When she scrabbled forward, wriggling through the space between the front seats so she could clamber onto my lap, surprise had me jumping when she nearly elbowed me in the head, but I let her crumple up and release her fears and her tension in my arms.
Accepting that this was simply the release of the day’s many stresses, I cried with her, not loud enough to disturb her but just letting it out because her fear was tangible.
When I saw Storm coming out of the vet’s office, I whispered, "You’re not bad; you’re not trouble. You’re perfect. You’re mine, and you’re going nowhere that I’m not, baby. You’re staying right here with us and we’re going to…" My words waned. Because what were we going to do? Make her better? Was there anything wrong with her? Or were her reactions not the most normal thing for a child who’d been traumatized as badly as she had? "We’re going to make sure things are better from now on," was what I eventually settled on as Storm opened the door.
Cyan tensed in my arms, but I hugged her tighter as he settled behind the wheel.
I wondered if he heard me, because he rumbled, "I’m going to make sure you’re not in danger like this ever again, do you hear me?"
She sniffled against me, then turned her face to the side. "I knew you’d come for us, Daddy. I just… I was scared they’d hurt you."
Was I surprised when she flung herself at him and sobbed in his arms too?
But that was when I broke down, because this world was fucked up. Lodestar was right. It had everything to do with the MC today, but how London had groomed her was the real world. The reality that sucked.
There was danger everywhere.
There was peril in all corners.
And for the first time, I recognized that Storm was right to have someone watching us.
Today, however, that hadn’t worked. Today, we’d lost our guard. Which meant, tomorrow, we’d have to figure out a new plan of action. But we’d do it together because I was no longer on the outside looking in.
Forty-One
Storm
PRESENT
It was hard leaving Cyan and Keira behind at the clubhouse. Even though I knew they were safe there, even though there were over a dozen bikers at the compound who’d protect them, dragging myself away had never felt more impossible than it did at that moment.
I knew the Coshocton compound had its own version of the Fridge. I didn’t have a clue why it was called the Lockbox, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to know either, but I walked over to it, Digger and SL at my side with spotlights guiding our path as we crossed to the other end of our territory.
Having been here when I first arrived and scoping out the lay of the land then, I asked SL, "You know what’s on the other side of the border?"
"Nothing. Just fields."
"Owned by a farmer?"
"Nope," SL replied, scratching his stubble. "We own it."
"Why?"
"I dunno. Maybe to make sure no one could overhear what went on in the Lockbox?"
Pulling out my cellphone, I googled our address and scanned the area around us. Seeing the tract of land, I grunted. "Could be. I’m gonna need you to get an environmental impact survey done on it."
"Huh?"
"Environmental impact. It needs to be surveyed to see if we can construct on there or not."
"You wanna build shit on there?" Digger asked.
"Keira won’t want to stay in the clubhouse for long," I murmured. "And she talked about something today that resonated. When we rode past Paul, I had to accept the only reason he was dead was because I lived there. Otherwise, he’d never have been dragged into this mess."
"You want to build houses there?"
"Is that ideal when the Lockbox is close by?"
They both spoke at once, but I just said, "The Lockbox can be moved, and yeah, I’m thinking about it."
"How big’s the land, SL?"
"Plenty big. Couple developers came calling a few years ago, trying to buy it."
I arched a brow. "Really?"
"Yeah."
"Never thought this would be what we were talking about, Storm," Digger said wryly. "Thought you’d want to know what we found out."
"Keira overheard some of it. They were gonna shoot me up, get me high, then use that to get information outta me. Of course, Keira just thought they wanted me to die by day’s end, but you can’t get answers out of a man that way in twenty-four hours." My jaw clenched. "Spent plenty of time in withdrawals to know how that shit works."
"I’d judge ‘em for using that as their method of torture, but who the fuck am I kidding? We ain’t going in there to tickle their feet," Digger drawled.
"No, we goddamn ain’t," I agreed with a laugh. "She mentioned the Rabid Wolves. This ain’t the first time I’ve heard talk of them. Sticky was a Rabid Wolf, SL, right? On the run?"
"Yeah, Butch took him in because of Cassandra."
"Cassandra?" That was the first time I’d heard that name mentioned.
"Cassandra Shawnee? She works over at the junior high. She’s a guidance counselor. Sticky is, well, was her brother."
My brow furrowed as I wondered if the woman who’d fallen on her back in the parking lot of the junior high while we’d been there for the parent-teacher conference was one and the same.
I pursed my lips. "Why was she down here and why was he a Rabid Wolf? What the hell did Butch have to do with this?"
SL pulled a face. "You really want me to gossip?"
"Ain’t gossip if it’s pertinent to the facts," Digger retorted, his curiosity piqued as much as mine.
I knew he’d been up in Canada, hunting something down about the Rabid Wolves. I’d never asked why because he’d been serving another Prez at the time, and Rex would’ve shared the information with me if he’d wanted me to know.
I had plenty enough of my own problems without adding to them.
SL groused, "It’s pretty fucked up. Butch was boning this bitch over in Columbus. This is pre-Peggy. He brought her over to Coshocton, got her settled in as his girlfriend."
"Not his Old Lady?"
"Naw. Not then. She had two kids, one was a teenager. He didn’t get on great with Butch so she sent him to live with his father."
"A brother in the Rabid Wolves?"
SL nodded. "Sticky joined the ranks, then he got involved in an armed robbery. Killed a couple guards in a bank. His girlfriend ratted him out, so he took her down too." He grimaced. "Butch brought him in when Cassandra pleaded with him to watch out for her bro after he made it back across the border."
"And he listened?"
"Their mom died of an overdose. Butch took it hard because he gave her the drugs."
"What happened to Cassandra?" I asked softly.
"She was sixteen when this happened—they were together a long time. She went back to Columbus, and I think Butch helped her get an apartment so she wasn’t taken in by the state.
"Anyway, fast forward to two years ago, she moves back here and starts working at the junior high. Not much later, Sticky comes down, and Butch brings him in.