18. Chapter 18
Walking into the clubhouse, I stalk toward the bar and by the time I’ve reached it, Ethan already has a beer uncapped and hands it to me.
Giving him a chin lift, I scan the room.
All night I’ve been jumpy, anxious, and worried about Mary. Stephan has a tendency to beat her enough on the holidays to send her to the hospital. With today being Thanksgiving, I’m afraid of what he’ll do to her. Especially with a new factor being thrown in.
I know from talking to Mary’s grandparents that they are going over to her house today. To say I was shocked is an understatement when they told me that, but I’m going to bet that the asshole didn’t want to appear suspicious by turning them down now that they live in the same town. That said, I’m also worried their appearance will trigger Stephan. That he’ll feel threatened by something they say or do and that he’ll take out his frustrations and anger on Mary once Haris and Maria leave.
Shaking off those thoughts, I’m about to head to my room when the door opens and Brady walks in. It’s not the first time he’s been here, but he usually doesn’t come here unless he needs to. I’m not saying that he doesn’t like the club, he’s just trying not to draw attention to the fact that he’s close to us since almost half the cops in town are dirty.
Judging by his face, he’s here on unofficial business.
“Want a beer?” I ask him, and he shakes his head before turning to Ethan.
“Can I have a water?”
Ethan gives him a chin lift, and a second later, Brady’s breaking the seal on a water bottle as he heads toward a secluded corner of the main room. Following him, I take a seat next to him.
“What’s up?”
He sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “Nothing good, that’s for fucking sure.”
Growing frustrated, I take a sip of my beer, but still, he doesn’t say anything. “Well, are you going to make me drag it out of you?” I damn near growl, fisting my hand in frustration.
He hangs his head for a moment, shaking it, but when he looks up at me, his face is etched in worry. “Rumor on the street is that something’s going on with the Vasquez family. Per one of my informants, the Don is absolutely pissed about something going on in the family. Diego’s also been walking around like he’s about to explode. I get the feeling something’s going to be going down soon. I just don’t know what.”
Twirling my bottle with my fingers, I debate telling him what Mary told me a few months ago. Taking a swig of my beer, I make my decision and fill him in just in case Uncle Sam hasn’t already.
Brady already knows most of what has happened since he’s one of the officers on Mary’s cold case. Some may say that he’s too close to the case to be on it. Even though our town is relatively large, between eleven and twelve thousand residents, most everyone knows each other to some degree. We’re a pretty tight-knit community and most of us care about each other and the wellbeing of the town.
That said, I don’t know exactly how corrupt the police are here in town. Or how far the corruption has spread. We haven’t seen signs of corruption except for the cops, and maybe a few judges, but they could just be good at hiding it. I seriously hope that the town has been spared from all this shit, but time will tell.
“Yeah, Pops told me about that. I hate that she’s putting herself in more danger, but if the information she has can help us close down that trafficking ring,” he pauses and runs a hand over his face. “Fuck, that’d be beyond fucking fantastic if we could put a stop to it. I—”
My phone rings, interrupting him and I fish it out of my pocket.
Unease swirls throughout me when I see who’s calling. “What’s up, Drae?”
“I’ve got two people here at the gate who say it’s urgent to talk to you. Haris and Maria Catarino. Am I good to let them through?”
My gut tightens, and I motion for Brady to get up along with me. “Yeah, send them through. They’re family.”
I hang up and drain the last of my beer as I set it down on the table. “Mary’s grandparents are here, and they say it’s urgent.”
Brady and I share a look.
“Fuck,” he hisses and follows me as I walk across the room and then the door is flung open. Maria almost runs in with Haris hot on her heels.
“Sorry to barge in like this, but we needed to talk to you. It’s about Mary,” Maria says between gasps. Fuck, she looks like she’s about to have a panic attack.
“ Γιαγι? (Grandma),” I say gently, trying to use Greek to break through her panic, as I lead her over to a chair. “I need you to take a deep breath.”
“Here, Patch,” Levi says as she comes up beside me and hands me a water bottle. Looking over my shoulder, both of her Old Men, Phoenix, Timber, and a few others have gathered around.
“Thanks,” I reply and break the seal before handing it to Maria. She takes a couple of sips and I hand her the cap. I look up at Haris and note the murderous look on his face. “Tell me what happened.”
He fills us in about having Thanksgiving over at Mary’s house. How Mary seemed to fold in on herself more and more at Stephan’s hard looks, words, hell, even grunts. He had her so anxious, nervous, and scared that her whole body was damn near trembling when he hugged her before saying goodbye.
Haris reaches into his pocket. “Ash slipped this in my pocket as we were saying goodbye. I think this is what you told me about. What Mary was sticking around for before she tries to get out and away from him.”
I knew it was risky, but Uncle Sam, Brady, and I had looped in Haris and he must have told some things to Maria. We knew Mary would need Haris’ help when she got away with the restraining order. And I secretly hope his help includes filing fucking divorce papers.
I’m about to say something when my phone rings again. Looking at the caller ID, my gut churns as my gaze shoots to Thor’s. His face goes grim, and I bet he knows who’s calling.
Quickly, I look at Brady and notice his phone is out. Well, fuck… Has he been recording what Haris and Maria said just a moment ago? He smirks at me, showing me his phone, and I shake my head. I should have known he would do that. Looking over my shoulder, I whistle to get everyone’s attention.
“Everyone shut the fuck up. I have a call I need to put on speaker.” Instantly everyone goes quiet, their focus on me.
Swiping, I answer the call. “Hello?” I purposefully don’t say their names in case Stephan somehow found the phone.
“P-Patch?”
The churning in my gut tightens when I hear Asher’s scared voice come over the line. “I’m here, Ash. What’s going on? Are you safe?”
“I-I got Cass and Izzy into the closet and hiding as soon as I heard him go crazy, but Mom… she… M-Mom is… S-She’s hurt… really bad, P-Patch.” A little sob comes through the phone, and I feel the surrounding tension increasing tenfold. “He’s… he’s n-never d-done anything t-this b-bad before,” he whispers and sniffles. In the background I can hear a moan and the need to get her and the kids out of there intensifies tenfold.
“Ash, I’m coming to you and I’m bringing my friends. We’ll help your mom and keep you all safe. Okay?”
“O-Okay, D-Dad. I trust you. Mom said I could always t-trust you to keep your w-word.”
Fuck… It’s true.
And he knows.
I turn toward my brothers and then to Thor. He nods and I return it, then he gives the signal to prepare to head out. My brothers quickly disperse, checking their weapons and getting more ammo, just in case. Dragon holds his hand out for my gun and after handing it to him, he checks it before going into Thor’s office, most likely for another magazine.
“That’s right, son. You can trust me, and you can trust my brothers and sisters in the club. Now, I need to know something really quick before we head out. Is Stephan home?”
He sniffles again, and I worry he isn’t going to answer me.
“H-He left a few minutes ago for work. He’s on a twelve-hour night shift and won’t be back until noon tomorrow.”
“Alright, I’m going to hang up and we’ll be there in a few minutes. Are any of your mom’s wounds critical?”
“S-She’s bruised almost everywhere. It’s hard to tell. B-But she has lots of c-cuts, too. The w-worst cut is on her face. I think. Her leg is b-bent funny.” I hear more sniffles across the line and white-hot fury in me rises even more.
Dragon comes back at that point and hands me my gun. Even though he checked it, I still do the same before putting it in my holster and pocketing the extra magazine. I give him a chin lift in thanks.
“Here’s what I want you to do, Ash. Tell your brother and sister to start packing some of their clothes and things that they’ll need. When you’ve done that, I want you to find a towel and put pressure on your mom’s worst wounds. It will hurt, but it needs to be done so that she doesn’t lose too much blood. We’ll be there soon, I promise.”
“O-Okay. Please hurry. I’m s-scared, Dad.”
My heart clenches and I send up a prayer to whoever’s listening that Mary will make it through this.
“I know you are, but I need you to be strong right now. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Ending the call, I note Maria’s pale face and that her body is shaking slightly, but I can’t focus on her right now. We need to get to Mary. Turning to Haris, he gives me a curt nod as he squeezes her shoulder, silently telling me that he’ll take care of her.
“Haris, I need you to go home and find out whatever the hell is on that scan drive. We’re going to need every advantage we can to keep Stephan away from them.” Pausing, I turn to Brady. “Brady, you—”
“I’m going with you. I failed her all those years ago and I’m not doing it again. Plus, it’d be good to have a cop there when you all go in so I can speak to what we see and that everything is how we found it. I’ll call my partner to meet us there and to keep it quiet.”
Brady turns to Haris and my shoulders relax at that. Dixon, his partner, is one of the good cops and I’ve always liked the guy.
“Call my dad and have him go to your house. Do not open anything on the scan drive until he gets there. Actually, don’t even put it in your computer until he gets there. This needs to be by the books so we can nab the fucker.”
“You heard him. Roll out,” Thor bellows and then turns to me. “We’ll follow your truck there.”
I’ve known where she’s lived for a while, thanks to her files that Sam got from Curtis, Alli’s father who is one of the department heads at the hospital. Curtis also unofficially slipped me her address so I wouldn’t have to spend hours trying to figure out what alias their house was under this time around. I’ve driven by many times, hoping for a glimpse of her, but never stopped for obvious reasons.
Thor pauses and turns to Levi, Mae, Sasha, and the other Prospects. “Make-up rooms for everyone, Wildcat. Sasha, go with Patch. They might need your help to get the kids around if they get scared of us.”
“She’s got three kids, right? They can stay with us. We have three bedrooms upstairs as well as a bedroom on the main floor. That way they can still be together, but the kids can be away from the clubhouse most of the time,” Mae tells me as she turns to Timber, her Old Man.
Drae and his daughter, Lindsey, stayed with them for a while after we rescued Mae and Lindsey from the Oasis fuckers. But after a while, and Drae being Drae and not wanting to intrude on their newly wedded bliss for too long, he had asked if they could move to a room upstairs in the clubhouse and away from most of the commotion. Thor gave the okay until his house is finished, and we all helped soundproof the room better for the nights when things get a bit wilder in the main room. Luckily, there haven’t been any issues so far.
Timber must have filled Mae in about Mary just now, but even if he had told her about Mary before, I wouldn’t have cared. I trust them both implicitly. For that matter, the same goes for all my brothers and sisters.
Timber gives me a chin lift. “Agreed. They can stay with us. We can also put a fold-out couch in the main floor bedroom for you, Patch, so you don’t have to leave her.”
I return his chin lift, grateful that he knows I’ll want to be close by her. Also, for opening their home to my Siren and her kids.
“Sunshine, make the Prospects move anything you need to so that you aren’t doing it yourself. Same for you, Queen. Don’t need either one of you lifting anything heavy since you’re both pregnant.”
Levi’s pregnant with twins and Mae’s pregnant with triplets. We definitely don’t want anything happening to their babies, so I hope like fuck that they listen. They can be hard-headed at times.
“We know, we know,” Levi says, rolling her eyes at him. “Now, go and save your woman and kids, Patch. We’ll get everything ready here.”
Giving both ladies a quick hug, I stalk out of the clubhouse and head straight for my truck. Brady gets in his cop-issued SUV and follows right behind me.
I make it to Mary’s in ten minutes when it should have taken me fifteen or twenty. I sped like a bat out of hell, but thankfully, no cops pulled me over. Though, that could be because Brady’s right behind me in his work SUV. At least he didn’t turn on his lights. That would have drawn even more attention to us, even though the streets are mostly empty since it’s just before midnight.
Slamming my truck in park and turning it off, I jump out and grab my kit out of the backseat before racing to the front door.
Just as I’m about to reach it, the door flies open and Cassie comes running out, Isaiah right behind her. I kneel down and she runs straight into my arms. Brady gives me a nod and leads my brothers inside. Bear takes my kit and gives me a look that says he’ll take care of Mary for me until I get in there.
“Mr. Patch!” Cassie cries and then her little body shakes as she wraps her arms around my neck. Almost immediately, I feel her tears against my skin.
“I’m here, Angel. These are my brothers I told you about.”
“Ahem,” Sasha says as she steps up next to me, cocking an eyebrow at me.
“And sister,” I clarify.
Cassie looks up and wipes her eyes. “Mandy?”
My heart clenches that she remembers my sister’s name, but I shake my head. “No, this is Sasha. She’s a Prospect with the club so that makes her my sister as well. Is it okay if she helps you and your brothers get things packed up? You’re going to stay at the compound with us.”
Her big eyes turn back to me, and though they’re hazel like her asshole father’s, I can see Mary shining through them. “We’re going to stay with you?”
Nodding, I tighten my arms around her. “Yes, Angel. You’re going to stay at my friend’s home, and I’ll be there too. But right now, I need to get inside to help your mom. Can you go with Sasha?”
She nods and then reaches for Sasha, who takes her into her arms.
Instantly, Isaiah hugs my leg tight, and I look down at him before lifting him and giving him a hug. Timber steps up next to me.
“This is Timber, Isaiah. It’s his and his wife’s house that you’ll be staying at. You can trust him and the others to protect you.”
He wraps his arms around my neck and squeezes. “Thank you for coming to help Mom, Mr. Patch.”
“Always, Bud. Always.” Emotion clogs my throat as I hug him one more time before handing him to Timber. As soon as Timber has a good hold on him, I make a beeline inside.
“Dad?” I hear Ash call from somewhere deep inside the house and my brothers point upstairs and to the left. They all give me a sympathetic look and my gut twists in response.
Taking the steps two at a time, I get to the room and fear slides down my spine when I finally lay my eyes on my Siren.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Brady taking pictures of everything and a part of me wonders if he’s taken a picture of her on the floor as well. In a way, I hope he has so that it’s documented how we found her, but I also don’t want anyone looking at pictures of her when she’s so vulnerable.
Ash wasn’t kidding.
Any visible skin has almost completely turned black and blue. If her arms and face are anything to go by, I’m betting her chest and stomach area will also be black and blue. No doubt her ribs are at least bruised. Hopefully they aren’t broken. Since she’s wearing pants, I don’t know if her legs are also bruised, but I’m guessing they are. And her left leg is definitely broken.
He must have hit her face a few times because her left eye is completely swollen shut already. There’s a large laceration on her face from just below her temple to mid-cheek. There are also several other lacerations on her arms, upper body, and a few on her legs.
Bear is already hovering over her, and when he looks up, he gives me a look that reads that none of the wounds he can see are critical. I exhale hard in relief and know she’s in good hands because he’s had medic training back when he was in the Army.
Seeing Ash hovering over her and looking so worried, I’m thankful for Bear’s help, because I’m positive I’ll have to take care of Ash before I can get to Mary. Bones steps forward and goes to the other side of Mary to help Bear.
When Bones kneels by Ash, he turns around and his eyes widen when he sees me before they fill with tears. He gets up and almost runs toward me. Kneeling, I wrap my arms around him, finally holding my son for the first time.
Pulling back after a few moments, I wipe his tear-streaked cheeks. “I need you to go with my brothers while I take your mom to the hospital, okay?”
He sniffles and nods. “Where are we going to go until then?”
Relief flows through me. Thank fuck I’m not going to have to fight him on this. “You’ll stay with some friends of mine at the clubhouse. When your mom gets out, she’ll be staying in the same house as you guys. I’ll be there, too.”
He stares into my eyes for a bit and then nods and sniffles. He takes a deep breath and then holds himself taller, almost like he’s flipped a switch. “Since Mom can’t get the things around, I’ll get the important things she said we need to take with us. Some of them we need to give to Grandpa Haris. But I’ll need help with some things because they’re up high.”
Dragon kneels down next to me. “How about I help you get everything around while Patch helps your mom?”
Ash looks at me in question, and I can see he’s nervous about leaving my side. I nod in encouragement. “This is Dragon. He won’t let anything happen to you. He’s one of our club Enforcers which means he’s really tough. He’ll keep you safe.”
After a few moments, Ash nods, and hugs me one more time before he takes Dragon’s hand, leading him to the closet in here. He reaches into the neck of his shirt and it’s then that I see he’s wearing a necklace with a key on it, which he hands to Dragon and then points to the upper shelves in the closet.
“This is for the big lock box hidden in the boxes up there. I know which files we need to get out of it. I’ll remove the false wall down here to get the other documents Mom said we needed. Then we need to go to Stephan’s office, and after that, I need to get some things out of the crawl space downstairs. Also, there are a few other things I hid in my closet.”
Dragon shares a look with me and my gut tightens as I wonder what exactly Mary thinks they need, but I push that thought out of my head.
My Siren needs me.