Dayanara Chapter 3
Walking in and seeing so many leather-wearing, tattoo-sporting men was kinda awe-inspiring.
As I took the sight in, I had to admit, they were all appealing in different ways.
On top of that, they were intimidating. Their auras were like Stalker’s and Predator’s.
Since Stryder was my cousin, I didn’t get that vibe before now, but even he had it. You wouldn’t want to piss them off.
We followed my brother and cousin up to an imposing older man.
His dark silver-streaked hair reached his shoulders in a ponytail.
He had intense, dark brown eyes and a goatee flecked with silver.
He was tall and reminded me of a linebacker.
He hadn’t developed a beer gut. He was still muscular, though I estimated him to be around sixty.
Standing next to him was a beautiful woman several years his junior.
The older man had his arm around her, so I assumed they were together.
She had long strawberry blond hair and green eyes.
She was petite next to him. He was at least a foot taller than she was.
“Jessup, Daya, this is our club and charter president, Bull. And this gorgeous lady with him is his old lady, Jocelyn. Pres, Jocelyn, these are my cousins I told you about, Jessup and Dayanara Crane,” Stryder stated.
Jocelyn beamed at us. Her warmth was evident. Bull was more reserved, but he still gave us a small smile.
“It’s wonderful to finally meet Stryder’s family finally. He’s been hiding you. Hate that this was the way we met, but we’re happy that you’ve joined us.” Bull’s deep voice boomed, even though he wasn’t shouting.
“Welcome. And please, make yourselves at home. What’s ours is yours. I can’t wait to get to know you and your other sister, Brighton, right?” Jocelyn asked.
As she spoke, she was squeezing my hand that I held out.
I nodded to acknowledge that she had gotten our sister’s name right.
Bull and Jess were shaking hands. Eventually, she moved off to say hello to Jess, and I was facing Bull.
His deep, penetrating eyes made me feel like he saw into my soul.
He didn’t say anything for several seconds as he studied me. I refused to squirm. He nodded.
“You’re right. She’s like my Harlow and the others you mentioned.
She won’t back down. I won’t waste my breath trying to convince her to let us handle this.
It’s great to meet you, Dayanara. Please, let’s get you two introduced to the rest of these animals.
They’re about to swarm us if we don’t,” Bull said dryly.
This time, his grin was bigger. He chuckled at the protests his words elicited from the others in the room. We were taken to a table and asked to sit. Once we were, the men and women lined up to be introduced. Many were couples, though there were single men like my cousin.
I figured once we were introduced to the president and seated, Predator and Stalker would move off. I was wrong. Instead, they pulled out chairs and sat on either side of me. Jess and Stryder sat across the table from us. Bull and Jocelyn were to my left on the other side of Stalker.
Introductions took a while. There were over two dozen members, a couple of prospects, and over a dozen women.
Their kids, they said, they’d leave for another time.
My hasty count came to around two dozen kids of various ages.
After the introductions, we were asked what we’d like to drink.
I wanted to keep control of my faculties, so I asked for a soda. Jess settled for water.
“Thank you for meeting us here. It was easier for two of you to come to us than for all of us to come to you. Plus, being on our compound makes whatever we say private. Before we get started, Dayanara, you’ve been compared to Harlow and a few other old ladies in our group of friends.
Your demeanor reminds me so much of Harlow.
Did anyone tell you who she is?” Bull asked. I was surprised by this question.
“No, they only mentioned her name along with five others, saying I reminded them of those ladies,” I admitted.
“Harlow, or Harley as she is called by many of us, is my oldest daughter. She’s the old lady to the president of our Dublin Falls chapter, Terror.
The bastard stole her away from us thirteen years ago.
She and I were Marines, too. It’s always great to meet another Leatherneck,” Bull explained, smiling.
“Oh, really, wow, that’s great. May I ask what her MOS—military occupational specialty—was? Yours?” I loved talking to other former and current Marines. It was a family I missed in many ways, despite the actions of a few.
“It was a long time ago for me. I was in what you call the Marine Recon division, though we were also used for other things. My Harley was a scout sniper.”
Excitement filled me. “A sniper? Wow, okay, I have to meet her. I’ve never gotten a chance to talk to a female sniper. They’re rare. As for Marine Recon, you and I are siblings. I was part of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, MAGTF. We worked hand in hand with Marine Recon all the time. Sempre Fi.”
Our conversation sparked a discussion among those gathered around. I discovered that we weren’t the only military in the room. Bear, Demon, Slash, Maverick, Rebel, and Payne had also been. When the chatter died away several minutes later, it was time to get down to business.
“I’d love to spend all night swapping stories, but we have something rather urgent to work out,” I reminded them.
“We do. And I thank you for agreeing to assist us with taking care of this cretin, Marshall Webb. How do we want to do this?” Jessup blurted out.
“Outlaw here spent the day seeing what he could find out about Webb. Not only what his life was like before he went to prison, but what he’s been up to while inside.
How a rapist like him escaped being shanked and killed inside is a miracle.
Why don’t you share what you discovered, Outlaw? ” Bull jumped straight into it.
Outlaw pulled over a chair as room was made for him at the table.
“Dayanara, thank you for saving me a couple of steps. You having his email, social media accounts, and Social Security number allowed me to dive right in. Let’s address how he’s survived.
It’s simple. The fucker bought protection on the inside.
He somehow set it up before he ever got there to have the biggest and bloodiest gang in the prison to protect his ass.
If it weren’t for them, he would’ve died.
The prisoners are too scared of that gang to do anything. ”
“How is he paying for their help?” I asked.
“I’m still trying to determine that. He has some assets and an inheritance, but he hasn’t authorized anyone other than his lawyer to withdraw from them. So he either traded something other than money, or he’s got a secret account I don’t know about. But if one exists, I’ll find it,” Outlaw vowed.
“I was told you could find out his PO’s name and where he was headed after he’s released, so I didn’t touch it.
Instead, I focused on his past. Your instinct that your sister wasn’t his only victim resonated with me.
My gut said the same thing after I heard his story.
Then, I read the court transcripts. No way was this his first foray. ” Outlaw paused.
My heart sped up. I tried not to let my body tense up. What had he learned?
“I’ll bet my cut good ole Marshall has done this before.
There are rumors that he has had sex with underage girls since he was in high school.
When he was seventeen, no one noticed that his girlfriends were fourteen.
After he turned eighteen, there was no obvious dating of anyone underage, but it came up as a whisper now and then.
Girls who claimed things were done to them would later recant their statements.
Others were mere gossip about him being with underage girls. He wasn’t seen out in public with them.
“I believe that he paid off the girls and their families who dared to accuse him publicly. I could see someone being spiteful once and saying something along those lines, but for it to crop up again and again, I believe the saying where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
Scanning the room, I noted the anger and disgust on the faces around us.
It wasn’t only the men who looked that way.
However, the women wore sympathetic looks.
Aria, Slash’s old lady, caught my attention.
He held her tightly against him, and she had tears in her eyes.
God, I didn’t want to upset anyone. I often forgot that certain subjects bothered most women, even if they didn’t bother me.
“Please, don’t remain if this scares or hurts you. I don’t expect that from anyone,” I directed to Aria.
She sniffed. “I want to be here. Sorry for the tears, but it made me remember how it felt to be at the mercy of others. To have no say in who touched you or what was done to you. Everyone here knows my story, so I think you and Jessup should, too. I was held and raped repeatedly by another MC for over a year. If it weren’t for the Warriors, I would’ve never been free and would’ve died.
I set a fire to escape my tormentors. I thought death was the only way for me to be free.
Sometimes, it surfaces,” Aria told me without an ounce of hesitation or shame.
Shock left me speechless. Slash smiled down at her as he lifted her chin so he could kiss her. The love they felt for each other was evident. My heart ached for her. I wanted to get up and hug her, but it seemed her man was doing a great job of it.
“Aria isn’t the only one we know who’s been through something comparable.
It’s one reason we hate people like this Webb.
However, even if we didn’t know anyone personally who had been harmed like them or your sister, we’d still be here, working to remove them.
Scum like that don’t deserve to live,” Tank, the VP, growled.
It took several moments for the tension to abate.
When it did, Outlaw continued. “A few of those rumors were out in Colorado as well. It seems that after going to prison, he retained the house he bought when he returned to Tennessee. A real estate management company has maintained it. They keep the lawn mowed, upkeep on the house, that sort of thing. His lawyer set it up for him. It seems he was lucky. When his family died, they left him with a trust fund. Truly, he didn’t need to work as long as he didn’t live the high life, but he appeared to like luxury.
His luxury car is also in storage. That’s what I’ve gotten so far,” Outlaw said.
“Great job, brother. Let us know if you find anything else out. Dayanara, did you have a chance to speak to your contact that the guys told us about?” Bull asked.
“I did. My contact said the paperwork shows Marshall will be discharged to his home. He’s to wear an ankle monitor for two years.
The only places he’s allowed to go, unless cleared by his PO, are the grocery store, work, and church.
Hell, as if he’d go to church. If he did, the damn roof would cave in,” I muttered darkly before I kept going.
“His PO officer is Steven Bower. He’s in Cookeville.
He’s been a PO for four years. Before that, he worked in the prison system as a correctional officer.
I have no idea why he switched jobs. Maybe he was burned out, though if I were, there's no way I'd trade being a correctional officer for being a parole officer. Corralling those parolees has to be a headache and a half,” I finished reporting.
I sat there, waiting to hear what our next steps were. I was anxious to have it all laid out. I was counting the minutes until Marshall was free. He and I had a reckoning coming. I was no longer the person he knew before I went to the military.