Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“I thought they were going to call the police,” Noel added.
“No chance of that,” Rumi muttered under his breath.
“After they finally let me in to talk to her, some dickwad punched me in the jaw.”
“I tried to stop them,” Noel cut in angrily.
“We’ll talk about that later.” Titus glared. “Anyway, they beat the shit out of us and then threw us in the back of a car.”
“Where was Mom?” Esther asked like she was afraid of the answer.
“With Aunt Lacey,” Noel replied. “Dad took her over there after he locked me in our room. I didn’t even know anyone was downstairs until I heard Titus talking to someone at the door.”
“They took us to the church and tied us up,” Titus finished. “Bailed right after, and eventually, you guys showed up.”
“How you doin’?” I murmured in Esther’s ear, running my hand down her back.
“I’m okay,” she replied softly. “You?”
“We got some shit to talk about.”
“Is it bad?” She pulled away to look me in the eye.
“Pretty bad, yeah,” I whispered.
Her eyes closed, and she dropped her forehead against my shoulder.
“Come on, you two,” my mom said, shooing them toward the building. “Aunt Molly needs to look at your faces. You better hope I don’t have to bring you to the hospital, or there will be all sorts of questions.”
Esther and the women followed my mom inside and the rest of us headed toward the garage end of the building where a single bay was wide open.
“Titus good?” Dragon asked the minute we walked in.
“Roughed him up some,” Gramps answered. “He’ll be fine.”
“Good news,” Dragon replied.
“I’ve been workin’ on some things,” Uncle Casper announced as soon as we came to a stop.
“Oh, shit,” Rumi murmured, bumping me with his shoulder. “Watch the master work.”
“There are currently twenty-four members of the Sons of Calgary militia group. Four less, after today’s work. Two that took off after they kidnapped Titus and his little girlfriend. Those two, sad to say, had an accident on the way to their destination.”
“How the fuck does he do that?” Rumi muttered admiringly.
“Two of the members they lost today were the head, so it’s pretty safe to say we cut the head off that particular snake. From what I’m hearin’, they’re scramblin’ now. Got no idea what the fuck they’re gonna do with their lives now that daddy’s disappeared.”
“For the time bein’,” Dragon announced. “Sons of Calgary are no longer a threat to this club. At least until they pull their heads out and find a new leader.”
“The members of the militia were part of the congregation,” Casper continued. “But from what I’ve uncovered, they weren’t even a majority. Lookin’ at what’s left, we got a bunch of fuckin’ weirdos—but their particular brand of weird hasn’t got anythin’ to do with us. Bottom line, we got our property back and this chapter is closed.”
“Fun’s over, boys,” Micky joked sarcastically.
“Otto,” Dragon called as the men started scattering off to get their families and head home.
“Pres?” I waited as he and Gramps headed toward me.
“Gonna have to call that girl’s mama,” Gramps said sympathetically.
“Can’t be keepin’ an underage girl at the clubhouse or your parents’ house either. Not lookin’ for that kinda heat,” Dragon added.
“Their brother—”
“Not a part of shit,” Dragon replied. “I had Casper look into it. Heavy in the church, not sure he even knew anything about the militia.”
“There’s no way he didn’t know,” I argued.
“He’s clean as far as we can find.”
“So we just have to send her back there?”
“Nothin’ else you can do, son,” Gramps murmured. “She’s only got a couple of years left, yeah? You just make sure she knows she’s got somewhere to go when the time comes and she wants to get out.”
The conversation was pretty much over after that. I made my way back into the club, every step feeling heavier than the last. Not only did I have to tell Esther that her dad was gone, but I also had to tell her that we had to send her sister right back to the shit Esther had escaped from.
I found her in my dad’s room, surprisingly alone.
“Hey,” I said quietly. I didn’t want to startle her. She turned and every event since we’d made our baby in the front seat of my Mustang was written on her face. Fear, sadness, hope, joy, somehow, it was all in her eyes at once. The sum of all our parts.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” she replied just as quietly.
“Yeah, sugar, he is.”
She swallowed and licked her lips. “But you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Did you do it?” she asked carefully, holding her breath.
“You asked me not to.”
“Who did?”
“Does it matter?” It felt like a rock was sitting on my chest. If she had to know, I’d tell her. But even if Rumi was willing to take responsibility for saving my life, I didn’t want him to bear the brunt of her hurt. He was my brother, and he drove me crazy most of the time—but I needed him and my wife to be able to lean on each other should something happen down the line. That’s what family did. They took care of each other.