CHAPTER ELEVEN
– MEAVE –
“This was a bad idea,” I grumble when Reef and Zale slip out of the house.
My mother snorts. “Yes, most definitely. On the other hand, wouldn’t you like to know if that asshole killed our neighbors? Law enforcement has their hands tied most of the time. Sneaking a little peek could help them catch the killer. If there isn’t a body in the trunk? No harm, no foul, right?”
“You’re just as bad,” I grumble. “What about Leon? He’s fourteen and I pulled him into this too.”
Mom shrugs. “Leon’s almost fifteen and has gone through a lot. Besides, we’re all in this. Zale agreed, Leon offered. Those two just talked about Leon wanting more responsibilities and if he could start prospecting early.”
“That’s completely different,” I huff, guilt is starting to eat at me. “I shouldn’t have mentioned anything.”
“I can hear everything, and Maeve? Get with the program,” Leon whispers.
I release a deep sigh and glance out the window, watching Reef and Zale disappear into the garage.
“How are they even able to get in so fast?” I wonder. “Did they Google how to pick a lock? Damn. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Wait. They didn’t even bring any tools.”
My mother chuckles and so does Leon, but it’s my mother who says, “Those two are the president and vice president of a motorcycle club that didn’t always do everything the legal way. Picking locks is peanuts for them, and you should really look at what those guys carry on their body. Not just a gun, keys, and a phone.”
“Shit,” Leon hisses.
Dread fills my veins. “What? What’s wrong?”
“I lost him,” Leon grumbles. “He went around the corner, I followed, and then…nothing. I don’t see any footsteps in the snow either.”
“He must have gone through the bushes or jumped over a fence,” my mother states. “Leon, get back here right now. I’m gonna alert the guys.”
I keep Leon on the line, he’s jogging by the sound of his breaths. My relief of seeing two figures slip out of the garage across the street is short-lived when the dark night lights up with an explosion followed by booming fireworks lighting up the sky .
“What the fuck?” my mother snaps and jerks the curtains open wide.
My voice cracks with emotion. “Are they okay?”
“I sure hope not,” a harsh voice states from behind us.
The curtain falls shut as my mother and I whirl around and find Stuart staring at us. He has a large kitchen knife in hand.
He takes a step in my direction and points the knife at my mother while keeping his gaze on me. “Come on, Mia, we’re leaving.”
“My name is Maeve,” I hiss while I’m trying to think what to do.
I’m not going with him, that’s for freaking sure.
“Stop screwing around, Mia, and get your ass over here,” Stuart snarls.
“He’s delusional,” my mother mutters under her breath.
Sharp, cracking sounds are mixed with deep booming explosions as the fireworks keep going across the street.
“Why the hell did you set off all the fireworks?” I ask, trying to buy time.
Reef and Zale could get here any moment, right? They were leaving when the explosion occurred…they could be hurt, but still alive. Oh, damn, they better be alive. I just found myself a man who is my friend first and has evolved to a partner I can share my whole freaking life and everything else with.
He waves the knife through the air. “To clean house of course. Now, come on, we need to get out of here and finally start over. You wanted a second chance, you told me right before…you told me, and now we have a chance to do it. You, me, and the baby.”
I place a protective hand over my belly. A chill runs up my spine with the realization it’s not just me, or my mother, in danger…the new life growing inside my belly is at risk too.
“They’re not yours,” Reef snarls as he steps into the room.
A gasp rips from me when I feel the tip of the knife press against my belly.
“You should be dead,” Stuart snaps.
“Surprise.” Reef holds his arms away from his body. “Not dead. Nice touch, though, the battery operated timer on the fireworks. Good thing there were two of us, me working on popping the trunk, while my prez checked out the rest of the garage. Nice touch with the gasoline near the side of the house. Wanna make sure the house goes up in flames as well to get rid of the evidence they left behind? Not gonna work, asshole. We took pictures of the baggage you left in your trunk. Step away from my woman and I might delete them.”
“Might?” Stuart snarls. “You will delete them.”
I hiss from the pain when he puts more pressure on the knife.
“Stop, please, stop,” my mother pleads. “You don’t want to do this. Please. ”
Panic of losing the baby, dying right here, flashes through me. My gaze finds and locks with Reef. His whole appearance indicates he’s steady as a rock. Why isn’t he freaking out?
I stare at him while the words tumble from my lips without thinking. “I just started to fall in love with you.”
“About time, darlin’.” A radiant smile slides across Reef’s face. “You made me fall first so it’s only fair.”
“Stop talking,” Stuart snaps and moves the knife from my belly to point it at my face.
The sound of a gunshot cracks through the air. I stumble back and hit the table with my hip, making me grunt in pain. My mother lunges for me and I feel her arms surrounding me.
“Are you okay? Maeve, are you okay?” she rambles.
“Ouch,” I murmur and glance around her to see Stuart’s lifeless body bleeding out on the carpet.
Zale steps around Reef. “Sorry, I had to wait until I had a good shot, one where he wasn’t pressing a damn knife into your body.”
Reef is suddenly in front of me and drags me out of my mother’s arms. “I think I lost a few years of my life witnessing you being held at knifepoint. Fuck, darlin’ don’t ever risk putting yourself in danger again.”
An overwhelming stream of emotion hits me hard and makes tears flow over my cheeks. I bury my head against Reef’s strong chest while he holds me tight.
“How did he get back here so fast?” Leon asks, and I’m thankful to hear he’s here as well.
“He’s all sweaty, the fucker must have run through the backyards,” Zale rumbles.
I pull slightly back to glance at him and notice all the cuts and bruises. Turning, I glance up at Reef who is sporting similar injuries.
A tiny gasp rips from me when I notice the burned fabric of the clothes he’s wearing. “Are you two okay? I saw both of you slip out of the garage right before the fireworks exploded.”
The sound of sirens fills the air.
“Fire department is here,” my mother says as she holds back the curtains to peer out of the window.
“Sebastian should be here soon as well ’cause I called him and he would send the fire department. It saved me the call ’cause I wanted to check on you guys,” Zale states.
“Right on time, thank fuck,” Reef grumbles and I tighten my arms around him.
“What the hell happened?” a man asks, and I now notice it’s Sebastian in his uniform as he steps into our living room.
“Stuart was holding my old lady at knifepoint, pressing it against her belly.” Reef pulls slightly back and his eyes widen. “Fuck. We need an ambulance. Now, dammit, now.”
“Oh, shit,” my mother gasps and is suddenly standing in front of me.
I glance down to see what they’re all staring at and a wave of nausea overwhelms me. Blood. There’s blood seeping through the fabric of my shirt.
“Let me see, sweetheart,” Reef gently says and grabs the hem of my shirt.
“Here, use this.” Leon places the first aid kit on the table.
My mother grabs a pair of gloves and grabs some compressed gauze to place on my belly and muses, “She’s going to need stitches.”
“She’s going to need a lot more because I want to make sure both my girls are o-fucking-kay,” Reef grits.
“EMTs are here,” Sebastian states. “Why don’t you folks head out front so I can preserve the crime scene and take your statement while all of you get treated? Leon, and Nixie, you two are the only ones without injuries?”
“Yes,” my mother replies.
“I’d like to start with your statement followed by Leon, and we’ll go from there.” Sebastian turns to Reef. “Thanks for emailing me those photographs. Right on time with that fucker lighting up the garage with fireworks. The body should be still there in the trunk, but I have no clue what we will find concerning evidence once the fire department has secured the scene. At least we have a clear image of the missing woman, and the fact she was clearly murdered by Stuart ’cause she was in his trunk. It’s probably why he killed his parents as well with Humphrey mentioning the baggage in Stuart’s trunk and them being dead the next morning.”
Reef scoops me into his arms, bridal style, and carries me out of the house. He calls out for the EMTs and before I know it I’m sitting inside the ambulance. Reef ignores the request to have his injuries checked out as well and insists they take me to the hospital to be checked out first.
Three hours later we’re all at the clubhouse.
I release a deep sigh and reach for the warm chocolate drink my mother offers me while she says, “Here you go, sweetheart, extra marshmallows just for you.”
Reef takes it from her and takes a sip before handing it to me. “Good to drink, not hot at all.”
I shoot him a grin while my mother glares and grumbles, “You did not just taste test her drink. It’s what you do with kids to make sure it’s not hot so they don’t burn their mouth.”
Reef shrugs. “My woman, my actions.”
I place my hand over his that’s resting on my belly just below the bandage. Turns out I needed a few stitches for the cut. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep enough to do any damage. They did do an ultrasound to check on the baby. Reef was captivated and didn’t stop asking questions until he was satisfied both me and the baby were okay.
The sound of fireworks makes me cringe. I don’t think New Year’s Eve will ever be the same again. Though, maybe after a while we can make those memories fade and replace them with cheerful ones. Like now, all of us gathered at the clubhouse. Thankfully, there’s just the members of the brotherhood without the loud party music, minus strippers, and not an overload of booze in sight.
It's more of a cozy get-together, even if it’s midnight and all the reason for a party to cheer the fact that we’re all alive and well.
“I’m going to buy a house on a hill with no freaking neighbors in sight,” Amos states and plunks down in a chair across from us.
Chuckling, I raise my mug. “Sounds like a solid plan. Damn, I knew he was creepy the first time I met him. Yikes. And who drives from town to town with a freaking body in the trunk? Did he do it to ask his parents for advice? So. Freaking. Weird.”
“Who the hell knows what went on in the fucker’s twisted mind,” Reef grumbles. “Good thing we don’t need to know, but a fucking shame about Gertrude and Humphrey, though.”
“Yeah.” My mother’s voice is filled with sadness. “She was nosy and a little pushy, but neither of them deserved to die.”
“What’s going to happen to Gertrude and Humphrey’s house?” Amos wonders out loud. “I mean, I could buy it so we’d be neighbors…make sure other neighbors move as well so we’d own the whole street.”
Snickers fill the air of all the bikers sitting in the main room of the clubhouse.
“Ugh, I don’t want to think about cleaning up the mess in the living room,” my mother mutters.
Zale pulls her close and places a kiss on her cheek. “Don’t worry about it. When they release the crime scene I’ll have a company head in and clean that shit up as if it never happened. If you still don’t want to return to the house, you’re more than welcome to move in with me. Wait. Scratch what I just said about the cleaning company and just move in with me. VP can handle the cleaning part so he and your daughter can stay there. See? Problem solved.”
Reef meets my gaze and raises one of his eyebrows as if to ask without words if I agree.
I lift my mug and tell them with a smile, “Problem solved.”