Page 19 of Nomad
J.D. sat between me and Caesar and opened a manila folder that was placed on the large worn wooden table. Knife gouges decorated the dark stained wood, and expertly carved in the center was our three-headed winged skull emblem. I didn’t know how long this chapter had it, but it seemed like it had seen plenty of meetings.
“There was another reason we took part in that charity ride yesterday,” J.D. said.
His admission piqued my curiosity. What interest would Demons United have in Jade’s organization other than honoring a fallen vet?
As a motorcycle club with chapters along the entire east coast, a lot of our members were ex-military, including me. It wasn’t unusual for the club to do honor rides for fallen vets to raise money for the veteran’s family or a specific organization that helped veterans and their families. It was a way to show our thanks and honor our connections to the military. So why was this one any different?
“So, we weren’t there to do the charity ride?” one brother asked. He didn’t look like your typical biker, except for the tattoos that covered every inch of skin I could see. He had more of a swimmer’s frame, with short jet-black hair that shone blue in the fluorescent lighting of the room.
The president pulled out a photograph from the manila envelope and passed it around the room. When it reached me, I grabbed the photo and studied the man carefully. His cerulean blue eyes and boy next door look was familiar. I couldn’t shake that I knew the man in the photograph from somewhere.
“No, we weren’t there only for that, Schizo.” J.D. raked his hand down his face, exhaustion covering it. Dark bags hung under his eyes. I wondered how many hours of sleep he’d gotten. “We have an issue.”
“What kind of issue, Prez?” Schizo asked, his eyes full of concern.
“Janet went missing a few days ago,” J.D. responded.
Curses and shouts tore through the room. It fucking sucked when anyone went missing. A missing child was the only thing worse than a missing woman. Between the two, I always hoped we were dealing with a woman, but it wouldn’t surprise me if someone had snatched a kid.
J.D. held up his hand to silence the curses echoing in the room. “Luckily,” he continued once the noise settled, “we found Janet, alive.”
Everyone in the room breathed out a sigh of relief. I didn’t know Janet, but she must have been special to the brothers. I was glad they rescued her.
“Two other women were also being held with her, but along with them, we recovered the bodies of three women. That’s six women who all went missing from various places around the city, and the cops ain’t done shit about it.”
“What’s the women’s connection to each other, if any? And why in the hell haven’t we heard anything about these missing women on the news?” another brother asked, who favored the Viking.
Twins?
The only difference was his snow-white hair making him stand out amongst the other faces in the room. He’d asked an excellent question. Why wasn’t this story on the local or national news?
“Six women going missing, and three found dead, seems like a lot for the media not to be running wild with the story.”
“Leather and Laceemployed all the women,” J.D. said, and some nodded in understanding, including me.
I also knew ofLeather and Lacefrom my time in Charlotte when I kept an eye on Jade and Junior. It was a well-known secret among criminals and the elites of the Queen City as a place to unwind in whatever way you could imagine. For the right price, of course.
“Kilo, you as well as everyone else in here knows how the cops treat some people,” J.D. said. “However, unlike the other women and despite the life Janet leads, she has a family who cares about her.”
“Priest,” Kilo responded.
“Priest,” J.D. echoed. “He knew something was up when he couldn’t get in touch with her after a date. He demands she check in with him, making sure she’s safe. This time, she didn’t do her normal check-in with him. So, her disappearance didn’t go unnoticed like the others.”
That explains a lot about my target. He was smart enough to pick women who, more than likely, didn’t have families because of their work atLeather and Lace. So, when they went missing, no one was the wiser. The only reason he was on anyone’s radar now was because he’d targeted Priest’s family. He might be more elusive than my past targets.
All these women, including Janet, worked with the same exclusive company, which meant their clients were wealthy professionals, and criminals who enjoyed their privacy because of the hefty price they paid for the membership. So, my target was a wealthy client ofLeather and Laceand that must be the reason J.D. called me in.
“This is Samuel Allen, Financial Advisor to Charlotte’s most influential and rich residents.” J.D. pointed at the photograph. “He’s also the youngest son of Senator Gayle Allen.”
Bingo.
Hearing his name caused a light bulb to go off in my head. He was a family friend of Jade’s and had attended Aaron’s funeral along with his entire family, including the Senator. Groans and curses echoed around the room. J.D. tossed his hand in the air, silencing the men again.
“Janet identified him as the man she saw when they were being held in cages like fucking dogs,” J.D. said. “Yesterday, I hoped he’d show up at the event because the Senator was supposed to be there, and we’d get some more information on him. But the Senator canceled at the last minute. There were also so many people there, I’m not sure if he attended or not.”
So, J.D. didn’t know the connection between Jade and Samuel Allen. Maybe with them not having that knowledge, I could keep Jade far away from this shit.
“Well, if Janet identified him, what the hell does it have to do with the club?” another brother asked. He raked his pitched black hair away from his face. His light green eyes were a startling contrast to his tanned skin.
