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  “You should probably stop now, Reese,” Carbon advised, nodding to Phoenix who was getting angrier by the second.

  “Okay, fine,” she huffed. “While technically, I’m right that you didn’t say it was off limits, I did know that I wasn’t meant to be in the basement. I didn’t do it out of disrespect or anything like that. I was just trying to help. I knew she couldn’t hurt me and I honestly had no idea you still had Octavius as a prisoner.”

  “Who said that was Octavius?” Phoenix demanded.

  Reese and Harper answered at the same time, “He did.”

  “You talked to him?” Phoenix yelled.

  “Not exactly. He talked to us. He wanted us to make Melissa shut up. She was saying the same thing over and over; then, Octavius said the weirdest thing before he told us his name.”

  “What did he say?” Phoenix asked, anxiously, no doubt hoping it had something to do with Annabelle.

  “He said to make her shut up we needed to reverse it. Do you know what he meant by that?” Reese asked.

  Phoenix shook his head. “What was she saying?”

  Harper huffed and jumped in, “Oh, she had a lot to say. She told us all about her obsession with Duke and why she kidnapped James. Oh, and that she was the one who hit Reese. Then, she started singing ‘Nemo’s coming’ over and over and over. I agree with the skinny dude, it was maddening.”

  “Motherfucker!” Carbon said at the same time Reese muttered, “Son of a bitch.”

  “What?” the rest of us asked.

  “Omen,” they said in unison. “Nemo is Omen.”

  ***

  After Harper and Reese filled us in on everything Melissa said, Phoenix called us into Church. When everyone was up-to-speed, we began discussing our next steps.

  Phoenix directed his gaze to Carbon. “Carbon, I know how you feel about this and for right now, I’m willing to explore other avenues first, but I really think we should talk to Boar again. Omen is his son and even though he’s disowned him, he might be able to help us find him. Don’t forget, Boar’s Old Lady is the crazy bitch’s sister. She might be able to help us find him, too.”

  Carbon nodded. “I don’t like it, but my parents and siblings have been dead nine years and my sister is still alive and in danger. If bringing him in will put a stop to that, then it would be foolish of me to say no.”

  “I’m going to see if he’d be willing to come here to the clubhouse, maybe have a chat with our newest prisoner. Everyone okay with that?” Phoenix asked.

  Heads nodded in agreement. “Carbon, if you don’t think you can maintain your composure, you don’t have to see him. I won’t hold that against you, though I think you should talk to the man. Out of all of us, you’re by far the most skilled at reading people.”

  Carbon grunted. “Let’s see if he agrees to come, first. Then, I’ll see where my head’s at when he shows up.”

  “All right, I’ll give Boar a call and see if he’s willing to help us out. Duke, you have a problem if he wants to bring his Old Lady with him?”

  “Not at all, Prez.” I’m not sure how Reese would feel about it, but Shannon being at the clubhouse wouldn’t make a bit of difference to me. I never had feelings for her and I would venture to say that she never had feelings for me either. As an added bonus, it would give me the perfect opportunity to get the divorce papers from her. “If she comes with Boar, have her bring those papers we sent last week.”

  “I’ll pass that along. All right, brothers, I’ll let you know when I know.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Duke

  Boar agreed to come down to our clubhouse the next morning. He didn’t want to bring Shannon with him, even though she wanted to come. Phoenix assured him that she would be completely safe here. He finally agreed to let her come when Phoenix said his VP and SAA could come with him.

  Reese knew that Shannon was coming along. She said she was fine with it, but I wasn’t so sure she was telling the truth. She also knew that Shannon would be allowed downstairs if needed, while she would not be allowed to visit Melissa again. I knew this would be a problem no matter what she said.

  They showed up a little after lunchtime. The prospect called up from the gate to let Phoenix know they had arrived. Moments later, three sharp knocks sounded from the front doors.

  Phoenix shot a look of warning to everyone in the room before he pulled the front doors open wide. “Boar, thanks for coming. Come on in,” he gestured to the large common room. “Care for something to drink?”

  “I’d love a beer. I’m sure the boys would, too. Shan, you want a water?”

  “Please,” she quietly said. She didn’t look like the same girl I knew years ago. She had grown into her features, her hair was lighter and a lot longer, but it was the overall lack of menace that really changed the way she looked. Her eyes didn’t hold the same undertone of malevolence like they once did. She seemed to be happy and it looked good on her.

  Her eyes finally landed on me. She softly smiled. “Hi, John.” She cleared her throat and fidgeted with her hands, “It’s been a long time.”

  “Yeah, it has…” I trailed off. What was there to say? I had absolutely nothing.

  After a few beats of awkward silence, she said, “I brought the papers for you.” She reached into the bag she had strapped across her chest and shuffled some things around. She pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to me. “All signed and initialed. Can you send me a final copy or whatever when it has been filed?”

  “No problem. Thanks for bringing these with you,” I said. I glanced around the room. Just as I thought, every single person was watching us. The thought of everyone’s eyes on me made me so uncomfortable it was making it hard for me to talk to her.

  I felt a small hand on my arm. Just like that, everything felt right again. I looked down at Reese and smiled widely at her. “Hey, sugar.” I leaned down to give her a quick kiss, wanting her to know I had nothing to hide in front of Shannon, or anyone for that matter. “Reese, this is Shannon. Shannon, this is my girlfriend, Reese, and this is our son, James.”

  Shannon smiled. “Hello, Reese. I’m sure you probably aren’t thrilled to meet me and I completely understand that. I want you to know that I’m sorry for what my sister has done to you,” she gestured to Reese’s still booted foot, “and I’m so glad your son was returned to you safe and sound.”

  Reese stood taller, “You’re right, I wasn’t thrilled about you coming here, but you arrived with signed divorce papers. That’s a good way to sway the jury in your favor.” Reese paused and looked down at her foot, “You don’t need to apologize for your sister. From what I know, it wasn’t your doing.”

  Boar interrupted, “Shan, are you okay to stay here with Reese and the other girls while we go discuss a few things?” She nodded. “Do you want one of the boys to stay out here with you?”

  “No, babe, I think I’ll be okay. Go do what you need to do. I’ll wait right here.” She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. They seemed to genuinely care for one another. Not at all what I expected when I first learned that her and Boar were together.

  We left the girls in the common room and went into the room we used for Church. Phoenix didn’t tell Boar very much over the phone. Once he had been filled in on all the details, Boar asked, “So, you want me to help you find my son?”

  Phoenix nodded, “That and anything you could shed light on would be appreciated. Reese has gotten Melissa to shout out a few things in anger, which is how we learned about her connection with Omen. I know it’s a lot to ask.”

  Boar looked around the room, seeming to pause for a brief moment when his eyes landed on Carbon before continuing. “I don’t mind helping in any way I can. That boy is a disgrace. I haven’t considered him my son for a long time now. Some of the things he has done…” he shook his head. “I didn’t raise him like that. I don’t know where it comes from or why he is the way he is. I tried everything I could think of to change his ways, but nothing worked.
Finally, I just had to wash my hands of him.”

  Carbon was silently taking this all in. Studying every move Boar made, analyzing every word he said. Boar must have felt his scrutinizing gaze. He raised his head and looked directly at Carbon. He softly said, “You must be Heather’s boy. You’re built like your father, but you’ve got her eyes.”

  Carbon nodded, but I noticed his jaw clench and his fists tighten in his lap. Phoenix noticed, too, and quickly redirected the focus of the conversation. “You likely won’t be able to help us with this, but it’s a good starting point.” Phoenix pulled out Melissa’s cell phone and opened her text thread with Nemo/Omen. “You have any idea what language this is?”

  Boar nodded. “I know what it is, but it’s not a language, not like you’re thinking. Shannon’s told me on several occasions that Melissa was constantly making up her own languages and codes for words, so she could communicate without anyone else knowing what she was saying. Shannon liked to point out how she couldn’t communicate with anyone if no one else knew the language. Anyway, I’d guess that’s one of Melissa’s made up languages, but I have no idea what it says.”

  “Would Shannon know?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Call her to the door and we’ll ask her.”

  Shannon stopped at the doorway. Boar showed her the text message and asked if she thought it was one of Melissa’s languages. When she said she did, Boar then asked if she knew how to read any of it. “Not really, but from what I’ve heard her say about it over the years, it’s like those little puzzles in the newspapers, where they mix up the alphabet and you have to figure out which letter is which.”

  “Thanks, babe. Go on back out there. Shouldn’t be much longer,” Boar told her, kissing her cheek.

  Byte leaned forward to take the phone back. “Is she saying this is just a cryptogram?”

  “A what?” Phoenix asked.

  “Never mind,” Byte grumbled. “I should have this deciphered soon.”

  “Should we wait for you to do that before we continue?” Phoenix asked.

  “Probably,” Byte said, already scribbling notes on a piece of paper. “Might answer some questions.”

  Not even five minutes later, Byte had deciphered the secret code and translated the text messages between Melissa and Nemo/Omen.

  Boar sat back in his chair and looked to the ceiling. He took in a large breath and blew it out slowly. “I know you don’t need my permission to go after my son, but you have it. I stripped him of his patch, so this has nothing to do with my club. As far as I’m concerned, this is just another piece of scum getting his dues.”

  Phoenix shot Boar a skeptical look. “It ain’t my business, but that seems awfully harsh for beating up and almost raping a club girl. Did something else happen?”

  Boar looked down at his hands. “Nothing that I could prove, though I wish like hell I could have. I would’ve turned him in or killed him myself.”

  Phoenix sat quietly for a few moments. “Anything you want to share with us?”

  Boar looked across the room at Carbon then back to Phoenix. Boar subtly moved his head in Carbon’s direction while keeping his eyes on Phoenix. Not subtle enough though. Carbon saw it and was on his feet in a flash. “You mean your piece of shit offspring killed my family?” he roared.

  “Badger, take over. Shaker, Duke, you’re with me,” Phoenix barked, already moving toward the raging behemoth. Phoenix got him in a rear naked choke hold and forced him to his knees, Shaker and I standing on either side ready to pounce. “Lock it down, Carbon,” Phoenix demanded. Carbon’s body stiffened. He wasn’t fighting anymore, but he wasn’t letting it go either.

  “Duke, get Reese in here now,” Shaker said. Phoenix nodded his assent.

  I went out to get Reese, only to find that she had taken James into the restroom to change his diaper. What happened next blew me away. My little sister silently rose to her feet and walked toward the Church door. She walked in without preamble, me hot on her heels. Harper went straight to Carbon and placed her tiny little hands on his cheeks. She leaned in and put her mouth so close to his ear I couldn’t make out what she said to him. Whatever it was, his body relaxed and he dropped his head, keeping his eyes on the ground. Harper said something else to him, patted his shoulder, and left the room, throwing, “You’re welcome,” over her shoulder.

  Carbon cleared his throat. “I’m good, Prez.”

  “You sure? I’m not doing that shit again today,” Phoenix griped.

  “I’m sure. Carry on. I’m just going to sit back here.” Carbon dropped into a chair by the door, which I found to be extremely odd.

  Boar eyed Carbon warily, but began speaking again. “I wasn’t referring to Heather and her family, but I do think my son killed your grandmother. I have no actual proof, but certain things he said and did around that time led me to believe he was responsible for her death. It wasn’t long after that when I found out about him roughing up Reese and then I caught him trying to rape one of the club girls. To top it off, I’m fairly certain he was the one who killed my father.”

  Carbon sat forward in his chair. “My grandmother wasn’t murdered. She died of a heart attack.”

  Boar looked directly at Carbon. “Yeah, and every one of us in this room knows how to make certain things appear different than they really are.” His shoulders sagged. The man appeared to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but he forged on. “Like I said, I don’t have any proof other than odd comments he made at the time. He did the same sort of thing around the time my father died.”

  “Why are you bringing this up? You have no proof, it’s not like anything can be done about it,” Carbon asked with no animosity in his tone. Maybe Harper really had brought him back from the brink.

  “I just wanted you all to know that I’m not blind to what my son is. He’s always had a barely contained hatred for me and I’ve never known why. I thought things were changing when he wanted to prospect, but now I believe he was just trying to use the club as a way to take me out. He’s beyond help and needs to be put down before he can ruin any more lives. I’ll do anything I can to help you catch him. I prefer not to be the one who ends his life, but I will if I have to,” Boar said solemnly.

  Phoenix clapped Boar on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. We’d appreciate any help we can get.”

  Boar nodded and straightened, seeming to gather his strength to move on. He looked in Byte’s direction. “Did you get anything from those text messages?”

  Byte cleared his throat, “Not sure. The last one she sent said ‘I’ve been caught.’ Prior to that, there’s not much other than them saying things like ‘I’ll be there in 5’ or ‘See you back at HQ.’ Nothing that gives away a location or what they were planning to do next.”

  “Did you say HQ?” Boar asked.

  “Yeah, they mention HQ several times. That mean something?” Byte asked.

  “Maybe. There was this little ramshackle cabin out in the middle of the woods, not far from Devil Springs, that he liked to play in when he was younger. He found it when we were out for a father/son fishing and hunting trip. He used to call it his headquarters. He drove me fucking nuts asking me to go fishing or hunting all the damn time just so he could go play in that cabin. The thing had been long abandoned when we found it. Never gave much thought to where he went when I told him to leave, but it would make sense for him to go there,” Boar told us.

  “Can you point it out on a map?” Phoenix asked.

  “Yeah, the general area anyway.”

  Byte already had a map of Devil Springs and the surrounding area pulled up on his laptop. Boar leaned closer to the screen and pointed to where he thought the place was. Byte did some shit with his computer and suddenly we were all looking at a satellite image of the most run-down cabin I had ever seen.

  “That’s it,” Boar said. “Shall we go see if he’s there?”

  Phoenix leaned back in his chair, rubbing his thumb and forefinger over his chin. �
�Normally, I like to plan things a little better than this, but we’ve had his girl for over a week and we don’t know where he’s got eyes. I don’t want to wait around for him to make a move. Let me see that map again.” Byte slid the computer to Phoenix. Phoenix studied it closely. He pointed to a spot on the map. “We can stop here to survey the area first. Shaker can set up there to cover us and we’ll go ahead on foot.”

  Phoenix turned to Boar. “You want to go with us? Your Old Lady is welcome to stay here.”

  Boar sighed. “I wouldn’t say I want to, but I will. Let me make sure Shan is okay staying here while we’re gone.” He paused at the doorway and turned back, “Her sister is secure, right?”

  “Shannon can’t stumble across her if that’s what you’re asking,” Phoenix answered. I couldn’t help but chuckle. That was true, now that Phoenix had confiscated Reese’s lock picking tools. She probably had more, but I knew she wasn’t dumb enough to try using them at the clubhouse again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Duke

  We left the girls at the clubhouse, in the panic room. They were pissed about it, but reluctantly agreed. I don’t know what they were complaining about. That damn room was nicer than any other room in the clubhouse. Ranger, Badger, and Dash stayed back with the girls, as well as some prospects and a few other brothers that had just gotten back from a run. They had plenty of protection and should be fine, but I couldn’t help worrying about them.

  The ride out wasn’t bad. It gave me time to clear my head and focus on the task at hand. I couldn’t let my mind keep wandering to the fact that my wife and the mother of my child were locked in a panic room together, along with my sister and my son. At least Ember was in there, too; she could kick all of their asses if need be. Regrouping for the hundredth time since we left, I focused on the road and what was to come.