Chapter 174: Montmorency Falls

Hello, my darlings. I apologize for the delay with the chapters. I hurt my eye over the weekend and spent most of it hiding in the dark. My screentime also had to be drastically cut. I’m back at it but still have to restrict my screentime. Thank you for your patience. With much love, Amy

The Trio was not happy to learn that one of their apprentices had tattooed a drunk. They were even more upset that it was their relative. He was so upset over having played a part in her virtual kidnapping, that Big Lou was willing to quit and never use his tattoo gun ever again.

Dino shook his head, “No. That’s not necessary. We’ll settle on a punishment once we have had time to … calm down and think clearly.”

“Until then,” Gremlin advised, “keep your ass the fuck away from us.”

Rocky gave him a cold glare, “And away from our family and the shop.”

When the club was released from the church meeting, Priscilla cornered the Trio. Dino pulled his niece into a tight hug and held her close to him as she cried. His two cousins glared at her men who seemed unfazed by their silent threats.

It was later decided that it was fair for them not to be fazed by anything that the Lowery’s threatened since they had been some of the few to stay in the room through most of Leo’s torture and execution. They had even helped Dom perform her less than glamorous Blood Eagle.

The last faces that Leo saw as he took his final breath were those of Priscilla’s three handsome men.

As he wheezed out what little oxygen that he still had in his exposed lungs, Porthos grabbed his hair and lifted his head to look up and see them. Leo’s eyes were already glazed over, not in pain or even fear. Resignation. He knew that there was nothing that he could do that would change the outcome of the situation that he found himself in.

It had been just over two weeks after Leo’s disappearance and Priscilla had been called back to the police department twice more for additional questioning. Her story never changed, additional details might be remembered, but the basics never wavered. Today, she went with Tammy when Officer Willa Harrison called and said that there was a development in the case.

The door to the back opened and the kind police officer smiled at mother and daughter, “Come on back.” She motioned for them to join her. “We’re going to go to the second door on the left.”

Priscilla stepped into the interrogation room with Tammy behind her. Officer Harrison closed the door and sat in the single chair opposite the mother and daughter. She laid a manilla file folder with the police department emblem on the front on the metal table. Looking at the two women, she rested her hands over the file and linked her fingers.

“Miss Lowery,” she said looking at Priscilla, “after the missing person report and your case, we issued both an APB, All Points Bulletin, and a BOLO, Be On the Look Out, for Mr. Thompson. I know, we’re not very creative with our acronyms.”

She gave them a small smile to prepare them for what was coming. Priscilla grabbed her mother’s hand with a little fear. Tammy pulled her little girl who was no longer quite so little against her side and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

The police officer saw an abused woman who loved the same man that she feared. A mother who worried about her young daughter going back to the man who beat her. She did not see two women who were worried about being caught having committed murder.

“Our APBs and BOLOs went out to multiple agencies both local, state and national. By the time that we issued them, he had already snuck across the border into Canada. Our border patrol shared the information with the Canadian Border Services as a courtesy. Extending that courtesy, Border Services shared the information with the Mounted Police.”

She would occasionally pause in what she was saying and open the file folder. It was as if she was checking her notes on the timeline and town names. The woman was always careful to keep the file folder closed enough that neither woman could see anything that was inside it.

“The Ontario Provincial Police issued him a speeding ticket outside of East Angus about a week ago. Once we received this information, we shared our information with them. We also received information from the FBI that he was being investigated for child trafficking, drug smuggling, and an illicit sex ring. We deferred to federal warrants, and they requested that the RCMP arrest Mr. Thompson for extradition.”

A small sob escaped Priscilla as she pictured the Canadian police discovering that whoever was pretending to be Leo was not him. Once that was discovered, it would only be a matter of time before they came looking for Leo. The story unraveling was her biggest fear.

“By the time that the OPP issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Thompson, he was no longer in East Angus. He was also spotted in a few other little towns; Plessiville and Magog. He was apparently sticking to small towns, but instead of disappearing, he stood out. He ran from the local police outside of Granby and crashed his motorcycle.”

“He survived the crash and ran from them on foot. He evaded them in the woods, and they brought out search dogs. They retrieved his body from the base of Montmorency Falls yesterday morning.”

The sound of surprise that both women made was not faked. The police officer made a mental note of their reactions. Even when the tape was later reviewed, the reaction of hearing that his body had been found in Canada was nothing but pure shock.

Priscilla turned to her mother who hugged her close and gently stroked her hair as they both cried. What was seen was a mother and daughter grieving the loss of the man that the daughter had dated for several years. A man that had become part of their lives. He had shared meals at the family table. Helped younger siblings with homework. Worked on vehicles with her dad.

Now he was gone.

They did cry over the loss of life. To protect Priscilla, her family, her men, and their club, another person had to die. Someone had to take Leo’s place at the bottom of a waterfall in Canada.

Officer Harrison cleared her throat, “The Army has already confirmed that his DNA sample that they keep has been contaminated. We were able to identify Kenneth James Thompson with his dental records. If you can look at the pictures of him, and identify him, we can close his case and bring him home for burial.”

Slowly, Priscilla turned and looked at her and gave a small nod. “Okay.”

With a nod of her own the officer reached into the folder, “Keep in mind that being in the water did cause some bloating, so he may not look exactly like himself.”