Slade rolls us down Miss Catherine’s driveway, and I note how cozy the old lady’s home looks. This is a place of safety and sanctuary for Whisper. Miss Catherine explained how the girl who arrived on her doorstep that rainy night was so different to the now strong, independent woman she had become. She might only be twenty-one, but Whisper had lived a hard life, setting her worlds apart from other girls her age.
We were two types of opposing souls who had come together that night at the bar. Mine was dark and twisted, and hers was sweet and wild, but hell if I didn’t feel something then.
Fuck the ten-year age difference.
The Harley rumbles to a stop at the bottom of the old porch steps and we both dismount, removing our helmets just as the front door swings open and a man reveals himself.
Who the fuck?
I reach for my gun as he steps out of the shadowed porch toward us, and the man who is gonna hate my guts glares down at us, sporting a matching moonboot. Boxer is in his late forties, and even though he was nearly starved to death, you can tell he’s always looked after himself.
His eyes float between me and Slade, coming back to rest on me once he’s worked out which one of us he wants to fuck up. We share a look that brooks no misunderstanding.
Well, there goes our hug-it-out moment.
Looks like the welcome wagon isn’t going to be very welcoming, but I’m glad for Whisper that he is well and up and about.
I assume Miss Catherine’s been told to stay put inside her home, when that thought is quickly squashed as she pushes past Boxer, leaving him with a peeved look on his face and a roll of his eyes.
Words I can’t quite hear are mumbled under Boxer’s breath as he takes a few steps forward to follow her, but she’s quicker than him, even in her old age. She simply doesn’t want to be stopped in her endeavor to reach me. He gives up, shaking his head, a look of resignation on his face.
Yup! There’s that fired-up old lady. Even Boxer can’t hold her back. I feel a smile trying to expose itself, but I hold onto it.
“Edge!” She doesn’t hide her excitement, and that just pisses Boxer off even more. She’s hurrying down the porch steps, dressed in her knitted cardigan, granny dress, and house shoes, looking like the grandma I would’ve loved in my life... if I had been so lucky. She’s such a brave old lady who hasn’t judged me like I should have been judged for my past sins. She’s only looked at who she sees before her. Yeah, I’m glad she crossed my path. If things had been different...
I squash those thoughts, because they aren’t.
And then the damn woman surprises the shit out of me by hurling herself at me. I hesitate to hug her back, and then think, What the hell? If I get to have one good thing today, it is gonna be this moment.
I haven’t been able to feel from a peer in too long. I’ve missed having my mom, the only one who counted, throw her arms around me and give me a hug. I’ve missed my adopted dad’s warm, manly connection we shared so easily. I’ve missed being free to show my love then have it reciprocated with my adopted parents, and have them remember it, have them know they have a son.
I hang on for a few more seconds, soaking up the genuine warmth I feel from the old lady, trying not to let it be spoiled by the man who would rather her be nowhere near me, and rightly so. “I gather Boxer told you to stay indoor—” Just as my words hit her ear, she cuts off my sentence.
“This be my property, and you bein’ my friend means I be able to make my own such judgments. I’ve got all my faculties last time I be checkin’, and I be listenin’ to his advisement, but I be choosin’ what I be doin’ for myself. No man be tellin’ me what to do unless I be allowin’ it.”
I can’t help but release that smile I was hanging onto, and then give Miss Catherine a gentle squeeze before I extract myself from her. “Good to see you, Miss C.” And I mean it, because my heart has opened up for this old lady, and I can feel how it craves her friendship.
I step to the side, one eye on Boxer, the other on Miss Catherine, gently moving her out of Boxer’s line of fire. “Miss C, you’ve already met my good friend, Slade.”
“Yes, I have,” she acknowledges him with a smile, and doesn’t hesitate to make a move his way and envelop him in a hug. She talks quietly to him, while he nods in return. She really does know how to read a good man with those bones of hers. I won’t allow myself to hope she thinks of me the same way. I’m not a good man. There is a great divide of violence and mayhem between Slade’s life and my own.
Impatience has prevailed as Boxer thumps his way toward us, like I belong on the bottom of his moonboot. He’s none too happy about Miss Catherine ignoring his order, at least until he knows she’ll be safe hugging not only me but also the unknown man I brought with me.
Surprisingly, Boxer makes no move to intervene when he reaches us. He waits, giving the old lady the respect she is due, and that earns him some of my brownie points.
Slade and Miss C break apart. “You boys be comin’ on inside. I gots a pot of my special gumbo brewin’ on the stove, and the coffee is still hot.”
I think we’re all going to need something stronger than coffee.
“Slade will walk you back in, and I’ll be in shortly,” I tell her gently. Slade’s fully aware of what’s about to go down. I’ll decide on my terms to get the inevitable over with sooner than later. When she doesn’t make a move, I state the obvious. “Boxer and I have to have a guy-chat.”
He nods, agreeing with me, his arms folded across his chest, no doubt restraining himself from punching me in front of Miss Catherine. She looks between me and Boxer, her eyes shrewd and all-knowing about exactly what is going to go down.
“Boxer,” she crosses her arms across her chest, “remember what I be tellin’ you. There be time for all this alpha testosterone-slingin’ when Whisper be safe back in our arms. This be the time for alliances.” She is such a plucky lady.
“Miss Catherine, you go on inside, and I’ll be the judge of what there is time for and what I can make time for.” His eyes don’t leave me. “And before you say another word, I know you don’t want to be doing as asked, but this is between Edge and myself, and for what my words are worth, we both need you safely inside. I don’t need Evelyn out here too.”
Doc Evelyn’s here too? Nice. I’m a fan of the good doc. My face must have shown my interest in her, because Boxer’s eyebrows have now shot up to his forehead. Before I can correct him on what he is assuming, Miss Catherine makes a little harrumph noise and turns on her heels, heading toward the porch steps.
Slade knows he needs to follow suit. “Sir,” he holds his hand out to shake, “name’s Slade Malone, former special forces, and I’m here to help the best I can.” Boxer nods sharply, giving the offered hand a firm shake. Then he heads on in after Miss Catherine. Boxer’s got no grief with Slade, and my boy knows I can handle myself.
I hear a rustle to my left, and Mocha-chocolate, a.k.a. Ghost, has appeared, arms crossed at his chest, standing strong, ready to bear witness to what’s about to go down.
I give Ghost a nod, and he looks at Boxer and rolls his eyes in a just-get-it-over-with-because-he’s-only-gonna-stand-there-and-take-it way. And yes, I am gonna stand here and take it.
“Boxer.” I bob my head. “It’s time to get this done so we can move onto getting the fuck to Alaska. You know who I am. I shot Whisper and let those men take her. I fucked up.” I don’t blame him for the pissed off look waging war on him. He’s already been told. I’m just giving him a courtesy reminder, fuelling his contempt for me.
I stand there waiting. He hasn’t pulled a gun on me, and I wouldn’t blame him if he did. If she were my daughter, I would have shot the fucker who hurt her, without blinking. But she isn’t my daughter, she’s my sweet and wild, and she’s fucking brave.
And I thank fuck she isn’t my child.
He’s not talking, so I keep going. “I’m going to bring her back to you safe. She is under the protection of two motorcycle clubs now, and those men will be meeting us here in the next few hours. They will lay their lives down for her, as I will too. You have my word on that.”
Arm pulled back. Check!
Fuck’s sake, here we go again.
Powerful fist clenched. Check!
I’m almost bored by the humdrum of having to allow myself to be fucked with.
And then my head is snapping to the side as my jaw feels like it’s dislocated. I stumble backward, trying to right myself. I take a step forward and wait for the next blow. With a name like Boxer, he knows how to do damage. The pain is intense, and I know he’s gone and dislocated it, but I let him have another shot at me.
I stand my ground and wait.
He doesn’t raise his fist again, because he knows I’ll stand here and get up every time until he’s done. All he is doing is wasting his energy and time.
“Your life if it comes down to it?” His only words, and they’re deadly serious.
I don’t hesitate with my response, riding the pain, as I answer, “You have my word.” Which comes out sounding messed up, because I can’t shut my mouth properly, but I mean every word.
He watches me a moment longer, his eyes burrowing into me. When he finds what he’s looking for, he steps aside, and we both moonboot it up the familiar porch steps, with Ghost disappearing somewhere.
Even if he hadn’t given me the nonverbal invitation to go inside Miss Catherine’s home, there was nothing stopping me and my men from being in Anchorage tomorrow.
I’m back inside the familiar home, when the doctor approaches me, muttering about men and their macho ways. She takes one look at my jaw and shakes her head.
She directs me to the small kitchen table. “Sit. Jaw first and then your foot.” Her eyes open a little wider when I do as she says. She was expecting me to ignore her. I have respect for the good this woman is trying to do, and I need my fucking jaw to be fixed ASAP so I can be ready to travel.
She sits opposite me, and I hear the growl of a caveman. “So you and Boxer, huh?” She ignores Boxer and shows me a little blush warming her face and her genuine happiness, but busies herself putting on surgical gloves and wrapping her fingers in gauze. Then her fingers are in my mouth and—
Holy fucking hell!
I make a god-awful racket, but she fixes my jaw. I hear a satisfied sound coming from Boxer. He’s had his moment, and now we can move forward.
She goes for a bandage and I stay her hands. “No thanks, Doc. Don’t need to be wrapped up like a mummy.” She sighs heavily, but doesn’t argue. My jaw hurts, but it wasn’t a bad dislocation. I’ve got a pretty hard head. I’ll be black and blue tomorrow, but that ain’t unusual these days.
“Foot!” She moves her chair back so I can put my leg up on her lap. I hear another growl from behind me. “Boxer, not now! You know this man only has eyes for Whisper.”
I shut my eyes and groan. That was probably the worst thing she could have said.
“What. Did. You. Do. To. Her?” He’s in my face like an angry bulldog, all screwed up, spit flying.
Thanks, Doc. She realizes what she said and looks sorry. “Doc, you’ve just been scrubbed off my Christmas list.” I give her a smile that doesn’t quite do the job.
“I knew it!” Boxer is about to wig out and go all dragon man on me. Again, I don’t blame him for his anger issues.
Miss Catherine stops her fussing over a large pot in the kitchen and raises one eyebrow, a hand on her hip.
What? Do they really wanna hear I fucked her and we both enjoyed it?
“Oh… boy,” Slade mumbles under his breath, not helping. He’s only adding flames to the thoughts no father wants to be thinking, even if Boxer’s only seen himself that way for a few months.
“I go away for a few days, and you not only shot her, but you... you... you....”
I wouldn’t finish that sentence either.
Best leave that one alone, big guy.
I’m actually at a loss for words on what I can say out loud that hasn’t already been assumed and thought.
Well, fuck me. I’m actually speechless.
“Boxer... she’s not a little girl. She be nearly twenty-two and she be an adult. Whatever be happenin’ between them be their business.” Shit, now Miss Catherine’s wading in. Boxer is pacing, and I’m sitting here feeling like I’m in high school.
Fuck that.
“Do you really want me to spell it out?” I know he doesn’t. “What I will tell you is it was consensual.”
One finger is pointed in my face, and I can’t say I like the proximity of it. “And you didn’t tell her you were too old for her? Christ’s sake. How old are you? Thirty?” he hollers in my face.
Time to do some of my own poking. “Thirty-one, and why would I? Thought she was a woman named Sara and she was around mid-twenties. I didn’t know she was twenty-one and Whisper. I knew nothing about her.” All I can say is the truth, even though I want to eat those words, because I should have learned something about her.
“I didn’t know she had been abused her whole life. I didn’t know she needed saving.” I’m getting louder and more pissed off. “I didn’t know my father died until a few weeks ago. I didn’t know the fucker owed a debt and Whisper was the down payment. And I don’t know the hell she is going through now. She’s been your family for nine months, and she’s still your family. So could we get to saving her and sort out the rest when she’s fucking safe?” My temper has flared, and Doc Evelyn flinches as she works at checking my foot over.
“If I die getting her safely back home, then you have gotten your payment for what went down between Whisper and me. Hell, I would kill any fucker who did this to my daughter. Do you think I haven’t been going slowly mad waiting for a fucking lead?
“We have that now and we need to be jumping on it, getting our asses to Anchorage, and working together, because sitting here yelling at each other isn’t gonna fucking bring her back alive.” If Doc didn’t have my leg in her lap, I would be up and hitting a wall. Punching something feels better than doing nothing. I don’t think Miss Catherine would like me redecorating her place, although I still need to get her a new couch.
“Nobody be dyin’,” Miss Catherine says optimistically.
A man like Cezar won’t let Whisper leave without a showdown, and I aim to give him one. I say a little calmer, “She’s had all her rights taken from her, since nearly her birth. Don’t fuck it up with her by being overbearing. She needs her freedom now to make her own choices. My father took that away from her, and you need to let her make her own decisions, because a girl like that can’t be caged again, and she’s too old to be grounded.
“What did or didn’t happen between us is our business. Let her have her own mind. Not saying you have to have liked it. Just saying, she needed to do whatever she needed to do. She knows she’s not like other girls her age. Maybe she wanted to be.” I let all that penetrate his hard head and then watch as the British bulldog in front of me walks away, pacing it out by the fire.
He doesn’t have to like me, and I’m good with that, but we need to be able to work together and swap any information not yet shared today.
We need to be on the same team.
***
Slade and Boxer have been chatting for the past few hours while I play the third wheel. Boxer doesn’t have any issues with my man-mountain of a friend. They’ve had their heads bowed, talking quietly, and I’m not invited. Every now and then, Boxer looks up at me and glares. I glare right fucking back, which isn’t getting us anywhere. He doesn’t know where to put me, because he wants to hate me. I confuse him, because I didn’t fight back.
He wants a reason to hit me again, unlike my father, who had no reason. I had done wrong in my father’s eyes, so I took what was given to me, but I was a boy. I’ve done wrong in Boxer’s eyes, so I take it, because I deserve it. But I won’t take a repeat performance, because now I am a man, and no fucker is gonna beat down on me unless my conscience says so.
Ghost previously vented on behalf of Boxer and Whisper’s friends, but that was all I was allowing, same with Boxer. He had his moment and he took it.
The one person I don’t want to hate me has every reason to. Whisper’s the only one who counts. She can rain her punches down on me all she wants. She can shoot me where she deems fit. She can stab me in the back. But no man will ever take my power away from me ever again.
Miss Catherine’s been keeping one worried eye on me as she busies herself in the kitchen, and it smells real good in there. Doc Evelyn has been helping her. They’ve given me space, fully aware of the testosterone in the air.
Miss C’s cooking up a storm to keep herself active, and because she knows a bunch of hungry bikers will be rolling in soon enough. She keeps looking at me as though she really does care for me, and that just fucks with my mind, because I do want her to care.
I haven’t had anybody worrying over me in a long time. Love my adopted parents, but their minds have been long gone from knowing who I am. When I look at Miss Catherine and Boxer, I realize what Whisper has now lost. These two people have known her less than a year and love her like their own blood. They have given her a reason to look to the future. She’s been given two roofs over her head. She wasn’t caged anymore... until now.
I pull at my hair with both fists. I haven’t moved from the kitchen table, my elbows digging into the tabletop. I don’t belong here. I belong in Anchorage, and this waiting is pure fucking agony.
A small hand clamps down on my shoulder. I look to the side to see Miss Catherine pulling out a chair beside me. A glass of water is placed in front of me. I don’t move. She yanks on my hands until I let go of my hair. In this moment, it is just her and me. Nobody else exists.
“What be goin’ through that damn head of yours, Edge?” She eyes the bruising along my jaw with silent disapproval.
I play with the glass of water on the table, turning it with my fingers before I answer her, trying to find the right, honest words for her question.
“I’m so glad Whisper stumbled onto your home and she found good people. I’m sorry she was subjected to a life with my father. I feel guilty he took a child because I got my freedom. She’s had nothing but shit piled on her, until she found you and Boxer. I should have tracked him down and come back to watch him carefully, to see how he was living his life. I could have saved her years ago.”
Miss C stays my hand on the glass, a deep frown etched into the wrinkles on her face. “No! We be livin’ in and around Connard, and we not be knowin’ what be goin’ down in that damn plantation home. He be clever. Not givin’ anybody no inklin’ to what he be goin’ about behind closed doors. She be his carefully closeted secret. He be behavin’ like a moral citizen of Connard. Nobody be guessin’ he be any different.
“He hardly be comin’ into Connard, the town. He be keepin’ under everybody’s radar. He not be comin’ into the bar for a drink, no visitin’ the local stores. People paid him no mind. His death came and went without a ripple in Connard,” she assures.
“You don’t understand, Miss Catherine. I knew the type of man he was, because I lived under his roof in another town.”
“You were a little boy.” She tries to hold my hand, to comfort me, but I let it slip out of her grip.
“I may have been young, but he wouldn’t have changed. I should have found him when I was older and seen for my own eyes.” I lower my voice. “I ran away from my nightmares.” The last word comes out as a pathetic croak. I’m stronger than this.
“A little boy shouldn’t have had to be dealin’ with a father like you be havin’.”
Past tense, because I got out. I was saved.
I lean in closer to Miss C, trying to get her to hear what I am telling her. What I am owning up to. “I’d been too busy making other people pay for their wrongs that I didn’t check on my own fucking breathing flesh, who was a much eviler bastard than those I have sent to hell by my own hand.” And there it is, the huge shit pile of guilt that has been fighting to be set free.
“I let this happen.” My voice catches. To cover it up, I pound my fist on the table, making the glass jump. “I could have stopped my father. I could have saved Whisper a long time ago. I could have told Hazard, but I didn’t. I wanted this kept my disgusting secret.”
My. Fucking. Filthy. Secret.
“I walked away with a clean break from the man I knew to be a psychopath. I may have been young, but I knew it wasn’t normal how I was treated. I fell into the arms of the most loving couple, who showed me what I had been missing out on. I got a second chance. For whatever reason he wasn’t put away at the time, I could have done something about it when I was able to, but I didn’t,” I growl.
“A town full of people didn’t be knowin’ what he be doin’. He certainly wouldn’t be showin’ you if you came lookin’. It was all well hidden.” She looks so fierce at the moment, wanting me to believe she’s right.
“The only thing you be doin’ wrong here is shootin’ Whisper. Since then, you been wantin’ to move mountains to be findin’ her. You been takin’ a beatin’ or two, and you’ve assisted scum into an early grave. You been honest and been puttin’ Whisper first. I be seein’ that.” She whispers, leaning toward me, “Boxer been seein’ that.” Then she sits back up again. “These men be takin’ many a girl, and they all be no doubt windin’ up dead. You gonna be stoppin’ that from ever happenin’ under this Cezar’s rein again, and that be somethin’. You’ll be bringin’ good through the bad.
“Plenty of wicked in this here world. You can only be cleanin’ one thing up at a time. Once your boys get here, I be feedin’ them, and you be leavin’ for Anchorage soon’s you can. You then be close to her whereabouts and the rest will come.” She really believes I’m going to save Whisper and bring her back alive.
“You still gots Jenny?” she asks, and I nod my head. “You be sure to be givin’ her to Whisper when you be findin’ her. Don’t be forgettin’ in all the action that be goin’ down that she will be needin’ Jenny.” She pats my hands then gets up and walks back to her pots. She has great confidence in me bringing Whisper back to her. She doesn’t waiver. I didn’t realize how much I needed her strength at the moment.
My emotional guard is let down around her. I really believe she sees me for who I am, a lost soul who has been trying to find some ground in this world. I had it for a little over a decade, and then it started to be taken from me, piece by piece. The only two people I could call parents were forgetting their son. I had a biological mother, and my heart hurts for the unknown.
Did he kill her?
I take a gulp of the water, because I’ve got nothing else to do at the moment, and that is hard.
Real fucking hard.
Slade slides down in the chair Miss Catherine vacated. “How you holding up?” He’s such a grounded man. I’m glad he’s here.
I clear my throat. “I’m good. Just need to be getting on out of here as soon as I can.”
“Yeah... sitting around is hard.” He leans closer to me, his big arms folded on the table in front of him. “Been talking with Boxer. He’s a solid guy.” He cocks his head to the side. “You get why he’s having a hard time warming up to you.” It’s not a question. It’s a state-the-fucking-obvious. I don’t need to respond. “What I’m gonna do is hop on that nice Harley of yours, and I’m gonna go and get Phoenix, my badass friend from Cedar Hill, where she is currently having some family time with some of my friends from Ocean Beach. They have taken Joy, the woman who was assaulted under their wings.” Thank fuck this Joy chick was saved from what Whisper is going through. I can’t think of how Cezar is taking the loss, or who he is taking it out on.
“Edge... you listening?”
“I’m good. Go on.”
“While I was riding over here, I thought it would be a good idea having Phoenix on the team, being female, after Whisper’s bad run with men.” He looks a little sheepish at that last comment.
And fuck if he ain’t right.
“Boxer and I’ve been talking, and he thinks the same as me. Whisper will need a female to feel safer around when we extract her. Big, scary-looking biker men might frighten her, and she would have been through a lot of bad stuff.” His voice gentles. “Because we’re all trying not to think about what is being done to all of those women and what the end game is for this Cezar.”
He lets me stew on his words before piping up again. “You’ve got to understand that no matter your intentions now, no matter what you’ve talked to her on the phone about... things are gonna get worse before we can get her to safety. If she’s a debt, then she will be paying it in a way she won’t like.”
Don’t fucking remind me.
“You’re gonna make me and Boxer happy knowing there is a professional female on this team going into Anchorage and can be the buffer, if need be. Whisper will have been through a lot already, and we don’t know how well mentally she is gonna be doing by the time we get to her. Your last face-to-face with her was a showdown, a bullet to her shoulder.”
Slade’s right. He’s thinking what I should have been thinking, but I fucking didn’t.
He touches my arm. “You hearing me, brother?”
“I fucking know she is gonna be all kinds of fucked up from what a man like Cezar can do to her. I heard her sobs,” I say with a quiet restraint that is deadly. “I know how fucked her existence is, Slade. I know what I fucking did to her. That’s why I can’t fucking sit around doing fucking nothing like I am now.” I’ve grabbed a hold of the glass again without thinking, my knuckles whitening the harder I clench it.
“Edge, release that glass before you shatter it. It won’t help. You’ve allowed yourself enough pain, and that hasn’t fixed anything.” Pain is something I understand, but I loosen the strangle hold I have on it. “I need to ask you again. You hear what I am saying?”
“Loud and clear, brother.” My teeth are clenched. “It’s a good idea to have a female on hand for her,” I agree with him out loud, because it is true.
I’ve not wanted to go this deep in my mind with how well Whisper is going to cope mentally. She is brave, but she is alone and reliving my father all over again, maybe worse. Nobody fucking truly knows what my father did to her, other than some fucked-up videos I’ve been told exist by Miss Catherine. Fucker kept evidence of his treatment of Whisper.
“I’m going to leave now, and you just keep me up-to-date with the plans for Anchorage.” A bowl of Miss C’s cooking lands in front of Slade. The old lady’s been eavesdropping.
Surprise.
“Slade, you be needin’ to eat before you be travellin’ those hours to get to your lady.” She offers Slade a genuine smile. Yeah... she likes him a whole lot.
“Thank you, ma’am.” He picks up the spoon that’s been placed beside his bowl and gives Miss Catherine a smile that would knock a lot of women off-kilter. “Just for the record, she isn’t my lady.”
She returns a knowing smile. “Oh, come now. You don’t honestly be believin’ dem words? You make sure to be bringin’ her on by one day. Whisper be needin’ a female friend.” She gives him a shoulder squeeze and heads back to her pots, and Slade digs into his food.
“Looking forward to meeting her too, Slade,” I add, as he keeps right on devouring his bowl of Cajun cooking.
Boxer’s phone rings and he snatches it up. “Yeah?” he snaps. He listens, and I want that fucking thing on speakerphone. Finally, he responds, “Well done, Joel. Put out the feelers. Money’s not an issue. I’ll get back to you once I’ve had the meeting with Edge’s men.” He disconnects, and I want to know what all the “well done” genius boy has been up to and why “money’s not an issue.”
Miss Catherine’s phone pings and Boxer gives me a look when he sees I’ve still not given it back, which means return-that-fucking-phone.
Lethal: Incoming.
And that’s when I hear music to my ears, the roar of a bunch of motorcycles as they near the house.
Boxer is up and headed for the door. He’s showing me my place. He’s in charge... for now. I get up and walk to the open door. Boxer is down the porch steps, and Ghost has appeared again by his side. The fucker almost glides through the air. I’m getting his name now.
Slade joins me. There are now eight bikes parked in front of Miss C’s porch including mine, and seven gruff-looking bikers standing with helmets off, waiting for what comes next.
Boxer announces loudly, “Looks like these men could do with some of Miss Catherine’s home cooking.” He approaches each man and introduces himself, shaking their hands. “Thank you for coming.” Ghost nods at them all, and then Boxer thumps his way back up the porch steps. I move to the side, letting him past me, while Ghost disappears again.
Hazard, my president, all hard man who’s aged well in his late thirties, with dark eyes, thick beard, and thick eyebrows, is the first to mount the porch steps. He favors his hair tied back when not wearing his helmet. Could have looked less manly on another biker, but not Hazard. He wore everything about himself well. He makes it to me, clomping up the steps in his heavy boots. We hug it out like two big bears, while I keep my jaw out of the line of his shoulder.
I only asked that none of them wear their cuts from a few towns out. It’s bad enough this many bikers roared into a quiet place like Connard, but we don’t need any eyes on us. They came in at dusk, which helped, but it would have been better if they came during the night. They’re here now, and that’s what matters. Sooner we make plans, sooner we’re outta here.
“You doing all right?” His voice is as gruff as a bear’s. Both thick eyebrows arch when he pulls back, noting the color of my jaw. I must be starting to go all Technicolor. “Taking another fist for the shit you did wrong? Because I know you don’t let a fucker get the upper hand.”
I ignore his second question. “Better, once we get this fucking meeting over with, after everything we know is collectively laid out on the table and plans are in place.” He grunts in acknowledgement and understanding and moves past me. Slade’s no longer standing by me. He’s giving me space to welcome my brothers.
Torque is up next. President to the Lion’s Den MC. Messy ash-blond hair to his shoulders, sporting facial scruff and a serious lean look. All of thirty-two years of age.
Lethal follows close behind. The bastard is too pretty to be a biker. He’s in his late twenties, clean-shaven, with neat, dark brown, short hair, and eyes that trap women at a glance. He got his handle, because he’s good with poisons. If he wants you dead, you are on your way to pay the Ferryman before you can even register what has gone down.
“Glad you’re here, Lethal.”
He smiles and we man hug with one arm. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, hermano.
He gives me a wink, and then Viking swaggers up to me, the Vice President for the Lion’s Den MC looking every part his namesake. The guy is blond and built, looking like a Viking warrior with all that long hair, cool blue eyes and a braided beard.
I work my way through a bunch of man hugs from Blueblood and Viper until I get to Drill, who gives me a big smile and claps me hard on the arm. He cocks his head to the side as a finger comes up and touches my jawline. “You been pissing somebody off?”
“Something like that.” He might be from the Lion’s Den MC, but we’re close. I clap him on his other arm. “Good to see you too, brother.” His grin broadens.
“Never a doubt, Edge.”
“How’s Cyn?” I’d told him to make sure she had money and to check in on her and her kid.
“She’s good. She was askin’ after you.” Drill’s grass-green eyes are soaking me up. The guy’s got a man crush on me, but I ignore it. He knows where I stand with that. We shared Cyn, which is past tense for me now, and we got naked, but that line wasn’t crossed, no matter how many times we shared her. No matter how bad he wanted some man-on-man action in the mix.
He needs to notice Cyn has eyes for him, and she would gladly find another partner willing to satisfy his sexual needs in a threesome. I’m never gonna be that partner or permanent guy.
Once everybody is inside, I look around at Miss C’s home, which seems to have shrunk in size, filled with big, dusty bikers. She’s introducing herself and Doc Evelyn, while Boxer is laying his claim on her by sticking by her side, arm around the good doctor’s waist until the message is clear.
Smart man.
She’s a good-looking woman. I saw Hazard running his eyes over her with male appreciation.
Not gonna happen.
Nobody is sitting, out of respect for how dirty they are, and Miss Catherine isn’t having any of it. “Please sit. Edge be already stainin’ my couch, so your dusty behinds be makin’ not much difference.” She smiles at me, not even a little mad with me. “I figure I be up for a new one soon, so sit and rest while I be gettin’ to fixin’ you men all some bowls of my home cooked gumbo. Once you’ve eaten, you can each be takin’ a shower, but mind the water or else we be runnin’ out before you all be gettin’ clean.”
Mutterings of “Yes, ma’am” are heard all around, and then men are pulling up a seat, spilling over to the kitchen table, while she hands around glasses of water, the looks on their faces priceless.
Torque, the president of Lion’s Den, and Hazard are in a tight huddle with Boxer. They are showing their respect by acknowledging him, but they also want to know who they are dealing with, his past and his present.
Slade’s in the bathroom getting ready for the ride to Cedar Hill. It’s going to be a long-ass night of riding. He let Phoenix know he’s coming in early.
I’m standing around, talking with my club brothers and the Lion’s Den men, but not really hearing what they’re saying. Nothing they are talking about is anything I want to be involved in.
I’m miles away.
I’m in Alaska, my mind searching through the snow for Whisper. There’s so much white. There are dark shapes hovering, but I can’t see their faces; they’re blurred out. I want to see those fucking faces so I can identify the bastards who need to be taken out. I can’t put them on my retribution list if I don’t have any fucking identities. Adam promised a code would be sent if Whisper were in mortal danger. It hasn’t been sent. This is all I have to go on, to know she is alive.
It’s not enough.
Adam could be dead.
Too many fucking what-ifs.
As of this morning, the needle is now bigger, the haystack much smaller.
I start pacing again, because it feels better than standing still or sitting. After my tenth or so up-and-down, a hand lands on my chest, halting me. “Brother, we’re all here for you.” Drill’s green eyes are holding me steady, as much as the hand on my chest is. I move it away and turn to start pacing again, and am hit in the chest by Lethal’s hand, firm and unyielding. Fucker isn’t gonna let me turn away again, because I know there is another brother standing right behind me, ready to push his hand into my chest if I try it once more.
“Hermano, we’ve left you alone, because you didn’t look much like talking. Gave you your head space, but your gonna wear a hole in Miss Catherine’s floor if you keep this up.” I don’t look up from his hand. “We get it. We all feel you. We know this chick means more to you than you can even wrap your head around at the moment. We are all gonna get these bastards, and we are gonna enjoy retribution. You feel me?” I keep staring at his hand. “You haven’t had the code from the undercover agent, so she’s hanging in there, and her family is keeping strong.”
I look around the room. Boxer and the two presidents are still in a private meeting. Miss Catherine and the Doc have made themselves scarce, banging away in the kitchen, the smell of food being served up, leaving these men crowding me. Showing me they’re supporting me.
“I just need to be doing something instead of nothing. Hear me?” I prompt.
A round of mutterings follows as I sidestep and go prop myself up against the wall, arms crossed. I watch Slade go over to Miss Catherine in the kitchen and give her cheek a peck. I think Miss C actually turns a slight shade darker, if that is possible. “Thank you for your hospitality, ma’am. I’m heading out. The gumbo was delicious.”
Miss Catherine touches his arm with affection. “Any time, but you be sure to be watchin’ yourself and your lady’s back when you be over there in Alaska seekin’ retribution.”
Slade belts out a short laugh. “Somehow I don’t think Phoenix is gonna like knowing her back is being watched, but I’ll make sure.” He turns to Boxer and gives him a nod. That nod is full of understanding. Then he’s shaking each man’s hand. “I’ll see you men in Anchorage soon.” He jerks his head my way. “Edge will keep me posted.” And then he’s out the door.
***
An hour later, with everybody fed and cleaned up, it’s time to get down to business. The men have given Miss Catherine and Doc Evelyn a seat at the kitchen table. A show of respect, because this ain’t no normal Church.
Boxer stands and surveys the men littered about. “Time to talk about the twenty-one-year-old girl, Whisper, who has been abducted and is the closest I have to a daughter. That makes her precious to me and Miss Catherine.” He shoots a look at me as a reminder.
Like I can forget. I refuse to eye roll.
I was going to sit back and let Boxer take the floor, for now. I respect who he is to Whisper, and I respect whose home I am in now, but this was my father’s doing in the first place, and these men I’ve brought in are capable and clever.
Boxer’s phone pings, and he looks up from checking it. “Joel, my computer genius I trust explicitly, wants to talk to us all via real time. Miss Catherine, where’s Whisper’s computer?”
“In her room. I’ll get it.” She takes her stairs to the next level and comes back down with the laptop. Boxer doesn’t treat Miss C with old-person-disease. She is very active, and he treats her as an equal.
He meets her at the bottom of her stairs, always keeping one eye on Doc Evelyn. I appreciate how he looks out for both these women, because we are still alien to him, and I don’t doubt Ghost is watching from some hidden advantage, ready to storm the premises if we aren’t all behaving like good little boys.
He thanks her and sets it up at the kitchen table, and we all huddle around the screen. Boxer makes sure Miss Catherine and Evelyn are on either side of him while he waits for Joel to call him up. Several minutes go by, and then a good-looking guy with dark, short hair wearing Clark Kent glasses appears on the screen, complete with his own fading bruises.
“Hey, Boxer.” He acknowledges Joel with a serious nod, before the younger man continues, “Miss Catherine, Doc, and team.” He holds a palm up in welcome. “Good to see y’all are looking well.” Then his computer is being moved to include Lincoln, the blond-haired man sitting up against a headboard next to Joel. Although he lost weight, Lincoln is still much broader than Joel, who is lean. His leg is in a cast, since his bones had been shattered with a sledgehammer. “Somebody here should be resting, but he wanted to say hello to you two lovely ladies, so I brought the computer up from my station.”
Miss Catherine pipes up first. “Lincoln and Joel, it be so good seein’ you two together.”
If faces can beam, these two are doing that. They have great affection for the old lady. “Miss Catherine, you are looking well. We haven’t had time for a catch-up on all your shenanigans.” Lincoln looks almost proud. “Joel filled me in on your adventures while I was keeping Boxer company on a crash diet.” The guy is making light of what happened to the two of them. Last time I saw both of them, they were looking like death was only a door-knock away. “I understand you’ve been up to mischief with Edge and doing some illegal driving. I’m rather impressed.”
I’m going to like these two. Miss Catherine turns and makes eye contact with me. Her face is sheepish, because she definitely enjoyed living on the wilder side. Boxer huffs in his seat.
We’re all crammed in around the screen. I speak up, “Lincoln, I’m Edge.” His eyes hone in on me. “Good to see you looking better than the last time I saw you.”
He gives me a good, hard look. “Heard you shot my girl?” Fuck! He might bat for the other team, but he’s no kitten. “Heard Ghost showed you what we all thought of that.” He touches his jaw. “Looks like Boxer also showed you what he thought of that.” I don’t reply. “Also heard you’ve been working hard to find her.”
“That’s what we’re all here for.” I feel my knee being squeezed. I know it’s the old lady.
“Joel lookin’ after you, Lincoln?” Miss Catherine can’t help but fly the white flag by interrupting. She knows he would be. I can see it in Joel’s face the love they share. Fuck society who don’t get that love is happiness; don’t matter what sex you are. Neither cares there’s a bunch of big, gruff men listening in. Nearly dying will do that to ya. It will make you weed out the important things in your life and not give a fuck about what anybody else thinks.
“Yeah.” He pats Joel’s back, leaving our conversation alone for the time being.
“As you know, Doc only let me out of her sight a few days ago. Sorry we missed our shopping date with you and Whisper. She was looking forward to leaving Connard for the first time and visiting New Orleans for the Black Friday sales.” His voice gets softer. “We’ll take a rain-check when she comes home.” A newfound strength and determination crosses his face.
“I be holdin’ you two men to that,” she replies with just as much determination.
Then, we get down to the nuts and bolts of this live meeting. We talked about strategy and we laid all our cards on the table. Joel kept listening and punching keys on his computer until we knew more than we had ever known until now.
The bikers sitting with me introduced themselves and exposed their hidden talents and training. We all worked together. A private luxury cabin off the beaten track but close to roads was booked to accommodate us all so we had privacy. Next, tickets were booked for flights to Anchorage.
All the men here were going in on two flights in the morning, with Slade, Phoenix, and a guy named Billy coming on a lunchtime flight. Didn’t know what eyes were watching, so we needed to keep Whisper and all the women safe and Adam off the radar. We were all gonna take our time getting to the cabin in small groups, going in quiet. Just a bunch of businessmen on a corporate retreat.
Cezar can’t get an inkling a bunch of trained bikers have landed in Anchorage. The man has kept his secrets because he’s meticulous. He has people on the payroll. He has eyes keeping him connected.
Several hours later, we were bunking down for the night, spread out all over Miss Catherine’s floor and couch, with a fire crackling and a solid initial plan in the air.
There was still much to be done once we knew where this fucking event was gonna be held and when.
One thing that surprised the shit out of me: Boxer isn’t coming. The classified information he was able to get came at a cost. He will be forced to stay in Connard and let Adam do his thing and in the timeframe he deemed.
He didn’t put up a fight. Boxer knew the high-up suits didn’t need to feed him intel, but he called in a pretty powerful fucking marker to be collected. If he broke the agreement, then all intel would be cut off, leaving him out of their loop.
Thing is, Boxer didn’t explain there was a whole crew of bikers willing to put their lives on the line for Whisper and the other females, and bring this fucker down and all his minions. He didn’t let on about that little tidbit.
No man in this house is willing to wait, because Whisper would be dead by the time the high-up suits deemed the operation ready to be wrapped up. I think Adam knows it’s crunch time, because he may have lost his sister to Cezar, but things have changed now. He knows he has back-up with us, because the high-up suits in their safe offices don’t know the mental pressure Adam is under.
Don’t know a long job like this can break a man and Humpty Dumpty would come tumbling down, but Cezar’s men won’t put him back together again. Cezar would make sure those pieces are scattered.
And they don’t know Edge is a man on a mission.
We can rely on Adam to give his contact something, once we’ve stormed our castle, giving us the time we need.
But one thing I know.
Things are gonna blow.