Chapter Fifteen
Kendall stared at a set of documents laid out on her desk. She blinked. Gaped. Blinked again.
The titles and deeds to the club, the surrounding land, Logan’s farmhouse, Patricia Caldwell’s house, the trailer park where some Dweller families and club girls lived, and several businesses, listed Johnnie as the sole owner.
Most of the documents had been signed by Logan, Sharper, and Wallace Bart—Rack.
Except nothing checked out at any courthouse within a three-hundred-mile radius nor the state databases of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and California.
She’d even gone east and checked Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Farther out on the opposite side of the country to Virginia.
The records still in the local county clerk’s office contained discrepancies.
It left her at square one. She didn’t know who the fuck owned what.
Although it would solve so much if she could announce Johnnie owned everything, it wasn’t possible. The documents were phony. Besides, Bash would probably lure that idiot somewhere and kill him. Or would’ve already fucked him up.
Tempted to swipe everything off her desk, Kendall huffed and reached for a folder filled with some of the letters between Sharper and Logan she’d found in the boxes Bailey allowed her to comb through.
Her father, K-P, possessed a lot of records.
How he came to have them, Kendall would love to know.
She wondered if that was what led to his death.
Sighing, she opened the folder. She scanned the first letter, the second, the third.
“Oh, you were both miserable fucking assholes,” she muttered.
The names Sharper and Logan called each other, the promises of death, and their hatred jumped off the pages. After skimming four letters that all read like a psychopath’s manifesto, Kendall decided to read one more before moving to the next folder.
The six boxes Bailey lent to her had turned into several dozen files. With Rory’s help, she’d sorted everything to make sense of it all.
Johnnie was angry with her again. Mostly, he was jealous that she and Christopher seemed so close.
Unlike his obsession with Meggie, Johnnie couldn’t see that she and Christopher interacted like siblings.
After her husband had claimed for so many years that he wanted her to be accepted by everyone, but especially Christopher, he was having a fit now that it happened.
He also hated the fact that Kendall and Christopher were working together to resolve the mystery that brought Bash into their lives when, according to Johnnie, she turned her back on him and refused to do as he requested .
Her gaze fell on the signatory line of the fifth letter. She gasped. Joe Foy signed it.
Marion,
I hope this finds you well. I trust my new will is in a safe place.
It is quite important that it is with someone I trust. My Meggie must get her share.
Her mother allowed that jackass she married to gamble away the house meant for my baby girl.
He seems to make Dinah happy. That’s all I can ask for.
If she’s happy, then Meggie will be happy.
Goddamn if I don’t think about stealing my daughter away.
That would create more problems than I can deal with.
My fucking life is in a freefall. I know two people who love me.
One’s like a son to me and the other is my princess.
I try to hold on for them, but no longer being allowed to see Meggie has stolen my joy.
I don’t give a fuck anymore. If anything happens to me, see to it that the proper will comes to light.
Forever indebted to you, your friend,
Joe Foy
Kendall re-read the letter four times, as if the answers to her questions would magically appear. Judging by the date, Meggie was fourteen at the time it was written.
If there were envelopes that accompanied the stacks of letters, she’d have addresses. She’d also have postmarks—
Narrowing her eyes, she studied the letter again, then looked at the previous four.
She was a dumb ass. What K-P had in his possession weren’t originals.
They were copied. Somehow, she could see Big Joe copying his letter to this Marion woman and giving it to K-P.
However, the same couldn’t be said for the letters between Sharper and Logan.
K-P must’ve stolen them, then found a copier.
There had to be some reason he wanted photocopies. Other than reading the perversions and insults of two crazy motherfuckers.
What the fuck did K-P know that had him steal fucking letters?
Kendall read the letter again.
Big Joe had given a copy of his will to Marion. Now, she needed to ask Christopher if he remembered a woman by that name at their Friday meeting. Hopefully, she was still alive.
“Why does this have to be so fucking complicated?” she growled.
She set Big Joe’s letter aside and started reading the next one .
Joe, son,
I have thought long and hard about how best to align our bloodlines for future generations. You are the son I wish my own son had been. You’re proud, loyal, and fearless.
I carry a special place in my heart for you. I know how deeply you love your girl. I love my John just as much, so here is what I propose.
My John marry your daughter when she turns eighteen. Hopefully, she has your genes and not her mother’s. Such a match will begin a great dynasty. Thoughts?
Much love,
LD
Thoughts? Was that motherfucker kidding? That was a crazy way to end a ton of fuckery.
Another painful realization slid into Kendall and she sat motionless.
Even Logan wanted Meggie and Johnnie together.
He couldn’t have known, though. It would’ve changed everything.
Once, Johnnie loved his grandfather and hadn’t wanted to disappoint him.
He would’ve rubbed it in everyone’s faces that Logan wanted him with Big Joe’s daughter.
Sighing, Kendall picked up the next letter.
Joe, my son,
You aren’t thinking clearly.
Please reconsider the alliance I suggested. It is a brilliant move. Come to the farmhouse tomorrow evening. I have a fifteen-year-old to sink your cock into.
Young, tender flesh that cleanses a man’s soul. She isn’t a throwaway so no harm will befall her.
I understand your anger at me. It has been buried inside you because of Pattie and Tess.
I never meant to reawaken that beast. Find it in you to forgive me again, son. Trust me. When have I ever led you astray? I only seek to relax you. I’ll see you at 7?
LD
The stinking, miserable, perverted motherfucker.
Logan,
Big Joe declined your generous suggestion because Johnnie doesn’t know if he wants to please you or that fucking piece of shit, Outlaw.
Joe said your grandson is a fine man, if a little lost. Joe’s not as drugged up as we need him to be because he still has sharp instincts.
He believes you want Johnnie’s soul. All Outlaw wants is what’s best for him.
He feels as if Johnnie is too loyal to you and wouldn’t protect Meggie against you.
He does feel as if Johnnie would protect her against anyone else.
Big Joe proposes an alliance of his own.
He wants Meggie to marry Outlaw or Lucas.
Sharper
Where had Sharper gotten the information? Why wouldn’t Big Joe respond to Logan’s offer?
Her heart pounding, Kendall flipped to the next letter.
Pattie,
As I explained to Sharper, Joe wants Christopher to marry his daughter.
Sharper has already marked her for the sex ring.
Cee Cee continues to pay yearly bounties to Logan and Sharper to keep your son, K-P, his daughter, Big Joe, Meggie, and several others safe.
I think he uses his monthly cut from the Dwellers to make the payment.
Having said that, Cee Cee intends to stop the money when Joe’s daughter turns eighteen in three years.
He gave his blessing for Sharper to sell her virginity three times over.
Mouth, ass, and hymen. Once they make their money, Sharper, Logan, and I will fuck her.
Almost certain, Cee Cee, Bash, and Cleaner will want ass from her, too.
I hope I’m not too far down the line. Don’t like fucking ruined quim.
Once she’s served her purpose, we’ll chop her into pieces and give Sharper her head as a trophy.
You know how much the sick fucker loves to decapitate sluts.
Probably where Cleaner got his fetish. Happy you haven’t contributed any more trophies.
See you Saturday for a dick suck. You lick cock like no other bitch I know.
Rack
Kendall’s hand flew to her mouth. What fuckery was this? What in God’s name did Rack mean about Patricia?
Did she even want to fucking know? For her mental health, maybe she needed to give this up.
They were brutal fuckheads that brought Kendall back to a time in her life she wanted to forget.
So far, she’d found no evidence that Meggie was in immediate danger.
All the pigs who’d wanted to harm her were dead.
The folder in front of her contained another small stack of letters. Did she have the stomach to even continue? This was a lot to take in. Shoring her courage, she decided to read one more.
She had to get to the bottom of the situation. Christopher depended on her. Rory looked at her as something other than a woman he needed to keep constant watch over. Mattie admired her. JJ and Blade enjoyed her company. And Meggie’s safety depended on the truth.
Johnnie’s solution to drive Meggie away spoke volumes. Yet, the more Kendall thought about it, the more she realized, Johnnie would have Meggie anyway he could get her.
For him to try and drive her away meant she was in grave danger and Johnnie knew .
He wasn’t confessing for so many complicated, fucked up reasons that had as much to do with pettiness as it did with his need to be heroic.
Add in his jealousy of Kendall’s friendship with Christopher and she had a fucking monster on her hands.