Chaos Chapter 16
Four days and counting since the predawn meeting with Wrath, Cambria, and Shadow.
I knew that it was weighing on Bianca. I saw it in the way she would zone out on me when we were together.
She wasn’t enthusiastic when she mentioned her workday.
She couldn’t concentrate on television or reading at night.
The only thing that seemed to get her out of her head was making love. That was when she could let go.
Wrath called the presidents and the Patriots, as promised on Sunday morning. They all pledged as much help as they could from their people. By Sunday evening, they were hard at work, with Shadow managing it all, aided by Crusher and Cambria.
With so much happening, Wrath waited until tonight, during our regular church, to update the whole club on what was going on.
He informed the officers on Sunday. I knew it because I was there when he did.
But since there wasn’t anything that the regular members could do to help at the moment, he thought Wednesday was soon enough.
And maybe we’d have some news to share with them by then.
As the rest of the club, including Wrath, filed into the church and took their seats, I noticed that one seat was empty.
It belonged to Mishap. I hadn’t recalled seeing him in the common room.
As a matter of fact, he’d stayed away from it since he and Byron had been kicked out of Bianca’s apartment.
The apartment had a fixed door, but my woman hadn’t stayed there a night this week.
We’d gone on Sunday, packed a couple of suitcases for her, and brought them to the house.
I would’ve preferred that she moved everything, but that had to wait.
While we were in church, Bianca and the other three old ladies were talking in the common room.
Wrath brought us to order. He glared at Mishap’s empty chair.
“Does anyone know where the hell he is?” he asked.
All of us shook our heads. Wordlessly, Shadow opened his tablet and began tapping on it. We waited. It didn’t take him long to stop and look up.
“His tracker shows his bike is outside of Evans, which isn’t far from Augusta. Based on the location, the only nearby places are a gas station with a small store and an old motel. That doesn’t mean he’s there, but his bike is,” Shadow reported.
“Son of a bitch, what is wrong with him?” Ryder hissed.
“Let me see what he has to say for himself?” Wrath snapped.
He took his cell phone out of his cut and placed the call. He sat there frowning. I thought the call would go unanswered, since he said nothing, but eventually Pres spoke.
“Shouldn’t you be somewhere right now?” he asked gruffly.
He listened, then replied. “You have a goddamn alarm on your phone. You know how to fucking use it. You’re on thin ice as it is, Mishap.
Do you want us to kick your ass out? The bullshit you pulled at your cousin’s the other night hasn’t been forgotten.
You get yourself together and get your ass back to the compound. I want to see you when you do.”
Another pause.
“I don’t want to hear any more excuses. Get back here!” Wrath snarled before he disconnected the call.
“What did he say?” Storm asked.
“That he overslept and he didn’t set an alarm.
He sounded half out of it. I think he might be drunk.
Jesus Christ, I’m trying here, but he’s on my last nerve.
Whatever has happened to him, it’s changed him completely.
He doesn’t act like the guy he used to be.
I know his road name is Mishap, but it wasn’t for the wreck he’s making now.
Has he reached out to Bianca at all since Saturday night? ” Pres asked me.
“Nope. She texted him that they needed to talk and that he should come to the house. He never answered. We figured he was sulking. But I haven’t gone looking for him at his house or at the clubhouse. I’ve stayed at home with her,” I answered.
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him in the clubhouse much these past several weeks or at all the past several days,” Nomad added.
“Well, Mishap is not our biggest problem, so we’ll put him and his attitude on the back burner for now. What we want to do is fill everyone in on what has been discovered and what is in process. And if there has been any progress,” Wrath told the room.
Shadow told the bulk of it with some help from me.
When we were finished, they knew of the possible connection between the current rapes and Elodie’s.
I explained the history there to them. They knew of the proximity of the gyms and their common denominator.
Shadow showed the pictures of the seven women.
Everyone agreed they all looked like Elodie Ward.
The club was told that Wrath had asked the Dark Patriots and the other clubs’ computer gurus for assistance.
When that was shared, it was time to see if there had been any progress. I knew it was too soon to expect any, given the amount of data that had to be reviewed, but I still hoped there would be some. I knew Bianca was praying for the same.
“And has there been anything new we should know about?” Wrath asked.
“We’ve gotten into the rosters for all the gyms to get not only a list of current employees but also of members.
We cross-referenced them. We’ve eliminated the possibility that any gym members belong to more than one gym.
If they do, they are under a different name.
We’re searching for the faces on the ID cards they presented to be sure.
Facial recognition software comes in handy with that.
“As for the staff who work at the gyms, there have been a few overlaps in personal trainers, group instructors, and nutrition coaches like what Bianca does. It’s hard for them, from what Bianca said, to get full-time hours in one place. We’re digging into those people further.”
“So eliminated some but still have a bunch to sort through and eliminate,” Wrath summarized.
“Yes, but there’s more. We’re starting to review the vendors with non-daily access to the gyms. We’ve found overlap in a few of the companies used.
Now, we have to find out who they send to the various locations to see if they have anyone going to some or all of them.
Things aren’t moving as slowly as it may seem.
We’ve eliminated members and narrowed down the staff to only a handful.
That was the bulk of the ones to check out.
I don’t know how much longer it’ll take, but as soon as I have anything to report, I’ll let Wrath and Chaos know, and then we’ll get everyone caught up,” Shadow suggested.
He was right. It felt slow, but given the number of names they had to go through, it was impressive.
“Thanks to you, Cambria, and Crusher for giving up all your time to pursue this. The same for the others who are helping from the other clubs,” I told them.
“You know we’d have it no other way. We protect family. We’re not allowing whoever is behind these attacks to get away. And if we can nail whoever hurt Bianca’s best friend, that’s even better,” Wrath said.
That raised growls of agreement from the table. After that, it was on to the regular church agenda, which pertained to the businesses. Were there any concerns, issues that needed to be resolved, staffing needs, or financial difficulties?
Once we were through that, Wrath reminded us that it would be Christmas in six more days.
We’d have family activities and the holiday meal in the clubhouse.
Those with other families would have the morning to celebrate with them.
Our celebration had changed and grown with the introduction of Betty, followed by Jalisa.
And then Cambria got added. Now, I have Bianca.
I was looking forward to the holiday more than ever.
I’d heard the ladies when we left the common room for church, telling Bianca what they had planned.
I’d be surprised if she didn’t help. She’d convinced me to put up a tree.
She said the house looked too sad without one.
And then Bianca warned me that next year the house would be fully decorated for Christmas.
I accepted it because her talking about next year gave me hope that she was planning to stay.
The clubhouse had already been given its holiday makeover.
The ladies kept it tasteful, thank God. The glitter was kept to a minimum.
After all, we were a biker club. We had to maintain our tough-guy image.
When church ended, there was still no sign of Mishap. The way Wrath’s mouth tightened didn’t look good for Bianca’s cousin. It was both disappointing and surprising that Mishap went this way. None of us would’ve imagined him acting like this.
When I reentered the common room, I noticed the women still huddled together, talking excitedly, so I stayed away and let Bianca have some time with them. I drank a beer with Forge while I kept an eye on the clubhouse door. I waited for Mishap to appear.