Shadow
The last thing I expected this afternoon was a text from Dylan saying he was with Cambria and that she was upset.
The cause was a letter received from the High Desert State Prison.
I knew it was northwest of Las Vegas. Nevada was where Cambria was from.
High Desert was the maximum security prison where death-row inmates were housed in Nevada.
I’d researched that much when I looked into her after finally meeting her.
Even if Dylan hadn’t told me the return address had the name G.
Brooks on it, it was enough to tell me who the letter was from.
I flew out of the scrapyard after pausing only long enough to tell Crusher I had to get home because Cambria received a letter from her dad. His swearing followed me. It was difficult not to ride like the devil was after me, but I kept it under absolutely stupid speed.
Finding her sitting on our porch, clearly shaken, with her skin as pale as snow, had angered me.
Reading the bullshit letter had changed my anger to lividness.
The wording in the letter was vile. I’d sugarcoated it because of her noticeable shakiness.
Her dad had gloated about killing her mom and how he wanted her to suffer the same fate.
He also told her that his followers would ensure she paid for her betrayal.
He actually thought that, as his daughter, she should’ve never turned him in.
The whimper she let escape was full of fear.
“Cambria, look at me,” I ordered.
When she did, I knew she read the rage and need to inflict pain on her sperm donor that I felt. I rocked her in my arms. At the moment, the priority was to manage her feelings first. Mine could be dealt with later.
“Shaine, how did he find me? Who told him?” She whimpered.
“My guess is the person or persons on the internet who ferreted out your real identity is his friend or maybe a ‘friend of a friend’. Speaking of that person, there was some good news today. I was waiting to come home before sharing it with you.”
She perked up. “There is? What?”
“You know how the servers and shit had us bouncin’ all over the world.
Well, Beast called to let me know he’s narrowed it down to the Northwest states.
Now, that might not sound like much, but it helps to eliminate a load of places, and with Garen in Nevada, it means we’re on the right track.
The person is someone who can travel to see him in prison. ”
“How do you know that?”
“One, there’s no way a letter like this would be allowed to leave via regular mail.
They would’ve pulled it. Correspondence from prisons is stamped with a distinctive mark to indicate that it has been screened.
This one lacks one. Whoever sent it for him mailed it from Las Vegas.
Now, it doesn’t mean they live there, but it means they were there, if only in passing.
Vegas is about forty miles from High Desert.
The next step is to see who has been there to visit Garen.
Whoever it was, they had to have had someone on the inside helping them to get this letter out if it was a visitor,” I told her. My brain was going a mile a second.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, as a death-row inmate in Nevada, and most states, they can only have what’s known as non-contact visits.
Meaning the visitor has to be on the other side of a partition.
That means either a guard passed this along to someone visiting to mail it, or someone in the prison did it on Garen's behalf. All phone calls are monitored if they’re allowed at all.
Conversations are also monitored during non-contact visits.
The only visits not recorded and monitored are those between the prisoners and their attorneys. ”
“How do you know so much about the process?” she asked.
I grinned. “We’re not angels. I’ve visited people in jail and prison.”
“Have you ever been in either?” she asked.
“I’ve been in a couple of times for fighting and once for disorderly conduct while drunk. I had fines and shit, but nothing long-term. What about you?”
Cambria shook her head. I noted faint amusement on her face. Good. The sick, deathly pale look was fading.
“I want us to talk more about this, and when you’re ready, if you ever are, to read this together.
But first, I need to pass this vital information along to the club and the other hackers so that they can refine their methods.
I hate that you got this. And that someone knows where you are, but it’ll work in our favor.
I promise. Just bear with me. And know that you aren’t leaving the compound unless strictly necessary.
And if it is, then it’ll be with an escort of more than one man. ”
Cambria was opening her mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was to protest or what, but she stopped because the sound of more bikes entering the compound reached our ears.
Based on the sounds of it, someone had alerted the troops that we had a situation.
I strained to see if they’d come to the house or stop at the clubhouse.
Four bikes entered through the distant gate and bypassed the clubhouse, heading our way.
As they got closer, I saw who was in the lead.
Ah, just as I thought. It appeared that Crusher had told the brothers that Cambria received a letter that upset her. Even if they didn’t know the exact contents, my brothers rode out to see what they could do. Damn, I loved my family.
“Why are the guys home this early and headed our way?” she asked.
“Crusher no doubt told them about Dylan’s text.
Or maybe Dylan alerted Wrath about it. Either way, they’re here to support you and me.
That’s exactly what it’s like to be part of the Pagan Souls’ family.
You’ll have to get used to it. Sure, they can drive you batty at times, but when it counts the most, they’ll always have your back. ”
By the time I was done explaining, the four bikes came to a halt in my driveway. In addition to Crusher, there were Nomad, Chains, and Fury. They shut off their bikes and swung off them. As a unit, they came toward us.
“Who the hell is upsetting our sister?” Crusher growled.
“Who do I get to beat?” Nomad asked.
“I hope whoever it is, they have good insurance,” Chains quipped.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to fuck someone up,” was Fury’s remark.
Their words and the protective vibe they exuded made my Twilight burst into tears. They froze and gave me horrified looks.
“Whoa, don’t cry, sweetheart. I can’t handle tears. Tell us what’s wrong, and we’ll take care of it,” Crusher muttered.
“Yeah, tell us. Just don’t cry. I don’t know what to do with tears,” Fury muttered.
A small giggle escaped Cambria’s mouth. Even though her face was wet from crying, she looked at them and gave each a slight smile.
“You guys are terrible. Here you are, big, bad bikers ready to beat, maim, and eviscerate, yet tears make you want to run like pansies. Are you wearing men’s briefs or ladies’ panties?” she teased.
All four puffed up and gave her a manly glare. I knew they were partly trying to show how masculine they were, but also trying to get her to relax and not to stress so much.
“If you want to see my underwear, all you have to do is ask, Cambria,” Crusher told her.
“I bet you want to know if I even wear any,” Chains added with a wink.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m a commando kinda guy,” Fury said, smirking.
“Shadow may get jealous, but if you wanna know, I can show you,” Nomad added, as his hand went to his belt buckle.
“Hold it right there—no need to drop your pants. I’ll take your word for it. And the only man I care about, whether he wears underwear or not, is Shadow. Behave yourselves,” she jokingly scolded them.
There was light teasing back and forth for a minute until I deemed it was time to get serious.
“Okay, enough flirting with my old lady. Thanks for coming. I’ll get right to it.
Like Crusher probably told you, Cambria received a letter from a Nevada state prison.
It’s from her sperm donor, Garen Brooks.
He’s locked up there for life, on death row.
How he found out she’s here and how he managed to get this letter out of the prison is a mystery.
He didn’t just pop it into the general mail, and off it went.
“He’s gloating about things he did and threatening to do awful things to her via a ‘friend’ he speaks of. He said he’ll have his followers punish her. He feels she should’ve let him get away with what he did because he’s her dad.”
I summed it up as much as I could. I held out the letter to Crusher, allowing them to read it.
Cambria was quietly sitting on my lap, watching the letter be read and passed along.
It was clear to anyone seeing my brothers’ faces that they were as angry as we were.
Finally, it made the rounds and came back to me.
I left it lying on the table next to my chair.
I rubbed Cambria’s back. She was so tense.
“Tell us what you need us to do, and it’s yours. I can’t do the online stuff like you and Crusher can, but I can chase physical leads, play bodyguard, whatever,” Nomad was the first to speak.
“Same for me,” Fury added.
“I’m always down to do anything that catches and eliminates people like these supposed friends of his,” Chains said.
“He didn’t just mail this out. It was smuggled out, which means we have to investigate who has visited him recently, and then examine the guards and anyone else with regular contact with Brooks.
He’s on death row—no way he’s given too much freedom.
We should see if he has any computer privileges.
After making everyone else in the club aware of this, I assume the first step is to inform the other hackers of this latest development and then get to work digging.
We’ll divide and conquer. Oh, and we need to know how he discovered your whereabouts,” Crusher said, thinking aloud.
I’d been thinking along those same lines.
“Agreed. I’ll text Wrath to ask him to hold a meeting tonight in the clubhouse so everyone can be updated.
In the meantime, Crusher, will you help by letting the other hackers know what’s up?
We’ll need to speak to them to divide the tasks so no one is doing the same work.
I’ll get started on digging into Brooks.
We still have to keep a few working on discovering the identity of whoever leaked Cambria’s identity,” I added. I was thinking out loud.
“I can help, and before you say no, I can’t sit and do nothing, Shadow. I’m sorry that I’m putting such a burden on all of you and the others. It seems all I’m doing is adding to everyone’s workload daily,” Cambria stated. She appeared so apprehensive.
“Cambria, you have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do this.
And we won’t allow you to deal with this alone.
And don’t be fooled. Crusher, I, and the others love to sleuth.
It’s our drug of choice. So don’t worry about burdening us.
We’d do the same for anyone in your situation.
The fact that it’s you makes it more personal.
The goal is to keep you safe and to eliminate everyone who poses a credible threat to you,” I told her.
She placed a sweet kiss on my cheek. She knew kissing my mouth would lead us to a different place than what we needed to concentrate on right now. Later, I’d make love to her and help release her tension.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Okay, let’s divide up and see when we can meet. Thanks for the help,” I told the others.
There was a waving away of my thanks and agreement to do whatever was necessary. Crusher was off to contact the other hackers. Cambria and I composed a text to send to Wrath. It didn’t take him more than a couple of minutes to respond.
Wrath: Sending out notice to meet at the clubhouse at 5 p.m. Everyone will be instructed to leave work early.
Me: TY. New challenge. See you then.
Wrath: Welcome.
With that out of the way, Cambria and I retreated to the office and got to work. The urgency was palpable. Not that things weren’t important before, but with her dad in the mix, it had hit DEF CON 2 for us.