Bronze (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 5)

by Teagan Brooks

  “A couple. Why?”

  He chuckled. “No reason.”

  Ignoring whatever he was trying to rag me about, I snapped my fingers when I remembered to ask, “Did you bring one of the burners?”

  “Shit. Yeah, it’s right here.” Reaching into his cut, he pulled out two and handed one to me. “Check the missed calls. The last one should be the number to this phone, which I’ll be using until our new phones arrive, which should be by nine o’clock tomorrow night.”

  “Damn it. I need a phone number that’s saved in my phone.”

  “Who’s is it? I’ll ask Spazz to get it for you.”

  “Sloane,” I started and realized I didn’t have a clue what her last name was. “Fuck, I don’t know her last name. I met her at the bar a couple of nights ago.”

  “Why in the hell are you worried about some bitch you just met? You really think she’s gonna want to play second fiddle to a newborn baby, especially one you don’t know for sure that’s yours?”

  “Well, no probably not, now that you mention it, but that’s not the only reason I need her number. She’s in Devil Springs looking for Heidi, and I wanted to let her know we may have found her.”

  “Bronze,” Copper said slowly, placatingly. “I know you’ve been put through hell today, and there’s more waiting for you tomorrow, but have you lost your damn mind? Some girl shows up looking for Heidi, who’s been gone for months, two days before her alleged daughter was shoved into your arms. Fuck, no, you’re not telling her shit.”

  “What? No, she wasn’t like that. She’s writing a book and wanted to interview Heidi to help her write the character correctly.”

  The more I tried to explain Sloane’s innocence, the more I saw it from his point of view. “Okay, I get it. It does seem a bit too coincidental when you lay it all out like that. But on the off chance that she’s telling the truth, can you swing by The Winchester and let her know I’ll be tied up with something for a few days?” It was obvious he didn’t want to, so I took it a step further to ensure he would. “And if it turns out she was lying and had something to do with all of this, telling her I’ll be busy might keep her in town for a little longer.”

  “Glad to see a maybe baby hasn’t affected your self-esteem.” With that, he tagged me on the shoulder. “Get some rest, Bro. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day.”

  10

  I was sitting in the recliner with Blue, who was sound asleep in my arms after finishing her bottle when there was a knock at the door. Before I could get to my feet, Copper entered the room, followed by Judge and Batta.

  “What’re y’all doing here?” I whispered and got up to place Blue in the tiny plastic box the hospital staff referred to as an open crib.

  “You’re getting the paternity test results this morning,” Copper murmured simply as if no further explanation was needed. And it wasn’t. Honestly, I was expecting Copper to be there when I received the results, and I should’ve been expecting Judge and Batta. The four of us had been by each other’s sides since we were able to stand on two feet, literally.

  Judge handed me a coffee as he entered the room. “Thanks, man,” I said quietly and clapped him on the shoulder.

  “If you don’t give him the other thing, I’m telling,” Batta whisper-yelled across the room from beside Blue’s crib—where he was smiling down at her like the big teddy bear he was.

  Judge huffed and held out the brown paper bag he was attempting to hide behind his back. “Mom sent these.”

  I snatched the bag from him, and damn near burned my hand when I spilled my coffee trying to tear into the bag. The sweet smell of my favorite cookies filled my nose as soon as the bag opened, and I groaned loudly in delight, completely forgetting about the sleeping baby a few feet away.

  “Shit,” I hissed and shoved an entire cookie into my mouth. “Mmm! Oh, sweet mother of all that is holy. They’re warm!” I groaned once again.

  Blue made a noise that could only be described as a cross between a snort and a snore before she let out a mighty wail, letting our room and everyone around us know she was pissed the hell off about being woken up.

  Batta jumped back with his hands in the air. “I didn’t touch it!”

  I glared at him and held a finger over my lips. “Shh! It’s your voice, not your hands,” I explained, keeping my tone low as I scooped Blue into my arms and tried to soothe her back to sleep.

  Batta’s forehead wrinkled as he quietly pretended to be confused. “But chicks love my voice.”

  “Not this one,” I murmured flatly.

  “We’ll see about that,” he muttered and crossed his arms over his chest—just like he did when he pouted as a child.

  The sound of a knock had the four of us turning toward the door. A man dressed in scrubs and a white coat stepped inside. “Good morning,” he said, thankfully keeping his voice low. “I’m Dr. Long, and I have some test results to go over with you. Would you like to step into the hallway for some privacy?”

  “No,” I said and slowly got to my feet, careful not to jostle Blue and wake her again. Placing her in the bassinet, I held my breath for a few seconds after I laid her down and hoped she stayed asleep. After a few beats of silence, I turned around and faced the doctor. “They’re my family. It’s fine for them to hear the results.”

  He nodded curtly and looked at the tablet in his hand. “Bronze Black’s sample and Blue Black’s sample resulted in a 99.99% probability of paternity. Here is a sealed and certified copy for you to keep. I’ve already arranged for a courier to deliver a sealed and certified copy to your lawyer’s office, as well as the copy responding to the judge’s order, first thing this morning.”

  I wasn’t hit with a flood of emotions like I expected. I remained calm and thanked him, extending my hand by muscle memory. Once he was gone, I inhaled deeply and turned around to face my brothers. I was fine. I smiled at Copper reassuringly, and everything went black.

  “If you don’t stop shining that damn light in my eyes, I’m going to call Judge to come whoop your ass,” I grumbled.

  “He’s awake!” River shouted.

  “Shut the fuck up!” I groaned and slapped my hands over my head, immediately stiffening when they didn’t land on my hair. “Why does it feel like there are bandages on my head?” I asked, failing to hide the rising panic in my voice. Because the last time I had bandages on my head, I’d had brain surgery after someone tried to blow up our clubhouse with me and several others inside.

  “Because you passed out, and the studs on Batta’s bracelet split your head open when he caught you,” River explained.

  I glanced around the room. “Why isn’t anyone here?”

  Copper and Judge stayed upstairs with Blue, and Batta went to the bathroom to wash your blood off his arms.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Who’s Blue?”

  River blinked at me before her face paled, and she kicked the door open. “Dr. Alvarez! Room Four. Stat!” she shouted into the hallway.

  “Damn it, River. I was just fucking with you,” I chuckled and held up a pillow to defend myself from her swats.

  She glared at me for a brief moment before she went back to the door. “Cancel that, Dr. Alvarez. False alarm,” she called out, not bothering to hide the displeasure in her voice.

  I cleared my throat. “So how bad is it?”

  “Three staples about two inches above your left ear,” she snapped.

  “Oh come on, River. I deserved to have a little bit of fun, didn’t I?” I said, putting on my best “forgive me” face.

  She looked at me pointedly. “You will not succeed in manipulating me with your big, blue eyes or that fake little lip quiver you pull when you’re trying to get cookies. But you just wait, it won’t be long before you’ll know what it feels like to think something is seriously wrong with someone you care about.”

  Fuck. She made me feel like an ass. “River, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  She smiled, but something was off about it. “
It’s okay. Let me check your wound. If everything looks good, we’ll see about getting you back upstairs to your girl.”

  A few minutes later, a man came to the door with a wheelchair. “Mr. Black, I’m here to take you down to ultrasound.”

  “Why?” I asked and sat up to face the man.

  He shrugged. “You’d have to ask your nurse or doctor. I just respond to the transport requests they send me.”

  “Then that’s what I’ll do,” I said and pressed the call button.

  River appeared moments later with a bright smile on her face. “Did you need something?”

  “Why is he here?” I pointed to the transport guy.

  “When Copper checked you in, he signed the consent form allowing us to order any tests deemed medically necessary. After reviewing your chart, I noticed you were behind on your preventative healthcare, so I took the liberty of ordering a prostate ultrasound for you.”

  “No one is sticking anything in my ass today or ever!” I roared and clutched the side of my head with one hand. “Now, my head’s starting to hurt again, but I’ll forgive you for five cookies.”

  When I returned to Blue’s room over an hour later—while being pushed in a wheelchair against my will—I found her sound asleep in her plastic box while Copper sat stationed by her side. He got to his feet and let me take his seat. “That didn’t take as long as I thought. You doing okay?” he asked quietly.

  “My head fucking hurts,” I grumbled and pointed to Judge. “And your woman tried to make me have a prostate ultrasound. Do you know how those are done? They stick a condom-covered wand up your ass to have a little look-see,” I whisper-shouted and stabbed my finger in her direction. “She needs to be punished!”

  Judge slapped a hand over his mouth and doubled over laughing like I knew he would. He loved that woman more than the air he breathed, and there was nothing she could do to dim the light that shone for her in his eyes.

  “Gotta go. Take care, Mr. Black,” River blurted and ran away like her ass was on fire. Judge darted for the hallway, barely making it a few doors down before he erupted into guffaws that echoed off the bare walls.

  When he finished laughing, Judge returned long enough to stick his head in the door to tell me he was heading to work. “Unless you need me to stay. Just say the word.”

  “Thanks, man. I’m good. Appreciate you being here this morning,” I whispered and got up to shake his hand.

  “I’m going to head out too. There’s no way I can be this quiet all fucking day. But I’m here if you need me,” Batta added.

  “How come women can speak normally, but men have to whisper?” Copper asked.

  I shrugged and dropped into the recliner that’d been my home for a few hours shy of twenty-four. “Don’t know, and we’re not going to try to find out right now. The doctor said to let her sleep when she wants to sleep. Besides, we need to get the brothers together and start looking for Heidi. We’ve given the police enough time without intervening. She can’t be too far away if she gave birth to our daughter yesterday morning.”

  Copper opened his mouth to respond when there were three sharp knocks on the door, letting everyone in the room know at least one police officer was on the other side.

  “Come in,” I called out, happy to see Dunk and Underwood enter the room. I wasn’t anticipating good news, and I preferred to hear it from them rather than someone I didn’t know.

  “Morning,” Dunk said quietly.

  I stood from my seat after glancing at Blue in her baby bed to make sure she was still sound asleep. “You don’t have to lower your voice,” I whispered. “Apparently, male voices above a whisper disturb my slumbering princess, but female voices at any volume don’t disturb her one bit.”

  As expected, both officers erupted into a fit of giggles. “I’ve got to drop by when your brothers are visiting to see all of you big burly bikers whispering like little schoolgirls,” Dunk giggled.

  “Clearly, I’m being repaid for one of the hells I put my mother through.” Before I could ask why they stopped by, the door opened again, revealing a solemn-looking Layla. I knew instantly whatever news they were about to deliver was going to be far worse than anything I could have imagined.

  “There’s a conference room down the hall that’s available for you to use,” Layla said. “I can stay with the baby while you go speak with the officers.”

  I wordlessly nodded and placed a kiss on Blue’s forehead, letting my lips linger while I prayed that whatever they were about to tell me would not devastate her innocent new life.

  But as I walked down the hall toward the conference room, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case.

  “She’s gone, isn’t she?” I asked after taking my seat. I didn’t want to drag it out any longer than it already had been.

  “Yes, she is,” Dunk said solemnly.

  It occurred to me at that very moment that my life had irrevocably changed. I was facing a life ahead of me raising a little girl as a single father. The only thing I knew about babies was what I learned in the hospital, and there was plenty of help available. What was I going to do once I was completely on my own? She would need things I wouldn’t know how to do or handle—like putting her hair up in a ponytail. Oh fuck, what was I going to do when she started wearing bras or got her period? I couldn’t even begin to respond; I could barely breathe as it was.

  Copper placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed—the same thing he had been doing to calm me down and show his silent support for as long as I could remember. And it was the only thing holding me together.

  Keeping my eyes focused on the table, I asked a question I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to. “What happened?”

  Dunk cleared her throat and flicked her eyes to Copper. Assuming he already knew what happened, I started to get pissed. I opened my mouth to ask what the fuck was going on when Dunk swallowed thickly and started to speak. “We found the bodies of Heidi Coleman and Paige Coleman in the basement of their home in Reedy Fork.”

  Underwood shook her head and dropped her gaze to the floor. The knots that had been steadily tightening in my gut twisted as I struggled to breathe through the crushing pain exploding in my chest. Heidi was gone. The mother of my child.

  Mother.

  Of my child.

  My child.

  “What else?” Copper asked for me since I was in no state to formulate words.

  Underwood touched the tablet she was holding and looked at the screen. “The medical examiner’s preliminary findings indicate that Heidi died from blood loss when she hemorrhaged after giving birth.”

  I closed my eyes at her words and fought to erase the images that flashed in my mind—images of Blue screaming in a cold, dark corner while her mother bled to death. Subconsciously, I pressed my hand against my chest in a futile attempt to ease the pain I knew all too well would never go away completely—the pain of losing someone you cared about.

  And yes, I did care about Heidi. I wasn’t in love with her, nor was she with me. We were casual friends who had sex a handful of times. I certainly didn’t want anything bad to happen to her but finding out she gave birth to my child changed things for me. Without Blue’s existence, I would have mourned her loss just like the loss of any other friend or acquaintance, but Blue amplified the pain immeasurably, because I felt her loss deep in my soul. I knew what it was like to live without your mother, and I was much older than her when I lost mine.

  “What happened to Paige?” I asked, sounding harsher than I intended to. Because I had no idea what she was going to tell me that would send another flood of unspeakable thoughts and images to fill my head.

  “Paige died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Dunk said sadly.

  “There’s more,” Underwood continued. “They found evidence at the scene that suggests Heidi was there against her will. From what we have so far, it looks like Paige lured Heidi to the house and held her hostage in the basement after finding out Heidi was pregnant. We do
n’t know Paige’s plan for after the baby was born, but they’re still going through all the evidence collected at the scene. We don’t know when things went wrong, but Paige called Adelaide Coleman at six thirty-two yesterday morning and spoke to her for seventeen minutes. We believe Adelaide may have been at the scene for a brief period of time, though keep that to yourself for the time being.”

  “Paige killed herself because she killed Heidi,” I said, my tone so dark even I got chills.

  “Listen to the rest before you make any judgments,” Dunk advised.

  “The medical examiner, Dr. Trinh, said he didn’t find anything obvious in his initial exam that would explain why she hemorrhaged, but there were several other tests he was going to perform that might provide an answer for the final report, which should be available in approximately six to ten weeks, possibly longer.”

  “How did you find them?” I asked. We briefly looked for Heidi so we could mail her last paycheck but never found an address for her.

  “Sorry, we were getting to that and got off track,” Dunk said, looking up from her tablet. “We identified the woman who dropped off the baby from the surveillance footage Copper sent us as Paige’s biological mother, Phyllis Banner.”

  “What? That’s not possible. Paige’s mother is dead.”

  Officer Dunk handed a photo to me. “Is this the woman who brought the baby to the clubhouse?”

  I took the photo and glanced at it. There was no question in my mind. “Yes, that’s her.”

  “That’s Phyllis Banner, Paige’s biological mother. Why’d you think she was dead?”

  “Because Paige said she was,” I grumbled. “And I fucking believed them!” I could feel the anger building inside of me, and it was all I could do to hold it down. “They obviously lied to me!”

  “Have you found her? Or Adelaide?” Copper asked, stepping in to give me a moment to collect myself.

  Underwood shook her head. “No, not yet. We’re still looking. We’ve got an APB out for Adelaide as well as a warrant for Phyllis Banner’s arrest. We’re keeping a watch on both houses, but so far, neither one of them has returned to their place of residence. Do you know of anywhere else they may have gone?”