Shadow Chapter 15 #3
As we stood there, watching each other, I projected an aura of relaxation.
I noticed that Joe hadn’t mentioned searching us a second time.
That confirmed in my mind that they were armed.
The men looked like what I had pictured street thugs to look like.
They probably could shoot, but maybe not accurately.
Tiff and Maggie projected the aura of nervous women, but we knew enough strong ones to know not to be fooled.
“All clear, coming back,” Forge said softly in our ears.
“We still have no movement outside. We’re moving closer,” Wrath whispered.
A minute later, Forge rejoined us. For their benefit, he said, “It’s all clear, brother. The doors and windows are locked.”
“Thanks, Forge. Alright, are we ready to get started? It’s late. I want this cleared up. Am I right in assuming that all of you are fans of Garen Brooks?” I asked. We stepped further into the room, keeping ourselves between them and the exit. There were chairs set up in the empty room.
“We’re not fans. We believe in him and that he’s innocent of the charges against him. An innocent man was wrongfully convicted and sent to prison,” Tiff answered.
Maggie nodded in agreement. The men remained mute. At the mention of Brooks’ name, the women’s faces had lit up. The guys’ faces stayed flat. If they believed what Tiff said, they hid it well. Who were these men?
“Why don’t we have a seat?” Joe suggested.
Not wanting to piss them off this soon, I nodded.
However, instead of sitting in the chairs he motioned toward, which brought us away from the doorway, we grabbed the closest ones and moved them back to where we were standing.
The guys didn’t like that move. The ladies were oblivious.
The two of them sat in chairs to the right of us.
This left the men to take the remaining chairs.
“Uhm, okay, uh, you wanted us to meet. You claimed that Cambria Mulally isn’t Journi Brooks, but we know she is.
And then you said she was misunderstood, that she didn’t want to send her dad to prison.
Why do you say that? If she wasn’t the one to frame him for those murders she committed, then who is responsible? ” Maggie got the conversation rolling.
We’d agreed that I’d do most of the talking. This tactic would keep them focused on me, leaving my brothers able to watch them.
“First, let me say that the woman you spoke to, Cambria, wasn’t the one to kill anyone.
She came home to find her dad with her mom, who was seconds from death.
There was blood on him and all over the kitchen.
When he stood and came after her, she ran and got out into the woods.
She made it to a neighbor’s house. The cops were called.
How can you say he was framed? And if he was, why chase his daughter or run from the police? ” I asked.
“Garen admits that he had blood on him, but it was because he came home to find his wife dying. She was covered in blood from bullet and knife wounds. He tried to save her. That’s what their daughter saw.
He tried to comfort their daughter and explain what had happened, but she ran.
Garen went after her but couldn’t find her.
He was about to return to the house to call for help when it dawned on him.
Journi had blood on her when she came into the kitchen.
She was supposed to be staying the night with her tutor.
Why was she there? He’d left to grab a few things at the store for movie night with his wife,” Maggie explained.
“She was sick. Her tutor brought her home. Due to the rain, Journi walked down the lane to their house. There was no blood on her, and there were no groceries in his car when the cops arrived,” I countered.
I’d thoroughly studied the comments the fans of Brooks spouted constantly, as well as the police reports.
“He forgot his wallet and had to come back to get it. That’s when he found his wife,” Tiff countered.
“Why not stick around and tell the cops what he saw on his daughter?” I asked.
“Because he got to thinking how incriminating it looked, and if Journi was the killer, he needed to find evidence of it. He left to go find it, not to run,” Maggie added.
Everything they said was straight from the chat groups they were part of. After several minutes of this, I changed tactics. Their delusions weren’t why I was here. I wanted information.
“Have any of you in this room talked to Garen Brooks personally or met him?” I asked.
“I’ve sent him letters. They don’t allow him visitors,” Maggie said.
“I’ve sent him letters, too,” Tiff added.
“Has he answered those letters?” I asked next.
They exchanged looks before Maggie answered.
“He has a lot of believers, so he can’t answer all of them, but yes, he’s sent us a few.
He told us how people like us, working on the outside, will help him to be freed.
He assured us that he’s innocent. He loves us and can’t wait to be with us. ” A fanatical light entered her eyes.
“How did you figure out Cambria was really Journi? From what we were told, only the smartest computer hackers would figure that out,” Forge said, making his tone sound impressed.
The five men had remained silent and watching. They had no comments to make. It confirmed my suspicions. At Forge’s question, Tiff perked up. A huge smile spread across her face.
“That would be me. I took computer classes in college, and I’ve been hacking since I was twelve. It was tough and took me forever, but once I found a hint, I backtracked and revisited various sites. It took me six months to figure it out. Whoever she hired to hide her identity did a great job.”
“What would you say if I told you she did all that herself?” I asked.
“No way it was her,” Tiff dismissed.
“How many are in your group? I saw posts from various people all over the dark web. It looks like your group has to have dozens of people in it,” I stated. It was time to gather the necessary information and then leave.
Both women giggled. It was Maggie who answered me.
“Isn’t that cool? All those people took the posts that Tiff and I wrote.
They began reposting them and writing others.
They made it sound like we’re all together, but we’re not.
They’re not true believers like we are. Garen isn’t going to take them with him when he gets free.
We’ll be his wives and start over. Tiff and I are true Garen Girls,” she stated proudly.
“Do any of your friends or family know about your plans? Or that you’ve found Brooks’ daughter? Do they help you with your posting?” I asked next.
“They don’t understand us,” Tiff said. Maggie nodded in agreement.
God, I felt sorry for them. They were truly lost souls looking for someone to connect with.
Why did they choose a serial killer? I had no clue.
I detested what we were about to be forced to do.
I’d talked it over with the others before we left.
There were two options to deal with them.
I was leaning toward the lesser one for the women. As for the men, I turned to them.
“How did you get involved in this?” I questioned Joe.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“He means you’re clearly not fans or followers or whatever you call it of Brooks. You couldn’t care less about who he is. Family members of the ladies? Nah, my guess is you’re hired guns.” Nomad said.
A flicker of surprise flitted across Joe’s face, then was gone. “What difference does it make?”
“Nothing really. Although I gotta say, how the hell did you guys get picked for this assignment? Was there no one else willing to take it on? Or are you part of a security agency, and you got the short straw for this assignment? Are the others back with your boss, laughing at you?” Forge asked.
“No one is laughing at us anywhere. We are our own bosses. And we took this assignment because it’s easy money. The five of us always stick together,” Pete snapped.
“We’ve always had each other’s backs. You can’t trust others,” Jack added.
“Let me guess, you guys grew up together,” I stated.
“Yeah, we came up in the streets together. What of it?” Roy asked gruffly.
“Nothing. You make family where you can. However, aren’t your real families worried you might end up in trouble over this?” I questioned.
“What they don’t know won’t hurt them. As long as we bring home the cash, they don’t care how we make it. What’s with all these questions? Are you producing the Brooks woman or what?” Joe replied. He shifted in his seat.
I pretended to think for a few moments. As I did, I tapped my finger on the outside of my ear.
It would look like a tick when thinking.
The others outside would hear the thumping sound.
They knew what the signal meant. Finally, shaking my head, I stood up.
My brothers rose to their feet, causing the others to stand.
“Come with us. I’ll take you to her. She’s down the road, waiting in another car with one of my friends. I couldn’t let her meet you until I was sure you weren’t a threat to her. Let’s go,” I told them.
Without waiting for their agreement, Forge, Nomad, and I went out the door.
There was the stomp of feet following us.
Nomad fell in next to me. Forge faded into the darkness, allowing the others to be caught between us.
He was there to ensure we weren’t shot in the back.
It was a relief to make it out into the cold night air.
It wasn’t until we reached the ground and were moving toward the vehicles that the rest of the club came creeping out of the darkness.
They were like silent specters. They subdued the men, and Forge and I had the women under control within moments.
The men tried to fight back, but they were no match for my brothers.
In a pathetically small amount of time, they were subdued with zip ties holding their arms behind their backs.
Their clothing was rifled through, and their guns and knives confiscated.
In the case of Maggie and Tiff, they were unarmed.
Those two were bawling and asking what we were doing.
“You have exposed my old lady’s identity on the dark web.
You’ve brought attention and danger to her.
Nut jobs worse than you will be searching for her.
I couldn’t allow that to continue. The one thing I don’t know and you’re going to tell me, if you know what’s good for you, is how you figured out she was staying at the Pagan Souls compound?
We made sure to leave no trace of her behind when we moved her,” I inquired.
“The Pagan who?” Maggie asked, her face screwed up in confusion. Tiff looked the same.
The way Joe and the men jerked, they knew of us. Their eyes widened, then Joe swore.
“Son of a bitch! You fucking whores are messing with the Pagan Souls motorcycle club? Are you crazy? We didn’t sign up to mess with one of those. That’s a sure way to get dead.”
“A motorcycle club? We don’t know anything about a club or anyone called the Pagan Souls. I found Cambria Mulally’s address in Aiken, Georgia. We sent these guys to watch her house, but she hasn’t been seen leaving it, so we figured she was hiding inside,” Tiff answered.
“Well, that clears that up. What do you want to do, Shadow?” Wrath asked.
“Pres, I think for the ladies, the alternate option we talked about makes more sense. They’re lost, not evil. As for these five, I’m not okay with just letting them go. They’re muscle-for-hire. I don’t know how dirty they are.”
“How about we send the women on their way? That option is better than what they could’ve gotten. As for the men, we’ve got their wallets. Let’s see who they really are. We’ll bring them back with us to the compound,” Wrath suggested.
“I think that would be best.”
The seven of them were divided and would be conquered in different ways. I held out hope for the two women. As for the men, time and our sleuthing would determine their fates.