Page 13 of Hell's Claim

“Great question. I think we need to take it as it comes. If it’s a big haunting, a week, if a simple haunting, maybe two days, and we can judge the rest. It depends on the information and how detailed it is,” I responded.

“That could make for some good episodes. I’ve started creating a buzz on social media already. Tell me you have a plan,” Phil said.

“We have four large houses lined up to start with. All famous, but with little evidence ever being filmed. We’ve been given a week to stay in each,” I announced, and they all grinned.

“I have to ask. Who’s funding this?” Harry inquired.

“I am and covering all your expenses and giving you a salary. You’ll all, including Callie, be employed by the Dixon Paranormal Investigation Company. There are contracts in front of you. They are basic and easy to understand, but if you wish to consult a lawyer, please do,” Maylene stated.

I had taken Maylene’s, my Grandma, surname in the last few months, dumping the one I’d been given when abandoned. And I certainly wasn’t taking my parents’, who’d given in to my other set of grandparents and deserted their children. I was glad they never had another child; they hadn’t deserved one.

I’d been to visit my parents’ grave and not felt anything. They’d been strangers to me, and honestly, I spat on their grave; their selfishness and self-centredness disgusted me. Clio and I had been helpless against what life threw at us, and we’d suffered. We both had feelings of emptiness and of not being worthy of affection. Although Clio was a lot better than me, as Chance had really boosted her confidence.

“Sweetheart?” Maylene murmured, and I jolted.

“Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts,” I said with a smile. “Let me tell you about our projects.”

Sunny – December 2019

It was time. He stared at his re-enlistment papers and put them down. Cherry gazed at him, and Sunny frowned. Sunny had given his country fifteen years and had been placed in zones that no man should go. But he’d done it and somehow survived. Liv needed him home more, and his last tour of duty had been painful for her.

His beautiful baby girl was now sixteen and a totally amazing kid. She’d not turned into an army brat, and Cherry had reassured him that Liv didn’t do the usual teenage stuff. Which was surprising, considering the shit he’d got into at her age. Cherry swore Liv was a good girl and focused on her studies, which relieved Sunny to no end.

He could sign up, but he knew Liv missed him.

“What are you thinking?” Cherry asked softly.

Sunny told her.

“You either do or don’t, son. I’ll support you no matter what,” Cherry said.

“We’ll have to move, we can’t stay on base,” Sunny drawled his mind elsewhere.

Cherry stared at him shrewdly. “You want to go home.”

“There’s unfinished business there, Mom. I deserve to know what happened. Chance thinks the club is clean, you and I know different. Bullet ain’t resting easy,” Sunny murmured.

“Don’t you tell me, boy, what Bullet is doing. My man rests peacefully because he did his best. Never forget that. What you actually mean is it’s bothering you because you know something doesn’t add up,” Cherry argued.

“No, it does not, Mom. We both know that Zeus shot me, but I was only at that place because I received a text from someone in our group. There’s a backstabber in Hellfire MC. I am fuckin’ owed justice. My sperm donor was a brother; my father was VP. I’m a legacy twice over.”

“You think I need telling? If this is something you need to do, then do it, but don’t wrap it up in pretty bows. You want vengeance,” Cherry snapped.

“Yeah, I do.”

“So this,” Cherry tapped a finger on his re-enlistment papers, “has an answer. File it, and let’s hunt for a house. And son, I want a nice one in a good area with a swimming pool,” Cherry demanded.

Sunny began laughing. “Sure thing, Mom.”

“I mean it. If we’re going back to that place… it needs to be worth my time!”

A pang hit Sunny, and self-doubts momentarily surfaced. “If you feel that strong, look for a house elsewhere. I’ll handle business in Spearfish and then join you.”

Cherry paused before shaking her head. “Nope. Someone in Chance’s MC betrayed you. They got you to meet with them and never turned up. Worse, they stole your phone after so nobody could check it. That’s premeditated, Sunny. They went after you to weaken Chance. I also believe that the same person warnedZeus about the meeting at Chaser’s that day, which is why you walked in on their bodies. God bless them all.”

Sunny startled. “You’ve never mentioned that before.”

“Why would you think that?”

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