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

About half an hour later, the front door slammed open again and the men got to their feet as three men rushed into the clubhouse.

Lucifer turned to glare at Charlie and crossed his arms over his chest.

Charlie stopped short at the look in Lucifer’s eyes.

Caden and Cole stopped behind him. When no one said anything for a moment, the tension rose in the room. Finally, Caden broke the silence by demanding, “Where is Ethan? Is he here?”

Lucifer slowly turned his head to glare at the other man. His lips in a sneer. “Yeah, the boy is here. My woman is watching over him.” He then turned to Charlie and asked, “What the hell is going on here old man? This kid is telling us about a killer invading our town?”

Charlie sighed and nodded. “I had no idea he would ever find her but he did.”

“I think you need to tell us what’s going on, don’t you?” Lucifer’s suggestion wasn’t much of a suggestion but more of an order and every man there understood this.

Charlie, Caden and Cole moved over to the table but before they could sit down, Caden demanded, “I need to know that Ethan is ok. Can I see him? I need to let his dad know I found him.”

Hades got to his feet and led him to the door of the kitchen. Before he opened it, he turned and glared as he snarled, “It’s best if the boy stays here under the protection of the MC. That is unnegotiable. He’s safer here than in his mama’s arms and will be until this is over. You make sure you tell his dad that.”

Caden nodded. “His parents will agree to anything, they just want him safe.”

Hades grunted and pushed the door open.

They found Ethan sitting at a table with three women hovering. The boy had a sheet wrapped around him and was laughing happily, munching on a cookie.

When the door opened, he looked over and his whole face lit up when he saw Caden standing there. “Uncle Caden, how did you get here so fast?” he cried out as he struggled to get to his feet. Finally, he ran over threw himself into his uncle’s waiting arms. Looking around the big man he asked, “Is my dad with you? Is he here too?”

Caden smiled and hugged the boy closer to him. “No kiddo, he’s stayed behind with your mom, but he’ll be so happy to know you’re ok.” He looked down at the boy wrapped in the sheet and frowned. “What happened to your clothes boy?”

Ethan hung his head. He didn’t want to tell his uncle what happened yet. Before he could say anything, Jessie pipped up behind them, “He was filthy and we had to wash his clothes. He’s got some bruises, but he seems to be ok.”

Caden nodded his thanks at her then turned back to Ethan. “What do you say we call your mom and dad? Let them know you’re ok and in safe hands?”

Ethan’s nodded. “Please.”

Caden walked over to the table and set the boy down. Reaching for his phone, he dialed Jake’s number.

The call was answered almost immediately, “Caden, tell me you found him. Tell me my son is ok…” Jake’s voice was frantic over the open line.

Ethan grinned as he spoke “Hi daddy. I’m ok.”

Caden could hear the emotion in his partner’s voice when he shouted out, “They got him, he’s okay! Thank god.” A moment later Jake came back on the line. “Thank goodness your safe kiddo. Are you really ok?”

“Yeah daddy, I’m fine.” Ethan gabbed. “Some man found me in the cave when that bad man just left me there. He brought me here to his clubhouse. Did you know he belongs to a motorcycle club?”

“I’m glad for that kiddo, can I talk to Caden for a moment, then your mom wants to talk to you.”

Ethan handed the phone to Caden and smiled. “Daddy wants to talk to you.”

Caden took the phone and moved away from Ethan. “Yes buddy, he’s ok.”

“What the everlovin’ fuck is he doing with an MC?” Jake’s hard voice came over the line.

“I have no clue but one of its members found him in a cave. I don’t know all the details yet but for now, he’s safe enough. I thought you would want to know he’s been found.”

There was a moment of silence on Jake’s end of the call. “Thank god he was found before that bastard could hurt him. Can you get him the hell out of there and keep him safe until I can get there?”

“Ahh, that would be a strong hell no,” Caden answered the question. “They think he’s safer here and I have to agree with them. As long as Drake is out there, he’ll be ok right here.”

“Lori and I will leave immediately. We’ll be there before the sun comes up,” Jake assured him.

Caden hesitated. “I really hate to say this, especially now, but maybe you should wait there.”

“Why?” Jake’s voice hardened into steel.

“Because this isn’t over and I don’t want to give this bastard any more targets.”

“I hear you, but I need to see for myself Ethan is alive and well.”

“I know.” Caden closed his eye. “I do understand but I need you to hear what’s I’m saying. This could turn on us and I need to know you and Lori won’t be caught in the firefight. I’ll keep your son safe, you keep Lori safe.”

After a moment of silence on Jake’s end, he finally grunted. “You’d better keep him safe. Lori is going to pitch a fit if she can’t see him. I want my son back.” Then the line went dead.

Caden slowly tucked his phone back in his pocket and looked over at Ethan. He saw the knowledge in the boy’s eyes.

He went over to him and he looked up into his eyes. “My dad’s not happy is he?”

“No, kiddo he isn’t,” Caden admitted. “He wants to be here for you but I told him he should stay with your mom.”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, he should be with her.” He looked around and said, “I think I’ll be okay here. The big guy said he would protect me.”

“The big guy?” Caden asked.

Ethan wrinkled up his nose. “I think he told me his name was Hades?”

Jessie and Shiloh giggled behind him.

He lifted his eyes to see the women were amused at the idea of Hades being the big guy Ethan was referring too. Caden shook his head and slapped the boy on the back. “Ok buddy, you stay here with them and I’m going to go out there and find out what’s going on here.”

Ethan grinned. “Ok.”

Caden turned and went out to the main room. He walked over to the table just in time to hear Hades explaining things to Charlie and Cole.

“This asshole was just strutting around on our property, hiding a kid in those caves just to kill him at his leisure. He also said he was gonna bring someone named Hope there and kill her too.”

He listened carefully and didn’t say anything. When the explanations were over Cole growled. “Damn it, we can’t just let this ride. We need to stop this bastard here and now before he slips away again.”

“What does that mean, again?” Lucifer asked, glaring at the man.

Cole looked over at him, “I’ve been trailing this bastard for five years. He comes into a place, hunts down his next victim, kills her, then skips out before her body is even found.”

“Why did he come here?” Lucifer questioned with his huge arms over his chest.

“Five years ago,” Charlie took over the explanation. “I was in Chicago for a seminar when I ran into a crime. The man in question was stabbing a young woman. I stopped him and the cops showed up about the same time.” He looked over at Caden. “Caden and his partner Jake went after him and Caden put a bullet into him but we didn’t know he survived the bullet. They found what they thought was his body a few days later. When Hope or as she is known now, as Harper recovered enough to be moved, I brought her here with me.”

“As far as we know,” Cole took up the story again. “She’s the only one of the nineteen women who survived. We’ve only found nineteen so far but there could be many, many more. We’ve been able to track him back nine years. He could have been out there much longer than that.”

“So now you think he’s back to take care of the only woman who survived his attack?” Demon asked.

Caden nodded. “He told us he’s here to finish what he stared five years ago. He also told us he was going to kill me, Jake and Charlie too. He said we took away his prize and we need to pay.”

“Who’s Jake?” Aries asked with a frown.

“Jake is my partner and Ethan’s dad. He snatched him earlier today from his school.”

Hades curled his fingers into a fist. Ethan was lucky he couldn’t sleep tonight, otherwise he never would have found him. He looked over at Lucifer. “We need to protect this Harper woman and take away this asshole’s leverage. He needs to be taught that he can’t do this in our town.”

“We need to find this bastard and stop him ourselves if the law can’t.” Lucifer growled glaring at the new men.

Caden shook his head. “Harper doesn’t realize what kind of danger she’s in. She didn’t want to leave Chicago in the first place but she settled down here. Then she got a guard dog and now she thinks she’ll be ok. I told her Drake was coming after her and she said she would be ok with just her dog Chloe. She wasn’t very happy to find out the killer was out there waiting for her. We told her that her life was on the line, not only her life but mine, Charlie’s and Jake’s too. She wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Well then,” Hades drawled. “We’ll just have to see about that.” Getting to his feet, he stared at Charlie. “Give me her address and I’ll just go get her. She’s not putting anyone in danger just because she’s a stubborn little ass.”

Lucifer stared at him.

Demon and Aries got to their feet as well.

“You won’t be going alone brother. We got your back,” Aries stated.

Hades nodded then looked at Charlie. When Charlie told him where Harper lived, he, Demon and Aries left the clubhouse.

Lucifer switched his gaze to Caden and demanded, “Tell us about this fucker you’re hunting. I want to know everything you know about him.”