“Micah will be running this show, but I swear to you that if you start running your mouth with either of these women then I’ll be the one getting up close and personal with you and when I ask questions I get the answers the first time or you lose something.” Hemric doesn’t flinch. Rye is dead serious. I sit down in my chair behind my desk pulling Aunt Deb close to me. She takes her place standing next to me. I hand her the pictures that Hemric showed me. I watch her face and she gives me nothing.

  “Aunt Deb, you and Mom always said to put on our big girl boots and wade in the shit storm you have made and start shoveling and I think Hemric here is about knee deep in the muck. We may need to fit him for the big girl boots though because those preppy shoes he has on are not going to get him through today.” Aunt Deb smiles at my attempt of humor even though I don’t feel like making jokes, but I also don’t want Rye committing murder here in our house. I wink at Rye and he seems to settle a little, but what do I know? I look over Rye’s shoulder and see Henry standing there. He hasn’t moved. I know this situation is extreme, I don’t even understand it, but Henry is out of his element. “Henry, can you make sure the house is locked up and keep a watch over everything? I don’t think this is something we want everyone a witness to or for everyone to know.” I see the relief that passes over Henry’s face. Henry nods his head at me and turns to leave but Rye stops him and says something to Henry that I can’t hear and then Henry walks out the door and shuts it behind him.

  “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. When I am not heard of by tonight the game will be put into play.” Hemric likes to talk in riddles. Rye steps up behind Hemric and slaps the back of his head. If this wasn’t such a serious situation that would have been funny, especially with the look that Hemric gave as he rolled his eyes like a sulking teenager.

  “I have no reason to keep you until tonight, but I don’t know what plans that Rye has.” I let that sink in. “Explain all the crap that you were spouting out of your mouth earlier because if that is your idea of a marriage proposal then you really suck at it, and by the way, the answer is a definite hell no. Have I ever given you the idea that I would like to be anything but a working friend? I haven’t led you on. I have turned down every invitation for lunch, dinner, or anything outside of friendly talk.”

  “I’m not a man that can be led around by his dick and I need some first aid from the barbaric stabbing of my genital area.” This does make me laugh out loud.

  “I do believe that you were threatening me, trying to blackmail me, and you had my hair wrapped around your hand and pulling it for all it was worth when I stabbed you with the letter opener so that is self-defense. If I had a gun, then I could have shot you. I have the right to defend myself and my property without backing down since I told you to leave my property and we have posted signs all over this property.” Hemric smiles.

  “That’s your word against mine.” This man has lost his mind.

  “I have three witnesses and this house, and our barn have security cameras that can’t be seen by anyone that doesn’t know they are there and that is only four people.” I see the shocked look on his face. He must think we are stupid. He looks at Aunt Deb.

  “Don’t you have anything to say about the photos? You pretend to be such a brave woman until you are faced with the hard-cold truth. You are a cold-blooded killer and there is nowhere that you can hide from the retribution you will face for the blood on your hands.” Rye slaps his head again, this time with a little more force.

  “I said mind your attitude to the women, next time you get a bullet to your knee cap,” Rye says sounding board. Rye nods his head at Aunt Deb.

  “Not much to say but you have been misinformed. The man in the picture is Stiles, my ex, and the woman is who he had an affair with, but I don’t know anything but that about her. The picture of me with my friends is right after I was divorced and yes, we had a threesome back in the day more than once and that is none of anyone’s concern but the three of us. They are happily married now and have three beautiful children and I am godmother to each one of them. We are still close friends and I either go visit them once or twice a year or they come here to visit from time to time. It’s just easier for me to go to them since they have grandkids running around in their house now. Not blackmail material. I was interviewed by the police and cleared and that was and is the end of it for me.” That surprises me. Aunt Deb has never mentioned anything about her ex being killed. Aunt Deb looks down at me. “I didn’t mention anything about it happening because it was unimportant and had nothing to do with us. Stiles and I didn’t go our separate ways under good terms and when we walked out of the courtroom the day it was final, I never looked back, and I have no desire to rehash it now. I was only in the presence of Stiles a few times after that and none of them I set up, it was always him stalking me.” I reach up and squeeze the hand that Aunt Deb has on my shoulder and try to give her the reassurances that she is giving me.

  “Can’t you even call my dad by his first name? You call him Stiles like he was beneath you and everyone knows he worked his ass off at this ranch in hopes of building a future with you. That sister of yours left you high and dry and you chose her over my dad.” Aunt Deb takes a deep breath as if trying to calm herself. “He never got a dime for all the work he did here and then you killed both of my parents because of your jealousy because he moved on and you never could. You were stuck here cleaning up your sister’s messes and raising her daughters. That’s the reason you would never start a family with my dad.” I start to speak up, but Aunt Deb cuts me off.

  “Mr. Preece, you have been sadly misinformed,” Aunt Deb says with an edge in her voice.

  “Then please, enlighten me. I know for a fact that you had the opportunity to kill my dad but then why did you take my mom too? You said yourself that you didn’t know her, just of her.” Hemric has calmed down but now he has a calm about him that is a little irritating. Did he give me all his crazy? Aunt Deb moves away from me and she takes a framed picture of her and my mom and sets it on the desk facing Hemric.

  “The day that Stiles was killed was the same day that the ranch received its first award for Stock Contract Firm of the Year from the Rodeo Association. My sister and I also hosted two different events that week in Las Vegas with plenty of news and television coverage. This picture is time stamped on the back and it was given to me by a press member. The timeline that the police gave me, I was either on the stage giving a speech of acceptance or speaking to a table full of people and like I said we were in Las Vegas the entire week where we were both very visible in different events. Stiles and I hadn’t been together for six years when he was killed, and I had only spoke to Stiles a few times when he called me in those six years. Sometimes he’d just show up and I’d send him away. The photo with me holding a gun on him was the night I told him to get the hell off our property. That was taken by security cameras here and the whole security footage was turned over to the sheriff’s office the next morning when I filed my complaint against him for hitting me. Look at the damn photo closely. He’d already knocked me around in this very room. He didn’t leave any marks on my face for people to see but my ribs took a beating.” Aunt Deb stops talking, and the room is quiet for a few brief minutes.

  “You will not tarnish my dad’s reputation by the lies that are coming out of your mouth. These pictures you’re showing me must be part of your elaborate alibi.” Hemric sounds unsure.

  “It’s not hard to run a search. That is what you do, right? Or were you lying about that too?” I say with the least amount of sarcasm that I can.

  “My credentials are impeccable, but my job isn’t all of me. Some people are complexed and have different layers. I am not some simpleton. I have been digging into your family since I was able to turn a computer on.” Hemric is a real tool.

  “Then you should have found the police records, protective order, divorce papers and the prenuptial agreement between Stiles and me.” Hemric snorts. I see Rye is stiff as a board listening to Aunt Deb.

  “You must have a lot of people in your pocket then. It’s not unusual for influential families in a community to have people on their payroll.” Hemric doesn’t look so sure now.

  “Hemric, why are trying to do this now? Whatever you are trying. Your dad never had any claim to the Bass Haven Ranch. This ranch was my grandpa and grandma’s legacy and they passed it on to their daughters and then Maddie and I came along. Just share with us so we might understand because right now you are only sounding like a man that is losing his sanity.” Hemric snorts out his nose.

  “I am in control of my sanity. I know the prenuptial was unfair since he put in so much work to put this ranch on the map and then received very little in return.” Hemric is outraged again. Aunt Deb laughs.

  “You think that all Stiles got out of me was the amount in the prenuptial agreement. That is a big pile of bullshit and my patience is running thin. Stiles received a paycheck every week and then a bonus check at the end of each quarter. He was given an expense account and a new truck every two years. He took paid vacations without me and those vacations were not taken alone. I even received the receipts for the jewelry and lingerie. He always had an excuse ready, but I never swallowed any of it because while he was out screwing around with all our friends’ wives, I was home doing all that work you said he did. I am the one that talked our way into the stock contract with Liz’s help and we did that without Stile’s. Whoever is feeding you this rainbow version of the past doesn’t know anything about what was going on and just so you know I have a file of receipts and charges on the ranch’s credit card and a contract that shows we didn’t even receive our first stock contract until two years after Stiles was gone. We were the ones home working our asses off and then he had the audacity to give me an ultimatum to either give my sister the boot or he would divorce me and take half of the ranch. This woman is no fool and the writing was on the wall. Stiles never understood that the blood that ran through my family is the only loyalties I had. I pushed my sister Liz to get out of here for a few years and live. This place was stifling her and when she came back, she was as dedicated to this place as I was. Check your damn facts. Everything is public record.” Aunt Deb has rage shooting out of her eyes. This is the reason why we never brought her ex up. We weren’t privy to all the details, but I didn’t need to know them; I know my Aunt Deb and she is a fair woman. “We didn’t ever have children because I can’t have children and Stiles knew that before we were ever married. It’s stated in the prenuptial so go to the courthouse and read them. I have one question and you will answer it before you leave here, or you won’t be leaving—who the hell are you working with?” I don’t know how long we can keep Hemric here before he’s missed.

  “Why do you think I am working with anyone? Maybe this was all my doing.” I laugh at that and Rye joins in too. “What’s so funny?”

  “If you are who you say then you have an education, so you should have book smarts, but your common sense is what you need to work on. You’re only a distraction and a pawn in someone else’s game. One layer of a scheme to distract us while something else is going on and you are going to be one of the fall guys. Are you even interested in anything that you said today, because you can’t seem to handle the job? The courthouse paperwork from the divorce and everything that is a legal document is easy to access and read. You didn’t. The police reports from the murders could have been a little more difficult to get your hands on without raising red flags but not impossible, and the idea of me marrying you was just ludicrous. Who are you working for or with?” I am asking the same question Aunt Deb did but there is no emotion in my voice. “The photos of me are no big deal. I will flash them all over my social media myself. I’m not ashamed of who I am and who I am having sex with is no one’s business and that includes you. I don’t care who tries to judge me because I couldn’t care less what anyone thinks and everyone that knows me is aware of that.” I wait for an answer. Hemric just stares at us.

  “Tie him up with his belt,” Aunt Deb says to Rye. Rye is fast to move closer to Hemric and hits him in the back of head. I guess that Hemric thought he was safe here. Hemric goes limp and slips to the floor. Rye moves his finger to his mouth and motions for me to be quiet. Rye slides his hand in his front jeans pocket and takes out his pocket-knife, and then he motions Aunt Deb toward the door. Aunt Deb opens it and Henry is standing there and puts something in Aunt Deb’s hand. I stand and go over to help Rye. This is going to be a long day.

  15

  Sarge…

  It has taken us longer than we thought to get Slayer and Ritter out of town. It has been one thing after another. It’s not been anything big, just a bunch of annoying delays. I am waiting for all the brothers to get here for church. I’m just glad that we finally get to get this out in the open.

  I’m sitting at the head of the table as each of my brothers come in and find their seats. Shield is here but Stealth hasn’t made an appearance yet. His women troubles are slowly becoming a club problem. He is distracted, but then again if I thought I was going to be a dad within months I would be going crazy too not to mention loving one woman and having a kid with another one. I have been trying to give him some slack but one of the fuck-ups that happened to delay this meeting is all on him. It’s handled now but we could have lost a complete transport shipment if Shield hadn’t had his back. Stealth feels bad about the shit that went down, but I had to lay it out that if he needed to take some time off to handle both his situations then just do it. We can cover something we know about but if we are left unaware then it touches all of us. We are still building our reputation here and it made us look unorganized and not trustworthy. It’s handled but it can’t happen again. I pull myself out of my head when I see Stealth walk in and take his seat. I hit the gavel on the table and stand up.

  “Let’s get started, we have a lot to cover and it’s past time to get it laid out to everyone. I am going to say what I have to say and then I will give everyone time to speak before we vote on each issue. We have another transport this afternoon and each brother that is involved has been updated on everything already.” I look around the table and I see I have everyone’s attention. “Did everyone silence their phones before you put them in the basket?” No one makes a move to get up, so I take that as a yes. “We have found out that two of our brothers are traitors and they have brought an old ghost back to help.” I let that sink in. “Most of Diamondback’s men are gone and so very few of us know a lot of the history about how the club ran beyond the last few years. Drexler, Slayer, and Ritter are a few of his men that remain. Drexler is having a rough day today and has gone to the doctor, but we have his statement and recently recorded memories. We don’t know what Slayer and Ritter’s endgame is yet, but they have been under surveillance for a while now. We know they were responsible for some of the thievery that was done to the Rebellions 4 Blood MC. We have found the paper trail that connects them to the money along with the drugs and weapons they stole, sold and then pocketed the money. Ritter and Slayer were Diamondback’s enemies and when the club fought against them the brothers were getting killed with weapons that were stolen from them. From what I have been able to dig up, there were a few Rebellions 4 Blood members that were killed by Slayer or Ritter. It must not have gotten them far because they started taking out entire families. We don’t have a clear picture of the number of deaths because we are getting second-hand accounts from the people we have been able to reach. That is the reason Slayer and Ritter are gone today. I wanted to bring this to everyone before we take them down and we need to vote on the consequences. Boots, Keys, and Wedge have all the information we have dug up if anyone wants to see it.” I see that a few of the brothers have doubt in their eyes. I didn’t think that a brother would stoop this low either. “Ritter and Slayer have brought Driver into the mix for some reason and we haven’t figured that one out just yet. Driver, a.k.a. Harold Archibald, is a member that left the club with a price on his head that was put there by Diamondback. That bounty is still in place. Driver is also Ritter’s cousin. There are four men including Driver staying at the cheap motel in Mt. Vernon. We have recordings of Driver meeting with Slayer in different spots between here and Mt. Vernon but they were also spotted out by Bass Haven Ranch.” I nod my head at Keys and he dumps out a big white envelope of photos that have been taken. The most damning photos are of Ritter handing over bundles of cash to Driver. That doesn’t make Slayer and Ritter guilty, but it looks suspicious especially since they both know of the price on Driver’s head and neither have brought it to the table or to me. “I want to keep digging but I want Slayer and Ritter gone. There’s trouble coming, and everyone knows that neither of them is on board to get this club legitimate so we can become marijuana farmers. I gave everyone a chance to vote and walk if they didn’t like the outcome, without prejudice. They didn’t so I want a vote on it, and we will take in to account that their two votes are for themselves.” I have been pacing back and forth. I think and talk better when I’m moving instead of confined to my chair. “I also want a vote on Driver and by that, I mean do we take care of him or let him walk.” I know the next thing has been wearing on all our minds and we need to make our minds up about it. I look at Stealth and Shield and I know I have their backing but I’m not sure how it will go for everyone else. “We need to vote on the situation with Priest and the Legion MC. Stealth can you give them the information that you, Shield, and Keys have come up with. You’re more up to date than I am.” I sit down in my chair.