of mine. She has access to a top-notch facial recognition program. I’m hoping we can get some answers that way, but I’ve already run one of my own programs trying to match hair, eye color, and approximate age. The girl had a mole on her left cheek, close to her nose. She also had a scar on her bottom lip. I thought it would bring something up, but nothing, and I checked four counties.  I don’t believe that these girls were local.”

“Yeah, I thought that myself. None of the DVD’s had sound which in a way I’m grateful for, but that also got me thinking. Most cameras today come standard with a microphone; that means they’re muting them, trying to keep their voices off the discs. If that’s the case, why is their image right there for everyone to see. The only one who keeps his face diverted at all time is Worthington. Potter and Taylor are on full display. Do you think it’s Worthington’s way of maybe trying to protect himself from possible prosecution if these ever got out?”

“Yeah, I do, it’s the only thing that makes sense. I think the DVDs are an insurance policy of sorts for the fuckers; if they’re all on them, they all stand to lose something.”

“Rea, why not just hand it all over? You heard Tank, even he doesn’t want you to be involved anymore. Do what he said, give all this to Tuck. Why not let him and the RBMC handle it from here on out? This shit is dangerous.”

“I know, and I have. Tank has everything we got, but I just can’t let it go, there’s something I’m missing, and I know I’m close. The other problem in this shit storm is that Taylor and Potter are sunk, definitely going to jail, but the only way that Worthington will pay is if I testify; even then my accounts of what I overheard would just be hearsay.  I want them all to pay.” 

“Would you do that, go to court and testify against him? You know that would put a target right on your back?”

“Hell, yeah, I would. I just don’t think it would do any good, it’s my word against his and let’s face it, money talks.  But hell, Lexie is safe, Brayden is free or will be as soon as he can forgive himself.  The Club will take care of Addy, and Carrie is in Lexington, and so far, there isn’t a way for any of them to attach you to this.  As long as all of you are safe, I have no problem putting myself out there.”

“Like fuck, you’re going to testify!” 

Damn the man walked like smoke, you didn’t know he was there until he was right up on your ass, scaring the shit out of you.

“Listen, babe, no way are you sacrificing yourself for these fucking scumbags.  We will figure out another way. Get that thought right the fuck out of your head.”

Reagan looked to Suzie for support but didn’t see any.

“Sorry, hon, I don’t like it, and I even get where you are coming from, but you need to listen to Tank, there has to be another way. I was able to track your brother’s movements around town for that last couple of days. He basically does the same stuff every day, and it all revolves around getting his next fix.  If he’s watching you, I can’t seem to find it. There isn’t a time, except at the storage locker, that two of you were even close to each other.

“Worthington stays at home most of the time, only going to the Country Club or going out to dinner. I tapped into his phone records and haven’t found anything all that spectacular.  Potter is a disgusting man; he goes to work, but leaves early and has multiple women he visits weekly. His phone records only show calls to work or his wife which makes me believe he has a burner. I couldn’t get into the PD’s phone records to find anything out about his work phone, but I figured he would have to be really stupid to use it, they’re all recorded.  Taylor, now that man uses his phone a lot. I have a program running which will tell me who the calls are to, but it’s going to take some time. Like I said, out of the three of them, Taylor makes no less than fifty calls to different numbers every day. His work phone is also recorded, so again, I’m not going to track that stuff down.”

“Fuck how do you even know how to track this shit?”  Brass had come down the stairs when Suzie was giving her report. “I was in the Special forces, took all kinds of fucking classes, and I couldn’t do this shit.”

“Well, since I’m only a fucking waitress, I could see how you would be surprised, but let me clue you in on a few things Brass. I have lived in Defiance my entire life.  When I started playing around with computers, the county offices, banks, and city offices became my playground.  Every time a new business came in, I made sure I had access, just because it was fun for me, and I’ve kept up with it.

“Do you know how many people have nanny cams they don’t password protect or hell even their phones? I mean how stupid is that? They even let Avalone Security, one of Worthington’s babies, monitor their houses, devices, and cars. That is just asking for trouble.  You never, and I mean never, give someone that kind of access to your life without tons of paperwork. Do you know what Avalone gives you? No, well, let me tell you, a one-page contract saying basically nothing.”

Reagan laughed. Brass looked so far out of his depth, but that was Suzie. When she was passionate about something, she knew everything about it, and security and computers were her thing. The poor girl could barely balance her checkbook at the end of every month, but if you needed to find someone or something about someone, Suzie was the girl to go to.  Hell, Carrie even used her for some of her court cases. What most people didn’t know was that Suzie was a licensed PI; she had a minimal but dedicated clientele list. 

“Anyway, shit Tank, I don’t know how to tell you this without blowing your world up even more.”

“Just spit it out, Suz, I’ll deal.” 

“Okay, the other interesting thing I found out is Taylor seems to have another family, complete with a wife and two kids. They live right across the border in Tennessee. He spends one night a week and one weekend a month with them.” 

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Tank said, throwing his hands up in the air and then grabbing his head. “I’m going to kill him.” Tank stormed up the stairs and Reagan wanted to go after him, but Brass shook his head.

“I got this. You two finish what you started.”

“Shit, Suz, you could have at least warned me or something. Hell, or at least lightened the blow a bit. He just found out that his dad is a rapist deviant who set him up to destroy his future, so that he could control his future. Adding the whole, well, golly gee he has a whole other family, to the mix was a little harsh, don’t you think. Hell, I didn’t even find any of that out following his bank records.”

“Sorry, but nope, I’m a firm believer in ripping the Band-Aid right off. Why prolong the pain? Get it over and done with so you can deal and move on.” 

“Usually, I would agree with you, but you’re dealing with bikers, not only bikers, but outlaw bikers; when they say they are going to kill someone, they mean it.”

“Well, hell, I didn’t think about that. Do you think he’s going to kill his dad?” 

“No, Brass will stop him, but shit, think a little next time.”

“Okay, sorry.”

“Shit, you know what this means, Taylor has to have more accounts. I thought I had everything, but how would he be paying for a whole other life. There has to be money going to them, mortgages to pay, credit cards, something. I didn’t find any of that, and hell, I even have the statement from an account that was opened for him when he was a child.”

“Was there anything you missed at the storage locker? You said you got it all.”

“Not that I know of. There was this one chest, but I briefly looked inside and found nothing but old blankets. I always thought it was kind of odd because it was the only piece of furniture in the place, but I didn’t get a chance to look at it any further.”

“You know, those old chests sometimes have false bottoms in them, my grandmothers did.  I think it might be worth a shot to take a closer look, but I’m going with you this time.”

“I think you’re right, I need to get back in that locker.”

“You know, Tank is never going to let you go there.”

“Yeah, but they have Church; it’s like their meeting time or something.”

“Damn, Rea, how stupid do you think I am? I know what church is. I read and well, hello, SOA was one of my favorite shows.”

“Okay, smart-ass, that means they are going to either leave us here or takes us to the Clubhouse. If they leave us here, we can take your car, drop me off, and I will get into the locker and look in that chest. If they take us to the Club, that will be harder, two Prospects guard the gate at all times. We could go through the woods, but it would take too much time.” 

Reagan heard the door this time; shit, Tank must be really pissed and hell, she didn’t blame him.  When he stomped down the steps, Reagan stood up. 

“Hey, Suzie, mind giving Reagan and me a minute?”

“Babe, sorry about that, this is all just fucked,” Reagan took that as her cue and walked up to him placing her hand on his cheek.

“I get it Tank, I really do, and you have no idea how sorry that I’m the one telling you all this stuff. I, just please, you have to believe me, when I first heard them talking, all I wanted to do was give you your freedom. I didn’t want those men to have anything that would make you join them.”

“Shit, babe, you really think I could do any of the sick shit those animals have been doing?”

“No, but I also know you, if they threaten anyone you loved, you would cave. If they threaten the MC, your brothers, hell your sister, and Georgie, you would have given them anything they wanted. I needed to make sure that you knew none of it was your fault. That they couldn’t play on your guilt because hell, Tank, that wasn’t what happened.”

“I hear you, Rea, but I just can’t deal with any of that now. You being involved in this fucking mess, damn it, pisses me off. I want you safe, hell, I left you alone in high school because I didn’t want my shit to come back on you in any way. When you showed up at the clubhouse, it was like you were spitting in my face. Do you know how long it took me to get over you?”

“Well, considering I’m still not over you, I can only imagine. Listen I know finding this stuff out all at once has to be hard. Hell, my family is nothing but trash, and shit, they’re starting to look like do-gooders, but you need to work through all this and move on or there isn’t any hope for whatever we are starting here.”

“Babe.”

“No, wait, I don’t expect that to be anytime soon, either, it’s just…”

“I know what you mean, Rea. Now, I need you and Suzie to pack up. Brass and I need to be at the Clubhouse soon, and I don’t want either of you out here by yourselves.” 

“Tank, it's really okay. With Suzie and I both here, we would know if anyone got within a mile of your property. Can you understand why I wouldn’t want to go back to the Clubhouse now?” 

“Might understand it, Babe, but like you said it’s just something you’re going to have to get over and move on from, it’s happening whether you like it or not.” Tank hugged her, tweaking her nose to emphasize his response.

“You know, sometimes I really don’t like you.”

“Yeah, babe, I know you love me, but hey what’s there not to love.” Tank kissed her quick and then jumped away. Reagan went to smack him but Tank moved away too fast and said “Knew you were going to do that,” laughing, and for the first time in a long while, she just lived in the moment. Tank was happy and playful, and she was the reason; she would hold on to that forever. Reagan hoped that she would be able to make that happen many more times in the future.

When they got back to the Clubhouse, Reagan was surprised at how normal it all felt.  She thought people would be looking at her differently, but nothing. Suzie was getting all the attention which Reagan could see was making Brass a little pissy. 

“Come on, Babe, let’s get you and Suz settled,” Tank said. They all went upstairs, and when Reagan started to go into the room she had been staying in, he grabbed her arm, “No, babe, from now on you’ll be staying with me.  In my room and in my bed.” 

Reagan was so stunned all she could do is say okay.  She knew they were working on some of their issues and hell, the chemistry between them had always been off the charts hot, but Tank didn’t let anyone in his room at the club.  It had always been a mystery Reagan wanted to figure out.  When he opened the door for her, she was kind of disappointed.  It was just like all the others, a chest of drawer stood on one wall with a big tv on it, a huge bed dominated the middle, nightstands on either side with a couple of books on one. There weren’t any pictures or mementos like at his cabin. The room was actually kind of bare bones. Two doors were inside; Reagan knew from her own room that one went to a bathroom and the other was a closet.  That was it. 

“What were you expecting, a make shift sex den?” Tank laughed at her dismay.

“Well, no,” but that wasn’t all that far from the truth. His need to keep everyone out made her think he was hiding something, but hell, the place was bland. In one of her day dreams she imagined black satin sheets on a four-poster bed, but the regular navy cotton comforter kind of blew it for her. Tank pushed her down to sit on the boring bed.