Second Chances (Steel Bandits MC Book 1)

by JC Belanger

  “This place has the best tacos in five counties,” Voodoo tells me, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

  “Taco’s should be their own food group,” I quickly reply, even though the thought of eating anything right now turns my stomach.

  “So, what is it you want to talk about? My sister I’m guessing” Voodoo throws out as we find a table to sit at.

  “What? How?” I stutter. I am surprised that anyone has noticed this obsession I am developing for her. She is in my every thought it seems.

  Voodoo laughs and says “I have seen you watching her since she dropped you at the club. She has had a rough few months. I don’t know why exactly, but she doesn’t sleep or eat enough, and it shows. You know if you hurt her, I will have to kick your ass!”

  “Well,” I pause trying to slow my racing heart, “I did wanna talk to you. Anna told me a few things. I told her I would not tell anyone unless it affected the club. I think that it affects the club, but it will affect you even more if I am correct with what I read between the lines of her story.”

  “Tell me everything!” he demands, with concern. “We can worry about her being mad later.”

  “Anna had a baby,” I blurt out like a fool.

  “What in the hell are you talking about?” Voodoo yells, his face turning red as a vein begins to pop out in his neck.

  “Ok, let me back up,” I begin, this sounds like the same way she told me I think with a snort. “You remember last week I went to test my bike after you fixed it? Well, I saw Peaches going down the road and wanted to say thank you for the lift. I followed her out of town, to this town actually, and she stopped at house. When she got to the door, a lady handed her a baby.”

  “That don’t make it hers,” Voodoo interrupts, trying to think of any reason he can that a strange woman would be handing her a baby.

  “Let me finish,” I tell him, pausing until the waitress leaves the table after taking our order. “I hung for a few hours until your sister came back out. At first, she freaked out. Then we went to a park where she could tell me what happened. Anna gave me the basic story of people drinking at a party ten months ago or so. She said that someone was drunk, and later found out that she was pregnant. Your sister said she hid it from everyone so that no one would be embarrassed. She left, had the baby, and when the adoption was final, she came home.”

  Voodoo is taking deep breaths trying to control his reaction. I am waiting to see if I need to duck and run or not. I’ve never seen anyone fill with so much rage as quick as he just did. Anyone can see that he’s extremely protective of Anna, but this is not what he was expecting to hear today. In all reality, he probably thought I wanted to talk to him about being with her.

  “Did she fucking tell you who?” Voodoo asks me, his entire body shaking with the rage he’s barely containing.

  “No, she did not,” I tell him honestly. “I think that there is more to this than she is telling me,” I take a deep breath before I add the part that could break this man. “I think that she was assaulted to tell you the truth.”

  I am waiting for Voodoo to throw something or hit me. He stands up and walks out the door without a word. After throwing some money on the table, I follow him outside. Voodoo is on the side of the building kicking the crap out of the dumpster and calling it names that I think he just made up. I stand there, watching his back while he figures out what to do next. Without another sound he walks to his bike and takes off down the road. I run to my bike and speed off to follow him back home. Neither of us noticed the bike sitting on the opposite side of the building nor the person who was listening to us talk the entire time.

  Skid

  I followed Voodoo and Taz when they left the clubhouse. Neither one of them saw me following them and I am happy. At this point, I’m not sure what I would’ve said to explain my actions. But, I had to know what they were talking about and how much they actually know about what happened that night.

  The night that I was with Anna, I didn’t know a few things. One that she was a virgin, and two that she would get pregnant. Hell, I don’t think I even remember what fully happened that night, but I know that I took advantage of her. That doesn’t explain my actions at all and I know that I’m going to have to pay at some point with the members of the club. That’s the only reason that I need to know what they’re talking about today. If it was club related, then I know they’d have no problem staying at the clubhouse.

  I hide back in the shadows as a commotion catches my attention. Voodoo comes storming out of the diner and I can see the rage filling his face as he makes his way over to the dumpster. There’s no stopping him as he takes out his emotions on whatever is in front of him. Even Taz doesn’t try to get in the way as he lets out words I’ve never even heard before.

  Finally, they get on their bikes and leave. I stay in the shadows for a little while as my heart calms down and the sweat stops pouring from every single part of my body. Now I know that he knows what happened that night and that I’m going to lose more than I originally thought. I’ll be lucky if I don’t lose my life at this point. It’s time for me to do something about the situation and take care of this before anyone else finds out. No one can prove anything if there’s no evidence.

  Chapter Four

  Anna

  Scott has been acting strangely the past few weeks. I keep catching him watching me like he knows something I don’t. If Taz has told my secret I will skin him alive with a dull, rusty, spoon. While I understand that all the guys put one another before anything else, this doesn’t necessarily need to come out right now. Taz is a guy that I’m trying to put my trust in and I don’t know if I can do that if he spilled my secret.

  My phone rings, startling me from my thoughts. It’s not a number that I recognize and for a second, I think about letting it go to voicemail. But, I get a feeling that I need to answer this call.

  “Hello,” I answer, bracing myself for whoever is on the other end of the line.

  “Is this Anna Stewart?” a male voice asks.

  “Yes. Who is this?” I question cautiously

  “Miss Stewart, this is Mr. James at the Department of Children and Families. I am sorry to bother you, but I need to ask you a few questions,” he states, using a voice that makes me sit up straight and pay close attention to what he’s saying.

  “Why does DCF need to talk to me? I don’t have any children,” I laugh, as a sharp pain pierces my heart.

  “Well, do you know April and Kevin Quinn?” he asks as I hear the sound of papers shuffling in the background.

  I draw a quick breath before I confirm that I do know them. What would cause him to ask me about them? I know they would never do anything to CeCe or I would kill them with my bare hands. That’s part of the reason that I wanted an open adoption. So that I could see for myself that my daughter was being taken care of and no one was hurting her.

  “They have a child, Cecelia Quinn. Our paperwork shows that you are the birth mom. We show that you placed your child for adoption with them. Is this correct?” he asks, as more papers shuffle around.

  “Yes. But what does that matter to you?” I stutter, as a thousand things rush through my mind. Not a single one of them is good.

  “I hate to tell you this, especially over the phone, but Mr. and Mrs. Quinn were killed this morning during a house explosion,” he says, his voice sounding professional and detached.

  “Oh my God! Where is CeCe? Is she ok?” I cry, not thinking of where I am or who may be around.

  “She is with us for now while we try to find a foster family for her,” he tells me, trying to allay my rising panic.

  “I want her,” I interrupt him quickly, placing my hand over my heart as hope rises for the first time in months. Even though the situation is horrendous, I can’t help but let the little bit of excitement rise through me at the knowledge that my daughter might be coming home.

  “That is why I am calling you. We have no open spaces right now and are willing to
place her with you until the court can decide what to do with her legally. If you want to keep her you would need to file for your parental rights to be restored.” He explains.

  My thoughts are all over the place. I have tears streaming down my face and I must be making a scene because when I look up Scott, Prez and Taz are looking at me with concern. They all get up and walk over to me. Scott wraps his arms around me while I continue the conversation.

  “When can I pick her up? Do I need to bring anything? Is she ok? She wasn’t hurt, was she?” I ask while trying to push the guys back, so I can think.

  “We will need to have her see a doctor and make sure her records are up to date. She was not at home when the incident occurred. Cecelia was at the daycare that she sometimes attends so that April could get some things done around the house is what we were told. That will be done in the morning, so I believe she will be able to be released to your custody around one tomorrow afternoon. You will need to bring your identification and proof of residency. Our social worker will need to do a few spot inspections per regulations which I am sure you understand,” Mr. James explains to me as I try to pay attention to him while all sorts of thoughts bombard me.

  I thank him and let him know that I will be there tomorrow before hanging up. Looking at Scott, I take a few deep breaths and say the words I never thought I would say out loud. “I need to pick up my daughter tomorrow. Can you go with me?”

  I see the disbelief on Axel’s face but to my surprise, Scott does not look that shocked to hear that I have a child. Looking over at Taz, he has a guilty expression on his face. I don’t have time to worry about that now. My only concern is getting things ready so that I can bring my daughter home.

  “What do you need me to do to help you sis?” Scott asks me, once again wrapping his arm around my shoulders as my emotions continue to wreak havoc with my body.

  “I need to go to the superstore and get everything for a baby,” I reply in a stupor. “Oh my God! I will have my baby back in my arms tomorrow!” I yell out, letting the excitement take over no matter what other emotions are running riot through me.

  I have no idea what I need to get let alone how I’m going to pay for it all, but I will do whatever it takes to take care my baby girl. The words ‘my baby girl’ are one of the many things I have stuffed down so that it wouldn’t hurt so bad. Now I will have her in my arms every day. I’ll be the one getting to make memories with her and sharing in her life. I get the good and the bad. No one else will ever take that away from me again.

  Chapter Five

  Taz

  Standing with Axel and voodoo, Peaches cry of dismay catches all of our attention and we quickly head over to her to see what the problem is. Hearing her side of the phone call, I feel the fingers of fear race up my spine. If this is about her baby, then she is gonna know quickly that I spilled the beans to her brother, but that also means something is wrong. I pray that her daughter is ok, because I don’t know if she can handle any other outcome.

  I hear her tell Voodoo that her baby is coming home, and I wonder what could have happened. Anyone looking at Anna can see the excitement and apprehension on her face and I quickly decide I’ll do whatever it takes to erase the apprehension and increase the happiness. Anna must have a ton of emotions running through her and she’s going to hate me for telling her secret. But I’ll do whatever it takes to be by her side and help her.

  Prez quickly tells Voodoo to bring her into his office so we can talk about what’s going on. Voodoo wraps his arms around Peaches and I see her shoulders shake as the tears fall from her eyes due to the rollercoaster of emotions right now. And I wanna know what is going on and what we need to do. She may not know it yet, but I will have her back every step of the way.

  As we walk into the clubhouse, I see all the brothers who were sitting around having a beer or playing pool stand up at the site of Anna crying. They start to approach us ready to kill whomever made her cry but stop when Prez gives a quick shake of his head. Following Voodoo and Axel to his office we all take a seat. Axel looks at me like he just realized that I am here too. He looks over to Voodoo to see if he needs to kick me out. They had best not try because I really don’t want to have problems with my Prez and VP, but I am not leaving Peaches to deal with anything without me. When Voodoo doesn’t say anything, I can see Axel visibly relax in his chair.

  Prez looks over to Anna and asks her in as calm a voice as he probably has what is going on and what did she mean when she said her baby was coming home? Voodoo breaks into Prez’s questions with his own.

  “Anna why didn’t you tell me what was going on? I would have helped you no matter what!” he says, letting the hurt that he feels fill his voice.

  “I know Scott.” She whispers. “I was scared, and I did not want to tell anyone I was pregnant. Let alone how I got that way.”

  “Well, I know how you got that way,” Scott snickers, which makes Axel and I smirk as well.

  “Anna, sweetie, you need to give us some information,” Prez states with confusion on his face. “Why didn’t you tell us? Is this why you disappeared on us? What was the phone call about?”

  Anna takes a few breathes before trying to answer. She won’t look anyone in the eye like she is afraid of what is going to happen next. I reach over to take her hand and give her a smile. She looks over at me and gives me a little smile in return.

  “The phone call was from DCF,” she tells us quietly. “I got pregnant about ten or eleven months ago. I was at a party and there was lots of alcohol and things got carried away. I found out I was going to have a baby. Scott, you asked me if I had the flu, so I agreed that was the problem and decided that I would go away until after the baby was born. I did not want you to hate me or to make you look bad in the eyes of the club. Anyway, I found the Quinn’s and got to know them. We made an agreement for the adoption that I could go see Cecelia, that’s her name, for two hours every two weeks. That’s where I was coming from when I met Taz,” she tells us in a flat voice, like she is afraid of what we think.

  Scott leans over and takes her other hand. “Look at me baby sister!” he says gently, “I love you and will stand beside you no matter what. I have questions about the past and what happened, but I can wait a little bit. What I need to know now is what is going on. You said we need to go get her tomorrow. Where are her adoptive parents? What do we need to get so that you are ready for her? You know I can’t wait to see and hold my niece, right?”

  Anna looks at Scott with amazement and shock. She really didn’t think that he would help her and be ok. After a few minutes, she looks over at Axel and then me. Once she sees the look of acceptance and love on his face and the look on mine, Anna gets a huge smile on her face. The one that lights up the whole world. She throws her arms around her brother dropping my hand in the process and hugs him with a little giggle.

  “The man from DCF said that the Quinn’s home had exploded, and they did not survive. CeCe was evidently at her daycare when it happened but she has a doctor appointment tomorrow to make sure everything is ok. They are allowing me to keep her until the courts decide if I can have my parental rights again. I have no idea how to even go about that, but I wanna try,” she exclaims, not taking a breath in her excitement. “I need to get lots of baby things including a crib or playpen for her to sleep in. There is so much I need,” she says panic beginning to rise in her voice.

  “Slow your roll,” Prez tells her, holding her hand up so that she stops for a minute to gather herself. “We can take an SUV and go pick up what you need. Consider it a late baby shower,” he tells her as her face begins to show the worry, she is currently letting take hold of her.

  “Anna, I only get to have my first niece one time. I am going to spoil her like crazy. You know I have some time to make up for!” Voodoo says with a huge grin on his face.

  “Let’s get going!” I throw out, hoping no one thinks to tell me to stay behind.

  Voodoo throws open the door to Prez’s off
ice and yells out. “Hey, you crazy motherfuckers, I am an uncle and she will be here tomorrow!”

  All the brothers look over at Peaches, trying to see where she is hiding her baby bump. I start laughing and Voodoo looks at me.

  “These idiots are looking to see where she is hiding her bump!” I say, letting him in on what I immediately picked up.

  Voodoo cracks up and says that she is with DCF for the night, but we are getting her tomorrow. A cheer so loud it shakes the pictures on the wall is let out as the brothers celebrate the generation that is now a part of Steel Bandits. Plus, Anna is a part of their family and if she’s happy, then they’ll be happy for her.

  Skid stands behind the bar passing out drinks for us to celebrate with, but the look on his face is confusing. He seems mad at this news but why would he care one way or another? I put this in the back of my mind and go to sit next to Peaches. Brothers are coming up and congratulating her, she doesn’t seem to know what to say. It’s almost as if she’s operating on autopilot. Instead of celebrating, she’s sitting at a table silent and not drinking.

  “Do you wanna make a list before we head out? Or do you just wanna play it by ear when we get there?” I ask her, trying to distract her from the thoughts swirling in her mind.

  “I guess I can start a list, but I don’t even know what to get for right now,” she says letting the doubt she feels out for me to hear.

  “Let’s make a list of the basics we know you need. Then we can wing it for the rest of the stuff. We can always send a prospect to get anything we miss!” I tell her with a grin.

  It turns into a circus as we make a list. The brothers decide we need help, so they start throwing out ideas. Everything from diapers to a swing set. Even a Barbie Power Car. This baby is only six months old and they already want her to have a car. Axel sets a bowl on the table and throws a hundred-dollar bill in it. One by one the brothers all throw in money and give her a kiss on the head. Tears pour from her as she realizes she may have misjudged the situation but that’s all water under the bridge. Now she has the future with her daughter in front of her.