DAMON
Today had been one of the hardest for me. My brothers, thankfully, knew not to mess with me when they arrived. Ty was handling everything back in Southport but had informed me if I needed more back up he’d be down here with the rest at a moment's notice. As soon as Ax and the others had arrived, they’d checked in and hit the streets to gather more information for me.
“Yo Damon, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Madden’s usually jovial voice was now more serious, he’d interrupted my thought process as he walked into the room I was now using as a makeshift headquarters.
My laptop was set up at the small dining table under the window. The mirror I was using as a pinboard didn’t have much except for a few post-it notes that I was using as a quick reference to what we already knew. Waiting for Jonah was killing me. I needed him to get back to me with everything else fast.
“Sorry Madz,” I acknowledged, my tone neutral due to the numbness that had started taking over the longer I had to wait. The unknown weighed heavily on me. If only I'd decided to leave earlier. What ifs had started to creep in and it was hard not to feel guilty. “I’m calling an impromptu church in thirty minutes, Jonah should be calling at the same time I need you, Ax and the boys here then.”
“Got it Prez,” he answered, the wary look he gave me told me he had more to say but was hesitant for some reason.
“Just spit it out Madz,” I told him, I had enough on my mind already, I didn’t need my VP walking on eggshells around me.
“We’re going to find her Damon, but it won’t do any of us any good if you bottle things ups, I’m here for you man, you’re like a brother to me and not just with club either,” Madden let me know, glad he was my second in charge, always the pillar of strength when I needed him to be. “Paige is going to need you at the top of your game when this all comes to head. Just like you were for Phoenix.”
“Don’t worry about me Madz, I won’t let my feelings get the better of me.” As the words left my mouth, I knew it was utter bullshit. My mind raced a hundred miles an hour and trying not to think about her was hard. I kept going from being worried to furious when Paige crossed my mind. It was hard to settle on an emotion, but one thing I did know for sure was when I finally had her back she would not be leaving my side. Even if I had to handcuff her to me.
The look Madden gave me, told me he wasn’t buying a thing I was saying. He just stood there for a minute longer then went out to call the others back to the motel, while I set up the laptop ready to zoom Jonah in with what he managed to find out.
Once everyone had made themselves comfortable, I quickly got down to business. Their searches had come up with barely anything except the helpful little fact that both the Lion’s Den and the Dolls House were owned by the same people. The only thing that we all found strange was no one knew much if anything about the new owners.
“Hey Prez, how are we meant to dig information up on these new owners without raising suspicion?” Knuckles asked, leaning forward on the bed.
“That’s where I come in,” Jonah’s voice came from the laptop, his face appearing moments later. “I managed to find out a bit about the new owners, well more so one than the other.”
I shifted in my seat to face the laptop as Jonah started to share his screen. Pictures of two men appeared on the screen, outside both clubs. Both smartly dressed in expensive suits. They looked all the parts of respectable business men, however it would be safe to say they were everything but.
“The guy with the darker hair goes by Eric Turner, he has ties to a few criminal organizations including the Lords of Salem. There is not much backstory for him, orphaned at eight and went through the system until he aged out. No known relatives, he has some sort of record but it’s sealed,” Jonah paused, changing the screen to just a photo of this Eric guy. A close up of his face showed a scar just above his left eye and the effects of being in one too many fights. “He is a skilled fighter, spent years as a muscle for hire before he branched out, then his dealings turned sinister.”
“Hold up Jonah,” I interrupted him. Before I turned to Madz, I needed to get Paige’s crew in here to hear this. If we were to be working as a team they needed to be a part of all this too. “Before we go any further I think we need to bring in Paige’s people too so they can hear all this first hand. Madz go get them please.”
We didn’t have to wait long, and although they didn’t readily admit it, I doubt that Madden had to go far to fetch them. As Cian, Tiernan and Laoise took their seats, I informed them that what was said here never left this room. “Okay Jonah, you can keep going now.”
“Great, as I said Eric’s had a colorful upbringing and made it work for him,” Jonah continued, changing the slide to the second guy. “This is Blaze Hammond, he is Eric’s business partner. He appears to be the money behind their moves, but this is where it gets interesting. Aside from a few misdemeanors growing up there was very little I could find out. It’s as if he just appeared out of nowhere. He’s an enigma.”
“Or his past has been entirely made up,” Ax murmured to himself. He wasn’t wrong though, it was extremely suss.
“They have owned both the Lion’s Den and the Doll’s House for a little over six months now,” Jonah went into their business dealing now and their connections, “and while on the surface they appear to be legit, more so Blaze, they have slowly and quietly been blurring the lines between that and some not so legit things. I don’t know but I think Blaze may be your way in here, it’s like his identity has been created.”
“Is there anything else you can give us to go on?” Cian interjected, I’d like to believe that he was coming from a place of genuine concern for Paige but the reality was he’s out to save his own arse. “Addresses, routines, anything?”
“Yeah I don’t know who the hell you are but I certainly don’t fucking answer to you,” Jonah snapped back, Cian appeared to be a little taken aback by it all. “Damon I’ve sent you an email with all the other information but I’ll leave you with this, I was able to track the SUV as it left the Den but somewhere around Midtown they dropped off the grid. When I pinged her mobile, the signal went dead near the rural parts in the western part of Claymore.”
“What did you find out about the competition?” Madden asked, ever since hearing about the competition he has been chomping at the teeth to get into that ring, the guy can fight in fact most of my guys could hold their own in the ring.
“The planning of it all seems to be a little rushed and haphazard. There isn’t a huge timeline between sign up and the actual fight. Registrations open this week, not all the prizes have been announced yet, monetary prizes are still being finalized but I can tell you from the internal emails I’ve been able to get a hold of, the timing of Paige’s abduction it wouldn’t be a far stretch to say that your assumptions are correct.” Jonah stated, confirming everything I needed to know and cementing the fact that I would need more people down here, I may have to involve the Lennox’s too. ”They have their girl, but it’s safe to say she’s been giving them hell since they took her.”
I had to smile at that, my Princess never did have a filter. I could only imagine the shit she was giving them. She would be making the whole process one giant fucking headache for them, I just hoped she also practiced a little self preservation. “Jonah is Ty close by?”
“Yeah Damon, I’m here,” Ty answered me, jumping on screen next to Jonah.
“Prez, how are we going to do this?” Knuckles asked, he has always been one for well thought out plans.
“I think it’s best if we split into two groups, half cover midtown the others take the rural areas to the west. Scorpions reach out to anyone you think may be able to help us, this time it’s one of our own, next time it could be one of theirs,” I started to lay out the game plan going forward, it was important to move fast, I’d need everyone searching for her, and when we weren’t I’d need those that could to be training, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance. “Also, we need to flood that competition with entrants, Ty I need you to send the best down here I want them here by tomorrow night, I’ll call Killian and get him to send some of his too, I’ll also share what we have so far. Have him have an extraction team on standby.”
It was time to get my girl back, the end game was in sight, I just hoped I wouldn’t be too late.