Chapter Ten
Hunter
One of my old officers used to say, ‘If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, you’re dead.’ Since I can’t afford to die before I kill Victor Moretti, I arrive at Ironwood Falls Meds last night, Charlie slept the entire night. That’s never happened before. Something about Emily and how she is with him is magic, and while one good night of sleep isn’t enough to erase the physical toll of the too-many nights before where I didn’t sleep, where I spent hours watching over a crying, confused, sick baby, wondering just what the hell I was going to do to make it through all of this, I feel good enough that I can scrape together the beginnings of a plan.
First things first: Charlie and Emily are going to spend some quality time together and I’m going to have a few hours to myself.
Is this what parenthood is? I wonder as I heft Charlie out of his car seat and put him under my arm like a football. Taking care of someone so important they consume most every waking thought, while at the same time longing for those rare moments where your life is your own?
Less than a week into being a dad and I’m already a wreck. This is my most daunting mission.
“Come on, little man, we’re going to see your favorite person in the world. I’ll bet Emily is going to be really excited to see you, too. Won’t that be great? You’re going to be good for her, right?”
Charlie coos a little at the mention of her name. Or maybe he’s just gassy. I don’t fucking know — babies are indecipherable little blobs of cuteness that make incomprehensibly large messes in their diapers.
I shiver.
Not halfway to the door, I spy someone familiar lounging in wait. Sophie.
Her eyes light up when she catches sight of me and Charlie. She strolls toward us with a sway in her hips and a smile on her face.
“Hey there, daddy,” she says. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up.”
“Something tells me that isn’t the first time you’ve said that,” I say.
“You’d be right. No shame in that. Single dads need love, too.”
“This one ain’t interested,” I say. “What are you doing out here, Sophie?”
“Waiting for you. Emily asked me to.”
“Are you sure Emily asked you to, and you aren’t doing this for some ulterior motive?”
“I have no idea what you mean,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But maybe you shouldn’t close yourself off to the opportunity, you know?”
“Again, not interested.”
“Really though, Emily asked me to wait out here for you, Hunter.”
“Why?”
“She had a feeling you’d get here early, because you’re the crazy military type who gets places early and probably had that beaten into you by some angry drill sergeant who desperately needed therapy,” she says.
“True.”
“So, you’re to give the baby to me, and I will watch over it inside the store until she’s off work.”
“Are you qualified to watch over a baby?” I say.
“No,” she says. “Not in the slightest. But let’s be honest real about this, even though I’m the one who’s ostensibly going to be looking after that little cutie that you’re holding, we both know Emily is going to be doing all the work. Now, give her to me, and you can go hit up the Twisted Devils and make sure they don’t kill you for trying to do anything in their territory.”
I blink. “What…? How did you…”
“How do you think I’ve lived as long as I have while doing the things that I do? Just because I like whiskey, substances, and men doesn’t mean I’m a fucking idiot. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. Besides, it doesn’t take a fucking genius to see that a man who carries illegal weapons and crashes in vacant homes while trying to stay off the radar is probably into some illegal shit, and if he’s going to do illegal shit, he’s going to want permission of the group that runs this town. That would be the Twisted Devils MC.”
“I misjudged you.”
“Most people do. But, before you give me that baby, give me a minute. I’m going to step around back and enjoy a puff from my vape before I take responsibility for that little one. Don’t look at me like that — pot’s legal here and it’s only a puff, just enough to keep me chill while I hold Charlie’s life in my hands.”
I look from Sophie, to Charlie, and back again, unsure if I can trust him to her, even though I know it’ll only be a few minutes before Emily takes over. Sophie might be smarter than she acts, but that doesn’t mean much when I’m holding in my hands the most important person in my world and the last link I have to my brother.
Then I see something through the windows of the store. Or some one , rather. Emily looks up from her place behind the pharmacist’s counter, sees me, smiles, and waves.
Before I know it, I’m returning her wave.
And Charlie might not see Emily — maybe he can, a baby’s development is a mystery to me — but I swear he can sense her, because he giggles and bounces, and a sniff of the air tells me Sophie isn’t anywhere nearby for her vape to give Charlie a secondhand high.
“What do you say, Charlie? You ready to spend a few hours with Emily and Sophie while I go set us up with the Twisted Devils?” He may not be able to speak yet, but he sure can smile. When Sophie comes back around the corner, I hand him over. “Take good care of him.”
“I will.”
“If anything goes wrong, if he gets hurt, whatever, I will hold you responsible, and I will punish you in ways that even you wouldn’t enjoy.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time. But if you’re so nervous, let’s trade numbers. That way, you can check in anytime you want.”
Fuck it, she’s right, it would be the responsible thing to do.
Still, her eyes get wide and I swear I see her salivate as I take my phone out of my pocket, which makes me question everything. I’ve given my contact information to crime bosses, drug lords, and hitmen, yet Sophie is the first one to actually give me pause.
“Don’t misuse this. I’m serious.”
She sighs and rolls her eyes.
“Relax, Hunter. You aren’t the first armed and dangerous man to give me a baby for safekeeping and threaten me with death if anything goes wrong. Now, shut up, be a good biker daddy and give me your phone number, and then get the hell out of here.”