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

Hades was about to follow his President when his cell began to ring. He picked it up and wanted to strangle it. He let it ring a few more times then swiped the screen. “What the hell do you want now?” He practically shouted into the mouthpiece.

“Is that anyway to talk? Didn’t your mother ever teach you proper manners?” Drake asked him.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you that killing innocents will get you smoked by my gun, you fucking freak?”

Drake chuckled. “My sainted mother tried but to no avail. Her wayward son paid no mind to her teachings.”

“What do you want?”

“I wanted you to know that today is a brand new day, and I am looking forward to meeting you face to face, very soon,” Drake told him. “Maybe we’ll meet again one day in hell.”

“Oh yes, we will meet face to face. How’s your hand feeling? I know you took another bullet from my gun. Lillian said you got it in the hand. The third time is gonna be to your dammed brain.”

There was nothing from Drake for a moment, and he came back on the line, “Yeah, I already owe you for two bullets, the third one better kill me because if it doesn’t, I’m going to kill you slowly.”

“You are nothing but a dammed coward,” Hades taunted him.

“What makes you think I’m a coward?”

“Because all you can kill are women and kids.”

Drake cut the connection with a curse.

Hades stared at the phone in his hand and hoped his conversation with Drake had pissed him off to the point where he would come after him.

“What was that all about?” Caden asked after he put the phone away.

“Drake called to tell me that today was a brand new day, and he can’t wait to meet me face to face, very soon. He’s gonna make his move soon. He’s so confident he just wanted me to know he was coming. He told me the third bullet better kill him or he was going to watch me die slowly. That’s when I called him a coward.”

“Are you sure that was wise?” the other man asked.

Hades ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. Maybe I just wanted to piss him off.”

“I think you’re going to get your wish. The question is what he is going to do next?”

That question was answered a moment later when they heard an explosion that sounded very close. Hades ran for the main room as men were scrambling to put out a fire that blazed by the front door. Broken glass from a window next to the door told its own story. When they got the fire out, they all looked at the source of the burst. There was a crossbow bolt buried in the floor and attached to it was a small glass bottle that had broken on impact. The entire room reeked of gasoline. The fuel it held spread quickly but the blaze was just as quickly contained.

Then the silence was broken again when they all heard several gun shots coming from the woods. Then after a long moment, they heard footsteps coming toward the clubhouse.

Several men were carrying another man into the building. It was one the brothers and he carried a crossbow bolt in his leg. They dragged the injured man to one of the tables and placed him on it. Doc rushed over and began accessing the situation.

Lucifer watched as Doc did his thing then he turned to one of the men. “What happened out there?”

Recon looked up at him with a scowl. “We were waiting and watching like you suggested when we heard the sound of an arrow flying. We looked up and sure enough, the bastard was sitting high in the trees. We saw the arrow hit and while he was reloading, we got a couple of shots off. Next thing we know, Gunner’s down and the man disappeared. He must have moved higher in the branches. We got Gunner out of there but the guy is still in hiding.”

Just then, the door flew open again and a few more men came inside. One of them was carrying a small canvas bag. He handed it over to Lucifer and when the bag was opened, they could all see a number of small glass bottles filled with gasoline.

Lucifer looked up and glared at Hades. “You called it. He was gonna burn us down. Now the question becomes what will he do next?”

Hades got a text on his phone as he watched the fires being put out. He looked up and spotted Geno, Tech as he was called. He walked over. “Why the fuck are you texting me?”

Tech looked troubled. “I ran different specs on a search and came up with this.” He handed him a file. “I printed it out and brother…you aren’t going to like it. I mean I don’t even want to be the one to go to Lucifer with this. I mean man, he might shoot the damn messenger. I figure you have been on the inside of this and maybe he won’t kill you when he reads it.”

Hades narrowed his eyes at him. “Gee thanks, Tech. I appreciate it.”

Tech put his hands up then turned and walked away.

When Hades read the file, he felt like he wanted to kill someone. Who the fuck was this man? He growled and went over to Lucifer.

Without saying a word, Hades handed him the file.

Lucifer took a few minutes to read it and glared at him. “When did you get this?”

“A few minutes ago.” Hades seethed.

“Let’s go find out what this asshole has to say.” Lucifer turned and marched away.

Hades and Lucifer entered the main room and found every pair of eyes looking back at them. Lucifer stalked over to Caden and smacked the file to his chest. “Read it!”

Caden blinked his eyes and grabbed the file.

Walking over to the map, they were using to pinpoint the areas Drake had murdered someone in, Lucifer then began putting purple pushpins next to the white ones. When he finished, he turned to look at Cole. “The white pins represent the murders that we know of, but what I find interesting is the placement of the purple pins. What do you think about them Cole?”

Cole scanned the map. He walked a little closer to get a better look. “What am I supposed to think?”

Lucifer nodded at Hades.

Hades walked over and grabbed the file from Caden.

Caden having read it he swung his furious gaze over to Cole.

Hades then explained as he glanced down at the file, “Eleven years ago, our murders started with Molly and Deirdre Stone in Dallas, shortly after that, Lucy Mae Malone, also in Dallas. As we all know, Molly and Deirdre were family members of Cole, and of course, Cole lived in Dallas with his family. According to records, after the death of his family, he went to visit Molly’s family in Oklahoma, where Jill Ritcher, Karen Shoe, and Arlene Carmen were killed. After his visit to Molly’s family, Cole went on to Arkansas to do some special training for his FBI career; that’s where Susan Wright, Patty Denton, and Lila Slate were murdered. Shortly after that, Cole went to Ohio for additional training in physiology. Then five years ago, Cole was in Eau Claire for a seminar on criminology.”

Cole looked pale by this time. “Please stop,” he begged. “What does all of this mean?’

“We think Drake’s been following you all this time.”

“Me?” Cole questioned. “Why?”

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Caden added. “Do you have any ideas?”

Cole began to shake his head then paused. He went over to the table and picked up the picture of Drake that Lillian helped come up with. Then he reached into his back pocket for his wallet. He flipped his wallet open to reveal the photos inside. He laid them both on the table. Caden, Charlie, Lucifer, Hades, and Hope came forward to see the photos.

Hades picked up the pictures and looked from them to Cole. “What does this mean? Who is the picture of?”

Cole turned to look out the window. “The picture is of my father as a young man. His name is Henry Stone. I don’t know why Drake looks so much like him, but there might be a reason. When I was four years old, my family began moving around quite a bit. I remember my mother had a great sadness around her all the time. They died before I could ask them anything and it didn’t occur to me anything was wrong until my grandmother died when I was in my twenties. I was at her house after the funeral when an attorney asked to speak to my older brother Raymond. Raymond never told me what the attorney wanted, and I didn’t feel I should ask him. There were some subjects Raymond wouldn’t talk about,”

“Is Raymond still around?” Hades asked.

Cole shrugged. “He’s still alive, if that’s what you mean. As for where he is, I don’t know the answer to that question. Raymond moves around a lot.”

“Do you know why?” Caden asked.

“I asked my grandmother about it one time and all she would tell me is that Raymond had demons he had to deal with. I thought her comment was a very strange thing to say, but she wouldn’t tell me why.”

“Do you remember the attorney’s name?” Hades asked.

Cole nodded. “I believe his name is Stan Barker from Sterling, Texas. Why?”

“There has to be a reason Drake’s been following you all this time, and I think we need to know what that reason is,” Caden commented as he reached for the phone. “I have a feeling Mr. Barker can help us find out.”

Cole nodded. “I hope he can.”

It took better than an hour to convince the attorney in Sterling to help them out, but eventually he gave them some notes he had. He couldn’t divulge any personal information, but he could get in touch with Raymond and have him call Cole.

When Cole finally had his brother on the phone, he put the call on speaker phone for everyone to hear. “Do you know the name Drake Matthew Tourmel?”

Raymond gasped. “Where did you hear that name?”

“Do you know him?” Cole repeated.

Raymond was quiet for a long time, but then admitted, “Yes, I know him.”

“How do you know him?” Cole asked.

“What’s he done?” Raymond asked.

Cole paused for a moment then told him, “We think he’s killed at least thirty-seven women over the last eleven years.”

“Damn him,” Raymond swore softly. “Damn him to hell.”

“Who is he and how do you know him?” Cole demanded of his brother.

Raymond sighed deeply. “I didn’t want to tell you this over the phone, but I don’t want to come out of hiding. Drake Matthew Tourmel is our brother.”

Cole frowned. “What did you say?”

“Drake is our brother, my twin brother to be exact.”

“How could that be?” Cole asked.

“You were too young to remember much about the family before that time, you were hardly more than a baby when everything went to hell but ever since Drake was a small child, there was something about him that wasn’t quite right—”

“What do you mean, not quite right?” Cole interrupted.

“Grandfather used to say he was born a bad seed.”

“Why would he say something like that about his own flesh and blood?”

Raymond sighed deeply. “You have to understand something. Even as a child, there was a dark side to Drake. He enjoyed watching the suffering of others. Most of the time he caused the suffering to the animals and while the poor beast suffered, he fell into a trance-like state. Drake would find an animal and deliberately torture the poor thing. He would get almost a sexual high from watching the animal struggle for life, and he would be disappointed almost to the point of being drained when the poor thing died. It was gruesome to watch.”

“Why would you? Watch, I mean.”

“There were times when Drake wanted a witness to his cruelty, times when I couldn’t get away from him,” Raymond told his brother quietly. When we were about twelve, Drake stepped over the line of common decency.”

“What did he do?”

“I hoped I would never have to tell you the truth, but there is more at stake here than the past. I need to help stop Drake. Cole, Drake and I are twins, but that didn’t mean I was like him or that I did everything he did. He scared the hell out of me at times and I knew when to get out of his way.”

“What happened?” Cole asked.

“Drake discovered he had another talent. He had killed Grandfather’s dog and was skinning him when Grandfather found him. Drake was different this time; he was more into his trance-like state when Grandfather interrupted him. It was like he couldn’t stop. Grandfather tried to pull him away and Drake went a little crazy.” Raymond paused, and seemed to be reliving the nightmare that never went away. “Grandfather didn’t stand a chance. Drake simply killed him. He lost control and when he was finished, there was so much blood everywhere. Dad and Grandma came running into the room. Drake was still high from his kill and he attacked them. Dad managed to get him down, but not before he and Grandma were hurt pretty badly.”

“Where were you while all of this happened?” Cole finally asked.

“I was hiding. Drake dragged me into the room to watch, but when he was killing Duke, I found a place to hide. I didn’t want him to turn the knife on me,” Raymond admitted.

“Where was I?”

“You were with Mom. You were always with Mom.”

“Why?”

“Because she knew Drake would hurt you if you weren’t.”

“Why would she think that?”

“Because Drake made it very plain to her when she was carrying you, he didn’t want another brother. He tried to hurt you even then. He tried to push her down the stairs when she was pregnant with you. If Dad hadn’t stopped him, she would have lost you. When she came home from the hospital, he totally ignored her. She knew better than to leave you alone.”

“What happened after Drake killed our Grandfather?” Cole asked.

“Drake went to Danbury, and we started moving around. We changed our name a lot and finally Mom and Dad settled down, and we tried to forget about the bad stuff. Personally, I was hoping I would never hear Drake’s name again.”

“So why wasn’t I ever told this until now?” Cole wanted to know.

“Mom wanted to protect us against Drake ever finding out where we were. She had our last name changed even. That is why you are named Trainer.”

“Why?”

“Because she knew he wouldn’t stop until he killed us all. When they committed him to Danbury, Drake swore he’d kill them if he ever got out.”

Cole was quiet for a long time then asked, “What did the lawyer tell you at Grandma’s funeral?”

“He told me Drake had escaped from Danbury.”

“Escaped? How did he escape?”

“No one really knows how he got out. What scared me the most was the fact he managed to escape. When Danbury sent us word he had died, I for one, was relieved. Then a couple of years after I relaxed, I received a phone call out of the blue. Guess who was on the other end?”

“Drake. How long ago was that?”

“About twelve years ago. He calls once in a while but I haven’t seen him yet, nor do I want to. I’ve changed my number and he always finds it somehow. I’ve changed my address frequently and somehow he always manages to find my address. He likes to leave personal mementoes for me to find in odd places. That’s how I know he’s been here.”

“Why wasn’t I told all of this before?” Cole asked.

“You were too young. You didn’t remember you had another brother. You were only four when he was committed. Mom thought it was best if you never remembered.”

“Yeah, well, guess what?” Cole quipped. “I know now and he’s been following me for eleven years after he murdered my wife and daughter.”

“So what are you going to do?” Raymond asked with no shock as to the murders at all.

“I don’t know.” Cole hung up and sat for a moment before looking up at the others. “Well ain’t that a kick in the head? Drake Mathew Tourmel is my older brother’s twin…” He held up his hand. “I swear I didn’t know anything about this.”

“I thought Drake only had one brother?” Tech stated. “The report I found from Danbury said he only had a twin brother named Raymond.”

Cole nodded. “Raymond is my older brother.”

“Why didn’t the report mention you?” Caden asked.

“Apparently, I was too young to remember any part of what happened before my mother left, and my mother wanted to protect me so I was never told about Drake and she had our names changed when I was little.”

“So where do we go from here?” Caden asked.

“We have to find him and stop him!” Cole told them.

“Is this going to be a problem for you? I mean we are hunting your brother,” Lucifer asked.

“He needs to be stopped. After what I’ve seen since I’ve arrived here, Drake stopped being anyone’s brother a long time ago,” Cole stated.

“So why didn’t he come after you? Why did he kill all the others?” Hades wondered out loud.

“Maybe he was waiting until I caught on to the fact he was following me? I don’t know.” Cole shrugged. “I didn’t know Drake was my brother or that he’d been following me all these years. All I ever knew was he killed my wife and daughter.”

“Well, Hades pissed him off by calling him a coward. That might draw him out,” Charlie pointed out.

“It might send him off the edge too,” Cole said. “You heard Ray, he told me he gets close to a sexual high from his kills. If he has something to prove or things aren’t going his way, he might go to extremes, and I don’t think that would be a good thing.’

“No, I think he’ll want to prove to us he’s in control of the game,” Hades posed.

“How would he do that?” Caden asked.

“I’m not sure but we should know soon enough. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked to him. I don’t think he has liked our conversations so far.” Hades grinned. “We have to use this to get him to play it our way.”