Warlords MC: Book 5 – Joker : Chapter 4

“This is a fucked up mess Traven got us mixed up in.” Deuce shook his head.

Rowen raised her head and asked, “Who is Traven?”

“Traven is the man who brought you to us last night,” Joker told her.

“Oh,” she whispered. “He’s the man who got me out of that place?”

“If we had found it on our own, we would have stopped it or at least tried to stop it.” Ace reasoned after a moment, getting the conversation back on track.

“Well, that goes without saying.” Jack nodded. He looked over at Rowen. “You didn’t overhear the name of the boat by chance did you?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t overhear it but I did see a manifest that named the boat when they were dragging me out. I think it was the Blue Island tug service.”

“A tug service?” Ace frowned. “What the hell would they need a tug service for?”

Jack stared at Rowen. “How many women did you see lined up anyway?”

Rowen shook her head. “I don’t know but the cells they held us in were really big. There must have been close to fifty cells or more.”

“Damn.” Ace swore as he ran his hands over the back of his head. “I think I need to make a call to Shay and let him know what’s going on here.”

Deuce picked up the transparent tracker. “What do we do with this? This is so beyond what we can handle.”

Ace shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it, I can tell you that.”

“Maybe if you mention it to Shay, he’ll know how to disable it or know someone who uses it,” Joker suggested.

Ace got to his feet. “I’d better make that call.” He turned and went into the living room.

While he was gone, Joker set Rowen in a chair. He poured her more coffee.

Charli was busy making breakfast and brought over a plateful for her.

Rowen stared down at all the food. “Gosh, thank you…But I can’t eat all of this.”

Joker laughed. “Well, at least try. You need to get your strength back.”

When Ace returned to the table twenty minutes later, the women in the family and Annabelle were already sitting there. He tightened his lips but didn’t say anything. He did notice Deuce had hidden the tracking system they found this morning and he motioned his head toward the hall.

Deuce got up and followed him down the hall. A few minutes later Deuce disappeared.

Ace returned to the kitchen table and sat down. He looked over at Joker then at Jack and King. “Shay will be here later today.”

Joker tightened his hold on Rowen and she began to tremble at his announcement. Joker looked down at her and smiled slightly. “You’ll be okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you again. That’s my promise to you.”

“Who is this Shay guy?” she whispered.

“He’s our government contact,” Joker told her.

Rowen gasped and her eyes got wide. “Grinder mentioned that name too.”

Joker stared at her for a moment then looked over at Ace. “In what way?”

Rowen shrugged. “I’m not sure, I was in and out of it by then. I just remember hearing the name. He didn’t like the man too well.”

Joker hugged her. “We’ll keep you safe, even from Shay but he’s one of the good guys.”

“What’s going to happen to me now?” she wanted to know.

“I’m not sure,” Joker admitted. “But no matter what, you’ll be safe. Please try not to worry about that.”

She peeked up at him and bit her bottom lip as if she didn’t know how to ask him something.

Joker waited patiently while he gave her time to make up her mind.

Finally she spoke, “I think I know why I was taken and why Grinder kept me behind.”

Joker looked around the table and got to his feet. He motioned for his brothers to follow him and he carried her back to his bedroom.

His brothers joined them.

Rowen flushed as they closed the door behind them.

Joker sat down on the bed and held her hand as he asked, “What do you mean? Why you were taken and why did Grinder hold you back?”

She sighed hard. “My grandfather was Austin Davis. He was a construction magnet over in Butte. His company is worth millions. He had two children, my uncle Jared, and my mom. He and my uncle Jared weren’t speaking when he died but after he did, my uncle wanted to claim his rightful place as the only son of my grandfather. My mother was his only sister and I was her only child. Grandfather’s will gave control of the company to me, as he and Jared weren’t getting along when he made his will. Jared was livid when it was read but there was nothing he could do. The will also gave him an impressive amount of money but it wasn’t enough for Jared. He wanted it all. All he ever cared about was the money and the power. He never really liked me being with Grandpa at all.”

“And what does that have to do with you?” Ace asked her.

“Probate is up in two weeks. If I can’t be found, then Jared can claim it all,” she explained simply. “We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars here.”

“And you think your uncle set you up to claim the whole works?” King questioned.

Rowen shrugged. “I wouldn’t put anything past him. He’s just a nasty man and he does have ties to the Eagle’s MC.”

Ace narrowed his eyes at her statement. “What kind of ties to the Eagle’s MC?”

“I think he’s the one who gave me over to the Eagle’s.” She let out a heavy sigh. “After he got me to his compound, Grinder used to stare at me and he’d tell me I was going to make the club and him more money than all the others. He said all I had to do was be a good girl and I would live to see another day, or at least until my uncle figured out he still had me.” She paused then told them, “My uncle told them where to find me and as I didn’t hear any of the alarms go off the night I was taken, I think he told them the codes. When he said that about me making more money for them, Grinder said he and the boys would take everything I had before they killed me. But that I had to be alive to claim what they were after.” The look in her eyes told them she was saddened and lost about the whole thing. “My uncle sold me to them.”

“Well, shit.” King raged.

“We can get Shay to look into this connection.” Ace nodded. “If it exists, then that might tell him a whole lot more.”

“So does that make you a Davis as well?” King asked.

Rowen shook her head. “No, my mom was Austin’s daughter. Her name was Agusta and my dad’s name was Jeff Whitney. They died fifteen years ago when I was ten. I went to live with Grandpa after they died in a drunk driver accident.”

“Was Jared still around at that time?” Deuce asked.

She hung her head and nodded. “He was pissed when grandpa brought me back to the house. I was with my parents so after the accident, I was hurt. My leg was broken and my grandpa told me he wanted me to live with him. That pissed Jared off, as he didn’t want me there. He thought Grandpa should let the state deal with me. I was what caused them to fight. Jared always told me not to expect anything from Grandpa because I didn’t deserve a dime from him.” She shook her head, “That man really hates me and I don’t know what I did wrong. I was missing my parents and I didn’t want anything from my grandpa. He was the only family I had left. I didn’t know it then, but my parents left an insurance policy that I would get when I turned twenty one.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Joker assured her. “He’s a greedy man and greedy men never win.”

“I’d rather have Grandpa back than his money.” A single tear ran down her face.

“I think your uncle knows that too and that’s why he set you up,” Ace warned her. “Was there anything hinky about your grandpa’s death?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. All I do know is that he was at his hunting shack with some friends for the weekend a couple of months ago. There was some kind of incident and three of the men were found dead by the police. Grandpa’s body wasn’t found but his blood was all over the cabin. They searched for days but never found him. The Rangers think a bear or a cat dragged his body out and ate him. That was a month ago and we haven’t heard anything otherwise. Jared pushed the court to declare his father dead, so his will would go into probate.”

“What did your grandfather’s attorneys have to say about that?” Jack asked.

“They are dragging things out as long as they can.” She shrugged. “But eventually, they’ll have to turn everything over to him. It isn’t as much as he hoped to get that’s for sure. Jared really hated me after the will was read.”

Joker scoffed. “It sounds like he hated you the moment you came to live with your grandfather. You said he warned you away from expecting anything from the man.”

Deuce stared at her for a moment. “Has anything happened between then and now?”