Chapter 3
“I know you hate me, Matthews,” Paul said as he nodded to the gun on the table. “But do you really need to pull out the firearms to try to intimidate me? I thought you just said you’d help us in anyway.”
“What?” Colt asked in shock, then saw all the guns on the table. “Sorry, I only removed mine because my leg is cramping, and the firearm wasn’t helping.” He looked over at Witt with a wry smile. “You need to get new chairs.”
“Since these chairs are for the kids when they’re here for summer camp, then you’ll have to deal.”
Colt smirked, and shook his head as he turned back to Paul. “Sorry, about the fire arm, but you know about my leg. Anyway, back to our conversation before the Jorja tornado rolled in, I didn’t mean that you have to die in real life, I’m talking about you should die on paper.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. I’m sure by being with those one percenters for the last two years, they know you as a biker named Psycho, and I’m sure you acted like one while with them. I’m not saying this to be mean, but with that tattoo in the center of your forehead, it gives you the look of a psycho.”
“Yeah,” Paul said as he reached up and rubbed the tattoo in the center of his forehead. “Believe it or not, I had no choice in getting this, it wasn’t my idea.”
“What happened?”
“One night, the president got a bug up his ass about my scar, he asked me about it, and I actually told him the truth. I told him I was shot, but because of the metal plate in my head, it didn’t go further than that.
He jumped to his feet, punched me in the mouth, and when I fell to my knees, he had his men hold me down, and when they let me up, I had this tattoo. ”
“Damn, and because you were new to their club, you couldn’t do anything, right? Were you a striker?”
“Yes, and I couldn’t do anything, not if I didn’t want it revealed who I was.”
“Where are they now?”
“Jail, awaiting trial. There’s enough evidence against them that they shouldn’t be getting out for a good twenty or more years.” He looked at Colt with an evil grin. “If our evidence won’t hold them for that long, then the RICO case against them will.”
“What was your club name with them?”
“Psycho.”
“Do they know you as Rankin?”
“No, Kessler gave me the last name of Randall.”
“Your first name?”
“Peter.”
“Okay, is Kessler or Flynn killing Peter Randall off?”
“I don’t know, why?”
“Because you don’t know if they get out on bail, or if they have other clubs that would be on the lookout for you.”
“I don’t know if that would work.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was arrested with them, but everyone was taken to different jails, after three days of questioning for them, in the dead of night, I was pulled out, and told to disappear.”
“That sounds right. How long ago was this?”
“Six months ago. I’ve been debriefing with Flynn and Kessler when I came up with the idea of starting this club.”
“Okay, but what about your life as Paul Rankin? Do you think anyone would come looking for him? What about your stuff still over in Franklin county.”
“Didn’t Suzie take it all when I left to head out west on my former assignment?”
“Yes,” George spoke for the first time since sitting down at the table. “The only thing left is your Harley that we stored at the cabin.”
“I thought you would have brought it here.”
“No, I have my bike, Suzie doesn’t drive, she only rides on the back with me when she has the time.”
“As you just saw, she’s doing good, still working, and we have three kids now.”
“What? How?” Paul sat up quickly to stare at him in shock.
“All three adopted. Two boys that we took in to prevent them from going into foster care, then a year later, we were asked to take in a newborn little girl. Her adoption became final last month.”
“Congratulations. I would love to meet them, but just seeing Suzie for those few minutes was enough. I could tell she was happy. Thank you for that? I don’t want to bring anything that I’ve done or will have to do down on her, you, or any of you.
Like I said, we all have some things to clear up before we meet at our new location to start this club. ”
“About that,” Hogan said as he settled back in his chair. “You said you’re not going to tell us where you’ll end up, I’m okay with that, however, I would like to know if there are other clubs in the area?”
“We don’t know yet, why? We’re going to where my land is, then go from there.”
“Okay, how much control will those two have over you?” At their frowns, he elaborated. “Kessler and Flynn.”
“As little as possible,” Snake said. “That’s the reason we’re starting our own club, we’ll have control over what we do, and only report to them when we need backup.”
“That sounds good, however, you’re going to want to take something into consideration.”
“What’s that?”
“Permission.”
“Huh? Permission for what?” Psycho asked in stunned shock.
“Permission to be in another club’s area, to ride there, to set up shop,” Hogan said firmly.
“I’m not tooting my own horn here, but my club was the first in the area.
Casey here from the Wanderers came to me to ask permission to ride in our area.
When Colt arrived, he too asked for permission.
I allowed it as long as they didn’t act like the Vultures or Snakes from a couple of counties over.
Riding as a club is a brotherhood, but it is also respect.
Respect for one another, and other bikers in the area.
If you disrespect them by not letting them know you’re moving in the area, then whatever you have planned with this new club of yours won’t work.
Once you have their respect, then you can eventually be able to call all the shots.
Slowly, gradually, you can do what you plan to do.
It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.
In the meantime, you can earn their respect, set up your shop, plan your strategies.
I’m not saying you should do it this way, because I don’t know of your set up, but I would have a private room separate from your shop set up as a war room, or office where you can line the walls with whatever information you have on your suspects, but not be easily accessible to strangers walking into your shop. ”
“Wow, I never thought of that.”
“Why do you think we hated the Vultures and Snakes so much?” Colt asked.
“Wasn’t it because they were the clubs bringing the drugs into the area, or that I became a member of the Vultures as an undercover cop to get information for you?”
“No. It was because they never let us know they were in the area. We didn’t know who they were, what they were about, or what their intentions were.
I know you were never at any of Steele Men’s events, but we were constantly telling members of those two clubs to take their drugs out of the area.
I’m not talking a large scale of them, just a few joints, and sometimes, they would try to do lines of cocaine in front of everyone else.
I don’t tolerate that shit, and I refused to allow it at my events.
After the first couple of times, they respected me and went in the back corner of the lot to do their shit,” Colt shook his head.
“I didn’t know them, neither did Casey or Hogan, the three of us confronted them and asked what they were about.
They tried to say they were good ole boys out to have a good time, but we saw right through them.
Again, the three of us put our foot down and told them to stay in their area, if they came to any of our events, the drugs were not to be seen.
It worked for the next few years until that shit that went down when you became involved. ”
“I understand now,” Paul said with a nod. “Again, I’m sorry for my part in what happened.”
“We’ve talked about it over the years, and realized why you did it. We understand. We don’t like how you did it, or the resulting results, but we understand.” Colt nodded. “I only have one piece of advice, and one directive.”
“Which is?”
“Watch your back with Flynn and Kessler. They were the ones that left you for dead, took Aimee to the hospital, and told the doctors and nurses to tell her that we had all died. They also went to Hogan’s boss and threatened his job if he told anyone I had survived.
Do. Not. Trust. Them. The Steele Men have nothing to do with them anymore.
They used us in the most fucked up way, and we stopped doing their bidding once I had my family back. ”
“This is the guy you told us about?” Bulldog asked in shock while pointing to Colt.
“Yes,” Paul said as he turned to Colt. “I told them my part in kidnapping your wife, and threatening her. Then what happened to me after being shot, my loss of memory, then finally when Flynn and Kessler came to me to ask about working undercover for them. After what happened out west, the six of us decided to form our own club. That’s why we’re here.
We still carry a shield, however, it’s not as shiny and new as when we first received it.
There’s a little bit of taint on it, hence the name of our club, Tainted Shield MC.
We’ve sat down with Flynn and Kessler and told them what we were going to do and that they are not to interfere unless we brought them in. ”
“How did they react to that?” Colt asked as he sipped his coffee.
“Pissed at first, but when I told them that they know nothing about the biker community, they had no right to tell us how to operate our club.”
“Good for you. What qualifies the six of you to do what you want to do? I’m not asking, because if the shit hits the fan, I’m not getting involved. I have a family to think about.”
“I totally understand. All of us have had undercover experience while working for our own police departments in our respective states. We also have fifteen or more years’ experience in those jobs.
I’m talking undercover narcotics, vice, things like that.
If one of us don’t know it, someone else does. We also have military experience.”
“I’m not being judgy here, I’m stating a fact, will all of your members look like the six of you?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“You’re all what? Forty’s, fifties? I can guarantee you that no one would think a bunch of gray, white haired men, with long hair, and beards would think of you as any kind of threat.
If you do what you plan, make damn sure you keep your intentions close to your vest and then you should be successful in what you plan.
I wish you luck.” Colt nodded as he stuck his hand out to Paul, and wasn’t shocked when the other man took it.
Everyone shook hands, and as they started to leave, Paul asked to talk with George for a moment.
The two of them stayed behind in Witt’s home, as the others headed out to their bikes.
“Where are you guys off to now?” Hank asked.
“We’re going back to our home states to finish up some business there,” Snake said. “I have a storage locker that needs to be cleaned out, some personal bank accounts that need to be closed, and I sublet my home before going undercover. I want to see if they want to purchase it. Shit like that.”
“Ah, so you’ll be free and clear once you start this endeavor?”
“Correct.”
*****
Inside the house, Paul looked at George intently, then sighed heavily. “Honestly, how is Suzie? I know I just saw her, and hugged her, she looks happy, but how is she really?”
“She’s good,” George said and made a quick decision, so he pulled his phone from his pocket, and accessed some photos.
“These were taken within the last few days,” he turned his phone so Paul could see his cousin, his only family member left.
As Paul looked at them, George spoke, “She hasn’t touched the money you left her.
She’s even divided it up into three different accounts for the kids.
Oh, we contribute too, but the initial investment was from you.
These kids, especially the boys, had a hard life until they came to live with us.
We want to give them every opportunity to them as they grow.
We don’t care if they go to college, trade school, or the military, we want them to succeed in life. ”
“Good for you,” Paul said as he passed the phone back. “Suzie does look happy.”
“She is.” George put his phone away, and they walked out to the bikes together. As Paul and the others climbed onto the back of their bikes, George asked the same question as Hank had. “Where are you off to now?”
“We all have things to finish in our lives. And we are all from different states. We’ll break up here, go do what we have to, then make our way back to the location we had picked out.
Don’t worry, I should be the first one there, if my plans work out, and I’ll scout out the area to see if there are any other clubs in the area and ask permission to ride there. ”
“Good luck,” everyone said and stood there and watched as the six riders pulled out of Witt’s driveway and drove away.