Chapter Forty-Two
Ghost
Walking into the main room, I was surprised to see Declan there.
“Hey, Sheriff.”
“Hey, Ghost. Where’s King?”
“In his office, I think.” He sounded off, tired, but more than that. “Maureen ok?”
His head popped up and he furrowed his brow. “Yea, why?”
“You look tired, man.”
“I am fucking tired. But she’s good. I need to talk to the officers.”
Pulling my phone out, I sent a quick text. It didn’t take long before all nine officers made it to the clubhouse. We all filed into church, and I wondered where Melissa was. They must have been done talking because Sypher and Pippen were in the main room with Dani.
“What’s up?”
“Report came in, suspected kidnapping.”
We all sat up. We didn’t have kidnappings in Diamond Creek because everyone watched out for the kids. Whether they were yours or not.
“What’s it say?” King asked.
“It’s out of Oklahoma City.” That got my attention really fucking fast. “Dr. Melissa Jefferson is accused of kidnapping a little girl and taking her over state lines.”
“Bullshit!” I shouted, my chair hitting the wall when I jumped up.
“Blade, go get Sypher and Pippen. And tell the prospect to find Melissa.” He left and returned a moment later with Sypher and Pippen.
“She’s here?” Dec asked.
“She’s my fucking sister,” Gunner said. “And she didn’t fucking kidnap anyone.”
When Sypher and Pippen entered church, they gave Declan a wide birth. Given their recent brush with the law, I wasn’t surprised.
“Sypher, this is—”
“Sheriff Declan O’Rourke. Brother of Braesal O’Malley, the Irish Mob boss in Boston, and Uncle to Kingston O’Rourke, president of the Silver Shadows.”
“Not now, Sypher.” King sighed.
“What’s going on?” Dante asked.
“Sheriff got a report of a suspected kidnapping. Dr. Melissa Jefferson.”
“Melissa didn’t kidnap our daughter,” Dante said.
“Is the child here also?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“I will need to see her.”
“Why?” Sypher asked, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Danny, stop. I’ll go get her, Sheriff.”
Pippen returned with Dani. And the sheriff looked confused.
“What’s her name?” Dec asked Pippen.
“Danika.”
He looked at his paper, then at Dani. Looking back at his paper again, he pulled out his phone.
“Blackwater, need you to confirm the details of the child on the suspected kidnapping.” He was quiet for a moment. “You’re sure? Ok. Yea. Something’s not right. I’ll let you know what I find.”
Snapping his phone shut, we waited, all of us confused as to what was going on.
“How old is your daughter?”
Sypher eyed Declan, then turned to King. King shook his head no. I wasn’t sure what the problem was until it suddenly occurred to me. Sypher and Pippen had essentially kidnapped Dani from that government facility. But that was months ago, before they met Melissa.
“She’s two,” Dante confirmed.
“Not five?” Dec asked.
“Does she look big enough to be five years old?” Cash barked.
“What the fuck is going on, Dec?”
He removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair. He glared at King and asked, “Who does she fucking belong to?”
Standing from his seat, he eyed his brother. “She is the daughter of Danny Franks and Dante Sharpe. The two gentlemen standing in front of you.”
“Not the child. Who does Dr. Jefferson belong to?”
“I told you, she’s my sister.”
“Who’s fucking old lady is she?” Dec asked in a growl.
“Uh, mine,” I said, putting my hand in the air.
Cash threw his head back and laughed. So did Jingles and Colt. Nav hid behind his computer, snickering. And Sypher and Pippen looked confused.
“Every. Fucking. Time.”
“Hey, asshole, you wanna clue us in on what the fuck you’re talking about?” King asked, sitting back in his seat. “Sypher and Pippen, have a seat. This will have something to do with you two.”
“This report says Dr. Melissa Jefferson kidnapped five-year-old Caylee Meadows from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was reported to have been seen in Diamond Creek, Nebraska, at the clubhouse of the Silver Shadows motorcycle gang.”
“Not a fucking gang,” we all said at once.
“I’m reading the goddamn report. I didn’t write it,” Declan snapped.
“The stalker,” I said. “Nav, you get facial rec on that guy yet?”
“No. All I have are his eyes. It’s gonna take time.”
“I can fix that,” Pippen offered. He handed his daughter to Sypher and moved over to Nav’s computer. Nav gave him his seat, and we waited.
“What stalker?” Dec asked with a sigh.
“You don’t share shit with your uncle?” Sypher asked.
“I’m his fucking brother,” Dec snapped. He was a little testy when it came to someone pointing out they weren’t actually brothers.
“Only what we have to,” King answered. Turning back to Dec, he filled him in. “Gunner’s sister showed up a couple of days ago. She’s being followed. We’re working on it.”
Blade got up to answer a knock at the door. Joey was on the other side.
“What’s up, Joey?”
“Uh, Archie said you were looking for Melissa?”
“Yea, you know where she is?”
“No, sir. She left right after the sheriff got here.”
“What?” I asked the prospect.
“She drove out right after the sheriff drove in. The gate moves kind of slow, and aside from stepping in front of her car, there was no way to stop her. Also”—he looked down at his hands—“this came a few minutes before. I didn’t have time to run it in before the sheriff pulled up.”
He handed the paper to Blade, who opened it. Looking back at Joey, he asked, “Where did it come from?”
“A kid dropped it off. Said someone gave him a hundred bucks to deliver it.”
“Thanks, Joey. You can go back out to the gate.” After he closed the door, he looked at Gunner, then me.
“What the fuck does it say?”
“You can’t keep her.”
“Son of a bitch!” I yelled. “Who the fuck is this guy?”
Nav’s computer pinged, and a face came up on the screen on the wall. “Detective Andrew Henderson is the man who destroyed Melissa’s office,” Pippen announced.
“He’s also the man who reported the kidnapping,” the sheriff confirmed.
“I need a computer,” Sypher demanded.
“WHERE THE FUCK DID SHE GO?”
“Calm the fuck down, brother.”
“Fuck off, Cash.” I shouldn’t be snapping at him. This wasn’t his fault. It was Sypher’s and Pippen’s. Turning my glare toward the two men, I asked, “What the fuck did you two do? What did you say to her?”
“It was my fault,” Dante admitted.
“Baby, it was not your fault.”
“It was. I asked her about her brother. I shouldn’t have done that. We were supposed to be talking about Dani.”
Declan had left to put out an APB on Melissa and Detective Henderson. Nav and Sypher were working together. One looking for Melissa, and one looking for a connection to Caylee Meadows.
“Ok, Caylee Meadows is a five-year-old girl, recently removed from her mother’s care. Neighbors called the police, asking for a welfare check when Caylee wouldn’t stop crying. When the police showed up, they found a severely malnourished Caylee who weighed only twenty-five pounds.”
“For a five-year-old? Christ, Charlie is almost five, and she weighs near on to fifty pounds,” Jack exclaimed.
“Child welfare reports claim her speech was severely delayed, and she exhibited the emotional and mental capacity of a two-year-old,” Sypher said, his voice filled with emotion. Looking over at Pippen, he was staring at his husband. Unshed tears brimming in his eyes.
Sypher continued, “There are medical reports that show the physical and sexual trauma Caylee endured as well as a signed confession from her mother, admitting that she was neglectful and abusive, allowing the men she had traipsing through her home to have free rein over her child.”
“What the hell does that have to do with my woman?”
Sypher ignored me and carried on talking. “Dr. Melissa Jefferson was the leading expert on the court hearing at the mother’s trial. When Caylee was taken into custody, Melissa was called. She does emergency assessments for child services. She recommended Caylee be removed, then testified when the mother went on trial.”
“What’s the connection to the cop?” Jingles asked.
“Still working on that.”
“I found Melissa,” Nav said.
“Where is she?”
“She left here and drove into town. She stopped at the diner for a while, and when she came out, she was with Jessie. They both got in separate cars, but it looks like Melissa was following Jessie.”
“Someone call Jessie!” I demanded.
“I’ll do it,” Dante offered.
He put the phone on speaker, and Jessie answered, “Hey, Dante.”
“Hey, Jessica, are you with Melissa?”
There was a pause before she answered, “Nope. Just me in the car.”
Pippen rolled his eyes. “Jessica, where are you headed?”
“Why?” she asked, hesitant to answer.
“Jessabel, where the fuck are you going?” Sypher yelled.
“Dude, what is going on?”
“Jessie, please. Is Melissa with you?” I begged, my hands flat on the table.
With a loud exaggerated sigh, she replied, “Yes, she is following me.”
“Where are you taking her, Jessie?” King’s authoritative voice rang out. I held my breath, waiting for her to answer.
“To the Powell Ranch,” she confessed. I could breathe now. She wasn’t leaving town. “She wanted to go to the hotel, but I wasn’t letting her go to that shithole. Grayson’s letting her stay in one of the cabins.”
I looked at King. Grayson wasn’t letting anyone stay at the cabins right now because we weren’t entirely sure we didn’t have a serial killer in Diamond Creek.
“Did Grayson say that?” Jack asked with a chuckle.
“Not yet. But the man can’t tell me no. May as well take advantage of it.” We all heard the smile in her voice. She had been running him ragged with his pursuit of her. But she always slipped through his fingers.
“Why are you taking her to the ranch?” Gunner asked.
Shit, that was a good question.
“Um.”
Pippen picked up the phone and took it off speaker phone. “You’re off speaker. Tell me why she left.”
I found myself once again holding my breath. Pippen had turned away, so I couldn’t see his face while Jessie told him why my woman ran, again.
“Ok, yea. I’ll tell him.” Pippen got quiet again. “No, I get it. Tell her I’m sorry.” He disconnected the phone and turned to look at me.
“Well?”
“She was upset and planned to leave town. Jessica ran into her at the diner, and they talked. One thing about Jessica, she may be blunt and socially awkward, but people trust her. They open up to her. She talked Melissa into staying, and when she mentioned the hotel, she talked her into staying at the ranch in one of the cabins.”
“Call Winchester, tell him to get his ass home and stay there until I tell him otherwise,” King instructed, and Colt put his phone to his ear and walked out of the room.
“I need to go.”
“No.”
Looking at my president, I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly. “Why the fuck not?”
“Because I fucking said so. Sit your ass down. You too, Gunner,” King ordered. “Mellie has been through a lot of shit. She needs a break. I’ll call Grayson and make sure she’s in the cabin closest to the house. Winchester will be out there, and I will send two prospects as well.”
“No,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
“I said no. I’m not leaving her out there alone.”
“She needs some time away from the club,” King reasoned.
“She can have it. She can’t have time away from me.” I got up from my seat and walked to the door.
“Ghost, sit your ass down.”
“Sorry, brother. Can’t do that.” I shrugged off my cut and laid it on the table.
“What the fuck are you doing?” King snarled. “Put your cut back on.”
I stood there shaking my head, my eyes on my president. Former president. “I’m out. She’s it. You guys have been giving me shit for months about the woman I couldn’t forget. It’s fucking her. She’s here. I can’t let her go again. I won’t.”
“So, make her your old lady!”
“She doesn’t want to be an old lady! She wants nothing to do with the club. She needs one person in her goddamn life to put her first. I’m that fucking person,” I said, slapping my hand against my chest.
“So you’re willing to give up everything?”
“Damn fucking straight.”
I walked out of church, leaving my cut on the table and my brothers behind me.
For her.
My princess.
My everything.