Katlain wasn’t happy when she learned who had put a hit out on her. Kelli had called her when she left Rat’s townhouse and informed her who had put the hit out on her, as for her husband and the other truck drivers. She was still looking into that matter. Kelli had informed her that she had a contact who worked at one of the most popular and busiest truck stops around and could ask them about the hits on the truck driver.
Katlain didn’t like what she learned and grabbed her cell phone. She scrolls through her secret list of contacts until she finds the ones she was looking for. She knew a few people as well and could help Kelli. She hated that she was restricted to the hospital for a few days while her body healed.
Katlain dials the number and waits for the other person to answer. She knows the person is busy, and where they work has a lot of noise, so they might not hear their cell phone ringing.
Earl’s Truck Repair:
Owen was working on an old Freightliner semi when his cellphone started vibrating in his pocket. He stops and wipes his hand before pulling his cellphone out to see who is calling him. He notices it was Katlain’s number and presses accept on the screen. “What’s up, Kat?”
“Hey, Owen, are you busy right now?”
“I’m elbow deep under the hood of a Freightliner. Why, what’s up?” Owen was wondering why Katlain was calling him.
“Have you heard anything about those truckers who were murdered in their truck?” Katlain knew Owen talked to a bunch of truckers every day.
“Can’t say I have, Kat. I’ve been busy working late and passing out as soon as I get home. Why?” Owen figures Kat must have a reason for calling him about those truckers.
“I knew some of them and was wondering if they were involved in anything illegal. You wouldn’t happen to know if anything is going on among the truckers that pass through the truck stop there?”
“Not really, Kat. You know, some of these truckers make extra money hauling additional loads or giving runaways rides, or preaching to anyone who might listen.”
“Is that it?”
Owen thinks for a minute to see if he heard anything, then something about a truck driver he spoke to a month ago surfaces.
“There was something a trucker said to me about a month ago. He said he recently joined a bunch of truckers who formed a group to help some of the women who come out and sell their bodies. You know, some of them are forced into that life.” Owen met a few who were pimped out by men pretending to be their boyfriends or even their husbands to do that type of work.
“Yeah, I know. I wonder if that was the reason my husband and those other truck drivers were killed.” She could see her husband joining a group like that to help women or even some gay men to get away from that life.
“That’s all I can think of, Katlain. I don’t know if that was what you were looking for.” Owen never knew what Katlain wanted.
“It will have to do for now. Keep your ears out for me and call me if you hear anything else.” Katlain wonders if that was what got her husband killed.
“I will. Talk with you later, Kat.” Owen ends the call and gets back to work.
Katlain wonders if her husband had any connection to that group and if he and the others pissed off someone important? She knew her husband had a soft spot for women being exploited. What Owen said about some of those women being forced into that type of life was true.
The Black Orchid Club:
Keli looks at the text she received from her lawyer, saying that Mr. Knight’s relatives were shopping around for a judge who would rule in their favor. She couldn’t believe how desperate the family was to get Mr. Knight’s business and money. None of them cared about him as he was dying, and now they wanted what he had built with his own two hands.
She looks down at Katherine as she lies in her car carrier. A smile appears on her face, and she wonders what type of life this little girl will have. She knew her cousin Katlain would do anything for her daughter, but would that be enough? Mr. Knight once told her he made a lot of mistakes with his children and that was the reason they were, like they were.
She figures it contributed to it, but somewhere along the way, the children decided to take the easy path. As for the rest of Mr. Knight’s family, they were envious of what he had acquired and built on his own. The greed inside them came out, and all they wanted were material things.
“Why do people feel the need to have so much, Katherine?” Keli smiles and lets Katherine play with her finger.
Keli plays with Katherine for a little while and feeds her afterwards. She figures that with her uncle’s help, she can get through this mess. She burps Katherine afterwards and lays her back down in her car carrier.
She was a little worried about her cousin. Who would go after Katlain and why? She knew Katlain hadn’t always been a good person, but she never did anything that would warrant someone trying to kill her. Her cousin had been a model and worked at the race track, plus stealing cars. She knew her cousin only stole cars from people who could afford them. She never stole from people who couldn’t afford them.
Keli looks over towards her uncles and notices that her uncle Trevor has left the office. She wonders where he was. “Uncle Taylor, where is Uncle Trevor?”
Taylor looks up from the books he was working on. “He went downstairs to talk to the manager. He’s informing him about some people who are banned from the club.”
“Does that happen often?”
“Not normally, but sometimes we get a few people who either try to cheat us or get too handsy with some of the waitresses. We don’t allow that.”
Taylor had a thing about people touching his wait staff and being abusive towards them.
“I bet your employees appreciate that you guys look after them.” That’s one thing she was going to do with Mr. Knight’s company. Become involved with it, so she gets to know the employees working for her.
“We try our best.” Taylor felt he owed his employees for all their hard work.