by Harley Wylde
She gave me a quick, jerky nod. Sighing, I turned and went back to my bike. As much as she needed someone to babysit her, it couldn’t be me. I had my own woman to take care of. When I’d heard that Mei had been shot, I thought my world was ending. I hadn’t even realized she’d gotten out of bed, much less left the house. It was tempting to handcuff to her to me when I went to sleep, but I couldn’t do that to her.
At the house, Henry was still sitting out front, leaning against his bike. He was near enough if Mei cried out for help, but had kept enough distance to be respectful. The club hadn’t had any issues with Henry since he’d started prospecting for us. It made me wonder if he knew anyone else trustworthy who might be interested. Even though Griz hadn’t exactly been recruiting, our numbers could drop in a split second. With as much heat as we ran into time and again, it wouldn’t take much to be down a few brothers. Either from bullets or jail, if not other means.
“Henry, you have any friends outside of the club?” I asked.
“A few.”
“Any who might want to prospect for the Devil’s Fury?” I asked.
He tipped his head back and seemed to think it over. When his gaze locked with mine again, he gave a nod. “Know of two. Military backgrounds on both. One just came home a few months ago and has been a bit lost. Club might give him a bit of direction.”
Good to know. “I’ll talk it over with Grizzly. Text me their names and any info you have on them, but don’t mention this to them yet.”
I left Henry in the driveway and went in to check on Mei. She was still asleep in the bed, but had shifted onto her side. The white bandage was stark against her red hair and I rubbed at the pain in my chest. I could have lost her. I’d barely found her and already she’d been in danger. If her foster father thought he was getting Mei back, he’d better think again. Not only would he never see her again, but I was going to ensure that he couldn’t hurt anyone else either.
Fuck! He had to have other kids in that house. Was he abusing them the way he had Mei? I pulled my phone from my pocket and shot off a text to Outlaw, asking him to look into it. Knowing the club’s computer guru, he was already on it. He seemed to know what we’d want or need before the rest of us did. Even if he couldn’t work the same magic with a computer that he once had, Outlaw was still a big asset to the club. He was something of a hero not only to us, but to the Dixie Reapers too, after he’d nearly died to keep Lavender safe. I’d gladly have him at my back any day.
I removed my cut and set it on the dresser before pulling off my boots. Mei was lying on my side of the bed, so I slid under the blankets on her half and scooted as close to her as I dared. If I jostled her, it might cause her pain, or wake her up. I didn’t want either to happen. Even though I wasn’t tired, I just needed to be near her. Reaching out, I twirled a strand of her hair around my finger. There were so many shades of red. I’d be willing to bet when the morning sun hit it, it would look like living flame.
Mei kicked out and twisted. Before she could put pressure on her wound, I managed to turn her back onto her side and pull her against my chest. With my arms around her, she settled down again, not even fully waking up.
I wanted to keep her safe, to make sure the world was a better place for her. I just didn’t know how to do it. Evil lurked in the shadows, and even if I took down everyone responsible for ever hurting her, there would just be more hiding somewhere. Each of the women who were now part of this club had come here as a last resort. Adalia had been raped and was adopted by Grizzly and his wife, May. Then we’d lost May and Griz had adopted Lilian and Shella. Lilian had suffered horribly in Colombia, and had come here after a rescue mission was launched to bring Havoc home. As for Shella… she’d had to grow up fast even though she didn’t seem to have been abused as badly as Lilian or Mei. Griz had taken her in when she was fourteen and had nowhere else to go.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, answering as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t disturb Mei. Outlaw’s name flashed across the screen right before I accepted the call.
“You find something?” I asked.
“I’ve found a fuck ton, and we’re going to have some major problems,” Outlaw said.
I eased away from Mei and got out of bed, going into the living room. Sitting in my favorite chair, I braced myself for whatever I was about to hear. If Outlaw thought we were going to have some issues, then shit was seriously about to hit the fan. I’d found over the years whatever he couldn’t bury in his lines of code Wire, Shade, or Surge could. Sometimes they all worked together, and that’s when the truly magical things happened. I’d seen them make people or even entire companies vanish like they’d never existed -- wiping out someone’s identity or creating new ones was simple enough for them. Sometimes it seemed like they were playing God in some ways.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Did you know that Mei’s name is actually Meiling?” he asked.
“Beau called her that when he asked for our help, but she insists we call her Mei. Why? What does that matter?”
“Because her full name is Meiling Shan Young. Her name means beautiful coral, in case you wanted to know, but it’s her last name that poses a big fucking problem. Like, you need to marry her right the fuck now so you don’t die kind of problem,” Outlaw said. “And this is just what I’ve found so far. Wire is working on some other stuff with Lavender’s help. I’ve never seen anything this fucked-up before. I know you and Blades will want justice for Mei, but I’m going to put as much as I can into the Feds’ hands and let them handle at least some of it. The rest we’ll bury.”
“What the hell does that mean? Who’s her dad?”
“Does the name Robert Young ring any bells?” Outlaw asked.
It suddenly felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Holy. Fucking. Shit. I was so Goddamn dead it wasn’t funny. How had no one in the club known who Mei was? Or for that matter, how had she ended up in foster care to begin with? The entire club was about to implode once Outlaw shared this latest bit of news.
“Are you telling me the woman in my bed, the one I just claimed, is the daughter of Blades?” I asked, trying to remain calm even though I felt like I might have a heart attack. I’d never personally met him, but the stories Grizzly had told over the years… Damn. That was one man I never wanted to meet in a dark alley, and I’d not only claimed his daughter but possibly knocked her up?
“The one and only. As to how we never knew about her? I’m not entirely certain. He signed the forms for her birth certificate and he’s listed as her father, and since I’m looking at actual signatures on one of these, it seems legit. I think he honestly knew about her. But therein lies another issue. The birth certificate I found was buried. Like professionally buried, and another was placed in Mei’s file with social services. It lists father as unknown and mother deceased, and it has her age as being off by nearly a full year -- about nine months actually -- which makes no fucking sense to me. I mean, what was the point in changing her age? And them telling her she’d aged out of the system? What the hell? Even by the fabricated birth certificate their math would be off. How did Mei buy that line of bullshit?”
I sighed and closed my eyes. This was a mess of epic proportions. “Check into the social worker. I think you’ll find your clues there. Or even higher up the food chain maybe. This is such a clusterfuck of epic proportions we may never unravel all of it. Any news on her mom or how she got into the system to begin with?”
“The mother was listed as Xi-wang Chen. She was here on a student visa around the time Mei was born. Looks like she gave birth, and about a month after Blades went to prison, the mom vanished and Mei was placed in the system. It wasn’t until she was older that she ended up with the foster family from fucking hell,” Outlaw said. “The assholes who abused her didn’t get their hands on her until she was twelve, or what her new birth certificate indicated as her twelfth birthday. She was actually thirteen at the time. Maybe they wanted her
to seem younger, or needed a thirteen-year-old but wanted control over her past when she’d actually turn eighteen? Fuck if I know. I’ll dig deeper into the social worker’s files and find out why she was transferred. She’s been in the system since she was just a toddler.”
“So Blades has a daughter that he’s never mentioned, hasn’t seen since he was locked up, and he has no fucking clue that she went into foster care or what she’s been through,” I said just to sum everything up. Fucking perfect.
It was quiet on the other end and I heard some tapping on his keyboard. Much slower than what he used to do, and I knew that this was costing him. Outlaw had to be in a lot of fucking pain, but he was helping anyway. It was just who he was.
“Something else going on?” I asked.
“I’ve had Wire and Lavender helping me out, and Surge has been digging too. So… congratulations?”
I knew exactly what that meant. “They married us, didn’t they?”
“Yep. As of two minutes ago, there was a marriage license and certificate placed on file with the county courthouse. And you know how damn good Wire and Lavender are. Everything will look one hundred percent legit. They’re working on changing Mei’s name legally right now on all her other documentation. She’ll officially be Meiling Shan Withers.”
I snorted. “If they’re so handy, once we have all the details of what happened, just have them wipe out the last decade or so of her life.”
“Not until everyone has paid the price,” Outlaw said, his voice low and deadly. “There are things I’ll never tell you or show you, and I doubt she’ll bring it up either. Don’t push her to open up. Dingo, those people were seriously fucked-up. The video from Church was nothing compared to the other stuff Wire found. We’re taking every last one of those fuckers down, no matter what it takes.”
“Tell everyone I said thanks for helping. Let me know when you have more.”
“You got it,” Outlaw said. “Just… maybe break the news to her about her daddy a bit gently? And definitely tell her you’re married before she asks to meet him.”
“Right.” That was a no-brainer. Dingo hung up.
Sure, just go talk to the most deadly member of the club and tell him all about his precious girl sleeping in my bed. Even telling him I was his son-in-law might not save my ass. If anything, it was possible that would make it worse. He hadn’t seen Mei since she was a baby. I wasn’t sure how that visit would go over, or if she’d even want to meet her father.
Movement caught my eye and I glanced over at the doorway just as Mei came in from the hall. The look in her eyes told me that she’d heard at least part of my conversation. I’d hoped to ease her into everything, but it seemed that wasn’t going to be possible. Now I just had to hope that she’d listen calmly and not freak the fuck out when I told her about her parents and what little else I knew about her situation.
“Did my wife sleep well?” I asked.
Her mouth dropped open and snapped shut. Yeah, this would be a fun conversation.
Chapter Nine
Meiling
I reached down and pinched my arm, but no, I wasn’t still asleep. Why had he asked about how his wife had slept? Was that supposed to be me? Or was I about to find out that there was another woman in his life? No, he’d been looking at me when he said it. The last time I checked, we weren’t married. Didn’t we have to go before a judge or priest for that to happen?
“Wife?” I asked.
Dingo sighed. “Come have a seat, Mei. It seems we need to talk.”
“I don’t remember marrying you. Am I about to be tossed out by some angry woman you forgot you married?” I asked, stepping farther into the room and perching on the edge of the couch.
Dingo rubbed his hands up and down his face, something I’d noticed he did when he was stressed. Which meant he probably didn’t have the best of news for me. I’d heard him talking on the phone, but I hadn’t made out much of the conversation. By the time I reached the hall, he was hanging up.
“I asked Outlaw to look into a few things for me,” he said. “For lack of a better word, he’s a hacker. With a bit of help, he was able to dig into your past and find out some information I don’t think even you’re aware of.”
Digging into my past? Was there something worse than the videos he’d already found? I’d thought maybe it had been enough to satisfy the club’s curiosity. My stomach clenched. That would be very, very bad. I knew exactly what someone with those sorts of skills could find without much searching, and all of it would either infuriate Dingo, or disgust him so much he’d throw me out.
“Like what?” I asked, deciding to be braver than I felt and forge ahead. Better to know now than keep wondering.
“Do you know your full name?” he asked.
“Meiling Chen,” I said.
Dingo got up and moved closer, sitting down next to me. “No, sweetheart. Your name is Meiling Shan Young. Do you remember anything about your parents? Anything at all before foster care?”
“No. The first memories I have are of an old woman who smelled like mothballs. I was only with her a short time before the social worker moved me elsewhere. I didn’t stay in any particular home for long until the last family,” I said.
He nodded, looking as if he’d expected me to say as much. Had he found out why I’d been moved so much? Or how those horrible people had ever become foster parents? “Do you know why I was moved so much? Or why I was placed with that family?” I asked.
“Your mother was from China and was here on a student visa. We don’t know yet what happened to her, but it seems that she was seeing someone. Your father, obviously.” Dingo blew out a breath and reached for my hand. “This isn’t going to be easy to say, so I’m just going to spit it out. Your dad is Robert Young. Around here, we know him as Blades, and he’s serving a life sentence for murder. As to the other, the foster bullshit, Outlaw is still working on it. We think the social worker was in on it, but I don’t know how it all fits together yet, or why they’d bother to falsify your birth certificate, unless they had a plan for you from the beginning.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry over finding out my father’s name, or because he was a murderer. Did that mean I really was just trash? Dingo had made me feel special, like everyone in my life had lied up to this point. Now I had to wonder if everyone else was right and he was wrong. How could I be good, be decent, if my father was in prison for murder?
“Blades? What kind of name is…” And then it hit me. “He’s part of your club?”
Dingo nodded. “Back before my time here. I’ve only heard stories of him and never met the man. Mei, he signed the paperwork for your birth certificate. He knew about you and accepted you as his daughter.”
I digested those words a moment. If my father had known about me, and was still alive, then shouldn’t he have sent someone for me? It seemed the President, Grizzly, liked to take in stray girls. Wouldn’t he have given me a place to stay?
“Then why did no one ever come for me?” I asked. Had my own father not even wanted me? Had he thrown me away like everyone else in my life up to this point?
“And that is the million-dollar question, sweetheart. I don’t know and neither does Outlaw. We haven’t told the rest of the club yet that you’re Blades’ daughter.”
“I’m not sure I want to be a murderer’s kid.”
Dingo tipped his head and studied me. “Not everything is always black-and-white, Mei. If anyone should know that, it’s you.”
My cheeks warmed. He was right. To everyone else, I was just a whore. Dingo didn’t see me that way, though, and he hadn’t from the very beginning. Although… I still didn’t fully understand the wife comment.
“While I appreciate learning more about where I came from, what does that have to do with the wife you mentioned?” I asked.
“When Outlaw realized who your dad is, he knew that I was going to have a very short life when Blades heard I’d claimed his daughter. So he asked some friends to
hack into the county government and create a marriage license and certificate for us. As far as the county and state are concerned, we’re officially married, which makes you Meiling Shan Withers.”
“Withers?” she asked. “I didn’t even know your last name.”
He rolled his neck and it cracked twice. “Yeah, well. We kind of went about all this the wrong way, but time was of the essence. Not sure your daddy is going to give a shit that I tried to save you.”
“You’re assuming he even cares. What if he’s the reason I was given up? Did you ever think maybe he had me put into foster care? You said it yourself. The club didn’t know about me. Would he have kept me away from the club if he was proud of me? If he’d…” I swallowed the knot in my throat. “If he’d wanted me, would I have still been his dirty little secret?”
Dingo gathered me into his arms and held me as tears burned my eyes. I fought hard not to cry. I’d learned not to show weakness, and even though I knew he would never judge me for it, I still didn’t like letting my emotions get the best of me. On the streets, and in the foster care system, only the strongest survived. Crying made people think you were fragile, and that only led to trouble.
“I can’t tell you what to do, sweetheart. This one is entirely up to you, but the club is going to talk to Blades once they hear you’re his daughter. He’ll find out you’re here, that you’re living in my house as my ol’ lady, and he’ll want to speak to you. Assuming he doesn’t just hire someone to have me gutted in my sleep. That’s always a possibility.”
I tensed and pulled away. “What? I know you said he was in prison for murder, but then you said that not everything was black-and-white. Either he’s a stone-cold killer or he’s not. Which is it, Jameson?”
“When it comes to his baby girl? I’m going to think all bets are off and he’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. Until someone talks to him, we’ll never know why he didn’t mention you. Do you want to meet your father, Mei?”