by Quinn, Vera
“You two have a seat over there so we can have a little conversation.” I look at Whistler and Scout and they sit in the chairs in front of my desk. I go and sit beside Cage. Cage grabs my hands and holds it and I hold on just as tight. “Do you two want anything to drink or eat?” Cage looks at Bethany.
“It’s alright, Cage. If you want something just say so.” Cage smiles.
“Could I get some chocolate milk and cookies?” Bethany looks at her watch.
“Good try, little man. How about some regular milk and two cookies?” Cage grins. Bethany looks at me.
“Cage gets hyper before he goes to bed if he has too much chocolate and other times the chocolate causes him to have nightmares because he is so hyper.” Cage looks at his feet like he almost got one over on someone. I take my phone out and text Maudi about a snack without chocolate for Cage. I know I need to handle this gently, but there are so many things that I need answers to.
“Are the cops going to come knocking on our doors because you took off with the kid?” Whistler asks. “Brass texted me to update me.”
“Are you saying this is Cage? Of course he is, he looks just like his dad did at that age. So, who are you?” Scout asks, looking at Bethany.
“That’s my aunt Bethany and she takes care of me. She brought me home to my dad.” That warms my heart. The thought of my son considering this place his home.
“I’m bringing Cage to Krill to keep him safe. He’s not safe around Rico anymore and I won’t let my brother hurt Cage the way he does everyone else,” Bethany answers.
“Is he the one that beat on your face? It doesn’t seem to me that you’re too safe either, girlie,” Scout tells Bethany.
“I’ll be fine. I just wanted to be sure Cage is settled and then I’ll be on my way. You need to get a lawyer here to look at some papers.” We all look at Bethany. There’s a knock on the office door. Whistler stands up and opens the door and Maudi walks in with a tray with a glass of milk and what looks like graham crackers on it.
“We don’t have any cookies in the cabinets, but I had some graham crackers if that’s alright?” Maudi is looking at Cage and Cage has a smile on his face. Maudi sets the tray down on my desk, and Cage gets up and walks over by her.
“Thank you, ma’am, for the snack,” Cage says and by the way he says it, I know it isn’t forced but something he just does. My boy knows his manners.
“Young man, you are very welcome.” Maudi starts to leave but looks back at me. “You might want to check on Banger and Raven. Banger was raising heck and then everything went quiet.”
“Why is Banger here? Did Rico send him?” All our eyes go to Bethany. Bethany goes quiet.
“How do you know Banger?” I ask Bethany.
“Banger is the name of Gerald’s son—our relatives from New York. I think he’s my second cousin. He came to Colorado and was either working for Cassius or was in his gang. Maybe it isn’t the same person. I know clubs have road names so maybe it’s a different person,” Bethany says in a quiet voice. Something else is bothering me that Bethany said earlier, but this needs to be cleared up first. I take my phone out and send Raven a text and it isn’t long before I get what I need. My phone pings, and I turn it toward Bethany and show her the picture. I see why everything went quiet in the room Raven is in. Raven has Banger tied up and gagged.
“Is that your cousin?” I ask Bethany.
“He’s a lot thinner than the last time I had seen him, but yeah, that’s him,” Bethany answers and then another thought hits me.
“Does Rico or Cassius have a woman named Kim working for them?” Whistler asks before I can. Whistler and I are having the same ideas.
“I wasn’t allowed at the clubhouse very often and to tell you the truth, the women that were at the club weren’t very friendly. I have no idea who works for Cassius. Until tonight, I had no idea that I was even on Cassius’s radar. I always thought he was Jen’s man. Cage and I were kept separate from that life. I have an apartment that Cage and I live in. It’s a small one-bedroom. Jen and Rico would come there when they needed to see us. Cage and I were only brought to the clubhouse for barbeques every two to three months. I met Cassius at a couple of those when outsiders were allowed in.” Bethany looks deep in thought. “I know Jen talked about some woman named Kimmy, but she could be anyone.”
“Banger’s last name is Whitson, not Hinton,” Scout speaks up.
“Banger is a cousin on my mom’s side of the family not my dad’s,” Bethany clarifies.
“Why now? Cage is nine years old. Why did you decide to bring him to me now instead of years ago? Didn’t you think I had the right to know my son? What did I ever do to your family to keep my son from me?” I’m trying to keep my temper in check, but I just want to shake the truth out of Bethany. Bethany looks at Cage and then to me.
“I knew it was wrong to keep you and Cage away from each other, but I was so young when Jen brought Cage to me. I became like a mom to him in that minute. Cage has never lived with Jen or Rico. I have loved and cared for Cage every day of his life since that day. I am the one that takes him to the doctor or holds him when he’s sick. I took him to his first day of school and was at his first t-ball game. I helped him take his first steps and was there to dry his tears when he cut his first tooth. Call me selfish, but these bruises on my face now will be nothing compared to what I get when I get home. I also knew that when I brought Cage to you that I could no longer be his mother. That’s tearing my heart out, but I know I can’t keep him safe any longer. Rico has plans for me, and he was going to take Cage and leave him with someone else and that scared me. I’ll face the consequences if I know Cage is safe with you. I know you’re a good man and you’ll love Cage as much as I do. Just please don’t make me regret it.” I see the way that Cage is clinging to Bethany now. The more that she was saying the closer that he moved to her. “I’m hoping that Rico will use me for whatever plan he has, and he will just leave you and Cage alone but don’t let your guard down for a minute. I also know that you’ve been fighting in court for visitation of Cage and that Jen and Rico have been delaying the outcome. I am partially to blame for that or at least the papers I have are. Neither of them thought their plan out too far. They didn’t think you and the Troubled Fathoms MC would go through the court system to get Cage. Rico thought he would dangle the knowledge that you had a son and he was raising him, and the two clubs would go to war or that’s what I’m guessing. I don’t want to betray my family, but if I don’t give you all the information, then Cage isn’t safe. He’s the only important member of my family anymore, so I will tell you everything I know and you can either trust me or ignore it.” Bethany looks at me and then to Scout and Whistler.
“Aunt Bethany doesn’t lie. She hates liars.” Bethany looks at Cage and hugs him tight and then looks at me.
“I don’t think Cage needs to hear all of this. I have tried to keep him from hearing and seeing the bad in the Hinton family but sometimes that has been impossible. He’s too young for this.” Bethany kisses the top of Cage’s head.
“I’m staying. I know the monsters that Rico and Mom are. Rico is going to make Bethany live with a man she doesn’t even know. He’s choosing between two of them and he said if she didn’t make the one man happy that he may sell her. If Aunt Bethany doesn’t do what Rico wants, he said he could sell me too. I heard it all earlier and I won’t let you go back there alone, Aunt Bethany. You can’t. Rico or one of those men could kill you. Please, Aunt Bethany.” Cage has tears in his eyes, and I don’t know if the pain in my stomach is from seeing those tears or hearing the anguish in his voice. The revulsion I feel is from the thought of anyone harming my boy and even Bethany.
“We are going to table this talk until tomorrow morning over breakfast. I will get Maudi to fix each of you two up a room and we can start over tomorrow. The two rooms across from mine are open. No one is going anywhere tonight, and everyone is safe. If Rico knows you’re gone, he won’t be more pissed in the
morning than he is right now.” I stop and look directly at Bethany. “You’re not going back to face Rico alone, so get that thought out of your head. You are Cage’s family and I owe you, so you are my family. That means you are under the Troubled Fathoms MC’s protection. Are we clear? I need your phone and your keys, just for tonight.” Bethany looks at me and then back to Cage. She hands me the keys and the phone. I take the phone and take the battery out. “Do you think Rico might have a tracker on your car?”
“The phone you took is a disposable phone that I had bought just in case we ever had to run. I left my other phone at the house. Cage has a phone in his backpack. It has your clubhouse number and the number to that phone you are holding in it. It was in case we had to separate so he could still get to you. I borrowed the car from a neighbor, and she doesn’t like Rico, so she has no reason to help him and he has no reason to know I’m driving it.” Cage picks his backpack up and rummages through it. H hands me the phone and I take the battery out it of it too.
“Can I stay in the room with Aunt Bethany? I know she’ll try to run if I’m not with her.” Cage looks over at Bethany like he just told a secret he shouldn’t. “I promise I will go straight to sleep if I can.” I look at Bethany and she is looking at my boy.
“Do you trust your Aunt Bethany, Cage? Has she ever lied to you or made you mistrust her in any way?”
Cage doesn’t hesitate. “Aunt Bethany hates liars so she would never lie to me. She is the only person that I always trust.” I intend to be the next person that he trusts that way.
“Bethany, promise Cage that you will stay here tonight and tomorrow until we can figure this mess out. I won’t let you walk back into a situation so you can be hurt, so we are going to talk this out. I know we need to talk but I want to find a way that we can both be in Cage’s life. I don’t know when Rico and Jen will have the cops beating down our doors and charging us with kidnapping. You do realize that bringing Cage here is kidnapping. His mother doesn’t know where he is,” I tell Bethany.
“Aunt Bethany is my mom, not Jen. Jen doesn’t care about me.” Cage is defending his aunt.
“Jen and Rico can’t do anything to me for taking Cage. I have joint custody of him. Jen had the paperwork done before Cage was two weeks old. When I say that Jen has never been to a doctor appointment or to a school meeting, I mean it. I have been in complete control of Cage’s care since he was born. That’s the reason the lawyers have been delaying the court proceedings. They didn’t want you knowing that in the eyes of the law, I make all the decisions when it comes to Cage. The judge that you had in Boulder was on Cassius and Rico’s payrolls. When you got the case moved to Sunshine, they had no connections. I don’t know how you did that to begin with.” Well damn. How are we just now learning this? Who would have even thought to look?
“You’re saying that you can legally take Cage wherever you want and live there?” Scout asks.
“I don’t understand all the words in the papers, but I have the right to choose the domicile and place of living. I also have both medical and legal power of attorney over him,” Bethany answers.
“Do you have a set of those papers with you? Have you signed any papers since those, and do you have Cage’s passport?” Whistler is asking questions faster than I can keep up with.
“I haven’t signed any additional papers and I read everything I sign even if I don’t understand what it is. I have two copies of the custody papers, Cage’s passport, social security card, and birth certificate. I also have all the school records and the medical records I had at home. I grabbed everything I could think of and money that I have saved so I could give it you to get Cage new clothes and what he needs.” If I am right, then as long as I keep Bethany here then I can keep Cage here. How could Rico have been so stupid?
“I need all those papers and you to agree to stay here until I speak to our attorney. I think this could work out for all of us. Can you do that for me?” I know that I’m putting it to her as a question, but I’m not letting her leave. Gram always told me you can get more by being nice than by bulldozing your way through everything. I miss that woman.
“Please, Aunt Bethany. Give Dad a chance to fix this.” I want to pick Cage up and squeeze him so hard. I’ve never felt these feelings before. Cage looks back to me. “Is it alright if I call you dad?”
“Of course, Son, I love you. I would like that a whole hell of a lot.” I can’t stop myself. I reach over and bring Cage in my lap and I hug him close and he’s hugging me back.
“Aunt Bethany will put you in time-out if you use the bad words.” Bethany laughs and so do I. I let Cage loose, but he doesn’t go far.
“I’ll stay until you can speak to your lawyer, but the longer I stay, the harder it will be to leave. I haven’t been away from Cage overnight in nine years. The longest we have been away from each other is when he’s in school and this is going to be hard. Harder than I thought through, but I don’t regret bringing Cage to you. It’s where he belongs. I see that now and I’m sorry it took me so long to get him here.” I look at Scout and Whistler. Scout stands up.
“I’ll get Maudi to get those rooms ready. Cage it’s good to have you here, and if your dad isn’t around and you need something, you come and find me. I have some stories to tell you about your dad when he was about your age. Do you own a knife yet? When your dad was your age, I taught him how to whittle. Do you want to learn how to whittle?” Scout says as he reaches for the door. He pauses and waits for Cage’s answer.
“I don’t own a knife, but I used one once when Aunt Bethany took me fishing. I was real careful, just the way she told me, and I would like to learn to whittle. I don’t know what it is, but it sounds cool. Do you like to fish? I like to fish but Aunt Bethany doesn’t like the stinky bait. Dad, do you think we can go fishing some day?” Cage looks from Scout to me and then back to Scout. Bethany laughs on the other side of us and I like that sound.
“We are going to need those rooms soon. Cage gets talkative when he’s fighting sleep and he’s had a long eventful day.” We all laugh at that.
“We’ll get you a knife if your aunt Bethany and Dad are alright with that, and we’ll do some whittling. Your dad sure used to love to fish. I bet he still has some of his fishing tackle and we can all go down to the pond. I’ll get those rooms going.” Scout walks out the door and I hear him laughing going down the hall. Scout will be a good stand-in grandpa for my boy. He was always a good uncle for me. Whistler stands up and looks at us with a grin on his face.
“I’ll have Raven take Banger out to the shed for when you’re ready to have a chat with him.” Yeah, it’s going to be a long chat. “I’ll get the suit on the phone, so he knows to be here first thing in the morning. I’ll check in on Dra too.” Whistler gets up and follows Scout out of the door. I don’t want to move but I see that Cage is yawning and I know my boy needs some rest.
“Is Dra still around the club? I thought he was married. Isn’t that what you said when we met in Boulder?” I look at Bethany and wonder if she could be just using Cage to get information on the club? I don’t see any sign of deception on her face, but I don’t know if I even trust my own judgment right now. I think we could all use a night of rest. Tomorrow I may get answers that I have been waiting for. I also need to make sure the meeting with Cassius is going to happen sooner rather than later. I want to know who put Banger in our clubhouse, and if Kim is involved in any of this. My phone pings, to notify me I have a text, and I look at it. Scout has sent it, saying the rooms are ready.
“If you two are ready, Maudi has done a quick job of getting those rooms ready. Cage are you going to be alright in a room by yourself? Bethany will be in the room right next door and I’ll be right across the hall. No one will bother you. The door has a lock from inside so you should feel safe.” Cage looks at Bethany and then back to me. Bethany doesn’t say anything about the change of subject.
“Aunt Bethany, you won’t leave?” Cage asks.
“I pro
mise, little man. I promise you and your dad,” Bethany tells us both.
“I’ll be fine in my own room. Aunt Bethany won’t have to sleep on the sofa tonight. We both get a bed.” Cage likes that idea.
“Alright then.” I get up and hold Cage’s hand as I walk to the door. Bethany follows behind us with the two backpacks in her hand. I reach back and take one of them and we walk out the room and into the clubroom. I see everything happening tonight is tame since it’s a weeknight. I’m glad it’s not the weekend. I walk into the hallway and straight to our rooms without being stopped. I open the door to the room closest to mine. I look down at Cage and I know he must be tired, but I just want to spend a little more time with him, but I know I must be the adult. Helping with B has rubbed off on me. “This is your room. My room is right there.” I point to my room and then to the room right next to this one. “That is where your Aunt Bethany will be. Do you need any help?” I walk in the door after I open it and walk to where the bathroom is and open the door. “Each room has its own bathroom. There are toothbrushes in the top drawer with toothpaste and bath soap. There is shampoo in the shower. Towels are underneath the sink.”
“I’m big now so I can take care of myself. I already showered before we left but I need to brush my teeth.” Bethany hands Cage his backpack and then turns around and makes sure Cage’s bed is turned back. Cage gets his toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste out of his backpack and goes into the bathroom. I turn to watch Bethany fuss over the bed.
“Cage still uses the gentle toothpaste for children. The adult kind burns his gums. It’s not too expensive if you buy the generic brand and he likes the bubble gum flavor. He won’t tell you because he doesn’t want to look like a baby. I tell him it’s not a big deal, but my little man doesn’t like complaining.” Bethany is right. B uses the same kind of toothpaste.
“B, Dra’s daughter, uses the same kind and she’ll throw a hissy fit if it’s not the bubble gum flavor. I tend to spoil her a little. She wouldn’t act that way in front of her mom.” Bethany and I both laugh.