Reunion Series-

 

THE NEXT CHAPTER BOOK IS

 

Bits of Jack Lost Sons’ Book 2

A lone motorcyclist rode into Killeen. His long black hair waved behind him and his eyes were covered by the aviator sunglasses he wore. When he pulled up to the pumps outside Jack’s garage, he got off his bike and slowly reached up to take off his glasses, revealing his dark blue eyes.

The hot Texas sun didn’t seem to bother him as he caught sight of Jack bent over the hood of the car he was working on.  

Jack paused and looked a little closer at the other man’s clothing, taking note of his cut.

The man wore a Denim vest covering his t-shirt with some patches on it but he couldn’t read what they said. His lower face was covered in a short dark beard.

As a Lost Son, the very fact that he was in their town showing his colors Jack wasn’t sure what it meant. He straightened his stance and grabbing his rag, he began wiping the grease from his fingers. Jack slowly walked toward the other man while squinting against the sun’s bright light. “You look like you’re a little lost,” Jack told him.

The man smiled, showing off his white teeth. They stood out from his darker skin. He wasn’t black but he was Native American. “Not lost, just stopping for gas and a little bite to eat.” He held his hands out. “Don’t mean anybody any harm.”

Jack stared at him for a moment then nodded at his cut. “Those colors might get you in trouble.” 

“Not looking for any trouble friend. Just gas and food.”

Jack looked into the other man’s deep blue eyes and read the truth. He was a little older than his own thirty-one but not by much. He saw the tats on his arm. They were a mix of military and free style. One of them drew his attention and he stared at the small mark on his wrist. Then he raised his gaze to see the man staring back at him. They stared at one another for another moment or so, then Jack turned and walked back into the shop.

When he turned around again, he saw the other man coming toward him. Jack braced himself for the worst.

 When the guy got closer, he stopped and stared at Jack.

“What?” Jack asked.

“You were staring at my tats, just wondering why?” He shrugged.

Jack didn’t say anything for a long time then his curiosity got the better of him. “I recognized one of them and was just wondering what it meant. Nothing more than that.”

The other man looked down at his arm. He thought he knew which one Jack meant but he needed to know for sure. “Which one?”

Jack pointed out the one he meant.

“Why that one?”

“Like I said, just curious.” Jack shrugged.

“That one is a tribal tat, proclaiming me a member of the tribe,” the other man explained. “Each kid born into our tribe gets one. There is a ceremony on their second birthday. They are too young to remember the pain of getting the tat but they are marked for the rest of their life as a member of the tribe. That way, they can never get lost or misplaced. Some white people think that’s barbaric but for us, it’s an honor to be welcomed into the tribe.”

“What tribe do you belong to, if I may ask?”

“I am only half Indian but that part of me is Apache and I am very proud of that fact.”

Jack nodded. “What’s your name?”

“My proper name is John Jackson but my road name is Renegade.”

“And your MC?”

Renegade shrugged. “At the moment, I don’t belong to an MC. That’s one thing I’ve never tried before. My colors, as you put it, belong to the Apache tribe.”

“You served in the military?”

“I did at least for a little while.” Renegade nodded. “You are observant.” Then he shrugged. “Last six months of my two year term I served in military jail for a misunderstanding between me and my commander but that was a long time ago.”

“So what are you doing now?” Jack asked.

Renegade shrugged. “Trying to find someone, someone I’ve missed for a number of years now, someone I hope is still alive.”

Jack felt an odd dread deep in his soul at the other man’s words. He didn’t know why but for a fraction of a moment, he thought about Kalinda. He recognized the tat on Renegade’s wrist because she wore that same tat on her wrist. Kalinda didn’t remember getting it or what it even meant but Renegade knew. “Who are you looking for?” Jack asked. “And why?”

“Why are you asking?” Renegade stared back at him.

Jack shrugged. “Just curious.”

“You heard the saying haven’t you? Curiosity killed the cat.” 

Jack shrugged again. “No harm, no foul right?”

Renegade stared at the other man. Then he turned and walked back to his bike. Turning on the engine, he revved it a few times then took off. 

Jack watched and waited until he was out of sight before he picked up his cell phone and called his brother. “Creed, we might have a problem.”

~*~

Creed and Bear rolled into the garage a few minutes later. They dismounted their rides and stomped into the garage. “I’m here now tell me what this is all about.” Creed growled.

Jack sat on a stool and ran his fingers through his hair. “God, I don’t even know where to start.”

“At the beginning is always a good place.” Creed raised a brow at him.

“Ok, ok… I met Kalinda three years ago…” Jack started.

Creed interrupted, “Wait, this is about Kalinda?”

Jack nodded. “Yeah and she might not appreciate my sharing her story with the both of you but I don’t have a choice.”

“Just get on with it. She’s one of us now. She’ll have to get used to it. If we are to survive there can be no secrets between us, a secret might get us killed.”

Bear stood beside him and nodded in agreement.

“When I met her three years ago, I fell head over heels in love with her at first glance,” Jack explained. “I never knew a person could actually do that, but I did. She was having car trouble and she stopped in Beaumont where I was living and working. She didn’t know where she was going but she had dreams of becoming a graphic artist and she was pretty good too. The more I got to know her the more I wanted her in my life.” Jack paused and this was where things got a little sticky for him to explain. He knew Kalinda wouldn’t want her entire life on display for everyone to hear about. “I’m telling you this so you understand how sensitive she is about this.”

Creed nodded and motioned for him to go on. 

Bear just stood there and listened without saying a word.

“Kalinda has no real recollection of who she is or where she came from. The first thing she remembers about her childhood is being driven to an orphanage when she was about three. Her life before then is a blank. The rest of it she just doesn’t remember all that much. She has nightmares about two people fighting and a bunch of screaming but she doesn’t know who the people fighting were or what they meant to her.” Jack took a deep breath and exhaled. “She claims her name is Kalinda Grace but there is no birth record for Kalinda Grace. It was a name the sisters who ran the orphanage gave to her. They told her all she knew when she got there was her first name. The only real identifying mark she has on her is a tattoo on her wrist.” He looked over at his brother. “She doesn’t remember getting it and it looks about as old as she is. Only problem with that is I ran into another guy today that has the same tattoo. When I asked him about it, he told me it was an Apache tribal tattoo. The children of their tribe go through a ceremony when they’re two years old when they get accepted into the tribe. It marks them as a member of the tribe and it’s something they carry for the rest of their lives.”

“What’s this guy’s story?” Creed narrowed his eyes as he stared at his brother. 

Bear perked up and listened to what Jack was saying.

Jack shrugged. “He said his name was John Jackson, though his road name is Renegade and he’s only half Indian and he was proud of it. He said the tribe he belongs to is Apache. I asked him what he was doing here and he said he was looking for someone he lost a long time ago. That somebody might be Kalinda, I’m afraid.”

“Did he say what he wanted with this someone he was looking for?” Bear finally broke his silence.

Jack shook his head. “No he didn’t and that’s what’s making me nervous. There is a danger surrounding this guy, one that makes me think there’s more to him than meets the eye. He admitted spending some time in the slammer while he was in the military and that tells me he doesn’t like following orders.”

“What else did he tell you?”

“That he ain’t looking for trouble but I think he doesn’t have to look that far to find it.”

Creed turned and looked out the double doors in the city they now called home again. He had a feeling that somewhere out there was a man he needed to deal with. Like Jack said, a man who didn’t have to look far to find trouble.

“He did say he was only here for gas and food,” Jack offered.

“What’s he riding?” Creed asked.

“A red Harley Fat boy. He rode down toward the diner on Bridge Point Road.”

Creed nodded. “I’ll have a look and maybe a parley with the boy.”

Bear snorted, “You mean we might have to have a parley with him, don’t you boss?”

“Not such a boy anymore. Might be as old as you are,” Jack reminded his brother. 

“Brother, I’m older than I look.” Creed snorted.

“I know exactly how old you are.” Jack growled. “It ain’t a secret ya know?’

Creed smiled. “Older than you are anyway.”

Jack just stood there and watched as his brother and a good friend rode away, looking for a man who might have come looking for his woman.

Renegade tapped his grandfather’s number and greeted the old man in his native language, “Hello grandfather, how are you?”

Micah Wolf chuckled. “As well as an old man like me can do. How are you?”

“I’m good,” Renegade answered. “Grandfather, I am calling for a reason… a reason you may not want to hear but I would like some information if you have it.”

“What kind of information?” The old man sounded leery now.

“I need to know if you’ve heard anything about Joshua Moon recently?”

Old Micah was silent for a full minute, then he cleared his throat and replied, “Joshua Moon finally got his parole last week. He will be a free man within the month. Since no sign of his remaining daughter has been found in nineteen years the Elders have given him an early release.”

Renegade tightened his hold on his phone. “How the hell did that happen? He murdered his wife and child in a drunken rage.”

“Son, the only one who knows what happened that night is still missing as far as we know,” his grandfather reminded him. “No one saw who took her away and we haven’t been able to find her despite our many searches.”

“What if I can find her?” Renegade asked. “If I can find her and bring her home to tell her tale? What then?”

“Have you?” His grandfather asked.

“I don’t know yet, do I?” he told the older man. “But what if I could find her?”

“Then I would fear for not only her life but yours as well,” Micah admitted. “I’m afraid if Michael Moon or any of his sons hear about her still being alive and coming back to testify against Joshua? They will not allow her or you to make it back here.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The Moon family business has never been quite what it should be. No one knows exactly what they do for a living. It is understood that they run the saw mill but they haven’t worked that mill for some time now. Yet, all four of them are driving brand new trucks and their house is a fortress. Michael owns two hundred acres of brushland, not enough land to make a decent living for a family of four, yet they seem to do it and they seem to do it very well. People come and go from their property all hours of the day and night. Fancy cars, most of them but no one can see what they are doing inside his gates because they have built a wall around their property and no one from town is welcome.”

“What do you think it means, Grandfather?” Renegade had to ask. “You are a shaman of the tribe, have you had a vision about the Moon family?”

“How did you know?” his grandfather asked.

“I know you,” Renegade replied. “I know you, out any of the tribe, would be able to see beyond the walls.”

“Yes, I have had a vision and I have seen what they seek to hide,” Micah Wolf  explained. “Michael has turned his back on everything he knows about being Apache, about being one of the people. He holds the Coyote in his heart and the coyote has taken his soul. His four sons have followed his example. They are waiting for Joshua to be free before they act but when Joshua comes home, I see nothing but death.”

“Grandfather, you have to get out of harm's way,” Renegade urged the old man. “You are all I have left now and I can’t bear to lose you.”

“Grandson, I am an old man and my life is coming to an end. I have lived on this earth for ninety two years and I am tired. If you have found Kalinda Moon, you keep her safe and don't come back here. If you are here when Michael releases his hell, you will be caught up in the flames and this is one fight you cannot win. The Coyote will win this fight. I have seen in my mind's eye what will happen.  Michael and his sons have sold their souls to the Coyote for money and power. The Coyote always gives just enough to make them want more then he takes it all back, leaving those he tricks with nothing. That is what the Coyotes does and Michael Moon will find that out the hard way. My soul is clear and I will welcome death. Your father and grandfather and my own beloved wife await my arrival and I will join them gladly. But you my grandson, you have to protect Kalinda and her children.  True Apache blood runs in her veins and that of her son and daughters. You must teach them the old ways the same as I taught you. You must find the woman of your dream quest. She is your true mate. With her, your soul will be safe and you will know unlimited joy. She will give you three strong sons and one of your sons will be the next shaman of this tribe.” Micah paused and then said, “This will be our last conversation my grandson but all will be well. This ending was written a long time ago and things have to play out the way the dreams insist. Fate is a fickle bitch when she’s tested and while some of us will die, we will go to the ever after with our souls intact. I can’t say the same for Michael and his four sons. They will burn in the afterlife for the remainder of forever. They will pay for their sins in the pits of hell. Which is what fate has in store for them.”

“I can’t let that happen to you. I’m coming home.” He growled.

“I forbid it.” The old man growled back. “Your place is not here, your place is to protect Kalinda and her children. If you leave her alone, they will find her and take her to hell with them. She has to live, as do you. Fate has not yet decided your ending or hers but if you return here, you will have no choice in the matter at all.” Micah paused then added, “Remember me with kindness and caring in your heart. I have taught you well of the old ways and what it means to be Apache. Pass those lessons on to your own children. We are a forgotten people now but our history tells us we were once a proud people. We need to bring that pride back to our people. To give our children and their children pride in their history and culture. They call you Renegade for a reason because no one can put you in a box, no one can tame the spirit our ancestors put in your soul. That same spirit will live on long after I am gone. I have seen this in a my vision quest.”

Renegade was all set to argue with the old man but suddenly the call was cut off. He tossed the cigarette butt to the ground and rubbed the hot coals out with his boots. He turned to leave.

Creed and Cobra stood there. 

His scowl deepened as they stared at him. “What?” he asked.

“Who the fuck was that?” Cobra finally broke the tense silence.

“My great grandfather,” Renegade replied. “I called him to find out what I could about Joshua Moon.”

“And what did he have to say?” Creed crossed his huge arms over his equally huge chest.

“He told me Joshua Moon has been granted parole. He’ll be out of prison within the month. Michael has been waiting until his son gets out to bring hell down on the people. He told me if I found Kalinda, I was supposed to protect her and her son and daughters. He told me to stay away. What is about to happen has to happen or fate will not be appeased.”

“What does he think will happen when Kalinda’s dad gets out of prison?” Cobra asked with no expression on his face.

“He said fate will play a role and Michael will bring death to his own people. He doesn’t expect to live through it and he thinks it’s the way it should be played out. I offered to bring Kalinda back home to testify against her father but he told me to stay away. He is ready for death but if I or Kalinda dies, then we will mess up what fate has in store for the people.”

“And just how does your grandfather know all of this?” Creed asked with skepticism.

“My great grandfather is the Shaman of the tribe. He has visions but he never tells anyone what he dreams about. The fact that he told me is astonishing.”

“Do you think he could be telling the truth?” Cobra asked.

Renegade nodded. “Absolutely.”

A month later…

Renegade joined Jack as they sat on the porch.

Finally, Jack looked over at Renegade. “You know, you aren’t so bad. You gave my woman something she didn’t even know she wanted. I thank you for that. But I also have to ask you, why? I’ve been watching you since you got here and I’ve seen the way you’ve looked around this place. What are you really doing here?”

Renegade shrugged. “Maybe I’m looking for something here too. Maybe I want to start over and maybe I found a place to do that right here.” He looked over at Jack. “Would that be so wrong?”

Jack stared at him for a moment then said, “No I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. Is that what you really want?”

Renegade nodded. “Yeah, I think it is. I’ve done my time in the service of my country and I’ve drifted around waiting to find a place to call home. When I left Alpine, I thought I left all my troubles behind, but I realized I needed to find my own place. I think I can find that here.” He nodded at Kalinda.  “This way, I can keep an eye on her too.”

“She’s my woman, sunshine.” Jack growled. “I don’t need any help from you to keep track of her.”

Renegade shook his head. “You don’t understand something here, big guy. I know all too well you’re in her corner and I’m not messing with that at all. I’m glad she’s got you and you’re the type of man to step up and take care of her.” He paused, then told him, “I don’t know if I can explain this in a way you’ll understand or not. But in my culture, every young man goes on his Vision Quest. It’s a right of passage in our tribe. The quest you have is what helps shape the type of man you are for the rest of your days. My quest confused me for a long time. I thought it was telling me that I would meet the woman of my dreams in a place far away from the tribal lands our family lives on, but I’ve come to realize that  wasn’t the message my quest was all about anyway. I had to come here for her but she wasn’t the woman I dreamed about. Kalinda was only part of the dream. My woman is still out there and I have a feeling she’s very close to here.” Renegade shrugged. “Maybe I’m completely wrong but this place feels like home to me and I’d like to see if this is what I dreamed about.”

“Ok.” Jack shook his head. “I don’t know that I understand all that but ok.” 

“I love what you guys stand for,” Renegade told him. “Most MC’s are in it for the power and the glory but not you guys. You guys are a family, a good solid unit and that’s what it should be. That’s what I’ve been looking for all along. Would you have any objections if I asked your brother if I could join this group?”

Jack shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind at all. I think you fit in with us quite well.”

“Good then I’ll ask him soon.”

Jack grinned at him. “Welcome to the family.”

“I hope so. This is a place I’d be proud to call home.”

Chapter One

Three months later...

Kalinda sat out on the patio, wrapped up in a blanket. No one else was awake yet and she appreciated the early morning quiet. The compound had a few changes lately with the four new houses they were building. Tate and Nita had built their own house along with Kimber and Bear, then Harry and Annie.

Renegade’s house was almost done too. He had decided to stay. Creed and the others had welcomed him and he was now a part of their family as well.

Andrew and Glory had come to visit, often making up for the time Kalinda had been missing and slowly she was getting her family back. Her unborn baby was growing within her and all was good. Her nightmares were gone now as the truth was now known. The Tribe back in Alpine had welcomed her back with open arms and everything was settled now as they knew the truth about what Michael and his boys had been hiding all this time. The Tribe laid claims to the gold mine and had cleaned out the drug part of Michael Moon’s domain. They had found Michael’s body in a ditch near Austin. Joshua, Craig, James and Travern had all been sentenced to life in prison and they were out of sight, out of mind now. 

She drew in a cleaning breath and the air was sweet with the scent of being totally free now. The sun was just peeling over the eastern horizon when Kalinda narrowed her eyes. There in the distance stood two women. One of them had grey hair and she held the hand of a younger woman. The other woman had long red hair and they were both just standing there. staring at her.

Kalinda caught her breath and she slowly stood to walk to the fence that separated them. When stopped, she stood there looking at them for a long moment then she asked, “What do you want here?”

“We are looking for a woman that goes by the name of Kalinda Moon,” the old lady stated. “We understand she lives here. Is that correct?”

“What do you want with her?” Kalinda asked, still huddled under the blanket.

The older woman smiled. “We are not here to harm her, if that’s what you are worried about.”

“Then what are you here for?” Kalinda asked. She had a shiver of awareness wash over her.

“My name is Crysta Moon and I was married to Michael Moon for twenty years before he threw me out of his house. I had to leave four growing sons behind when he shut the door on me. I had nothing but the clothes on my back and bruises from his fists. He never thought I would survive that and I almost didn’t. But this girl’s mother helped me when I had no one else. From what I understand, this young woman Kalinda is my granddaughter and I just wanted to meet her. That’s all.”

Kalinda gasped as she took a step back.

 The woman cocked her head as she heard Kalinda step back. “My dear child, I’m not here to harm you. I heard through the grapevine that this is where you were. I know you have the choice not to speak to me. I would understand if you didn’t want to know me, but I think I am your grandmother and I wanted to at least meet you.” 

Kalinda noted that the older woman was blind as she replied, “Michael is dead and his sons are all in prison.” 

Crysta nodded. “I heard that too and I can’t say I’m surprised by that news. Michael always was a fool and time made him a dangerous fool. Someone bigger and badder than he thought he was must have caught up with him at long last. I can’t say I’m grieving over that news.” Then she paused and tilted her head as asked, “Was Michael’s death painful?”

Kalinda nodded. “Yeah, he didn’t die easy. But when you try and cheat one percenters you play stupid games and you win stupid prizes.”

“Good.” Crysta nodded. “He deserved at least that much for all the bad he did when he was alive. I was sorry to hear about your mother though.” She shook her head. “No one deserved what Joshua did to her that night.”

Kalinda didn’t say a word. That wound was still healing, at least for her. She finally knew a little about her mom and it still hurt to know she would never make her own dreams come true, not in this life anyway. “So how do you know so much about the recent happenings anyway?”

Crysta smiled. “I still have some friends on the reservation. Michael might have kicked me out of his house but he couldn’t stop me from visiting my friends.” She shook her head. “He might have thought he was a big man around Alpine, but he burned too many bridges back then, bridges that mattered. Only he thought they didn’t. I guess he found out differently over the years, when he needed them and they weren’t there for him.”

“We watched from afar because we didn’t want him to know we were there,” the younger woman told her

Kalinda turned to her and asked, “And you are?”

The younger woman smiled. “My name is Augusta Lomen. My mother isn’t here today but we found Ms. Crysta beaten and unconscious on the path to our house about twenty five years ago. She’s been living with us ever since.”

Suddenly, Renegade and Jack showed up and they stood on either side of Kalinda.

“Who are you women and what are you doing here?” Jack growled.

 Kalinda noticed he held a rifle in his hand.

Augusta frowned and touched Crysta’s hand. “Maybe we should go. We aren’t here looking for trouble.”

Kalinda glanced at Renegade and then did a double take. He was staring at Augusta like he knew her but his eyes were glazed over. She reached out and touched his hand and his skin felt cold. “Renegade, are you alright?” she whispered.

Renegade shook his head slightly then looked down at her and said, “Invite them in,” he whispered. “Please invite them in.”

Kalinda nodded slightly and turned to look at the women. “Would you like to come in and chat for a moment?”

“Wait just a damn minute.” Jack growled. “We don’t know who the hell these women are or what they want here.”

“Husband,” Kalinda spoke quietly. “The older woman is Crysta Moon. She’s Michael Moon's ex-wife, and my grandmother. I think we should hear what she has to say.”

Jack swung his eyes toward the older of the two women and studied her for a moment then he reluctantly nodded. “If you say so, but I’ll be watching them.”

Kalinda turned back to the women and told them, “Please come around to the main gate. Someone will show you to the house.” 

Augusta nodded then Crysta lifted her hand to rest on Augusta’s arm. Augusta led her back to the car they had waiting.

Jack turned to Kalinda and asked, “Are you sure this is wise? I mean we don’t know what they came here for in the first place.”

“They don’t mean any harm,” Renegade said quietly.

“What do you know about them?” Jack demanded.

Renegade shook his head. “I don’t know anything yet but I saw her once upon a time, in my vision quest. She was the woman I rescued. I know I was meant to help her. I know she wouldn’t want to bring her troubles here if she didn’t have a choice. I know that much.”

Jack looked confused as he wrapped his arm around Kalinda’s waist and led her back to the house. 

Jack went to get his dad and Daniel then they all made their way over to where Kalinda and Renegade waited for the women to show up.

Everyone filed into the house and Kalinda took off the blanket then poured some coffee. 

Crysta sat at the kitchen table along with Augusta. 

Augusta looked nervously at the men standing there. “We didn’t come here to harm anyone. We came here to meet Crysta’s granddaughter.”

Kalinda sat down beside Crysta and reached out to hold her hand. “Why did you come? After all this time, why now?”

Crysta looked in the direction her voice had come from and she spoke hesitantly, “This was the first time I’ve known where you were. There was no way I would be welcome in Joshua’s house. I knew that the moment Michael threw me away. I know he would turn my sons away from me, but after Joshua killed your mother and baby sister you simply vanished and no one could find you for the longest time. Then we heard about the trouble here, about the arrests of my sons and Michael’s death. I’ve been wanting to come for the longest time to meet you and last night Augusta said let’s go, so we came.”

Kalinda patted her hand. “They came here to kill me, you must know that.”

Crysta nodded. “I heard the rumors after your men stopped them and you allowed the truth to be told finally. I’ve known Michael Moon most of my life and he was always a hard man. He used and abused me for twenty years until his sons, our sons were old enough to do things for themselves then he beat me up and threw me out into the cold, without even a jacket. I fled into the night and got myself lost. I was in pain and I walked until I couldn’t take another step. I just laid down on the ground and prayed that the night would take my soul and my pain would be gone. But instead, Augusta’s mom found me and she dragged me back to her house. They nursed me back to health as best as they could but Michael’s beating had taken its toll and when I woke up I could no longer see. The doctors told me his beatings had caused a rupture of my optic nerve and that my sight would never come back.” She paused and shrugged. “There was nothing I could do, so I was waiting to pass but Mira and Augusta wouldn’t let me. They badgered me day and night not to give up and let Michael win. Then I began to learn to live with my blindness.”

Augusta nodded as she sat next to her. “And boy, did she learn. She’s as stubborn as a mule when she wants to be.” Then the smile faded from her face. “I think we should tell them.”

“Tell us what?” Tate, Jack’s father asked.

Crysta sighed heavily. “Michael might be dead but before he left the reservation, he made a deal with a big money man. This man had high expectations and he showed us Michael’s signature on a contract that gave him 49 percent of the rights to the gold mine. His contract isn’t legal as Michael can’t sell tribal lands to anyone outside the tribe but this man wants his money or he says heads will roll and he doesn’t care who dies.”

Kalinda gasped and raised her hand to cover her mouth.  

Jack glared at the women and replied, “Michael didn’t find that mine, the Crockett boys did. He had no right to sell it in the first place.”

Crysta snorted. “That’s Michael for you. Yeah, the tribe found that out but this guy doesn’t care. He’s owed money and he isn’t going to stop until he gets paid.”

“How much money does he want?” Kalinda asked.

Augusta shook her head and said, “Fourteen million dollars.”

Chapter Two

“What the Sam hell?” Tate growled.

Augusta nodded. “Yeah, it's insane.” She looked at Crysta and urged, “Tell them the rest.”

Crysta sighed hard. “Michael put a note in the contract that if something happened to him, then me, as his wife, would pay off the balance.” Shaking her head she added, “I didn’t think he even knew or cared that I had survived. I haven’t seen or heard from that man since he tossed me out of his house twenty five years ago.”

Kalinda clenched her hands into fists. The more she learned about Michael Moon the less she liked the man. “If he didn’t know you were still alive, then how could he add that clause?”

Crysta snorted. “That was his backup plan no doubt. He didn’t know I survived and that’s what he was counting on. He took this man’s money and he didn’t have any expectations of ever paying it back. He sold a deed that didn’t belong to him and he knew that. He just took the money and ran with it.”

“Did the tribes tell this man that the contract isn’t legal?” Renegade asked.

Crysta nodded. “Yeah, they did but again, this man wants his money back and he doesn’t care one way or the other if it's legal or not.”

“Who is this guy?” Bear wanted to know.

Augusta sighed hard and glanced at Renegade before she answered, “His name is Matthew Conrad.”

Kalinda gasped and got up, backing away from the table. 

Jack frowned at her actions and asked, “Honey, you know this guy?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know of him anyway. He’s a monster and he stays down around the Austin bay. Everyone I know stays away from the man and his operation. They say he’s one step away from insanity and he doesn’t care who he hurts to get his own way. He’s also got the reputation of administering his own brand of justice to those he thinks have wronged him. Even if the justice is totally in the wrong, in his mind he just doesn’t care. He’s also paying for top security so no one can get close to him without eating a bullet.”

Jack glanced at his dad and grandfather then he just shook his head. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Augusta shook her head. “Nothing about this mess is good and Matthew Conrad is definitely not a good man. I heard he threw a fit when the Elders met with him and told him Michael Moon made a deal he couldn’t follow through on. He almost shot one of them when he was told he had no legal right to the lands on the reservation.”

Crysta nodded. “A friend told me he did shoot a dog that day. It was just laying on the Elders lawn and when he walked out Matthew drew his weapon and shot the poor thing. He’s definitely loco.”

Tate narrowed his eyes and studied Kalinda for a moment before he asked, “How is it that you know so much about this man?”

Kalinda stared back at him and explained it, “I grew up in Austin, remember? I heard the whispers as he grew to power. He came there about fifteen years ago now. He made his base there. He  recruited thugs and wannabe thugs from the area. His base grew and people began to fear him even then. Now he’s well established in the area and everyone has grown leery of crossing him in any way, shape or form.”

Renegade just listened for a moment then he asked, “Have you seen this contract in question?”

Crysta shook her head. “No, I haven’t…. she paused. “Well, I’m blind so I will never see it to be honest.” She smiled a little. “But my friends have only told me about it.”

“It might help us if we knew exactly what it said.” Renegade shrugged.

Crysta tilted her head then nodded. “Yeah, I think it would as well.” She turned to Augusta and asked. “Do you still have my phone with you?”

“Yes.” Augusta dug it out of her pocket.

“Because I want to call a friend.” Crysta smiled. “My friend might be able to get us a copy of the contract from the Elders.”

Augusta placed the phone in her hand and helped her to make the call. Kalinda gave Augusta a number and Crysta asked her friend to fax the contract to Kalinda’s number. After she assured the friend that she was okay, she handed the phone back to Augusta. “It will come in a few minutes.” She nodded her head. “Kalinda, is it true that these guys are actual bikers with an actual Motorcycle Clubhouse?”

Kalinda chuckled. “Yep. Guys with leather cuts and patches. They all ride too.”

Crystal grinned. “Sexy!”

Augusta gasped as she had been staring at Renegades cut at that very moment.

He smirked at her.

Kalinda laughed as did the others who heard her remarks.

“I heard of this but I never knew if it was actually a thing.” Crysta laughed.

“It’s been a thing for a long time,” Renegade spoke up.

Five minutes later, the fax machine on the table against the wall printed out a few pages. 

Tate walked over and took the pages off the printer. He read them and shook his head. He walked over to the others and gave them to Jack. 

Jack glanced at them then handed them over to Renegade. “You would understand these more than I would.”

Renegade read the papers and shook his head. “This contract isn’t worth the paper it's written on. First of all, the gold mine is on reservation land. While the Elders can sell that land to someone in the tribe… that same someone cannot include the land to a non tribe member. Michael would have known this.”

“And he wouldn’t have cared one whit about whether it was legal or not.” Crysta snorted. “As long as he could benefit somehow, he wouldn’t have cared who got hurt.”

“But did he actually take the money?” Kalinda asked. She stood and went around the table to look at the papers. Then she turned to Crysta, “Was Michael left handed?”

Crysta paused and then shook her head. “Michael could barely read and his signature was more of a scrawl than a proper signature.”

“Well, this document was signed by someone left handed.” Renegade stated as he looked down at the contract. “Were any of your sons left handed?”

“Joshua was,” Crysta whispered. “He always hated that he was different that way. He tried so hard to be the same as every other kid and he learned to write with his right hand but his letters were always better written with his left hand.” 

“Was there a trait in his handwriting that you knew about?” Kalinda wanted to know as Renegade passed the pages back to her.

Crysta nodded. “He always doubled down when he dotted his I’s. He would always put two dots.”

Kalinda showed the paper to Tate and Jack, pointing out the double dotted I in Michael’s name. She sighed hard. “Michael didn’t sign this contract, Joshua did.”

Crysta gasped and asked, “He double crossed his own dad?”

Silas snorted. “More than likely he doubled crossed his whole family and tribe.”

“But why?” Crysta asked. 

“Probably because he felt they betrayed him first when his family allowed the Elders to put him in prison,” Kalinda explained in a somber voice. “Renegade brought my memory of this back when he came here… 

Three years ago when Renegade arrived….

“Do you know this guy?” Jack had asked her.

Kalinda looked up at the man standing behind Jack. She thought she knew him but it had been so long since she’d seen him, she couldn’t place him. Shaking her head, she whispered, “I might have at one time but I don’t know him now.”

“I am your cousin, John Jackson,” Renegade told her. “I am Hunting Wolf’s son.”

“I’m sorry but I don’t know those names,” she admitted, shaking her head.

Renegade tightened his lips. “Where the hell did you go all that time ago? No one knew and we looked for you for a long time after you disappeared.”

Silas stepped closer. “What the hell are you talking about, boy?”

Renegade shook his head. “This happened a long time ago. We were both just kids at the time. I was about eleven or twelve. I remember that much. Kalinda would have only been about three, maybe four at the time.” He began to pace back and forth as he told them what he remembered of a time a whole lifetime ago, “I wasn’t sure myself what happened that night but we were gathered for the passing of an elder in the tribe. Our people celebrate death with a passage ceremony as the soul leaves the body and begins its journey to the afterlife. I remember my father telling your father not to drink so much but your father wasn’t listening. He and your mother were fussing about something.”

“Wait, you knew my parents?” Kalinda asked in confusion. 

Renegade turned to face her with sadness in his eyes. He nodded. “Your father was, umm…. is Joshua Moon. Your mother’s name was Luna, and you had a baby sister named Rachel.”

Kalinda raised her hand to her mouth. “Was? You said my mother’s name was… what does that mean?”

Renegade closed his eyes. When he opened them, his eyes were glittering with tears that he never let fall. “That night something your mother said set him off and he began hitting her. Rachel was crying watching him hit her then he picked her up and he threw her against the wall. When she crumbled to the floor, your dad lost it. I don’t even think he realized what he’d done yet, he began pounding on your mom and before he knew it, people were rushing in trying to stop him. When everything was said and done, both your sister and your mother were gone and no one could find you. You were just gone. We haven’t seen or heard from you since that night, nineteen years ago.”

This fight between her parents had left both her mother and her baby sister dead.

Now with tears in her eyes, Kalinda went on to explain to Crysta and Augusta, “He  actually expected the tribe wouldn’t do anything about the two lives he took that night. He claimed he was blind drunk and he expected them to overlook his crime because he was drinking. When that didn’t work out for him, he expected his family to raise hell on his behalf. But he still went to prison and served almost twenty years.” Kalinda made her way slowly back around the table and she sat down hard. “But it had been discovered that he hadn’t been drunk at all. He hadn’t even had one drink before he lost his everlovin’ mind and beat my mother to death and threw my sister's tiny body against the wall. He lied for twenty years. Claiming he was drunk over and over again when he knew damn well he wasn’t.”

“So where is the money?” Renegade asked. “Where is the money he got from this fucker? The money Matthew now wants back with interest.”

Harry growled and stood from the table. “I think we can find the answer.” He left the house.

Kalinda took this opportunity to refill coffee mugs and then she sat back down. They all sipped at the hot liquid.

“This is wonderful coffee, Kalinda,” Crysta commented.

“It really is,” Agusta added.

Renegade smiled at her. “It’s the same kind that we had at the Reservation way back. I found where they ordered it from and I get it for the club. Kalinda get’s it delivered to her house every month as well.”

“Damn good stuff,” Tate mentioned.

 It had taken about twenty  minutes, but Harry returned. He carried his laptop and Annie was with him. She also carried a laptop. They set up at the other end of the table and began digging into Jousha’s life. 

Kalinda and Augusta helped Crysta to make it to the bathroom. Then they helped her to make it through the hallway to sit back down. 

During the wait, Jack called for a large order of pizza to be delivered. Tate wanted it to be on his card so he got on the phone too. They had to have Tate clear it at the gate of the Club first as well.

They all had pizza an hour later.

Two hours had passed then Harry looked up from his monitor. “When exactly was that contract dated?”

Kalinda held up the papers in her hand and noted the date on the forms. “Two days after he got out of prison. According to this paper, he made this deal between the day he got out and before he came home again. Either this is a total rip off or Joshua hid the money on his way home.”

Augusta shook her head. “That low down scum,” she muttered under her breath.

“Well…Hello,” Annie called out softly from her laptop. “What is this?”

Harry looked over at her. “What did you find, babe?”

Annie raised her gaze from the screen to announce, “It seems Joshua did make a stop after he got the money. At the First Avenue Bank where he rented a safe deposit box.”

“So the money he got from Matthew could be sitting in that bank?” Renegade questioned.

Tate nodded. “Yeah, it could be but that presents another problem altogether. We can’t get to it either. Banks require that only the one on the account can access the box itself.”

Jack shook his head. “First thing we should do is verify exactly who got the money then we can find out what he did with it.”

“We can’t exactly ask Michael, can we?” Silas reminded them. “He’s beyond the scope of asking. Since he’s dead and all.”

“No, we can’t ask Michael but we sure as hell can ask Joshua.” Renegade growled. “But we have to move before they transport him to Huntsville.”

“Do you honestly expect him to tell you the truth about this?” Kalinda asked with incredulity. “He wouldn’t tell the truth if the devil himself asked him a question. How can we take anything he says as gospel?”

Crysta frowned as if she were trying to remember something. “Joshua has a tell, if you guys are interested.”

Tate narrowed his eyes at her. “What kind of tell?”

Crysta began tapping her fingers, drumming them on the table as she replied, “I know when he was little he would lie all the time. His right eye ticked a lot and it was only when he lied. Then he would clench his jaw when he insisted his lie was the truth. Then if it still didn’t feel right he would clench his hands into fists. That’s when I always knew the little shit was lying.” Shaking her head she admitted, “His dad would always believe every word that kid ever tried to spin his own way. Nine times out of ten, he was proved to be lying and Michael would never get it. He always believed what his boy was saying and he tried to tell me they wouldn’t lie to me or him. Then when it all fell apart, he would shake his head and belt them in the mouth and tell them to never lie to him again. He just couldn’t admit even to himself that his sons were nothing but liars. That was one thing they learned from their dad. Never tell the truth when a lie will get you what you want. Michael could never be honest either. Not with me and not with anyone else either.”

“We should get our plan settled first,” Tate suggested. “Then we can go and confront Joshua. We need to know just what questions to ask and how hard to push him.”

 “We can start by asking him what he thinks of his dad doing business with the likes of Matthew Conrad,” Silas stated. “Make him think we don’t really know who signed the contract and what his dad was thinking when he sold tribal lands. They should rile all the brothers up some. Then we can tell him that his dad listed his dead mother as a guarantor on the loan.”

Renegade shrugged and replied, “If he knows his mother is still alive there should be some recognition there. He might even let it spill that he knows she’s still on this earth and from there we might get more information. Then and only then do we let him know that we know about the bank box. He might be willing to give it up if he can make a deal.”

Kalinda rose to her feet. “A deal? What kind of a deal are you talking about here? After everything that asshole did, he doesn’t deserve a deal of any kind and you know it!”

Chapter Three

At her outburst, Jack and Tate shook their heads. 

“No honey,” Tate said as he stared at Kalinda. “We’re not going to make a deal with Joshua, only make him think we’re willing to deal with him but before we do, we have to hear what he has to say first. If he doesn’t want to even try, then we walk away. We’ll tell him that we’ll just pass a message along to Matthew where his money is sitting and he can deal with the bank to get his money back. Then he can deal with Joshua for the interest.”

“Joshua will know exactly how much trouble he’s in when one of Matthew’s men visits him in prison,” Renegade explained. He smiled but the glee never met his eyes. “Joshua may not think we know where the money is, but when we mention the bank, we’ll see his face. Then when his brothers know about the deal as well, we’ll see how brave he is then.”

Jack agreed, “You know once Matthew finds out where Joshua and the rest of his brothers went, he’s gonna get someone in there and if Joshua doesn’t play nice Matthew will teach him a necessary lesson. A lesson he might not get away from learning the hard way.”

Crysta visibly shivered

Kalinda sat back down next to her and saw this. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Shaking her head, the blind woman whispered, “He can’t know that I’m alive. Whether it was Michael or Joshua, he wrote that clause in there that made me responsible for that debt.” Swallowing hard, she said, “I don’t have that kind of money and if this Matthew is so bad, I never want to meet him.”

Kalinda knelt beside her. “You won’t get close to that man. You can stay here with us, both you and Augusta.” She turned to Augusta and said, “You can call your mom and have her come here too, if you like.”

“You wouldn’t mind?” Augusta asked.

“No, ask her to come here, if you like.” Renegade nodded. “All three of you need to be safe. You’ll be safe here.”

Augusta stared at him for a moment then nodded slowly before she asked, “Why? Why would you invite us all to stay here? Why would you protect us? You don’t even know us.”

“Because that’s who we are.” Tate growled. “We don’t treat women badly around here. And we always look out for one another. Besides, Crysta is Kalinda’s grandmother. Which makes her family and that makes you family as well. We are all about family here.”

“We have good reason to feel that way,” Silas spoke up. “It is a long story but the short of it is. Our family was almost destroyed due to a bad member of our MC. He made it look like my son Tate here was dead and he held him captive for many years. They tried to kill me when they gave me the beating of my life. They ran Jack and Harry out of town and they framed my other grandson Creed for a crime he never committed. We were all separated.” 

The two women looked stunned and horrified by this story.

“But our family bond kept on going and we eventually beat that sonsofbitches.” Tate looked fierce as he stared at  her. “Nothing is more important than protecting your family.

Augusta studied him for a silent moment then she nodded as she had been convinced that they meant this. “I’ll call mom to come here until this is over. This whole thing is scary as hell and I don’t trust this Matthew character to leave us alone.”

“Neither do we.” Silas growled. “I’ve known men like him. He'll lie straight to your face, so that you will turn your back on him. That’s when he’ll stab you in the back as you’re walking away. Just like the monster in that same story. You better call your mom quick and get her here soon before he realizes the connection she has to Crysta.”

Augusta nodded. Grabbing her phone, she walked outside to make the call. 

Crysta folded her hands in her lap as she sighed heavily. “This is so messed up. I knew Michael was a bastard of a man and I figured he would teach his sons some of his bad habits but I never thought one of them would pull this. I haven’t seen my sons for twenty five years now but I didn’t think they would have so little feeling for me.”

Kalinda reached over to pat her hand. “The more I learn about Michael the less I want to claim him as family. Seems like the only one Michael ever cared about was Michael.”

Crysta nodded. “You got that right. I think I knew all along just who he was and what he was. He could sweet talk a woman when he was younger. He was so good looking and he had some wild dreams. He talked a good game about what he wanted but he never quite had enough good going for him, you know? He could talk a good game, but he was lazy and he drank when he figured his dreams were never going to be enough. He always claimed I was the one dragging him down, but I never did that. With him, he always had some get rich quick scheme in his head. He would make some money from them but it was never enough for him. I had to go to work just to pay the bills. He had to stay home with the boys. The money I brought home I spent on rent, groceries and bills before he could get his hands on it. I gave him what was left but I learned the hard way to make sure I paid the bills before he got it. If I didn’t, he would drink it all up and then there would be no food in the house.”

Kalinda just shook her head. “That so sad.”

Crysta shrugged. “Life for our tribe has always been hard. For generations, no one ever had enough. We were living in the poverty zone but we were always a proud people. The government always tried to keep us down and some of us drank a lot. I know the color of your skin probably held you back too, sweetie. It's not right and it's not just but people are what they are.”

Kalinda nodded. “Yeah, I know. I may not have known who I was or where I belonged but people always looked at me and tried to keep me down. It wasn’t comfortable growing up that way. But the kids in that orphanage were the worst.” She stayed quiet for a moment then she whispered her secret shame, “They would call me a breed, all the time. They never called me by my name, always by the slur of Breed. They would ask me where I belonged. Then when I was fourteen, one of the older boys got some beer and they dragged me outside. All of them took me into the woods where they held me down and forced me to drink. I told them I didn’t want to and to just leave me alone. But they held me down and poured it down my throat. When they let me go, I could hardly stand, then they began to chant for me to do a dance, a rain dance. They started to throw rocks at me. When I jumped away from them they continued to throw rocks and chant…Rain dance, rain dance.” She raised her hand to her face. By her hairline she carried a scar from that night. Her eyes were filled with tears as she recalled what happened next, “The oldest of the boys was weeks from aging out of the system and he was the loudest of them all. He threw a rock at me that hit me in the head. When I started bleeding, he laughed and told me I would end up living on the streets, begging for money so I could drink my supper.” She shook her head. “When they got caught, the priest asked me what was going on here. I could have told him what happened but instead, I just stared at him then I walked back to the dorms. There was no way I was going to expose myself to any more ridicule. I woke up the next morning and I stayed quiet. I did what I was supposed to do but I didn’t talk to anyone. I did my school work but I never spoke to anyone again. I found a way to ignore them and I did just that. I remained silent and cold with people that could bully a girl like that.”

Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulder as the rage could be seen in his eyes.

With a sigh, Kalinda went on, “Then one of the other kids there that night went to the priest and confessed about what really happened. He told the priest about the slurs I had endured, about the beer they forced me to drink, about the rocks they threw at me. The priest couldn’t believe it. He brought me in and tried to talk about it but I wouldn’t tell him anything. I just stood there and wouldn’t say a word. Then he brought the biggest bully in and that man just sneered at me. He expected me to have told the priest everything but I just stood there. The priest had to call the police, that place didn’t tolerate abuse and when the police dragged him away, he shouted that he would find me one day and he would finish what they started that night and he would leave me bleeding and broken when he walked away.”

Jack’s rage now showed on his face as his hands clenched into fists. 

Tate’s eyes were filled with rage as well as Silas’ and Renegade’s. 

No one said anything for a long moment until Silas’ voice broke the tension by asking, “What’s his name, honey?”

Kalinda just shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. That was a long time ago.” She shrugged. “I grew up and got out of that place in one piece and  moved on from what happened.”

Crysta felt around on the table then reached up to pat Kalinda’s arm. “I’m glad they couldn’t break you, my dear. Apache blood is strong and you did your ancestry proud. They tried to break you and you held it together.The tribe would be proud of that.”

Kalinda turned to look at her. “But I didn’t know where I belonged. I didn’t even know my own name. But there was something I did know. Ever since I was little, I could hear someone whispering in my dreams. It was a woman’s voice telling me to be brave, that someday I would come home and reveal the truth. She would tell me that I had to survive and not to give up. Someday I would know my past, I would know who I was and where I belonged.” She turned her head to look at Jack. “She was right. The day I met you, I knew where I belonged. My home was in your arms.” Tears rolled down her face as she whispered, “In your arms I felt safe, protected and loved from that first day. And that feeling never left me. I’m proud to stand at your side. Never in front of you or behind you, but right at your side. Just like the voice had told me. I know my place now.” She turned back to Crysta and said, “I believe that voice in my head, the one who haunted my dreams was my mother. From the afterlife she protected me, guided me and when I met Jack, she told me I could be myself with him just as the fates decided. He is the other half of my soul."

Renegade cleared his throat and admitted, “I was drawn to this place for a reason. I was looking for you all those years and I never gave up the hope that I would find you. But I also came here for another reason. The fates guided me here to help someone else as well.”

Tate raised his gaze to stare at him in confusion. 

But before he could say anything, Augusta came back inside. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” Renegade asked as he hurried over to her. He grasped her shoulders gently to ask, “What happened?”

Augusta looked up at him as she wept. “I just spoke to a friend of mine…S-someone—kidnapped my mom when she got off work. T-they dragged her to a van, kicking and screaming. They pushed her in and the van took off. It all happened so fast that n-no one could stop it. No one knew the men or what they wanted.” She looked up at Renegade and whispered, “M-my mom left a message on my cell.” She turned her phone around and showed him the text left by her mom’s phone number.

 ‘I want my money, you have forty eight hours or the woman is dead.’

Renegade read the message silently as he looked disgusted then handed the phone to Tate. 

When Tate read it, he passed it along to his dad Silas as he glared at Renegade. “Matthew Conrad. She’s with Matthew Conrad.”