10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Dragon had called Church after Sally had taken the girls to their suite. They were waiting on Ashe and Mammoth, their Treasurer, to arrive.
Maverick never liked silence, so of course he was filling the time talking about anything he could think of.
“I know we have runs coming up with deliveries like normal, but I had an idea,” Maverick pitched.
Torrent bit his lip to keep from saying anything. Normally he didn’t talk much, but he couldn’t even count the numerous times that Mav saying he had an idea had ended with them in trouble.
The last “brilliant idea” Mav had was what ended with him, Maverick, and Cauldron doing six months in jail—all because Mav couldn’t wait until they got home to use the Whispers.
Instead, he’d propositioned six ladies of the evening to have a party with the three of them, not knowing that all six of them were vice.
“Do I want to hear this?” Dragon groaned.
“Well, the idea is from your VP, who is also your son. I feel like it’s a given that you should want to,” Maverick muttered.
Mammoth and Ashe walked in, closing the door behind them.
“I’ve never been so happy to see you two. Let’s get started,” Dragon announced, holding his palm up to Mav when he started to interrupt.
“Although we don’t have a resolution for Cecilia and Calliope’s issue yet, we need to talk about our commitments this week. Fury, what’s up this week?” Dragon ordered.
“We’re accepting a shipment at the river tomorrow. Delivery runs tomorrow and Friday to Oklahoma and Nebraska,” Fury replied.
“Who’s up?” Dragon asked.
“I have Torrent and Cauldron accepting the river shipment,” Ashe answered.
“Delivery run to Nebraska, which I scheduled myself for with one of the prospects and Mammoth. The delivery is close to my contact with the salvage yard. I thought it would be better to do an in-person meeting. Oklahoma run for Maverick, Deacon, and a Prospect.”
Dragon nodded. “Everyone good with those?” Dragon asked, though Torrent knew it was only a formality.
The river shipment usually came in between three and five a.m., which Torrent thought could work.
Cecilia’s nightmares seemed to come within two hours of when they went to sleep.
After he calmed her down, she’d sleep through the night.
“I’m good,” Torrent said.
“Now that we’ve got that settled, I want us on a little higher alert.
I know the Chief isn’t due back for another three weeks, but you never know if plans will change.
I’ve thought through everything, and killing him would just bring the feds in.
He also has information we need. Who is he working with, and what all are they involved in, is still a concern.
Gunner, keep searching and see if there is anything else we’re missing.
Torrent, do you want to share anything regarding Calliope? ” Dragon asked.
Torrent appreciated Dragon giving him the option, but the club was everything, and these men were his family. They were the only ones he trusted to keep Calliope and Cecilia safe.
“Yeah, something happened to Calliope that made her blame herself. When Ashe brought Calliope’s backpack in, it was full of weapons.
Weapons that she’d obviously had in her bedroom for some reason.
Sally and Cecilia are getting the whole story,” Torrent disclosed.
Talking about it made him sick to his stomach, but his brothers needed to know what they were dealing with.
“Isn’t she in elementary school?” Deacon interjected, his brow furrowing.
Torrent nodded.
“Fuck. I’m all for everyone fucking who they want, but kids are off-limits. Too bad he’s fucking dead. I’d be standing in line to let him know my thoughts on the subject,” Fury growled.
“You and me both, brother,” Cauldron muttered.
Torrent appreciated the support from his brothers, but it didn’t change the situation. Something had happened to Calliope. He only hoped it wasn’t as bad as he was imagining.
“I did check the itinerary of the conference the Chief is at. It ends at 7 p.m. and then he’ll be heading to his charter.
If I were him, I’d check in one more time with my brother before boarding the charter.
He’s texted once since we got the phone asking if things were going okay.
I looked back through the texts and saw his brother would use a thumbs-up, and that’s how I answered.
But at some point, he might call,” Gunner reported.
Dragon nodded, glancing around the table, catching each brother’s eyes before moving on.
“We’ve grown over the years. Our Chapter of the Grave Prowlers MC gets stuff done.
Brothers, this might be our biggest challenge, but I know that in the end, we’ll come out on top.
The Chief can do what he wants, but if he fucks around with us, he’ll find out up close and in person why we’re called the Grave Prowlers,” Dragon declared.
Yells and hell yeahs greeted Dragon’s words. Torrent was torn. A part of him wanted the Chief to leave them alone so his girls could start to heal, but the other part of him that loved a good fight wanted the Chief to come for them so he could experience Grave Prowlers justice firsthand.
“Dismissed,” Dragon barked.
Torrent headed out quickly, not staying to shoot the shit with his brothers. Hopefully, Cecilia would be able to update him regarding Calliope’s situation.
Cecilia sat on the couch, sorting through what Calliope had opened up about to Sally and herself. Sally had offered to have Calliope stay in their room for a couple of hours on the pretense that she needed help with some organizing.
Cecilia had left Calliope there after reiterating multiple times how much she loved Calliope, how nothing was Calliope’s fault, and that Calliope had done nothing wrong.
The only thing keeping Cecilia from screaming right now was that it would only scare Calliope if she heard it, but Cecilia was so far past angry that furious didn’t even cover it.
Horse’s Ass, which Cecilia thought was a very appropriate name for him, had always planned on taking Calliope with them.
The sound of the door had her turning to see who it was. She really hoped it wasn’t Calliope coming in to get something, because she wasn’t sure she could put on a happy face to keep Calliope from knowing how upset she was.
When she saw Torrent in the doorway, she didn’t think; she just ran toward him, throwing herself into his arms and letting the tears loose.
She couldn’t keep being strong. As she sobbed against his chest with her arms around his waist, he tentatively slid one arm around her, then the second after a brief hesitation.
His arms didn’t feel scary. They felt like the only safe place she could pour out all her anger and grief.
Grief at what she and Calliope had lost—their parents and the lives they had before.
Anger at what Horse’s Ass had taken from her and what he’d taken from Calliope.
Torrent alternated patting her back in a ‘there, there’ motion or just holding her.
Her husband of few words knew exactly what to say right now.
His deep voice telling her to let it all out and that they’d get through this together did more for her than if he’d given her empty promises.
As her tears soaked his shirt and her nose ran, he held her, not trying to hurry her at all.
When her throat hurt from crying and the tears seemed to finally run out, he picked her up and carried her to the couch.
He placed her there, handing her a box of tissues and wrapping the cover around her.
He grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and came back over.
Handing the glass to her, he motioned to the couch.
She nodded. She was sitting on one side of the couch with her back against the armrest, her legs on the couch under the blanket.
Torrent took off his shoes and sat on the farthest cushion, leaning his back against the armrest. He slid his legs under the cover to the outside of the couch.
“Can you tell me about Calliope?” he asked, his voice gravelly. It consoled her that his tone screamed he was as upset about it as she was, and he didn’t even know everything.
“First, he didn’t do to her what he did to me,” she whispered.
Torrent’s eyes closed, his shoulders sagging as if the weight of the world had lifted. He nodded.
“Okay, that’s a good thing. But he did do something. She was preparing for war,” Torrent countered grimly.
“She was. She’s been carrying around the guilt that our parents’ deaths were her fault.
I will never understand the evil in some people.
Three weeks before my parents died, he showed up at the park where she and her friend, Linny, were playing.
They were on the swings, and he pushed both of them for a little bit.
Then when Linny’s mom called her over, he sat on the swing beside Calliope and said he wanted to be friends.
Then he told her to have a good day,” Cecilia explained, her voice trembling.
Cecilia paused, formulating her thoughts. Torrent didn’t rush her. He just waited for her to talk again.
“A couple days later, when she was at the store with Mom and Dad, he and his brother came in. The brother talked with Mom and Dad while Horse’s Ass walked over to where she was doing homework. She said he told her she had pretty hair and played with her pigtails for a minute, then left.”
Torrent nodded. “Grooming her.”
“Yes. Two days later, when she went over to her friend’s house after school, he dropped by when they were playing in the backyard.
He sat by her at the picnic table. She said he pressed his leg against her and said he wanted to be friends.
When she told him she had friends and didn’t want any more, he threatened her.
He told her if she wasn’t his friend, then he couldn’t keep her parents safe,” Cecilia finished.
Torrent didn’t say anything, but she could tell he was turning over everything she said in his mind.
Even in the short time she’d known him, she’d started to see some of his habits.
If he was thinking deeply when he was reading, he’d tilt his head to the side and tap his index finger on his chin.
He was doing that now, and Cecilia was interested in what he’d come up with because she couldn’t figure out what was bothering her about how he’d approached Calliope.
If she was at one hundred percent, she’d probably be able to figure it out, but since the attack, she’d had moments of clarity and moments of not knowing what she should do next for the simplest of tasks.
Torrent sighed and stared at her.
“Tell me,” she urged. She appreciated him wanting to protect her, but she could handle it despite breaking down earlier.
“Seems off,” he deliberated.
“I agree,” she said.
“Think we need more people looking at it,” Torrent reasoned.
She nodded. The more help they had—the greater the possibility they could figure it out.
“How long is Calliope gone?” Torrent asked.
“Sally said she’d keep her a couple of hours.”
“Here or Church?” he pressed.
Cecilia wasn’t sure what would bother her more—going back into Church with all the guys or having them all crowded around her in the room. She glanced around the room. She didn’t want them all in here at once.
“Church,” she decided.
Torrent nodded, picked up his phone, and sent a text. His phone immediately started beeping with notifications.
“Thirty minutes. Hungry?” he asked.
Now that she thought about it, she was. When she nodded, he immediately got up and started digging through the refrigerator and freezer.
“Chicken enchiladas?” he offered.
Cecilia stared at him. She’d made homemade enchiladas before, and they took forever.
“How?” she wondered.
Torrent’s mouth turned up in the barest smirk. “Sally, don’t tell Dragon or Mav.”
“Why not?”
He stared at her. “Keep a secret?”
She nodded. Of course she could keep a secret.
“Snooty lady at the grocery store was mean to Sally. So I spread some gossip that the old biddy had crabs,” he confided with a rare glint of amusement.
Cecilia didn’t think anything could make her laugh, but big, bad biker Torrent spreading a rumor about someone who had hurt Sally’s feelings was so stinkin’ sweet.
She chuckled and nodded. “That was nice.”
Torrent nodded, sliding the enchiladas into the microwave to defrost.
“So Sally made you those as a thank you,” Cecilia surmised.
Torrent nodded. “My favorite, but Mav’s too.”
“Did Sally not want Dragon or Mav to know?” she asked.
Torrent nodded again. “Proportional.”
Cecilia stared at Torrent. What was he saying? Oh my gosh, she got it. “Are you saying what you did was a proportional response and Dragon’s wouldn’t have been proportional?”
Torrent nodded, transferring the defrosted enchiladas into the oven to finish heating up.
Torrent then took a seat across from her at the table.
“I think that makes you a good brother in the club. You helped out your President’s Ol’ Lady while protecting your President from doing something he might regret later,” Cecilia said.
Torrent and she sat there until the enchiladas were heated up. Torrent placed two on her plate and two on his.
“Dig in,” he instructed, motioning with his fork to her plate.
She took a bite and then couldn’t stop eating them.
They had just the right hint of spice and were so savory.
She finished hers, wiped her mouth with her napkin, and drank her water.
The last thing she wanted to do was have to explain what happened to Calliope again, but if it helped them figure it out, she would.