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Somewhere south of the border, a phone rang. When it was answered, the caller listened then issued an order. Within two hours, a plane took off for the United States. The plane had four very large men in it and they were on a mission.
They had a debt to collect and they had orders to retrieve it or bring back the guarantee. Or his head. The boss didn’t care which, although he would have preferred his money back.
When the private plane landed a few hours later, the four men got off and rented a car to go to Jasper. They arrived at dawn and found a hotel for the day. While they were catching up on their sleep, their contact was watching the compound.
He’d been there all night so he saw the MC return and he saw them drag Blacky into the clubhouse. He hadn’t seen him come out again, so he waited for the men he knew were coming.
~*~
Gunner watched his daughter as Patriot worked on Winona all night long. They watched her struggle to get through the night and they almost lost her at one point. But Boone stepped up and knelt beside the bed, he took her hand and began whispering in her ear.
Whatever he said to her brought her back from the abyss she was sinking into. Her heart got a little stronger and by morning, she was breathing easier. She was by no means out of the woods yet, but she was improving enough to give Gunner hope she would survive what Blacky had done to her.
Patriot went from Winona to other girl and by morning, they both were improving some. Gunner’s men had come and gone throughout the night. They all came to see how Winona was doing.
When the sun came up over the horizon, Skull made his way into the room. He looked over at Gunner and nodded.
Gunner got to his feet and stepped outside the Infirmary with the man. “Well, what did you find?”
“Well crap, it might be a shorter list to tell you what we didn’t find.” Skull shook his head. “That man has been selling women and kids through a Mexican cartel for a number of years now. He had millions all tucked away ready to take off with. We found a new location he has set aside for his new place of operation. And fuck, did we find records.” Skull paused and then said, “They went back twenty some odd years.”
Gunner straightened his stance and studied the other man. “Did you find anything about DeeDee in his records?”
Skull nodded. “Yes boss, we found a personal journal he kept. He told us why she left you. It was because she found out what Blacky was doing and she knew he had found her out. She sure as hell didn’t want to leave you but she figured she had to or it was only a matter of time before he arranged an accident for her or you. He shook his head. “He even wrote about what happened after he found her.” He just stared at his president. “I’ll let you read what he wrote. It isn’t for everyone to know about.”
Gunner nodded. “Ok, get yourself some hot food and some sleep. I’ll be here with Winona until I know she’s going to make it. We picked up another woman along with Winona. He really beat her bad, damn near killed her.”
“Do you know her?” Skull asked.
“No clue who she is but we couldn’t leave her there. She’d have been dead in a day if we had.”
“I heard you got Blacky in a cell downstairs.”
Gunner nodded. “Yeah, I do and he isn’t getting away this time. He’s got sins to pay for and I want him to pay the price for everything he’s done.”
Skull stared at the other man. “You know hanging is too good for a man like that.”
“He’ll face a tribunal and when the verdict comes down, he’ll get whatever punishment the club puts out there. “He won’t be judged by me alone.”
Skull nodded. “Well, after you see what all he did, Prez...” he paused. “You may not be feeling like being very fair with the man. I’m just warning you. It ain’t pretty. But everything we collected is in your office. I locked the door so only you would see it.” Then he looked into the infirmary at Winona. “How is she doing? Will she recover?”
“We got more hope today than we had last night when we found her.”
“And Dana? What’s going to happen to her?” Skull wanted to know.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead but she’ll have to accept the consequences of her actions as well.”
Skull nodded. “What about the rest of it?”
“What do you mean the rest of it?” Gunner frowned.
“Well, we haven’t discovered what ties Blacky has and what it means to the rest of us.”
Gunner exhaled hard. “Ok, I need a couple hours of sleep before I look at that shit of a mess. We’ll call church tomorrow and I’ll present the evidence at that time.”
Skull nodded. “Ok boss, I’ll let everyone know.” Looking back at Winona laying on the bed, he said, “I hope she pulls through. I know a lot of the men think highly of her.”
Gunner nodded then went back to his daughter’s bedside.
Boone had stayed all night as well and he looked tired.
Gunner nudged him with his foot and when Boone looked up he told the other man to go to bed for a while.
Boone shook his head. “That’s my woman laying here on that bed, I ain’t going anywhere. You go to bed old man. I’ll watch over her.”
Gunner was about to refuse by then changed his mind as he had a lot to contend with soon. “Ok, I’m going to get some rest. If anything happens come get me right away.” He got back to his feet. “I sent Skull over to collect whatever evidence Blacky had at his home. He got it all and brought it back. We’ll have church tomorrow and I’ll present it then. Then we’ll have a tribunal.”
Boone’s eyes glowed with rage, but he didn’t say a word. He just gave Gunner a nod.
~*~
When Gunner turned around and walked out, Boone saw a hand reaching down for his hand. He was startled and when he looked up, he saw Winona’s eyes were open and staring back at his.
Boone yelled for Gunner to come back and then got to his feet. “How are you feeling baby?” he whispered.
Gunner came back and when he saw her awake, he rushed over to the bed. Sitting down on the bed, he asked the same question, “How you feeling sweetheart?”
“I’m alive that’s all that matters,” she told them both and her voice sounded scratchy. “Did you get Blacky?”
Gunner nodded. “We got the little cocksucker. He’ll face a tribunal day after tomorrow.”
She looked over at her dad.
Boone put a straw to her lips and told her to drink.
Winona took a sip then nodded. “He told me he watched my mother give birth to me and Dana, then he said he watched her bleed to death.” She shivered. “Why would any man do something like that?”
“He’s not a man, he’s a God damn parasite, a bottom feeder. But we got him, and he’ll hang for his crimes,” Gunner assured her.
Winona looked over at the other bed. “Who is she?”
“We found her in a room just down from yours,” Boone explained. “We don’t know who she is yet.”
“Oh, god,” she whispered as she curled into a ball. “It hurts.”
Gunner leaned over her. “I know baby but it’ll get better I promise.”
Winona nodded. “I know it always does, sometimes it just takes a while to get to that point.”
Gunner brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “Honey, when you’re feeling better I need to hear what you went through growing up.”
Winona looked at him and said, “It’s all in the past now, please leave it alone. Nothing good can come from it and I survived.”
Gunner stared at her for a moment, then he nodded. “Alright, but one day, I’d still like to hear about it anyway. I know I can’t change it but I’d still like to get to know you and your past is part of you. You are my daughter and you should have had a different kind of life.”
Winona shook her head. “I lived what the cards of fate laid out for me. I figure I had to go through all of that to finally find my true place here with you. I survived for a reason and now, I’m here I think that reason was to find you.”
“I’m glad you did.” Gunner smiled as tears sparkled in his eyes. “Well baby girl, I’m going to get some sleep I got a lot of work to do later.”
She smiled at him. “I think I’m going to make it now, so sleep well. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”
Gunner leaned over her and brushed his lips to her forehead. “You better get well soon, all the men sure miss your cooking.”
Winona chuckled then winced. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
“Ok sweetheart. Get some rest yourself.” Gunner got up and began walking away, before he left the room he turned to her again. Pointing at Boone, he told her, “Don’t let him bully you, you’re still my daughter.”
Winona smiled and burrowed down into her blankets.
~*~
Winona slept until around noon and then woke up when the other girl began to cry out.
She was coming around and was scared to death. Patriot was right there to help her and Boone came barging back into the room.
Patriot was trying to hold her down until Winona called out to him, “Please let her go. You’ll never get her to trust you if you hurt her.”
Patriot got up slowly and backed away.
The girl was staring at him with fear seated panic in her eyes. She scooted back as far as she could but her pain wouldn’t let her move too far. She brought the blanket up to cover her bruised body and just stared at everyone in the room. “Where am I and who are all of you?” she whispered.
“You’re safe,” Winona called out in a hoarse voice. “No one here is going to hurt you.”
“Is Blacky coming back?” she whispered. “He said he would see me dead unless I started to cooperate with him.”
“That man will never hurt you or any other woman ever again,” Boone assured her.
The girl turned toward him and shivered. “Who are you?” And why should I trust you?” Cocking her head toward him she asked, “Are you working with Blacky?”
“Hell no.” Boone growled. “I’m not working for or with Blacky.”
The girl tried scooting further back away from the hatred in his voice. “I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me.” She whimpered.
“Oh sweetie,” Patriot said kindly. “No one here will hurt you.”
“You keep telling me that but you won’t tell me who you are.” She cried.
“We’re the Savaged Souls MC,” Boone told her. “I’m Boone, the VP and this is my woman, Winona.”
“And I’m Patriot, the medic. I’ve been taking care of you since they brought you in last night.”
She nodded slowly. “But Blacky was a biker too. He wore a vest that said Savaged Souls on it too.” She looked around the room. “Is he here? Is he going to take me back to that warehouse?”
“No sweetie,” Winona told her. “He’s here but he ain’t free. He’s locked up and going on trial for what he’s been doing. My dad is President here and he brought you back with him to take care of you.”
The girl took a moment to think about what she said then nodded slowly. “My name is Becky, I think.” Then she looked around the room. “Where is this place anyway?”
“Where did he get his hands on you? Do you remember?” Boone asked.
Becky frowned as she tried to remember. Then she shook her head. “I’m sorry I don’t remember too much before I woke up in that warehouse. All I can remember is my name and I’m not even sure if that’s right or not.”
“This place is in Jasper,” Boone explained. “Do you remember how you got there?”
Becky shook her head. “I think I was taken as I got home one night. I remember trying to fight them but they overpowered me then I felt a prick in my neck and then all went black and when I woke up I was tied inside a room at the warehouse.”
“Do you remember how long ago that was?” Boone asked.
Becky shook her head. “A lifetime ago? Or it feels like that way anyway. I don’t even know what the date is today. I think they took me about the middle of July. What is the date today?”
“It’s the middle of October,” Patriot informed her. “July was like three months ago.”
“Three months? Oh, my god...It seems like a lifetime ago.” She looked at them. “Why can’t I remember my life before?”
“Honey with everything he did to you, I would have been surprised you could remember your own name,” Patriot told her.
She looked down at her wrists and saw deep grooves where the irons had held her. Then she looked at her arms and saw all the bruises. “Oh god, what did he do to me?” she cried out.
“You’re going to be okay,” Patriot spoke softly. “You’ll get your life back and someday, this will be nothing more than a bad dream.”
Becky looked at them and for the first time in a long time, she had hope in her heart again.
~*~
Late afternoon was upon them when Gunner was interrupted by Skull. He looked up at the other man and asked, “What is it?”
“We got visitors and they are not the kind you dismiss so easily, I think you need to come out to the gate.” Skull motioned with his head.
Gunner exhaled and got to his feet. “What is all this about?”
“This would be one of Blacky’s contacts south of the border,” Skull told his president. “They want their money back or his head and maybe even both.”
“Well fuck,” Gunner swore. He’s just spent the afternoon peeking into Blacky’s world of horrors. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know any more about the bastard. But he went anyway.
As he walked out to the gate, Boone joined him. When they got to the gate, they both saw the four big men waiting for them. After a moment Gunner asked, “What do you want here?”
“We came here to secure our boss’s money to be returned or the head of the man you call Blacky,” one of the men called out.
“What makes you think we have either?” Gunner wanted to know.
“We’ve been watching your camp. We know he’s here.”
Gunner knew what he had to do. “You’re right, he is here. We also found his money. I will give you all the money we found and you can tell your boss we cooperated with you. But we need his word he will not come back for anything more. This was Blacky’s deal not ours and we want no part of it.”
The men on the other side of the gate stared at him for a moment then one of them took a step back and made a phone call. When he came back, he said, “The boss agrees but he says he wants all the money you found to be returned.”
Gunner nodded. “We don’t want it anyway. We would have burned it as it’s got the blood of too many innocents on it.”
The main spokesman of the four of them scoffed. “Money is money my friend. It doesn’t matter if there’s blood on it or not. It all spends the same.”
“Skull, bring out the bags with the money in it. All of them,” Gunner ordered as he looked disgusted.
Skull returned with two large duffle bags and four small bags in his hands. He handed them over to Gunner who passed them through the gates.
The large man took them and stepped back.
“Tell your boss this is the last time he sends his men here. Blacky will face MC justice and it won’t be a slap on the wrist. His sentence will be nothing less than death.”
The man then turned to leave.
“Oh, and tell your boss that Blacky kept records of his transactions. Good records. There's a copy of one page in one of the large bags. We have the originals, just so you know and they won’t go anywhere as long as he leaves us the hell alone. If he messes with us, we’ll release those records to the whole world, if he leaves us alone, these records will stay hidden.”
The man turned to glare at him. “I’ll tell him but he doesn’t take kindly to being blackmailed.”
Gunner held up his hands. “Not being blackmailed, this is our protection against retaliation from him. He got his money and that’s all he’s going to get from us, we want no trouble.”
The man nodded then walked into the growing dusk.
Gunner waited and watched until he couldn’t see anyone anymore then he, Skull and Boone turned to go back to the clubhouse.
They were maybe 20 feet from the entrance, when the silence was shattered by a woman’s scream...