Chapter 6

"I'm telling you, there have been some huge deposits lately. One of them is striking me as odd."

Meredith quirked her brow and put her phone in between her ear and shoulder. Picking up a pen, she poised it to take down the information from her contact at the most prominent bank in town. For months she had been watching large deposits come in for numerous people. She had begun working on tracing the money back, and she was finding a pattern. Most went back to judges, police, sheriffs, and members of the city council, others went to just your normal run of the mill citizen. She knew that most of this was for the Heaven Hill club. They had to be paying people to do their dirty work. If there was a new development, it could break this wide open.

"Who is it?"

"Denise Cunningham and let me tell ya how odd this is. She's been in the red for over a year. Not too long ago her account was frozen by a creditor, and they couldn't even get any money out of it. That's how broke she's been. This morning, she made a $15,000 cash deposit. Tell me where she got that money."

Her mouth went dry. A journalist's mind worked fast, and Meredith's was no exception. She flashed back to the day before, the green, late model Cutlass sitting in Denise's driveway, the conversation the two of them had, seeing Liam leaveDenise's house. Everything was beginning to point in one direction for Meredith - Heaven Hill.

"Thanks for the info. You don't know how much this has helped me."

"Remember Meredith, this is illegal. No one can know I'm helping you. We have to keep this between us. I could lose everything."

She rolled her eyes. Every time they did this she always got the same reminder. "We've been doing this for months. I think I know what I'm doing."

"Just so we're clear."

"We are. I gotta go."

Hanging up the phone, Meredith walked back to her bedroom window and peeked through the curtain at Denise's driveway. Denise's car sat in its normal spot. Refusing to let this one go, Meredith grabbed her keys and marched out of her house, intent on finding out just what the hell was going on.

It scared her, really, the fact that they had decided to prey on her friend, and now she appeared to be in Heaven Hill's pocket. Denise was not a criminal, and Meredith didn't want to see her go down this road.

* * *

Denise glanced at herself in the mirror. The stress of the previous year had really done a number on her. She had lost weight and it showed. Her eyes looked tired, and she'd found a gray hair the other day. It didn't escape her that she looked a little bit older than her years. The new clothes she'd bought helped that. On a whim, she'd taken a small amount of her money and gone to the mall. For the first time in years she'd bought new clothes. It was kind of exciting to discover she was two sizes smaller. It reminded her that she hadn't acted her age in a very long time and that she needed a little bit of fun in her life. It felt strange thinking of that when all she'd done lately was worry about money and bills. She was finally thinking like a woman her age.

A loud banging at her front door caused her to jump. It reminded her of the sheriff the other day. Thank God this was the first day of school and the kids weren't home.

Walking over, she looked through the storm door. A smile appeared on her face as she saw Meredith through the window. Opening it up, she stepped out. "Hey."

Meredith regarded her with cool eyes. "We should talk about this inside."

"Then please come in."

The two of them went inside, and Meredith gazed around. It looked exactly like it had the day before. The living room was clean, furniture was old but well cared for. It was obvious the carpet needed replacing but it too was clean. This was not the home of someone who fraternized with the likes of a gang like Heaven Hill or even someone who had recently obtained a large amount of money. She wasn't sure what she had expected – a brand new TV and game system maybe?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Meredith blurted.

Arms crossed over her chest, Denise sucked in a breath. "Excuse me?"

"Working with that gang of thugs."

"What are you talking about?" She tried to play dumb, like they hadn't danced around this conversation the day before.

Her smile evil, Meredith ran her tongue over her teeth. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. I saw that car in your driveway yesterday. I saw the GPS attached to it. Why did a piece of shit like that need a GPS? I saw you get in it and drive away, so don't tell me you had company either. Why are you working with Heaven Hill?"

Rage flew through Denise. Why wouldn't they all just leave her alone? She was damn tired of everyone using her for their own agenda. The feelings she'd had the day before about not wanting Meredith to know the extent she was working for Heaven Hill were back and she reacted with anger.

"Get out!"

"I'm telling you that these people are bad, Denise. Do you really want them around your kids? Think about them."

"I am," she screamed. All the rage and fear began to manifest again. "I am thinking about them. If I didn't do what I had to, they would go hungry tonight. They wouldn't have food. They wouldn't have a home to live in. Would you rather us be homeless and out on the street?"

She paced back and forth, her rage threatening to consume her.

"Have you ever been in my shoes? I've made choices that I never should have had to make because of an economy that doesn't care about the working class. I've had to make decisions because of situations that are completely out of my control. I never expected to have twins at the age I did, and I sure as hell never expected their father to leave me. I have done what I can with the circumstances I have been given. No one asked if you agreed with it. I don't recall asking you anything at all."

She took a deep breath and marched to the front door. Opening it, she held it for her.

"Get the hell out of my house. I will not be a pawn in your game to get this gang. You want them? You get them yourself. We're friends, but I cannot help you with this."

Meredith walked out the door knowing she would get nothing more out of Denise. The slam of the door echoed loudly behind her. Meredith stood there shocked, but she wouldn't be deterred. If there was one thing she knew, it was how to flip others to her way of thinking. She would break this story if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

"What do you mean a reporter is asking questions?" Roni asked as she sat in the clubhouse talking on her cell phone.

Liam's ears perked as he heard her words. This could be trouble, depending on who she was talking to on the other end of the line.

"Let me talk to my brother, and I'll get back to you."

He took a sip of his beer and leaned back in his chair, eyebrows raised in question. "Who was that? Something we need to take care of?"

"That was Denise. That damn reporter has already sniffed her out."

On the other side of the clubhouse, William inhaled from his cigar and waited to see what his offspring were going to say. "You still questioning my authority?"

"No, I'm questioning your common sense. Who in their right mind decides that a single mother who is having financial issues is ready for all of this? We threw her to the goddamned wolves. We need to get to her before that Rager bitch goes to the police. You know she'll probably run something tonight. This is more our fault than anyone else's. She wasn't ready for this, and we were reckless."

Liam watched as his father took another long draw off his cigar. "Bring her here. We need to find out what she said to the reporter."

"At this point, I'm not sure she'll have anything to do with us," Liam muttered.

"She doesn't have a choice."

* * *

Denise sighed as she heard the motorcycle pull into her driveway. She figured that across the street Meredith was probably taking pictures. Hell, she'd probably bugged her home when she'd been there earlier. They had been on their way to such a good friendship too. She was going to miss that.

Liam walked in without even knocking.

"I didn't know we were that comfortable with each other," she dryly greeted him. "You know, for you just to walk into my house."

"Get your stuff and get your kids from school, we gotta go."

She could tell by the look on his face and the tone of his voice he meant business.

"Am I in trouble? Are you going to kill me?"

He saw her lower lip tremble and wanted to kill his father. "No we aren't going to kill you, but we all need to be clear about what's going on here. I promised you that your kids would be fine, and I keep my promises."

She noted that he had never promised she would be fine. She was now at the mercy of these people, and it was very clear that she was in way over her head.