Page 5 of New Beginnings
My spine stiffened. Rarely was Caesar serious unless it had to do with club business. And he never called me by my name.
“What is it?” I asked, not really sure I wanted to hear the answer to my question.
These past few weeks had been hell on the club. We hadn’t completely adverted a shitstorm with that asshole Samuel Allen,the former Financial Advisor to Charlotte’s most influential and rich residents and the youngest son of Senator Gayle Allen, and his involvement in the skin trade. We needed a break from all the bullshit.
“Does it have to do with Allen?” I asked, praying that it didn’t. “I know the cops are still hung up on trying to pin some of this shit on Hannibal, but there’s no way they can do that. Not with the evidence we handed the G-men.”
He waved his hand. “No, that shit is locked up tight, despite what the cops want. His lawyer is fucking top notch, and she says she’s got it all under control. They’ll all be going away for a long time and Hannibal will be okay.”
“Good to hear. Then what is it?” I leaned back in my chair, steepling my hands. “What’s got you all serious?”
“I know you hit a dead end with trying to find out what happened to Dani. So, I had a friend help me look for any footage from that day.”
I knew the day he was referring to. The worst day of my life. Although my background was in IT, I scanned hours of footage. I’d done all I could do to find out what happened, but nothing ever panned out. The cops would only say it was a freak accident. Their explanation never sat right with me. The police always hated Demons United. In the beginning, I believed they ignored what happened as a middle finger to me. Then I thought I was losing my mind, but the circumstances of that day always drove me crazy.
Why was Dani there?
“And why am I finding out about this shit now, Caesar?”
“Because you’re not only my Prez, J.D., you’re my best goddamn friend.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m worried about you, man. We all are. You need closure. You need the truth.”
Closure was something I’d never have. Nobody could give me what I needed. Not even the truth would help me because I needed her and my kid back.
“So, you sneak behind my back?”
“Hell yeah,” he smirked, not ashamed about keeping me in the dark. “That’s what friends are for.”
“Who are you fucking Dionne Warwick. Asshole.” I couldn’t stop my grin because if nobody else was there for me, Caesar would always be. He knew and understood my struggle. “And what did your friend find? And can they be trusted?”
“Rebel Pierce would like to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss her findings.”
Anger and sadness filled his eyes. Caesar was not only my VP, but I considered him to be my brother just as he considered me his. He pulled me from the depths of depression to somewhat living again. Well, what I’d been doing these past few years was debatable, but I could say I tried for my daughter even if I only made a little progress. Progress was progress in my eyes, and she was all that mattered to me now.
“What did Rebel Pierce find, Caesar?” I asked again, waiting for him to confirm what I believed all along—it wasn’t an accident. My family had been targeted. Not sure why and not sure by who, but someone caused it to happen.
“It might not have been an accident was all she would say over the phone.”
Grief, heartache, and fury, along with emotions I couldn’t describe, and I hadn’t experienced since that day, unfurled inside me like a beast rising from the abyss.
I picked up the whiskey tumbler, feeling the weight of it in my hand, and let out a roar as I hurled it at the door. As the glass shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, the unmistakable scent of whiskey filled the air as it slowly trickled down the door. AsI raked all the papers, books, and file folders from atop of my desk, the emotions I had buried began to surge and explode.
The yells and curses grew faint. Hands gripping me, I tried to shake off. Voices of concern from my brothers I pushed to the back of my mind. The blood pounding in my ears wiped all the sounds away. I wanted blood. I needed blood for what I’d lost.
Lost.
The thought hit me with the force of a speeding truck, squeezing my chest and weakening my knees, until I crumpled to the ground in a wave of sorrow.
Caesar wrapped his arms around me as I cried like a fucking baby for my daughter, for me, for Dani, and for our son.
“Dani,” I muttered, before darkness engulfed me.
FACE TO FACE
Rebel Pierce
It wasn’t often I investigated deaths, especially deaths that might be connected to criminal organizations. Usually, my security firm, RP Cyber Securities, looked into companies for the U.S. government, trying to uncover embezzlement, fraud, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, and other white-collar crimes.
Nothing like this.
