Mace’s Madonna (Pagan Souls of Cherokee MC #5)

Mace

Jessamy was putting on a show and a half. Bones, Bodie, and I snuck into the guy’s room. We hadn’t learned much from Laramie other than the man’s name, Richie Sampson. They knew that because it had been on the ID in his wallet. The stupid assholes had come to kidnap someone with their identification on them. Whether he was a Black Outlaw or not, he wouldn’t say. He refused to answer questions but didn’t ask for a lawyer. Laramie did say he’d made a phone call not long ago, but he had no clue to whom. And according to Laramie, there was nothing definitive tying the three men to the club. The police were following their protocols to find out. Lucky for us, we had different ones.

Slipping inside, I was relieved to see Richie was asleep. Leaving Bodie to watch at the door, I rushed to his bedside, placing my hand over his mouth. His panic-filled eyes flew open. I could tell he recognized me. He started to struggle, but between his wounds and the arm cuffed to the bed, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do. When he tried to drum his legs on the bed to make noise, Bones gripped them hard and held him still.

I leaned close so I could speak softly. “I know you recognize me. It was my woman you and your buddies tried to take. I want answers. And if you want to live, you’ll give them to me. And to ensure you don’t scream, we have something to persuade you to stay quiet.”

I glanced at Bones. He nodded. I shifted to hold one of Richie’s legs. With a hand free, Bones removed a syringe with a needle attached to it from his pocket. To help us blend, we’d dressed in scrubs like a doctor would. Long-sleeved shirts underneath the scrub tops covered our tats. We’d seen more than a few medical staff dressed the same. Around our necks were masks and stethoscopes. At least Bones was legit. He had a medical license and even helped out at the hospital whenever they had an urgent need. They’d tried to get him to work for them full-time, but he refused.

“Do you see this? This is a lethal dose of fentanyl. If you make a sound, I’ll have this injected into your bloodstream so fast that you won’t have time to blink. And it’ll hit you seconds later like a freight train. You’ll be gone, and they won’t have a clue why.” Bones told him. Letting go of his leg, our medic deftly attached the syringe to the little thingamajig on the IV tubing.

“You might be asking yourself. How does he know this is a lethal dose? How can I be sure it’s really fentanyl? Well, first, I’m a doctor. I know the dosing it takes to kill and have access to this form of it. As for wondering if it’s really fentanyl. Look in my eyes and tell me if I’m fucking lying,” Bones demanded as he leaned down to stare hard at Richie. Whatever the bastard saw made him shake.

“Are you going to keep quiet and answer our questions? Because I gotta tell you, if you’re not, I’d rather just kill your ass and go,” Bones said.

Richie didn’t know whether to nod or shake his head. He was almost crying when I eased my hand away so he could answer. I barely cleared his lips in case he decided to take his chances and yell.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want, just don’t kill me. Please,” he begged softly.

“First question, it’s an easy one. Are you a Black Outlaw?” I asked.

He hesitated a mere second. When Bones flexed his arm, Richie answered. “Yes! I’m a Black Outlaw.”

“Where is your club located?” Bones asked.

“Spartanburg, down in South Carolina.”

“Who sent you after Jessamy? She was the intended target, wasn’t she? Not just any of the Pagan women,” I asked.

“We were told to bring her specifically. Our president has been sweating it. We were supposed to get our hands on her in Lenoir. Those fools he sent after any of your women were to grab someone, anyone. They never came back. Probably hiding because they’re scared to come back and admit their failure, fucking cowards,” he said in disgust.

“They didn’t come back because they can’t. They’re dead. They didn’t seem to know shit, though. I hope you know more than they did. Why go after any Pagan woman or our friends’ women if it was Jessamy you wanted?” I asked.

“As a way to negotiate. If they got one or more of the others, we planned to agree to give them back if you traded your woman for whoever we nabbed. Who wouldn’t trade one for multiple old ladies or a single officer’s old lady? Those three were sent to snatch whoever they could get. There was another group trying to get your woman, but they didn’t get a chance.”

“Why does your president want Jessamy so badly?” I asked.

His eyes shifted back and forth between us. Bones’ hand inched back toward the syringe. He had it sticking there. All it would take was to push the plunger, and it would be done.

“No! Shit, don’t. You know what we’re into, right?”

“Yeah, including the trafficking bullshit,” Bones muttered darkly.

“One of our top customers saw her when he was in Arizona. He wanted her for himself. He ordered us to get her no matter what we had to do or how long it took. We thought we had her weeks ago, but then she got away. Goddamn Leland let her escape. We’ve been trying to find her for weeks, and then suddenly, she was seen with your club wearing your property cut. When we didn’t get her at the poker run, we knew we’d have to plan carefully to be able to grab her here.”

“Why not attack our compound and take her by force?” Bones asked.

“If it were only you, we would’ve, but there are other Pagan Souls chapters, and you’re allied with several other clubs. We can’t afford the scrutiny or an outright war with the whole lot of you. If we destroy the pipeline for this, we’re dead.”

“Who is the guy who wants her? Are there other guys from your club in town right now? Tell us about the pipeline. Where does it come from and go to?” I asked.

“I don’t know his name. Only our president deals with the higher-ups. No, there’s none here. Or there wasn’t yesterday. With our failure, they’ll send more. The officers thought it would be easier to sneak three of us into town without raising suspicion, especially if we weren’t riding and didn’t wear our colors.”

“Guys, we’ve got to go. The guard keeps looking and inching this way. I think she’s losing him,” Bodie whispered from the door.

I wanted to scream in frustration, but I couldn’t. He hadn’t told us anything about the pipeline. We had more than we had, but it wasn’t enough. I leaned close to Richie.

“I hope you didn’t think you’d tell the cops about our visit or warn your club that we’re onto them. That’s not happening. So long, fucker.”

I slapped a hand over his mouth as Bones injected the drug. Within seconds, he had the thing recapped and in his pocket. I watched it hit Richie fast, and his eyes went unfocused. Pulling up our masks, we went to the door. As the door opened, we casually walked out into the hallway.

Bones took the lead. He spoke loudly. “We’ll do the tests in an hour or so. I think that’s all I need. You get those tests set up to go,” he told us.

In addition to the scrubs and masks, we had surgical do-rags on our heads, similar to the ones bikers wore. All of this helped to disguise us. Really, all you could see was our eyes. Bones was disguising his voice, talking in a thick Southern accent.

“Hey, who are you? What’re you doing in there?” The officer asked as he hurried toward us. He was frowning.

“Go ahead, I’ll get him updated,” Bones said as if he was Richie’s actual doctor. I hoped he could pull it off and get out.

As we kept going, I heard him telling the officer we were doing our job. Bones reprimanded him for not being at his post when we arrived. He stated how busy we were, so we didn’t wait for him. Then he rattled off a bunch of medical terminology that would confuse anyone. As we passed Jessamy, I winked at her. I’d get changed and meet them in the parking lot. We needed to meet back at the compound and fill Agony in on what we’d discovered. My mind kept going back to the question: Who was the man who saw Jessamy and wanted her?

???

Thankfully, tonight was our regular church night. We’d come back, and Bones and I discussed with Agony what we’d found out from Richie. After we were done, he’d gone behind closed doors to get things going with the other presidents and their men. If the Outlaws came here to get her once, there would be more and soon. We had to be ready to make a move fast.

Jessamy had wanted to know what we’d found out. I told her to let us talk to Agony first. When I returned to the house after we did, I filled her in. She was naturally scared of them coming after her, but she was more afraid they’d hurt others like they had Iceman. I had a hard time calming her enough to go to church. I asked Zari if she’d stick with her. She promised she’d stay with her and try to get her to see it wasn’t her fault.

We still had regular church agenda items to go through, which I was in no mood to sit through, but we had to. The rest of our work couldn’t be ignored. By the time we were done with those and Agony was opening up the topic of the Outlaws, I was beyond ready. He laid out to the others, with remarks from Bones and me, what it was we got out of Richie. When he was done, he let it sink in for a few minutes before he got to what I wanted to know. What had the other club presidents and Agony decided to do?

“I took what Mace and Bones discovered and talked to the other club presidents. Bull and I spent a good amount of time with Grinder since his men are boots on the ground right now. They reported a lot more activity at the Outlaw’s clubhouse last night. No surprise. They knew something was wrong when those three didn’t return or answer calls. Our guess is they weren’t sure if we caught them or not.”

“Wonder what they think today?” Pope muttered.

“We know what they know. Before the visit to Sampson, the cops gave him a phone call. It was his one-phone-call deal. He didn’t bother to find a lawyer. He called his president and informed him that he was in the hospital, shot, and under arrest. Also, he let him know that Iceman killed the other two. He did assure his president that no one knew they were Outlaws, and he was keeping his mouth shut, but he wanted his club to find a way to break him out before he got sent to jail,” Agony informed us.

“How do you know all this?” Pyro asked.

“I have ESP. Didn’t you know that?” Agony asked and then ruined it by cracking a grin after several astonished moments before he answered truthfully. He gestured to Wire. “The brainiacs like this one have tapped into their damn cells and emails late this morning. Anything they have coming in or going out via those, they’re able to hear or read as of about eleven o’clock this morning.”

There were satisfied mumbles from around the table. As they died down, Cyclone asked, “So, do we know what their next move is? Who are these people who control the pipeline? It sure sounded like the Outlaws were part of it, but not the head guys.”

“Now that we’re into their communication, we’re getting more answers faster, although they are guarded to a degree. They’re talking openly about capturing Jessamy but rather mute about the pipeline. They did refer to a Mr. T, who was upset that she hadn’t been obtained. Based on what Bones and Mace found out, we can only assume that Mr. T is the man who tasked them to get her,” Wire was the one to answer this time. He’d been behind closed doors all afternoon, and part of the time, it was with Agony.

“Christ, I get being attracted to a woman, but what kind of person has her kidnapped? Does this Mr. T think that once he has her, she’ll suddenly forgive what he did and become a loving little woman for him?” Hulk asked. We knew the last was rhetorical.

“Any idea when they’ll be coming for us? Or how they plan to get their hands on her?” I asked.

“There was no exact time or way mentioned. The activity around the clubhouse is still hectic. Grinder’s men are standing watch twenty-four-seven there and out at that abandoned house. There was a mention that they had an in, whatever that means. Believe me. Everyone is trying to determine what that ‘in’ is and put a stop to it. We’re all concerned about our women and kids, but Mace is twice as worried. I’ve got a suggestion. It’s not a solution, but it may ease our minds and hopefully make them much safer,” Agony added. He was staring at me.

“Agony, if it makes her safer, then I’ll do it. What is it?” I stated.

“We send the women and kids out of here. It was suggested we could send them to one of the other clubs’ compounds or even over to Oconee to be with Wrath’s chapter. They stay there until we resolve this. All of them offered to host them.”

“What about splitting them? I know we don’t have many old ladies, but should we send them all to one location or divide them? We could send them out of here in vehicles that no one can see who is inside them. Then they split off, say to five compounds, and not be taken out where they can be seen if someone is trying to track them outside of here. They’ll have more work to figure out who went where,” Knight suggested.

This got us all contemplating it. I hated the thought of making Jessamy go somewhere without at least one of the other women with her, but she’d met all the clubs. It wasn’t like she was going to be with strangers.

“I like it,” Twisted muttered.

“Okay, where do we want to send Jessamy? No offense, but she’s the target. With the others, it doesn’t matter exactly which compound they go to. They’ll be covered. She’s the one with the biggest threat after her,” Hulk slipped in.

“But won’t it put the old ladies and kids at the other compounds in more danger to have ours there? They could just as easily be snatched,” Nitro reminded us.

“Believe it or not, we talked about sending them but not dividing them up. It is a risk to do it, but the others believe if they can’t get to our women here, they’ll try to get to her through their women and kids anyway. We know they had orders to nab anyone they could in Lenoir. We expect it’s still a standing order and option in the Outlaws’ minds,” Dare added. He’d been with Agony most of the afternoon. Ollie had been in charge at the garage while the two of us were dealing with this shit.

“We need to make this happen right away, which means tomorrow. I know that will mean them dropping work, and they’ll hate that, especially Eliana, but the longer we wait, the more time it gives them to solidify a plan. All in favor of at least getting them out of here. Raise your hand,” Agony called.

Hands went up around the table. It seemed that everyone was on board with that part. I hated the thought of being separated, but if it kept her safe, I’d do it.

“Great. Okay, I like the divide and hide idea. Give me a few minutes to talk to the other presidents. They’re on standby to hear what we came up with. While I do, I need you men with a woman to tell them what we’re opting to do. They’ll protest, but in the end, we have to do it. Get them started on accepting it. Hulk, tell mine I’ll be there to hear her protests as soon as I can. After we get that set, we’ll proceed with further plans. We’re bringing this whole ugly cesspool of a pipeline down,” Agony snarled.

A determined group went to talk to the women. Even the single guys huddled close. They were there to support us. When the women saw us enter the common area, they knew something was up. Their faces showed it.

Eliana rose to her feet. “You need to tell us something, and it’s not good. Where’s Agony?”

“Agony is conferring with the other presidents. He’ll be here as soon as he can, babe. He told me to tell you that,” Hulk stated.

“We need everyone to remain calm and listen to what we have to say. Be careful not to upset the kids,” Dare added.

Cara was playing. Aliya was with her, more or less watching over her. Arif was practicing pool but had stopped when he saw us. He inched closer. Tanamara was sitting with the women. The others were too young to know what was happening. All they might do is react to emotions.

“What does my grandson need us to do?” Tana asked calmly.

“We want to send all of you and the kids away. It’ll get you away from the focal point of the danger and give us room to do whatever needs to be done. We won’t have to worry about protecting you. Additionally, we thought to make it even better and add to the confusion for the Outlaws if they’re watching us is to have each of you go to a different club,” Dare explained, then stopped to see what their comments would be. Loud chatter broke out. There were protests and such, but they weren’t angry.

It was still happening when Agony joined us. He wore a decisive expression. He came to stand in the middle of our group. He held up his hand, causing everyone to get quiet.

“I’ve talked to the presidents. They agree. Dividing you up would be even better. It’s up to us who goes where. Ladies, I have no doubt you have arguments against going. I’m usually democratic, I think, but not this time. As president of this club, I’m ordering you to go. When you became old ladies, you agreed to abide by the rules, and as such, the president can pull rank. I’m doing it. We have to do it quickly. That means tonight we pack and do whatever we need to do because five vehicles with dark-tinted windows will be leaving here in the morning.

“Eliana, you, Tana, and the kids will go together. Joli and Branson will be sent to the second compound. Natalya, I hate that you and Cara have to go at this time, with you having only six weeks until your due date, but I promise. When it’s time for that baby to be born, Knight and you will be together. Twisted, you’ll send Zari, Arif, and Aliya off to a fourth compound. That leaves you, Jessamy. You’ll be sent alone. I’m sorry for that. We think you’re best to go to Hunters Creek. Bull asked that you come to stay with him and Jocelyn.”

While there was muttering and exclamations of dismay at having to leave so quickly and what it meant for their various jobs, the women ultimately knew they were in danger. The kids were the deciding factor in getting them to agree. Jessamy wanted everyone safe, though I knew she was already worried about the threat she was bringing to Hunters Creek. It was going to be a long night.

A brief conversation was had about who would go where and when to get on the road. The various vehicles would be brought to the assorted houses. The women and kids would be loaded into them in the garages. When they left, the driver would be further covered so as not to identify who they were since the women would be driving. An escort of several of us, along with our help from Hunters Creek and Dublin Falls, would go with them. Agony told us that Oconee, the Punishers, and Marauders were sending out a few of their men to be posted along the various routes as added protection. Once they were safely deposited, then we’d go into warrior mode. A part of me couldn’t wait for that to happen.

I escorted a very subdued Jessamy home. I helped her pack. She wasn’t talkative, but I did what I could to reassure her. It was late by the time we went to bed, but we both were driven to make love. It wasn’t a quick thing. Not to be morbid, but we made it last, just in case it was our last.