Truth and Lies: Chapter 5

Walking into the clubhouse, I look around and see Buzz, my Enforcer, sitting at the bar talking to the prospect who’s on duty behind the bar until whatever time he’s told to finish.

Buzz is six-feet-five, built like a brick shithouse. He shaves his hair at the sides and longer on the top, sandy brown color, brown eyes, beard when he feels like one. He is easygoing, but as an Enforcer, he can knock a man out with one punch, broken a jaw or two in the past.

The clubhouse is an old superstore, two stories. We built rooms into the place to have a kitchen with a dining area, utility, Church, three offices, storage, bedrooms, bathrooms, and security room that oversees the property and businesses.

We own a strip joint, garage, and ink shop, all run by brothers and legitimate. Getting out of gun-running and drugs was the best thing this club ever did. We lost brothers through that shit, and in my mind, it was never worth it.

Sitting next to Buzz, I tap on the bar for Jig, the prospect, to give me a beer, then turn to look at the room. Jig is five-feet-eleven, dirty blond, blue eyes, and clean-shaven. He is keen to earn his patch and has done more than many prospects are expected to, and he’ll easily win his full patch.

The place needs a woman’s touch, I think to myself, the club pussy is not cutting it for me. They hardly do fuck all, just enough to keep them safe. It’s maybe time I bring it to the table. They either pull their weight or walk. I don’t care; I’ve not tapped any of them in a fuck of a long time.

‘You okay, Pres?’ Buzz looks over at me, brows furrowed.

‘Sick of this shit, look at the place.’ I snarl, ‘I’m not happy at what I’m seeing. We worked hard to get this clubhouse, most of us worked two jobs, put up our life savings, and it looks like a shithole.’

Buzz looks around, and I see the moment he sees what I’m seeing. Club pussy, laying around on the sofa naked, brothers lounging about looking bored. Dirty floor, garbage is thrown around, overflowing waste bins, it’s all gone to shit, the place stinks.

I look at Buzz, and he nods at me, ‘Yea, I see it. What we gonna do about it?’

‘You’re gonna call Church, first thing in the morning, make it nine, let’s make the fuckers’ sweat. We’re pulling this shit together.’ Scanning the room once more, I know what I’m about to do will be worth it. ‘While we’re in Church, get one of the prospects to collect all the whores up and put them in the first office. They stay with them; they don’t touch fuckin’ nothing.’

Buzz nods finishes his drink, and walks away. I know he’ll get everything sorted. He and I think alike. We’ve been best friends since we were kids. He’ll back whatever I decide to do next.

Throwing the rest of my beer back, I nod at Jig and walk over to security. I want to know if Specs, our tech man, found anything yet on the Rogue Legion MC incident. For some reason, it’s grating on my last nerve. I just can’t remember all that happened, but I was shocked at the time that they never allowed the woman to speak, not even in court. It looked like she’d been railroaded, and it never sits pretty when that happens, especially to a woman that more than likely was innocent.

Walking in, Specs looks up and nods, ‘Hi, Pres, what can I do for ya?’

‘Did you find anything from the photo?’ I sit on the only lounge chair in the room and look at the rows of monitors surveying the club, garage, and ink shop. Nothing seems out of place, so I lose interest fast.

‘It’s interesting. The image I got highly resembles the woman, but it’s five years since that conviction, and people change a lot, especially in prison.’ Leaning over, Specs picks up a printout of the woman when she was sent down and hands it to me. ‘As you can see looking at the side by side, we have similarities, hair longer, different color, but the eyes are different, here they are brown and here they are green.’

I study the two images and see what he means, but the mouth looks the same and the eyebrows, cheeks even. Yes, she is a bit older, but bodily they look similar, although she is much slimmer now. In fact, she looks like she needs a few good meals.

Turning to Specs, I hand him the images back, ‘What do you think?’ I ask as I’m nearly sure it’s the same woman.

‘I think it’s highly likely it’s her.’ Specs nods at me, ‘She won’t want her cover being blown, Pres. She’ll be trying to build a new life for herself, and that’s not gonna be easy. If you blow her cover, if it is her, she’ll run. We don’t know what Rogue Legion MC will do if they find her. The last thing we want is her death on our hands.’

Nodding, I agree with him, but I want to know what the fuck happened. I don’t know why; it’s just eating at me.

‘Any chance you can get the prison records? Find out what happened while she was inside?’ turning towards the door as I start to leave.

‘You know my name, right Pres?’ Specs smirks, he loves a challenge, and I would put a bet on having the information by bedtime. ‘Of course, I can get the records.’

Slapping him on the back, I walk out of security and tap and open PT’s door, he’s secretary, and we call him PT which is short for ‘paper trail’ as he can find anything we need regarding the club.

‘PT, Buzz is callin’ Church first thing in the morning. I want you to have details on hand of when we went legit and how much we all forked out to get this clubhouse and businesses.’ leaning on the door frame because I’m not going in and having Sunday brunch, ‘I want all the info on what rooms are used, by who, how many are empty, and every bit of info you have on the whores.’

‘Okay, Pres, I’ll have that for mornin’, anything else?’ PT asks, and I smirk as he has his notebook out, jotting down what he needs to have at the ready.

‘You remember when that other club had a woman sent down, and they didn’t allow her to even speak to anyone?’ I ask as I know PT was around at the time.

‘Yea, I do. My sister Glory worked with her at the bank. She was called Miriam something, I don’t remember, but Glory said she would never have done it because she loved that man and kid.’ PT sits back in his chair, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, ‘Glory was pissed as she tried to visit Miriam in prison, and it was blocked. She was told the woman wasn’t allowed visitors, ever, so not to go back.’

‘Well, that’s a fuck load of bullshit,’ I snarl, ‘So the MC put a block on her ever having her say. Her man needs puttin’ down.’ I shake my head in disgust, ‘Ask your sister if she remembers anything else, anything at all?’

‘Will do. What’s got your interest in this Pres?’ he asks me, half turning back to his desk and paperwork.

‘It just feels wrong. I thought so at the time, but I’m not sure if I ever saw the woman apart from the newspaper reports. She is out, if it is her, and could be in danger.’ I state, then head out to the main room and get a shot of something strong.

Zara

Two days in the loft, and I have eaten up all that was in the box. I know I’m going to have to get out and grab more food and water. I still need to get a cell from somewhere if I’m going to make a run for it and find Miriam.

Opening the hatch slightly, I listen for any talking or noise of someone walking around, anything, I don’t want to be caught, if I have to go back home Cara will hit me again. I don’t know what my tutor is doing because she can’t have reported me missing and I’ve not done any lessons in three weeks.

Not hearing anything, I climb out, making sure the loft hatch closes, and I sneak down the corridor. One of the bedroom doors is open, and as I pass, I see nobody is inside, yet a cellphone is sitting on the bed. I rush in, grab the cellphone and dash down the corridor, shoving it into the back pocket of my jeans.

Peeking into the kitchen, I wait a minute to make sure no one is around, then I bolt for the pantry door and get in, closing the door behind me.

I know where the chocolate bars are, so I grab a few and push them into my shirt, which I tucked into my jeans and buttoned so nothing will fall out.

Picking up some crackers, chips, and a couple of bottles of water, I know I can’t carry anymore, so I open the door slightly and listen once again.

Hearing someone talking, I wait, leaning up against the wall just inside the pantry. I can hear they’re talking about one of the women and something about her having a good mouth! That’s a bit odd, but I’ve seen some things I shouldn’t, so maybe it’s a thing about sex!

As soon as they leave the kitchen, I bolt for the corridor and my safe place. I want to make sure that I get safely locked up as it’s dark outside, and I need to check the time. Most men will hang around with the women once it’s dark, and I don’t want to be caught.

Safely back in the loft, I refill my box and open a bottle of water, sipping it to help it last longer. I look at the cell and see it has everyone’s number in it, so it’s got to be one of the men’s cells.

Checking my notes, I ring the prison as I want to know if Miriam is still locked in that place. Thinking about it has my eyes watering. I wish someone would have listened to me.

‘Baywater Elite Correctional Center, how can I help you?’ a man’s voice asks.

As I open my mouth to speak, all that comes out is a squeak. I cough to let him know I’m here and try again, ‘Can you tell me if Miriam is still there please?’ which comes out a bit ragged, but at least I said it.

‘I’m sorry, Miriam, who?’ he asks.

I check what my notes say, ‘Miriam Williams.’

‘Miss Williams was released a few weeks ago,’ he states. They have hung up as it goes dead.

Okay, now I know Miriam has gone. I need to find where she went. How the heck am I going to do that?