44. Chapter 44
“What the hell is going on? Why the fuck is this mutt growling and staring at me?” Shyvers grits out as he stares down at Bastion.
“That is Bastion,” Levi tells him, her voice smug as fuck. “He’s a Pitbull and he’s a retired police dog who used to help his partner search out drugs, bombs, and things like that. I’d remain still if I were you,” she tells him when Shyvers shifts to step back, causing him to halt. “You wouldn’t want him attacking you by thinking you’re trying to hide something by running away now, would you?”
“This is bullshit. If there was a retired police dog here, why isn’t there a record of it?”
Levi scoffs and shakes her head. “There is, you just obviously didn’t look in the right spot, or you didn’t care to look.” She stands, flipping her pen in the air, before walking over to her men, both of them placing an arm around her when she’s close enough. “Bastion is my dog and is registered to myself and my husbands, Thor and Dragon.”
“Want me to search him, Captain?” Brady asks as he crosses his arms across his chest, waiting for Uncle Sam’s orders.
“What makes you think we should just trust this mutt? They could have trained him for anything.”
Uncle Sam shrugs. “Alright then. Dixon, call in Richards and Charlie,” he calls over his shoulder and Shyvers face pales slightly. “We’ll see if there really is anything on you when our own K9 unit gets a good sniff around.”
I can’t stop the dark grin that forms at Shyvers’ reddened face. Richards hates Shyvers with a passion because one of the women Shyvers tried to force himself on was Richards’ little sister. Charlie is the German Shepherd K9 assigned to Richards.
“You’re going to believe these low-life thugs over me?” Shyvers yells as he points angrily in our direction and Wilson wisely steps away from him.
Uncle Sam grabs his arm, spins him, and cuffs him before taking off his utility belt. He holds it out to Brady, who’s wearing a smug smile as he takes it. Uncle Sam spins him again and gets right in his face.
“Bet your ass I’m going to believe them over you two. You’re both only here because you’re on thin ice with the Chief. I was ordered to take you with me so I could report back to Chief on your performance. Let’s just say my report isn’t going to look good on your records,” he grits out as Dixon’s radio crackles again.
“Captain, Richards is currently responding to a call and will be here as soon as he can.”
Uncle Sam nods and turns to Thor. “Any chance we can get some coffee while we wait?”
Levi nods. “I put on a fresh pot earlier. Let me get you guys some mugs.”
Dragon snags her wrist, pulling her back in between him and Thor and kisses her forehead as he caresses her stomach. “We’ll handle it, Spitfire. Today was an emotional day, and with you so close to your due date, I’d prefer if you’d rest right now.”
Levi glares at him and Thor wraps his arm around her waist, tucking her into his side.
“I’m not made of glass. Women have been giving birth for years. Walking into the kitchen to get mugs and coffee isn’t going to make me go into labor,” she protests and fuck am I glad she hasn’t pulled a knife on either of them with the cops here.
Thor grabs her chin and makes her look at him. “Please, Wildcat, humor us for a bit. The accident is dredging up bad memories for both of us.”
He gives her a chaste kiss and she gives a reluctant nod, her glare softening a touch.
“Fine, I’ll give you this pass for now,” she replies before kissing them both and then goes and sits down next to Mary as she calls over her shoulder. “Can you bring Mary and I back some waters while you’re in there?”
“Sure thing, Queen.” Timber follows Dragon into the kitchen, no doubt also wanting to check in on Mae while he’s at it.
Remembering Wilson, I turn back to him to find him frowning as he takes in the scene. His gaze finds Mary’s and then mine as his frown deepens. I quirk an eyebrow at him, but he doesn’t say anything. What was that about?
“You mentioned earlier that you were heading home when the attack happened. Where were you before then?” Wilson pins Mary with a look I can’t decipher.
“We were at my dad’s house, packing up his and my old belongings.”
His frown deepens and he looks back at Mary. “The house doesn’t belong to you. How did you get in?”
Mary’s worried gaze finds mine, but she doesn’t need to be worried.
I clear my throat and Wilson’s gaze snaps to mine. “I bought it from her grandparents years ago.”
Wilson gives me a disbelieving look.
“Look it up if you don’t believe me. It’s listed under my name, Luke Morgan. Or did you not connect the dots that it was me? I bought it from her grandparents once I’d built up some savings so that they wouldn’t have to have two mortgages. At the time, I figured that when I found Mary, she would then have the choice of keeping her childhood home or not, rather than having the decision made for her.”
He scoffs and I’m getting really fucking tired of his attitude.
“Why would you do something like that? You barely know her. She could be trying to fleece you for everything you have.”
A dry, humorless laugh escapes me as I plant my hands on my hips, ignoring the pain from the tightening of my skin around the stitches in my arm and hands. “You need to do your fucking homework before accusing people of doing things, Wilson. Do you not remember me saying that Mary and I had been going out when she was kidnapped and that she was pregnant with my son? I’ve known Mary since we were in the second grade. I knew as soon as I saw her that she was someone special and would always be. We already knew we wanted to get married after we graduated. I had an engagement ring picked out and everything. I planned to ask her after the graduation ceremony. But then, she was kidnapped. I looked for her and my son all this time and finally saw her for the first time in nine years when they moved back to Forest Creek. So yeah, I know my Mary isn’t the woman you’re describing.”
He grins and worry churns in my gut.
“Is that so? Well, for one, she can’t be ‘your Mary’ because she’s still married to Stephan. Besides, are you sure you want to tie yourself to someone like her? She brings trouble everywhere she goes. It’s why her mom left her. It’s why her father shot himself. It’s why the rest of her family abandoned her. Hell, Stephan had to deal with all sorts of shit since she tricked him into marrying him. So yeah, I’m questioning your story because if she really did love you, she would have married you and not run away to marry Stephan. Hell, even when she was with him, she wasn’t loyal to him. How do you know your son is really your son?”
Mary sighs as my blood boils. How dare he say that shit about her?
“You two really are just lost little puppies, doing whatever your master tells you to do. Not to mention naively believing everything they tell you without using your own brain. Nothing we say will make you realize the truth, and quite frankly, it’s none of your damn business. If I had to guess, Stephan ordered you both to try and stir up shit to get the club to kick us out of here so that it’d be easier for him to get his hands on us. He’s worried about what will happen when I testify against him, and I will be testifying against him. So, go ahead and tell your master that his day is coming and he can pound sand for all I care.”
Wilson steps forward menacingly, and Bastion lets rip another low growl. Moving in front of Mary, in case this asshole doesn’t take Bastion’s warning, my muscles tense, ready to throw down if need be despite my injuries.
Uncle Sam pushes himself between us as he gives Wilson an icy glare. “Wilson, you will stand down. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and you will cease badgering Mary, or else you will be under further investigation. We have new evidence on several current as well as old cases that are being reopened because of this new evidence. If you do not stand down, I have orders to bring you in for harassment. Among other things.”
Wilson clenches his jaw as he glares at Mary. He’s not going to let this drop. Why are they so insistent on driving a wedge between Mary and me? Is it just to get the club to drop our protection of her and the kids and kick her out? Or is it something else? What are we missing?
Thankfully, the doors open and I’m relieved to see that it’s Richards with his K9, Charlie, at his side. Another Police Officer is with him, but I don’t recognize him.
“Apologies on not being able to get here when you needed us, Captain. What’s going on?” he asks right as Charlie starts growling low. Both Richards and the unknown Police Officer glance down at Charlie, frowning.
“Bastion, the Gilberts’ retired police dog, picked up a scent and we want you to see if Charlie also picks it up, but based on how Charlie’s already reacting, I think Bastion was right.”
Richards’ nods and looks down at Charlie. “Charlie, suchen (search).”
Charlie walks over to Wilson, circles him, and barks once as he sits. Then he gets up and walks over to Shyvers, barks once, sits down and stays sitting down in front of him.
“Charlie, bleiben (stay),” Richards commands.
“This is fucking ridiculous. I’m a fucking Police Officer for fuck’s sake. They should be the ones you’re searching, not me,” Shyvers growls, his jaw clenched, but the beads of sweat on his forehead betray his nervousness.
“Well, like Wilson said earlier, if you’ve got nothing to hide, you won’t mind Richards and Daniels searching you then.” Uncle Sam crosses his arms and waits to see if Shyvers will respond. When he says nothing, he nods to Richards and Daniels, who step forward.
Shyvers stupidly takes that moment to throw himself at Richards, trying to fight him even though his hands are handcuffed behind his back. Brady and Dixon step forward and after a few moments, are able to get Shyvers back on his feet, both of them gripping his arms tightly.
Richards makes quick work of his search and pulls out a baggie filled with white powder. Fuck. Daniel’s searches Wilson but shakes his head.
“That asshole planted it on me,” Shyvers hisses as he glares at me.
Uncle Sam chuckles lowly. “You really are a stupid fucker. You just saw that they have security footage of the attack from multiple angles. Do you really think they wouldn’t have security cameras inside as well? If I was a betting man, I’d wager it was you that was hoping to plant the fucking drugs on Patch or one of the other members.” He pauses as he looks over his shoulder at Smoke. “Can you pull up the feed since we arrived?”
Instead of answering him right away, Smoke gestures to the big screen. “I think it’ll be easier to see it on the other screen. I’ve got multiple camera angles we can look at.”
He hits play and after a few moments, I grit my teeth at the sight of Wilson passing the bag to Shyvers when they walk up the stairs and into the clubhouse. Maybe Wilson wasn’t always following Shyvers’ lead. Later, Shyvers palms the baggie as we argue, but when I stopped about a foot in front of him, he slipped the bag back into his pocket.
Uncle Sam smirks. “Smoke, can I get a copy of both this footage and the accident?”
“You got it.” Smoke’s fingers fly across his keyboard as he gets to work.
“Officer Bill Shyvers and Officer Ray Wilson, you both are under arrest for possession of illegal drugs, intent to falsely incriminate the innocent as well as harassment.”
Shyvers takes that moment to try and break free of Brady’s and Dixon’s grasp at the same time that Wilson tries to make a break for the door, slipping out of Daniels grasp before he’s able to cuff him.
I grin as Wilson comes to a halt when he sees Bear, Ryder, Punisher, and Beast already blocking the door.
“Going somewhere?” Bear growls menacingly and Wilson pales, but he doesn’t fight Richards when he cuffs him and unhooks his utility belt.
Uncle Sam steps forward, not stopping until he’s nose to nose with Shyvers. “Looks like we’ll be adding resisting arrest to those charges. And who knows? Maybe more charges will be added on as we continue to comb through the copious amounts of new evidence.”
Shyvers bares his teeth at him. “You’ll all pay for this. You’re arresting the wrong people, Captain .”
“We’ll see about that. Richards, Daniels, if you’d be so kind as to escort these gentlemen to the squad cars? Daniels, you can drive back Shyvers and Wilson’s car for now. Morgan and Dixon, let’s start on the claims for the truck, motorcycles, and make sure there’s no damage to the property that needs to be reported.”
Richards whistles for Charlie to follow after him as he leads Shyvers toward the front door with Daniels and Wilson right behind him.
A couple hours later, I’m sitting next to Mary with the kids on both of our laps as they watch a movie in the main room. Mary snuggles into my side and I pull her tighter against me as I lean over and kiss her forehead. A small smile plays at her lips and after everything that’s happened today, I’m fucking glad to see her smiling.
“What’s got you smiling over there, Siren?” I give her a little squeeze with the arm that’s draped over her shoulders and she giggles.
She shakes her head, but her smile grows. “I was just thinking back to when I was helping Doc with your wounds. Then I remembered earlier this year when you told the kids how you earned your road name. Was just thinking of the irony that I was helping patch up Patch.”
I chuckle and kiss her forehead again, beyond thankful that she wasn’t injured worse than she already was. Doc checked her shoulder, but other than being a bit sorer than before, he doesn’t think it was injured further. However, I did notice that she took some over-the-counter pain medicine right before we all headed out to look at the vehicles so we could report our claims. Not that it really matters. I could have easily paid for another truck without putting much of a dent in my savings.
The clubhouse doors swing open and Judge walks in with the rest of the guys that rode around to scout and make sure no more of those assholes were hiding nearby. Ethan, Bones, Razor, and Smithy are right behind them and Ethan makes his way over to us.
“I parked the van over by the others, which are in front of your condo. Keys are in the usual hiding place.”
“Thank you, Ethan.” He looks down at Mary’s voice and dips his head before heading over to help Colt behind the bar.
“Church”, Thor bellows, and reluctantly, I give Mary one more squeeze before removing my arm from her shoulders.
“Stay inside, all of you,” I tell each of the kids as I hug and kiss their foreheads. Cassie clings a little tighter and longer than the boys, but eventually she lets me go. “Don’t worry, Angel. There are lots more cuddles you can have after we’re done meeting.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she says as she rises up on her knees and I just barely catch her in time before she nails my dick. I’m going to have to talk to her about this later. She places a kiss on my cheek and whispers in my ear, though it’s not much of a whisper, “Love you, Daddy.”
My eyes burn with unshed tears and I wrap her little body in my arms one more time. “Love you, too, Angel.”
When she slides off my lap, I gingerly get up, trying not to show how much my thigh and side burn by the action. However, by the look Mary shoots me, I wasn’t very successful in hiding my wince.
Leaning down, I carefully brace my hand against the back of the couch as I cup her cheek and give her a quick kiss. “Stay in here and don’t go outside for anything. If the kids get tired, you have the key to my room here.”
She nods and points at the ground toward the bag that’s at her feet, and I realize it’s the backpack we stowed in the truck. “I’ll start reading through this stuff to see what’s all in there. If there’s anything important, I’ll let you guys know.”
Giving her one more quick kiss, I’m about to stand up when Phoenix walks up to the sofa and places a hand on Mary’s shoulder. She jumps a bit but relaxes instantly when she sees who it is.
“Thanks for what you did earlier, Mary. Like I said, you’re gonna fit in perfectly around here,” he says in his normal growly and gravelly voice.
Reaching up, she squeezes his hand. “I’ll always help if I’m able to and I’m glad you and the others weren’t hurt worse. I just ask that you guys don’t treat me like I’m made of spun glass and will break at any moment.”
His lips kick up slightly, and Devil comes up, clasping him on the shoulder before turning toward Mary and giving her a chin lift as well.
“Welcome to the family, Mary. Thanks for helping patch me up.”
They both lean down and kiss the crown of her head before walking across the room and into Church. Mary stares at their retreating backs in shock and I chuckle, shaking my head. No doubt she’s wondering what the hell just happened. I don’t know if those two will end up claiming her as their sister, but if not, then I’m sure they’re going to be looking out for her just like an older brother would for their sister.
She blinks rapidly and looks up at me again. “What just happened?”
Chuckling again, I can’t help but give her another kiss, though I don’t voice my suspicions in case they take the silent protector route. “Not quite sure, Siren. Time will tell.”
Shaking her head, she tries to hide her smile as she shoos me away. “Head on into Church. I’ve got reading to do.”
Smiling, I push off the back of the couch and make my way across the room, but then my smile fades as I think of those fuckers down in the sticks. They are going to pay when I get my hands on them. But first, they’ll be sitting on ice for the night.