Through The Weeds (Nightshade MC Book 2) (26 page)

“If you want, I can make dinner,” Jillian offered. “I guess that the cooking shows sort of inspired me or something. It's only fair if you're going to make dessert.”

“I'm not going to complain about not having to cook.” Caroline picked up the remote control Jillian when Jillian got up to see what was in the kitchen. “I am going to complain that there's a whole lot of nothing to watch.”

“Why don't you put on a movie? Plenty of movies on demand, and I'm sure Buster won't care that you're running up his cable bill.”

A movie wasn't a bad idea, but the part about running up the bill got her thinking about the money thing, which just made her feel weird. Buster had so much money, and she had so little. Even with her salary from Nightshade Construction, she didn't have an abundance of funds. Would that end up mattering somewhere down the line?

“I think that I'm just going to grab a book and read for a while. Give my brain a little exercise.” Caroline got to her feet and walked into the hall. She'd seen the stack of books on the small corner table there. Most were thrillers, mysteries with bloody, brutal murders so she chose one at random. Instead of returning to the living room, she headed upstairs to their bedroom.

One look around made it clear the room was still mostly Buster's. She loved the furniture, though. It was a dark wood, Caroline didn't know the name, but it had a wonderful shine to it. There was an ornate headboard. There were vines carved into it and thorns, but you had to look closely to see them. She'd looked closely. Sleep didn't come easy for her these days. Thankfully, faking sleep came really easily. It was just a matter of being still, breathing slowly and waiting to hear Buster start snoring. Then she'd just open her eyes and look around. Let her brain cycle through the thoughts that it couldn't stop until finally she'd just pass out.

Caroline didn't remember her dreams. She never had much memory of any dream, and she was glad for not knowing the reason she'd wake up in a cold sweat, certain that her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. She'd move close to Buster, press herself against his chest and just listen to the steady rhythm of his heart until it was time to get up and face the day.

She listened for the sound of approaching bikes, but all she heard was the sound of movement downstairs, in the form of Jillian in the kitchen or Monroe going in and out of the doors on patrol. The sounds were comforting. Caroline let her eyes shut. She doubted she'd sleep, but maybe she could manage to doze off a little.

The next thing she knew was the sound of breaking glass. Caroline shot off the bed. “Fuck.” She'd left her gun downstairs. Her entire body was alert as she raced downstairs, unsure what to expect.

“Careful, there's a lot of glass.” Monroe was standing in the middle of it all. He crouched down and picked up a softball-sized white rock. “No death threat, that's a plus. There were a couple of kids playing outside before. It might have been them.”

Caroline doubted that. She didn't know the neighbors, but she figured the neighbors damn sure knew who Buster was. The house being the target of such a prank with Harris on the loose was too much of a coincidence for their current run of luck. She stopped herself from saying any of that when she caught sight of Jillian's face. “You're probably right. Probably stupid bored kids.”

“I'll go outside and check. Just in case.”

“I'll clean up this mess.” Caroline forced cheer into her voice. “So, what's for dinner, Jillian?”

“Oh. Meatloaf. And mashed potatoes. Buster doesn't have much in the way of vegetables, which isn't exactly a surprise.” Jillian began to pick at the edge of her bandage again. “Normally, I'd just run down to a store and grab some, but that's obviously not an option.”

“Trust me, no one with testosterone is going to notice the lack of vegetables,” Caroline assured her. “I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that I need a beer.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Buster knew that Ace was going to be pissed when they told him why they'd pulled him away from Jillian. Actually, he wasn't sure that pissed was going to be the word. Bones had done a good job of getting them all the information he could track down about Jake's sister Tabby.

It wasn't good. Not one bit of it. They already knew Tabby, but they called her by her birth name, Tabitha. As a matter of routine, they ran the names of pass-arounds when they first showed up, just to be sure that they weren't getting into bed with a cop. Ace was in charge of that, and he'd have run Tabitha.

Buster hoped like hell he'd run her. She'd come around right about the time that Ace and Jillian had fallen out. If his focus was compromised, if he hadn't done the check, then they'd essentially let the wolf right in their front door.

“Someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Ace demanded as they dismounted in front of a self-storage warehouse that had definitely seen better days. Most of the units were abandoned now, still full of people's crap because the owner, Aaron, didn't have the resources to clear them out, and even if he did, there was no one to rent them to. Aaron was also a friend of Nightshade, so he'd offered up his master keys without a question.

“Let me ask you something. You run all of the new girls that start coming around, right?”

“Of course. Why? What happened?” Ace stopped walking. “Just fucking talk to me, Buster.”

“Did you run Tabitha?” Buster turned to face him.

“Tabitha? Yeah, I ran her. She was clean. No arrests. Some parking and speeding tickets. Why?”

“What's her last name?”

“Green,” Ace replied without missing a beat. “Why are you asking me about her?”

“Have you seen or spoken to her since everything went down?” Train asked.

“She's called a bunch of times. I didn't answer. Come on, tell me what's going on!” Ace demanded.

“She's not Tabitha Green.” Train answered before Buster could. “She's Tabitha Dodd.”

“What? That's not possible! Her drivers license said...” Ace trailed off and sighed. “Jesus Christ. He planted her with us.”

“Or she planted herself. We're not sure yet,” Buster admitted. “We're about to get sure.”

“She's here?” Ace started to barrel towards the units like a bull, but Buster grabbed his arm.

“She is. I had Bones grab her once he found out her address. She was packing, so I'd say that we were just in time. I don't think she realized that we were on to her, I think she was just looking for greener pastures,” Buster told him. “Bones had a mask on. She doesn't know who grabbed her.”

“How are we going to play this?”

“I'm thinking that a little good cop bad cop is in order. Train will be the bad cop, obviously.” Buster looked over to where the man was already grinning in anticipation. “He's set up in there already. You'll be good cop. Be on her side.”

“I'm not sure that I can do that, Buster.” Ace spoke after a pause. “I'm not sure that I can be in the same room with her without strangling her.”

“No one is saying that you can't strangle her,” Train pointed out. “Just saying, play her some first.”

“Train, you're not helping.” Buster told him. “I hate to ask you to do this, but you've got a rapport with her already. Nightshade needs you to do this.”

“She's not leaving this place, no matter what she gives us.” Ace's expression was cold.

Buster had weighed all the options as soon as they got the information from Bones. He'd come to the same conclusion. “Only place that she's going is to hell with her brother and his fucking crew.” The decision to kill someone, anyone, wasn't one that he made lightly, but her collusion with her brother, coming into their place and sliding into their lives, was too much to overlook, even before he took into account all that Jake and The Wild Cards had done. There had been no hesitation in taking them out, and he didn't allow himself any for Tabitha, even though she was a woman.

“She's mine.” Ace cleared his throat. “When this is all said and done, I end her.”

“I'll head in first. Warm her up for you.” Train walked over to the building, opened the door and went inside.

“Bones put together a file on her.” Buster handed his phone to Ace. “Figured you'd want to see it. I'm going to go in, too, give you some privacy.” He walked towards the building and let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Inside the building, in the first unit was where Bones had secured Tabitha. He'd certainly been taking no chances that she'd escape. There was about a roll of duct tape holding her to the wooden chair. Her arms were strapped down to the arms of the chair. Buster was reminded of the way that he'd found Caroline, which only strengthened his hatred.

Train hadn't laid a finger on her. He'd simply taken out the rolled leather he'd brought with him and opened it up. His kit was impressive, even though Buster had seen it a million times before. There were a dozen pointy objects which could be used to inflict unspeakable pain in the right hands. Train was the right hands.

“Hello, Tabitha.” Buster leaned in and pulled the tape off of her mouth with one clean yank. She let out yelp of pain but didn't cry out.

“Buster.” She nodded her head at him. “I'd shake your hand, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment.”

“Don't try and be cute,” he warned. “I'm going to ask you a question. You're going to answer, or he's going to hurt you. I'll make sure he takes your nails first, as you're so proud of them.” Train already had the pliers out. It would only take one look for the man to do it.

Tabitha seemed to realize that. “Alright, if I talk... I get out of here with all my fingernails just where they are now.”

“Talk and we'll see,” Buster replied. The door opened behind him, and Ace stepped inside. “Or maybe you should ask him. After all, he's the one who was damn near your old man.” He stepped back so that Ace could stand in front of her.

“I'm supposed to come in here. Talk to you like I give a fuck, like I understand why you did what you did. Fuck that. Fuck you. You're not stupid. You knew what would happen if we ever found out. So why?”

“Nightshade killed my father. Fuck Nightshade. And fuck you.”

“You already did that, Darling,” Ace reminded her with a grin. “What was the plan, Tabitha? What was the endgame?”

“You should have all died in that warehouse. That was the plan, but the explosives didn't blow the way that they should have. My guess is one of you disabled it. There! I talked. Now untie me and let me go. We're even.”

“No. We're not even close,” Ace replied. “Yeah, we disabled it. And then we killed your brother and all of his friends. Wiped The Wild Cards right back off the map.” He let out a loud laugh. “So everything that you did, it was for nothing.”

“Maybe it was, but it was still fun. Even if it was easy. All it took to get access to everything about Nightshade was some bruises and tears. You all lapped it right up. Bunch of bikers with hearts of gold who....” She didn't get to finish that thought because Ace's hand shot out. The slap sent her head to the side and split her lip.

“Who gave Clark the drugs that night? Was there even anyone else there or was it you? You sure as shit didn't beat yourself up. Let me guess, your brother.”

“Don't talk about him. He was a better man than you are, than you'll ever be. He took care of me. He... He shouldn't have been the one to die.”

“Well, he did. Stapler to the head.” Ace chuckled. “There was blood and brains all over the place.” Tabitha recoiled at the words, well, as much as she could. Bones had done a really good job of securing her to that chair. For the first time since she'd started talking, there was no witty comeback. “He deserved it and more. I wouldn't have let him off so easy. I'd have made it slow. I'd have made it painful. Hell, I'd have kept him barely alive until we blew the place and let him die in the rubble.”

“He shouldn't have been there. He should have just gotten rid of those whores and been done with it.”

“You mean he should have killed them?” Ace asked.

“No. She doesn't.” Train tilted his head to the side. “If she'd have meant that he should have killed them, she'd have said it. She's lying.”

“Fuck you.”

“No thanks.” Train shifted the pliers he was holding from hand to hand. “Time for me to get to the truth yet? There's something she's not telling us. Something she'd rather die than let us know. I'm pretty sure that I can get her to tell me.”

“Not likely,” Tabitha retorted.

“See, she didn't deny that there's something she's not telling us.” Train chuckled.

Buster trusted Train's gut. If he thought that Tabitha had a secret, then Tabitha probably had a secret. She was dead either way. He didn't see the harm in trying to find out. He nodded his head ever so slightly and turned his eyes to Ace.

“They're not whores. You're the whore. You're the one who was trading your body for something. Not Jillian. Not Caroline and not Amelia.” Ace's voice shook with barely controlled rage. “The things that your brother did to them...” He sucked in a deep breath. “We should do those same things to you.”

Buster hadn't expected that to come out of Ace's mouth. Apparently Tabitha hadn't either, because she went pale and shut her mouth. “We could brand her the way that he did Caroline.” He suggested.

“Or rape her the way that they raped Jillian. One after another. Over and over. Your brother thought it was funny. He laughed. Gave them suggestions for what to do next.”

Tabitha was visibly shaking now. She thought that they were capable of such things. She was right to be scared. It was the first time Ace had spoken of what happened to Jillian. Buster had known that it was bad, but somehow it was worse. “I told him to sell her, but he wouldn't.”

“Sell her?” Ace asked with a frown.

“There's a market for anything and everything. Don't look at me like that. All those containers you got through on the docks for Miller? What did you think was in them?”

“You're saying that Miller was involved in human trafficking? How would you know that?” Train demanded.

“If I tell you, will you make it quick? I know how this ends now. And no one touches me like that.” Tabitha swallowed hard. “Please.”

“You were sexually abused as a girl. Weren't you?” Train dropped the pliers back down on his kit. “That's what you meant when you said that things got bad for you after your father died.”

“After my father was murdered by Nightshade, we went to live with our aunt and a never-ending stream of uncles. Some of the uncles were funny.”

“It'll be quick.” Buster didn't know where the promise came from, but once it was said, he'd do his best to make sure that's what happened. “Talk.”

“Nightshade wasn't my first time undercover ,so to speak. I got close to Joseph Miller. It was before the fire, before Mark went off the rails. I know as much about him as I do about Nightshade.” Buster remembered Joseph saying something about the Dodd family and now it was starting to make sense. “Anyway, they dealt in everything that could make money. Drugs, guns, people, animals. It didn't matter.” Buster didn't think that she was lying. This was a problem. There was no way Nightshade was going to have a part in selling people.

“With Miller out of the picture, who did you want Jake to sell the girls to?” Train asked.

“Local guy. Runs a porn company. Vital Video,” Tabitha replied. “Why does that matter?”

“None of your business,” Train replied.

“Why me?” Ace's question might have been out of the blue, but Buster had been expecting it.

“You were the best available choice.” There was no fight left in Tabitha. It was clear. “It was either you or him.” She looked over to Train. “And Jake liked the symmetry of it, me with you and him with Jillian.” She looked back at Ace.

“And I made it easy, huh?”

“Yeah. You did,” she admitted. “You all did.” Ace fell silent. Buster knew that none of this was easy for him, especially hearing that he'd made it easy for her. It wasn't a surprise she saw it that way, though; Ace had been in a shitty place, and she'd fulfilled his need to take care of someone.

“What else did you pick up about Miller's business?” Train changed the conversation. Buster was glad for it.

“I know that the business he did with Nightshade wasn't the only business he did. He's got people all over the place. I kept everything that I knew in a file.”

“Where's the file?” Train picked the pliers back up.

“It's gone.”

“She's lying.” Train moved forward. “Only way it's quick and clean is if you're not holding back.” He gripped the nail on her middle finger with the pliers, tugged lightly but hard enough to make her cry out. “Where's the file?”

“It's gone,” she repeated.

Train took the nail with one sharp yank. There was more blood than Buster had expected; it flowed freely and pooled on the floor. Tabitha screamed but Train didn't even blink. “I'm going to ask you again, where's the file?”

Her answer remained the same. It took five nails for her to finally crack and tell them where she'd hidden the file: in her apartment inside a box set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. After that she simply sobbed and sniffled.