Purge (Death Crusaders Motorcycle Club) (4 page)

Chapter Five

Secrets and Lies

Four Days Later…

I have to get out of here.
I’ve been a homebody for almost a week and I can’t stand it anymore. If I don’t
get out of here today I’ll end up burning the house down. I had no idea how
long it would take to heal from supposedly a minor bullet wound. At least now
when I walk I can do it without limping but I still haven’t gotten the spring
back in my step. Shouldering my backpack I step out of apartment and take a
deep breath. My plan today is to just go downtown and sit and have some good
coffee. I saw a Pete’s coffee on the way into town and that’s where I’m headed.
I’m on my way out to the corner to wait for my taxi. I could have asked for a
ride but I really don’t feel like being babysat. I’m not on the curb for two
minutes when a white sedan approaches me. The window comes down in the back and
a man leans out.

“Are you Jennifer Clarkson?”
He asks me.

I nod without thinking.

He holds out an envelope and
tosses it on the curb in front of me.

 “Wait!” I holler. “Who gave
this to you? What is it?”

“Relax, it’s not a bomb. Just
read it.” He says as the car speeds off.

It’s a white envelope with my
name scrawled on the outside.  I open it up. There’s just a phone number and
nothing else. I have to call it of course. I wait until I’m in the back of the
taxi before calling. A female voice answers just before I hang up.

“Hello?”

“Hi uh I’m-”

“Let’s not use names here, I
know who you are.” She says quickly.

“Okay…so what do we do then?”

“We go someplace where we can
talk candidly.” The strange woman replies.

“Okay. I was just about to go
for coffee.” I reply. “In fact I’m waiting for a taxi now.”

“Well… I can come and get
you,” She says. It’ll save you the fare.”

“Why don’t you tell me where
to meet you and I’ll just have the taxi take me there. It should be here in
about ten minutes.”

“Let’s meet at the
Metropolitan Bakery over on Pine Street.” She instructs.

“Okay.” I reply. “I can
probably be there in twenty minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll see you then.”
She says.

“Wait, what will you be
wearing?”

“A wheelchair.” She replies
before disconnecting the call.

After she hangs up my head
begins spinning. This is so weird. She must have some information about Alex’s
death or she wouldn’t be contacting me. Five minutes later my taxi pulls up.

“The Metropolitan Bakery on
Pine.” I tell the driver.

“Yes ma’am.” He replies.

I barely watch the scenery go
by, I’m so distracted. The ride feels like it takes an hour but it probably
didn’t even take the twenty minutes I’d guessed. I give the driver a twenty and
a ten when I get out. I walk into the bakery and spot her right away. She looks
to be about thirty years old and very pretty. Before being bound to the chair
I’d say she was probably close to six feet tall and very shapely.  She looks
like someone who hasn’t been in a wheelchair for very long. She still has great
muscle tone from what I can tell from her outfit and she looks like she is
still getting used to maneuvering everywhere with her chair.

I walk up to her and hand her
the note she had delivered so she knows without a doubt that it’s me. She
smiles and offers her hand.

“Thanks for meeting me.” She
says but still doesn’t identify herself.

We shake hands. She has a
surprisingly strong grip for a woman. I follow her lead and don’t mention my
name either. She knows it of course but I get the feeling that she doesn’t want
me broadcasting my name around.

“Let’s go for a walk.” She
suggests, so I follow her out of the bakery.

We walk for several blocks
before she finally breaks her silence.

“So how long have you been
back in town?” She asks me.

“I just got back actually.”

“I see…. So what do you know
of Alex’s death?”

“Only that she died.”

“That’s not a hell of a lot.”
She replies. “I was her partner.”

“I wondered. Despite the chair
you have cop written all over you. You have some answers for me?”

“I wish I did.”

“So why are we meeting then?”

“How close were the two of
you?” She asks, ignoring my question.

“We’ve been…we’re… best
friends since before grade school. Went to the same schools up through high
school even. I ended up in a community college while she went to UC Davis two
hours away but we remained as close as ever. She was my family. I loved her
like a sister.”

“I see…”

“I’m getting the feeling that
you don’t know much about her death. Why are you asking me all these
questions?”

“Even though the
investigation into Alex’s death is a closed case, it’s not for me. Ms.
Clarkson.”

Now it’s my turn to be
surprised. I guess I just assumed she was gunned down by one of the Advocates
or the Sleazebags, end of story.

“So what do you need from
me?” I ask.

“Well…that depends on you.
How badly do you want to find those responsible for her death?”

“Pretty damn bad.”

“How well do you know the
Death Crusaders?” She asks.

“I guess I used to know them
pretty well but from what I understand, most of the guys that I knew are either
dead or in prison right?”

“Most are, but some of the
top brass are alive and well.”

“What are you asking me?”

“Would you be willing to help
with our investigation?”

“I guess.” I reply. “Although
I’m not sure what I can do. I’ve been out of the country for almost two years
and I have no idea what’s been going on since I left.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“This help that you want from
me…is there any risk in it?”

“Yes. You’d be doing some
investigating for me and me alone. No one else can know about it.”

“I see. Is this investigation
sanctioned by your department or is it…how do you put it; off the books?”

“This would be just between
you and me Ms. Clarkson and nobody can know about this, not even your friend
Blade.

“I see…can I have a couple
days to think about this? What you’re asking, it’s quite a lot.”

“I’ll give you till tomorrow
afternoon.” She replies.

“I don’t know if I can decide
that quickly. Nothing I find out for you is going to bring back my friend so
there’s not much upside for me in this.”

“There’s something else Ms.
Clarkson.”

I don’t like the sound of
that.

“What else is there?” I ask,
not really wanting the answer.

“You must be aware that you
left some not insignificant legal problems behind when you became a fugitive.”

Oh fuck! I knew the chickens
were going to come home to roost one day or another. I was just hoping it
wouldn’t happen in this decade…or the next or the next…Dammit!

“So is this how you’re going
to do it?” I ask. “You’re going to hold my past over my head for as long as it
takes for me to find the killer? How am I supposed to succeed where your whole
department has failed?”

“You have access to the club still.
We lost ours during the Purge.”

“You do realize that women
cannot become patched members right? So that means no matter how close I get,
there’ll always be a firewall between me and the inner circle.”

“I am well aware of that. But
I also believe that the closer you are to Blade the more you’ll know. Guys talk
to their old ladies even though it’s forbidden. They never talk to club whores,
but they tell their old ladies just about everything.”

“Well... you’re right about
that. Blade used to tell me all kinds of shit. Used to freak me out.”

“So I’m going to need your
answer now.” She concludes. “We have a lot of things to cover in a short amount
of time.”

“You sound as if I have
already agreed to this. What happened to my twelve hours?”

“Well from where I’m sitting,
I don’t see that you have much of a choice.”

“You’re not a very nice
person.” I reply. “I can’t imagine Alex enjoying working with you. It’s really
too bad she got saddled with you in the first pla-”

“Okay you can just stop it
right there!” She snaps. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done for Officer
Morgan to make sure she came home every night and I know for a fact that she
felt the same way so can the attitude and do the right thing; help me catch
that cop killer before it happens again. Am I clear?”

It takes almost more strength
than I possess to keep my mouth closed and not fire back at her. I do not like
the woman and I can’t believe that Alex would have thought much of her either.
And now I have to work with the bitch? Damn I should have just turned around
and gone back to Belize the second I saw Alex’s grave. Nothing good is going to
come from this. Of that I’m sure.

“So what’s the next step?” I
finally ask.

“How are things between you
and the new President of the Death Crusaders?”

“Strained…” I reply.

“Well un-strain it then. My way
into the club is dependent upon how receptive he is to you and how willing he
is to share with you. Are you his old lady or aren’t you?”

“It’s complicated.  Are you
asking me to prostitute myself for the Whispering Pines Police? Is that where
this is heading?”

“Of course I wouldn’t ask
that.” She lies. She’ll do anything to get at the club and whoever is
responsible for her partner’s death. “But we need Blade to trust you and to
talk to you about club business.”

“What makes you think a
member of the Crusaders is responsible for Alex’s death?” I really do not like
this woman! Working for her is likely to be a nightmare.

“Nice try Ms. Clarkson, but
no one in this department would have done a thing to hurt Officer Morgan. She
was well liked, trusted, and everyone wanted to partner with her. You’re
barking up the wrong tree.”

“And if you think Blade would
have done anything to hurt my friend
you
are the one chasing after the
wrong tree!”

“You’re probably right. I
don’t think Blade would have hurt her himself but maybe someone under his
command did the deed.”

“Oh so he didn’t pull the
trigger himself he just ordered it? Is that what you think? And by the way,
what’s your name. In fact, before we go any further I’m going to do what I
should have done in the first place. Show me your ID. I have to make sure
you’re even a cop. Then I want to see proof that you knew Alex and that you
were her partner, before I risk my neck here.”

“I thought you might want
some proof.”

She reaches into her back
pocket and pulls out her badge along with her police officer ID. Her name is
Amy Regan. She also hands me two pictures. They’re candid shots. The first is
of what appears to be graduation day, judging by the fancy uniform, white
gloves and hat. Officer Regan is standing with her arm around Alex and smiling.
Alex is holding up her own ID and smiling like she just won the lottery. The
second is a shot of Alex and Officer Regan in the process of making an arrest.
They both looked pretty beat; like they’d just been in an epic fight with the
man in handcuffs. She points to the picture of the man they’ve just arrested.

“This was your friend’s first
felony arrest, and it was a big one! The guy was wanted out of Washington for
murder charges back in 2001. She saw the guy acting strangely and decided to
just talk to him. Of course the guy bolts and Officer Morgan runs him down and
has the guy in cuffs before I can even catch up to them. That girl was fast;
Officer Morgan.”

I don’t need to see or hear
anything more. It’s clear to me that Officer Regan not only worked with my best
friend, but she cared about her partner as well. I may not like the woman but
clearly it worked for the two of them.