Chapter Three—Kendall #2
His words after she’d told him about Ryan’s visit.
Johnnie said the meeting hadn’t been recorded.
She thought about asking Christopher or Mortician to override Johnnie’s order since Bash was still lurking.
She prayed Johnnie valued her life enough not to risk it that much.
If he felt Bash was a threat, he’d allow the cameras to record so her kidnapper or murderer could be discovered if it came to that.
She considered contacting Bash herself. She had to have safeguards in place, though. No fucking way she’d allow that motherfucker to swagger in and with the upper hand. Fuck him and the fucking Harley he rode in on.
Grabbing more tissue from the box covered by a silver holder, Kendall dabbed at her cheeks again. Tears did no one any good.
Years ago, she’d chosen her life course.
For the most part, it was a sound decision.
She loved her husband, her children, and her family.
From the outside looking in, she had it all—a thriving career, designer clothes, a luxurious lifestyle even within the framework of a biker club, and a bad boy in a business suit.
A motherfucker determined to break her to have his goddamn way.
She glared at the camera and stiffened her shoulders, sitting taller and sucking back the last of her tears. “Well, fuckhead, we’ll see who folds first. Newsflash: it won’t be me, so fuck you.”
Damn, that was good. It comforted her to pretend Johnnie wasn’t a selfish, vindictive asshole and he still monitored her.
“Knock, knock,” Brooks Redding said as he opened the door and walked into her office.
Kendall smiled at him. Brooks was like a father to her, who her children adored. Although they weren’t as close to his wife as they were to Roxy, Charlotte was an important part of their lives, too.
Brooks held up a #10 envelope, then set it on her desk. “Beams asked me to give this to you. It came a few minutes before she left.”
“A check?” From where she sat, the envelope looked empty.
Brooks picked it up again. “No return address, although I think the postmark indicates it was mailed from Michigan.” He turned it toward her and pointed. “See?”
“It’s too far away for me to see the stamp.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Give me the letter. I’ll look at it tomorrow.”
Once Brooks complied, Kendall unlocked the desk drawer she kept the folders in, then set them inside along with the envelope.
“How are Meggie and Rebel?”
“Outlaw…Christopher…he won’t let anyone see Rebel,” she said. “CJ said Meggie is still sedated.”
“I can’t believe…” A faraway look entered his eyes.
Whatever went through his mind marred his face with sadness before he snapped out of it and met Kendall’s gaze.
“I’ve had my issues with Outlaw, but my heart goes out to him.
Does my sympathy mean I’m betraying my son-in-law?
My daughter and grandchildren were never the same after Kyler’s death. Liz still barely abides me.”
“We all knew the danger of crossing Outlaw.” Kendall lowered her lashes, wondering if all her past sins were finally catching up to her.
She’d thought she could forget all her many crimes against Meggie and had escaped the wrath of karma.
“Even though Liz remarried, she still hates me as much as Kyler’s daughters.
You were only doing what Charlotte ordered to help me, Brooks. There’s so much I have to atone for.”
“Stop it this instant, Kendall,” Brook said sharply. “You, my darling girl, aren’t blameless but I bear the brunt of it. I was taking the man’s money and I listened to Charlotte. Given a second chance, I would do a lot differently. Taking you as my adopted daughter isn’t one of them.”
Kendall blinked, overly emotional. The situation with Rule capped off a horrendous few weeks.
“Charlotte loves you just as much, my dear.”
“I know,” Kendall responded.
“She doesn’t know everything about…” He gestured with his hands, then looked at Kendall with meaning. “She wouldn’t be very happy with me or Johnnie if she knew the extent of our involvement with Mr. Caldwell.”
“If you’re referring to Bash, call him Mr. Motherfucker,” Kendall said crossly. “Better yet, motherfucker will do.”
Brooks grimaced. “Charlotte and I have had our fair share of marital upheaval after I double-crossed Outlaw.”
That was news to Kendall. Brooks and Charlotte always seemed so solidly in each other’s corner. “Wh-what do you mean?”
“It doesn’t matter, my girl.”
“It does!”
“I have it handled, Kendall.”
Cocking her head to the side, Kendall squinted and studied Brooks. “What do you have handled?”
“The little Charlotte knows didn’t sit well with her. She’d intended, uh, she’d intended to invite Meggie to dinner.”
An unusual circumstance. Lifting her brow, Kendall waited for Brooks to continue.
He rocked on his heels. “She found Bash’s contact information,” he mumbled, unable to meet her.
He added nothing else and instead allowed those two seemingly innocuous and unconnected bits of information to hang between them.
Kendall knew Charlotte, though. She’d backed off her hatred of Johnnie and all things club related.
She laughed and smiled with Meggie and Christopher, but terrible memories hid underneath the goodwill.
“Taking care of Charlotte is a phone call away, Brooks,” she said coldly, so angry she could chew fucking nails.
“How fucking dare she? Meggie doesn’t deserve to be handed over to Bash or anyone else.
Charlotte stays out of club business or else and if you cannot impress that upon your wife, I certainly will. ”
“She’s concerned about me,” Brooks said dully.
“Not enough,” Kendall snapped. “Outlaw would kill you after you watched her die. Meggie isn’t a fucking scapegoat.”
“I know. Charlotte is aware.”
“Make sure she is,” Kendall grumbled. She wasn’t as close to Charlotte as she once was. On the surface, everything seemed fine, but Charlotte was still hurt at Kendall’s attachment to Roxy. “I’ll talk to her tonight, Brooks. I need to know myself–”
“I promise you have nothing to worry about. If Charlotte knows I confided in you, our arguments will start again. Please. Just trust me.”
“Famous fucking last words.”
“She was at the hospital, Kendall,” Brooks argued. “She wouldn’t have gone if she was still upset with Meggie.”
“Fine,” Kendall relented, “but know this. If I get the smallest whiff after this that she is holding anything against Meggie, I’m not calling Outlaw.
I’m calling Diesel. My family has had enough heartache in the past ninety days to fill one of Shakespeare’s tragedies.
You keep that bitch in line or I’ll see her goddamn head on a pike. ”
“H-have you restarted your meds?”
She threw him a putrid look.
“You s-seem a little v-v-violent.”
“I’m on the motherfuckers,” she screeched crossly. “I promised Christopher.”
Brooks swallowed, drew in a deep breath, then released it in slow degrees. “Who…who is he? Outlaw or Christopher? You don’t seem sure.”
“I don’t fucking know.” Her petulance didn’t concern her.
Brooks seemed to have recovered but she hadn’t.
She couldn’t believe Charlotte. “I want to call him Christopher. He invited me to. Meggie loves it as well. But it’s…
it’s Johnnie.” She was suddenly exhausted all over again and all her outrage fled.
“I tell myself if I go back to calling my brother-in-law by Outlaw, my husband will relent. He’ll help me with Bash.
Tell me what he knows. I’m not trying to ignore his wishes. I just want to save his life.”
“You can only do that if you’re at your optimal, my darling girl. If referring to Outlaw as Christopher helps you, then don’t let Johnnie change your mind. We know how stubborn your husband is. He’s going to want you to meet all his demands before he eases up. Are you willing to do that?”
“No.”
“Speaking of D-Diesel…” Brooks folded his arms, an unhappy frown marring his face.
Firmly back in Outlaw’s good graces, he’d resumed wearing a more stylish wardrobe, though far from the custom-made suits he once enjoyed.
He didn’t hide his fine lines behind cosmetic procedures, which Kendall appreciated.
“His filing for a legal separation puts me in a precarious predicament. What should I do about Tabitha? Poor dear was too distraught to come in today and I didn’t want to push her. ”
“Let me. I’ll push that bitch. Out the window of a ten-story building. Off a cliff. From a balcony.”
“Forever Kendall,” Brooks chortled fondly, then grew serious, pressed his lips together, and buttoned his suit coat. “That isn’t an option.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “Let me talk to Diesel. He’s my nephew. We do what he wants. Fuck that bitch.”
“He’ll complicate matters, Kendall. I heard he’s moving some woman in with him at the house.”
‘The house’ meant Meggie and Christopher’s place.
Removing her glasses, Kendall rubbed her temples. “He’s guided by his cock,” she said crossly. “And Tabitha’s motivated by money. All she needs to hear is he’s living with another woman and she’ll pounce. What the fuck is he thinking?”
“I was thinking the same thing. I can understand Meggie and Outlaw allowing this because of everything that’s going on. But Diesel? He’s too smart to be so dumb.”
Kendall wanted to swing by the hospital to check on Meggie and Rebel before she headed home, so she got to her feet.
Grabbing her purse from the drawer of the credenza behind her desk, she saw the folder containing all the legal documents pertaining to Rule.
Picking it up, she flipped through the pages and found everything in order.
After staring at the page with M. Wilkins, Father Wilkins’s signature, she turned to Brooks.
“I have a meeting with an assistant DA in the morning about a robbery case. Make sure Beams scan the documents. If I can’t pin down Christopher, I’ll have him eSign. ”
“I might do it myself, since I plan to stay a little late tonight.”
He was preparing for a trial, too.
“Okay.” She kissed his cheek and smiled. Just as she remembered doing to her real father before he was killed. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good evening.”
Brooks nodded to her and smiled, then walked out.