Golden Atonement - Chapter 59

Chapter Twenty-Five

Remi

“Remi!”

Rolling my eyes, I shouted, “In the kitchen, Ink.”

It was nothing new for any one of the club members, wives, or kids to run into my house. Like the clubhouse, my house had a revolving door everyone utilized often.

Sitting on a stool in front of the kitchen island, I smiled when one of my best friends walked in. Ink and I became really good friends during the last months of my pregnancy with Jesse. It just so happened, around that time, Ink was shot in the stomach while he helped Bullseye and a few others rescue Layla, Bullseye’s sister. Those were dark days back then, but like most of us, we survived it all.

While Ink convalesced, we spent many hours watching movies, reading gossip magazines, and just enjoying spending time with each other. We quickly learned we had a lot in common and our friendship grew from there. So, I wasn’t surprised when he walked into my kitchen and frowned.

“Woman,” he huffed, marching over to my refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of apple juice out of it. “Are you trying to get me killed?”

“It’s just one cup.”

Removing my hot cup of coffee and replacing it with the bottle of apple juice, he sighed. “Don’t care. You know the rules.”

“He’s not even here.”

“Fucker has eyes in the back of his head. Trust me. He will know.”

I groaned. “Why are you here, Ink? Go bug Daphne.”

“Can’t,” the man muttered. “She’s cleaning the house.”

“So?”

He huffed. “So, she kicked me out and told me not to come back until later.”

“Then go take Wrenly and Wick for a walk.”

“They are with Cat.” He sighed, looking bored. “And before you say anything. Karlyn is with Logic.”

Removing the cap off the apple juice, I asked, “How’s that going?”

“Slow.”

Karlyn Ingalls was Ink’s only sister and the biological mother of Wrenly. After Steele, the President of Satan’s Angels, brutally attacked her and left her for dead, everyone thought Karlyn had succumbed to her injuries, only to learn that she’d actually slipped into a deep coma that lasted damn near a year.

I had to give it to Ink, though. He never gave up on his baby sister. Neither did Ravage, who spent many hours by her bedside talking to her. The shy woman barely spoke to anyone and never left the Ingalls’ house. From what I knew, she barely acknowledged Ink.

“Logic said it’s gonna take time, but I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s different, Remi. She’s not the sister I remember.”

“Because she isn’t, Ink. You know what that asshole did to her. She will never be the same again.”

“I know that.” He sighed. “But I thought she would at least accept Wrenly. She doesn’t even look at her, Remi. It’s like she doesn’t even recognize her own daughter.”

“Because she’s not,” I carefully said as Ink looked at me. “What I mean by that is Wrenly will never truly be hers. After everything Karlyn’s been through, her mind won’t allow her to accept the truth. Right now, she’s woken up to a new world she knows nothing about, and considering what she’s survived, everything is scary to her.”

“She won’t talk to me, Remi. She only talks to Ravage.”

“I think you know why, Ink.”

He solemnly nodded. “Because she would have been safe if I hadn’t killed Knuckles. Because of me, I put her front and center in Steele’s line of sight.”

“No, your father did that. Look, Ink, right now everything is a jumbled mess in Karlyn’s mind. She doesn’t know who to trust. The only person who has never left her side and has nothing to do with her trauma is Ravage. She feels safe with him. As for Wrenly, she may never accept her, but that’s okay because in Karlyn’s mind, deep down, she knows you and Daphne will love that little girl as she deserves. Neither of you care how Wrenly came into this world.”

“But Karlyn does,” he muttered.

“Yeah, Ink. She does. Sometimes, survivors of rape can’t reconcile what happened to them. Throw in an unwanted pregnancy and most women will abort the babies. Those who carry the baby to term either find it in their hearts to love and care for their child, while others give them away to loving families. There is no wrong decision. Whatever Karlyn chooses to do, she will do what’s best for her and only her.”

“I just want my sister back.”

“Sweetie,” I sighed, covering his hand with mine. “You have your sister back. She may not be the sister you remember, but she’s alive, Ink. Be thankful for that.”

“Remi!”

Groaning, I hung my head and snarled, “In the kitchen, Smoke,” looking up as I heard the brother walk in, carrying a beautiful flower arrangement with him.

“Got another delivery.”

“I see that,” I said. “Put them on the counter.”

“Card?” Ink questioned, and Smoke slowly shook his head. “Man, Reaper’s gonna lose his shit.”

“Speaking of the boss man.” Smoke snickered, taking a seat while I leaned over and smelled the lovely flowers. “Got word that he’s personally bringing Bayou and my cousin home with him.”

“Great,” Ink groaned as his body shivered. “You tell that fucker he better keep his damn pets away from me.”

Smoke wasn’t the only one in the clubhouse who was a little wary around Viper and his slithering reptiles. The man was a walking caution, but he was harmless… most of the time.

As for his snakes, well, they were another story.

A knock at the back door had me turning around to see Phantom standing in the doorway. When she didn’t enter or say a word, I frowned, getting to my feet, leaving Ink to complain all on his own.

“Lena? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong?”

“When’s Reaper due back?”

“In an hour or so. Why?”

“Shit,” she muttered, looking around. The woman looked nervous, almost like she was scared, but I knew that was impossible because I’d never seen Lena scared. Even if I did, Bullseye would kill whatever was scaring the woman. So, she really had no reason to fear anything.

“I’ve got a problem.”

“Of course you do,” I groaned, walking out the back door, leaving Ink to fend for himself with Smoke egging him on. Even I had to admit I wasn’t happy about having snakes and other slimy, slithering reptiles around again, but this place was Viper’s home and with him came his babies, as he called them.

Walking with Lena back toward the clubhouse, I asked, “Just so I can brace myself, how bad are we talking? Like a slap on the wrist or…”

“Life in prison in an undisclosed off-site installation, never to be heard from again,” Lena finished as she looked at me.

Standing there, I gaped at the woman, then clipped, “Jesus, Lena, that’s a bit harsh.”

“You’re telling me. I’m gonna be the one doing the time,” she said, opening the back door, allowing me to precede her.

Making our way through the kitchen, I smiled at Maria, who had happily taken over the kitchen and all the cooking. Axel’s mom was in heaven, according to him and the rest of their family. The woman loved cooking for a big family and well, she had that now. A house full of men all clamoring and happy to eat whatever the woman cooked.

My husband included.

Entering Lena’s office, I took a seat on the small couch and asked, “Alright, Phantom. What’s going on?”

Pacing her office, the woman bit her thumbnail. Another indicator that something was bothering her. Lena didn’t have many tells, well, none that I knew of, but she never pegged me as a nail biter.

“You know about the thumb drive James Doherty left Reaper?”

I nodded. “What about it?”

Instead of replying, the woman sat at her computer, typed something into it, got up and pointed at the screen.

Saying nothing, I too got up, walked over and froze.

“Um, Phantom… isn’t that?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wait a damn minute,” Massacre groaned, rubbing his forehead. “I thought it was just a regular thumb drive.”

“It is,” Phantom sighed.

“Then how the fuck does it have current information on it? Correct me if I’m wrong here, but James Doherty died before Reaper took the seat. Dead men can’t collect information.”

“No, they can’t,” Smoke muttered.

“Well, someone did. If it wasn’t Pops, then who the fuck kept gathering information?” Player snarked.

Looking at the big goof, I asked, “Where exactly did you guys find the damn thumb drive? You were with Ghost when he found it, right?”

Massacre sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Yep. It was me, Bayou, Shadow, Hammer, and Ghost. We’d been on the road so long by the time we actually found what Pops hid, we didn’t really care anymore. All of us were tired of the never-ending road. So much happened during that time, some shit I never want to remember.”

“Where Massacre?” Bullseye growled.

The man blinked, then said, “New York City.”

“Shit,” Matrix groaned.

Player piped up, “Do you think Montana knows?”

Phantom shook her head. “I don’t think so. Last I heard, he’s more concerned about his own ghost files.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

“I don’t know, Player,” Phantom snarked. “If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been kind of busy lately. Reaper wants all those fucking files opened and it’s taking time.”

“He doesn’t know,” I said, leaning forward, placing my hands on the table.

“How can you be sure, Remi?” Ink asked.

“Because if he did, we’d have heard about it by now,” I replied, turning to Bullseye and asking, “When was the last time you spoke to her?”

“When Sal took them away. After the shit went down with Ascari and the Society. Last I heard, Sypher erased their identities and gave them new ones. She was safe somewhere in Maine.”

“Then how the fuck did they find her?” Matrix asked.

Sighing, I looked at Lena. “The files on the thumb drive. Are they in any particular order?”

Shaking her head, Phantom replied, “No. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. Don’t know what I’m getting until I open it up. There is no rhyme or reason to them. It’s almost like Pops never intended them to be opened.”

“That makes no sense,” Matrix stated. “Then why gather the information?”

“Look,” I began. “We don’t have time to sit here and debate why James Doherty did what he did. All we know is he left this club with a lot of information that still needs to be decoded. And right now, we need to confirm that the file Phantom just decoded is correct. Because if it is, Max is going to lose his shit.”

“So will I,” Bullseye muttered.

“Then you need to call Sypher,” Ink informed.

Looking at the brother, I frowned. “Why me?”

“Because you are the next best thing to Reaper. You know everything. Until he returns, you are in charge.”

“Oh no,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not a board member or a patched brother. I’m just the wife.”

“No,” Sandman growled, stepping out of the shadows. “You are more than that and you know it.”

“Look, everyone. I understand the gravity of this situation, but I don’t see what I can do. I’m not the president of this club. I can only do so much. In fact, Bullseye, with Max gone, you make all the decisions.”

“You don’t want me making this one, Remi,” Bullseye stated. “Because it’s taking everything in me right now not to grab my rifle and go hunting.”

“Remi, just call Sypher.” Ink sighed as Bullseye slid his cell phone toward me. Picking it up, I saw he’d already pulled up the number. After hitting the connect button, I placed the phone on speaker so all of us could hear.

“Hey, cuz.” Sypher’s voice filled the room. “What’s up?”

Clearing my throat, I muttered, “Sypher, it’s Remi.”

“Uh, why do you have Dylan’s phone? Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine,” I quickly replied. “Look, Sypher, we’re all here in church and well, I need to ask you a question.”

“Where is Reaper?”

“Not back from Oklahoma yet.”

“And this can’t wait?”

“No. I’m sorry, it can’t.”

“Alright. What do you need?”

Looking at Phantom, I said, “Sypher, Phantom decoded another file today. I need you to verify it.”

“Sure,” the young man happily said. “Have her send it to me.”

Phantom nodded, then instructed, “Check your email.”

“Okay. Give me a sec.”

Church was silent. The only sound coming from the cell phone on the table was the clicking of keys as Sypher did his thing when all of a sudden, dead silence reigned.

After a few seconds, I looked at Phantom, who shrugged as I asked, “Sypher, are you still there?”

When the young man didn’t respond, Bullseye growled, “Danny?”

“Um, yeah. I’m here,” the young man mumbled quietly.

“Well?” Bullseye asked, sitting up straighter. “Is the file real?”

“Yes.”

And with that one word, Bullseye got to his feet and marched out of church.

“Bullseye, you can’t just leave!” I shouted after him.

“Watch me,” the moody assassin growled as he walked out of church, heading for the front doors.

Jumping to my feet, I ran after him, holding out my hand to stop him. “Dylan. I need you to think right now. I know you’re upset, but you can’t just run off and go hunting. I need your help to find her.”

“I’m going to kill them.”

“I’ll help,” Ravage said, walking up behind him.

My God, no wonder Max had a constant headache. Wrangling these men was impossible.

“Dylan, let’s talk about this first.”

“No.”

“I know you didn’t just tell my wife no, motherfucker.”