Chapter Two-Hundred and Forty-Three

Chapter Two-Hundred and Forty-Three
“So why the old Rucker place?” Hawkins asked. “That’s mostly wetland anyway.”

London shook her head. “Have you been out there lately? If you haven’t, then you don’t know they cleaned up the wetland and opened a path to the river. They now have twenty-four-seven access to the river and the path opened is big enough for a small boat to get through anytime they need it to. The people around here haven’t seen the traffic because they come in the back door and leave the same way.”

“And your dad?” Hawkins asked, “What does he get out of this arrangement?”

“Money.” London sighed in disgust. “He found them the farm and helped with the paperwork to clear the wetlands and get the path open for their boats. And Dad? He gets the money he needs to soothe his conscience.”

Kota shook his head. “Dad, you know we got to check this out. This is going on right under our noses. If it's true, we have to stop it.”

London shook her head. “These guys are dangerous. If they were aware that you guys know what they’re doing, they would declare war on your club and they wouldn’t stop until they took you all out. They might even have some help using the cops and the city officials against you.”

“You think they got the city council in their pocket?” Hawkins asked with a growl.

London shrugged. “I’m sure my dad isn’t the only one in their pockets. Right now, they are keeping everything on the down-low but if people start looking too hard at them that could start something that could turn this city on its head and that is never a good thing.” She looked around the room and warned them all, “If you check this out, please be careful. They aren’t fooling around here and they are the type to shoot and ask questions like never.” London looked over at Hawkins and suggested, “You need to speak to Mrs. Rucker. She can tell you better than I can what happened when the five guys wanted to buy their farm. Joe Rucker ended up in the hospital, all beat to hell. The old man damn near died and suddenly, they lost half their herd of cattle before they finally sold it for pennies on the dollar. Being forced to sell their farm broke that old man’s heart and he’s never gotten over it. I see her every day and she just looks so lost.”

Hawkins just shook his head. “If these guys are as powerful as you seem to think, what are you and Chris going to do? You won’t be able to stay here anymore.”

London nodded. “I know. I’ll have to find a place we can stay at while this gets sorted out. I have enough proof to get the state police involved but things are going to get pretty hot around here until this all gets sorted out. Me and Chris will probably have to move around some but hopefully, in the end, it will all work out. Either that or I’ll be dead and that won’t mean much in the long run.”

“Can I see your phone?’ Juju, the Rogue’s IT, asked her. 

London handed him her cell phone.

Juju opened it up and checked the GPS. He looked up at her and asked, “Can I disable your tracking unit?”

London looked stunned as she nodded. “I never thought about that but yeah, disable it.” 

“So who do you think brought your brother all the way up here and just left him?” Cash asked. “Not many people know about those tunnels.”

“Well, let’s find out.” London nodded. "I know in my gut who did it, but let's hear it from my baby brother." Turning to Chris, she signed to ask him what happened and how he ended up so far from home.

Chris shrugged and looked reluctant to sign back.

She asked him again, but this time, she reached out to turn his head toward her.

Chris looked extremely sad and he began to speak with his hands.

London’s voice was strong as she repeated what he was saying in actual words, “Me and Dad were home the other night when we got a visit from Ronnie and Abe. My dad was already drinking and when he answered the door, Ronnie started yelling at him. I read his lips and it was something about not keeping his end of their deal and Dad asked him how long he had to keep his end. Dad told him that it had been seven years now and he was tired of it. Ronnie laughed and told him he had to be their slave for as long as they needed him to be. Dad tried to tell them he'd had enough but Ronnie began pushing him around and said it would never be enough. They forced him to sit down and then they poured beer down his throat until he couldn’t drink anymore. Then they pushed him over on the floor and just left him.” She stopped speaking.

Chris lowered his hands and head. Tears dripped down from his eyes.

“He needs to rest for a minute,” London explained as she sniffled and wiped at the tears in her eyes.

Everyone in the room waited quietly.

Boots, who sat next to him, reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

Chris slowly raised his head to stare at him. He then swiftly swiped at his tears as if he felt embarrassed to be crying.

Boots nodded his head at him and spoke clearly while facing the kid, "You can do this."

With a sigh, Chris raised his hands again to tell the rest of it.

London stared at Boots while looking a bit surprised, but then began translating, “Ronnie came looking for him when he went to hide but Ronnie tore his room apart and he finally found him. He hit Chris then picked him up and carried him out of the house. It was dark out by that time, so our neighbors wouldn’t see him.” London paused then looked up at the others. “Chris didn’t know anything after that until he woke up in the tunnels. Being deaf has its disadvantages sometimes, so he didn’t hear your shouts and when he saw your lights, he panicked.” London growled, “It doesn’t surprise me that Ronnie was the one that did this. Someday, I’m gonna hurt that man.”

“You didn’t notice anything wrong with your dad that night when you got home?” Cash asked London.

She shrugged. “I saw him on the floor when I came home after work but that's nothing new. He usually drinks himself into a stupor most nights. I went to check on Chris and when I saw the state of his room I panicked but I knew better than to disturb Dad. He didn’t care. I kept hoping Chris would contact me or if he was somewhere in the house, he would come to me. He often hid from Dad. Then I got the call this morning. I packed our bags. Because no matter what… we won’t be staying here anymore. We are done.”