by Khloe Wren
Before I could ask her about her past again there was a banging on the door.
“Yeah?”
“Need you downstairs. And Bess needs to call her folks ASAP.”
“We’ll be down as soon as we’re dressed.”
“Make it fast.”
By the time whoever it was who’d spoken had stepped away from the door, Bess was already out of bed and half dressed. I rushed to catch up, passing her my phone as I reached for the door once we were both respectable.
“Dad, it’s me—”
I winced as I heard her father’s voice from where I was walking in front of her, leading her down the stairs.
“I’m fine, Dad, I’m with Ryan in Bridgewater.” Pause. “I’ll answer everything once I’m there. I’ll get someone to give me a lift over soon, okay?” Another pause. “Love you too. Tell Mom to relax. I’ll be there soon.”
She hung up as we made it to the main room that was way too full for this early in the morning.
Scout whistled, silencing the room. “Too many of us to fit in church so we’re doing this shit here. Also, I need the prospects and women to hear this shit.”
Keys started mumbling under his breath about how he’d wasted his time making the meeting room bug-proof since Scout didn’t seem to care about keeping sensitive information private, and everyone ignored his rant.
“First up, the executive committee decided to offer Needles a prospect patch yesterday and he accepted it, so we got ourselves a new Charon.”
He paused for a minute as a few cheers went up and everyone nodded my way with a grin.
“That’s the end of the good news. We got guests downstairs that will not be left unguarded for a fucking second. Not having a fucking repeat of that shit with Sledge. Anyone caught down there who shouldn’t be will be treated as though they are one of them, am I fucking understood?”
I had no clue what had happened previously, but figured someone within the club must have helped free a previous hostage. Once everyone gave the president a response in the affirmative, he continued again.
“Last night was a big one, lots of shit is gonna happen because of what we did. Due to the size of Godfrey’s operation, and the victims we found, we’ve called in the Feds to deal with it. Those victims need help we can’t provide, and as good as Keys is, he’s not equipped to track down all the games this fucker had going. We have immunity for what went down last night. The public story is the crew that went in were an undercover team backed up by us. The story floats since we got enough former military in the club, and Flick. All that shit aside, we did good, brothers. Rescued Needles’ woman, and took that motherfucking bastard down with zero civilian casualties. It was a good night for the Charon MC and for the state of Texas. Looks like that fucker had been at this shit for a while. If and when the Feds put together a full tally of all the deaths he’s played a hand in, it’s not gonna be pretty.”
He paused to run his hand through his hair. “Evil like that never ceases to shock me. But I’m fucking proud that we were the ones who took him off the streets. Okay, we’re done. Except for Needles and Bess—need you two to go to my office. Door’s unlocked.”
Bess opened her mouth to say something, probably that she needed to get home, but I leaned down to speak close to her ear.
“Save it. He knows we’ve both got places to be. He’ll be quick.”
At least, I hoped it was going to be quick.
Elizabeth
That little meeting gave me more questions than answers. One, Ryan was known as Needles here in the club. He was a tattooist, so I could follow that logic. Although, it still seemed like an odd name to me. Two, they appeared to be holding Godfrey and his buddies downstairs, and apparently you had to be invited to see them. Three, Ryan was back in asshole mode. Four, and the most important to me right now, was that he’d accepted a prospect patch from this club. I had no fucking clue about club life, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that by accepting that patch he’d given some sort of a commitment to the club, which meant he was staying in the area. Oh, and on top of all of that, I still had no fucking shoes.
He led the way down a hallway and I took in the vest he was wearing. I hadn’t noticed last night but it was different than the one he’d worn earlier in the week and last month. This one didn’t have a reaper on the back. In fact, it had barely any patches on it at all. It did have the word “Prospect” in a curve on the lower half.
“Ryan? What did he mean about you taking a prospect patch?”
He opened a door and waited for me to go through it before he followed me.
“We didn’t get to finish talking earlier. I’ve decided to move down here for good. I’m switching clubs, from the Satan’s Knights to the Charons. Means I gotta start at the bottom and work my way up again. Sucks, but it is what it is.”
He said all of that like it made sense, but the only thing I understood was the bit about him moving.
“Where are you planning on living? Here or Rocky Gully?”
He shrugged as he sat down on a couch and pulled me down onto his lap. “Wherever you end up, I’ll be there. Although, I’d prefer to be here in Bridgewater. Too many bad memories in Rocky Gully.”
He buried his face in against my neck and started kissing his way up my throat but I wasn’t going to allow him to distract me.
“What the fuck does that mean, Ryan? Stop being so fucking vague and give me a straight answer!”
I tried to stand up as two men walked into the room. Scout, the man who’d told us to come in here, and another man I couldn’t remember if I’d met or not. Ryan tightened his arm around my waist, preventing me from moving, and I pinched the bridge of my nose as I took a calming breath.
Scout chuckled. “Think you two have a lot to discuss, but you’ll have to shelve it for now. The FBI wants to talk to you, Bess. We’ve arranged to have Flick do it. She was an undercover agent before she fell in with Taz. She had to give up either the Feds or Taz. Luckily for Taz, she chose him. However, she has the training and when we handed over this mess to them, we put some limitations on it. One of those was that Flick be the one who does the interviews. She knows what information they need but won’t go fucking fishing for shit on us like another agent would.”
I looked up at the man who was now leaning against the desk. “I really have to get home. My parents are losing their minds. The whole town is in an uproar with rumors all over the place. They couldn’t get hold of me so went to my place, where they found a mess. My car was still there but no me. I told them I was on my way.”
“She also told them she was with me, so I’m gonna have to go visit my ma and let her know what’s going on with me moving down here.”
Scout gave Ryan a nod. “Take Ashlynn with you, that should smooth things over with her. Let me know if you want to bring your ma back with you. We’ll get her settled in somewhere. But once you appease your families that you’re both alive and well, you need to get back here for that interview. Needs to happen today or our deal’s off the table. That happens, we got trouble. I’m not turning over that fucker. He’s ours to deal with, but if they raid this place, they’ll fucking take him. Fucking hate working with them, but in this case, it’s the best course of action. We need to keep our town and those around us safe. Like I said out there, we just don’t have the resources to track down his past bullshit. But we will be the ones making sure he personally never hurts anyone every again.”
A shudder ran through me at the ice in his tone. I was quite sure I didn’t want to know what they were going to do to Godfrey. As sure as I was that he deserved it all, it didn’t mean I had to know about it. No way. The other man, whose vest had Mac written on the name patch, stepped forward then.
“Just a suggestion, but you might wanna run home first and get cleaned up before you go to your folks, Bess.”
I wriggled my bare toes. “Yeah, some shoes would be nice. I’d kicked them off after work...”
I trailed off, n
ot wanting to go down that path. Not when I was going to have to with both my folks and this Flick woman later today. That got me thinking.
“Um, what do I tell my folks? My dad’s a lawyer. He’s not gonna fall for the public story.”
“He will. Tell him that one of the club brothers’ wives was a Fed and when we got wind of this fucker, we got her to reach out to her old boss.”
My heart ached a little as I thought through how today would most likely end. “He’ll know I called Ryan. I’m gonna lose my job.” A sob caught me off guard and I covered my face with my hands, snuggling in against Ryan when he shifted his arms to hold me closer.
“Godfrey was pulling a lot of shit, darlin’. We could have gotten wind of it from anyone. But him being a lawyer means he’s probably gonna ask questions you’re not gonna wanna lie in response to, since he’s not just your boss but your old man. Do what you have to. If you end up without a job, let Needles know and we’ll get you looked after. Your man is one of us now, and we take care of our own.”
With a deep breath, I wiped my eyes clear. There was that assumption Ryan and I were together. I’d been weak last night, after everything that had happened, I needed the comfort I’d found in his arms. Today? Well, today I was remembering all the reasons we couldn’t work. Starting with the fact that the way in which the Charons came in to deal with this shit was probably going to result in me losing my job.
Guilt had me lowering my head again. It wasn’t on the club, or even Ryan. I’d made the decision to call him and share information I shouldn’t have. It was me who went digging in the files. Me, who got myself kidnapped for poking my nose around where I shouldn’t have. All Ryan and Charons did was save my life after I made a series of bad decisions.
I took another deep breath. I couldn’t regret what I’d done, though. Those decisions had led to Godfrey ultimately being taken down before he could hurt Barbara, or anyone else. Before he could torture that poor teen any more than he already had.
“C’mon, babe. Let’s get moving. We’ll go pick up Ashlynn, then drop by your place before we go see our folks.”
I gave him a nod as I stood from his lap. I didn’t want to talk right now. Not when everything was so raw in my head.
“You did good, Bess. I know you broke rules to call Needles, but by doing so we’ve ended Godfrey’s scam before it could hurt any more innocents. You saved lives. Remember that.”
I gave Scout a nod and small smile before I let Ryan lead me out of the office and back down the hallway.
Chapter 9
Needles
Bess stayed quiet the entire drive to Rocky Gully. I left her be, knowing she had a shit ton to think about right now, and once I’d picked Ashlynn up, I couldn’t exactly say what I wanted to anyway. I’d find a way to get her alone later today and give it to her straight. I thought I’d been pretty clear earlier, but apparently not, since just before Scout and Mac interrupted us, she’d lashed out at me about being too vague.
Since telling Ashlynn we were going to see Grandma, she’d been so excited she hadn’t really caught on to Bess’ down mood, or the fact she had no shoes on. At least it meant the trip over to Rocky Gully wasn’t awkward silence. Instead, I had Ashlynn telling me every little thing she did with Ariel, apparently her new best friend in the whole world. I kept glancing in the mirror to look at her. Couldn’t remember her looking this damn happy up in New York. Helped me know that I’d made the right call by agreeing to stay in Texas. Which reminded me, I still needed to call Wolf. Now all this shit with Godfrey was dealt with, I needed to sort out packing up our shit and bringing it down here. Shipping my bike down. I could ride it back, but that would mean days away from Ashlynn and my mother. And Bess. Those days might give her time to rethink giving me a chance.
I bit back my scoff. She was already having those thoughts. I’d seen it on her face as we’d stood in the main room and listened to Scout give his speech. Just like I knew she would, she’d put her fucking wall back up between us. But I knocked that fucker down once, I could do it again.
“Daddy? Are you listening?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. What was that?”
“There’s a gymnastics club at school! The teacher said I couldn’t come unless I was enrolled but now we’re moving here, you can enroll me, right? Ariel wants to do it too.”
Of course she did. “Sure, Ashlynn, we can do that. Did you find out when it is?”
I got that a normal six year old probably didn’t sort this shit out for herself, but Ashlynn had always been proactive to get what she wanted. That left me wincing. My inattention had forced her to grow up faster than she should have. But I vowed that would change. Now we were moving back to Texas, I’d make her more of a priority. Helped that the Charons weren’t currently in a war with a fucking cartel that was trying to wipe them off the planet like the Knights were.
“Tuesdays, right after school. Um, it’s not free like school is.”
I scoffed a laugh. “Sweetheart, school ain’t free either, but that’s fine. I’ll get it all sorted out for you. I know how much you love your gymnastics. I’m glad there’s something so close for you. Would’ve been a pain trekking up to Houston every week for lessons.”
She released a little gasp and I flicked my gaze to hers in the rear-view mirror. “What?”
“You would have done that? Driven all that way every week? For me?”
Kid broke my heart. Had I been that shitty to her? Part of me wanted to pull over and give her a damn hug. Another part of me wished Bess wasn’t in the damn car to hear how much of a fuck-up I’d been as a dad.
“Of course, I would. I love you, Ashlynn. Texas is gonna be a new start for us, okay? I promise, I’m gonna do better.”
“Okay, Daddy. I love you too. I’m glad we’re moving. I’ve missed Grandma.” Then she paused with a frown. “How will all our stuff get from Big Nose Kate’s to here?”
This kid jumped around from subject to subject like a fucking jack rabbit. “You let me worry about that one. Might take a week or two, but I’ll get it all sorted.”
That seemed to keep her happy until we pulled up to Bess’ place. I heard her sharp intake of breath, which meant she was about to start up again, so I cut her off by speaking first.
“We’ll come in with you, Bess. Then I’ll take you over to your folks once you’re ready.”
“Ryan, that’s really not necessary. I’m going to grab a quick shower, get changed then head over to my folks— Shit.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t have my keys.”
“You don’t have a spare set lying around anywhere?”
“At Mom and Dad’s. Just take me there. They already know something happened to me last night.”
“I have a brush you can borrow.”
Ashlynn dove into her overnight bag and came out with a bright pink, glittery brush that she held out to Bess with a big grin.
“Thanks, sweetie. We were in such a rush this morning, I didn’t get a chance to even think about my hair.”
“I have bands on the handle. They’re my favorites, but you can have one if you want.”
Fuck, but my daughter did me proud. Guess for all my screwing up with her, it hadn’t changed who she was at heart, for which I was extremely grateful. By the time we arrived at our parents’ street, Bess had her hair brushed and back in a ponytail, tied with one of Ashlynn’s bright blue hair ties. I decided to pull up into Ma’s driveway rather than Bess’ folks’.
“Ashlynn? Wait in the car for a minute while I take Bess next door, ‘kay? Then we’ll go surprise Grandma.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
By the time I got around to Bess, she was out and about to start walking over on her own.
“Dammit, woman, stop before you hurt yourself.”
I scooped her up in my arms and she growled at me, which just made me grin at her.
“I can still walk.”
“Luckily for you, I like carrying you around. And seriously? You’d cut your
feet to hell trying to walk all the way over here.”
She looped an arm around my neck as I stepped over the rocks that separated our parents’ driveways.
“If you’d parked over this side, I would have been fine.”
“Probably, but I like this way better. Let me know when you’re ready to go. Get your folks to call my mobile or Ma’s phone. Do not try to walk over there barefoot.”
“I need to go home and get my car before we go back to Bridgewater.”
“Why? I can bring you back whenever you need me to.”
“Ryan, would it kill you to let me have just a little independence?”
Lowering her to her feet, I stole a quick kiss before I reached over and knocked on the door, then turned and strolled back toward the cage without answering her. Once I helped Ashlynn from the rear seat, I locked up and walked up toward Ma’s front door.
Before Rocky Gully was a town, it was a huge ranch. My folks had bought the original homestead, so despite the fact their place was in the middle of town, it was this massive, sprawling house. It had been great to grow up in, but I honestly didn’t know how Ma would go on keeping up with maintaining and cleaning it all now she was on her own. Maybe I could convince her to move to Bridgewater, into something smaller, more manageable.
“I like Bess. She’s nice. Is she gonna be my new mom?”
What the fuck? I nearly fell over my own damn feet. “Ah, well, that’s not a simple question, honey. Bess and I have a lot to sort out—”
The front door opened before we reached it, thankfully saving me from having to try to explain that one. Ashlynn squealed before she took off to jump into her grandmother’s arms. Ma raised her eyebrow at me as I strolled up behind my daughter.
“Surprise!”
“Should’ve known with what went down last night that you were in town, son.” She clenched her jaw as she took in my colors. Then proceeded to shock the hell out of me by not saying some rude remark before she turned and walked back toward the kitchen, holding Ashlynn’s hand the whole way. I glanced over to make sure that Bess had made it inside before I followed. Fuck, but I hoped her folks cut her some slack. She technically had done the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. That had to count for something, didn’t it?