by KJ Dahlen
Gunner threw back his head and laughed out loud. “I can’t wait for that. Him up against the Judge. Moose isn’t going to let anyone get in his way.”
“And he isn’t going to let just anyone near his Brinn,” Boone agreed.
Gunner looked around the room and he caught sight of the woman Skeeter brought back with him. Turning to Rigger he said, “I need you to find someone else for me.”
“Who, and what?” Rugger frowned.
Gunner stared at his IT as he explained, “The man Skeeter’s girl told us about, this bastard Brazos. He might be a biker. We need to tie him and his club to Craylon then to the cartel. We also need to know who he rides with. He’s been working with Craylon but doing what... we have no idea. She isn’t talking to us but we need to know, so we can warn Cobra and Thunder. They made their move against the cartel already. So things are already happening.”
“We also need to let them know about this farm,” Boone reminded them. Then he looked over at Gunner and asked, “Do you think Weston Holt would know anything about this alleged farm?”
Gunner shrugged. “He just might. He’s been a rancher in the area for a long time. Wouldn’t hurt to ask.” He reached for his phone and dialed Weston’s number. After speaking to him for a few minutes, Gunner hung up and seemed lost in thought.
After a long time, Boone finally jolted him out of his thoughts. “Well, what did you find out?”
Gunner looked over at his VP and growled. “He knew almost before I asked him, exactly where the farm was. He even told me the name of the farmers. Then he said he’d been waiting for my call.”
“The fuck?” Boone frowned. He looked over at Rigger then at Gunner. “How could he know we’d call on this?”
“That old bastard knows more than he’s saying about this whole thing.” Gunner growled.
“How do you figure?” Boone looked curious.
Gunner tapped his fingers on the table. “He already knew Craylon had his throat cut. How the fuck would he know that already?”
“He could have a man inside,” Rigger offered an explanation.
“Or maybe he is the man inside,” Boone said.
“If he is, then he’s changed since he was friends with my grandfather.” Teddy’s voice came from behind them.
Gunner turned to look at her and found not only Teddy, but Grizzly and a few of the other brothers standing there. His woman DeeDee and his Winona were there too. They all had heard them talking.
“You know when you listen in on someone else’s conversation, you take the risk of hearing something you might not like.” Gunner growled. “And that conversation might not be any of your damned business.”
“True enough, but I agree with Teddy,” Ethan Alexander spoke up. He stood in the doorway leading down the hall to the bedrooms and the Infirmary. He hobbled forward and sat down at the table with Gunner, Boone and Rigger. Looking up at Gunner he asked, “Did he give you the name of Joe Dibbs as the farmer?”
Gunner frowned. “Now, how the fuck, did you know that?”
Ethan snorted. “Joe Dibbs is a hateful man who doesn’t get along with his neighbors. He’d rather piss people off than be friendly. His wife Margie along with his boys Darrel and Mac are worthless as well. And yeah, they run a pig farm. It’s about three miles south of Laredo.”
“We can have Python and Cobra look into it,” Boone suggested.
“I’d be real careful around the Dibbs family,” Ethan warned. “They don’t like people poking into their business. Oh, and he always carries a shotgun loaded with buckshot. His boys are always riding around the farm on ATVs with their own shotguns.”
“And you know this... how?” Gunner narrowed his eyes at Ethan.
Ethan shrugged. “My dad left his ranch to me and Teddy. I go there quite a few times a month to check on things. When I heard about what’s going on in Laredo, I began going more often to check on things. A couple of times, I found the house had been broken into and someone had been staying there.” He paused then said, “I never found anyone inside the house but there were signs someone had been there. Nothing was destroyed but I didn’t want anyone inside the house until I knew what I was going to do with it. I haven’t wanted to sell it until I knew what really happened to my dad.”
“I’ll make sure to tell Python and Cobra about the farm and the Dibbs,” Gunner mentioned looking at the clock. He ran his hand over the back of his head. “Fucking hell, we got more trouble on the way.”
“So, this Judge might be Brinn’s grandfather?” Ethan asked.
Gunner nodded. “We think so.”
“How the hell did she go missing in the first place?” Teddy asked.
No one noticed the front door open or the tall man who walked in until he was standing at the table. “That would be on my daughter in law’s shoulders,” he claimed.
Everyone turned around to stare at him.
He went on, “She left my granddaughter in a stroller on the streets while she went inside to have lunch with her friends.”
“What the hell?” Teddy jumped closer to Grizzly as she exclaimed.
“Indeed young lady, I lived through it.” Judge Bartholomew Morgan nodded. “I wanted to throttle her that day when I saw the security tapes.” Then he turned to Gunner and asked, “Where is she? This girl you think might be my granddaughter? I want to see her.”
“I think we should talk first,” Gunner told him.
“Nah, we don’t have to talk,” The Judge dismissed his concern. “I want to see this girl now.”
Gunner surged to his feet. “And I think we need to talk first.” He growled.
The Judge moved and pushed a chair out of his way. “Son, do you have any idea who I am?” he snarled at Gunner.
“I know exactly who you are, Judge Morgan.” Gunner leaned forward, placing his hands on the table in front of him. “But this is my house, so we play by my rules here.”
Judge Morgan backed away from the stare down then he turned to the others. He took a step back then raised his voice and screamed out a name, “Bethany Britney, get your little tushie out here, right now.”
Gunner snapped his head around to glare at Boone then he turned to the Judge. “Who the fuck is Bethany Britney?”
“That’s my granddaughter, that’s her real name why? What name do you know her by?” The Judge frowned as he glared at the men surrounding him.
“We know her as Brinn,” Gunner gritted through clenched teeth.
“What the hell kind of name is that?” Judge Morgan frowned. “Her name is Bethany Britney Morgan. She was named after her grandmother, my late wife.”
“Well, if this woman is your granddaughter, she grew up under the name of Brinn,” Gunner countered. “That’s what she told us her name was, so that’s what we’ve been calling her.”
“Why did you stop looking for her all those years ago anyway?” Boone wanted to know.
The Judge felt lost for a moment. “My family received a ransom letter about a week after the baby disappeared. It requested a million dollars or we would never see the baby again. We got the money together and waited for instructions but all we got was an address. When we went to that address, we found the body of a child. It was bloated with decay and it was determined that the child had been dead for about a week. We thought the kidnappers killed the girl as soon as they took her. They were never going to give her back alive. That was why we stopped looking. We thought she was dead.” He hung his head. “That was why when you called the first time, I was so abrupt with you. It wasn’t until you sent me a copy of the charm that I finally had hope again.”
“Tell us about the charm.” Boone stared at the Judge.
“That charm is my family crest. When Bethany was born, I had it made for her. We didn’t find it when we found the dead child, so I’d assumed whoever took her had taken it to pawn.” Shaking his head he asked, “Where the hell has she been for the last twenty three years?”
“Near the town of McAllen, Texas. She
spent the last ten years in Laredo,” A big man with a patch on his leathers that said Moose told him. “We found her when we raided the farm she was being held on, near McAllen, just as she was about to be taken to Mexico to be sold into the slave trade.”
Judge Morgan sat down in a chair at the table, he suddenly, felt like he could not carry all the weight he had been shouldering anymore, as he felt deflated. He just sat there for a moment. To hear this about the awful life she had lived and to be sold into the slave trade? Not his blood. They couldn’t have thought to do this to his blood. Then he saw a new woman walking into the room. He turned his head and paled even more. Staring at the woman he whispered a name, “Bethany.”
The woman paused then turned her head and stared at the Judge. She frowned and asked, “Do I know you?”
Gunner watched the Judge carefully. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of a single tear rolling down his face.
“I hope you do, but I doubt you would remember me,” the Judge replied. “You were a baby the last time I saw you. I’m your grandfather, baby girl.”
Brinn took a step back and just stared at him. “Who are you? How do you know I’m your granddaughter?”
“Oh honey, you look just like your grandmother and she was the love of my life, right up to the day she passed away. I loved her then and I still love her today. You are her spitting image.” Then he smiled. “Wait until your dad hears I found you. He’ll be so happy.”
“But I don’t know you or him.” Brinn frowned. Suddenly, she looked afraid. Her eyes sought out the man, Moose in the room.
Instantly, Moose moved toward her as he wrapped his huge arms around her and held her tight. “I got you baby girl.”
The Judge wasn’t happy about what he was seeing, but when he went to stand up, he caught Gunner’s eyes.
Gunner glared at him and shook his head slightly as if to say, don’t go there.
The Judge snarled silently but he did sit back down. He remembered Gunner’s words from earlier, ‘His house, his rules.’ He curled his lip as he reminded himself, she wouldn’t be here that long. So for now, he would play the game. There was no way, he would allow his granddaughter to be hooked up with a guy named, ‘Moose’ then be traipsing around with some biker gang. Not his family, not ever.
No...He would stay just long enough to place his claim on the girl and then they would leave together. And he wouldn’t have to deal with these bikers again. He wasn’t a Supreme Court Judge for nothing.
Chapter Twelve
Gunner watched the Judge and didn’t like the look in his eyes.. He saw the Judge snapping a photo of Brinn earlier and then he saw him sending a string of texts to someone but Gunner didn’t ask and the Judge never said who those texts were to. Of course, the man wouldn’t tell him even if he did ask. But it didn’t look like a good thing.
Gunner and the others were watching the interaction between Brinn and the Judge.
The Judge was trying to force her to agree to coming back with him and meet the rest of her family, but Brinn didn’t want to leave the MC compound right now.
Gunner damn well knew the Judge would bring nothing but trouble with him and in a couple of hours ... it would be time for her to face down the kind of people who thought they were the only important ones in the world. He hoped he was wrong, but if the Judge was any example, he would be right. Unfortunately for Brinn, she would have an arrogant, self serving family to deal with soon.
Judge Morgan ran his hands over the back of his head and growled. “I don’t understand girl, why you won’t just come home with me. There is nothing for you here. These men don’t care about you, you mean little or nothing to them.”
They were sitting in a corner of the room and while they weren’t alone, they were out of hearing range of the others.
Brinn just glared at the older man. Shaking her head she said, “And you do? You care so much about me? Why?”
“You’re my granddaughter, my blood.” He snarled.
“But you don’t know that, not for sure.” She shook her head. “To me, you are just someone who thinks I look like someone you cared for. But I don’t know you. The woman who raised me taught me not to believe in anyone except me. She told me she was blood too, but she certainly never gave a damn about me. How do I know going with you won’t be like living with her again? I can’t...no, I won’t go back to living like that. That’s not what I want. Here, at least I have a man who will die to protect me. I know he loves me, whereas I don’t know you and your family at all.”
He opened his mouth to interrupt her to once again, make his point.
Brinn held up her hand, halting him. “All I know about what happened back then is that I was left alone and unprotected by someone who was supposed to love me, someone who should have protected me but didn’t. Her life was more meaningful to her than mine was.” She got to her feet and placed her hands on the table while leaning forward toward him. “I will never be put in that position again. Here is where I am at home, here is where I will stay.” Then she straightened up and glared down at him. “And yes Judge, I know who and what you are and what you could do to them if I refuse to do what you want. But know this, if you hurt them, I will go public and I will ruin your family name. You and yours made a bad mistake twenty three years ago, I didn’t. I was just a baby then but I’ve learned... I was taught by the best about how to ruin someone. My supposed mom taught me well over the years. The public has a way of turning the tide against or for a person.”
“How dare you threaten me young lady?” Judge Morgan almost shook with his rage.
Brinn smirked. “I’m not threatening you, just pointing out the facts.”
“You would ruin your family over some filthy bikers?” The Judge growled as his hands fisted.
“Number one, it hasn’t been proven that you are my family yet and now, that you are speaking... I’m not sure I want to claim you anyway and number two, it wouldn’t be me ruining anyone. I was also taught that actions have consequences. These men are nowhere near filthy. They are decent men. But if you go after them. I. Will. Take. You. Down.”
The Judge’s face turned a serious red as he looked enraged. “This isn’t settled yet girl, not by a long shot. Your dad is on his way here, as we speak. We’ll get you away from here one way or another and back to where you belong.”
“I’m a woman full grown, Judge. I decide when and where I go, not you and not a father I don’t know.” She told him then she walked back over to Moose. When his arms went around her, she whispered to Moose the threat made from her grandfather.
Then she stepped out of his embrace and went to their room. She had something to do. She hated doing it but she would not allow her ‘family’ to hurt this MC. For the next hour, she wrote out the facts as she saw them, as she remembered them. She hoped she’d never have to use it but if she did have to, she would have it all ready to go. She struggled with finding the words she needed to write but she finally got it done. Then she called for Winona to help her find who to send it to.
Winona read the letter and gasped at some of the information she read there. Then she did as Brinn asked and found some reporters on her laptop for some of the biggest newspapers across the nation.
Brinn didn’t send it out but got everything ready to go, then she made Winona promise that if they did manage to take her away when her father got here, she would make sure the emails went out. This would be her way of maybe getting back to her man, then she told the other woman, “Moose is home to me. I never had a good life growing up. My mother always threatened me with selling me if I didn’t do what I was told, then when she died, I was lost for so long, then Moose found me. He didn’t expect anything from helping me. He showed me that not everyone would treat me the way my supposed mother did. I needed that so much in my life. Then I realized I needed him. He became home to me.”
Winona patted her hand, “Honey, a person can’t be a home. A home is nothing more than four walls and a roof.”
&nbs
p; Brinn smiled. “But don’t you see? When he wraps his arms around me and holds me close... those are my walls, when he kisses me or touches me, that’s my roof. His love for me holds its all together with his warmth and that’s home. He is my home.”
Winona brushed her tears away. “Well, when you think about it that way, I guess a person can become a home for someone.”
Brinn smiled and nodded then decided to explain her reasoning to Winona, “Yes a home to some is the same four walls and a roof but to me, a home should be filled with love, warmth, and laughter. Moose loves me and I love him...Together, we are home.”
Winona smiled. “And Boone is home for me. Before I came here, I had the beginnings of a foundation, but since I found him, my walls and the roof became real. Now I have a family again, and I’m whole. Not only with Boone but with my mom and my dad too.” She shrugged, “My sister and I aren’t quite there yet, but I got what I need.”
“I want that too. I want a family that loves me but I’m not sure that family is with the Judge. He’s harsh and unbending and I’ve lived my whole life under people like that. I just want to matter to someone and have someone I can call mine. Someone who will ask me what I want, not just give me scraps of what they think I want or need. Moose is that to me and I won’t lose him, I refuse to.”
Winona looked at the letter on the computer. “This would ruin the Judge, and his family, you know that right?”
Brinn shrugged. “I told him what I would do if he dragged me away and tried to ruin these guys. I told him there was no evidence yet that I was his granddaughter and there isn’t, not yet.”
“This letter would ruin everything he worked for over his lifetime, are you sure you want to do that?” Winona asked her softly again.
“No, I don’t want to do that.” Brinn shook her head. “But he won’t even listen to me. Some people you need to smack them upside the head with a two by four just to get their attention. I don’t want to do this but I will. I won’t let him destroy what the guys have here. They didn’t do anything wrong here, except help me. So, if he does take me away, please make sure you send this out at the first sign of trouble from the Judge?” she pleaded. “It might take something like this to stop him. I don’t want to do it but I will if he forces the issue.”