SWNOVELS Truth and Lies: Chapter 17
After leaving the diner, we contacted Sharp and updated him on what we know so far. He thinks Raging Barons MC is keeping secrets but can’t prove anything at this point. He gives us the address of the compound, and we head out that way before we start pounding the streets once more.
It’s a lovely little town, and people don’t seem afraid of us or our kutte. That tells us a story about the Raging Barons and the relationship they have with people around them.
We stopped to fill up our bikes. The people were friendly and told us without reservation where we could find Axel’s club. That is how they refer to it, says much about Axel.
Riding up to the compound of the Raging Barons MC, we are met with a guarded gate, which we expected. Next to the entrance is a brick guardhouse. Now that did have my eyebrows raising.
‘What can I do for ya?’ a young man with a prospect kutte on asks as he steps out of the guardhouse.
‘We’ve come to speak to Axel if you can let him know Crack and four brothers are here,’ I state, leaning on my bike’s tank with my forearms, stretching my back out a little.
‘Hang on a few minutes, man.’ the prospect says, then makes a call from his cell while walking away so we can’t hear what’s being said.
We sit around a few minutes, and I’m looking at the clubhouse. It’s a two-story building, excellent double door entrance, lots of windows, and the Raging Barons MC logo boldly painted on the wall.
The prospect heads back into the guardhouse and must hit a switch as we hear a buzzing, and the gate starts to slide open.
Starting my bike up, I slowly glide into the compound and park in a space near the double doors. The doors open, and three men step out, nodding at us to follow them in.
Inside the clubhouse, I have to admit it’s in good repair, clean and tidy. People are sitting around, and all talking stops as we walk inside.
One of the brothers who brought us in has Buzz – Enforcer on his kutte and nods at us to follow him through the room and down a hallway to an office.
As we step inside, I see Axel sitting behind a desk, leaning back in his captain’s chair, looking pretty relaxed.
‘Please take a seat. Ya need a drink?’ Axel asks.
‘Yea, a hot drink would be good for us, thanks,’ I respond before any of mine can ask for beer.
Buzz leaves the room, but I note another brother steps inside, obviously not willing to leave their President alone with us. His kutte states he is VP – Drag.
‘So, how can I help you today?’ Axel asks, steepling his hands on the desk and leaning forward.
‘We’ve been following a lead to find Zara, Gunners’ daughter, who we think is looking for Miriam Williams, who was in prison until recently,’ I state I’m not going to try and pull the wool over his eyes.
Axel keeps his gaze on me, ‘Yea, know that much as Sharp has been in touch, but not sure what I can do for you.’
‘I wanted to check if you had any updates at all. We’ve just come from a diner that Miriam worked at but left for some reason.’ sitting forward in my seat, leaning my elbows on my knees.
‘We have had no information about this girl, apart from she is with a man who was a Green Beret and is being kept safe,’ Axel states, still keeping his gaze on me alone.
Buzz re-enters the office carrying a tray with drinks for everyone. After handing them out, he stands on one side behind Axel.
Gunner starts to speak, and I turn sharply, ‘Shut the fuck up, you were told to keep quiet.’ and for once, he does as he’s fucking told.
‘We’ve been to this diner as I mentioned, and the woman told us that Miriam had been there working but had left, that she now goes by the name Mia,’ I take a sip of my coffee and keep my eye on Axel, ‘She said that she thought that Mia was set up by the woman she stabbed, which is Cara and I’ll be honest with you I can believe it. The thing I don’t know is why she would set her up?’
‘Didn’t you ever get to the bottom of this shit at the time, ya know, before that woman was sentenced?’ Axel snarls.
‘Things were happening at the time, and a club was causing us issues, which kept us mostly away from the clubhouse and what was happening. Before any of us knew what was happening she was in prison, done deal.’ I respond, giving Gunner a nasty look as I still think he could have dealt with all this differently.
‘Shall I tell ya what we heard, then and now?’ Axel calmly asks.
‘Yea, you can tell us,’ I reply.
‘We heard she was railroaded. That her ol’ man deserted her without a hearing, he never asked her anything, not a fuckin’ question.’
Axel is getting on a roll, I can tell, and I’m thinking Gunner better keep his fucking mouth shut, ‘So how does it work that a woman has a kid, abandons her at the hospital, stays away for seven fuckin’ years, then turns up and oh surprise gets stabbed by the woman who has been acting as this kids mother without any incident for five years.
‘This woman is instantly the guilty one?’
‘Skank, however, has everyone believing she is innocent. Give me a break. It doesn’t hold fuckin’ water.’ Axel turns and stares at Gunner, he knows who he is, and he doesn’t care either that what he’s saying could set him off.
Gunner jumps to his feet and storms out of the office, and Axel nods at Buzz, who follows him out.
‘You just said what we’ve all been sayin’, we can’t find Mia, or we could find out the truth. The girl was seven and hasn’t said a single word to anyone since that day. I remember her trying to talk to her dad, and when he sent her to her room with her mother, she never spoke again.’ I inform Axel. ‘I want to talk to Zara too, see if I can get her to talk to me about what happened, but I’ve got to find her first.’
‘Well, we can’t help you at the moment.’ Axel states and stands nodding at his VP to show us out.
I nod, ‘Thanks for your time. Here’s my number if you hear anything, we’ll be about trying to find Zara and Mia for a while yet. We can’t stop looking for Gunner’s daughter.’
Leaving the compound, we head back towards town and a motel we’d seen on the way here. We need to talk seriously with Sharp and pound the pavement to find anything on this man and Zara’s whereabouts.