“They just found out that Coal is Phoenix’s son, Ember’s twin brother,” Reese said softly.
“What? How do you figure?” I asked.
Ember tried to explain, but she wasn’t making any sense. “Blood type, birthday, farm, Mom.”
Byte filled in the gaps. “They all have the same rare blood type, he and Ember have the same birthday, he’s adopted, he grew up on the farm, and last but not least, his birth mother is listed as Annabelle Burnett on his birth certificate.”
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “Have you gotten an update on him recently?”
Phoenix shook his head. “No, but I don’t think we should tell him about this right away. He doesn’t need the shock of it. Oh, fuck me sideways, has anybody called his parents?” His face fell when he realized what he just said. He cleared his throat, “Mr. and Mrs. Martin?”
“I did,” I said, “right after we got him inside. They should be here soon.”
“Thanks, brother. For the time being, let’s not mention this to the Martins. Kathleen has had a rough time recently and this isn’t going to be easy for her,” Phoenix said.
The waiting room door opened behind me, revealing two uniformed police officers. “Sorry to interrupt. We need to speak with Phoenix Black, William Anderson, John Jackson, and Chase Walker.”
Phoenix rose to his feet, striding toward the officers with an outstretched hand. “I’m Phoenix Black. I’m afraid William Anderson is in surgery right now, but the rest of us are here. Shall we step into the hallway?” It wasn’t really a question. Phoenix was already using his big body to move them into the hall. “What can we help you with?”
“We actually have a few things we need to share with you. We sent a team out to search the cabin and the surrounding grounds. Thanks for letting us know about the bear traps. They were everywhere. We confiscated 27 illegal traps.” The officer cleared his throat and gave Phoenix an appraising look. “You’re Copper’s cousin, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“And you’re a member of Blackwings?”
“I’m the president of the original Blackwings MC chapter. What’s that have to do with anything?” Phoenix asked.
“Copper gave me a call when we first started getting the calls about all this. We aren’t going to try to pin anything on you, we just need to know what happened, more so to keep things from blowing back on you, you understand?”
Phoenix arched a brow. “Are you saying if I tell you me or one of my boys did something on the wrong side of the law in the name of good that you’ll overlook it?”
He nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. We’ve never had any problems with the Blackwings and I for one appreciate it when you guys take out the trash for us when red tape and such gets in our way.”
“All right then, continue,” Phoenix said.
“Mr. Allen Anderson is insisting that you’re holding his girlfriend in your clubhouse against her will. Is there any truth to that?”
Phoenix rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Well, see, about a week ago, someone forced their way onto my private property - my private, gated, and secured property. That person then attacked one of my employees and kidnapped an infant. That infant being John Jackson’s son and Chase Walker’s nephew. We caught up with the kidnapper and brought them back to the clubhouse. Turns out, the kidnapper was Melissa Massengill. We called her sister to come and get her, but due to personal circumstances, she couldn’t come until today. Then, all of this happened. Unfortunately, that hasn’t left me with any free time to return to Croftridge to deal with Melissa. If you would like to verify that story, it just so happens that Melissa’s sister, Shannon Jackson, also happens to be William Anderson’s Old Lady and she is sitting right there in that waiting room.”
“Nothing about that sounds unreasonable to me. You called her sister instead of the authorities because of her mental instability, correct?” the officer coaxed.
“Yes, that’s correct. John here knows Melissa and Shannon from years ago. He was familiar with Melissa’s mental history and suggested we call her sister instead of the authorities,” Phoenix explained.
“That takes care of that. The reason I called you two out here,” he gestured to me and Carbon, “was to let you know that we aren’t going to try to determine where the bullets came from. The fact of the matter is, it was a self-defense situation for both of you and you had every right to shoot him. Your permits were in order and your guns were registered, so no charges will be filed against either of you.”
Carbon and I remained silent, as was our custom when talking with police in the presence of our president. Phoenix always did the talking. “Thanks for letting us know. Did you need us for anything else?” Phoenix asked.
“Not specifically, but I thought you might like to know the team that searched the cabin found much more than expected. Mr. Allen Anderson made the same mistake that most killers make. He did a fantastic job of covering his tracks, but he kept a trophy of sorts from each of his victims. In short, he is responsible for a number of unsolved murders around the area over the years. If he survives his injuries, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison,” the officer told us.
That caused Carbon to go against the rules and speak out of turn. “Who did he kill?” he demanded.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Walker, we haven’t finished with the investigation and notified the family of the victims. I can’t release that information at this time,” the officer politely informed him.
Carbon growled low in his throat. Phoenix stepped in front of Carbon and continued talking to the officers. I took a step back and opened the waiting room door. “Reese, now.” She didn’t question me at all. She got up and came right to me. “Help your brother before he gets arrested.”
Reese nodded and squeezed herself between Phoenix and Carbon. Phoenix kept the officers engaged in conversation while Reese spoke softly to Carbon. He whispered something back to her that made her entire body stiffen. She slowly pivoted her body as one solid unit. It was the eeriest thing I had ever seen. She said in a very robotic, monotone voice. “I’m Reese Walker and this is my brother, Chase Walker. We are the next of kin for James Walker, Heather Walker, Mason Walker, Sage Walker, and Ruby Walker.”
The officer’s face blanched. He looked to his partner who had been silent the entire time. The partner stepped forward and nodded his head. “Allen Anderson is responsible for the murder of your mother, father, brother, sister, and grandmother.”
