Page 29 of Emergence: Prequel
“The kids that we found in the cattle car that just so happened to be the sons of the traffickers we were investigating. The ones who tried to rape your girl. Was it you?”
‘Guess they finally found them then,’I thought with a small grin.
“I can assure you, whatever happened to them, it wasn’t us,” I informed him truthfully because it hadn’t been, not really.
He must have heard the truth in my voice, “Seriously, it wasn’t you?”
“No, whatever happened to them wasn’t me. I gave you a month; that being said, I’m not going to cry over them if they got what they deserved.”
“Fuck! I really thought it was you. The way that we found them was sick, man. I mean, I get why. The video we found on them basically left us all the clues, but fuck me, what was done to them was horrific.”
“I’m sure the girls they raped won’t be crying about it,” I replied tightly.
There was a slight pause before he continued a little more calmly, “No, I’m sure you’re right. If it wasn’t you, then we have no clue who it was. There were no fingerprints on any of the items found. We did find hair on one of them, but when questioned, they told us they’d been out at a bonfire with half their school but had no idea what happened. They’d been drugged, that much we know, but with it being such a common date-rape drug, it’s a dead end,” he sighed.
I waited a beat before asking, “And the parents?”
“Our special ops team took them down the same night that the boys were left in the cattle car. Not sure if someone knew or if it was just a coincidence. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that they are going away for a long time. All their assets have beentaken and frozen. There’s nothing left in your town for their wives. I apologise for coming on so strong. Should have known it wasn’t you; men don’t typically do to other men what was done to the boys. I doubt we’ll ever find out what happened, not unless they remember, and with the evidence that was basically handed to us, I doubt they’ll be seeing the light of day for many years.”
“Good,” I replied. “I’m sure the girls at their school will all breathe a sigh of relief. I’ll let my girls know they can go back to school. Is there anything else you need?”
I was done talking to him. He’d pissed me off enough for the day, and I needed to call Church to update the brothers.
“Yeah, one last thing. I understand you’ve taken Blake on at your garage,” he hesitated before continuing, “If you can, you should try to get him to stay.” I could hear the defeat in his voice when he continued, “He’s a good man, and he wasn’t treated right with everything that went down,” he sighed again. “Anyway, that’s all.”
“Thanks for the update,” I informed him. “I’ll speak to the brothers about Blake. His kids are friends with mine, so for now we’ll keep him on at the garage until he’s back on his feet.”
Done with talking with him, I hung up. Resting my head back against my chair, I closed my eyes tiredly. It had been a stressful few days and I can’t lie, I’d been worried about the kids and evidence, even though from what Kyle said there was no need to worry and having met Rowena, I had a feeling he was right. My next worry had been the kids that had helped, but on that one, Rowena had assured me that I didn’t need to worry. I had to agree with Kyle; for such a little thing, she was kind of terrifying and the way she walked around silently like she did was just a little freaky.
That she seemed to like my family by the amount of time she spent with us eased my mind a little. We could all see she had a thing for Ford, although none of us had a clue how he felt other than protective. It was Stacey she’d bonded with, though. It was like she was starved for feminine affection, and if that was one thing my woman was good at, it was giving love to those that needed it. I had a feeling that no matter what happened, Rowena would be loyal for that reason alone.
Pulled from my musings by a knock on the door, I called out, “Come in.”
The door opened to reveal a wide-eyed, pale prospect. “Umm, Pres.”
“I know I’m scary, Spud, but for fuck’s sake, spit it out.”
“Oh, it’s not that, Pres, I mean, you are scary, but these guys are terrifying and, um, they want to speak to you.”
My eyebrows rose at his words. Who the fuck was it? There were brothers in the clubhouse, so I knew they weren’t enemies because they’d not have got far if they had been. Standing up, I pushed the prospect back out into the common room and came to a stop. Yeah, I could see why the prospect was a little concerned.
There were four of them, and they were big motherfuckers, built like tanks with hair drawn back in braids like the Vikings of old had worn. They were looking around the clubhouse with interest; Cash was with them, and he didn’t look worried, so I relaxed as I walked up to them.
“Welcome to the Queens Wraiths clubhouse. Can I help you?” I asked as I came to a stop.
Four pairs of eyes swung towards me at my words, and I have to say it was a little disconcerting having them stare silently atme. Finally, one of them stepped forward and shook my hand, “You must be Maestro. I’m Cahir, these are my brothers Silas,” he pointed to the Viking with dark hair and eyes, “Cai, you may know Hawk, who is from his family and is a brother in the Crow MC in England,” he continued as I shook the hand of the Viking who had his braids pulled back in a mohawk and had piercing green eyes. There wasn’t a patch of skin that wasn’t tattooed from what I could see on him. I relaxed a bit when I realised that they knew the Crows.
“And this is Ramzi.” I took the hand offered by the red-haired Viking.
“Good to meet you,” I replied. “Is there something we can do for you?”
“We were wondering if we could have some of your time to put your minds at ease regarding a job we did for the FBI over the weekend,” Cahir explained.
My gaze met Cash’s. My eyebrows raised. We’d known each other long enough that we could have complete conversations without having to say a word, but I wanted his take on them before I invited them further into the clubhouse.
At his subtle nod.
“Come to my office,” I invited. “Would you like something to drink?”