Prodigal Son (26 page)

She played along, and I felt a flush of pride at how well she could think on her feet.

“Oh, baby, I can’t wait for you to get out,” she purred, still keeping up the show.

I had so much that I wanted to tell Krystal, but between the audience I was sure was behind the mirror and the fact that I was sure I didn’t have much time left, I just pulled her into my arms and held on like my life depended on it. I knew that there was a good chance that my life was about to get really complicated, but for just a moment, I wanted to put my arms around the woman I loved.

The door opened far too soon, and Bryan came inside. He didn’t look happy.

“Listen, Luke, they’re going to charge you.”

“With what?” Krystal said, lifting her head from my chest and taking my hand. “Luke didn’t mean to kill Bug, and he only did it to protect me.”

Bryan shook his head and ran his hands thought his increasingly messy hair. “Look, I have no doubt that I can keep these charges from sticking, but I can’t keep them from charging you. It’ll most likely be manslaughter, but they may go full-bore and charge you with murder. I don’t think they have a case, but I won’t know for sure until we get in front of the grand jury. That won’t happen until Monday, and there’s nothing I can do about it. You’re stuck here for the weekend.”

The door opened again, and two cops came in. I didn’t like where this was heading.

“Let’s go, Callaway,” one of the men said, indicating that I should turn around so that he could handcuff me.

I looked to Krystal, afraid that she’d start crying, which would break my heart, and I was surprised to see that she was perfectly composed.

“Luke, we’ll get you out of here,” she said, dry-eyed and certain. “I love you.” She went to stand next to Bryan, and he put an arm around her shoulders in support. My last sight of her that day was her standing in the police station, looking fierce, despite her bruised and scratched face and her bloodstained clothing. I knew I was in a bad situation, but the sight of Krystal, so determined despite all she’d been through, gave me the hope I knew I’d need to get through the next few days.

Monday, July 8, 2013

K
ate Tanner and Mark Singer stood in the hallway outside the office belonging to the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Denver field office of the FBI. They both looked composed, buttoned down, and confident. They didn’t speak to one another because they’d met for breakfast an hour before and put together a game plan.

The door to the ASAC’s office opened, and Celeste Jenner walked out, down the hallway, and past the two agents without saying a word. Singer looked at Tanner, a question in his gaze. She merely shrugged her shoulders and continued to wait. Celeste returned in a couple of minutes, carrying a fresh cup of coffee. She walked past the agents again, entered her office, and sat down behind her desk.

“Get in here, Tanner, and bring your DEA friend with you.” Celeste’s voice clearly indicated her displeasure.

Kate and Mark entered the office.

“Door,” Celeste said.

Mark closed the door, and the two agents took their seats in the chairs that faced Celeste’s desk.

“Tanner, you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?”

“Yes, ma’am. Luke Callaway is the son of Sable and Daniel Hall, the president of the Savage Sons. Callaway is relatively new to the area, and came to Denver from Flagstaff to find his birth parents after his adoptive parents died in a car accident.”

Celeste leaned back in her chair. “Tanner, I don’t want an analysis of the dysfunctional family dynamics of outlaw bikers. I want to know why my boss got a call from the head of the DEA this morning.”

“Agent Singer and I believe that Luke Callaway could be an opportunity to get back inside the Savage Sons.”

Celeste shook her head impatiently. “Tanner, you know the history there. Frankly, I think I’m lucky not to have been transferred to Detroit or East Bumfuck for the colossal mess that our last collaboration with the DEA turned into. Why on earth would we put another cent or another man hour into this MC?”

Mark sat up straighter. “Ma’am, we believe that Luke Callaway represents our best chance to get information that we otherwise won’t have access to.”

Celeste held her hand up, palm facing the DEA agent. “I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to my agent.”

Kate took over. “We currently have Callaway in custody. He killed a man on Friday, and we’re going to use the threat of facing a murder charge to encourage him to work with us. He will agree, and we’ll have a guy inside the MC.”

“Wait a minute, the guy’s a murderer, facing charges, and you want him to be your informant? When? When he’s eighty and finally gets out of prison?”

“It wasn’t murder, ma’am. We’re charging him, but there’s no case. He stopped an evil, violent man from slicing a girl into pieces. No jury in the world would convict him of manslaughter, let alone murder. But Callaway doesn’t know that. We’re going to make him believe that he’s choosing between spending the rest of his life in prison or helping us out with a little information about some really bad people.”

Celeste looked at Mark. “Singer, what’s the DEA’s angle on this?”

“Back when Moses was working with us, he told us about their Mexican source for some of their meth supplies. We need more information — specific names and places — so that we can work with the Mexican government to shut that pipeline down.”

Celeste shook her head. “Are the Sons still in the meth business? I thought they were laying low after Moses and Tombley were killed.”

“They are out of the meth biz, but those connections still exist between some of the Sons and the people they dealt with in Mexico. Callaway’s fronting the new dispensary they’re about to open, and we think we can lean on him to lean on Daniel and the other Sons to use their old Mexican connections to get weed for their shop.”

Celeste sat still for a few minutes, turning things over in her mind. “What time does the grand jury convene?”

“One o’clock this afternoon,” Kate answered.

“And you’ve talked to the prosecutor?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And he’s going to go in there and tell the grand jury that they have to indict a man you know you can’t convict.”

Kate’s answer was calm and confident. “That’s right.”

“Bail?”

“We’re confident that we can get bail denied. His parents left him a very rich young man, and we’ll have no trouble showing that he’s a flight risk. That way we’ll have easy access to Callaway, and he can sit in a cell and decide where he wants to spend the rest of his life.”

Celeste looked at both Kate and Mark. “You understand my apprehension about approving this.” It wasn’t a question, but both agents nodded.

“Okay,” Celeste said after another long pause. “But Tanner, I’m gonna be so far up your ass on this case that you’re going to see me in your dreams. There will be zero latitude given here. Everything — and I mean everything — will be documented and carried out to the letter of the law. We will not fuck this case up as badly as we and the DEA did last time. I’m giving you a limited budget, and a very short period of time to show me some big results. Is that clear?”

Kate and Mark nodded again, both carefully controlling their expressions to conceal the triumph they felt at having gotten what they wanted.

“I want daily reports from you, Tanner.” She looked at Mark. “And I will be in frequent contact with your supervisor. Any sign that this operation is going south, it’s over. Any sign that the quality and the quantity of the information obtained isn’t spectacular, it’s over. Any sign, any whisper, any hint of conflicting interests or something not quite above-board, I will shut you down, and see to it that you spend the rest of your career in the worst place I can arrange to send you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” both agents answered in unison.

“Anything else I need to know?” she asked, clearly ready to move on to the next item on her agenda for the day.

Kate shook her head. “No, ma’am.”

“I want your first report tonight, Tanner. Close the door behind you when you leave.”

The agents stood up, left the room, and closed Celeste’s office door. They didn’t say a word as they exited the federal building and walked to the coffee shop down the street.

They got coffee and sat down at the table in the window.

Mark was the one to break the silence. “Jesus, you were right. She is a hardass.”

Kate shook her head. “That was nothing. She took it pretty easy on us in there. I expected her to put up more of a fight than she did.”

“We’ll just have to make sure we stay in her good graces, I guess,” Mark said, stirring sugar into his coffee.

Kate checked the time on her phone. “I’m thinking about heading over to the jail before the grand jury convenes.”

“Why? There’s nothing more we need to do there. I think it’s best to let Callaway sit and worry for a while.”

“It’s not Callaway I want to see,” Kate said. “I bet his little white trash girlfriend’s there, and she may be of some help to us in getting Luke to agree to work with us. If I can put a little fear into her — in my helpful and understanding way, of course — she may pressure him to accede to our demands.”

Mark nodded. “Yeah, she seemed to take a shine to you on Friday. I don’t think she trusts me, but she would probably hear what you have to say and take it to heart.”

“I’m a very trustworthy woman, Mark. I keep telling you that.” Kate’s smirk made Mark laugh and spill his coffee. “Better change your suit, mister, we have a date with a grand jury and a ‘murderer’ in a couple of hours.”

Kate’s air quotes around “murderer” made Mark chuckle again, and he stood up and blotted his suit with a napkin. “Goddammit,” he said. “My wife told me I should have worn the black suit.” He put a lid on his coffee cup and headed toward the door. “I’ll see you in court, Kate,” he said, as he headed out to the street.

Kate sipped her coffee and contemplated the approach she’d take in getting Krystal exactly where she wanted her.

Look for
Freedom’s Son
(June 2014) to wrap up Luke and Krystal’s story.
Sinner’s Son
(July/August 2014) takes you back in time to explain Moses Hall’s past, and
Fortunate Son
(September 2014) brings the whole series to a breathtaking conclusion. Sign up for the official Savage Sons email newsletter to be the first to hear when new books are released.

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If you haven't read
Troubled Son
yet...

Max Fisher is going to have to get up close and personal with a whole new scene in her very first undercover case for the FBI. She’s smart, focused, and ready to put the Savage Sons Motorcycle Club in prison. The only problem? She has to work with a partner.

Moses Hall, muscled, tattooed alpha male wants out of the Savage Sons MC, and he’s agreed to work with the FBI for a chance at a new life, free of the drugs and destructive forces of the MC. But can he learn to trust Max with his life?

Max and Moses grow closer, and the sexual attraction between them is undeniable. They start building their case…..until they learn that all isn’t as it seems, and there could be deadly consequences.

Click Here to Read Troubled Son