Carmine (Rage MC: The Prospects #7)

Chapter One.

August 2022

Molly.

I gingerly dipped the test tube into the steaming water. For safety, I was gloved up and using tongs, but I knew this little pool would be high in acidic levels. And they would be increasing. They had been for ten years. But despite my carefully recorded data, I’d been laughed out of the office and fired. I was lucky to have the personal fortune that my grandparents had left me to continue my work.

My career, as it was, was in tatters, and my name was a laughing point across the country, but I damn well knew I was right. Rapid City, South Dakota, and the surrounding towns were in deep shit.

Three years ago, I’d put together a data pack with all the information and facts I’d collected and presented it to my peers. For my efforts, I had not even been heard out, and my boss had ripped it up in front of me. Volcanoes, I was informed, did not exist in South Dakota. Which wasn’t what I was saying. Obviously, I knew full well volcanoes didn’t fucking exist there, but laccoliths did.

However, my boss had sacked and blacklisted me within the community. You’ll find that once you’ve been kicked from the head office of the U.S. Geological Survey team and labelled a nut, nobody wanted to work with you.

Still, I tried. I’d taken my data and headed towards EROS in South Dakota’s Sioux Falls. The assholes there had let me present it and also laughed at me. So, I ventured out to the Black Hills myself. A rise in earthquakes near Rapid City over the past century suggested underground activity, and nobody was monitoring it.

My hypothesis wasn’t an idea that I’d thought up out of thin air. I’d begun formulating it a decade ago when I noticed a faint seismic fluctuation around Rapid City. That had intrigued me because South Dakota was usually not a state we worried about. Intrigued, I began monitoring and checking into Rapid City’s past.

The area had experienced a big increase in earthquakes and tremors. Research backed up the knowledge I already had. There was no active volcano or any volcano in South Dakota. Yet I was staring at information that showed something was wrong. And that had started me down a route that blew my career up seven years later.

A noise made me peer up, startled, as a man in a leather waistcoat headed towards me. He looked vaguely familiar, as if I should recognise him, but I couldn’t grasp his name.

“Morning,” he said with a nod. There was a name on his waistcoat: Carmine.

“Hi,” I replied warily. I was alone, and what was the saying… nobody would hear me scream.

“Are you the one who’s been leaving this equipment everywhere? A few of my brothers have found but not touched your stuff. Yet the EROS centre knows nothing about it,” Carmine asked curiously.

“What’s it to do with you?” I demanded as I packed up my samples.

“Lady.” Carmine sighed. “I only asked a question. EROS claims nobody was assigned up here and then I come across you.”

“EROS didn’t assign me here, but I’m taking samples and monitoring seismic waves,” I replied finally.

“Why?” Carmine questioned, and suddenly, he seemed really interested in what I was doing.

“Because I’m a fruit loop, apparently,” I muttered, scowling.

“Are you a scientist?”

“Yes.”

“But you don’t work for EROS?”

“No, I was fired,” I said grumpily.

“Why?”

“I told you. I’ve got a screw loose, according to my bosses. Even though the evidence seems to support my hypothesis.”

“And what’s that?” Carmine replied, his eyes narrowed.

“What’s with all the questions? I’m not hurting anyone! I’m just going about trying to prove I am not a lunatic and that my hypothesis has merit,” I exploded.

“This got anything to do with signs of a volcano in the Black Hills?” Carmine demanded, and I straightened.

Why was he asking that? Damn, I must have seen him at EROS, and that’s why I recognised him.

No doubt he was here to poke fun at me.

“Who sent you? Are you just wasting my time? I never said there was a fucking volcano in South Dakota. Even though Bear Butte may have been the remains of one that never erupted. But that’s beside the point. I didn’t claim there was a volcano here. I postulated that there was a pocket of magma under South Dakota that was under pressure, and the seismic activity was going to make it surface. The presence of laccoliths indicates past volcanic activity. Any volcanologist worth their weight knows you can’t have laccoliths without magma,” I spat at him.

My chest heaved with my indignation and ire. Seriously, I was tired of people making a fool of me.

“For one spiteful minute, I hope my hypothesis comes true, and you all end up with egg on your face. Just for a moment, I wish to see lava run down these hills, and you can all go fuck yourself!”

“You’re coming with me,” Carmine said, grabbing at me.

Indignantly, I squealed and fell backwards on my ass. “Don’t you dare touch me. I know karate!”

The guy stopped and eyed me with a sceptical expression. “Honestly, I doubt that. Look, I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m here for a reason. This will take a while to explain, but I’ll nutshell it. I’m a prospect with Rage MC. My name is Carmine Michaelson, and when I am not being a prospect, I play for the Cubs. Search me up on the club site.

“One of our old ladies is psychic, and Aurora keeps having visions of lava running through the streets of Rapid City. Two nights ago, Aurora had an awful vision. Klutz, her husband, recorded it, and it has my MC out scouring the Hills for signs of volcanic activity,” Carmine explained.

In disbelief, I stared as my anger mounted. “Do you expect me to believe that bullshit? A psychic? Why not tell me magic exists and you have a farm of unicorns? Jeez, I understand my hypothesis is somewhat out there and was heavily ridiculed, but to make fun of me to my face is despicable. I don’t deserve that,” I snarled, really hurt deep down inside.

“Listen!” Carmine said urgently. He fumbled with his phone and a monotone voice came from it.

“ She is a voice drowned out by thousands. Ignoring her cries means we can no longer divert what is to come. The streets will burn red, orange, and yellow. Lava will run, and the living will perish.”

Carmine hit stop. “That’s Aurora and part of her vision from the other night. Please, won’t you come and meet her?”

“I’m not a fool!” I yelled.

“Seriously, I don’t think you are, but talk to my MC,” Carmine asked earnestly.

For a brief moment, I believed him, and then I shook my head. No, I would go wherever Carmine wanted, and there would be a jeering crowd waiting for me. I’d been humiliated enough, and not even my parents spoke to me anymore.

“Listen, you may assume this is a game, but it’s not. My belief cost me my position, career, respect, dignity, and my friends and parents. Let’s not mention that my name is a laughingstock, and my reputation is shredded. Please, just tell whoever is waiting to further humiliate me you didn’t find me, okay?

“I’m only monitoring the activity. Despite the humiliation, I still file my reports. The fact nobody reads them or is alarmed at the increase of activity worries me,” I said, chewing a nail.

“Honey, I’m not with anyone looking to make an idiot of you. Please look me up online. Carmine Michaelson,” he urged.

With a huff, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and typed his name in. My eyebrows shot into my hair line when images of Carmine just wearing boxers appeared.

“Not those!” Carmine sighed.

I looked at them and him; yup, the faces matched. And boy, did he have a rocking body.

“Look up the Cub’s roster.”

Out of sheer perverseness, I flicked through a few more of the modelling pictures before doing as he asked. Sure enough, Carmine came up on them. Did that mean he was genuine?

Unsure, I stared into Carmine’s gentle eyes. Damn, three years alone with no people contact had clearly done damage. The food delivery driver once a fortnight was clearly not enough interaction with people.

“Carmine, I’ll tell you now, if this is a trap, a way for everybody to laugh at me, fuck you and shame on you,” I said.

“Please, trust me,” Carmine almost begged, and I snorted. Yeah, I trusted nobody nowadays.

“Let me finish packing up.”

“Fine, I’ll call Prez,” Carmine replied.

He moved aside, but not too far.

“Hey. You’re not going to guess what I just discovered… Funny, Dad. No, I found the person who’s been leaving that equipment everywhere… Yes, and she is a volcanologist.”

“What the fuck?” the president’s reply was loud and clear.

Interested despite myself, I cocked my head.

“Exactly.”

“EROS claims they had no one up here. Why lie?”

“Don’t think they did. The girl said she’s been fired for some hypothesis she put forward, and she is now working to prove it’s true. Want me to bring her to Rage?”

“If she has knowledge about volcanoes and lava, yes. Klutz phoned. Aurora hit the floor hard today when a vision took her over. We’re looking at days, according to her,” the guy replied.

“Shit. Is Aurora okay?” Carmine asked.

“Yeah, Klutz caught her before she smashed her head. Bring your person to Rage, son; we need to talk to her.”

“We’ll be there within the hour,” Carmine responded, gazing at me as I listened in unashamed.

Protecting myself was something I really wouldn’t apologise for. I’d every right to understand what I was getting myself into. The guy speaking appeared to be genuine, but who knew? I wouldn’t risk my safety.

I didn’t believe in psychic visions, but Carmine had triggered my curiosity. Then again, maybe I was being harsh. Look at how the GS had treated me and my hypothesis. As I stated, just because something hadn’t happened or been proven true didn’t mean it couldn’t happen now!

I should be less judgmental and more open-minded. Maybe she had noticed something similar to me and used visions to explain it.

“Will you come?” Carmine asked, jogging me from my thoughts.

“Huh?”

“To the clubhouse. Drake, he’s the president and also my dad; he’s going to meet us there and phone Aurora and Klutz too.”

“Why call them?” I questioned suspiciously.

“Because Aurora keeps having the vision, and everyone tells her she’s crazy. That lava can’t flow through the streets of RC. But Aurora is adamant, even though some of the brothers and old ladies think she has lost the plot. It’s hurtful for Aurora to hear,” Carmine replied.

“And you care about her.”

“I care about all of them. They’re my family. And when one hurts, I want to make it better,” Carmine responded.

Silently, I wondered what that was like. My parents weren’t exactly warm and fuzzy. They were volcanologists and highly respected. But for my parents, I’d been completely unexpected and not entirely welcome.

Mother had homeschooled me until I was seven, and then I was sent to boarding school. Father had decided I would walk in their footsteps, and I’d done so until I’d blown my career up. They were disappointed in me and made no bones in making me aware of that fact.

“Okay, I’ll follow you there,” I finally said, realising that Carmine waited for a reply.

“What’s your name?” he asked, and I laughed, embarrassed.

“Doctor Molly Balfour-Cherlyn.”

“A doctor?”

“For what it’s worth, I have my doctorate,” I answered with a bitter smile.

“Guess it didn’t mean shit when people tore shreds off you,” he replied.

“No.”

Those incidents had really hurt me. I was rather sensitive, always the odd one out. And having found my niche and respect, it had destroyed me when the community turned. Even worse, for a few years, I’d had my parent’s approval, and yet they had been some of those who’d led the charge against me.

As I finished packing my stuff, a tremor shook the ground hard enough to make us stumble. Carmine’s eyes went wide as the pond I’d been examining let out a hiss of hot air, and a geyser erupted. Without thinking, I hit Carmine sideways, taking him to the ground, and rolled him away as the water fell around us.

I was in long-sleeved clothing and pants with a padded coat. Carmine wasn’t as protected. We struggled for a few moments as to who got the top as the ground calmed.

“What the fuck was that?” Carmine yelled, looking at the pond.

“That is the sign of volcanic activity, the signs everyone told me I was imagining,” I said, leaping up and grabbing the sample box. I needed immediate samples from the water. The seismograph that I’d set up was also beeping, an indicator it had recorded the quake.

The priority was the samples. Quickly, I dragged out the test tubes, tongs, and the thick gloves I used to protect from spillages or splash back. Deftly filling my last few tubes, I secured and labelled them.

“Why use the gloves?”

“Because I think the water is gaining in acidity, and if I keep shoving my hands in, I’ll get burns,” I replied.

Carmine eyed the pond warily. “Like in Dante’s Peak?”

I snorted. “No. Usually, lakes near a crater are highly acidic, sometimes around a PH level of nought point one compared to normal lake levels of seven. And they could dish out some severe burns. The lakes often contain a mix of hydrochloric and sulfuric acid. But the further away you go from the crater or active volcano, the levels drop, but they can still give out some nasty burns.

“In addition, if the water is being heated, that will also lead to injuries. The pond could be heated by geothermal energy, as the temperature is climbing. I suspect that’s because magma is close to it. The reading I just took showed one hundred and ten degrees. For most, the boiling point of water is a hundred degrees.”

I bent down and picked up the portable seismograph I was using. The data that came back was shocking.

“What is it?” Carmine asked, picking up my concern.

“The last tremor documented here was one point five on the Richter Scale. Which means to most people, you wouldn’t feel it, but it’s high enough to be recorded. It just jumped to two point eight. That’s a huge increase in less than three days.”

Concerned as I looked at the data, I bit my lip. Everything was pointing to an imminent eruption, but I needed time to check all the other points of interest. I’d narrowed the information down to a large area near Rapid City, but it would still take me at least twenty-four hours to grab the data.

“Sorry, I can’t make the meeting. It’s important I check the other areas where I set up equipment. I need to find the focus point,” I said.

“You can’t do this by yourself,” Carmine stated as I packed up.

A louder snort escaped me. “Carmine, I’ve been doing this alone since I was laughed out of headquarters.”

“Let Rage help. Come and talk to my president, please Dr Balfour-Cherlyn. Dad can provide what you require.”

“And how will he do that?” I demanded.

“My mother is Phoenix Michaelson. Mom yells jump, people ask how high,” Carmine said.

I gazed at Carmine in puzzlement.

“Wow, you don’t know who my mother is? Shit, Mom’s going to love you. She hates being famous,” Carmine continued with a snicker. “Mom created The Trusts that help vulnerable individuals.”

“Oh, like the Phoenix Trust?”

“Yeah, Mom runs that alongside the Rebirth Trust and the Eternal Trust.”

“And she has power?” I asked, unsure how somebody who run a charity could command people.

“Yes. Mom has a lot, and she’ll use it to help,” Carmine insisted.

I bit my lip. Could I afford to take some time to meet his parents? Carmine did seem genuine, but I was still unsure. If this is another trap to mock me, how much time would be lost? It would be at least two hours before I returned.

“Okay, but you felt that tremor, and you saw that geyser. This isn’t a joke, regardless of what EROS claim.”

To my gratification, Carmine nodded, his eyes wide and focused on the pool. I sniffed the air and cursed.

“Can you smell that?” Carmine asked.

“That sharp, pungent smell? Yeah, that’s hydrochloric acid,” I stated.

“This is real, isn’t it?” Carmine whispered.

“Yes. Very.”

“Is lava going to run through my town?” Carmine questioned.

“I’m not sure. I do know there is volcanic activity,” I replied.

Carmine looked at the pond.

“If someone had been swimming?” he inquired.

“Then they’d have been badly burned. And this isn’t the only body of water I’m monitoring.”

“Doc, I think there’s a lot we need to know,” Carmine said worriedly.

“I’m parked down there,” I explained, pointing as I picked up my stuff.

“The jeep? I’m next to it. That’s what caught my attention,” Carmine replied.

To my surprise, Carmine tried tugging on my case, and I pulled it back. Carmine instead reached for my backpack.

“What are you doing?” I asked, exasperated.

“Trying to carry your shit. Doc, I was brought up with manners,” Carmine stated, looking slightly irate that I wouldn’t hand the bags over.

“Seriously, I can hold them. It’s fine. Plus, I don’t want the samples damaged. Couldn’t your people meet me at my home? I really need to get these tested?”

Carmine stared for a few seconds as he considered my request and then nodded. “I’ll ask Dad.”

“Do that. I’m going to take these samples and get them analysed. That’s more important than a chat,” I said and began striding down the hill.

Carmine kept up with me.

“Doc, I need your address.”

“Heron Cottage.”

“At the bottom of the Black Hills?” Carmine asked.

“Yes. Right in the line of a lava flow—should it happen. Ironic, really.” “You like taking chances, don’t you, Dr Balfour-Cherlyn?”

“I took a huge risk three years ago, and it backfired despite me having data to back it up. No, Mr Michealson, I do not like risks. I believe in facts and tangible evidence, which is what I have now. And even with that, I’m still a joke,” I replied, trying to keep my voice light and airy.

“Then they’re fools. Because when lava runs down our streets, you’ll be the one who told them. And you better make sure they remember that. And please, it’s Carmine. If anyone is Mr Michaelson, it’s my dad,” Carmine said firmly.

“Why’s it matter to you that I warned people?” I asked curiously. For somebody who’d just met me, Carmine seemed awfully invested.

“Because I hate individuals who are hateful and nasty for no reason except a ‘just because’. I loathe when idiots make fun of others because they don’t understand what’s in front of their faces. Nobody needs to tear someone else down because their opinions differ. It’s disgusting and not right,” Carmine said heatedly.

“Where were you when I needed a cheerleader?” I muttered.

“Probably in a game,” Carmine answered blithely.

Carmine’s quick mood swings made me dizzy, but I went with the flow.

“If you say so,” I replied and fell into silence. I liked silence. It was an old friend of mine. Something I was very familiar with.