I couldn’t.
No words came out.
“Well?”
“Package arrived,” Ghost said, when no one spoke up.
“Who?” my woman asked. She knew. No one had to say anything to her. She’d been around the club life long enough to know what a package meant. I did too, I just never thought. I couldn’t believe whoever did it, would deliver her like that. She did nothing. She was an innocent.
“Angela Keller. Savage’s mom.”
The woman who raised me. The only mother I ever knew and loved. She was the best mom. I loved her dearly. She got a shit deal in life but never let that stop her from loving her kids. She was always there for me and Kitty. She never complained. She accepted her life and made the best of it. No brother could have asked for a better mom and my mom was the best.
“Fuck,” Jess muttered, then asked. “Post mark?”
“Florida,” Shadow replied solemnly.
“Was there anything else?”
“Yeah,” Reaper said, as I heard him ripping open the envelope. When he didn’t say anything, I looked up at him and waited as he read the contents. Instead of saying what was in the letter, he looked at Jessica, then the letter before saying. “Church, now. Jessica you will attend.”
Reaper walked off towards the clubhouse and said nothing more as I kneeled on the grass in Jessica’s arms. Brothers milled around for a few minutes. No one saying a damn thing. What could they say? My mother was dead. Someone tortured her, then cut her into pieces. Then to fucking prove a point, they shipped her to the club house in a box as if she was nothing.
The message they sent was simple.
They just let the club know that they could get to any of us and no one was immune from their reach.
Getting to my feet, Jessica said nothing as she held onto me. What started off as a good day turned to shit in seconds.
“Let’s go boys,” Ghost ordered then turned to me. “Savage, do you need a minute?”
“No,” I sneered. “I need the fucker who killed my mother.”
Ghost placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “I’ll make sure you get him.”
Walking into church, I saw Reaper standing at the head of the table talking quietly with Phantom. When she spotted me, I could see the sorrow in her eyes. Everyone felt this death. My mother was one of the good ones. Part of the heart of the club. Though my mother stayed away from the club most of the time, she was always a respected Ol’lady. She was kind to everyone. Helped when she could. She was going to be dearly missed by everyone.
Taking my seat, I put Jessica in my lap. I needed to hold her and was thankful when she didn’t fight me. Instead, she snuggled closer to me, wrapping her arms around me.
“Everyone take a seat,” Reaper ordered. None of the brothers talked. This meeting wasn’t going to start with laughter like most of them did and when Reaper slammed his golden skull gavel down on the table he nodded to Phantom, handing over the meeting to her.
“The post mark is generic. Anyone could have printed it. I will run some tests to see if I can get a DNA sample but I don’t expect to get anything. As for the delivery service, I’ve used them myself in the past. Brooks Delivery Service is legit. A small delivery service in the heart of San Francisco. They have no affiliations to anyone. As for this,” she said holding the letter that came with the box. “This is different.”
“What does the letter say?” Ghost asked.
Phantom looked at Reaper who nodded. “Okay. Letter reads…You call yourself Reaper. You don’t know death. You are a child playing with fire. I am the original phoenix that rose from the ashes. Now I control it all. You think death is permanent. Death is a steppingstone. Now comes the pain. You were warned. Now see what I can do. Protect your wife, son, and sister…because I am coming for all of you.”
No one said a word.
The letter was cryptic a best.
“Did the fucker sign it?” Shadow asked.
Phantom nodded, “Yes. It’s signed…Mirage.”
Jess stiffened. “That’s the guy who kidnapped me. He said his name was Alexander Goldman. He said he was Kitty’s father.”
“He is also the man who hacked the feed to spy on the kids in Tennessee,” Chaos added.