“Lena, Mia!” Big Joe cries when we enter his hospital room.
Big Joe sits propped up in bed, the television is on in the corner, playing reruns of his favorite sit-com that I’m so used to him watching at home. He’s a welcome sight, he feels like home. Although he looks frailer than I’ve ever seen him, he’s alive.
Mia toddles over and tries to climb up on the bed. “Pop-Pop!” she says, holding her chubby hands in the air.
“Careful, sweetie, Pop-Pop can’t pick you up right now,” I warn her, going over and scooping her up in my arms. She wriggles and strains against me, reaching for Joe.
“Like heck I can’t, put her next to me on the bed, I want a cuddle from my best girl!”
I smile and do as Joe says, leaning over to give him a big hug myself. He squeezes me back. “It’s good to see you girls.”
“You too, Big Joe, you have no idea how worried I was. I thought we’d lost you.” Tears spring to my eyes as I think back to that horrible day, how we’d left him there, bleeding in the alley.
“I know. I thought so too.” Big Joe looks over to Judge. “Are you one of the young men who saved my life and rescued Lena?”
Judge inclines his head in acknowledgement. “Yes, sir, I am.”
Big Joe smiles. “Thank you, son. What’s your name? I feel bad that I don’t even know the names of the men to whom I owe my life.”
“People call me Judge.”
Big Joe chuckles, the sound rich and familiar. “Now, how did you get yourself a nickname like that?”
I realize that I’ve never asked Judge that.
Judge clears his throat, looking awkward. “It’s not a particularly nice story, but I can tell it if you wish. It’s short for Judge, jury, and executioner.”
“Ah,” Big Joe says. “You served?”
“Yes, sir. Two tours in Iraq.”
Big Joe nods before glancing at me and Mia. “I think we’ll save the full story for another time.”
Judge nods in agreement. I’m curious to hear it, but it’s pretty self-explanatory. My feeling that Judge has a deadly energy proved to be correct. I wonder just how many people have been on the receiving end of his justice.
Big Joe turns his attention back to me. “Your friend Doc tells me that they rescued you from those kidnappers and that you’re safe, but he won’t tell me much more than that. What did those men want with you? And where are you staying now?”
I glance at Judge who answers the last question for me. “Lena and Mia are staying with us in one of our safehouses. It’s safer for everyone if you don’t know where.”
Big Joe considers this. “Who isusexactly?”
I answer this one. I gesture to Judge. “Judge, Doc, Cole, and Rex are protecting us. They’re members of the Soaring Eagles MC, well, Cole is the president. Zeke, the president of the Iron Vultures, is the man who is after me.”
“The bar where you used to work?” Big Joe clarifies.
I nod. “For some reason, Zeke seems to have become obsessed because I ran away three years ago. Rex rescued me that time, too.”
Mia interrupts, perturbed not to be the center of attention, and Big Joe indulges her for a while. Sensing that Big Joe and I need time alone to talk, Judge steps in after a while. “Hey, Mia, why don’t you and I go get some candy from the vending machine?”
Easily won over by the promise of candy, Mia happily goes with Judge. I mouth my thanks at him as they leave.
“He’s a good man,” Big Joe observes.
“He is. They all are. I’m lucky they found us.”
Big Joe nods in agreement. “Seems that way. They all certainly seem taken with you.”
“You’ve only just met Judge, and you’ve not seen Doc with me.”
