33. Chapter 33
Inwardly, I groan when I see everyone is already in their seats and waiting on me as I make my way to my own seat.
“Don’t worry, Patch. We get that you didn’t have much time to prep her about the meetings. I would have given you a heads up except that I had just gone through the club’s mail from yesterday and snagged these before she could potentially see it.”
Thor holds up a couple of envelopes and my blood runs cold at seeing Mary’s name scribbled on the front of one of them with no return address.
Fuck.
Are they both for Mary?
Shit. I glance at his hand and a breath of relief goes through me when I see he’s holding them in a gloved hand.
“Unfortunately, I did touch it before without gloves, but as soon as I realized what it was, I grabbed one,” he says, practically reading my mind. “Patch, since she’s your woman, I figured you’d want to open them first.”
Exhaling heavily, I give him a chin lift before standing and going over to the table behind me in the back where we keep my kit. We also store Ryder’s supplies back here that he uses to gather prints as well as some other gadgets of his. Ryder works almost as Smoke’s second, or whatever the fuck his title is, at Steel Security. A moment later, Ryder’s next to me gathering supplies while I grab some gloves and a sterile letter opener and tweezers.
Retaking my seat, I spread out both envelopes that Thor had set down at my spot and frown when I notice they used Mary’s married name on both of them. Both of them are thick and from history, my nerves skyrocket at what I suspect is enclosed. I also note something right off the bat. “These both appear to be written by different people based on the handwriting.”
Taking the one on the right, I carefully open the envelope and use the tweezers to pull out the letter before passing the envelope over to Ryder to dust for prints.
Unfolding the letter, a bunch of pictures fall out, and I swallow the bile that rises in my throat.
Almost all of them are of Mary after enduring beatings, most likely by Stephan’s hands, and in varying degrees of undress. In some of them, it’s obvious the perp beat her while also either having sex or raping her. My gut clenches at that and I remember her telling Claudia that Isaiah and Cassie were both conceived from him forcing himself on her. Fuck. Looking through the rest of the pictures, my gut clenches even further when I see a few pictures of the kids sporting bruises and one that clearly shows Ash with a broken arm.
Anger has my muscles tightening, but I force my hands to stay loose so that I don’t tear all of this up right this second. We need to know what’s in the letter and maybe Ryder can get some prints off all of these. Exhaling, I force myself to pick up the pictures again and look at each one with a critical eye—trying to spot if there’s any evidence in any of them, but there’s really only two things that I’m able to see other than Mary and either carpet, tile or hardwood floors.
One is that in some of the pictures, you can see the toes of someone’s boots. The other is that you can see the person in the picture being held or held down by someone’s hand. Wait…
Squinting, I look closer but then jerk back when a magnifying glass is placed over the picture.
“Here,” Ryder tells me as he hands it to me.
Grasping the handle, I examine the pictures again. “There are at least two, maybe three, people holding her down in these pictures.” I pause and point them out to Ryder to see if he thinks the same as me. “This guy has something circling his wrist. This guy has maybe a quarter inch or so sunspot on the back of his hand. And then this guy has a bunch of freckles on the back of his hand and arm. All of the pictures capture their right hands.”
Ryder hums. “Give me that.”
I hand him back the magnifying glass, and he looks at each of the pictures with it before frowning. “You can also see bloody footprints, some full and some partials, in the pictures. They look like they could be from the boots in the pictures, but the boots appear to be the same, so we don’t know which perp was wearing them.”
“What’s the note say?” Thor all but growls. It’s then that I notice he was standing off to the side, watching us.
Carefully, I unfold the letter and feel a growl of my own growing in my chest. Whoever sent this must have watched a number of crime movies or shows because they’ve used letters from magazines to write their note.
Return Mary and the kids to their rightful owner or you and your club will pay the consequences. It would be a shame to mar the pretty faces and bodies of the women in your club, not to mention the price the unborn babies will bring.
You have until Monday night at midnight to return them or you have signed your death certificates.
Curses ring out but my gaze stays locked on the word ‘owner’. This note has to be from Stephan, especially after hearing Mary recount what happened that fateful night and Diego saying that by midnight, Mary would be in her new owner’s clutches.
Pushing down my anger, I pass the note over to Ryder and take the other one. This envelope has Mary’s name and our clubhouse address printed on it. Using the same care, I open it and pull out a letter, freezing when I see the first picture enclosed in said letter.
It’s of Nikos, dead on Mary’s living room floor, a pool of blood surrounding him. Next are pictures of Mary, her kids, Mary’s grandparents, Levi, Mae, Nikki and Sadie, Susie and Jordan, Alli, Alli’s parents, my parents and sister, myself, and all my brothers in our club with targets on our faces. Setting them off to the side for Ryder to do his thing on, I focus back on the letter, which is also printed.
Leaving Stephan was an extremely stupid thing for you to do, Mary. Now, you’ve painted targets on even more people’s backs, including those lovely pregnant women and that woman nurse you’ve been hanging out with lately. Not to mention the women friends and children of those scumbag bikers you have aligned yourself with.
If you don’t return to your owner, you’ll experience pain and suffering unlike anything else you have endured so far, as well as bringing the same fate on all the women in your boyfriend’s pathetic little club. Not even being given the Kiss will save them.
It would be a shame to submit them to the horrors of my little establishments just so you can have your ‘freedom’ back. They will pray for a death that doesn’t come and have to watch what their children will be subject to once they are of age.
All of this can be avoided if you return to your owner, though I can’t promise you will come out unscathed as your owner is quite displeased with your acts of treason and betrayal.
You don’t know the scope of what you are messing with, Pet, and it would be wise to heed my warnings. If you and your leeches are not back where you belong when midnight this Monday night comes, you will have signed all your little friend’s death and slave certificates.
The letter is pulled out of my hands by Thor, who’s still wearing his gloves, and I’m grateful because I was about two seconds from ripping it to shreds. “That one has to be from Diego and the first from Stephan,” I grit out. “And based on how the two are phrased, I’m thinking they didn’t realize the other was writing a letter to Mary.”
“Or they did and wanted Mary to focus on the thought that Stephan ‘owns’ her and she needs to do whatever the fuck they say,” Thor all but growls out, which has my chest rumbling with my own growl.
Mary belongs to herself and no one else.
Ryder hums again. “You’re right about Stephan. Since he’s a government employee, his prints are in the system. I got a full one that matches his from the corner of the first letter and a partial one from the worst of Mary’s pictures from that batch.” He pauses and a look of disgust comes over him. “I also found what looks to be him kissing said picture as well.”
He holds up the picture he’s referencing with tweezers, and I feel my lip curl in a snarl when I see an outline of lips in whatever the fuck he’s using to dust the print with.
Thor clears his throat and I look up at him.
“I hate to suggest this, Patch, but do you think Mary would be willing to see if she could identify the other men in these photos?”
Bile rises in my throat at subjecting her to this after she’s already been through what’s depicted in these pictures, but I know why he’s asking.
Frowning, I slowly nod. “I’ll go ask her.”
He gives me a chin lift in return. “We’ll bring the others up to speed while you do that.”
Handing the rest of the stuff over to Ryder, I stand, ripping my gloves off and tossing them before heading out into the common room. Ash perks up when I step out, but I raise a hand to stop him. He nods, settles back against the arm of the couch, and turns back to the movie they’re watching.
Not seeing Mary with the kids, I head into the kitchen and my chest warms at seeing a bright smile on her face as she laughs and talks with the other women. Since her arm is still in a sling, I hadn’t thought there’d be anything she could help with, but here she is peeling brussel sprouts for someone else to cut up.
Mary notices me first and the warmth I just felt turns to ash when I see her body tense up for a moment before it relaxes. She immediately turns toward the other ladies, her smile now strained and small. Picking up the small bow holding scraps from her lap, she places it on the table before wiping her hands on a nearby towel.
“I’ll be back in a bit, ladies,” she calls over her shoulder as she wheels over to me. “What is it?” she asks me quietly.
I lead her out into the hallway and into an empty room so we can speak in private. Swallowing thickly, I wet my dry lips, once again hating that I have to burst her happy bubble. However, before I can get anything out, she sighs as she simultaneously squares her shoulders.
“Luke, I mean Patch, whatever it is, just tell me—I’ll help you any way I can.”
The strength and determination in her frame and eyes have me marveling at how strong my Siren truly is. Exhaling heavily, I pull over a chair and take her hand in both of mine, rubbing my thumb across the back of her hand.
“Siren, two letters were sent to the club. Both were addressed to you.” I pause when I feel a slight tremble work through her but her gaze hardens.
“Stephan? Diego?”
I nod. “We know Stephan sent one of them and I think Diego sent the other based on the wording. But that’s not all…”
“The pictures,” she whispers and I see the first crack in her determination.
Slowly, I nod again. “Yeah, they both sent pictures. In the ones Stephan sent, there were some other people’s hands, and possibly shoes, also in the pictures. We know it’s a long shot, but we didn’t know if you would be able to identify them or not.”
She swallows nervously a few times but then gives me a curt nod. “I’ll do it.”
Leaning forward, I give her a quick kiss. “Thank you, Siren.”
Standing, I open the door and lead her into Church. I’m surprised when I see Timber’s spot vacant and when I glance around, I find him in my seat.
He gives me a chin lift. “Figured it’d be easier because of her chair.”
I give him a chin lift in return, noting that Mary’s moved her chair next to the open seat and is angled slightly toward the table. Not giving her any warning, I lift her in my arms and set her on my lap once I take my seat. She looks up at me startled, a blush staining her cheeks.
“What are you doing?” she quietly hisses and out of the corner of my eye, I notice a few of the guys trying to hide their smiles, though Levi’s full-on grinning as she twirls a pen in her fingers. “I’m fully capable of sitting on my own.”
Pressing a kiss to her temple, I try and fail, judging by the look on Mary’s face to hide my smile. “Just continuing the tradition Timber started.”
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but I definitely don’t miss the way she leans into me and relaxes even more into my body.
“Mary,” Thor starts, as he levels a look at her. “What we say in here, stays in here. I need you to understand that. If someone else needs to know something, one of us will let them know a very high overview—you do not. Do you understand?”
She sits up straighter in my lap and nods. “I understand. I won’t put you all in jeopardy, especially since you are risking so much to help my children and me.”
Her words have my chest tightening and Thor and I exchange a look.
Clearing my throat, Mary turns back to me. “Siren, I need you to understand that even if those fuckers threaten someone else, that you will not leave and offer yourself up on a platter to save them. We know what we are doing and this isn’t our first rodeo. We will protect you. Please tell me you understand that?”
Her brow dips but she nods. “I understand,” she all but whispers and it’s then that I feel the little tremors running through her body.
Thor motions to Smoke and after a few clicks, the screen behind Thor lights up. “This is the first letter that we were able to determine through prints that Stephan was most likely the sender.”
I shift Mary slightly on my lap so that she doesn’t have to crane her neck to read Stephan’s letter. I can feel her muscles tremble as she leans into me more. Then her worried gaze jumps to Levi’s.
“Do not doubt the men and women in the club, Mary. Even those related to the club members. We will do everything that we can to protect everyone involved in this as well as our own. You are Patch’s woman, which means you are family. We rally around our family. Anyone who dares to mess with us will regret it.”
The hardness in her voice has Mary tensing even further. “But I’m still married to someone else. I can’t be L—Patch’s woman yet.”
Levi waves a hand nonchalantly in the air as she shakes her head, but her grin gives her away. “Semantics. You are Patch’s woman in every way that counts, and if what I heard was right about way back when, you would have already been Patch’s woman after you graduated.”
Mary’s surprised gaze whips around to me and while I hadn’t wanted to tell her like this, I guess now’s as good of time as any.
“She’s right, Siren,” I say as I reach up and cup her jaw. “I had a ring picked out and everything. I was going to propose the night we graduated.”
Her eyes turn misty and she bites her lip as she reaches up and clasps my wrist. “I would have said yes,” she whispers and I give her a quick kiss.
“I know,” I whisper back. “But we can talk more about this later.”
Her lips kick up a bit and she nods, blinking rapidly to keep her tears from falling. Taking a deep breath, she turns back toward Thor. “Patch mentioned he sent pictures with the note as well? Even though I could probably already tell you who was present, I’m not sure which ones he sent you. There were eight others, sometimes nine, that Stephan would bring in to beat me as well. After each beating, he’d take a picture. He had a thing for always taking pictures after hurting me, but especially after a group beating. Kept a polaroid camera just for that purpose.”
Silence meets her words and I can feel the anger rising in the room.
After a few moments, Thor gives Smoke a chin lift and the screen changes to the first picture, which is the guy with the sunspots on his hand. Mary squints and then frowns. “That’s Leonardo Adams, I think. Goes by Leo. See his crooked pinky? He broke it a few times while beating me. That was when we were living in Rock Ridge.”
Smoke makes some notes and then, when he flips to the next picture, a shiver visibly runs through her.
“Officer Zachary Wolfe. I’d know that pattern of freckles anywhere. Besides Stephan and my so called ‘family’, his beatings were up there among the next worst.”
Frowning, I turn my attention away from her and back toward the picture. It takes me a moment, but then I see the pattern similar to the big dipper on his arm. Then I remember Wolfe’s parting words from earlier about remembering what happens when she disobeys her husband. He knew what happens to her because he was there and a part of it. The fact that he’s a fucking Police Officer just makes this even worse. Fuck, I haven’t told Thor about that yet.
Turning toward Thor, he nods his head toward Axe. “They filled us in on the confrontation with Wolfe while you were talking to Mary.”
Giving them a chin lift in thanks, I turn back toward Mary only to notice that her body’s frozen as she stares at the screen, and I can feel that all her muscles have pulled tight. She’s white as a sheet, which is saying something with her light olive skin. Looking up, I notice it’s the picture of the hand with the tattoo on it. Turning back toward Mary, I rub my hand up and down her back, trying to help calm her, but it doesn’t work.
“Siren?”
Nothing. No response at all.
“Mary?”
Finally, she blinks and looks over at me. When our gazes lock, the pain in them would have brought me to my knees if I hadn’t been already sitting down.
“That man is a monster. He relishes in beating others and gets off on it. Not only women, but men and children, too. He never hurt my kids, just me, but he did threaten to hurt them,” she whispers, and I reach up, wiping away a tear that escapes.
“Who is he?”
She shakes her head slightly. “I’m not a hundred percent sure. I never heard his last name. Some of the guys that Stephan would bring around would call him ‘Kristoff’. Others called him ‘X’. That tattoo around his wrist? It’s actually the tail end of a huge cobra tattoo that winds up his arm. It’s mirrored on his other arm, too. He has another, even larger snake, that circles around his torso and goes up his neck. The snake’s mouth is open, fangs barred, and little drops of green poison dripping from the fangs. The head of the snake is about here,” she says as she points to an area below her ear.
I freeze, the dread I was feeling before increases. My gaze going to Timber only to see him staring intently at the image, his hands fisted tightly on the table. Mary’s muscles tighten even more as she looks around the room.
She licks her lips nervously. “I… I’m going to take a guess that you guys know who I’m talking about?”
“Yeah, Siren, we know of him,” I tell her, and she follows my line of sight. I know she’s put two and two together when she gasps, her hand flying to cover her mouth.
Timber shakes his head. “He never hurt Mae, physically that is, but he wants her.”
Thor clears his throat. “Smoke, show the other letter.”
Seconds later, the letter I suspect is from Diego appears on the screen. I didn’t think it was possible, but Mary’s muscles tighten even further before she starts frantically looking around after reading it. Tripp, who’s to my right, figures out what’s wrong at the same time I do, jumps up and grabs the trash can. Pushing back from the table, I gather Mary’s hair just in time for her to throw up into the bin.
Taking the bin from Tripp, I nod toward the back of the room. “Can you grab her a water?”
Seconds later, a water bottle is set down next to us, along with some tissues. Grabbing some, I hand them to Mary when it looks like she’s done. She takes them, wipes her mouth, and grabs the water bottle before struggling to break the seal. Setting down the bin, I take the bottle from her, break the seal and hand it back to her. After taking a few sips, she looks over at Timber, her face crestfallen and tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t make the connection sooner.”
What connection? What’s she talking about? Looking up, I notice everyone else is just as confused as I am.