Late the next afternoon, Cat, Luna, Titan and Kota were sitting in a truck across the highway at a rest stop. It gave them a close proximity to the abbey, so they could park and study the goings on there. They did not want to get there too early because people milling about might take notice of them, or if they went onto abbey grounds too soon, someone might call the cops on them.
Hawkins figured they could get in, search the grounds and get out before dawn broke the next morning and no one would be the wiser that they were even there. Hawkins and a few other brothers were there as well. They rode in on the bikes and after they pulled into the rest stop, they all gathered at the picnic tables.
Wanderer had printed off a satellite photo of the abbey and surrounding area so Cat and Luna could point out different areas of the place. They were sitting at one of the picnic tables as the girls were pointing out the main buildings and other points of interest.
Titan studied the photo and finally saw something they hadn’t explained. “What’s this building over here?” He pointed to a small building close to the outer fence line.
Cat sighed and glanced at Luna before she answered him, “I don’t know, we were never allowed to go near the place. We were told that the groundskeeper kept his equipment there.”
Luna scoffed. “Only problem with that is he never came from that direction. When he began mowing the lawn, he actually came from the opposite side. But Mother Superior always insisted we stay away from the building.”
Hawkins glanced at Kota and shook his head. “The more I hear about that woman the less I like her.”
Luna tisked and looked at Hawkins. “There’s a break in the fence line just behind that shack. The fence runs into the woods behind the Abbey. When I was here, they hadn’t checked the fence in years.” She paused and added, “That was how I got out five years ago.”
Kota looked beyond her shoulder and viewed the sprawling estate. “Is there a way we can get through the woods unobserved?”
Luna nodded. “About two miles further up the road there is a side street that some used as a service road that circles the Abbey. A maintenance crew comes in and takes care of the major things the Abbey needs. But they only come in if they are needed, like for power or water issues. Otherwise, no one gets in unless it’s through the main gate and that’s watched at all times.”
Hawkins looked at his crew and said, “I need two men watching from this vantage point while the rest of you are coming with me. When we get to the woods, I want you men to fan out in case someone from the inside decides to run.” He glanced over at Titan, Kota and Brute. “The four of us will go inside the fence with the girls. The shack is far enough away from the Abbey itself that no one should see us.”
“What do you hope to find in that shack, Dad?” Kota asked.
Hawkins shrugged. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling there ain’t a lawnmower or any parts in there.” He glanced at the abbey and growled. “What better place for that bitch Isobel to hide than in a house built on the land of the lord? Anyone who ever knew her, would never look twice for her in a place like this.”
Luna snickered. “Old man, your compound is more a house of the lord than this place is.” She turned her head to stare at the calmness and quiet surroundings of the abbey. “This place is more the first stage or introduction to hell than a place of God.”
Hawkins again, looked at the men around him. “We’ll pull out of here with as little noise as possible but once we get onto the service road, we need to be real quiet. We don’t want anyone to know we’re there until we get into place. If Isobel is there and she sees us, just watch yourselves. She’s always got a knife on her somewhere and she’ll just as soon kill you as look at you to get away. She knows she’s running for her life now and if you get in her sights, it’ll be her or you. She won’t even hesitate to kill you to get away.”
“Tatum told us her arm is in a sling and her shoulder is all bandaged up even though she’s hurt, he’s right,” Cat assured them. “She’s hurt and on the run, she won’t hesitate to take you out.”
Hawkins growled, “Ok, let’s do this while we got some light left. We need to get into place, so we can go in after the shadows fall.”
They all got ready. Then the trucks and several bikes merged into traffic. The first truck turned then the second truck turned and several bikes turned onto the service road. They traveled several miles until Luna told them to stop. The trucks pulled off the road, under the cover of the trees while the bikes pulled further into the trees.
Luna took the map of the abbey out again and showed them where they were and where they needed to be in order to get to the broken part of the fence. She looked up at Hawkins and reminded him, “That’s where I came through five years ago when I escaped this hell house. I don’t know if it’s still there or not. If they found it, they might have repaired it.”
Hawkins nodded. “That’s true enough but if Isobel is here she might be using it to get inside too. We have to check it out.” He looked at both her and Cat. “I know this isn’t easy for either of you to come back here but we have to find out if Isobel is here.This isn’t where I ever expected her to come but it makes some sort of odd sense somehow.”
Cat shivered and threw out a question, “Why and how did she even know to come here? I mean it’s not like she was looking for me years before I came here, after all she just walked away from me.”
Titan wrapped her in his arms and suggested, “When and if we find her, you can ask her that. But first, we have to find her.”
Cat shivered and whispered, “I’m not sure I want to know the answer she’d give.”
Hawkins nodded at his men. “Ok spread out and if anyone comes through here that isn’t us, stop them, just don’t kill anyone. Zip tie ‘em and gag them then hold them until we get back. Hopefully, we won’t be gone too long.”
Cat, Luna, Hawkins, Titan, Kota, and Brute disappeared into the falling darkness while the rest of the men disappeared into the trees.
Luna led them to the place in the fence where she’d gone through five years ago and sure enough, the spot was still there. Shrubbery had grown up around the rusty chain link fencing, where the fence had been broken some time in the past.
From there, they had a short walk to the shed which they found was bigger than they expected it to be.
Before they left the shelter of the trees and the fence line, Brute held up his hand and everyone waited while he used the heat sensor to check out the area. He came back to them ten minutes later and nodded but held his finger up to his lips.
Silently, they all made their way to the shed. It really was bigger than it needed to be to hold a lawnmower and other yard work equipment. When they tried the door, they were surprised to find it open. They all filed in and began looking around.
There were no windows so when Cat hit the light switch she looked surprised when the shed was lit up. She didn’t think there would be power this far away from the abbey. The shed was almost tucked into the woods and it was on its own.
Looking around the area, they found an old cot and a small table. There were bloody rags and old bandages littering the floor near the bed.
Hawkins looked around the room and shook his head. “Damn, she could have been here but—”
“We don’t know that for sure, Dad,” Kota interrupted him. “All we know is that someone was here that was hurt.”
Cat picked up one of the bloody rags and plucked a few strands of long red hair from the material. “I think it’s safe to assume it was Isobel.”
Just then, Luna cocked her head to one side and laid her hand over Hawkins mouth as he was about to say something. She reached over and snapped off the light.
They all waited in silence as footsteps came toward the shed.
There was a short tap on the door and then it was being pushed in as someone stepped inside. “Isobel?” a small voice called out.
Luna pushed the person fully into the room, shutting the door then turned the light back on.
Sister Patrice gasped as she looked around the room and saw them. She shivered and tried to run for the door but Luna blocked it and Sister Patrice stopped short when she saw who it was. She raised her gaze and looked at the people standing around the room. She saw Cat and the bikers. She dropped the bundle in her hand and began backing away from them in terror. Her body hit the wall.
Hawkins stepped closer to her. “Who the fucking hell is she?” he growled as he stared at the good sister.
“This is the one and only loving Sister Patrice,” Cat told them.
Hawkins, Kota and Titan growled low.
Looking fearful, Sister Patrice shrank further into her corner.
Brute picked up the bundle she had dropped and opened it up. He snorted as he raised up a shirt and a pair of jeans. He studied them for a moment then turned to her. “Going somewhere Sister? Somewhere that your habit wouldn’t do?” Shaking his head he added, “Because these aren’t clothes a good woman of the church would wear, that’s for damn sure.”
Hawkins turned his head and studied the clothes Brute was holding up. The shirt was low cut and the jeans he figured would be skin tight. Then he turned his head to stare at her. “Who are the clothes for, Sister?”
Sister Patrice didn’t say a word, she couldn’t. She placed her hands over her mouth and just stood there trembling.
“Sister,” Cat called out when she saw her refusal to talk. “Was my mother here earlier today?”
Sister Patrice turned her head and frowned at her. “I don’t know your mother,” she whispered.
“Oh, I think you know her mother well enough,” Luna sneered at her. “They call her Isobel and she has long red hair. I think you do indeed, know her. You called out her name when you came in here.”
Sister Patrice shook her head and refused to look at the women. “I don’t know her. She hasn’t been here.”
Luna leaned in close. “You know Sister, it’s a sin to tell a lie. We found strands of her hair here. We know she’s been here the same, as we know you’re lying right now. That makes me wonder just what kind of nun you really are, or even if you are one.”
Sister Patrice just glared at her, her façade of being afraid falling away, like a blanket falling off her shoulders. “The two of you should never have come back here, just being here on these hallowed grounds taints the goodness of this place.”
“The goodness of this place?” Cat sneered. “This place was never good, it is nothing more than a den of hell. Are you still running a house for underprivileged kids here?”
Sister Patrice just glared at her. “Yes, this is still a home for underprivileged children and they appreciate the fact that they have somewhere other than the streets to live.”
“They would be safer on the streets,” Cat retorted.
“You never belonged within these walls,” Patrice snapped. “Your soul was too black long before you came here. You brought your own trouble with you.”
“I was seven years old when I came here, how could my soul be black at such a young age?” Cat cried out.
“By virtue of who your parents were!” Patrice shouted. “Your father was a dirty biker and your mother was a whore. They were never married by the real church which made you nothing more than a bastard born child of Satan.”
Hawkins reached out and slapped her. “Watch what the hell you’re saying! Jesse and Isobel were married in the eyes of God and the eyes of man. So don’t you be calling my granddaughter a bastard.”
Sister Patrice straightened her shoulders and scowled at them all. “They would have been married in the eyes of God had Isobel been her true name but it wasn’t. Isobel McCormick never existed. She’s as fake as her name.”
