Chapter 19
Gas, grass, or ass. Nobody rides for free.
-T-shirt
Jack
“How’d she take it?” Sam asked me.
“About as good as can be expected. I think these past few months she’s written her sister off and now she feels bad.” I explained.
He nodded. “I’m not so sure what to think of all this. Seems like we’re missing something.”
“I haven’t made any progress with Adam’s shit either. The fire was ruled arson, finally. No suspects yet. Goddammit. I’m gonna have to bring her in and have her work her magic.” I groaned.
“Oh, honey pie, you brought me in a long time ago, you just didn’t know it. Does Adam have a safety deposit box?” Winter asked from the doorway.
Her reading glasses were perched on her nose, and her hair was falling out of her bun at the top of her head. Springy curls were everywhere.
In the month since we became aware of Stormy’s involvement, we had a lot of information, but none of it matched up. I’d done my best to keep Winter updated only enough that she wouldn’t stick her head out. Apparently I was wrong, and she’d been helping all along.
“What?” I asked finally.
She smiled. “I knew you had something you were working on. Don’t think I didn’t notice you disappearing in the middle of the night either. Although, I didn’t think you’d leave the house. Trying to find you in the middle of the night in this place is like searching for a virgin in a whorehouse.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The woman was a fricking genius when it came to a computer. She also knew me better than I knew myself. It wasn’t until we had electricity and alarms wired on the fence that I felt comfortable leaving the house again. Not to mention a security system.
Before, I’d never needed it; my place was the last of them all to be wired. I’d never regret that decision more than I did the night she had to use deadly force to defend herself.
“Whatcha got?” I asked.
I knew she had something, too. The woman was smart as a whip. All she had to do was get a hunch, and she’d follow the trail to the last tiny breadcrumb.
“I woke up from a dream. Only, instead of forgetting it, I remembered every detail. Down to the safety deposit box number, as well as the security code he gave me. He’d told me about the box the day he stood in for you when we got married. Said that it held your will, as well as other important documents. That day we stowed the marriage license in there, and he showed me how to do everything.”
I nodded, thinking to myself. “Yeah, I gave him a copy, as well as Tai. I’d found the copy of the will at his house though. That’s the weird thing.”
“I don’t know. However, his bank records still show him paying for the box every month. Which costs a fucking ton because it’s in the nicest bank in San Antonio. It’s also owned by none other than Edward Clayton.”
That one dropped like a bomb.
“Mother Trucker.” Sam said sounding pained.
“Mother trucker?” I asked in question.
“The girls like to repeat words. I told Cheyenne I’d stop saying fucker.” He explained.
I nodded in understanding. “Guess I need to make another trip.”
***
“Guess I never should have left,” I groaned and rolled over, burying my face into the pillow. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“I thought bikers liked riding,” She said as she pulled on her uniform shirt.
“Must not be as hardcore as I thought I was.” I murmured as I watched her slip pants over her hips.
“Do you like the job?” I asked.
She’d been there twice now, and I felt like a shitty husband that I didn’t even ask her how her first day went.
“I love it. But, something happened last time I was on shift. A woman that was in an accident lost her child about three weeks before she was supposed to be born,” She said as she sat on the bed. “I…I want to look in the box.”
My heart stuttered, and then picked up beating double time. “I think we can do that.”
She smiled at me gratefully. “Okay. I’ve got to go. I love you, Jackopa.”
I watched her leave the room, and then heard her moving around in the kitchen. Making her coffee. Running water in the sink. Taking a Pop-tart out of the cabinet.
All those sounds were sounds of happiness to me. Before Winter came home, when I woke up, there was only silence. I used to be happy to have that silence.
Things had changed, though. If I had that silence again, I was afraid I’d lose it. I never wanted to hear silence again.
“Can I have one of your chocolate milks?” Winter yelled.
“How many do I have left?” I yelled back.
In truth, I really didn’t care if she took everything I had to my name, as long as I got to keep her forever.
“One.” She muttered, and then I heard the front door slam.
I hopped out of bed as if my ass was on fire, ran to the kitchen to grab her milk, and then tore out of the front door on her heels. She was just angling into the car when she saw me leave the front door and froze midway.
Peripherally, I saw Cheyenne and Sam standing outside, but I wanted to catch her before she left, and didn’t really care who saw me in my underwear.
“I’m thinking we need to build some fences.” Sam observed dryly.
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s kind of fitting seeing as she saw all the other men in their skivvies.” She drawled.
I ignored them, and the frozen state of my balls, as I grabbed Winter and kissed her forcefully, pulling away before my dick could take control. “Love you.” I said as I shoved the chocolate milk into her hand and ran back towards the open front door.
I gave Cheyenne a wink as I went, and she laughed.
“Bastard.” Sam grumbled.
***
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t give my wife any free shows from now on.” Gabe mumbled as he pulled up beside me and shut off the bike.
“Jesus, let it go already. I’m sorry I look better in my underwear than y’all do.” I goaded as I swung my leg over the bike.
Groaning, I stretched my arms high above my head and felt my spine crack.
“I’ll wait here for you.” Gabe said as he got off his bike and stretched as well.
“Sounds good.” I said and started walking towards the banks front door.
Once inside, I walked up to the teller, a young woman all of twenty, at the most, and smiled my most disarming smile. “I need to get into my safety deposit box.”
“Okay! Please step to that door right there and I’ll have someone to you shortly.” She said, smiling flirtatiously.
I did as instructed, and only had to wait thirty seconds when a man in his late twenties opened it for me and waved me through. “Hello. How are you today, sir?”
“Good, thanks.” I said.
He led us into a room full of boxes about two by three feet in diameter. Some had the old-fashioned keys, while others had electronic keypads.
Knowing the one I needed was a keypad, I walked up to the side that they rested on and quickly scanned the numbers. Seven thirty one was the very bottom one in the right corner.
“Is there anything else you’ll need?” The man asked, as I took a knee next to the box.
“No, thanks.” I muttered and waited for him to leave the room before punching in the sequence of numbers that Winter told me.
Once the numbers were punched in, I waited for the red light to turn to green, and then punched in the last four-digit code.
The snick of the lock releasing echoed, hollowly, throughout the empty room.
Right on top was an envelope addressed to me, followed by a legal sized brown envelope, and a voice recorder that had a sticky note that read: “Give this to my mom.”
Stuffing the tape recorder into my inside jacket pocket, I took the envelope, folded it in half, and shoved it into the back of my jeans, letting the jacket fall down to conceal it.
The envelope went into my other pocket, and I closed the safe, tapping the code back in to make sure it locked securely and headed for the door.
The sudden opening of the door startled the young man that had taken up position outside the door. His face clearly showed guilt as he spoke into the phone that was pressed to his ear. “Yes, sir. I’ll do that immediately.”
I knew immediately that something was fucked about this situation, so I didn’t dawdle. Ignoring the man’s pleas to wait, I headed out the door and into the bank lobby. All the while the young man trailed at my heels.
“Sir, if you’ll just wait a minute, my supervisor would like to speak with you.” He panted as he tried to keep up with my strides.
Pushing through the front doors, I called over my shoulder, “Sorry man, got an emergency.”
Gabe took in the quickness to my stride and the look on my face and started his bike with a loud throaty roar, which immediately drowned out the young man’s insistent pleas to wait.
He stopped about four feet from my bike and watched as I swung my leg over it and started mine up with a roar much the same as Gabe’s bike.
Giving the man a two finger flick, I pulled into traffic just as the doors to the bank pushed open and an older man that looked to be in his late fifties and two large men poured out.
The young man came up to them quickly and started pointing in our direction before the older man dressed him down quickly and efficiently.
I didn’t see anything after that because the light turned green and I hauled ass through it without worrying about my back since I knew that Gabe would always have it.
James picked us up a mile from the bank and we rode for over three hours before stopping at a diner at the halfway point between San Antonio and home.
“Hope you got something that was worth riding for three hours when I needed to take a piss.” James said as he walked into the diner at a near run.
Gabe snickered at the man’s obvious discomfort, and we followed him inside at a much slower pace.
The diner itself was made to resemble an old 50’s diner. It had the black and white tiles, the sparkly chairs, and a train that traveled around the top edges of the room.
A woman that looked like she was ridden hard and put up wet nearly thirty years ago was sitting at the bar with a cigarette in her hand. Her nametag read “Gladys.”
“How many?” Gladys asked.
“Three,” I answered. “Away from the smoke though.”
She huffed, but sat us in the very corner of the diner nearest the emergency exit and the bathrooms.
Gabe and I both sat with our backs to the back wall and ordered a water from Gladys before she left.
“Get anything useful?” Gabe asked as he glanced at the menu.
“Not sure yet. Here.” I said and handed him the manila envelope while keeping the letter for myself.
He grunted and started opening the files while I ripped open the edges to my own.
Adam’s cursive blocky handwriting greeted me as I unfolded the letter and started to read.
If you’re reading this, then it means that I’m gone. Apparently, I didn’t concede the warnings well enough, because I thought I could get this to you before anything happened to me. Guess I was wrong.
I’m sorry that you had to find out about it this way, but I want you to know that I never stopped looking for Winter, and when I realized she was alive just a few short days ago, I made it my life’s mission to find out what the hell was going on. I’m sorry I let you down. I hit the jackpot three days after your phone call, but didn’t want to tell you anything until I knew more details.
Edward Clayton ring any bells to you?
I’m sure it does. You had a background check done on his son, and told me to keep an eye on him while you were gone just in case.
Words will never be enough to tell you how very sorry I am that I didn’t watch out for her better, and take your worries to heart.
From what I’ve pieced together, Edward is into selling young girls to the highest bidder. The son runs the drug business and gets junkies hooked who have nothing else to offer but themselves or a family member.
Enter Winter’s mother and there you have it.
I had a buddy in the force run daddy dearest through the system, and low and behold he had an overdue speeding ticket.
Now, I’m no expert, but that means jail time. Lucky for me, I happened to be visiting my buddy on the force when daddy was brought in from his lunch date with his son. Papers his son had given him were confiscated as he was taken in.
Took a picture of all the papers and dropped them at the bank for safekeeping. Only, I wasn’t as smooth as I thought, or Clayton has someone on the inside who showed him security footage. Picked up a tail as soon as I pulled into my house that night.
I spoke with Winter’s sister about her old boyfriend, but damned if I could get her to talk about anything. All she kept saying was that she had failed her sister and it was all Peter’s fault.
Yes, I am aware that the bank I had my safety deposit box at was his. When I realized he was looking for the information I had, I thought, hey, what the hell. I’ll hide it right under his nose. He won’t think I’m stupid enough to hide the information he wants in his own bank.
I’m sorry I ever put you into this position, my man. Hope the information helps you in some way.
I’m glad you have your girl back. I love you.
Adam
My throat was clogged, and I swallowed past a lump in my throat.
I’d set his ass up, plain and simple. When I’d asked him to watch over Winter, while I was away, he was a young kid all of twenty one, just like me. If I’d known he was still carrying the guilt of Winter’s disappearance, I would have set him straight years ago.
Fuck.
Rage. Pure, dark, and thick bubbled in my veins.
That stuffed suit was about to feel what the meaning of wrath was.
A low whistle sounded from beside me, and I reached for the paper he was holding out to me.
My eyes read the paper over and over, trying mightily to make my brain comprehend just what it was I was reading.
“What the fuck?” I finally asked.
James, who’d taken a seat sometime in the past few minutes, while my brain was trying to work, snatched the paper from my hand and scanned over it.
His eyes went from interested to hard as ice in the span of seconds. “Dear God.”
“What the hell does he want with the state orphanage, and why does he have a list of every kid there, all the way down to blood type?” James asked with a deadly tone.
There were only so many options a flesh peddler would want with an orphanage, and none of those was good.
“Oh, it gets better.” Gabe said as he handed me the next page.
James got up and moved so that he could read it too.
My blood boiled.
“That just looks like an expense report to me.” James asked confused.
“All the reports originate in Shamrock, Texas.” Gabe explained.
“Goddammit.” I growled and threw the paper on the table.
“Financials on Jeanette LaRue, Stormy LaRue, Adam Gustier, Taima Stoker, Jackopa Stoker. Last known addresses. Acquaintances. Job details. Jesus, this guy knows a lot of shit about you. What’s this?” Gabe said handing the stack of papers over.
“Not really surprising. The man practically runs the San Antonio drug trade from what my sources say,” I answered distractedly. “Looks like a paternity test.”
“Let’s get this stuff home. There’s more, I know it.” Gabe said and stood.
“Wait, let me get a picture of this stuff and send it over to Winter. Maybe she can find us some more information.” I said as I took out my phone and snapped quick pictures of everything we had, minus the letter from Adam.
I didn’t want her worrying about this, but I most definitely didn’t want her upset over the fact that Adam died trying to help her.
“Got it. Let’s roll.” I said as I stood, too.
Once out in the parking lot, I gave the tape recorder to James and the stack of papers to Gabe. “Just in case.”
They nodded and put them in their own jacket pockets.
Little did I know that that decision was probably the best one I’d made in seven years.
***
The gate clinked as we waited for it to open.
My eyes moved from the slowest opening gate in the history of the world to Winter as she exited the front door of the garage.
Although it was a little past eleven at night, I knew she’d be there working on the information we’d sent her. I hoped that that smile on her face meant she had something.
Just as the gate finally swung open fully, a deafening bang and an extremely bright light over took my senses.
I was disoriented, and it took me a few moments to remember the training I’d had on concussion grenades.
However, those fifteen seconds were enough, and I came to just in time to see a meaty fist headed straight for my face.
Lights out for me.