Cambria Chapter 16
I almost wore a path in the flooring last night while Shadow and his team of guys were gone. It was nearly three o’clock in the morning when he came home. I’d frantically checked him over to make sure he wasn’t harmed. He teased me about not having a scratch just as I ordered.
After settling down, he told me what happened.
I was various degrees of surprised and upset.
Two delusional women had exposed me and led to my life imploding.
However, I agreed with his choice about what to do with them.
As for the hired men, I was waiting like the Pagans to find out what kind of men they were.
Tiff and Maggie were escorted to Deerfield Landing Airport in Eatonton last night.
That was where the plane that brought Sloan and Undertaker to us had landed.
And another one was there, waiting to transport the women to Savannah, Georgia.
By car, the drive took about three hours.
By plane, it took less than an hour. The club decided it was safer and less of a hassle to fly.
Once there, they would be admitted to a well-known private hospital that dealt with helping people with various mental illnesses.
That was the place they were most likely to receive actual help in overcoming their obsession with Garen.
I agreed with Shadow that, from what he told me, they didn’t deserve to be killed.
They truly needed help. And since they had done this on their own and weren’t part of a huge group, we thought the risk was minimal.
The hospital was one that the Dark Patriots had mentioned to the club.
I had no clue how they knew of the places they did, but I was glad they had the resources and connections they did.
The club was told the doctor who ran the hospital owed the Patriots a favor.
Once settled down, I got four hours of sleep.
While the rest of the guys, with a few exceptions, planned to go to work the same as any other weekday, Shadow was staying home.
He would be working alongside Smoke and Everly on the investigation into the five men they had brought back to the compound.
They had been taken to the Thieves’ Hole.
It was an underground chamber in the storage building at the back of the compound.
I learned this from Shadow. He said it was where they conversed and kept anyone they considered an enemy and posed a significant danger to the club. I read between the lines.
I knew the Pagans weren’t clean, and there was blood on their hands.
The Thieves’ Hole had to be where they killed people.
I was still not sure I could be directly involved in doing that to someone, but if they were bad people, like Garen, rapists, child molesters, and such, I had no problem with the club dealing with them.
I loved the explanation of how it came to be called the Thieves’ Hole.
Only Rage, with his pirate fascination, would think of naming it that.
All those had happened over twelve hours ago.
It was the end of the workday, and everyone would soon be heading home.
I had spent a large part of my day gathering more evidence Brae needed to nail Aarón Mora.
I hadn’t forgotten about him, even if he hadn’t been the primary focus lately.
When I talked to Brae about him a few weeks ago, she told me to take care of myself first. There were still months to go until his trial.
However, I’d kept working on his case, and the amount of stuff I found today had made me very happy.
I sent it off to Brae via a secure server.
What she had already should be enough to convict him, but I wasn’t done.
Everly, Smoke, and Shadow had been working all day.
It was hard not to ask my man what he found constantly, but his pinched expression at times told me it wasn’t good.
We were to gather at seven o’clock at the clubhouse.
The guys were having their weekly church session to go over the hackers’ findings. Man, I wish I could be in there.
When Shadow and I walked into the common room at ten minutes before seven, the place was loud.
People were milling around. I thought everyone was there.
Three minutes before the hour, Wrath, Jalisa, and Pandora entered.
I expected the men to follow their president to church, as they usually did. They didn’t.
Wrath stood in the middle of the room and shouted, “I need everyone’s attention!”
Instantly, the noise disappeared. The only sound was Dora's cooing as she smiled at her daddy. Wrath smiled back at her and blew her a kiss. Then he was back to being his stern presidential self.
“We’re having church, as you know. However, since so much of this concerns our guests and Cambria, I don’t see why we can’t involve everyone.
So, gather around, find a seat. We’ll be having church here tonight.
The usual business will wait until next week.
Unless you have something urgent, then bring it up at the end. ”
There were rumbles of surprise, but no one dawdled to find their seat. Shadow and I sat toward the front. Wrath was seated at a table nearby with his family.
“Alright, I think everyone has waited long enough. And I know Cambria has to be going nuts, wondering what the guys from last night mean to her and her safety. Let me start by saying, I was given all the information in advance. Shadow will share all the findings with us. When he’s finished, the members will cast their vote just like we do in a regular meeting.
The majority vote is the winner. If someone wants to say something for or against the options, they are free to do so, even if they aren’t a voting member; however, only the brothers get a vote.
“The two options on the table are to let the men go, with a warning that if they breathe a word about us or what happened, they’ll be hunted and killed.
The reason for this option is that they could be individuals doing a job and have no clue what they were getting into.
The second option is if the findings are terrible, as in they’re the kind of people we’d normally eliminate, we follow our protocol.
You know the kind—rapists, abusers, murderers, child molesters, and human traffickers.
The lowest of the low scum of the earth types.
If this is the case, then they will be dealt with as we see fit. Any questions?”
When no one asked anything, Wrath pointed to my man as he said, “It’s all yours, brother.”
Shadow stood, and to my surprise, he tugged me to my feet with him. His arm wrapped around me, holding me close. I tried to decipher what he was about to tell us by his expression, but it was just as blank as it was at home when I asked him questions about what he had found a few times.
“I want to thank Smoke, Everly, and Crusher for helping me do this so quickly. I’m satisfied that what we found tells the true story of the five men we brought back here.
They are security slash muscle-for-hire.
Going back in their histories, they’ve been together since they were kids, growing up in the streets.
Back then, they stole, beat people for money, and sold drugs.
They were in and out of trouble, meaning they had been in juvenile detention more than once.
Then, when they turned eighteen, they progressed to time in prison.
“Their rap sheets are a normal progression of lawless behavior. In addition to assault, burglary, and selling drugs, they’ve been involved in prostitution, rape, and murder.
They were acquitted of the last two, but we found enough evidence to prove they were responsible.
The women who were prostitutes didn’t do it because they wanted to in all cases.
Those men are absolute scum. The world will be a better place without them.
“Even though they have families, they’re not loving toward them.
Their wives, girlfriends, and kids are often neglected or abused.
Their extended families are scared of them.
If left on the streets, they’ll continue doing what they do and more.
That’s the summary of what we found. If you’d like to read the specifics, I have them. ”
By the time he was done, the room was buzzing with murmurs. Those lasted a minute or two, then Wrath was on his feet.
“Brothers, you heard Shadow. Anyone need to read the specifics?” He paused, but no one answered, so he continued.
“Okay, are there any questions or recommendations that we should consider when dealing with them? Based on the findings, I believe it’s clear we won’t simply allow them to leave to go about their lives. Have we overlooked a possible punishment option?”
Again, no one said a word.
“Then I think we should cast our vote. When we’re done, we’ll go to the Thieves’ Hole and finish this business tonight. All those in favor of all five men meeting Davy Jones’s locker, raise your hands on the count of three. Those not in favor, don’t raise your hand. One… two…three.”
As soon as he said three, hands were thrust into the air. Inspecting the room and counting, I quickly noted that all fourteen members of the club had raised their hands. There were chuckles when others saw Jalisa waving her hand in the air, grinning.
“I know what you want, Lunatic,” Wrath told her, grinning.
“Damn right, I do. And I bet the rest of us not voting do, too. People like that will continue to spread hate and misery,” Jalisa stated. I agreed with her.
“Then we have our answer. Is there anything urgent that we should talk about as just the members, before we go take care of business?” Wrath asked.
His brothers all shook their heads no. The meeting was over, and the guys were preparing to deal with those horrible men. Before they left, Shadow pulled me aside.
“Twilight, this shouldn’t take too long.
We don’t need information from them. Ryder spent part of the day out in the Hole grilling them to see if there was anyone we should worry about if the vote went this way.
They’re very close-lipped, he said, about anything they consider their work.
They don’t trust people, not even their friends and families.
Why don’t you hang out here with the ladies and Dylan? I’ll be back soon.”
“I will stay here. I’d go stir-crazy at the house. And Shadow, please know that I’m one hundred percent behind this decision. I shudder to think what else they’d go on to do if set free.”
“Thank you,” he said before giving me a short, sweet kiss.
After he let go and headed to the door, I made my way to Jalisa. Sloan and Everly had joined her along with Betty. Smoke, I noticed, was going out the door.
“He had to join the boys for the last bit,” Everly said with a smile.
“You know, boys, they all have to play. Poor Dylan is the only one left behind to deal with us. He should get hazard pay,” Betty said loudly.
“Hazard pay, my ass, I should get that, a bonus every week, and then a settlement for growing up with Lunatic,” he called over to the table, smirking.
And that was what started the next twenty minutes of the cousins sparring and the rest of us laughing hysterically at them.