Page 7 of Demo

Jumper spoke up, making Demo glance up in surprise. Generally, Jumper did not speak during Church meetings. He preferred to sit back and listen. “She donated to the community Angel Tree. I know because I happen to be the one who logged her donated gifts.”

“She has one credit card that isn’t maxed out,” Keys informed them. “It was in her name only so Richard would not have had access to it. However, she’s nearly to her credit limit on it and has only been paying the minimum due each month. She manages to pay her ridiculously high mortgage on time each month but she dropped her homeowners insurance to the bare minimum. The three credit cards she shared with Richard are all maxed out with interest eating away at the payments she provides. Her savings accounts for the boys have not been touched. They’re both 529 Accounts. She’s only adding the occasional dollar or two to both, but sheisadding to them. The savings account she shared with Richard was practically emptied with only thirty-two dollars and forty-three cents left in it. Her checking account only has a few hundred.

“The business account she set up when she created her acupuncture clinic is in the red. She is behind on her rent payment by two months and received another Past Due notice this morning. Her utility bills on both the house and the business are past due as well. I just paid her electric bill for her house as it was on the schedule to be turned off tomorrow if payment wasn’t made. She owns the title on her car, so that’s something going for her at least.”

“If she has the money we’re sending her, why isn’t she using that to pay off her overdue bills?” Lucky asked Keys.

Keys shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not like she wrote an email explaining her decision.”

Bulldog scratched his long beard. “I saw Paige last Tuesday for Abby’s appointment. She said her receptionist called out that day.”

Keys shook his head. “I can already tell you that’s a lie. She let her receptionist go before the holidays to help save on payroll costs. With her lack of customers, a receptionist probably wasn’t worth the payroll anyway. Besides Abby, she only has five other regular clients and the occasional walk-in.”

“She’s an outsider,” Bear said with a shrug. “It’s not surprising to me that the townspeople aren’t being receptive to her new business. They’re a small town and generally only trust those whom they’ve known since birth.” He made a gesture around the table. “Only reason the club was accepted as we were was because you had three of us born and raised here sign on as officers. They would not have been so open to the idea of a motorcycle club if they didn’t know that Lucky, Bulldog, and I would never stand for the guns, drugs, and general mayhem that motorcycle clubs usually bring to small communities.”

“With Carlos and Sheriff Longhill welcoming us, it backed our credibility even more,” Bulldog added, referencing his brother Carlos’s mentor and the town’s beloved sheriff prior to Hannigan.

“We should have backed her clinic as soon as she opened,” Steel said with recrimination. “She’s family,” he indicated his head towards Lucky, “regardless of who her husband was. But I don’t understand why she’s not using the money we’re providing for her.”

“She might be saving for something,” Demo murmured. “Trying to pay something off. Not everyone knows how to effectively ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’.” It was an accounting term used to indicate transferring funds to pay current balances that are actually allocated for other future balances.

“I’m wondering if that money is meant for something else.” Lucky’s tone brooked darkness. “What if someone from Castillo’s organization is squeezing her for money? When was the last time we checked on Juan Castillo and what he was up to?”

“Nearly every day,” Keys said as Bulldog said, “Probably not since Abby returned.”

Everyone looked towards Keys. The man continued to study his monitors as he typed away until he picked up on the silence of the room. Looking up, he straightened when he saw his brothers staring at him. “What?”

Steel was the one who spoke. “You check on Castillo’s organization nearly every day?”

Keys looked a little nervous, like he wasn’t sure if he messed up by his admission, but still nodded. “I wanted to make sure he was keeping his word. We had enough going on with the Heaven Haven community, Scar going rogue, and then the Pythons. I didn’t want Castillo to go back on his word and it come back to bite us in the ass.”

Sometimes Keys’ young face misled the quick brain it housed. The kid was the youngest VDMC member, but they would truly be lost without him and his skills. Only those in this room knew that he was the exception to their bylaw that they only allowed veterans who were honorably discharged from the military to prospect for them. As a teenager, Keys had been recruited to become an analyst for Navy Intelligence due to his incredible computer skills. He was the closest thing to being a spy without joining the CIA. Ghost, a former SEAL, had vouched for Keys when he’d been relieved of duty with a OTH discharge. Keys had disobeyed orders that would have cost civilian lives if he hadn’t. Though his superiors had chosen to punish him for his disobedience, Steel had not. Ghost knew of Keys’ situation and had tracked him down once he’d become a civilian. As far as Ghost was concerned, Keys’ Other Than Honorable discharge was bullshit.

Demo knew Steel was too big a person to allow someone else’s opinion of the kid to influence his decision. Keys had been with the club for nearly four years, having prospected for a year. Now at twenty-three, Keys was running the club security alongside Bulldog as well as his own cyber security business.

“Is he?” Steel asked, referring to Juan Castillo.

Keys nodded, seeming to relax when he didn’t get into trouble. “He’s sticking to the west coast as promised. He even abolished the Detroit syndicate completely. As far as I can tell, he’s gone above and beyond to honor his word to you.”

Demo turned his gaze back to Steel in time to see his slow nod. “Good,” the VDMC President said. “Things are finally settling down after September. I do not want to see that sort of drama start back up again.” Though he wasn’t superstitious, Steel reached forward and rapped his knuckles against the wood table. “Tell me about her parents. I did not like Hannigan’s reaction to them or that they’re threatening to take the kids away.”

Neither had Demo.

Keys reached into his bag at his feet and pulled out a pile of tablets. He passed them to Bear on his right, who started to distribute them around. Demo put his pen down on his yellow pad to accept the tablet handed to him. He ran his finger across the bottom lock screen that held a black and white image of their skull and rifles logo. He didn’t need to open an app or webpage, though, because Keys had all the tablets mirror his own screen.

The images of two men came up. They were clearly related with similar cheekbones, stern gazes, and hair coloring, though one was obviously older. Father and son, Demo would guess.

“Meet Thaddeus ‘Thad’ Barrington and his son Clifton,” Keys told them, confirming Demo’s suspicions.

Bear snorted. “Clifton Barrington? Guy sounds like a douche already.”

Others chuckled. Demo’s laugh was cut short by a sharp pain radiating from his left shoulder as his body shook with his amusement.Fuck!Demo snapped his eyes and jaw shut, clenching his arm against his side to hide the tremor overtaking it.

As Keys continued speaking, Demo forced his eyes back open to make it look like he was paying attention. The image on the screen changed to that of a woman in her late forties. Despite the obvious Botox on her face as well as what Demo could only assume to be a boob job to increase her size, the woman was no longer beautiful. Demo thought she could have been once, if she’d allowed her body to age naturally, but the cosmetics procedures done had given her a plastic, stiff look. “This is Velma Barrington, Paige’s biological mother. She married Thad when Paige was four years old.”

The screen changed to a posed family picture. Demo’s eyes landed on Paige’s wild brunette curls he would have recognized anywhere, even on the little girl that was maybe six or seven years old in this photo. A white mansion stood behind the family. Velma and Thad sat ramrod straight in white wooden chairs. Paige was in a white dress with a pink bow around her waist and in her curls. Despite what was probably professional effort, her curls would not be tamed, resulting in two corkscrew strands falling down her left cheek. Though she was smiling, the expression did not meet her eyes.

“Clifton is Thad’s son by his third wife. He has other children, but they are all older and most will have nothing to do with him. Clifton is eight years older than Paige. Velma is Thad’s fourth wife and I was able to confirm he’s keeping at least two mistresses on the side.”

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