Chapter 12 #2
Natalie speaks up almost immediately. “I recognize him! It’s my foster father’s brother. What’s he doing here?”
I frown as I squint at the image, “What about that Samson guy? I thought he was the one who broke into my house.”
Siege clarifies, “That was our thought as well. Though it looks like when you warned him off, he scuttled back home again.”
Zen swipes to the next image. This one is clearer, showing his full face more clearly.
Natalie inhales sharply and then frowns. “It’s definitely Jeremiah. But it doesn’t make any sense. He always spoke up for me. He would tell my foster parents that they should let me be a kid.”
Siege frowns. “So who is he?”
“I guess you could call him my foster uncle,” she says. “My foster father’s brother, he’s also a minister at the church. He lived in the house as well, along with their mother. Eleanor was a nice woman, I actually called her Granny Ellie.”
Rigs leans forward slightly, his voice even. “Explain the dynamic. It sounds seriously messed up to me.”
Natalie takes a breath and glances at me before turning back to Siege.
“She wasn’t part of the abuse. She was quiet, kind, and looked out for us as best she could.
She cooked extra food for us when no one was looking.
Bought socks when our foster parents said the money ran out.
By the time I was fifteen she was frail, mostly bedbound, and she hated what they were doing. ”
Tank mutters from the window, “Then why didn’t she stop it?”
“She tried,” Natalie responds softly. “Once. When I was fourteen, we even reported it together. We thought maybe if an adult came forward with me, someone would take it seriously. Nothing happened. Our foster parents talked themselves right out of trouble by saying she was senile and the investigation got dropped.”
“After that, they threatened to put her in a home if she spoke out again. She was scared they might follow through. If I’m honest, so was I.
” After a brief pause, Natalie continues.
“So, she stopped fighting directly. But she still did what she could to protect me and the others. As she got frailer, one of my chores was to look after her. Though I didn’t mind. I loved her.”
Zen asks quietly, “And that’s why she left you the inheritance?”
Natalie looks confused. “What inheritance?”
Zen glances up from his tablet, and asks, “You didn’t know that she left you every cent she had to her name?”
She shakes her head. “No. I came to Rick because I had nowhere else to go. I didn’t know there was money, much less that she wanted me to have it. Granny Ellie never said a word. Are you sure about that? How did you find out?”
Zen turns the tablet towards her. “Your name popped up on the estate record yesterday. You’re listed as sole heir.”
Rider connects it instantly. “They’re after the will. They must be, right?”
Siege’s voice drops to a low growl. “It might be that he wants to get rid of you because he’s the next in line if anything happens to you.”
No one speaks for a brief moment as we all think over his words.
“Maybe they thought if they got rid of Rick that getting rid of you would be easier,” I say, getting angrier by the second. “Or maybe you were the target, and they thought Rick might give you a ride?”
Natalie’s hands curl flat against my cut as she gazes up at me.
“Jeremiah was always quiet and when he talked, it was about what God would want us to do. His brother was all fire and brimstone, but Jeremiah seemed like a nice man. He actually encouraged me to leave. I have a hard time believing he’s part of this. What if I’m all wrong about him?”
I squeeze her hand soothingly.
Siege studies her for a long second, picks up the remote control to the big screen mounted on the side wall and turns it on. “Zen, show them what you found.”
Zen’s fingers fly over the keyboard, and a county probate document jumps onto the screen. It’s a last will and testament for Eleanor Elliot.
Natalie freezes in place. “I didn’t know this existed.”
Zen scrolls. “It was filed a week before she died.”
He enlarges the text on the screen.
I, Eleanor Diane Elliot, being of sound mind and body, hereby leave all property and funds held in my name to Natalie Lynn Mullins. She is my only heir.
A long silence spins out as we read through the first part of the will.
Dutch speaks first. “You’re certain this is the latest filing?”
Zen taps the bottom of the screen. “It’s been officially notarized, timestamped, and county registered. This is the only one on file.”
Siege leans back in his chair. His eyes are still on Natalie. “Do you think your foster father knew about this?”
Natalie answers slowly, thinking out loud. “I don’t think so. And I don’t think Jeremiah knew, either. If he did, he never mentioned it. She was so scared of being sent to a nursing home, she probably did it secretly so no one would know until after she died.”
Zen zooms in on a section near the bottom. “That’s not it. Look at clause 4C. The beneficiary must demonstrate independent living for no less than ninety calendar days from the time of the decedent’s passing. If not, the will can be challenged or a financial guardian appointed.”
Natalie straightens, realization settling in all at once. “She made my freedom a requirement.”
Rigs suddenly thumps the table. “That’s it!”
We all turn to look at him. What with the cross around his neck and the expression on his face he looks more like a fire and brimstone preacher right now.
“The foster father and the brother are in cahoots. Good cop, bad cop. To get the inheritance you have to be free. But also if you’re unable to look after yourself, they can challenge the will.
They played it both ways, knowing that somehow, they’d get their money. ”
We’re all silent for a moment. Then Natalie speaks, “So that’s why he encouraged me to go. He can’t steal the inheritance from me if I don’t get it first. But if something happened and I came back, then he or David could use the clause and fight against the decision.”
Siege nods once. “Looks like Eleanor tried to use the system against itself in a desperate effort to get you free of the situation.”
Natalie nods, looking grief stricken. “She knew they wouldn’t honor her wishes unless they had no choice. She needed me out of that house, out from under their thumb.”
Rider gives a low whistle. “And they both sound manipulative as hell.”
“He’s waiting,” Natalie says without hesitation. “My foster father thinks I’ll come crawling back when things fall apart. If I do, he’ll say I didn’t make it on my own and challenge the inheritance.”
Rigs watches her carefully. “Would he sabotage a bike? Would he target Rick?”
“Yes,” she says immediately. “Well, maybe not him. He wouldn’t get his hands dirty, but he’d get someone else to do it. My foster father ran that house like a business. Every foster kid was a paycheck. He’s cold. Calculated. If someone gets in his way, he’ll find a way to deal with it.”
A quiet fury begins slowly burning in my very soul. Because in the back of my mind, I’m worried that her foster father and his brother are crazier than any of us imagine. They might even be crazy enough to kill her if they think their plan’s gonna fail.
Siege gazes at Natalie thoughtfully. “This is beyond legal channels now. You know that, right? This is something we’re gonna have to take care of on our own.”
The mood in the room shifts the second Siege says what we’re all thinking out loud. “Siege is right,” I say. “This is all speculation. Unless we find hard evidence, the cops aren’t going to arrest a fuckin’ preacher.”
Dutch folds his arms. “So what’s the plan here, Prez?”
Siege doesn’t look at anyone but Natalie.
“We bait them. They’ve already made a move several times.
There is a very good chance he’s the one who sabotaged Rick’s bike.
My best guess is they’re not gonna stop until we fucking stop them.
They wanted Rick gone because it would mean Natalie was without family support.
They couldn’t anticipate her becoming Bear’s old lady. ”
Tank shakes his head. “She can go back. Say it didn’t work out. We’ll come with a whole sob story. Maybe say Rick isn’t improving, that she’s scared, that she needs a roof over her head.”
The second the words leave his mouth, something inside me goes cold and sharp.
“No,” I say immediately, my voice cutting through his little plan. “That’s not happening. I’m not gonna stand by while my club brothers use you for fuckin’ bait.”
Heads turn towards me, but I don’t care.
Siege tries to explain. “If she returns before the ninety days are up, he can file to contest the will on grounds of dependency. It would lull them into a false sense of security, and make them think they have time. If we could get proof of wrongdoing, it could be used as legal leverage.”
I lean forward with one forearm braced on my knee, and lock eyes with Siege.
“I don’t give a fuck about legal leverage.
You’re talking about sending her back to live with people who mentally abused, starved, and exploited her.
That’s not strategy. It’s putting her into danger again and that’s not okay with me. ”
Siege frowns at me, like I’m the one being difficult.
I turn towards Natalie, because I need her to understand exactly why I’m objecting.
“They want to use you as honest-to-goodness bait, hoping this fucker will say something incriminating. I don’t want you in that house, knowing your old foster parents are going to slave you out again and this uncle figure is trying to swindle you out of your inheritance. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
She meets my eyes without flinching.
“I think I should do this. I want to do it for my own reasons.”
Siege studies both of us, then speaks again. “The decision is hers and no one else’s. That cut on her back doesn’t mean you get to make her decision for her.”
“I goddamn know that already,” I snarl.
Natalie’s quiet voice cuts through our debate. “I’ll do it.”
The ferocity of my own response doesn’t shock anyone more than me. “The hell you will! We’ll find another way. I don’t want this fucker’s eyes to even land on you. What if they decide it’s easier if you’re out of the picture entirely? How am I gonna protect you?”
Her voice stays steady, but there’s iron underneath it now.
“Bear, if I stop them from doing this, they’ll just keep hurting people, twisting the truth, and never suffer any consequences.
I need to do this for Granny Ellie. I was too scared to rock the boat before out of fear of what would happen to the kids.
Now they’re all in other foster placements and I’m not that scared girl anymore.
Let me do this. I need your support now more than ever. ”
I sit there, with a lump forming in my throat as I stare into the face of my beautiful, courageous old lady, every instinct screaming to shut this down, to scoop her up in my arms and run away fast, taking her far away from this mess.
I’d love for this to be someone else’s problem.
But the part of me that was raised in care understands all too well why she wants to do this.
She’s right, and if I were a decent man, I’d give her the support she needs.
I turn back to Siege. “If she goes, she doesn’t go alone. I don’t care what kind of story we’re telling him. I don’t want her out of our sight.”
“She won’t be,” he assures me. “We’ll have eyes on her wherever she goes. If anyone in that house raises a hand to her, we’ll move immediately, no questions asked.”
“No,” Natalie says.
Everyone turns to look at her. “They’ll know. I have to do this alone.”
“I’m not—”
“Trust me, Bear,” she says as she grabs my hand. “I lived with them for years. They won’t hurt me directly. They’ll try and challenge the will.”
Zen is busy typing away on his laptop. “I’ll create a trail on her phone, to make her story believable. I’ll make sure everything she says will have data backing it, just in case they check.”
Natalie exhales slowly, relaxing back against my chest. “We should probably do it right away, before he gets any more wild ideas about how to force me back home. I don’t want him targeting Bear next.”
I cut in again, quieter this time but no less firm. “If at any point my gut says pull her, we pull her.”
Siege doesn’t argue. “Agreed. If we don’t do something these fuckers are going to be a pain in our asses for a long time.”
He pushes up from his chair. “Natalie, you work with Bear and Rigs to come up with a story that’ll hold together, explaining why you came back to them.
Communicate that to Zen so he can make sure the digital verification matches the story just in case they check it out. Me and Rider will manage the rest.”
I am so pissed with this whole situation that I don’t trust myself to speak. So, I give one short nod. Inside I’m already moving three steps ahead, mapping routes in my head to Sacramento, and calculating logistics, in case it all kicks off.
As we all file out of the office, I fall into step beside Natalie, with one arm draped around her back. All my protective instincts have risen to the surface, and I’m battling the need to just throw her over my shoulder and run off with her.
My thoughts are growing more ruthless by the minute, and I find myself caring less and less about her foster father being a man of God. To my mind, he’s just another garden variety asshole intent upon taking from my old lady what’s rightfully hers.
Natalie walks with her chin up, but a very worried expression on her face. She’s scared but doing what she thinks is right anyway. I feel something fierce and possessive filling every corner of my mind. She’s brave but every instinct I have wants to shield her from these assholes.
At the end of the hall, she glances at me. “We can do this if we stick together. There’s more going on here than you know.”
I give her the only answer that matters right now. “No matter what it is that I don’t know, I’m gonna be there for you. Doubt everything else in the world but never doubt me.”
She drags me down for a quick kiss. It floods my body with need at a time when I should not be thinking of how soft she feels under me.