Reunion Series-

THE NEXT CHAPTER BOOK IS

Reunion- Cricket and Orrin Book 6

 

Chapter One

 

 Cricket paused as she read her name on one of the envelopes she’d picked up from the mailbox. Her name had been written as Cricket Tannis, not Cricket Moore.

That was the first warning. 

Opening the letter, her eyes widened at the second warning…

It had been made up of macabre style letters… to frighten the receiver. The cutout words she read caused her to gasp and lose her breath for a minute. Finally, as she understood the horrific message, the letter slipped from her fingers to float down to the floor. She sat down hard on the chair beside her. Sitting there for a long moment, she then suddenly remembered to breathe. 

All she could seem to do was to stare down at the letter on the floor.

Raine came into the kitchen holding three year old Molly in his arms. “Babe…” He paused when he saw her. Putting little Molly down, he knelt in front of her and grasped her hands in his. “Cricket? Baby…what’s wrong?”

Cricket slowly looked up at him then pointed to the letter. 

Raine felt confused as he spotted it then reached down to pick it up. As he read the threat, he snapped his gaze up to her. “What the everloving fuck is this?”

“I have no idea,” she whispered as she pushed the envelope the letter came in toward him. “It was written to Cricket Tannis.”

Raine studied the envelope for a moment then asked, “Why would it be addressed to Cricket Tannis? And not Cricket Moore?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted with a shrug. “Tannis was never my legal name. It was just a name my dad called us when he was running from Bane.”

Raine stared at her and asked, “Would Orrin know what this is about?”

Cricket shrugged as she replied, “Maybe? But I had thought he was dead all these years. Didn’t this guy who sent this know that too? I thought the only family I had was Cordy for most of my life.” She shook her head. “Well, Cordy wasn’t family really. Just a warden.” She stared at the letter again and asked in a sort of rant, “What does it mean though? Take his little girl? Left him with nothing? Why would he think my dad did something like that? And why did he write to me?” She felt a cold pit in her belly as she said, “He’s threatening our kids, Raine.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. The first tears she cried in a very long time.

Raine took her hand and squeezed it. “Try to just breathe, Cricket. We can’t panic here, ok?”

Slowly nodding her head at him, her hands trembled.

~*~

Raine stared at the note again. In an odd, 70's-like presentation, it had been made up from magazine and newspaper clippings, all glued onto the paper to read as a message:

 “I finally found you. After all this time, I can get my revenge. Your dad took my little girl years ago and now I will take his, or maybe his grandchild? Who knows who it will be, or maybe all of you? He left me with nothing, so maybe I’ll return the favor. See you soon darlin….”

As the cruel words sunk in, the rage inside him grew as he’d never before felt so helpless to protect his family. They had to figure this out and fast, before this mystery man made his move. He refused to lose his wife or his kids. He gazed up at Cricket and asked, “Where are the boys?”

“Over at your mom’s,” she replied as she watched little Molly playing with her doll.

Raine surged to his feet and grabbed his phone. Tapping her number, he waited. “Mom, is anyone with you right now?”

“Yeah, your dad is here. Is something wrong?”

“I need him to bring the boys home right away.” Raine growled.

“What’s happening, son?” Molly wanted to know.

“We have a situation we need to deal with. First, we need to make sure the kids are safe. And I’m gonna need everyone here to figure it out.”

“We’re on our way, boy,”  Black Jack called out over the line. 

Raine ended the call and then dialed Deke to say, “I need the whole club, boss.”

“We’ll be there,” Deke said hung up.

Raine tapped the screen then set his phone on the table. He grabbed Cricket from the chair and pulled her close. “Baby, we will deal with this, ok?” He wrapped his arms around her and said, “The Sin’s don’t lie down for any damn thing. We protect our own and you already know this. Just try to stay calm and we will figure this out.”

Cricket nodded as she looked pale and her body still shook. “I’ll try.” 

Just five minutes late, many Sin’s members arrived. 

Some had come with his dad and most had come with Deke.

Raine’s mom came in and kissed Cricket on the cheek then she took the kids upstairs so everyone else could talk. 

Deke and Sam looked at Raine and a pale Cricket.

“What’s this all about?” Deke asked.

Raine handed him the letter Cricket had gotten in the mail.

 Deke shook his head when he read it then he passed it along to the others. “Fucking creepy.” He turned his head and looked at Cricket. “But that doesn’t mean any of it will happen, Cricket. He won’t even get close to you or the kids.”

Cricket nodded. “I know but that doesn’t make me unafraid right now.”

“The fuck?” Sam growled as he stared at the odd looking missive. “He thinks he’s some kind of serial killer or what?’ He raised his gaze up to see Cricket's face go ashen. “Damn, honey. I didn’t mean it like…” Shaking his head, he passed the note to Black Jack. “You have to trust us, girl.” 

Cricket slowly nodded. “I do trust you Sam, but I don’t trust whoever wrote that damn note.” 

Raine’s father looked down at the letter as he matched Sam’s growl. “This creep won’t get the chance to do a damn thing.”

Cricket shivered again as she went on, “I thought I left my past behind. I’ve been living the good life, then this happens and now I’m pushed back into the past again, only this time it isn’t Cordy. It’s Orrin this guy is really after. I’m just a means to get revenge on my dad. I feel I’m living on borrowed time again and I hate that feeling.”

Raine pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. “You’ve got me to protect you now, sweetness. I never give up on what’s mine to hold and protect.”

“And he’s got us covering his back too,” Black Jack promised.

“You’ve got the whole army of the Sin’s backing you up, girl,” Sam told her.

“This bastard won’t get close to you or your kids,” Deke assured her.  

“Thank you.” Cricket nodded at them. “You guys have always come through for me and that is more than I ever got before, from anyone.”

Raine raised his head and stared at his dad. 

Black Jack snarled silently back.

Raine could see the fire in his eyes. He knew from experience that when Black Jack got riled, things would go flying soon. He closed his eyes and whispered to Cricket, “Why don’t you join my mom and the kids upstairs? Dusty will be home from school soon and you guys might need a moment.”

Cricket nodded. “Yeah, we might.” She turned to go.

 Before she left, Raine grabbed her up, tugged her close and crushed her lips under his. He deepened the kiss briefly then he pulled back and whispered in her ear, “You belong to me, don’t you forget that.”

Cricket nodded. “I won’t, just remember, you belong to me too. You and our kids are my whole world.” Then she turned and ran for the stairway. 

They all heard her sobbing as she ran down the hall then they heard a door slam.

 Raine snapped his head around to the group and demanded, “Just what the hell do we do to bring this guy out of the shadows and into the light, so I can tear him limb from fucking limb with my bare hands?”

“First thing we do,” Deke replied. “Is get Orrin on the phone and ask him who the fucking hell he pissed off years ago that he’s waiting all this time to get his revenge. Then we hunt down this little prick and stomp him right into the ground.”

“I’ll leave that up to you to make that call,” Raine grumbled. “I might say something I’ll regret if I call him.” Shaking his head he said, “If I see him anytime soon, I might just punch the guy in the throat. He’s ignored her most of her life and left her to grow up with no hope. When she came here, she had nothing but her honor and he sure as hell never taught her about that. That was the only thing she ever got from her mother and she hung onto that, even against all odds. Between her no good father and her even worse sister, I’m surprised she even lived to grow up. But once she was mine she began to thrive and I’m not going to see her lose hope again. Bane tried to crush her and she held up… now this comes along? There is no way I’m going to lose her or my children to this fucker.”

Black Jack walked over to his son and grabbed him by the back of the neck. “Son, you won’t lose her or the kids. I won’t let that happen. We’ll figure this out and we will hunt this asshole down and put him in the ground. Cricket and the kids will be safe, I promise you that.”

Raine looked over at Black Jack and nodded. “I’m holding you to that dad. I just can’t… no, I won’t survive without her or the kids in my life.” Then he remembered something and he looked over at Gambler. “Dusty might be one of this guy’s targets too. If he knows anything about Cricket, he might know how much she loves him.”

Gambler’s face went a bit pale. Then he nodded. “I’ll watch over Dusty.”

“You better because if he goes after him and Dusty gets hurt, she’s gonna clean your clock but good.” Deke shook his head. “For the first six years of his life, Dusty was all she had to call her own. She wasn’t his mama but that didn’t matter to her.”

“I know.” Gambler nodded. “She still watches over him like a hawk. Even though he’s my son, he was her son first. That girl is very loyal to those she loves. And he loves her just as much.”

Raine nodded. “Did you know that on the weekends they still go out to watch the night fade into the day?” He shook his head. “Most mornings I wake up and find them together on the patio. When we rebuilt the house after the fire, Mom reminded me to add the patio and I did.”

Gambler shook his head. “I didn’t know about that. He’s always home when I go to get him up for school. Hell, some mornings he’s even dressed, now I know why.”

“Yeah, so if he’s been watching her, this bastard would know about Dusty and their early morning visits,” Raine grumbled. “It sounds like he’s looking to find a way to scare her and that just ain’t gonna happen.”

Deke shook his head. “No, it isn’t. Like I said, I’ll reach out to her dad and let him know what’s going on.”

 “If he doesn’t step up for her now, he might not ever get the chance to again,” Sam said. “He and his friends will lose more than they realize, in the end. I’ll make sure of that.”

“If he doesn’t step up for her?” Deke scoffed at his dad. “Don’t say something like that Dad. The Jessins are dangerous. Don’t be digging holes again. ”

“You think I care?” Sam snarled. “Captain was always a good man then he went and got blown up. Only come to find out he didn’t die but he sure as hell turned his back on his daughters when he never came back for them, didn’t he? He let her believe he was dead. You tell me what kind of man does that?” Sam shook his head. “Cordy didn’t give a shit and Bane used her for his own reasons and that was bad enough, but what Orrin did? That was worse, much worse. I may not have been the best dad I could have been but I at least stepped up to prove myself. Orrin hasn’t even tried with her. ” He shook his head and said, “Let’s just hope he won’t waste his second chance to be in her life.”

Deke shook his head at Sam. “I better make that call and maybe he can tell us who this guy is and what his beef is.”

 

Chapter Two

Orrin was chuckling at a joke told around the table during lunch when his phone rang. He looked down at his phone and paused. Looking up at Bane, he answered the call, “Yo Deke, what’s up?”

“You can tell me just who the fucking hell is after your daughter.” Deke growled.

Orrin grimaced at his sharp tone and words then he put the call on speaker so everyone could hear it. Then he asked, “What the hell are you talking about? Who is after Cricket and why?”

“She got a letter today addressed to Cricket Tannis and it reads, “I finally found you. After all this time, I can get my revenge. Your dad took my little girl years ago and now I will take his, or maybe his grandchild? Who knows who it will be, or maybe all of you? He left me with nothing so maybe I’ll return the favor. See you soon darlin….” Deke then asked him, “Any ideas who or what the fuck he’s talking about?” 

Orrin gasped and went pale at the words Deke read to them. “Hell no, I have no fuckin’ idea who sent that. Is she okay?”

“What the hell do you think, motherfucker?” Deke gruffly replied. “No she not fuckin okay, she’s scared to death but not for herself, she’s worried about her children…”

“I’m on my way,” Orrin told him. “We’ll sort this out when I get there. You tell her I’m coming.”

“She needs you now more than ever, Captain,” Deke grumbled. “You ignored her most of her life but damn it, she needs you now and you better not disappoint her or I will tear you apart with my bare hands. Then if there is anything left of you, Raine will take over.” Deke ended the call.

Orrin scowled as he gazed down at his phone . “Where the hell does he get off thinking he can talk to me that way?” he growled.

“Probably because you left her behind and never told her you were still alive after you got blown up,” Bane dryly replied. “You let Cordy take her and finish raising her and that led her down a path she didn’t want to go.”

Orrin ‘s head snapped up and he glared at his brother. “I remember, asshole. But I also had my reasons for what I did.”

“Apparently, Deke doesn’t agree with you on that,” James quipped in his two cents.

Bane stared at Orrin. "I'm fond of Cricket. In fact, I admire that girl a helluva lot.”

Everyone in the room turned their heads to stare at him. Most of them wore stunned expressions.

Bane shrugged. “It can happen. Yeah, it’s rare but it can. But the person has to earn it and she sure as hell did. Loyal to the bone.” He looked over at Orrin. 

“Do you know who might have sent that letter to her?” Bastian asked Orrin.

Orrin took a deep breath and exhaled. “I think I might,” he admitted. “But I need to see the actual letter.”

Bane and Cane both stood from their seats. 

“You aren’t going into the lion’s den without me,” Bane stated.

“Or me,” Cane added. 

Sheba stood up now and said, “Or me either. I might not know your daughter and right now might not be the best time to get to know her but I’m your sister and I’m going too.”

Ari got to her feet. “If Sheba is going, then count me in too.” She shrugged. “Cricket’s my cousin at the very least.”

Frank also stood and said, “I’m going too. I need to protect my family, all of them and I’ve put off seeing Cricket again for too long.”

Orrin groaned. “We all can’t go,” he insisted.

“Why not?” Bane asked him. “This is our fight too. You can’t threaten one of us without threatening all of us. We stand together or we don’t stand at all.”

Orrin stared at all of them as he kept shaking his head. “Damn, let's go to Troy then and find out just what the hell is going on over there.”

“You’ll let us know right?” Bastian asked. “We might be able to help.”

Bane nodded. “We’ll let you know. We might need James to run this bastard down.”

James nodded.

Bane looked around and said, “Well leave in twenty minutes.” Then he walked down the hall to pack his bag. 

The others soon followed and twenty minutes later, they all met at the cars. Everyone got in. They drove down the driveway and out the front gate.

A couple of hours later they arrived at the Sin’s Bastards compound. They waited at the gatehouse to be cleared to go in. It took a few minutes, but the gate finally swung open. They headed over to Cricket’s house. When they arrived they saw everyone of the brothers there. Like 20 bikes sat out front.

 Orrin shook his head. “Kinda overkill isn’t it?”

“Not according to them,” Bane suggested. “I’ve noticed one thing about this group, you threaten one, you threaten them all, kind of like us. Cricket just got threatened.”

“Yeah, I get it already,” Orrin grumbled. “So let's go inside and figure this out.” He opened his car door and got out of the vehicle. 

Sam and Black Jack were standing outside.

 Black Jack narrowed his eyes at them as they got out of the three cars.

Both Sam and Black Jack stood there as if they were blocking the front door to protect Cricket from her family. 

Black Jack crossed his arms over his broad chest and growled, “You brought your whole family I see, or at least I’m assuming this is your family?”

Orrin nodded. "You already know my brothers. This is my sister Sheba, my niece Ari and my father Frank.”

Sam nodded at them but neither of them moved to allow the Jessin family inside.

Finally, Orrin said, “Are you going to let me see Cricket or what?”

Sam  growled. “Or what. We just want you and your family to know that we will protect that girl from anyone who wants to hurt her, even from you and yours if we need to. You’ve hurt that child too much already and the only reason we called you to begin with was to find out who the asswipe is that’s threatening her. We don’t really need you or the others to protect her.”

“I have a feeling you are gonna need us to find this asswipe.” Orrin growled. “And Cricket is my daughter, I have the right to be here for her.”

Black Jack kept glaring at him. “You should have protected her better when she was a kid too. Instead, you let her and us think you were dead for many years Captain.You let Cordy lead her into hell and didn’t even care enough to let her know you were still alive.” He shook his head. “She needed you man and you let her down, you let her down bad.”

Orrin got right up in the other man’s face as he retorted, “You think I don’t know that, Black Jack? You think I don’t regret walking away and staying out of her life? I didn’t know how bad she had it under Cordy or I would have stopped it. Cordy had been so young then. I never saw that cold evil in her when she was just a child. After I got blown up, I was out of it for a long time. I had no memory for a long ass time. A few years in fact. When pieces of it came back, Cordy and Cricket were gone and I no longer had any ties to the Satan’s Bastards. I let her go, thinking she was with the MC, that was on me.” He sighed hard. “You don’t know what all happened, so judging me won’t help here. But I’m here now and I won’t let her down again.”

“And we got his back in this,” Bane added.

Sam snarled at him as he showed how he felt about Bane right away. “You don’t get to talk to her or have her back after what you did to her either. You came here and threatened all of us to make her do something for you twice. Then you left her alone, and like her dad you left her thinking you were dead too. You are just as bad as your brother. She really doesn't need either of you morons.”

"Careful there, Bones," Bane warned him in a low tone.

“If this man who threatened her is who I think it is…” Orrin glared at the two angry men. “You are gonna need us to find him and put him down like the rabid dog he is, I need to see the letter he sent to her to be sure.”

“Deke read you what the letter said,” Sam replied.

Finally, Sheba spoke up as she looked exasperated. “Man, bitterness is one thing but why did this Deke call Orrin if you aren't going to let him in?”

The men all looked over at her.

Sam looked pissed at her remark and he opened his mouth to make a reply.

Bane raised his hand and gave him a warning, “I’d be careful what you say, Bones. This woman could kill you in a fucking blink of your eyes.”

Sam growled as he clenched his fists at his sides.

“You all need to cut this shit out,” Cane said. “This man is out there ready to hurt her. So let’s get past this, huh?”

Silence fell though Sam still looked pissed. Black Jack slowly shook his head.

“Deke read it to us but this bastard always signs his shit a certain way,” Orrin argued. “And I need to know if it’s him or not.” 

Deke and Gator joined them on the front stoop.

Silent, Deke then handed Orrin the letter. 

Orrin stared down at it. He read the words again and then he growled. “God damn it. How the hell did he find her?”

“How the hell did who find her?” Deke asked him. “Who are we dealing with here?”

Orrin nodded. “Someone I haven’t seen for about thirty years or so.” He looked over at Bane and said, “Someone from before I even met Grace.”

Bane snatched the letter from Orrin’s hands and he too read the words written there. Noticing right away what Orrin had, he growled out, “Z?”

Orrin nodded. “He always signed things with a swirling Z. For Zaracke. Ajaz Edmund Zaracke, the biggest asshole on the east coast.” He ran his hand over his head and griped, “How the hell did he find me after all these years? And how the hell did he connect Cricket to me?”

Bane shook his head and said, “That doesn’t matter, we have to find him and end him before he kills her, that’s all.”

Orrin shook his head. “And just how the hell do we find a dead man? A dead man who was lost and who was buried years ago.”

“Wait… what the hell are you saying?" Deke demanded. “Who the hell is this fucker?”

Orrin shook his head. “To explain that I think we should all go inside. I’m only ever going to tell anyone this once.”

Deke paused for a moment then he looked over at Sam and Black Jack. He could easily see they did not want Orrin here. He gave them a nod, letting them know he would allow them in. Then he turned to go back inside. 

Everyone followed him in.

 When they got inside the house, it was crowded and every member of the MC was glaring at the Jessin family. 

Sheba snorted and again, reminded them, “You all need to stop glaring daggers at us, we aren’t the enemy here. You called us, remember?”

Finally, Cricket asked, “Dad? What the hell are you doing here?”

Orrin turned around and saw her standing at the base of the stairway. 

Her eyes were red like she’d been crying and she was glaring at them all too.

“Deke called me in on this,” he replied. “I saw the letter and I know who wrote it. The rest of them came along to help.” Shaking his head he said, “I’m sorry baby girl, I thought this bastard was dead a long time ago.”

“Can you stop him?” Cricket asked. “I don’t want to die and I don’t want to bury any of my children either.”

“You won’t have to, sweet girl,” Orrin vowed. “I’ll take care of this.”

“We’ll take care of this.” Bane growled, including himself into the mix. “This bastard should have stayed dead.”

“Tell us about this Ajax Edmund Zaracke,” Deke said. 

Orrin shook his head. “In order for you to fully understand him, I have to go back about thirty years ago. That was the first time I met him. I was almost twenty years old and just getting started in a career that most people wouldn’t and didn’t understand. I didn’t really understand it myself but back then I learned from my grandfather Theo about how to blow things up with precision and I was very good at what I did. I grew up under his tutelage and he trained me well. He also trained Bane to become a killer because that was all he knew how to do.”

Deke and Sam both scoffed with disgust. 

Orrin held up his hand. “Don’t judge the man, you didn’t know him or my family back then. The Jessin name had been associated with that trade for a very long time. We go back to the days of being royal guards. All the way back to King Arthur and we were very good at what we did.”

“Just get on with it, will ya?” Black Jack snapped.

Frank, who’d not said a word this whole time, looked over at Black Jack and Sam as he said, “You don’t look like men who should be judging others for a wild or violent life.” He slowly gazed around at all the men in the room. “I won’t stand here and say what a virtuous family the Jessins are. But as the bible says…Cast that first stone, assholes and let’s see how many of you are without sin.”

 

Chapter Three

 

The men in the room looked disgruntled but they went quiet at least.

Frank motioned to Orrin. “Go ahead, son.”

Orrin crossed his arms over his chest and went on, “Anyway, I have two skills which I have perfected to a degree. I blow things up and I can break into anywhere and any safe I want to. I’d never killed anyone with my explosives, you understand. I was only damaging property. I didn’t want in on the hit man thing. Even at 25, I didn’t want to kill. So, I met Ajax on a job. Was a bank safe gig. He then contacted me sometime after that. He explained he was getting a divorce from his wife and he wanted me to blow up his house so she wouldn’t get it in the court judgment. He wanted it to look like a gas explosion, so I set it up. I watched the house for at least four hours. I waited some more and no one was around. Then just as I hit the remote, I saw a face in the window. It was his little girl. It was too late to save her. The entire house lay in ruins within minutes.” He slowly shook his head. “I don’t know how she came to still be there.”

Everyone in the room looked stunned.

“Man, it fucked my head up bad," Orrin looked upward as he spoke. "I had a hard time with it and I still do. Nightmares man. I still carry that guilt to this damn day. I will never get away from it.” He looked around. “So judge me for it if you want. I don’t fucking care." He let out a hard sigh and continued, "Well, the next morning, the news reported there were two bodies found inside the house. The child and her mother. I didn’t know it but Ajax had murdered his soon to be ex-wife and left her body in that house. What I cannot figure out is how he didn’t know that his child was in there as well.” 

Bane took over the story, “At that time, Orrin and I lived with Grandpa Theo. Ajax was livid and he blamed Orrin for fucking things up. He called Orrin in a fine rage about how his daughter had died and how could he fuck things up that bad. Orrin told him Ajax hired him to just blow up the place and he did what he was paid for. That it was Ajax’s job to make sure his daughter was safe. Orrin wasn’t hired to do that. Ajax then threatened Orrin, saying he was going to tell the police about Orrin’s explosives and such. That he had blown up the house. Orrin said he would make sure he informed the cops as to why he’d blown it up, but that there was no evidence left to show that he had ever been there.  Ajax clearly wasn’t thinking straight and in his grief and rage, he threatened to get revenge.”

Orrin continued the story, “He tried to get his money back but as soon as it came into the account I had set up, I transferred it to another account. So he couldn’t get it back. He had the money to try and hire someone to take me out but whoever he hired couldn’t find me or maybe never even tried. Bane had been getting well enough known by then that when any contractor heard his name, they didn’t want to make an enemy out of him. When Ajax couldn’t hire someone else to come after me, he tried himself. His rage and I think his guilt was making him insane and he was very dangerous for a while.”

“It all came to a head,” Bane said. “When Ajax found us on the highway. It turned into a high speed chase. We were traveling together one day when Ajax began playing bump and run with our cars. Grandpa Theo taught us to be as safe as possible so we armored our vehicles and Ajax was driving  a regular car.  He stood no chance but he sure tried. Rather than cause a major pileup, we took off at high speed. Orrin was a very skilled driver and he manipulated the chase. So we thought we’d left Ajax behind us. Then suddenly, he rammed our car. We spun out but so did he. Orrin got immediate control of the car. So when Ajax slammed into the bridge trusses, he crashed hard and there wasn’t much left of his car. We were able to drive away with barely any damage. We heard the next day that the driver perished when he hit the bridge and we thought it was over.”

“Until now.” Orrin growled.

Bane nodded. “Until now,” he repeated his brother’s statement. “We all have bad pasts. At least most of us do. Hell, I imagine that mine is much worse than anyone here. But one thing I do know is Orrin did not kill that little girl knowingly.” Then he looked around at all the faces in the room as if to challenge any of them to say differently. 

“But how did he know the Tannis name?” Cricket asked as she stared at her father. “I didn’t think you took that name until you and Mom were on the run from Bane.”

“Tannis was my professional name,” Orrin replied. “I didn’t want to use the Jessin name so I could avoid any blowback from being associated with Bane. We were two very different people in two very different careers.” Shaking his head he said, “How he found you using that name, I have no idea.”

“When was the last time you heard from this maniac?’ Sam wanted to know.

Orrin slowly shook his head. “I haven’t seen or heard from him since he hit that bridge. I kept an eye on the obits and his did come up. There was even speculation about the accident being not so much an accident but rather his attempt to commit suicide over the death of his daughter.”

“The police were also looking into his involvement regarding the explosion as well. It turned out they could prove his wife was dead before the explosion.” Bane shrugged.

“My job was to make the house unlivable,” Orrin explained. “I left it in ruins but apparently, her body was shielded enough that it was almost undamaged. Whereas his daughter was upstairs and she was killed when the building collapsed. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone there as far as I knew. Ajax assured me the house would be empty, but it wasn’t and I didn’t go inside to check. That was too risky.”

Deke shook his head as he said, “If you had checked the house, you would have found his wife’s body and realized you’d been set up. He wouldn’t have wanted that.”

Orrin nodded. “But according to the letter he sent Cricket, I took his daughter away from him and now he’s going to take mine.” He growled, “That just ain’t gonna happen.”

Sam snorted. “You didn’t kill his daughter, he did. He should have made sure she wasn’t in the house. He killed his wife and left her body there, thinking the explosion would be blamed for her death.” Sam shook his head then he glanced at Deke and Black Jack. “There’s something here that just doesn’t smell right though.” He now looked at Orrin to ask, “What else can you remember about that job?”

Orrin looked confused. “Like what?”

“I don’t know.” Sam shrugged. “Did he say anything about the divorce? About how she was trying to take him for all he was worth, or something stupid like that?”

Orrin shook his head. “No and I wouldn’t have cared one way or the other about that kind of shit. Didn’t know, didn’t care. None of my business.”

Black Jack nodded. “And that’s what he was counting on too.” He looked over at Sam and said, “I think we need to find out what we can about that divorce. And for once Bones, I think you’re right, something stinks here.” 

Sam rolled his eyes at the for once part. “Yeah, it stinks… kind of like a dirty rotten apple.”

Orrin glanced over at Bane, Cane, Ari and Sheba then he looked at Deke. “This all happened 24 years ago. And as I said before, his name is Ajax Edmund Zaracke. His wife’s name was Belinda Zaracke and his little girl’s name was Cassidy. They lived in Hanover, New York.”

Cane finally spoke up,  “We’ll have our IT people looking into it as well. Maybe what we don’t find you can and vice versa.”

“Dad,” Cricket spoke up now. “I need to know how he knew about me and why he wrote that letter to Cricket Tannis when I’ve been Cricket Moore for years now. How did he know who I was and where I was?”

“I’d like to know that as well,” Frank finally broke his silence. “I know damn well your grandfather taught you boys some of the same lessons he taught me.  One of those lessons was to hide your family from your clients and another was to keep a file of your clients. You know, names, dates, purpose of the connection. All that kind of stuff.”

Bane nodded “Yeah, he taught us that. It's something I still do today.” 

 Orrin shrugged. “I did at one time but that was a long time ago. A lifetime for me.”

“Yeah, for me too.” Bane reached into his pocket and brought out a flash drive USB. “ But I put all my paper files on flash drives years ago. I also did the same with yours.”  He handed it to Orrin. “I went and put it all on one drive. I thought we might need it today.”

“Well hell, let's see what your files can tell us,” Sam stated.

Cricket sat down and got her laptop up and running.

 Orrin plugged the flash drive in. 

Cricket located the Zaracke file and waited for it to open. Along with the information, this included pictures of the house, both before and after the blast that he had taken. 

Orrin glanced up at Bane.

He shrugged. “Meticulous just like Grandpa Theo was.”

Orrin smirked. “You had to really do some looking to get the photographs too.”

Deke and Sam looked over Cricket’s shoulder and they read the information collected on the Zaracke family. They then moved over to allow others to do the same.

Frank stared at the image of the house and asked, “Where did you see the little girl before the blast?”

Orrin studied the image then pointed to a window on the second floor. “I saw her face here. She looked so scared but it was too late to try and save her. The blast happened seconds after I saw her and I was standing too close. I had to flee or get caught up in the blast. I escaped but then when I was hidden in the shadows, I saw Ajax’s vehicle pull up. I saw him struggle to get out of the car and he just stared at the ruined house.” Orrin shook his head. “The thing that struck me as weird at the time was that he didn’t look like he gave a shit about the house. He almost had a satisfied look on his face.”

Sam snorted, then said, “Well, of course he did, son. If he killed his wife, the blast would have hidden that fact, wouldn’t it? The real question here is did he mean for his daughter to die in that blast or was she caught in it by accident?”

“And was there any insurance money in play here?” Black Jack asked. “Was the murder of his soon to be ex wife really supposed to be considered an accident? What about the daughter? Was there any insurance on her?”

Orrin just shook his head. “I don’t know, it wasn’t my business to know any of that crap.”

Bane scoffed. “Maybe it should have been. I always dig into the reasons why these people hired me. Call it curiosity but I had to know why. It also saved my ass a few times. ”

“Maybe we should find out now,” Deke suggested. “We need to put the pieces of this puzzle together and protect Cricket. We need to know everything as every little detail is important.”

Bane nodded then texted James to find out what he could about Ajax. Also, to check for any insurance payouts on the wife and the daughter. 

Deke nodded at his IT man and said, “Zipper will do the same on this end. Together, they might find the truth.” 

Sam growled, “We need to move quick and quiet and be on our toes to flush out this monster. He’s already told us he’s watching her, now we have to make him think he can get to her. That’s when we make our move. We catch him with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak and that’s when we slap his hand and we slap it hard.”

“We’re gonna do more than just slap his hand.” Frank growled. “I’m gonna cut it off and use it to beat him to death. I may not have been around when she was growing up but she’s my granddaughter and I’ll protect her now.”

Raine shook his head as he stared at him then looked over at Orrin. “Might be too little, too late for that.”

Frank glared at him then shook his head. “You may think that young man but I’ve been watching over her since I knew about her. Personally, I had to stay away for this long. But don’t you doubt that I had people looking out for her. There was danger out there for me and my family. They wanted us gone and I couldn’t and wouldn’t risk Cricket or Dusty either. I know she felt alone but she never really was. I had my Knights watching over her and her family.”

Cricket’s head snapped up and she grabbed her phone then scrolled on it for a minute or two. “Ok, that might explain this.” Standing from her chair, she went over to her grandfather to show him a picture on her cell. “Is this one of your Knights?”

Frank stared at her and gazed down at the photo. He glanced at Orrin and Bane then back up at Cricket. “No baby girl, that's not one of the men I had watching you. I’ve never seen him before.”

Orrin hissed then reached for the phone. He stared at the man in the picture. “Damn him all to hell,” he swore.

“You know him?” Cane asked.

Orrin raised his head and nodded. “Yeah brother, I know this fuckwad. It’s Ajax Edmund Zaracke.”

 

Chapter four

 

Orrin nodded. “He’s thirty years older in this photo but that’s him. I would know that man’s face any time, anywhere.” He looked over at his daughter. “Where and when did you take this picture?”

“Three weeks ago,” Cricket replied. “But I’d seen him before. I thought he was following me for the last month or so. You know that creepy feeling you get when you feel eyes on you the moment you step outside? That’s the feeling I got every time I left the compound. I caught this guy following me around town several times in the last month.”

“Damn, that’s bold,” Bane observed. “It’s like he wants to get caught.”

Frank paused at his oldest son’s words. The more he thought about it the more it made sense. “But why? Why would he want to get caught?”

Bane and Orrin shrugged. 

Sheba gave her two cents, “Maybe he thought you guys wouldn’t recognize him after all this time. And since he was supposed to be dead already, he believed you wouldn’t see that he was really alive and kicking.”

“Or maybe this is a ruse to draw you out, Orrin,” Ari suggested. “Maybe he couldn’t find you any other way and decided to threaten your daughter. Like bring you out of the shadows to protect your own.”

Orrin shook his head. “But he never knew about Cricket or Cordy. I made sure of that.”

Cricket looked up and told him softly, “You may have protected us but Cordy never did. She often told people she was me. She openly spread our family name around, Dad. She didn’t hide us at all. In fact, there were police stations, gangs, MC’s that knew our names well at times. All over the country. You see, she burned bridges for a living.”

Orrin stared at her while shaking his head. "What do you mean by that?”

Cricket let out a sigh and explained the awful truth, "She was always scheming. Mostly about how to steal. And mostly to steal money directly from a bad source.”

“A bad source?” Cane asked.

“Yeah, like drug dealers,” Cricket went on. “Criminals, bad MC presidents, scumbags she would sleep with. Then before she left town with her ill gotten gains, she would make sure they thought she was Cricket Tannis. So if anything went wrong in her stealing someone’s money schemes, I would take the blame leaving her to skip off with no backlash. And believe me when I say, she would have fit right in with what Bane was doing back then.” She paused to look at him. “Sorry Uncle, but you were like the walking dead with no soul.”

Bane looked at her and shrugged. “And that is the truth, little girl. Go on.”

Cricket went on, “Cordy only looked after herself, she just didn’t care about anyone else, not even her own son.” She shook her head. “When she realized she was pregnant, she wanted to abort him, but I talked her out of it. That's when she knew I would always be there for her to use and abuse. We made a deal, she would have the baby and I would take care of him. She knew I would love him and I did. She then used him against me every time she could. I think one of the hardest things in my life was giving Dusty up after I got here, but it was the right thing to do. I know that day about killed me but he had a right to know his dad and his family. I had to do the right thing, for Dusty.”

“And you did,” Gambler assured her. 

Black Jack nodded. "You gave us more joy than you know, girl."

Cricket wiped her tears away. “But doing that ripped my heart out. The only good thing I had in my life at that time was Raine and Dusty. When Raine and I got together... for the first time since my mom died, I was whole again.” She looked over at Orrin. “When Mom died, I think a huge part of you did too. You just didn’t care anymore about me or Cordy. You turned to your work instead of your family and you did your thing. I was barely hanging on but you never noticed that. Cordy was going wild and you never noticed that either. Those years with Cordy left me with nothing but Dusty and I hung on for him. Now I have a good life. I have babies of my own to love… those babies and Raine are my life. If I have to, I will give him what he wants but I won’t go down alone. I’ll take that motherfucker with me to protect my family.”

“The hell you will.” Bane growled. “Zaracke won’t even get close to you Cricket, we'll make sure of that.”

“Damn right we will,” Orrin added as he looked angry.

 Deke, Sam and Black Jack all looked angry with him.

 “We got your back too, sweetheart,” Black Jack assured her.

Cricket nodded at them all. “I believe in you guys, but I’m also warning you that I can and will protect myself and my babies. All four of them. I’m not as weak as I once was. Living with Raine and the MC has taught me that much. This monster thinks he can scare me? Well, he has but if you don’t get him, I will. No one, not this Ajax or anyone else threatens my family.” Cricket then turned and walked to the stairway proudly, almost regally. 

After she left, the room went silent for a couple of minutes. 

Finally, Sheba broke the silence when she shook her head and said, “Damn, I wanna be like her when I grow up.”

Ari chuckled softly. “Look out Zaracke, you woke up a very angry mama bear. If anyone is dangerous right now, it would be that woman.”

Raine looked over at her and Sheba. “She isn’t alone anymore. She’s got me at her back.”

Orrin just stood there and stared at the now empty staircase. He felt so alone at the moment and the room was full of people. But he still felt alone, his daughter’s words stuck him hard. He finally realized just how bad he’d fucked up when he finally remembered who he was but still walked away from his daughter and then let her believe he was dead all those years. He thought he was protecting her but he didn’t. He was protecting himself from caring about another human being, his own flesh and blood. Maybe he was more like Bane than he realized. “She’s got me as well,” Orrin vowed. “I know I fucked up bad all those years ago. I won’t excuse it because after a year of being injured and having lost my memory, I did remember my life and I never went after my daughter. But I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere.”

“We aren’t going anywhere either, brother,” Cane spoke up.

Bane gave him a nod. “You have your family backing you now.”

Sheba snorted. “We aren’t going anywhere either, except on the hunt for this asshat. He thinks he can’t be found? We’re gonna show him he can’t find a rock big enough to hide under.”

“I have a whole network of Knights out there as well,” Frank added. “I was never able to help any of you before. But I sure as hell can now. I will call them in to hunt this bastard down. Zaracke can’t hide in the shadows anymore. We will drag him out into the light.” 

~*~

Sam looked over at Black Jack.

He seemed to be studying all the Jessins. He literally knew zip about them as far as Sam knew. Black Jack snorted and shook his head but listened to their plans to find Zaracke.

Yes, they had to find the man but more importantly, they needed to understand the why of this situation. They needed more information about what really happened all those years years ago when that house blew up. 

Sam walked over to where Zipper had his laptop set up. “Zip, we need to understand what This guy's frame of mind was back in the day. Something stinks here and I want to know more about the why. There’s just something off about this threat. The man is too fucking bold for one thing. For another, he must be stupid to threaten someone with the backing our Cricket has. Does he think he’s taking on some girl with no family?” Sam scoffed. “Either he’s as dumb as a fucking rock or he’s lying. I mean who the hell knows what he’s got in mind, but I don’t like having all these unanswered questions.”

Zipper nodded. “I’ll see what I can find, Bones.” He looked over at the Jessins and commented, quietly “I don’t like them being here either.”

“I don’t care for it myself but we need them in on this.” Sam sighed. “Cricket is one of us and has been for a long time. We can’t keep them out. She’s also Captain’s daughter. ”

Zipper glanced over at Sam and grumbled, “That doesn’t nearly make up enough for what he did to her. Not by a long shot.”

Sam nodded. “I know but we need everyone on this. It’s a dangerous time. She needs him now. Hey, I’ve fucked up with my kids, but I’ve tried to correct that. Maybe he can do that too? We have to wait and see what goes down before we turn him away.”

Zipper snorted. “Oh, yeah? Well, let me know when you decide to tell the likes of Bane Jessin he isn’t welcome here. As I recall, it didn’t work out so well the last time we told him that.”

Sam just snorted. “It ain’t Bane I worry about but his sister, that woman looks dangerous and she moves like a killer- soldier. I’m sure she’s as bad as he is.”

“You would be right about that, Mr. Bones,” a female voice whispered into his ear from behind him. 

Sam paled as he closed his eyes and shivered at the sound of her whisper. He swallowed hard then slowly turned around to face her. 

Sheba glared at him and spoke softly but succinctly, “You don’t even know me, so by what right do you get to judge me or mine?”

“I’m not judging anyone here,” Sam told her softly. “I’m glad for once that Orrin is stepping up for his daughter and I know a little bit about Bane. But I don’t know the rest of you yet. I’m just sayin.”

Sheba nodded. “Seems reasonable but maybe you should know a little something about me and Ari. We weren’t raised with the rest of our family. Dear old mom sold me to an academy that trained me to become an assassin when I was very young. Ari’s dad, my uncle, being my mother’s brother, did the same to her. We attended sister academies and we got very far in our studies. Graduating with honors, so to speak." She gave him a cold grin. "My family knows my background and now so do you and yours. Just sayin.” With that, she turned and made her way back across the room to her family.

Sam slowly turned his head to stare at Zipper.

 The Sin's IT had gone a bit pale and looked gobsmacked for a moment. “Holy shit, that woman is terrifying. Did you see that look in her eyes? I wouldn’t want to be anyone she’s hunting, that’s for damn sure.” Zipper shook his head and went back to his computer searches. 

Sam headed over to Deke as he kept looking around nervously.

 Deke stared at his dad and asked, “What did you do now, Bones?”

“Not a fuckin’ thing,” Sam protested. “But just so you know… that Sheba woman and her cousin are dangerous. And boy, for the love of God, please don’t piss them off. You wouldn’t survive the encounter and I kinda like having you around.”

Deke just shook his head at his dad then slowly looked over at Sheba and Ari. Glancing up at Raine and Black Jack he shrugged at them.

With a whistle, Zipper gave them all a heads up. “I think I might have something here,” he called out.

Walking over to his table, Deke asked him, “What did you find?” 

Zipper stared at his screen as he explained what he’d found, “Ajax Edmund Zaracke cashed in on two life insurance policies after his wife and daughter were blown up in the explosion that wrecked their home. It seems the police blamed the LP company for installing a defective main line when they did maintenance a week before the explosion. The company was ordered to pay out a million five in restitution and then the insurance company paid out five million for the wife and three million for the daughter. That’s almost ten million dollars in total.” He finally gazed up at Deke, “That sly fucker. We knew the wife was dead before Orrin blew the house but he killed his daughter on purpose too. At least, that’s what this looks like.”

 

Chapter five

Deke agreed as he looked disgusted, “Yeah, it is beginning to look like it.”

 Orrin turned to Zipper and asked, “Do you have a picture of the daughter?”

Zipper paused and looked into the file. He found a picture of both the wife and the daughter. “Yeah, I found one.”

 Orrin came over and studied the photo of the daughter for a long moment, then he shook his head. He looked over at Bane and snarled, “That’s not the face of the little girl I saw in the upstairs window that night.”

Bane cocked his head at him and looked over at Cane, then back at Orrin. “Are you sure? It's been years since this happened.”

Orrin ran his hands over his head and glared at his brother. “Would you be able to forget the face of  a child you saw before an explosion you set?”

Bane started to shake his head then he paused to ask, “Are you sure it's not her?”

Orrin nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. The little girl I saw that night was younger than this at that time. She had blonde hair but it was short, curly and this little girl has long blonde hair and the shape of her face is different, it wasn’t like this little girl’s.”

Bane looked over at his dad and the other men standing there. “What the hell is going on here? If Ajax’s daughter didn’t die in that explosion, who did?”

“Another mystery here is didn’t Ajax die in that bridge collision,” Ari stated as she looked around at them all as well. “You know, when he came after Orrin and you? How is it that he’s still alive if the person who collided with those pylons was killed outright?” 

Zipper brought up the newspaper article about the accident to read the details out loud to the group,  “A tragic accident resulted in a death on the 10 today when a hit and run vehicle bounced off another car and impacted directly with the tresses of the bridge. The car was demolished and the driver lost his life as the car burst into flames upon hitting the cement pillars there. The vehicle was registered to Ajax Zaracke and it is assumed that Zaracke was the driver.”

The whole room remained silent when his voice faded away as everyone thought about the report. 

Finally, Frank cleared his throat and said, “That son of a bitch. So he replaced himself and his daughter with other victims? ”

Cane nodded. “We wouldn’t be standing here now if it had been him that had died. Someone other than Zaracke was driving that car. Zaracke never came forward to the police to tell them he was still alive.”

“I wonder who died in his stead?” Ari wondered out loud. “I mean how would he have gotten his car in the first place?”

Orrin shook his head. “When he hit the car, I had to concentrate on driving. He was coming in hard and strong, hoping to wreck us.”

Bane nodded. “Yeah, he was good but thank fuck, Orrin was better. I thought about taking out a tire with a bullet but there was other traffic.”

Orrin shook his head. “Zaracke let that man be buried under his name.” Then he paused and glanced over at Zipper, “Wait, was this before or after he collected the insurance money?”

Zipper flipped back a few clicks and stated, “Three weeks after he collected the money.”

Orrin slowly turned his head to stare at Bane. “That lousy fucking faker. He collected the money then he tried to take us both out. He had to tie up all his loose ends and we were free rope in his way.”

Bane snarled and curled his hands into fists. “Fucking hell.” He turned to glare at Zipper and told him, “Find out as much as you can about what the fuck this pissant has been doing all these years. Dig as deep as you need to go but find us some answers.”

Zipper stayed silent as he gave him a nod.

Bane took his cell out and called James, “I need you to find Ajax Edmund Zaracke. Go back maybe two decades or more and I need this info like yesterday. Get Damon and Excaliber to help you but I need to know where he went and how he’s been living all these years. I also need to know if anyone has been with him over the years, such as a young child or a young woman. Find him and find him quickly. We know he got almost ten million from insurance policies on his wife and daughter from that damn explosion but Orrin says it wasn’t his daughter that died that night. We need to find out who was in that bedroom.”

James had listened and then said, “Well, shit. That's a lot of new facts, Bane. I thought you said this guy was dead? He died in that hit and run on you both on the highway.”

“No, it seems he wasn’t behind the wheel,” Bane informed him. “It was his car alright, but Zaracke was not driving it. Cricket took a picture of the man stalking her and Orrin identified him as Zaracke. Many years older than the last time he saw him but it was Zaracke. So we know that jackoff is alive.” 

“Well fuck, that sucks,” James said. “He fooled the whole world. That takes some balls, man.”

“Maybe but now we are going to fool him right fuckin’ back,” Bane gritted. “Find out what he’s been doing and where.”

“I am so glad you still need me.” He chuckled. “You got it, big guy.” James ended the call.

Bane glared down at his phone and growled. “I hate it when he does that.”

“Does what?” Cane laughed. “Like when he gets all sincere and shit?”

Bane scoffed.

Frank shook his head. “Never mind James’s little quirks, boys. We need to figure out where this monster has been and what he’s been up to all these years. Then discover if his daughter is still alive or what happened to her.”

Sheba cut in to ask, “His daughter?” she asked.

Frank nodded at her and explained, “Sure, this whole thing was supposed to be about him getting revenge for her death. Well, he faked her death. So he had to do that for a reason.  But he also collected her life insurance as well. He put another little girl in her place... that’s what we are assuming, right? We have to figure out why and if she’s still alive, where the hell is she? Is she still with him? She would be a fully grown woman by now.”

“Maybe we should get Cassie’s friends looking for this creep,” Deke suggested. “If he’s so bold that he’s right here in town, they can find him. They can tell us where he is and if there is anyone with him.”

 “I forgot about Cassie’s little network of vets and homeless people,” Bane said.

Deke snorted. “Don’t knock them, they have saved our bacon on more than one occasion.”

Bane shook his head. “Not knocking them, quite the contrary. We need all the help we can get on this mission.”

“I’ve called in my Knights as well,” Frank told the group. “The sooner this is settled the better for everyone.” 

“First thing we do is start a timeline,” Sheba suggested. “We can fill it in as we go and maybe by the time we get the dates in, we can find out the why’s and who’s as we go along.”

Ari nodded and looked over at Zipper. "Hey…IT guy.”

He glanced up at her.

“You guys got an old fashioned white board?" Ari asked him. "So we can get this all into some kind of timeline and perspective.”

Zipper grinned at her. “Sure, I got one of those and a chalkboard too. I love those things. So cool. It’s like CSI or something.” He stood and headed away.

Sheba and Ari watched him leave, then they glanced at each other.

Sheba looked over at Deke and said, “Your tech guy. He reminds us of someone. Does he have a long lost brother?”

Bane snorted as he got the reference right away.

Cane chuckled as he explained to Deke, “Your man Zipper reminds us a bit of James.”

Deke shrugged. “He's been with us a long time, never asked him about a brother. Smart as fuck though, quick at everything he does and yeah… despite the extremely high IQ, he can be a little odd.”

Bane smirked. “Just a little?” He shook his head. “They can’t be related then.”

Cane, Sheba, Ari and Bane, all snickered a bit.

Frank shook his head at the inside joke.

 ~*~

Gambler cocked his head at them, studying them for a minute.Then he glanced over at the clock and said, “It's almost time for Dusty to get out of school. I’ll go out to the front gate and wait for him to get here. Today is one of his visits with Cricket.” He looked over at Deke. “Then I think we should go on lockdown.”

Deke nodded. “It’s already locked down, man. And we will remain in lockdown until we catch this fucker.”

Gambler gave him a nod then walked out of Raine’s house and made his way to the front gate. Wiley and two others were there. “Have you seen anyone near here just watching the compound?” he asked.

Wiley shook his head, then he turned his head and looked to the left of the fence line. “I haven’t seen anyone but I’ve been getting the creepy feeling someone is watching us.”

Gambler felt unsettled by his news. Just then, he saw the school bus coming.

 It slowed down then stopped and let off the kids. Dusty wasn’t alone when he got off the bus, as Alina, Benny, Jacky, Sam and Jemmia also exited it. 

Gambler hurried them all inside the fence and then watched as the prospect  with Wiley closed and locked the gates.

All the other kids separated and went to their own houses.

He kept Dusty with him. They walked back over to Raine and Cricket’s house together. 

Dusty turned to his dad and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you here today?” Then he slowed his walking as he caught sight of Cricket's place. There were a multitude of cycles and SUVs parked out front.  “And why is everyone and his brother here?”

Gambler stopped and turned to his son, at only eleven he was almost grown up now. So Gambler decided to tell him as much of the truth as he could. He placed his hand on Dusty’s shoulder and said, “Son, your Cricket is in a bit of trouble right now and we have to help her. Not only are the rest of the club around here but so is her dad and his family. You haven’t met them yet but I think it's about time you did. We all have to help Cricket and she’s gonna need your help too. Can you be there for her?”

Dusty growled under his breath. His knuckles went white while he gripped his backpack straps.

 Gambler recognized the sound he made, it was one he often himself made when he was upset. The look on his face was familiar too.

 “Heck yeah, I can be there for her,” Dusty stated. “You’re my dad but she’s the closest thing I had to a mom when I was little. I will always stand with her. What kind of trouble is she in?”

Gambler sighed hard and tried to explain it in a nutshell, “Someone in your Grandpa Orrin’s life, who they thought was dead years ago has come back and he told her that your grandpa took his little girl away years ago. So he has threatened that Orrin would lose his little girl too. We’re all here to find out what is really happening. We are still digging for information. But right now, Cricket needs us. Even if you only listen, she needs somebody to believe in her and she turns to you every time. This is very grown up stuff but you’re grown up enough to be there for her.”

Dusty nodded as he looked intense over this news. “Dang right, she’s been there for me…If it hadn’t been for her, I never would have been born, let alone grown up. You know I love you being my dad and I love Paige too. But Cricket was my mom for like almost seven years of my life. Then when you came into the picture, she stepped aside and then again when you married Paige. She stepped aside but she never stepped away.”

 Gambler nodded as he reasoned, “She was always there watching over you but she let us make our own mistakes while we were learning to live together as a family. She is a good person.”

Dusty nodded. “She’s the best, Dad. I know she told me more than once after we got together that I had to give you time to discover my awesomeness.” 

Gambler chuckled. “And so we have, Mr. Awesomeness.”

Dusty smiled back at him then he sobered again. “I will protect her with everything I got, Dad,” he assured him. “Let’s go find my Cricket.”

They walked the rest of the way to the house.

When they got inside, Dusty looked around at the number of people standing there. 

Orrin, Bane, Cane and Frank stood there while staring back at him. 

Dusty froze then looked up at his dad. “Where is Cricket?” he asked softly. 

“I think she went upstairs.” Gambler nodded at him. 

Dusty dropped his backpack and headed for the stairs. 

Cricket appeared at the top of the steps and when she saw him, she called out, “Dusty.” She opened her arms.

Dusty flew up the stairs and into her embrace. They turned and walked down the hall, disappearing from view.

When they disappeared, Sheba asked, “Who’s the kid?”

“That’s Cordy’s son,” Bane told her softly.

Looking puzzled, Sheba and Ari snapped their heads in his direction.

 “Cordy?” Sheba asked. “Your daughter?”

Orrin nodded as he explained it, “Yeah, Cordy was his daughter but he never knew it. I raised her until Grace died and then I fucked up and left the girls alone too much. So when I got blown up, Cordy took Cricket and disappeared. Then they ended up here. ”

Sheba and Ari looked from him to Bane.

“You are a grandpa and you never told us?” Sheba asked.

Everyone in the room stared at Bane.

 

Chapter Six

Bane shrugged. “Yeah, I have a grandson, but he doesn’t know it yet and I doubt he ever will. I didn’t have anything to do with his mother because Orrin and Grace raised her. He has no idea who I am and that’s fine, he doesn’t need to know me. I am hoping one day he might but that is not today or even tomorrow.” He shrugged. “Maybe he’ll reach out when he’s older and can understand the situation more to my benefit. I didn’t know his mother at all, so I can’t lay claim to him anyway. Cricket raised him and she did a fine job. I can’t and won’t ruin that for him.”

Sheba and Ari shook their heads while wearing disapproving expressions.

“What?” Bane asked them.

“Secrets like that aren't good,” Ari said.

Sheba nodded. “We never knew where we came from and who our family was. As a kid, it means more than it does when you’re an adult.”

Ari agreed, “And he looks like a smart kid.”

Bane stared at them and replied, “I don’t want to mess his head up.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t make myself known to Cricket and the boy,” Frank grumbled. “Cricket and Cordy were both my granddaughters.” 

Cane nodded. “But not today, maybe when this is over. Ok, Dad?”

Frank nodded back at him. “I agree, it wouldn’t be appropriate right now.”

Black Jack growled as he crossed his arms over his chest and just glared at them. Standing next to him, Raine did the same thing.

In return, the Jessins glared back at them.

They were at a standoff when James pinged Bane with a message.

Bane reached for his phone, read the message and shook his head, “Damn, James just came through for us. He says, Ajax has been very busy in the last twenty years. We all need to hear this.” Bane called him back. When the phone was picked up on the other end, Bane put the call on speaker, “Ok James, what did you guys find?”

“Holy hell brother, what didn’t I find?” James scoffed. “Ajax Edmund Zaracke immediately joined up with a group of other men. He started running guns and other contraband under the guise of shipping household goods under the label of Banderize Enterprises. When they got the money they needed, they built up an Import/Export company as well. After several righteous shipments, they spanned out and got involved in a smuggling ring that went international. Again, under the Banderize name. Interpol didn’t catch on for many years but this group got very rich with each shipment. Four years ago, they got busted and three of the four went to prison for many years. Only Ajax got away because he didn’t trust the others and he left just minutes before they got busted. He went underground and has been moving around under the name of Raul Conrad. He’s back in New York to find someone but he’s not saying who that someone is. My guess and it's only a guess mind you, but I think he’s after his daughter. The one that didn’t die in the house that day. But she doesn't want to be found and I don’t blame her. We did some checking on her too and we found the place she grew up in. And let me tell you, the place was an absolute nightmare. He sent her to an orphanage noted to be nothing more than a house of torture and pain.” Each remark James made was dripping with scorn and condemnation. He went on explaining, “She finally ran away at fifteen and no one has seen her since. She’s still in hiding and I would be too if he was looking for me. That fucker sure didn’t care what happened to her after he collected her insurance money.” James' voice finally faded.

“What name did he use for her when put her in that place?” Cane wanted to know. 

“Lilith Conrad,” James replied.

“See what you can find under that name, she may still be using it,” Cane told him.

Sheba shook her head and cut in, “No, she wouldn’t.”

Cane looked over at her to ask, “Why not?”

“Because she wouldn’t want to remember those years. She would have renamed herself. I would look for some name that meant something to her, what was her mother’s name? Belinda? I would look for someone with that name. I don’t think she would use her father’s name at all. Maybe her mother’s maiden name?”

Zipper shook his head as he spoke up, “That’s where Ajax got Conrad from. So I doubt she would use that name either.” He shrugged. 

Orrin looked around at people in the room as he asked, “So who was the little girl who died in that  house? See if you can find out her name and who she was.”

James just snorted on the other end of the line. “And just how do I do that, Orrin? His daughter was supposed to have died, not some unknown little girl.”

“There has to be something out there that can tell us who she was,” Bane suggested. “Check milk cartons if you have to, just find out who she was.”

 James chuckled and asked, “Milk cartons?”

 “Sure,” Bane replied.

“They don’t do that anymore, Bane,” James corrected him. “Like are you living in the days of the Brady Bunch or what? We have Amber Alerts now.”

“The missing children database,” Zipper said.

“Exactly,” James said. “You’re Zipper correct?” he asked over the speaker phone.

“I am,” he answered.

“I’m glad they have someone there that has some IQ,” James said.

Zipper laughed.

The men in the room all looked a bit insulted as they gazed over at him.

Zipper lowered his gaze to his laptop screen.

“Well, she wouldn’t be a child anymore,” Orrin said. “She’s now a grown woman.”

“How would that help to find the real daughter?” Black Jack asked.

“Every detail is needed,” Cane explained. “It leads to other facts and then we might find out a lot more.”

“A trail?” Black Jack offered.

Cane nodded. “I’ve spent years on trails,” he referred to his time as a cop.

“Yeah, we need a trail right about now,” James commented over the speaker. “Hey Zipper, I think I got your URL. We’ll communicate that way. I'll loop you into my chat link.”

Zipper paused and asked, “You fucking got my URL?”

“Hell yeah, and your email addy,” James replied smugly. “But I have to confess that Rainey got it for me.”

“Rainey?” Zipper asked as he looked curious.

“Yeah, Excaliber,” Frank said. “Maybe the best IT anywhere.”

“Maybe,” Deke said. “But there’s Baby Girl and we have never known any better.”

“Trudy, right?” Bane asked.

Deke nodded.

“Ok, we’ll get back with you all soon,” James stated and ended the call.

Deke just shook his head. “So he saved his daughter then stuck her somewhere she would surely suffer. What kind of man would do that?”

Sheba shivered and Ari looked down at the floor.

Bane watched them both. They knew this subject too well, unfortunately. 

“A monster,” Ari whispered softly. She glanced at Sheba and then over to Deke. “A true monster, any father or a mother who is supposed to love their children and don’t. Monsters. A man who turned his back on her from day one and never cared about her after he left her there. I pray for her that she’s found some sense of a good life after she left that place.”

 Sheba nodded. “I don’t know if that little girl had anyone who really cared for her.”

 “It's hard to make your way in this world all alone but it can be done.” Ari sighed.

Zipper looked up from his laptop and said, “I might have found the little girl.” 

Deke turned toward him and asked, “How did you find her?”

“I looked for any photos with Ajax’s family. There was one for his little girl’s birthday party. The other little girl is there along with her parents.” He looked over at Bane and Orrin. “Did you guys see the driver of the other car who tried to hit and run you?”

Bane nodded. “I did but I thought it was Ajax. At least, that’s who Orrin said it was.”

“I saw the car and it was the same one that he drove the night I blew up his house,” Orrin stated. “I didn’t bother looking at the driver.”

Bane walked over and stared at the laptop screen. He studied the photo of the family and nodded. “That’s the driver.”

Zipper looked over at Deke and explained, “This man is Ajax’s half brother Zane Lomand. His daughter’s name was Lydia Grace.”

Bane grabbed his phone to text the name to James. ‘Try Lydia Grace or perhaps Lomand.’ He then glanced over at Zipper and asked, “Check under the name of Lydia Grace Lomand.”

Zipper nodded and began to type again.

Bane looked up at Orrin then over at Deke. “So Ajax allowed his half brother’s daughter to die in  that explosion.” Shaking his head he growled, “He knew she would be mistaken for his daughter. He received the insurance check for her under his daughter’s name.”

Black Jack growled, “He’s a liar and a cheat. Two things a man can’t allow himself to be and still have any self respect left.”

 “It sounds like Ajax was only after the gold or the green,” Cane suggested.

“I don’t really care what he’s after.” Raine snarled. “He isn’t going to come after my family, my wife or my kids.”

“And I’ll be damned if he gets to Dusty to hurt Cricket,” Gambler snapped.

“Oh, hell no.” Frank growled.

More men growled and were muttering expletives. The room grew loud with a mob mentality to it.

Sheba held her hands up and let out a sharp whistle. “Hold on here. Let’s start back at the top again. Tuck your junk back in your pants and let's think about this clearly. The threat is against Cricket and her family. Now granted, that does include Dusty. So we have to watch over him as well but come on people, if he really wants her he will find a way to get to her. That’s what we have to stop.”

“We also have to realize he might just come straight here. Maybe use a distraction in order to get in here,” Ari pointed out.

Deke stared at her and asked, “What kind of distraction?”

Ari shrugged. “Hell man, I don’t know. Set a fire maybe or shoot up the place. It wouldn’t even have to be inside the compound, it could be outside. You guys have a bunch of businesses in town, right? Maybe he’ll hit one of them, thinking you’ll rush out of here in a hurry and leave the front gate open, I don’t know. But it's always a possibility.”

Sam nodded. “She’s got a point. That could happen and we would rush off to see the damage.”

Deke scoffed as he shook his head at the pair of hit girls. “This isn’t our first rodeo, ya know?”

Sam shook his head as he answered this, “No, it ain’t. But I suggest we get Amos and his group to watch over the businesses. Then we can watch over the compound. Those men are very trustworthy and they will like the fact that we thought of them first.”

Deke ran his hands over the back of his head. “Damn it, Bones.”

“Oh, come on boy, you know I’m right.” Sam crossed his arms over his chest.

“I know it but I don’t have to like it.” Deke growled back.

“We’ve got a full working crew too,” Black Jack commented. “We can spread our men around and have them protect the projects we got working too.”

Deke looked over at Gator and suggested, “Get the brothers back here with their families and we’ll have enough people to watch over everyone.”  

Gator nodded. “At least we got enough men at Redemption House to watch out for any trouble there.”

“And they have enough guys to search under every stone and rock big enough to find Ajax,” Deke agreed as picked his phone up. 

Quietly, Cricket came into the room and sat at a table in the corner.

Raine went over to her. “You okay, babe?”

“Yes, as good as I can be. Dusty’s with Reva and the triplets love him as you know.”

“Oh, I know.” He smiled then sat next to her.

“I just wanted to see what was going on down here,” she said.

He took her hand in his and held it. They both looked around the room.

Frank and Orrin moved over to look at Zipper’s screen to see the pictures there.

Sam and Blackjack were discussing some of the places where guards need to be posted.

Sheba and Ari talked together in low tones.

Bane stared at them both. He knew they had their own ways, stubborn ass girls. But hell, maybe they were coming up with another great idea. He had to hand them that. They were excellent strategists. They had been taught that as an actual skill though, like normal students were taught math at an average school.

After his call, Deke looked around the room and announced, “Amos is getting everyone set up and out looking for this man. He said they will keep an eye on our businesses too.” He sighed hard. “He reminded me that when we need them, all we have to do is ask.”

Bane nodded. “Cassie has some really good friends, both here and in Boston. They always come through for her.”

Deke smiled briefly, “Yeah, they do and that’s a good thing for us at times like this.”

Sam nodded and said, “Iceman tells me that Leon likes it as well. They have helped him out every now and again.”

Orrin glanced over at his daughter Cricket, where she sat at a corner table and saw how troubled she looked. He slowly shook his head and released a sigh. 

~*~

Sheba turned from Ari to see sadness in Orrin’s eyes as he watched his daughter. Orrin was her brother but she didn’t know that much about him and the relationship he had with his daughter. She knew he hadn’t had it easy. He didn’t throw his daughter away, like her mother had done to her. But her life hadn’t been easy either from what was said here earlier. Cordy must have been some kind of evil. She made up her mind that she would ask Cricket some questions and figure things out for herself.

Sheba herself was still working things out in discovering she had a family that actually cared for her. Growing up, she had no one but now, she had a dad and brothers and she wasn’t sure yet what that all was about. Ari was her best friend though, besides having Lancelot at her side. Sheba smiled… he had changed her entire life. And Cricket had this too in Raine, who even now, sat with her and comforted her.

Sheba looked around at the faces in the room. This was quite an eclectic group of human beings who had assembled here and with her training, she pondered the common goal among them. 

Cricket. 

They were all here to help her stay alive, even Bane, of all people. At this thought, Sheba smirked to herself. And she felt like Cricket wasn’t aware of how lucky she really was. She could tell by the saddened expression Cricket wore just now. Yes, she'd had a rough childhood, but now she had lots of love and blessings.