Page 86 of True Bastard
Reaching for my hand, Alice whispered, “Don’t do that to yourself, honey. Karen didn’t know a war was brewing. Neither did you.”
“Didn’t I?” I said, looking at the sweet woman. “I knew the Death Dogs were on the move. That’s why Jessup kept coming around. He wanted me in Wyoming with the rest of them. I refused. Had I gone, none of this would have happened, and everyone would still be alive.”
“Bullshit,” Alice snapped. “Karen and the others were killed by a serial killer. What the Death Dogs did here is different. The two have nothing in common.”
Shaking my head, I muttered, “I’m not so sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, before KROD showed up that day and knocked me out, I saw someone. Someone who shouldn’t have been in Deadwood. Someone from my past in Alabama, with ties to the Satan’s Angels.”
“Who?” Alice asked as Detective Powell walked into the clubhouse, heading straight for church.
“What’s RCPD doing here?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know,” I said as I slowly got up from my seat and followed the man. Leaning against the doorjamb, I listened to the brothers as they talked openly.
“I know this is a bad time, but I needed to bring you all up to speed. The RCPD is certain the murders are now connected. I have reached out to the Birmingham PD for help,” Detective Powell said, sitting beside his brother, Wanderer. “More specifically, we believe it has something to do with the Satan’s Angels, since Karen was Knuckles’ sister and Keely was his daughter.”
“A family vendetta?” Morpheus asked.
“Possibly, but I think it’s something else.” Detective Powell sighed, leaning back in his chair. “You know me; I do my due diligence, but the puzzle isn’t fitting together. Something’s missing. A key component that I don’t think has anything to do with club life. The common denominator is Birmingham,Alabama, and the affiliations to Satan’s Angels.” The detective looked around the room. “The first to die were Kaycee and Jake, then Keely Johnson, followed by Karen and Robert O’Callaghan. Considering the severity of the crimes, I believe the killer only wanted the women, because he quickly killed the men, eliminating any real resistance when it came to the women.”
“And all the women have K names,” Heretic stated.
Nano nodded, opening his laptop. “I did some digging. With Karter gone, Kyllian is the only one left with ties to the Satan’s Angels.”
“You forgot one,” I said, pushing off the doorjamb, looking about the room.
All eyes turned to me as Nano asked, “Forgot who?”
Looking at Morpheus and then Firestride, I said, “Karlyn. You forgot Karlyn Ingalls.”
Firestride’s head whipped to Morpheus as he stiffened in his seat.
“Who the fuck is Karlyn Ingalls?” Heretic asked.
“She’s Knuckles’ other daughter and was half-sister to Keely.”
“Cerberus,” Morpheus growled as the big man rushed from the room. Waving his hand toward Cerberus’ seat, Morpheus waited for me to sit before he asked, “Kitten, I’m going to need you to tell me everything you know. Right fucking now. Not going to lose another member of my family.”
Firestride reached for my hand and whispered, “Karlyn is Ravage’s woman. Morpheus’ daughter-in-law.”
Nodding, I began, “Knuckles and Karl Ingalls were lovers. The entire club knew it, but Knuckles also enjoyed fucking women. So, Karl asked his wife to take part occasionally. Say what you want about the South, but when there is nothing to do, people fuck. A lot. Anyway, Mrs. Ingalls got pregnant and nine months later, she had Karlyn.”
“Could be the husband’s kid,” Wanderer stated.
“Not fucking likely,” I scoffed. “From the way I heard it, the second Karl Sr. knocked up the missus, he got himself a vasectomy. One and done,” I stated and then added, “After Karl Jr. killed Knuckles in front of his father, the man went batshit crazy and threw his own son in jail. He even ensured his son did prison time, then made it his mission to destroy the Satan’s Angels. Too bad for Mr. Ingalls because Steele had insurance. That motherfucker had video evidence of Knuckles and Karl fucking like bunnies, as well as confirmation that Karl was quietly paying the club to stay quiet. Ruined his chances of becoming governor of Alabama.”
“Why ruin Ingalls?” Detective Powell asked.
“Because Mr. Ingalls ran on the Family First platform. Christian values and all that bullshit. Plus, his major contributors to his campaigns were his wife’s parents, Janelle Peterson, the niece of Samuel Peterson, the televangelist and descendant of the Disciples of the Word. Of course, when the news outlets started digging, they found out that Karl Ingalls wasn’t exactly who he said he was.”
“Who was he?” Vortex, the club’s secretary asked, enthralled by my story.
“Karl Ingalls’ birth mother was Temperance Stevens, daughter of Daniel Stevens and Patience Wolf, a direct descendant of one of the original founders of the Golden Skulls MC. But the nail in his coffin was when a reporter revealed who Karl’s biological father was. None other than the founder of Satan’s Angels himself, Cordell James.”
THE END