“Phantom, do you still have my grandfather’s photo?” Max asked, placing his phone on speaker.
“Well, good afternoon to you too, boss. Why yes, Reaper, the weather is beautiful here. Thank you for asking.”
Growling, Max said, “Phantom.”
“Fine, give me a minute.”
I could hear Phantom moving about the compound she was at, not that I’d ever been there, but I knew exactly where it was and why it was needed. I kept that information to myself. They didn’t need to know that.
“Um…” I heard her say as her voice trailed off. Instantly, I heard curses and papers being shuffled around. Sighing, I rubbed my forehead. God, this shit was so fucking predictable it was giving me a fucking headache. Sighing, I said, “Don’t bother Lena. He took it.”
“Kitty?” Phantom gasped.
“Yeah.”
Reaper asked me. “Who took it?”
Looking at the man, I really felt for Reaper. I did. It wasn’t every day he figured out the people that he trusted the most were the very people who had been planning for years to orchestrate the club’s demise. “Let me ask you this, Reaper. If you wanted to destroy a club, bring down all its members, eradicate everything in between, who would you need to enlist to help you?”
“Matrix.”
“Bingo,” I said, nodding, then added. “Though it was good bringing in new blood, and a female at that, but you never really looked at the bigger picture. Sure, you had your hands full when Remi showed up, and you did the right thing by her, but you took your eye off the ball. Your mother has been playing a long game. She knows all the players, knows every weakness, every soft spot. Did you honestly think that your mother was just going to standby and let you take over this club when she had been working tirelessly for years to bring it down? Hell no. She doesn’t care that you’re the President. She never did, and honestly, if you want my opinion, I don’t think she really cares if you live or die. The fact of the matter is your mother has spent decades moving people like chess pieces across the board. She’s good too, but she never counted on one thing.”
“What?” my brother Savage asked.
“Me,” I sighed. “From my conception, Caroline made no bones about hating me. You see, I was never supposed to be born. Certain members of this very club tried for months to ensure that it never happened. It was by pure luck that I took my first breath.”
“What are you saying, Kitty,” Savage said, getting to his feet. “Mom and dad loved you. Mom would never abort a child. Ever. I was there the night you were born. They both cried when they saw you.”
“So, I’ve heard. And I never said Mom wanted me gone. I said certain members of this club did. Let me ask you this, Lucas. You were there that night. What do you remember? Who was present at my birth?”
All eyes turned to Savage. I hated putting him on the spot, but there was no other way. It was time for this club to realize what was really going on. No more secrets.
“Well,” Reaper asked, looking at Savage.
“I was a toddler. Not even four years old, man. It’s all fuzzy, but I remember your dad, Reaper. Pops was there.”
“And who else?” I edged, looking at my nails. I really did need to get them redone soon. As my brother dipped into that brain of his, I asked, “Who else, Lucas?”
“Moonshine. He was there. So was dad.”
“Can any of you figure out why those particular people would be present at my birth? Why would the birth of a girl no less be so important that the President of the Golden Skulls and the President of the Tennessee chapter would need to be there?”
“To protect the child,” Phantom said softly through the phone for all to hear. “They were protecting the child.”
“And why would they need to protect a baby girl?”
“Because you’re not the biological daughter of Shane Keller.”
“Bingo.”
I smiled. I always knew Lena was a smart cookie. Nothing got past her. She could take the simplest bit of information and figure things out fast. I really liked the way her mind worked.
The skeletons in the closet were coming out fast. That was true, but they weren’t the only scary things hiding in there. Talk about a tangled web. God help me. If I had half a fucking brain and loads of time on my hands, I’d write a book series that would make Sons of Anarchy look like Sesame Street.
“The night before I was born, this club was in a turf war, with the powers that be. Everyone had a bullseye on their back. Even the women. My mom was coming home from the grocery store when she was taken. You see, my mom was a nobody. She was just a wife and soon-to-be mother. The people who took my mother wanted her dead. All they had to do was get rid of her, and then life would go back to normal. The problem was, they didn’t kill her. That was their first mistake. The second was not counting on her husband. The night I was born, James Doherty was contacted by someone with information on the club. Knowing what was going on in the club, he took our dad Lucas and Moonshine to meet this man. When they arrived, they were met with gunfire. Certain members of the Golden Skulls were already there to kill my mother, father, and me. That night a lot of blood was spilled. When the dust settled, my father was gravely shot. His last words solidified the future of this club. When dad saw my Mom, he came up with a plan to protect Mom and me. He married her. Pops and Moonshine agreed and made sure my mom and me were protected. You’re right Lucas, my mom would never get an abortion. It wasn’t in her nature. However, what you are not understanding is that my mother is not your biological mother, Lucas. Your dad met and fell in love with my mother the night she gave birth to me. We are not biological siblings.”
“What?”
“To this day, only four people knew about my biological father, my mom, your dad Lucas, Pop’s, and Moonshine. And now that three of the four are dead. There is only one person who can tell the truth, and she is in the wind.”