Out Of The Shadows (HADES) (Whiskey Bend MC Series, Book #4)
Out Of The Shadows (HADES): Chapter 12

Caden followed the blood trail as long as he could but lost it in the darkness of the woods. Recon was close by but out of his sight line. The trail seemed to disappear. He took another look around and holstered his weapon. He still had an uneasy feeling but didn’t know what to do about it. So much had happened during the day it seemed there was no end, but he knew tomorrow would come.

He walked over to where Cole stood.

“You didn’t find anything did you?” Cole asked.

Caden shook his head. “The trail seemed to disappear. I thought I found it again but it’s too dark to see anything. I never realized woods could be so dark in the middle of the day.”

Cole glanced at the ground. Then he gazed off into the distance without really seeing anything. “We’ve never been this close to him before now,” he spoke softly. “Not once in the past eleven years.”

Caden frowned. “Eleven? I thought you said you’d been looking for him for five years.”

Cole nodded. “He came to Dallas five years ago, but I’ve been able to gather information on him that goes back eleven years.”

“What kind of information?” Caden asked.

Cole shrugged his shoulders. “Mostly it’s been unsolved murders that fit his M.O.” Cole didn’t know how much to tell him but did add, “We never made contact until after he started killing and then could only track him after the fact.”

Caden crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me everything you know to date about our killer.”

Cole shook his head. “There’s so much information and its all back at the clubhouse. We can go over it when everyone gets back. I think we all need a clear head.”

“You do realize if you have information about this bastard that you’ve been hiding, these men will not be happy don’t you?”

As they got close to the parking lot, Caden looked over at his car and saw the windshield was smashed. Caden went over to it to look at the damaged windshield. On the front seat lay a brick. Wrapped around the brick was a note. He picked up the brick by the end and carefully carried it inside. Laying the brick down on the counter. Very carefully, he loosened the note from the brick.

So glad you found the boy. I had to move quickly so I couldn’t take him along. Too bad.

He’s a likeable kid. I can get to any of you any time I want. You can’t hide from me. You don’t know where I am, but I know where you are.

Caden didn’t say anything. He passed the note to Cole. “We never even knew he was here. That’s how sneaky this bastard is.

Caden walked back to the kitchen where Ethan and the women were.

Jessie, Luna and Shiloh looked scared but they didn’t say anything in front of Ethan.

Caden moved over to where Ethan sat on Luna’s lap. He squatted down to Ethan’s level and looked him in the eyes. “Hey kiddo, how are you doing?” he asked softly.

Ethan snuggled into Luna. Her arms closed tighter around him. Luna glanced up at Caden, but he shook his head.

Caden reached out to touch his shoulder. “Hey, I need to ask you a couple of questions okay? I know you may not want to think about what happened but I need to find the man that grabbed you and left you in that awful place. We need to find him before he hurts anybody else. Do you think you can help us?”

Ethan shrugged his tiny shoulders. “I don’t know.”

Caden shifted to the balls of his feet. “I know you’re scared. We’re all scared.”

Ethan gazed up at him then glanced toward him. “Were you really scared?”

Caden nodded. “You bet. We were so scared when we couldn’t find you. We looked all over the place. It was lucky for us that someone found you and brought you here where you’re safe.”

Ethan spoke, “That man said some terrible things about you and Daddy and someone he called Hope. I met Hope this morning and I don’t think she’s so bad. She was nice to me.”

Caden smiled and told him, “You were very brave, did you know that?”

Ethan nodded his head. “After he tied me up, he told me not to cry. I didn’t understand it when he said he was going to have some fun with my daddy. What did he mean by that?”

Caden patted Ethan on the leg and smiled, bringing the boy’s attention back to him. “I’ll bet your daddy would rather have fun with you any day. Do you remember anything else?”

Ethan shook his head. “When he came back, he told me to behave and my daddy might find me. I saw some backpacks when I first got there but they were gone when you guys came.” He hesitated for a moment then added, “He smelled funny.”

“What did he smell like?”

Ethan glanced at him. “Do you remember when we went exploring that cave we found by the lake? How funny it smelled? Kind of like wet dirt? That’s what he smelled like. Like wet dirt. He asked me if I knew your phone number.” Ethan glanced down at the floor for a moment and said, “I was afraid to lie to him so I gave him your phone number. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to.”

Caden patted his knee again and stood up. “Don’t you worry about that Ethan. You couldn’t help it.” His cell rang and Caden swiped the screen.

“We’re at the vets with Chloe and she’s in the operating room,” Hades said. “The vet seemed to think she’ll be okay.”

“How’s Hope?”

Hades scoffed. “She’s so mad, we may need to sedate her. What’s going on there?”

“I found a note on a brick that went through my windshield.”

“What did it say?” Hades asked.

“He took Jake’s kid to prove to us he could get to any of us. He wants us to know he knows where we are but we don’t know where he is.”

“God, I hate a mouthy egomaniac.” Hades groaned. “So what happens now? Did they find him yet?”

“No, I think I’ll stay and get a start on the information Cole has with him.”

“He had more info than what he’s already shared?” Hades demanded with a growl.

“Yeah, he does,” Caden admitted. “He only shared this me a little while ago.”

“He’d better hope Lucifer accepts his apology cuz Lucifer doesn’t like liars.”

“Yeah, I get that vibe from him.”

“Yeah vibe.” Hades scoffed over the phone with a snicker. “You haven’t seen hell until you cross that man. Cole better make sure he convinces him or he will kick his ass then kick him out. I don’t know for sure how long this is going to take but I don’t want to leave Hope alone. I’ll join the hunt in the morning.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’ll see you both tomorrow,” Caden told him.

When he joined Cole and a few of Lucifer’s men Cole had already placed his bulging briefcase on the desk. He went to open it but Caden stopped him. “We should wait until Lucifer is here. He’s going to be pissed enough that you haven’t told him this stuff yet. We don’t want to make the same mistake of leaving him out of this too. He might just toss us out of here and I don’t want to leave here until this is finally over.”

A few minutes later, the front door opened and a large group of Lucifer’s men including Lucifer came inside.

From their grumbles, Caden didn’t think they had any luck finding their quarry.

Lucifer came over to the table and looked down at the files littering it. “What’s all this?” he demanded with a growl.

Cole had opened his briefcase and placed file after file out onto the table.

Caden raised his eyebrows at the sheer number of files. He picked one up and opened it. Inside were the details of someone’s brutal death. He quickly skimmed the information then closed the file and picked up another. He was physically ill by the end of the third file.

After he set down one file, Lucifer picked it up and read it then passed it along to his men.

“Sweet Jesus,” he whispered. He was looking at what seemed like a lifetime of murder and mayhem. To think each case file represented yet another snuffed out life overwhelmed him for a moment. He didn’t want to think about all the pain this monster had wreaked. He gazed up at Cole. “Where do we start?”

“Before we start this time line I think we need to move this to somewhere the women and the kid can’t see this shit,” Lucifer suggested. “I don’t want my old lady to see all this crap.”

Caden nodded. “I think you might be right. This is not for the weak of heart.” Grabbing some files, they moved to another room down the hall. Getting set up only took moments and soon Cole was digging in the outside pocket of the briefcase and pulling out a chronological list of the cases. He assembled the files chronologically.

Caden read the first file. The names ‘Molly and Deirdre Stone’ were written on the tab.

As Caden went through the file, he noticed this case was eleven years old and still unsolved. The victims were a mother and three year old child. The details sickened him but then this whole scenario disturbed him and he realized they had to start somewhere. Caden slipped the pictures out of the file and pinned then up on the board then placed the file underneath the pictures. Picking up the next file, he slipped the pictures out and pinned then up. Working in silence, he went through each and every file Cole had with him. When he opened the last one, Caden realized they weren’t complete. The seven files from his town weren’t part of Cole’s stash.

Caden left the conference room to collect them. He grabbed Carol’s picture as well. Adding them to the long lineup, he stood back and looked at the walls. He was numb by this time and a quick glance at his watch told him it was seven in the evening.

They had been sitting here reading about Drake’s misdeeds all afternoon and well into the evening.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I need a break,” Caden said. “I can’t even think anymore.”

Cole nodded.

Caden had one more look at the wall and walked out of the room.

Cole followed him and shut off the light behind them.

The men from the MC were hanging in the main room and from the looks of empty plates, still sitting on the tables Caden figured they had missed supper. Until Luna came from the kitchen with two piping hot plates, she set down in front of him and Cole. “You guys needs to eat.” She smiled as she moved back to where Aries was sitting.

Lucifer had his arms around his woman Jessie and nodded at them. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.” He shrugged. “You’re just doing your job the same as we would if we were hunting down a madman. Just don’t keep any more secrets from us. They might get us killed and I won’t allow that. My men deserve the truth always.”

Caden nodded. “Has there been any word on Hope and Chloe tonight?”

Lucifer nodded. “Chloe survived the surgery and they are staying the night at the vet’s office. I sent a couple of my men to watch their backs. They should be back tomorrow.”

“Ethan told me earlier that he thought the man that took him smelled funny, I think he said like wet dirt. Are there any other caves on the property that you know that are big enough to hide a person in for days? I think that’s where he’s been hiding at night.”

Lucifer looked around at his men then back to Caden and Cole. “That is interesting. My man Recon picked up another blood trail this afternoon. He followed it for a while and came very close to a set of caves. As he was alone he didn’t approach them but he marked them for further exploration in the daylight.” Still staring at the other man, Lucifer set his lips tight. “I meant when I said you shouldn’t go out there alone. You walked away from being a pair. You left me a man short. Don’t do it again or you’re outta here, understand? My men’s lives matter to me as much as your lives matter to you.”

Caden nodded. He knew being law enforcement and having the FBI at his side, he really didn’t have to listen to this man. But better judgement won out. It was best to stay on the good side of Lucifer and his men if they wanted to catch this killer. “Understood.”

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