Page 43 of The Princess & the Prospect

Chapter 15

Irolled up the clubhouse with Ever hot on my wheels. Once the girls were out of the car and we managed to get into the clubhouse, I maneuvered them over to the bar. “I want the two of you to take a seat, and wait here while we figure this out. I know Toby was your brother, but you need to let the brothers do what they do. I’ll come let you know as much as I can in just a bit.” I leaned in and kissed the top of Anna’s head, ready to leave when her hand snaked out and caught a hold of mine to stop me.

“I need to call Gretchen.” It was a demand, but considering she was telling me she was doing it, she was also asking permission in a way, which I respected.

“No. You know how club business works, Anna. She’s never officially been a part of the club since Toby didn’t claim her.”

“That woman you guys have here murdered her man and her baby. It’s her business more than any of yours!” She shouted the words out, bringing all the activity in the room to halt.

Double-D had come through the doors just in time to hear her. “Let us find out what’s going on before we go upsetting Gretchen, okay? No point telling her we have that bitch here when we don’t have answers ourselves yet. Can you just wait until we know what’s going on?”

“Fine,” Anna huffed as Lucy and Tiger Lily came barreling through the door and headed straight for Anna and Ever.

Double-D and I made our way down to the interrogation room the club had made out of an old, defunct swimming pool that had been covered over years ago. The deepest end was left for any wet work that the club might need done. The shallow end had been dug out more to accommodate the height of a bunch of bikers who got really tired of bending over practically in half when they needed use of the place. There was a smaller tunnel extending off the back that led to hidden stairs under a shed on the property, which was how we entered the space. The minute we had made our way down the stairs we could hear the yelling.

“You killed my best fucking friend, my brother! You think you can just go waltzing around our town free as you please?” J-Bird’s words were spat out at the woman with enough venom that words alone should have been her end. Merc nodded to us, appearing thankful for our arrival. Deck was already there trying to pull J-Bird, and the knife he wielded, away from the frightened woman.

“I t-t-told you,” she insisted even with the slight stutter that was no doubt brought on by her sheer terror. “My name is Clem. Seneca is my sister. My twin. She is still in jail. That’s why I came here to tell her goodbye once and for all. This was the last straw with our family. My parents refused to come.” She babbled the words out and while every person in the room could taste the fear in every single one spoken, she did not cry or blubber as she spoke. “You can check. It’s not like the jail could keep it a secret if my evil twin managed to spring herself from their clutches.”

“Kane!” Merc called out. “Head on over to the jail. Do not leave until you can get eyes on Seneca and let us know.” Kane didn’t even respond. He simply turned and left the underground facility. It was somewhat damp down here as Charleston wasn’t exactly the best place to have an underground anything. The city was less than 20 feet above sea level and the humidity in the area far too high.

“I need your full name, darlin’.” Merc was putting on the friendly, charming persona he often used with women that had them eating out of his hand when necessary. The woman sighed, her shoulders drooping as she did. She must have felt like someone finally believed her.

“You can check my wallet in my back pocket,” she stated as she stood from the chair she’d been seated in. Her hands were tied in front of her with a zip tie so she cocked her hip to the side to show that the wallet she spoke of was in her back pocket. J-Bird didn’t hesitate and moved in to snatch the wallet out. It was a worn down leather wallet with a snap closure, one a man would normally use. J-Bird, shirking protocol, opened the thing up and rifled through it until he found the woman’s driver’s license.

“Clemson Holly Davis,” he read off the license and then gave the woman an odd look. “Who the fuck names their daughter Clemson?”

“A mother who named the first born twin after the town we were made in and the second after the place we were born,” she answered snidely as she plopped back down in the chair. Clearly, she knew leaving wasn’t going to be an option until we had eyes on her sister. “Listen, I get it. I won’t tell anyone about what happened here today. I’d have probably done the same damn thing if I were you and saw me wandering around town.” She shook her head and then let it hang loosely there on her shoulders. “I still can’t believe she did what they’ve accused her of. I don’t doubt she’s capable, but I never thought she’d…” The woman glanced up, avoiding J-Bird, and set her eyes on Double-D and myself. “I’m so sorry for the loss of your man.”

“My son,” Double-D corrected and was rewarded for the two words by the woman’s wince. “Their club brother, best friend, nephew,” he pointed in turn at J-Bird and Merc. “My girls are upstairs waiting to know why the cunt who killed their brother is walking free. His woman, who lost their baby during Seneca Davis’s rampage, will also want to know.”

The girl furrowed her brow. “His woman? He had a woman who was pregnant? I thought my sister was dating the man. She told us she saw him with another woman, and lost it.”

“Your sister,” he spat the words, showing he wasn’t so certain he believed her story yet despite the state issued identification with a different name. She was a club whore, available to any of the men for them to use for sex. My son said he only went there once and she had been following him around for months afterward. We caught her creeping around outside of our own home just a couple days prior to her taking my son from us.”

“Oh God,” the woman panted out. She was just now starting to see the trouble she might be in. Even if she turned out to be who she claimed to be, we were the big bad bikers who had her held captive in an underground facility. We were also the bikers who were probably looking for retribution for what her sister had taken from us. “I always knew that bitch would get me killed,” she muttered. No one spoke after that. We watched as J-Bird paced the floor. Merc just stood with his back to one of the walls and watched his son’s movements. Double-D never took his eyes off the woman seated before us, and I was watchful of all of them. We waited an hour for Kane to return.

He didn’t say a word as he moved directly to Merc and handed him a cell phone. Merc took it and tapped and scrolled on the screen. “Thanks,” he told Kane as he handed the phone back and nodded to Double-D who was next to go through whatever Kane was showing them. J-Bird’s curiosity got the better of him and he went to look to.

“Fuck!” He hissed out before glancing back over his shoulder toward the woman. “We can’t just let her go now.”

“We can, and we will. She’s not going to say a word because she understands why and what we thought,” Merc stated coolly as he glared at her.

“I do understand. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“We’re not in the habit of killing women,” he went on, seemingly ignoring her words. “Make no mistake, if we find out you spoke one fucking word about what happened here today, to anyone, I will rescind that rule and we will bury you beside your sister.”

“She’s in jail, not dead,” Clem announced.

“For now,” J-Bird finished and eyed the woman with meaning.

“I see.” She paled, but managed to keep herself together. “I just came to town to watch the trial and say goodbye. It didn’t sit right with me that she had killed her man in a fit of a jealousy. She doesn’t get jealous. I don’t think my sister has any real emotions anymore,” the woman spilled her family’s secrets.

“She tried to kill herself twice now,” I put in. “Someone who is suicidal usually has some emotions.”

Clem laughed. “You would think, but I guarantee her little attempts were very calculated. She was buying time. A trial should have already happened by now. It’s been the better part of a year. Do not doubt for a minute that my sister has some devious plan cooked up. She’s been a little off our whole lives, but it got a lot worse during our teen years.” She shook her head again as if willing the memories away. “You know how people joke about having an evil twin out there somewhere? I grew up with everyone who knew us understanding just how true that statement could be. This isn’t the first time I suffered because I look like her either,” she proclaimed and we could all see how she visibly shuddered. “At least you guys actually checked to make sure you had the right person before it got…” she breathed out and then added one more word. “Personal.”

Damn, but I was curious about her story. I didn’t think it was something we were going to end up privy to though. “Jay, give the lady a ride back to where you found her,” Merc ordered before turning back to the woman in question. “One word is all it will take and this won’t have a happy ending for you. I’m sorry your sister got you into this mess, but keeping that in mind, maybe once you see her you need to be on your way out of town.”

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