Tethered Souls: A Nine Minutes Spin-Off Novel

  The Ghost

  It was time for me to pass the gauntlet. Especially after realizing how terribly I'd failed Christian and Mimi. Then again, there had been no obvious signs that would've flagged me. The woman who had been harassing Mimi, and the man who'd been infiltrating their home hadn't used any high-tech devices that would've alerted me and my associate to their situation. Instead, they'd used old-fashioned tactics that didn't include cell phones, video cameras, or computer searches. Besides, I'd had my attention focused elsewhere.

  I attributed my failure to my lookout for more plausible threats. The most obvious in my mind had been Nick Rosman. However, I couldn’t dig up anything that revealed he had vengeance in mind. But I also didn't want to leave it to chance that something might’ve been missed. Nick and his jolly sidekick Roger Kincaid still needed to be watched. I continued to have all of them, including Mimi's ex, Lucas Paine, monitored. I'd known even more about Lucas than the detective Christian had hired. Even if Christian and Mimi hadn't ended up together, I would've still found a way to expose Lucas. After intercepting his texts and viewing the easily-hackable college security cameras, seeing footage that showed him defacing the library with graffiti and slashing Mimi's tires, I knew it was time to take him and his cohorts down. Convinced of his continued hatred toward Mimi, I was still having him monitored all these months later.

  I sighed as I reached for my coffee cup. After inhaling its rich aroma I closed my eyes and took a healthy mouthful, savoring the flavor as it made its way down my throat.

  I thought back to when I'd first decided to become The Ghost. It was purely selfish on my part. I'd never agreed with Anthony's decision to let Christian join Grizz's old club. Anthony thought the club would provide Christian with discipline. I disagreed. It was a parent's responsibility to discipline their children. And I took my responsibility as a parent very seriously.

  I told Anthony about my intentions. He didn't believe me at first, and almost dared me to try. I was up for the challenge and my first visit had been to Bill Petty's home. I knew that Bill ran a sophisticated computer program that allowed him to play watchdog to Grizz and his family. I also knew that his talents were being wasted at his day job. As the heiress of a high-end automobile conglomerate, and thanks to my vast real estate holdings, I'd accumulated more wealth than I could spend in ten lifetimes, so I offered Bill a monetary incentive he couldn't refuse. Besides, his wife, Carter, had a big heart for animals, and the money I was providing would be well spent.

  After reassuring him that I wasn't a criminal, I asked him to do a thorough investigation on Blue. I'd heard that Mickey "Monster" Moran was dying and Blue would be stepping up as leader. What kind of an incentive would Blue need to work for me?

  It turned out to be a sad one. Blue's oldest son, Timmy, had a child who'd been born with heart problems. Blue made good money from his restaurant and criminal endeavors, but he didn't make the kind of money needed for the child's care. Truth be told, Ghost aside, if I'd heard what was going on with Blue's grandson, I would've given him the money anyway. I knew what it was like to lose a child.

  I laughed to myself when I remembered how I thought I would bring an air of sophistication to the motorcycle club. I started out by referring to myself as Verkozen, or "the elected one." I thought it was a clever name, but it bombed, and I quickly became known as The Ghost.

  I was responsible for moving the club's headquarters from a run-down warehouse to the HVAC company. It was simple enough. I bought the place under a phantom LLC and stationed the men there, even providing training for those that wanted to work. It slowly became a requirement. I didn't want loafers, I wanted people who could prove their willingness to earn a living apart from their illegal endeavors.

  To convince Blue that The Ghost knew how to manage a motorcycle club, I turned to my husband for advice. When Anthony told me he didn't want any part of it, I remembered something. A conversation that I'd had with Carter after Grizz and Ginny left South Florida. Grizz had killed a man in North Carolina. It was the only time Ginny had violated her own no-contact rule. She'd been so upset, she’d called Carter to share her concern about what Grizz had done.

  I realized then that Grizz needed something else besides the Montana air to calm his inner beast. That was when I still thought they'd moved there. I contacted him through Bill, and told him that I was looking for a partner. I would run the business side of things, and he would occasionally be consulted on gang tactics and activities. He wouldn't be getting his hands dirty, but he would still be involved from the sidelines. He immediately agreed, but I wouldn't bring him in until Ginny was on board.

  My sweet friend didn't want to see her husband battling the hidden demons that threatened to surface. One dead extended relative was enough as far as she was concerned. Grizz was in. Bill created an encrypted chat room where I could contact Grizz for advice. We never discussed anything personal. If it hadn't been for Mimi's letter to Christian, I would’ve never known that Ginny was pregnant with twins.

  I grimaced when I remembered our visit to their mountain home after we met up with Mimi and Christian. Grizz had offered to show me his chicken coop, and Anthony had cast a wary glance my way when I'd agreed.

  Grizz had been so angry with me, the hens immediately sensed it and scattered. But I stood my ground. I wasn't afraid of Grizz.

  "If you were a man, I'd turn your face into hamburger meat, Christy," he'd barked. "You and Bill knew long before that kid's death at Mimi's camp hit the news that your son went after my daughter. And you both deliberately kept it from me."

  I didn't deny it, and it was indefensible. All I could do was thank him for not telling Ginny that I'd known about Christian's actions well before they found out. I also did my best to reassure him that Mimi was never in any danger. Bill had intercepted Seth's rental reservation and put Christian and Mimi in a home that had surveillance. When I saw Mimi coming out of the master bedroom with bandages on her forearms, and the look of anguish on my son's face for having caused them, I'd told Bill to kill the surveillance. I'd already known Christian would never hurt her, and I'd been right.

  But Grizz was right too, and I deserved his wrath. I'd made sure Bill kept an eye on Christian after he'd been released from prison, and I'd heard from Bill the moment Christian had Seth looking for Mimi. I knew my son and believed it would only be a matter of time before he started looking for her. There had been no delay in the facial recognition program, like Bill had suggested that day he dropped by our house. That visit had been staged for Anthony and Slade's benefit. At that point, I hadn't kept Anthony in the loop, and he'd been furious with me. Especially after realizing how close Grizz lived to the rental house.

  My original and only intention as The Ghost had been to protect my son. To give him a job with the club that didn't involve breaking bones. But I would soon learn that a mother's arms could only reach so far. His decision to attack Nick Rosman hadn't been club-related. I had to swallow my pride, and let Christian serve out his prison sentence. That's when I decided that I would let all of the gang members suffer the same fate. If they stepped out of line and did something that warranted prison, then so be it. It was the discipline a mother would hand down to her child, so I told Blue that if they deviated from the club's directives, they were responsible. I guess I really was a mama bear.

  I only used my position for good. At the same time Christian had been scheming to see Mimi, it had come to my attention through club activities that the man Slade had been prosecuting was actually innocent, and a dirty attorney on his defense team was sabotaging his client by withholding information.

  Slade had told me about the girl he'd seen in the library and I used her to open a dialogue with him. I'd ascertained that she'd been looking for her biological father, and I used that knowledge as a trade for her to slip Slade that note. I felt badly about what Bill quickly uncovered concerning Bevin's father. It was a tragic story, but one she had a right to know.

  Tossing thoughts of
Bevin's sad family history to the side, I reflected on how proud I'd been that Slade had done the right thing, exposing the dishonest defense attorney. I knew he would. I'd recently discovered there was a fire in him that had been squelched his entire life. It's strange how for the longest time I believed my sons to be as different as fire and ice. I'd been wrong. Slade and Christian are both fire. They just wear it differently.

  Christian wears his on the outside for everybody to see. His flames were always wildly exposed. That is until Mimi came back into his life. She brought with her a new sense of purpose for him. His love for her and Abby, tamed his fire. It's still there, but it's more of a wild glow instead of a blazing inferno.

  Slade wears his fire on the inside where nobody can see it. He's lived his entire life by the book because he has a high sense of morals. But his fire is eating him alive. The flames are always there, burning him from the inside out. I'd always suspected it, but hadn't seen it until he threw my tiara at Christian and attacked him during Mimi's first visit. Slade has always tried to be the studious son, the thoughtful man who was always respectful concerning everything he did. I've watched him slowly simmering since he started working for the state. He's being exposed to injustices for what he believes is the right side of the law and it's eating away at him.

  I told Anthony that I was finally passing the torch. Blue was still club leader, but there was a possibility that Christian might step up to take over. And if he did, I wanted someone watching out for him. And I knew who I wanted it to be.

  "Owani, are you coming to bed?"

  I looked over at the father of my children. We'd been married for almost thirty years, and my body never failed to react to his deep voice or smoldering black eyes. "Be right there, Anthony."

  * * *

  His mother was right. He'd been a powder keg ready to explode. He'd spent his entire life striving to do what was right. Only to come to the sad realization that he'd always tried to deny.

  Rotten human beings were everywhere. Even where they shouldn't be. They wore name tags that deceived. The rich got richer, and the poor got persecuted, and he was tired of seeing it. He watched too many defense attorneys get the bad guy off with a slap on the wrist. And if it hadn't been for his mother, he would've watched a crooked defense attorney railroad an innocent client right in front of him. How many others were out there like that?

  He'd listened wide-eyed as his mother sat him down and explained what she'd been doing from behind a computer for the past five years. He couldn't believe it. But after listening to how she managed to manipulate certain situations for good, he could only stare slack-jawed at her business prowess. Then again, he knew she hadn't accumulated a fortune through ignorance.

  Blue's motorcycle club may have been involved in a high-priced call girl ring, but in managing them, his mother was able to take down several pimps who'd been dealing in the sex slave business. The club was involved in drugs. What biker gang wasn't? But Christy had exposed an executive at a pharmaceutical company who'd had his own team of lab rats stealing high-priced medications and replacing them with placebos. Which meant that the people who really needed the drugs were taking capsules filled with sugar and baking soda.

  He’d grabbed the back of his neck and given his mother a sideways glance.

  "When did you first think I would be a good replacement?"

  She looked at him, her bright blue eyes filled with intelligence and pride. "When Christian took Mimi. I knew your father and I would be going after him, and I'd pestered you all week to stop by. When you called and said you were coming, I let Bill know he needed to show up."

  "Why?"

  "I wanted to see how you would react to the whole situation. Especially finding out Grizz was alive. You handled it well."

  Slade nodded, and she continued, "But it was a bad call on my part. Waiting too long to step in with Grizz living so close was just plain stupid. Your father was furious with me. Which is why I want you to take over. You have a good head on your shoulders, Son. The fire that's been burning in you now has a place to go."

  "And you still think that? Even after I hurled your tiara at Christian?"

  "Yes," she smiled. "It only confirmed that you needed an outlet. You can use this for good, Slade. I did."

  And that's what Slade had done. He’d agreed to do it on a trial basis, and his first order of business had been to discreetly and non-violently handle Erin's crazy ex-husband. She was now free to be with the man she loved.

  In the quiet comfort of his condo and with his laptop under his arm, Slade grabbed a beer and headed for the couch. He opened his computer and stared at the keystroke that would activate the robotic voice that allowed him to anonymously give instructions over the phone.

  His mind immediately cut to thoughts of Bevin and how he'd tried to approach her several times in the past few months, but she either rebuffed him or scampered away like a frightened rabbit. He thought long and hard about the woman who'd intrigued him all those months ago, and pondered what it was about her that he couldn't move past.

  Slade's fingers hovered over the keyboard as his brain fired off a dozen scenarios he could use to bring Bevin to him. If she'd agreed to do The Ghost’s bidding for his mother, he could certainly get her to do his without her even knowing it.

  He slowly closed his laptop and shook his head. No. He'd promised his mother and himself that he would only use The Ghost’s influence to maintain a protective eye on the family, keep the motorcycle club on track and use his knowledge of the law for good. He wouldn't use it to stalk a woman. He would have to figure out a way to get Bevin Marconi to come to him without deception or subterfuge on his part. It might've been fun to watch her awkwardly approach him under orders from The Ghost. But he would remember what he'd done to achieve that, and he never wanted to look in her eyes and know that he'd manipulated her into a relationship with him.

  A relationship he would continue to pursue. Only not from behind the anonymity of a computer.

  Chapter 65

  Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2008

  Christmas and New Years passed uneventfully, and I couldn't have been more thrilled. No nasty notes or misplaced household items. Our lives were back on track, and I was more optimistic about the future than I'd ever been. Blue still hadn't sold Razors or resigned from the club. The Christmas present he'd had delivered to our home hung in the back of our closet next to the leather jacket Chili had given me. It came with a note that simply said, Property of Grizz.

  It was my father's old club jacket. The one Tommy had been tasked with disposing of when he thought Grizz had died by lethal injection. I realized that even though Tommy had battled with Grizz for my mother's affection, he still couldn't bring himself to destroy a piece of history that belonged to the man who'd fathered me. Instead of throwing it away, he'd given it to Blue.

  I'd watched as Christian tried it on before returning it to our closet. Just because it was a perfect fit didn't mean it was meant to fit perfectly in our lives. Christian had turned down Blue's offer to take over the club. He promised me that giving up the lifestyle was nothing for him. He told me Abby and I were his priorities, and I believed him. He knew I had no intention of being my mother, who pretended not to see the harshest aspects of that world. Or his mother, who used her money to make things better for the women who'd succumbed to that life. I was too selfish. I didn't want to share my husband with a biker club. I kept both jackets only as a reminder of our legacy, not as a reminder of what some thought should be our destiny.

  Christian's parents, along with Autumn, had readily signed the paperwork granting Christian and me full custody of Abby. Autumn was expecting another baby and had settled in New York with her new boyfriend and his family.

  Christian's parents and Slade listened as we sat them down around the kitchen table right before Christmas and explained everything that had secretly transpired since my move to Florida. Aunt Christy shivered when I told her about the harmless oaf who'd been living in
the attic next door, letting himself into our home.

  "I remember you saying you detected a smell when you went through the house. Too bad I hadn't been with you. My nose would've led me right up those attic stairs," she announced proudly. We didn't disagree with her. Christian's mother had the keenest sense of smell of anybody I'd ever met.

  "What do you think was behind Debbie's offer to have Joe set up surveillance cameras at your house?" Slade asked.

  I smiled at my brother-in-law who'd readily accepted my apology for being so rude. He'd only been trying to help the night I'd so callously hung up on him.

  "Was it maybe her backup plan in case the nasty notes didn't spook you? Like if she knew more about your habits she could use them against you?" he asked.

  I gave him a noncommittal shrug. "Probably. Maybe. I don't really know, but that's a solid guess."

  Aunt Christy jumped in and said, "I still think you two should've known better than to keep this kind of thing from each other and from us. We're family. We could've helped."

  "Christian told me about the guy in the attic," Slade interrupted. "And before I forget. About those prints you wanted lifted from the cans we found there…" Slade looked at Christian. "Two sets came back."

  Everyone glanced Slade's way and waited for him to reveal the owner of the fingerprints.

  He looked at Christian and smiled. "Yours and Dennis's."

  Of course Christian's prints were on the cans. They were stolen from our house. Mine were probably on some of them too.

  "Why did it take so long?" Christian asked.

  "Surprisingly, Dennis didn't have an arrest record until recently. And even though they inked him, the prints didn't get submitted to the database right away," Slade explained.

  "That's the justice system for you,” Aunt Christy commented. She gave Slade a look I couldn't decipher before excusing herself to put on a pot of coffee.