Rod (18 page)

“Fucking thought so,” I add just so he
gets the picture.
 
He backs away without
taking his eyes off of me.
 
This reminds
me of my first days in my father’s club.
 
I recall kicking ass at the drop of a hat at my father’s urging.
 
He finds it cool when I get ruthless, but
those days are long gone.

I hop back on my bike and take off
slowly.
 
Kicking up the dirt surrounding
the club, I realize that I can’t throw anyone off with my movements.
 
I head back to the pavement and seek out
somewhere to eat a quick bite.
 
I’m not
fit to ride anywhere outside of a two mile radius of my father’s club.
 
I decide to stop at a restaurant down the way
called Moe’s.
 

Walking inside, I take surveillance of the
place.
 
It’s a typical greasy spoon with
a giant blonde waitress at the front with menus.
 
Her white square name-tag reads:
Deborah.
 

“Just one, dear?” she asks sweetly.
 
She’s about six foot tall, has long blonde
hair and green eyes.
 
She’s wearing a ton
of necklaces, rings and bracelets – so much that she jingles when she walks.

“Yeah, just one,” I tell her.
 
She makes her way to a booth in the back and
I sit opposite of the menu she sits down on the table.
 
I want my back to the wall just in case
anything is to happen.

I silently wonder to myself how she can
walk around parading that much jewelry in a place like this.
 
My question quickly receives an answer
without my even having asked it.

She leans down and whispers, “You might
wanna
come back later, honey.
 
The manager doesn’t have the money for your
people yet.”

It instantly hits me that her manager is paying
off my father’s club for protection from robberies and the like.
 
I look up at her drunkenly and say, “I’m only
here to eat, that money is not my concern.”

She nods politely and says, “Do you know
what you want or do you need a few minutes?”

I glance at the menu and decide on the
spot.

“I’ll take a medium-well steak and eggs
sunny side up,” I rattle off.

She scribbles my order down on her
greenish-white pad and says, “Okay honey, I’ll put that in for you right now.”

I stop her with a touch of her arm.
 

“Would you mind if I had some coffee, too,
please?” I plead.

“Sure thing, coming right up,” she says,
happily walking over to the coffee pot.
 
When dinner arrives, I devour it as if I were held hostage for
days.
 
I take my check to the register to
pay and Deborah tells me, “It’s half off for you, sweetheart.”

Sobering up, I question internally how I
would get half off of my dinner.
 
I
gather that it’s because my father is a mongrel in this area and demands all of
his people get a discount.

“I’d rather pay the whole thing if you
don’t mind,” I tell her.
 
I don’t wish to
take advantage of any of my father’s discounts.
 

“If you’re sure,” she says as I hand her
the check.
 
She punches in some numbers
on the register and I reach her a twenty dollar bill.
 

“Alright, your change is six-forty,” she
tells me with a smile.

“Keep it, and thanks,” I tell her.
 
I walk out the door and survey my
surroundings.
 
Now that I am sober, I rev
up the bike and make my way home.
 
After
a short ride, I finally hit the dirt roads that encompass Hinton Township.
 
I stop at the sign, whip my phone out and
text Trish.

“All is well,
wanna
meet up?” I text her.

“Yeah, let’s meet at the Corkscrew,” she
texts back.

“Be there in ten,” I text her.

Now that I have direction, I speed off into
the night without the worry of being stopped by Barney Fife.
 
Feeling the wind rushing toward my body, I
ride to the Corkscrew where I notice Trish’s bike out front.

I walk inside the place and see her
sitting at the bar.
 
She’s cute in her
blue jeans, pink top and black boots.
 
I
prowl my way over to her and lean in to smell her perfume.

“What in the –” she says, stopping herself
after we make eye contact.

“Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself,” I
tell her with a devilish grin on my face.

She grins and begins questioning me.

“So, what happened?
 
Any word on my sister?
 
Did you give your dad the list of names?” she
presses.

“Alright.
 
I went there and he still claims that he doesn’t know anything about
your sister’s disappearance.
 
I don’t
know if I fully believe him.
 
He’s sneaky
like that.”

She nods to punctuate the end of my
sentences and motions for me to go on.

“I gave my dad the list of names.
 
He seemed very pleased to know that a few of
the guys on there would switch sides.
 
There is one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“He wants me to bring you to the club.”

“He what?” she asks.

“He wants to meet you to see if you’re the
type of person he wants in the club.”

“I’ll go,” she says, standing upright.

“That’s brave, but I can’t let you do
that,” I tell her.

“And why not, if it helps sell the story,
then I
gotta
do what I
gotta
do,” she relays.

“No way, not now and not ever,” I
challenge her.

“Why not?”

“Because my father has no dignity, no
class and because of what he said he wanted to do to you,” I say.

“What does he want to do to me?” she asks
innocently, backing down in her seat.

“He wants to have sex with you,” I tell
her.

“He wants to have sex with me?” she
reiterates as if she didn’t hear me the first time.

“That’s how they let women into the club.
 
They have sex with them and it’s not just one
guy.
 
As a matter of fact, it’s usually
most of the male members on one woman in the middle of the club.”

“So gross,” she says when it all registers
on her face.
 
She looks full of disgust
as she processes the thought.

“Besides, I can’t protect you in
there.
 
I can protect you in Hinton
Township, so it’s best we keep you here.”

“So you can basically go out there and put
yourself in danger, but I have to stay here?” she asks.

“I know those people, you don’t.
 
Believe me when I tell you, they would eat
you alive out there.”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” she caves.

“Good.”

“So what do we do now?”

“My father says that I should confirm the
names on this list so we don’t have to take your ‘so-called’ word on it.”

“Got it, well that should be easy,” she
says beaming.

“So, I figure I’ll go back there in a
couple of days and tell him it’s done.
 
I’ll tell him that you can’t come because your father has you being
watched by one of the officers.
 
I’ll say
that he’s worried about a repeat incident with what happened with Sasha.”

She nods in agreement.
 
It’s a good plan.

“What do we do now, then?”

“I just told you,” I say with a snappy
smile.

“I mean right now, in this very moment?”
She teases.

“Anything you want,” I tell her.

“How about we go back to your place?” She
says without really asking.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I say as I
slap a twenty on the counter to pay for whatever drinks she’s consumed.
 

We walk out together and she follows me
back to my place.

Chapter Ten

Trish Fitzgerald

“Alright, I’m
gonna
get out of here,” I tell him as I look over at his groggy face.
 
The light creeps through the window,
threatening to fully wake him from his sleep.

He barely acknowledges me with a brisk
yawn and he nods that he’s listening.

“Do you have to go already?” he asks.

“Yeah, I’ve got things to do,” I tell him.

“Talk later,” he says through a yawn and
moments later, he covers his head with a pillow and snores.

I walk out quietly and slip down the
stairs and out of the door.
 
I get on my
bike, fastening my helmet on my head and zipping out of sight.
 
My future conversation with my father is
playing in my head and I think that this time, our talk will remain
positive.
 
He likes to yell when I get
myself in too deep, but I’m hoping that things are peaceful when I get home.

I head down the dirt path to our house and
the Sheriff’s car is outside.
 
I park out
front and make my way inside quickly.

“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, I just
wanted to give you an update on everything,” he tells them.
 
They all acknowledge my presence with a nod
in my direction, but they don’t stop talking.

“We’ll keep you in the know if anything
comes up,” he says.
 
They both nod to the
officer as if to say thank you and he leaves out of the front door.
 

“What was that about?” I press them for
information.

“Sheriff Roberts just wanted us to know
that they’re doing everything they can to find your sister,” my mother tells
me.

“It’s not enough,” my father growls.
 
I can tell from the inflection in his voice
that he’s pissed off again, as usual.

“It’s not going to be enough until they
find Sasha,” my mother tries to reassure him with an arm around his
shoulder.
 

She appears to have a calming effect on
him and I think this is the time to spring my investigative discoveries on him.

“Dad, can we talk for a few minutes?” I
ask.

He turns from my mother’s embrace and
looks at me.

“Can’t this wait?” he asks looking all
grizzly in the face.

“Not really,” I reply.

“Well, it’s going to have to!” He yells.

“Dad, this is serious.
 
We really need to talk about what I found
during my investigation of the club members.”

“What, that one of the guys has a warrant
out for his arrest or another guy jaywalked?” he sneers.
 
“I don’t have time for this.”

“If you’d listen, you’d know that I found
out some pretty interesting stuff on some of the guys in the club.”

“Trish, to be completely honest with you,
I only gave you the ability to investigate the club members to get you out of
the way of the real investigation.”

He looks away from me and doesn’t see the
hurt in my eyes.

I take it on the chin and press
further.
 

“I have information that could help.
 
It’s definitely information that you, as the
club’s president, need to know.
 
Damn it
dad, why don’t you just
freakin
’ hear me out?”

He senses my tension and says, “Alright,
you have five minutes.
 
Let’s take this
into my office.”

He opens the door in a huff and I follow
behind him, closing the door behind me.
 
Sitting on one of the familiar chairs in front of his desk, I look to
him for my cue to start.

“Alright, we don’t have all day.
 
Tell me what’s so important, Trish!”

I take a deep breath.
 

“One of the members is selling drugs to
the newer members,” I begin.
 
He has a
look on his face that says he’s immediately enthralled in what I have to say as
well as angry.

“Who the hell is selling drugs to other
members?” he queries.

“Boris
Cardov
,”
I say.
 
He takes a scrap of paper and
scribbles some notes.

“What kind of drugs is he selling?” he
pushes.

“Pot and pills, according to Pence and
Spence,” I say.

“Pence and Spence?” he says as confusion
sets in.

“Scott Pence and Spencer Nottingham,” I
tell him, stifling a chuckle.

“So, Frick and Frack told you that Boris
is selling pot and pills?”

“Yeah, basically,” I say, trailing
off.
 

“We’re going to need to call a meeting of
the club’s officers and see how we’re going to deal with that,” he says,
standing and making a move toward the door.

“Wait, that’s not even the worst of
it.
 
You may want to hold off on that
meeting.”

“What’s going on in the club that I don’t
know about?”

“Ken Clayton has also been bragging to the
guys about coming into thousands of dollars, but he hasn’t been more specific
about when or where this money is coming from.”

“Interesting.
 
So no one knows where this money is coming
from?
 
Like it’s just going to magically
appear?
 
He’s been bragging about it?”

“Yeah, he is even telling people to stick
with him if they want to go far.”

“What in the hell is that all about?” he
asks.

“I’m not sure yet, but I do know that he
is so close to bankruptcy, so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“It sure doesn’t,” he says as I see the
gears turning in his head.
 
“Did he have
a dead relative leave him a bunch of money or something?”

“Not that I know of,” I say.
 
“It’s just interesting to me that a guy like
Ken is going to be on the receiving end of thousands of dollars from the clear
blue sky.
 
Sasha was kidnapped and Ken
gets money?
 
It sounds fishy to me.”

“Are you accusing Ken Clayton of
kidnapping Sasha?
 
Tell me you’re
kidding,” he grumbles.

“No, I just said that I think it’s fishy,”
I say.

“I don’t see a connection there, I’m
sorry.”

“Boris isn’t looking too good here,
either,” I tell him.

“Are you saying that he had something to
do with Sasha’s disappearance?”

“I just think that there is a bigger
picture here that no one is seeing.
 
Also
of note is that both Ken and Boris won’t back up other club members when things
get hairy.
 
I’ve heard that from more
than one member.”

Dad looks intrigued.
 
“Yeah?”

“Yeah.
 
The guys say that both Ken and Boris act like scared little rabbits and
run off when the heat gets turned up.”

“Is that right?” Dad says looking
perplexed.

“That’s what the guys tell me,” I say.

“Hang on a sec here,” he says, putting a
hand up to stop me from talking.
 

He takes his cell phone from the top of
the desk and dials a number.
 
Into the
phone, he says, “Mickey?
 
Yeah, we’re
going to need to setup a meeting of the officers.
 
We’ve got a problem.
 
Also, tell Boris and Ken to come out as
well.”

Before he can finish giving his
instructions, I throw my hand up to say, ‘Wait.’

“Hang on a sec,” he tells Mickey.

“I wouldn’t do that just yet.
 
If they’re involved in Sasha’s disappearance,
then we can’t let them know that we’re onto them,” I say in protest.

He nods in agreement and says into the
phone, “You know what?
 
Hold off on that
for now.
 
We’re going to dig a little
before we confront these guys.
 
Thanks,
Mickey.”

He thumbs over the ‘end’ button on his
phone and sits it back down on the desk.
 
Looking to me, he says, “So, talk to me, Trish.
 
What is going on here?”

“When I interviewed Ken, I asked him about
his thoughts on Lester Samson,” I tell him.

“Lester Samson?
 
Haven’t we been over this already?”

“I know that Rodney said that Lester was a
good guy and a victim of circumstance, but what if he’s wrong?
 
What if that was just information that was
fed to him by his father?”

“Go on,” he says.

“I met Lester Samson,” I tell my father
quietly and try to gauge his response.

“How did you meet Lester Samson?” He asks.

“I went to a bar on the outskirts of town
and he was there with a buddy talking about a twelve-year-old girl with blonde
hair.”

“Okay,” he says, trailing off as if to
indicate that I can continue.

“That guy is a total
freakin
’
creep,” I say matter-of-factly.

“What did Ken have to say about Lester?”
my dad asks.

“He said that Lester Samson is shady and
he even called him a predator.”

“Shady and a predator?
 
Well, let’s alert the media,” dad says
sarcastically.

“I know you might not agree with this, but
here’s what I think went down.
 
I think
Ken and Boris have something to do with Sasha’s disappearance and Lester Samson
is somehow involved.
 
Maybe they’re
holding Sasha there at his house?
 
Maybe
Ken knew that he would be ratted out for bragging about coming into this money
so he decided to throw Lester under the bus?”

“It’s a bit far-fetched, don’t you think?”
He asks.

“Well, as far as I can see, we haven’t
heard anything positive about Sasha or her whereabouts.
 
We don’t have many leads and the sheriff’s
department isn’t doing much, so we have to really look at every possibility,
don’t you think?” I plead my case.

“You are right on the money there.
 
If nothing comes up, then we’re in the same
boat we’ve always been in, but if it turns out that you’re right, then we have
leads to go on.”

I smile.
 
My father trusts me to see the bigger picture here and to figure out
what is going on.
 

“I can look into this further, but for the
time being, I wouldn’t let anyone know that we’re sniffing around these guys.”

“Good point, kid,” he tells me assuredly.

“We need to look at Lester closely and
talk to him to see what he knows,” I tell him.

“Yes, but didn’t you say that you already
met him?”

“Yeah, but it was a dark, seedy bar.
 
I’ll change my hair and makeup around and he
won’t even know it was me.”

“Alright, take Rodney, but only go if
you’re sure you can pull this off.
 
I’ll
have my cell phone at the ready if you need me.
 
Also, when you get his address, call me so I know where you are.”

“No problem.
 
I’ll call Rodney and have him come with me,
so that way Lester won’t be thrown off at all.
 
Rod did say that Lester was a decent guy, so maybe we’re investigating a
ghost, but at least it’s something.”

“Yes, it’s definitely better to be safe
than sorry, Trish.”

“I’ll let you know the address and give
you the details when we get ready to head out to his place,” I tell my father.

He stands up and says, “Good work on this,
Trish.
 
Sorry I didn’t listen to you
sooner, I’ve had a lot of things on my mind.
 
I’m worried about your sister and Missy has been breathing down my neck
like I should let her know every step we’re taking.
 
She’s worried and I get that, but she’s
driving me nuts.”

“It’s all good, I just wanted to give you
the information I had so that we could talk this out.
 
I didn’t intend on coming here and accusing
Boris or Ken of anything, but when we worked through everything, it only made
sense.”

“What made sense?” he asks.

“That the money that Ken was bragging
about was probably kidnapping money.”

“Then we really need to get down to who is
paying him off and what Lester’s involvement is, if anything.
 
Are you sure you don’t want me to go?” He
questions me.

“He’s an older guy, dad.
 
If you go, you’d probably give him a heart
attack.”

“Alright.
 
I want this all to happen quickly.
 
Maybe you and Rodney can go first thing in the morning.
 
Talk to this Lester guy and see what the deal
is.
 
If you have any suspicion that
you’re right about his involvement in your sister’s kidnapping, get the hell
out of there.”

“Yes sir,” I say, caving in to his
demands.
 

“Well, your sister is already missing and
I don’t want you to end up disappearing, too.”

“You got it, dad,” I tell him.
 
I feel warm and animated at my father’s trust
in me.
 

I spring up from my seat and head up to my
bedroom.
 
I shut the door behind myself
and text Rodney: “We have a lead.”

“We do?”
he
texts
back rapidly.

“Yeah, but you’re not going to like it,” I
text back.

I await his response, but my phone rings
instead.

“What are you talking about?” Rodney asks
me.

“Maybe I should come over there so we can
talk about this in person?” I say.

“Sounds good.
 
See you in a few?” he says back.

“Cool, see you in a few,” I tell him.

I hit the ‘end’ button on my phone and
stash it in my pants pocket as I get up from my bed.
 
I walk out of my room, down the stairs and
stop when I reach my father.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” he
asks.

“To Rodney’s place so we can talk about
this stuff,” I tell him.

“Oh, alright.
 
Don’t forget to get me that address when you
know it.
 
I don’t want to wait and wonder
where you are, Trish.”

“I won’t forget,” I assure him.
 

“I want to know when you leave for
Lester’s, too,” he tells me.

“You got it, dad.
 
No worries.
 
We are going to be just fine, I promise.”

“You better be.
 
I don’t want to have to go over there and
kick that old guy’s ass and then Boris and Ken’s, too.”

“I know.
 
I
gotta
run.
 
I’ll be back later on.”

“Alright kid, have fun.”

I make my way out of the door and hop onto
my bike out in front.
 
I zip on out of
our street and take the winding dirt roads to Rodney’s place.
 
Once there, I notice that we are not
alone.
 
Justin’s bike is out front next
to Rodney’s motorcycle.
 
I park mine in
the row of bikes and head up to the door.

I knock on the door several times before I
hear a rumbling from inside.
 
I hear the
door unlock and Rodney looks at me with a smile.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he says.

“Hey, babe,” I tell him.

“Come on in.
 
Justin’s here, so we’re going to have to go
upstairs to talk.”

I can hear a laugh coming from the other
room.
 
Justin mocks Rodney’s language.

“Talk, yeah right!” he teases us.
 

“What are you, five?” Rodney asks him
rhetorically.

“Almost,” Justin says with a chuckle.

Rodney takes my hand in his and leads the
way to his bedroom upstairs.
 
Once we are
inside, he closes the door and listens to the entire place for a minute.
 
Suddenly, newscasters are blathering on
downstairs loudly.

“Alright, we can talk now.
 
He turned the television on,” he tells me.

“Dad wants us to look into Lester Samson,”
I begin.

“That old guy? Are you sure?” He says.

“Yeah.
 
There is a feeling I can’t shake about his involvement in all of this.”