Page 20 of Sinner's Fury

Nodding, I looked toward the fire.

“It wasn’t legal. More like a ceremony.”

“Do you need a doctor?”

I slowly shook my head. “No. I knew Mother would eventually force my hand, so I prepared for it. I took the morning-after pill to ensure nothing came of it.”

“He will be relieved to know,” Sal stated, then added, “He wanted me to pass along a message to you. He said you would know what he was talking about.”

Looking at Sal, I asked, “What is it?”

“Find William’s truth.”

In the weeks that followed, I spent all of my free time researching and digging into my grandfather’s past. It was nothing short of a horror story, one that gave me nightmares on top of my nightmares.

Not only did William Doherty kidnap and rape my grandmother, Elizabeth Craven, he raped three other women as well.

Born in California in 1943, William grew up a happy child for all intents and purposes. He got good grades in school, played football in high school, and even had a sweetheart he planned on marrying.

Then, almost overnight, he changed. The question as to why eluded me. So far, I had found nothing that would warrant such a drastic change in his personality. What I learned was, shortly after graduation, William was drafted into the Army and was immediately shipped off to Vietnam, where he met Xavier Goldman and the others who would eventually start the California Chapter of the Golden Skulls.

But that was too big of a coincidence.

I could understand meeting one of them, but all? There was no way that William Doherty just happened to meet the six men who would help him start one of the most notorious motorcycle clubs around.

“Carly, you had a package arrive at the gate from the Department of Defense,” Sal said, walking into the makeshift office he set up for me, holding a large, thick manila envelope.

Handing it to me, I smiled. “Yes. I’ve been waiting for that.”

Taking a seat next to me, Sal looked at all the papers I had lying around. “What is all this?”

“This is my family history. I am looking for information that could shed some light on how the Golden Skulls got mixed up with the Society. Mainly, I’m looking into where William Doherty came from and why he became the man we all know.”

“I thought Reaper and his club already did that?”

“They did, but they only went back as far as the Vietnam War. My gut is telling me the truth goes back further than that.”

“Why do you think that?” Sal asked, picking up a piece of paper and reading it.

“Because the night of the Society Ceremony, Justin was about to tell me something important when Mother interrupted. Then, you reminded me when you passed along a message from him.”

“Find William’s truth.”

“Yes.” I nodded, ripping open the manila envelope. “That night, Justin said something that stuck with me. He said William didn’t kill Xavier to take over the Golden Skulls. He killed him because he learned the truth. I want to know what truth William learned. Speaking of which. I’ve been meaning to ask you. How do you know Justin?”

Sal sighed, placing the paper back on the desk before looking at me.

“It’s a long story.”

“I like long stories.”

“I met Justin in college in 2001 when we were both incoming freshman at Loyola University. I was a business major, and Justin was there for the parties. Don’t get me wrong, Justin was smart, a wiz with computers, he just loved to party more. We quickly became good friends and before I knew it, we were roommates. For four years, we were inseparable. We did everything together. Then graduation happened and he was gone. Like he never existed. Of course, back then I returned home and stepped into the family business. I guess you could say we drifted apart. It wasn’t until about a year later when I was in New York with my brother that I ran into Justin again. I was shocked to see him, and from the look in his eyes, he was shocked to see me too.”

“Why?”

“Because Justin was having dinner with the head of the New York branch of the Irish Mafia, Nolan Kelley. That man is pure venom. Evil as they come. So, it was strange seeing Justin having dinner with the man. When I approached, Justin acted like no time had passed. He even introduced me to the man.”

“That’s odd,” I muttered. “Surely Justin must have known you and your family would be aware of Mr. Kelley?”

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