“Ledger, what’s up brother?” Data, our IT guy who loves Star Trek, says in lieu of hello.
“I need you to run a plate. I need an address right away.”
“You got it. Give me the numbers.”
“1AD6949.”
“That comes back as a 2019 black BMW M6, four door sedan.”
“That sounds right.”
“Registered to Steven Dietrich. 8725 Trenton Avenue. Goran.”
“Thank man, see you at Church later,” I say before hanging up. I don’t like the idea of my pretty little queen living in Goran. It might as well be called Gomorrah with its lawlessness. I am a hypocrite, given the fact that I break the law every day, but that doesn’t make it any better.
Punching the address into my GPS, I head out of Birmingham. I pull into the driveway of the mansion and park. It’s full of cars and I can hear the sound of classical music coming from somewhere inside the house.
The front door is open and nicely dressed assholes are everywhere. There is a wedding cake on a table and I realize that I am crashing a wedding. I see a picture of an old man on one side of the table and a picture of my girl on the other side. Oh, hell no. I begin to realize that I was a last fling for Rachelle before she married the rich old guy. I am about to turn and walk away from this place until I hear screaming. The guests don’t seem to notice, but maybe I am more apt to notice something like that.
Following the sound, I come across a closed door. Moving closer to it, I hear the shouts inside.
“I told you I wasn’t doing this. I don’t care what he does. I can’t be responsible for this.”
“But you are. I told you he’d kill us all.”
“I don’t care.”
“I won’t kill them if you marry me, Rachelle. I promise.”
“Forgive me if your word means nothing to me,” my girl shouts. Immediately, I hear what sounds like a slap and kick the door in. I hear a gasp from another woman and scan the room. The old man, another man, the gasping woman and my girl, holding her face, trying really hard not to cry.
“Come Rachelle,” I say and she looks up at me, surprised.
“Ledger?” she asks, her voice sounding incredulous. “What are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you, obviously,” I say, giving her my best grin.
“Oh, okay.”
“Who the hell are you?” the other man asks.
“Dad, stop,” Rachelle says.
“Ledger.”
“Ledger? What kind of name is that?” the old man asks.
“All you need to know is that I’m an officer with the Endless Knights. Whatever the hell this is… ends now. You don’t want my brand of trouble.”
“Bullshit,” the old man says pulling his gun on me.
“Oh my God. Don’t,” Rachelle screams.
“Do it, Daddy,” the other woman shouts.
“Well, I didn’t think I was going to have to shoot anyone today, but alright, if this is how you want to play it,” I say, drawing out my Beretta, taking the safety off, pointing at the old man.
“He’s the mayor. You can’t shoot him,” the other woman says.
“Shut it, Gerlinde,” Rachelle’s father says. She turns red but does as she’s told.
“Rachelle, let’s go,” I say, holding my free hand out to her. She takes it.
“I can’t leave my brothers here with these people.”
“Take them,” the woman says at the same time her father says, “these people? I’m your father you ungrateful bitch.”
“Fuck you. You aren’t my father anymore. You gave me to someone. Gave me to a sick man. Who knows what he would have done to me?”
“I just wanted your virginity. After that, who knows?” he says shrugging. I feel her tremble beside me.
“You can’t have her virginity,” I shout getting madder by the fucking second.
“Fuck you, pretty boy. It mine.” he seethes, cocking his weapon.
“I already did, asshole. He got my virginity already. You are wasting your time here.”
“What?” the good mayor shouts, turning his gun on Rachelle’s dad. “This is your fault. You should have just let me take her.” He shoots the man in the chest without a second thought. Gerlinde runs from the room, screaming. I don’t hesitate to shoot the bastard when he turns the gun on Rachelle. Two quick pops to head and the man falls down.
“Let’s get your brothers and get out of here.”
“What about my stepmother?”
“Fuck her. She doesn't want those kids.”
We gather the boys from their playroom and she piles them into an SUV that has their booster seats in them. I leave my bike behind as I take the keys from her trembling hand. I help her into the passenger seat and move around the front and into the driver's seat. I avoid cages like this whenever I can, but my girl needs me.
As soon as we are on the highway, I call Dante and Freddy, the cleaners for the MC.