Truth and Lies: Chapter 8

Walking through the kitchen, I see Gunner, Cara, and a couple of others sitting drinking coffee. I can’t stand to be near Cara. She’s an evil bitch, and I will never understand why people don’t see that in her.

‘Has Zara been found yet?’ I ask as I lean on the door frame that leads into the dining area.

‘No, not a sign. I’ve looked everywhere.’ Gunner snarls, by the look of him, he’s been up all night, yet Cara looks fresh.

‘You been up all night?’ tipping the rest of the coffee in the sink as it taste’s like shit.

‘Yea, I’ve searched everywhere.’ Gunner runs his hands over his face, looking pretty defeated.

‘What about you, Cara? Where have you looked?’ I know the fucking answer before I ask, but I want to open the eyes of anyone I can that she is a heartless bitch.

She doesn’t even bother to answer, just shrugs her shoulders and carries on drinking her coffee.

‘So your daughter is missing, and all you can do is shrug, not caring a fuck what’s happened to her?’ I snarl.

‘Gunner’s been looking for her.’ Cara eventually says but still looks like she doesn’t give a damn.

‘And you threw Miriam under the bus for this bitch Gunner? Take a good look at her brother. She’s the guilty one in all that shit. Have you never asked yourself why Zara has never spoken a single word since it happened? Why does she hide from her so-called mother?’ I say, getting more aggressive as I speak.

Gunner turns more to look at me, then curls his lip, ‘She doesn’t speak ’cause she’s traumatized, and we all know who did that to her.’

‘Do we? You never allowed anyone to speak to her. You even paid the cops to railroad Miriam. You took it even farther and had her life made hell in prison. All while this piece of shit sits here smirking. I’ll find out the truth, Cara, and when I do, you’re a dead woman.’ I snarl, then as I’m walking out, I turn, ‘And you Gunner, you’ll get the beating you deserve.’

Jumping up, Gunner comes at me, but before he reaches where I’m standing, and I have to add I’m fucking waiting, Sharp walks into the kitchen, ‘Stand down, Gunner,’ and then turns to me, ‘You’re right Crack, we need to find out what the fuck happened, and Gunner you’re not getting involved this time.’

Nodding, ‘I’m gonna look for Zara. She’s been missing for hours. If she’s not in the compound, I’m goin’ outside to find her. All of us here need to be lookin’. Something’s not right with her and hasn’t been for a long time. She’s been seen less and less, and has anyone noticed at all that she’s not been at meals for weeks?’

I make sure my disgust is aimed at Gunner and Cara as they are responsible for Zara and are failing her daily.

As I leave the kitchen, I hear Sharp speaking to Trip, our VP, ‘Make sure Cara doesn’t leave the compound, even if you need to lock her ass up, and Gunner, you make any complaint, and you can fucking join her.’ nothing can stop the broad smirk that crosses my face.

Zara

It feels like it was a long way walking to town, but I’ve made it at last. I’m going to get a ticket for the bus and hope no one asks me any questions.

The Greyhound bus is waiting to leave, and I tell the woman I’m buying the ticket to see my grandmother. I’m not sure if she believes me, but she gives me the ticket.

The bus will take me near the prison, still in Nevada, but about six towns away, I think, looking at the map I purchased.

I sit near the back of the bus and place my backpack on the seat next to me, taking out a bag of chips and a bottle of water. I’m tired, but I can’t go to sleep.

Arriving at our destination, I look around the bus terminal and chew my lip as I don’t know which way to go from here. Seeing a man sitting on the floor at the side of the hallway, I walk over to ask if he can help me.

‘Excuse me,’ I say quietly, ‘Could you tell me which way I need to go to find the prison, please?’

‘Why girlie? Why do you want to go there?’ he says.

‘I’m trying to find my friend who just got out of prison. I need to find her,’ I tell him and sit down next to him as I’m tired.

‘I can tell you where the prison is, but if she is out now, then you won’t get any information from them. She would have gone by bus to the halfway house, then wherever she wants from that place.’ he tells me, ‘Are you on your own?’

‘Oh,’ I don’t know what to do now, ‘Can you tell me where to go to ask?’

‘I tell ya what, I’ll go with, and make sure nobody bothers you,’ he states and gives me a small smile.

Should I trust him? I need help, that is for sure. I hold my hand out to shake his, ‘My name is Zara.’

‘Hi Zara, my name is Peter.’ we shake hands, and he stands.

I follow Peter, and he asks if I’m okay, if someone hurt me. Looking at Peter, I don’t know why but I know I can trust him even though he needs a bath. He’s about six-three, I cannot see how fit he is as he has a lot of old clothes on, but he has dark hair and eyes that have a twinkle in them.

We talk as we journey to the halfway, and he tells me he was a Green Beret, left when he lost most of his team and that he’s not sure what he wants to do now. I tell him why I’m looking for Miriam and about my parents. He seems pretty pissed when I tell him Cara hits me.

Finally, we get to the halfway, and we go inside. It’s dark here, a bit miserable looking, and needs decorating. At the back of the room, I see a woman sitting behind a desk.

Walking over, I stand before the desk, smiling at the lady. ‘Hello, I’m looking for a lady called Miriam Williams. She left prison and came here. I need to find her.’

‘Why do you need to find her?’ the woman asks, looking past me at Peter.

‘She’s my friend, and I need to find her,’ I tell the woman. ‘She didn’t do what they said she did, and I want to tell her I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to tell anyone.’

‘Oh, well, let me have a look for you.’

I look behind me to see Peter standing near the door, watching what is happening, and I give him a small smile.

‘Okay, she got a job at a diner just outside of town. Here’s the address. Do you need help? Apart from finding her?’ she asks me.

‘No, thank you, my friend Peter is helping me.’ and I take the paper that she wrote down the address, and I walk back over to Peter.

We leave the building, and Peter points to a park across the road. We find a bench and sit. I take out a couple of my protein bars and give one to Peter, plus a bottle of water, and we sit quietly while we eat and drink.

Peter turns to me, ‘Do ya want to go to the diner, see if she’s still there?’

‘Yes,’ I murmur but start to lean on Peter as I’m trying hard to keep my eyes open.

‘Okay, little girl, we’ll go to the diner when you’ve had a nap; put your head on my lap and close your eyes a while,’ he says, but before he’s finished speaking, I’m already asleep.

Axel

After the meeting in Church, everyone seems a bit more understanding about the state the place has gotten into, and I’m pleased to see that the women have been told to shape up or ship out, and I don’t care either way.

Specs calls to me, and I walk over to him where he’s standing in his office doorway.

‘What’s up, Specs?’

‘I’ve heard back from a friend who owed me one,’ said with a half-grin, ‘He talked to a guard he knows and got some information.’

In his office, he closes the door, and I take a seat. Specs grabs a notepad off his desk and hands it to me. Reading the information has my blood boiling with anger. The MC that was supposed to be her family had her more than railroaded; they wanted her dead, well, her old man did.

Looking up at Specs, the look on his face must mirror mine, outrage, disbelief, and anger. I turn the page and continue reading.

This woman was not allowed to speak to anyone, not from her MC, the lawyer she had, or the court. She was allowed no opportunity to defend herself.

Then inside, she was targeted by women who were paid to make her life miserable and kill her if they had the chance. Even guards were paid to look the other way.

The report shows medical visits she had due to a stab wound in her side. Hair ripped out, leaving a bleeding scalp, multiple black eyes, and twice broken ribs.

I don’t like any of this; our club helps women in distress when we get the opportunity. We don’t have a business set up for it as some MCs, but we do what we can if it ever comes onto our radar. This has to be the worst case of betrayal I’ve ever seen.

Turning to Specs, ‘Where the fuck is Buzz and Mav? They should be back by now with the woman.’

‘Not heard anything Pres, do you want me to try to find them?’ he asks as he picks his cell up from the desk.

‘Na, I’ll do it. You carry on, and thanks, Specs.’ I say as I leave him to it. I call Buzz and wait for his answer.

‘Yo Pres.’

‘Buzz, where the fuck are you?’ I snap out.

‘We’re checking all the buses that left. We missed her at the diner. She has to have been on one of the two that left before the diner opened, and we spoke to the couple that owns the place,’ he sighs, ‘Pres, they were pissed she’s run, they said she served time for something she didn’t do, and we should leave her the fuck alone.’

‘Find her. You should be able to catch up with her, but if you need to call in more brothers, do it. I want her found and brought here,’ I state firmly.

Entering my office, I decide to contact Sharp over at Rogue Legion MC. I’ve had dealings with him in the past and found him to be fair, a bit rough around the edges, but then aren’t we all?

The call is answered after five rings, ‘Who’s this?’ the gruff voice snarls.

‘Sharp, this is Axel from Raging Demons MC. I want to ask you a couple of questions if that’s okay. If not, that’s okay too, as I’ll get my answers one way or another,’ I state calmly.

‘Axel, what can I do for you?’ Sharp more calmly asks.

‘I’m looking into something that involved your MC a few years back and wondered if you could give me a couple of answers to something that’s bugging me.’ Keeping it cool at this point as I don’t want this fucker to take offense, but if he does, fuck him.

‘Okay, Axel, what’s ya questions?’

‘You had a young woman sent to prison for something she didn’t do. Can you tell me the reason behind that? If you have a good reason, then I’ll back off, but otherwise, I want to know what actually happened, ya know, what happened, not the bullshit that was spouted.’ I have a grin on my face that he obviously can’t see, but Sting, one of my brothers, can see as he just walked into my office.

Sting is a brother that will do anything asked of him, but he is damn good at torturing if needed. He was an exceptional prospect and was patched in early as no one thought he would be anything but an excellent brother. He’s six-one, brown hair with flecks of red, green eyes, and well built.

‘We’re just looking into it ourselves, Axel. Something’s just not ringing true at our end either. Things were crazy at the time, and I didn’t look into it as I should have, just let it slide past me. I know things are not adding up,’ Sharp inhales hard, ‘I didn’t know she was railroaded, and still not for sure, but one of my men is convinced she was set up by her ol’ man’s baby mama. The trouble is, the baby is now twelve, nearly thirteen, and she’s gone missing. I have a feeling she’s gone to find Miriam. Zara has not spoken one word to any of us since the day it happened. We all thought it was trauma; now, I’m not so sure of that either.’

‘I’ve got my boys looking for Miriam; as I said, I want to know what happened, and if all the people that were paid off knowing that she was innocent, then I’m gonna be doing some damage. We don’t help women just to sit back and watch this injustice stand. You got me, Sharp?’ I say with the hardest edge I can to my voice.

‘Keep me updated, Axel, and I’ll let you know if we find Zara or Miriam,’ Sharp responds.

Taking a deep breath, I sit back down and get down to business with Sting even though my mind keeps wandering.