Chapter 17
Several hours later, Paul leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh, “Son of a bitch,” he whispered to himself.
He sat there in stunned silence, and to clear his head of what he had just learned, he rose to get himself another cup of coffee, and ended up having to make a fresh pot.
He took the time to use the facilities, then shook his head again.
To mull over what he just learned, he left the office in the back of the shop, walked to the backyard to check out the sheets, and ended up taking them down.
He went inside to make the bed, and folded the other sheets to place in the linen closet in the hall.
He knew Petra would yell at him because he could fold a fitted sheet with no problem.
He always laughed at her when she would get frustrated at not being able to fold it, she ended up wadding it into a ball and stuffing it in the closet.
He glanced at the clock and decided to make himself some lunch before going back to the office in the shop. As he ate, his cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but that didn’t mean anything. He settled back in his chair and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Paul Rankin?”
“Speaking, who are you?”
“My name is Victor Thorn, Duane Kessler gave me your name and number.”
Paul sat up quickly, and reached for a napkin and pen so he could take notes. “Are you safe?”
“Yes, I don’t know how much I need to tell you.”
“ATF or DEA?”
“DEA.”
“Okay, were you on the inside of a club?”
“Yes, the Knights out of Maryland. My handler was killed, and I was arrested less than an hour before the club came after me. Kessler got me and my possessions out. He sent me home for sixty days, then told me to come to you when that time was up.”
“How much time do you have left?”
“Forty days.”
“Okay, what’s your club name?”
“Gator. I’m from Florida.”
“Got it. Memorize this address.” He gave it, and nodded as it was repeated. “Is anyone coming with you?”
“I hope so,” Gator sighed heavily. “I started seeing a woman when I got here. We hit it off, she needs to get away from here, and I have her eighty percent convinced to come with me.”
“Is she one of us?”
“No, she’s a veterinarian, specializing in exotic animals.”
“Exotic how?”
“She worked at my family’s sanctuary where she took care of injured animals.
I don’t know if you need to know this, but the Florida cougar is an endangered species.
Years ago, I rescued a cub from a gator, and due to her injuries, she could never be released into the wild again.
Laci took care of Megan, the cougar, until she passed away. Megan was almost thirty years old.”
“Damn, wild cats can live that long?”
“In captivity, yes. In the wild, not so much, maybe ten to twelve years if they’re smart.”
“What happened to this Megan for you to rescue her?”
“She was attacked by an alligator. He tore her leg off and I killed the gator and saved the cub. She was roughly two to three months old when this happened. This all happened before I graduated from high school.”
“Tell me a little about your work experience, and you know I’ll reach out to Kessler about you.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less of you, Sir. I’m forty-eight years old. I did not join the military after high school, so I went to college to get my degree in Criminal Justice. When I could I join the police academy. I was assigned to Miami/Dade.”
“Where do you hale from?”
“The Everglades.”
“Ah, okay. What was your police career like?”
“Some things happened to me growing up, and I ended up with some scars. During my rookie year at Miami/Dade I was getting a tattoo and I observed some unusual activity. After talking it over with my partner, we went to our Captain. They paid for my second tattoo, giving me a reason to be in the shop longer, and I was able to gather information about some drug activity going on in the tattoo parlor. One thing led to another. I got my tattoos, took out some very heavy hitters in the Miami drug scene, and then was recruited by Kessler. After a couple of years with him, he introduced me to the world of 1%ers.”
“How many clubs have you infiltrated over the years?”
“Seven, with the Knights being the last one.”
“How do you know you were compromised?”
“My handler was found in a back alley with a third eye.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, I was arrested in time, and I was also able to turn over some good evidence against them.”
“Good, have you ever been a member of the 1%ers in Iowa?”
“No. I was always on the east coast. Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia.”
“Okay good. Thank you for reaching out to me. I’ll reach out to Kessler to verify what you said, and I look forward to meeting you. Keep my number, and call me before you head this way.”
“I will. Kessler said there might be some houses available to rent?”
“Yes, you can stay here for a couple of days. I’m not sure if Kessler told you that everything with this mission and club is new, and we’re still working out any bugs. Is there anything you’re going to need or want once you get here?”
“Not for me, I’ll discuss everything with you when I arrive, but is it possible to look into any veterinary clinics in the area that might be hiring. I’m not sure if Laci will want to work right away, but I want to let her know there are options.”
“I’ll have Petra look into it. Petra Thomas, she’s my girlfriend and while I will be in charge of you guys, she’ll be in charge of the women. Well, not in charge, but you know what I mean?”
“Yes, does Petra work outside the home?”
“Yes, she’s a waitress at the local diner. Sally, the owner, knows about us, and is feeding us information if we ask. Her brother is semi-retired from the State Police and owns a bar. He too knows about us, and helps with information.”
“Cool.” Gator didn’t say anything else, so they rang off, and Paul sat there with the notes he’d taken on the napkin.
He finished his meal, then went back to the office in the shop.
The first thing he did was refill his coffee mug, making a mental note to take the mug in the house later so he could wash it.
He also made a mental note to put in a small kitchen so they could do that here.
They would probably need something when everyone starts arriving.
On a sigh, he settled behind his desk and dialed a familiar number.
“Kessler.”
“Rankin here.”
“Oh, hey, how’s everything going?”
“Good. I need to talk to you about a couple of things.”
“Anything about why you’re in Iowa?”
“Sort of, but I’m not ordering any supplies at this time.”
“Got it, what’s on your mind?”
“First, I just got a call and want to talk to you about it.”
“Okay, what’s up?”
“Victor Thorn.”
“Ah, yes, great guy.” Kessler spent the next ten minutes telling Paul all about the man known as Gator. The more Paul heard, the more he realized Gator would be a good fit for what he wanted to do.
“Good, good, he’ll be here soon. That’s why he contacted me, and I just wanted to verify he was who he said he was.”
“Was that all?”
“No.” Paul sighed heavily, scrubbed his face and looked at everything laid out on a bench on the other side of the room. “I’m going to need to talk to both you and Flynn about this next matter.”
“Oh,” Kessler said, and Paul heard a heavy sigh. “I talked to him earlier and he said he had a meeting to get to. Can I reach out to him, and we can get back to you? Maybe a conference call?”
“That’s fine, but you might want to make it into a Zoom call. I have some things to show you, and I think that will help you grasp what I’m saying.”
“Okay, it may take a few hours.”
“That’s fine. I’ll continue to do my research so I have all my ducks in a row when you call me back. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but could it be tonight?”
“I’ll make sure of it, even if it’s after hours here.”
“Perfect. I look forward to talking to you both.” They hung up, and Paul went back to his investigation to get ready for the call later that day.
*****
Hours later, he looked up when he saw Petra standing there. “What are you doing here?”
“I just got home from work and saw you hadn’t touched what I put in the crockpot earlier. I fixed us both a plate.” She held one of them up and he sat back with a heavy sigh. “What are you doing?”
“Digging into the contents of Eddie’s pack. I’m waiting for Kessler to call me back. He said it was going to be after hours, but I didn’t think it would be this late.”
“Sally closed at seven, it’s not even eight yet.” At his look, she smiled. “It was extremely slow. By the time she locked the door, all the prep work and cleaning was done.”
“Oh, wow, good, then when I eat, I can explain what I found.”
“Please.”
He took the next twenty minutes explaining everything as he ate, and before she even had a chance to ask a question, the phone rang.
He grabbed it and looked at her with a grin.
“Kessler.” He answered it, and three minutes later, the four of them were sitting in on the Zoom call.
After pleasantries were said, Paul got right to the point.
“Gentlemen, first, thank you for getting back to me. Second, I know when I came to you a few months back and told you what I had planned and that I basically told you that you were going to work for me, I knew you were skeptical and probably wanted to shoot me.” He grinned when the two men sitting in an office in Washington, DC looked at each other, then back at Paul with nods.
“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Flynn said. “What do you have?”
“First, I need to tell you what happened, the results, then I’m going to need help. Petra knows what happened, because she was there, she doesn’t know the results, she’ll be learning them the same time you will, then I’ll need help.”
He watched the three of them, and at their nods, he and Petra explained about a biker function they had been on the previous day, what happened, and how it had ended.
“Do you have this mysterious back pack?” Flynn demanded.