12. Air Mattress
12
AIR MATTRESS
Diana
My hip was moving, and I wasn’t doing it.
I opened my eyes to early morning sun, turned my head and saw Hugger looming over me.
Well then.
Good morning to me.
“ Hey ,” I whispered.
“ Fucks me to wake you, babe, but Scott’s been on the phone and shit’s going down.”
I sat up so fast, I nearly crashed heads with Hugger .
“ What’s going on?” I asked.
He sat on the side of my bed. “ First , Madison’s people are at the police station. Probably not a surprise they’re being vocal about wanting to see her.”
“ Crap ,” I mumbled.
I’d hoped to have at least the morning to break the news to her and talk her into seeing them.
“ And Scott told me something else.”
All sleep gone, I focused hard on him. “ What’d he tell you?”
“ That phone is not Imran Babi?’s .”
Wait .
“ What ?” I asked.
“ It’s his son’s. Esad Babi? .”
Wait .
“ What ? ”
Hugger shook his head. “ Don’t know, Di . But Scott really wants to talk to Madison .”
There’s more I haven’t told you .
Maybe she didn’t mean what I thought she meant with that.
“ Di ?” Hugger called.
“ I don’t know what to do with that.”
“ I don’t either, but Scott told me something else.”
Fantastic .
“ That being?” I asked, even if I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“ There was a call during the time Madison had the phone from a number programmed in as ‘ Otac ,’ which apparently means ‘father’ in Bosnian . The call came in the morning after she showed at the emergency room and lasted fifteen minutes.”
“ And this means she had the son’s phone, but talked to the dad.”
“ I don’t know what it means, honey. I just know Scott told me that call came before the police interviewed her. So shit is now convoluted, because she named Imran Babi? as her rapist, and they arrested him for that crime, but she’s got his son’s phone and shared yesterday it was the phone of the man who assaulted her.”
I made a face. “ Father /son tag team rapists? Is this guy that gross?”
“ Again , I don’t know, but Scott needs to, so as they investigate this, it doesn’t get fucked.”
Damn , crap, shit.
I pushed back in bed, reaching for my phone on my nightstand, mumbling, “ I’m gonna call Scott .”
“ You want me to bring you coffee?”
I stared at him while mentally unfurling more of the scroll on which I was writing the pro side of the Do I Want to Explore This with Hugger List .
If you’re keeping track, it was only the not-touchy thing that was on the con side, and he kept being touchy, so that was written in pencil.
“ Would you?” I asked.
“’ Course ,” he muttered, bent in, touched my forehead with his bristly lips (another pro!) and then he left to get me coffee.
Were all bikers like this?
I really wanted to know.
I tried to decide if brushing my teeth or calling Detective Scott was my top priority and settled on the detective by a narrow margin because morning mouth was icky.
He picked up right away.
“ Diana ?”
“ Hello , Detective Scott .”
“ As I keep saying, you can call me Rayne .”
He had a really nice name to go with a really nice face.
In fact, before Hugger , he was totally my type.
But I bet he didn’t vacuum.
“ Harlan filled me in,” I shared.
“ Right .”
“ So now I need to know what to do with Madison . I mean, can you come to us, where she feels safe? Or should I figure out how to get her to you?”
“ Optimal for my purposes, if we can get her to open up, I’d want her in a room where I could get what she says recorded. But if we can get her to open up, I don’t care where it happens.”
“ Gotcha on that. What about her family?”
“ That’s your call. She’s not living in my space. But I’d urge you to make that happen soon. They know what happened to her and they’re coming apart at the seams.”
Damn , crap, shit.
Hugger came in with my coffee.
“ Okay , give me a half an hour, and I’ll call you back.”
“ Appreciated .”
“ Later .”
“’ Bye , Diana .”
By the time we disconnected, Hugger had handed me my coffee and was sitting again on the side of the bed.
I took a moment to sip and enjoy the view.
“ Where we at?” he queried.
“ Scott says it’d be better if the interview happened at the station so they can get it on tape. But I think we should let her family come here to see her.”
“ We ?”
I nodded while taking a sip.
“ Di , baby, this isn’t my house,” he told me something I knew.
“ We’re in this together, aren’t we?” I asked.
His lips curved up, taking his beard with them, and I liked that look.
“ We are that,” he agreed.
I sensed his assent had a double meaning, and since mine did too, I was totally down with that.
“ Speaking of my house, how did you sleep?”
“ All good.”
“ Liar , liar, pants on fire.”
A sharp, but quiet, bark of laughter escaped him, and I liked that too.
What I didn’t like was that it also sounded rough, like he didn’t laugh all that much.
With no other choice with all the stuff that was brewing, I had to let that go.
For now.
“ Have you talked to Big Petey ?” I inquired.
“ Called him before you. He’s probably on his way by now.”
That was good. Madison had definitely bonded with him, and it seemed her gift of the phone cemented that.
“ It’d be good you could get her to the station,” Hugger remarked. “ We can get you there, and you’ll be safe there, since I got news from Big Petey that Wash is also in Phoenix . He showed last night. He wants a meet, and we’re guessin’ that meet means he’s gonna try to scrape Chaos off so they can go it alone. We’ll take security, and they’ll deal with the Babi?s .”
“ Wash ?”
“ Prez of Resurrection .”
Oh .
“ They probably should know which Babi? they’re dealing with,” I noted.
“ I don’t think they care.”
Eek !
“ Okay , so our plan is, you get the bathroom first while I sip coffee and call my boss to tell her I’m taking a personal day,” I stated. “ Then I’ll do the bathroom thing, I’ll wake up Madison , and get her good with her parents coming over, while also getting her good with going in and being re-interviewed by the police.”
“ Good plan.”
“ So , nothing much, except moving some minor mountains before eight in the morning.”
Hugger smiled. “ Yeah , nothing much, except that.”
Gulk .
“ You got this,” Hugger stated before coming right in to press his lips tight to mine.
Coffee and morning breath was a no go for me to offer up for a kiss.
But I’d take a tight press from him any day.
He got up and headed to the bathroom.
I sipped my coffee and scrolled on my phone until I found Annie’s number.
And when I hit go, I hit go on making the effort to move a mountain.
* * *
“ They’re gonna be really mad.”
The time was imminent, and by that I meant Hugger had gone down to escort Mr . and Mrs . O’Keefe up to see their daughter.
Rayne was with them.
I was with Madison and Big Petey in my living room.
Big Petey was providing support and presence. Madison was not fretting as much as she was freaking.
She’d agreed to this after I told her about the crying and choking up and needing a second phone call because they were so overwhelmed with emotion.
But I could tell she was having second thoughts.
“ I don’t like how they go, they’re out,” Big Petey stated.
Madison and I looked to him.
“ Hear me, girl?” he asked Madison .
“ I caused all this being stupid, Big Petey , and I got myself?—”
“ Garbage ,” he cut her off sharply. “ You didn’t do that first thing to yourself, Maddy , darlin’. Put that shit right outta your head. Now you hear that?”
“ Yes , Big Petey ,” she said quietly.
“ They blame you, they’ll answer to me before I put them out,” Big Petey threatened.
Christ on a cracker, this was killing me, because it felt like I had to fight crying about five hundred times a day.
This time was because I wished my dad had acted like Big Petey after what happened to me.
Madison didn’t have a chance to respond to his threat.
We heard the front door open and Big Petey moved to stand in front, and just to the side, of Madison .
Worth a repeat, I really liked these men.
I moved into her, taking her hand.
She held mine tight.
Hugger rounded the wall to the dining room first.
He stepped to the side and two people came in after him.
It was then I saw Madison was a carbon copy of her mom. She was a wee thing with lots of blonde hair and big blue eyes.
Her father gave Hugger competition with bulk, though Mr . O’Keefe’s was softer (so Hugger won, then again, obvs, he’d win anyway).
Both their eyes were pinging everywhere until they landed on Madison , and then they stopped dead.
I squeezed her hand.
She squeezed mine back.
Rayne came up the rear and halted behind the O’Keefes .
No one said anything, no one even moved.
Until Mr . O’Keefe’s guttural “ My baby girl” sounded.
Then Mrs . O’Keefe’s sob sounded.
And then Madison let me go and flew across the room to her dad.
He wrapped his arms around her in a hug so big, he pulled her off her feet.
Mrs . O’Keefe burrowed in, and he held his daughter aloft even as he let her go with one arm to hold his wife.
Oh yeah.
Totally weeping.
Damn !
Hugger came to me, and the supposedly not affectionate new man in my life pulled me into both of his arms and tucked me to his side.
This group hug lasted a long time and included some murmuring I made a point not to hear.
I was wondering if I should lead everyone to the dining room to give them space right before the group hug came to an end.
“ Torture , not knowin’ where you were, baby girl,” Mr . O’Keefe grunted. And yes, before that, I had no idea anyone could grunt an entire sentence, but he did.
“ Daddy , I’m so sorry,” Madison wept into his neck.
He gently put her down but didn’t let either of his girls go.
Though , he looked confused. “ What are you sorry about?”
“ I was stupid. You told me?—”
“ Stop it right now, Madison Renee O’Keefe ,” Mrs . O’Keefe snapped.
I pushed closer into Hugger .
“ Mama —”
“ Not another word like that, Maddy ,” she warned. “ Not one more word.”
“ Okay , Mama ,” Madison mumbled, though she didn’t do it chastened, she just agreed.
Mrs . O’Keefe , who might be diminutive, but I was beginning to sense she was a force to be reckoned with, pulled from her husband’s arm, straightened her tidy but pretty blouse and spoke again.
“ Now , who are these people who’ve been lookin’ out for our girl?”
Madison tucked herself into her father’s side, a father, I noted, who wouldn’t have let her go if she tried get away.
She didn’t.
“ That’s Hugger . He keeps us safe all the time, even sleeping on the couch to do it,” she introduced. “ And that’s Big Petey , he bought me a phone yesterday, and donuts.” Her voice lowered. “ And that’s Diana , she rescued me.”
I sniffed, wiped my face (glad I hadn’t had time for mascara), pulled away from Hugger and moved to the O’Keefe family.
“ I didn’t rescue her. She rescued herself. I just offered her a place to stay,” I explained.
Then I had no choice but to emit a startled cry because I walked too close to the claws of a mama bear, and no hesitation, she sunk them into my shoulder (the woman had really long nails), yanked me into her arms and gave me the tightest hug I’d ever experienced.
“ Never be able to repay you,” she whispered into my hair.
“ You never have to,” I whispered back.
She snuffled, let me go as abruptly as she snatched me, and moved to shake hands with Hugger and Big Petey .
Mr . O’Keefe stayed with his daughter, deciding on verbal greetings, which he used.
Proving my theory correct about the force Mrs . O’Keefe was, once that was done, she declared, “ Now , we got this. First , we’re gonna go to the police station, because Detective Scott has some questions for you.” She said this direct to Madison . The rest, she said to the room at large. “ Then we got ourselves one of those Vrbos . It’s got a pool that’s also got a Jacuzzi . We’re gonna stick around until Detective Scott has all he needs, and then we’ll go home.”
Through this speech, I noticed Madison’s face getting paler and paler.
Oh shit.
“ Um …” I started, but I didn’t know what to say.
Fortunately , Rayne did.
“ I explained a few things to you at the station, Mrs . O’Keefe . If Madison doesn’t stay here, with the protection Diana is offering her through Harlan and Pete , then Madison needs to go somewhere where the Phoenix police have her covered.”
“ We couldn’t bring a gun on an airplane,” Mrs . O’Keefe returned. “ But we know how to buy ’em, and you can read from that, Elias here isn’t afraid of using ’em.”
“ We’d rather no one had to discharge a firearm for safety and protection within city limits,” Rayne noted.
“ What Emmylou’s sayin’, son, is that we don’t wanna be away from our girl and we’re hopin’ you understand that and can figure out a way to respect it.”
“ I’m safe here,” Madison said softly.
“ Baby , your daddy and me are here now,” Emmylou replied.
“ I know, Mama , but I’m safe here, with Diana and the guys. It isn’t just Big Petey and Hugger . There’s Eight and Muzzle and Dutch and Core and Linus .”
Both the older O’Keefes turned our way.
“ You can stay with us too,” I offered. “ We’ll move the dining room around and get an air mattress.”
“ You and those fuckin’ air mattresses,” Hugger said under his breath, but he sounded amused.
Even so, I shot him a look.
“ Not gonna have Maddy’s parents on the front lines, someone gets in through the front door,” Big Petey stated.
“ You think I won’t have it covered?” Elias shot back.
“ I think Hugger should be in with Diana , you take the couch, and Emmylou here sleeps with her daughter,” Big Petey returned.
Oh my God .
I could kiss Big Petey .
Perfect solution for a variety of reasons.
“ Pete ,” Hugger growled.
“ It’s set,” Emmylou decreed. “ If you’re sure you don’t mind, Miss Diana .”
“ I don’t mind, Mrs . O’Keefe ,” I assured. “ Not at all.”
“ Call me Emmylou . Or just Emmy ,” she invited. She then turned to her daughter. “ Ready to go talk to the police?”
Before Madison could answer, Pete ordered, “ Hang tight. Want you to have an escort. We got boys patrolling the complex. Gotta give ’em a heads up they need to get to their bikes.”
“ All righty,” Emmylou agreed, apparently not perplexed in the slightest that Madison had a small army of bikers looking after her.
Seemed that Rayne did a lot of updating at the station.
“ Anyone want coffee while Big Petey sets that up?” I asked.
“ I’m fueled up, darlin’, but thank you,” Elias said.
“ I need coffee, hon. Didn’t sleep a wink last night,” Emmylou said.
“ Oh , Mama ,” Madison groaned.
Emmylou whirled on her daughter. “ Girl , I’ll sleep like a baby tonight, you sleepin’ beside me. Now let’s have coffee and get this done so Detective Scott can get on with his job.”
I was seeing good things with the addition of Emmylou . I hadn’t gotten around to talking Madison into going to the police station yet.
Now I didn’t have to do that.
I made coffee in to-go mugs, just in case it didn’t take long for the boys to hit their bikes.
As I did, both Hugger and Big Petey were on their phones, and my guess was, Hugger was on his to set that meet while we were at the police station.
He then came to me and murmured, “ I’ll go out and get one of those mattresses so I can sleep on the floor in your room.”
“ You can get one for Mr . O’Keefe so he can be comfortable. You aren’t getting one for you.”
“ Babe .”
“ It isn’t like you don’t know I want to sleep with you.”
“ I do know that, and I want the same, but?—”
As he was speaking, I was casting my gaze around, and no one was paying any attention to us, but still. I didn’t live in Buckingham Palace where the rooms were the size of football fields. They might hear even if they weren’t listening.
Thus , I cut him off. “ We’ll talk about it later.”
“ Di —”
I skewered him with a look. “ Harlan , we’ll talk about it later.”
His mouth got tight.
I got up on my toes to kiss it.
It stopped being tight.
There you go.
Another pro.
Give the man a quick peck, he might not get over it, but he won’t belabor it.
With that accomplished, I walked a travel mug of coffee to Emmylou .