13. ‘Wildcat’

THIRTEEN

‘WILDCAT'

FRANKIE

Not sure what the hell is going on but I watch as Avalanche leans down and picks Michael up like a sack of potatoes, throwing him over his shoulder. Then both he and Panther head down to Shadow's wet room. Damn, I pray this is a mistake because I don't think Michael will be able to survive a session with our enforcer.

Raven wastes no time getting back to her office. Inside it's a disaster, paper and laptops and tablets on every available surface. Freak is at the side table, fingers pounding probably over a hundred words a minute as fast as his digits are moving. Raven points to two chairs that are facing her desk. Her computers are facing the chairs. She leans back against her desk, legs crossed. It's like she's waiting for something and she confirms that when she looks our way.

"Waiting on Tink, Glory, and Shadow. This is way over my pay grade. Sorry, sister. All I can tell you is to brace."

The hair on the back of my neck starts to stand up as tingles go down my spine. When I turn to Malcolm, his eyes are back on Freak. I mean the man is a genius with technology, but damn, a shower and brush might help him. And maybe a few dozen meals. Malcolm must feel my eyes because his lift to mine. I give him wide eyes and he does the same right back at me.

"Are they going to hurt Michael, Frankie? I'm not sure what's going on, but if you have any say so, tell them not to hurt him. He grew up rough and didn't have a good family life. Still doesn't barely have any contact with them. That's why he kind of gravitated toward my family. All of us kids were given grief for being mixed. With Dad being black and Mom white, it wasn't easy for us, though we had each other. My parents kind of adopted Michael, though not legally. He ended up spending more time at our home than his own. Later when we both graduated and I went to college, as you know, and he put some time in the military. On one of his leaves my dad kind of let it slip that back in the day he was handing money over to Michael's folks so he could stay with us. I thought Michael's head was going to burst off his shoulders. He accused my parents of buying him, which was so far from the truth it wasn't funny. They understood he was hurt and angry so they let it go when he later apologized. It wasn't too long after, Dad shared his family's home burnt down with his parents trapped inside. Everyone thought it was a tragic accident, but now I'm not too sure. Fuck, I'm going to have to let my parents and siblings know about him if what I think is happening happens. Son of a bitch, I trusted that jagoff. Damn it, Frankie, I'm so sorry I brought him into our lives."

I can't imagine what Malcolm is feeling. I don't think, before my Devil's Handmaidens sisters, I have ever had a close friend like he had with Michael. Malcolm considered him like one of his brothers. Fuck, if that asshole is somehow involved in any way this will devastate Malcolm. I do know Raven wouldn't call in our prez, vice prez, and enforcer if she didn't find something substantial. Before I can even comprehend where my thoughts are going or what I just revealed to myself, the door to the office opens and Tink and Glory walk in, shutting the door behind them. Freak starts gathering the stuff off the table, putting it on the floor next to him. Raven moves around to her desk as both women take a seat on the two other chairs from the table that are up against their wall. They pull them closer to Malcolm and me. I can see the looks they are giving him, so I figure better speak up.

"Tink, Glory, this is Malcolm my fiancé. He was with me at the cabin that day I kind of told you about. Before you say a word, we've already worked out some of what happened and I'll explain later. Where is Shadow? Please don't tell me she already started in on Michael. We don't know that he has any involvement in whatever is going on. Both Malcolm and Michael have been friends since when we were all in high school. Can you call Shadow, tell her to hold off until Raven explains what she found? Please, Tink? Malcolm doesn't understand any of this and it's moving way too fast for both of us. Plus, my parents are here and I don't want them to get the wrong idea about our club. Again, I don't ever ask for anything. Please, Maggie."

Tink has been watching me and with me using her given name her eyes shoot to Glory, our VP immediately reaches for her phone from inside her kutte. I hear her whispering then disconnecting.

"Caught her just in time. She had pliers to his toenails but she said she'd put him on ice. I reminded her to not do it literally, and she gave me her crazy laugh. Best I can do, Tink, without going down there and pulling her out of her playroom, as she likes to call it."

Malcolm looks between the three of us before running his hands over his face.

"Frankie, what the hell is going on? What kind of people are you associating with? Was this Shadow about to murder Michael? My God, what the fuck is this? I feel like I'm in an alternate universe in the middle of Nowhere, Montana. This can't be happening."

Tink stands up and walks to Malcolm. He goes to stand and she places a hand gently on his shoulder. I know that look on her face, have seen it way too many times when we are breaking up a human trafficking circuit and she's pulling the victims out of their own hell. Malcolm glances at me and I just give him a small nod.

"Malcolm, I know you're confused, so maybe if I explain a little this will make sense. I know how you feel, no, give me a chance, please. Then you can have the floor. Over twenty years ago, I was violently raped and got pregnant. With the help of my parents, who honored my choice to keep my baby even at that young age, I did just that—and had a healthy little girl. Then they took over taking my daughter, Hannah, and raising her as theirs and she became my sister. Sounds crazy but it worked for us. Until one day when we were at the park and someone kidnapped her. She was lost to us for many years. I vowed to find her and I finally did, with the help of all the women in the Devil's Handmaidens club. Our mission is to break up human trafficking groups or as they are called circuits. Then we bring the victims to the ranch and help them reacclimate back into society after their traumatic event. Some move on or go back to family. Others prefer to stay here with us and work the ranch because they feel safe here. Now, before you say anything, give us about five more minutes because I'm going to turn this over to Raven to explain what's she found out. Well, her and Freak, who's part of my dad's club. Patience, my friend."

I turn to Malcolm, grabbing both of his hands and squeezing. His eyes shoot to mine and I can see the confusion, fear, and sadness. I lean over and whisper in his ear to trust us. He pulls free and places his hands on my face. I see when he decides to do just that before he nods. Then we turn back to Raven, who now has Freak next to her rocking on his feet. Dude needs to stop the energy drinks before he has a heart attack or stroke. Raven looks to Tink and Glory first. Then she glances at Freak before her eyes rest on us.

"Okay, if anything we say doesn't make sense just stop us, and we will go over it again. Malcolm, before we start, just so you know, Freak and I have been doing this for years. We're good at what we do so if we tell you something, believe me, we've gone over the facts and researched them, even going to the dark web to make sure we're correct. In our business lives are at stake. Okay. When Squirt, well Hannah, told us about Joey and shared that photo, I immediately started to dig into his past. At first it wasn't anything alarming. Then I hit on something, so after talking to Tink, we pulled in Freak because he has a special skill set that is different than mine. I found out Joey had connections to a racist group that has, I guess you could call them chapters throughout the United States. We've had contact with this group. They are bad people, Malcolm. The kind of folks who judge people on their race, color, religion, or even if they are ‘different' than the norm or what they consider normal. I personally know how insane they are. I was kidnapped, beaten, and when cornered, shot last year by one of them. He knew there was no way out so he wanted to do the most damage before his death. Freak started going through their lists of members. Now their members are throughout each state, and are men and women who have either the financial background to get what they want or might have something the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood needs to further their cause. Now I'm going to let Freak tell you what he found, please just keep your mind open. Go ahead, brother."

I squeeze Malcolm's hand and he returns it and hangs on to my hand. I know it was hard for Raven to talk about the attack and she minimized her injury, as she almost died. Well, she flatlined at the scene and on the way to the hospital. Her recovery was hell on both her and Ash. I can't believe they have come so far from that point in their lives. Movement catches my eyes as Freak moves a computer screen so he can push a large one facing us. I gasp as picture upon picture appears on the monitor. All of them have one thing in common. Michael is in them meeting different people in what looks like different locations. Now, at first most people assume Michael is black, but he's Puerto Rican. Or that's what his mother has said. Both of his folks have substance abuse issues and didn't give a fuck about him. That's why Malcolm kind of adopted him and so did the Washington family. If this is going the way I think it is, then it will affect all of Malcolm's family. Freak wakes up another laptop and starts pounding away on it.

"All right, when I saw the picture from Squirt something stood out on Joey. The tattoo on his left forearm, so I researched that design. We've seen it on other members of the brotherhood. As I was digging further, started to see photos of men who didn't match up with the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood MO. Turns out they have been reaching out to different minority males who have had rough lives. They convince them that together they can change the world, or some bullshit like that. I'm not a person of color who's come up in the world being treated worse than dog shit, so I don't get why a person would, one, trust them, or two, want to join them. Maybe you can get an answer out of Michael. Hang on, Malcolm, I'm getting to that. You must have known how bad his family life was with his parents. Well, guess at one of their lowest moments they offered their young son to the brotherhood to run errands and erase their own debt. And the rest is history. As Michael aged, his involvement with that bunch got deeper. I know he just about lived with you, did you notice anything different about him when you guys were around fifteen or sixteen? He was a suspect in a double murder, where two white women were raped and brutally beaten to death. From what we can gather that was some kind of initiation."

Malcolm pulls his hand to his lap while shaking his head violently.

"No, that's not possible. How would we not know any of that? My parents treated him like one of their own. I mean, we were as close as two kids could be. How the fuck didn't we know? If he was a suspect, why didn't the police come to our house and ask questions?"

"Because, Malcolm, even though you truly treated him like family, he wasn't, and had his own fucked-up family. The police questioned his parents, who provided him with an alibi. It wasn't but a month later that the fire happened. No proof, but from the evidence out there I don't doubt Michael murdered his parents—maybe with help, maybe not—and started the fire. He's beyond damaged, not only by his sick-as-fuck parents but also by the many years he's been a part of the brotherhood. Did you know Michael knows both Gerald and Joey?"

I feel Malcolm jerk back as if someone punched him right in the face. Now I wish Glory wouldn't have called Shadow to step down from working Michael over. That motherfucker deserves everything she would have done to him and more. I don't have a good feeling about this at all. When I came to in the hospital, I remember the first time Michael came to my room to "check in" on me. I didn't understand the smirk on his face, but I was in so much pain and the drugs messed with my head. Since he knew Joey and Gerald, I wonder. Oh God was he a part of our attack? Holy shit did he rape me? And if so, why?

Malcolm jumps to his feet, the chair falling backward. He goes to turn but I grab him, holding on tightly, knowing it's coming. When the cry comes from his chest, it sounds like an animal in pain. Then comes the shaking fits and finally the sobs. I see everyone get up and leave except Raven. She comes around her desk and hugs me from behind. She gets it because she's been through something very similar. This is how my parents find us and they don't say a word, just wrap the three of us in their arms as Malcolm cries from the depths of his broken soul.