“Yeah and he’s a total fucking scumbag,” Switch growls. “His wife and daughter are staying with me,” he says, staring everyone down.
“Wait, I thought you said he murdered his wife, the mother of his children?” Chef frowns.
“He had two. The very few people who knew the twins and their mom said that she told them he worked overnight at the sheriff department and that’s why he wasn’t around a lot. She had no idea he had another family across town,” Nitro answers.
“Any idea why he killed her other than he’s a fucking bully?” Saint asks.
Fox runs a hand down his face. “Wire has found evidence he has a buyer for the girls. I’d bet money that he went to their house that night to pack them up and she didn’t agree with that, for obvious fucking reasons. That’s why he wants them so bad,” Nitro answers.
I bang my fist on the table at the thought of those two sweet girls up for sale. I’m not the only one pissed as curses go around the table.
Dex’s jaw clenches. “OK. And I’m guessing the twins saw them arguing and him, what? Pulling a gun or something?”
Nitro shakes his head as Fox takes a deep breath then blows it out. “He used his fists and it wasn’t quick. Coroner said it would have taken days for her to suffer the amount of damage she did.”
Curses sound out around the room and Chef looks fit to burst.
His words bounce around in my brain for a moment, not quite making sense. “Wait. At what point did the girls see what they saw?”
Fox shares a look with Nitro and then Marx. “They were there the whole time. School records show they never made it to school the two days before we found them in the home with their deceased mother.”
“And you’re only just telling me this now? Dude, Loyal and I have been tasked with looking after them while they’re here! You should have told us the trauma we’re dealing with!” I slam my fist on the table, the anger I felt before taking a seat coming back to me full force.
“Vex, take a step back, brother. Think about what those kids need. They need normalcy. They need to have fun and be kids again, they can’t do that if the people taking care of them are looking for any sign of trauma or breakdown,” Dex offers.
“I hear your point brother, but your Prez is right. We just gotta leave the twins be for a while. Their lives are going to go to shit fast. The least we can do is give them some good days while we look for their father, shut down this particular operation and whatever the fuck else he has going on at the sheriff’s office. Thompson can wait. For now,” Marx adds in his gravelly voice.
He may well be sitting around another church table, but he’s still the Prez of the mother chapter and what he says goes.
“We should stick to the plan which is to leave this afternoon. We need to keep up appearances that this is just an innocent trip away to visit our chapter brothers. Fox and Nitro can keep tabs on the fucker and build their case. Unless he fucks up big time in which case Chewy will probably take him out,” Rhodie says looking all moony eyed.
I run a hand down my face, “And what about Joe? Fuck, she’s my woman’s friend. They’ve grown tight since they met. What about her safety?”
“She’ll stay here. We have the room and we’re gated,” Dex replies.
“You don’t think it’s a set up, do you?” Savage asks the one thing I’m sure some of the brothers are thinking.
“There ain’t no way a woman takes a beating like that just to get inside here. No way,” Switch says, his voice echoing off the walls.
“I agree. I just finished looking into Josette Batiste, she has a clean record apart from being married to a piece of shit when she was 18 through to around a year ago. Spent time in women’s shelters bouncing from place to place. I’m guessing that’s when she crossed paths with Hitchens’ wife and the girls,” Wire says earnestly.
“I’ve seen many women lie and scheme to get information and that girl ain’t one of them. You could smell her fear when she looked at your screen, Fox. She knows that she’s dead if he ever finds her again,” Sniper says quietly.
“So we keep her and the girls here until this shit is settled, one way or another,” Dex says, looking around the table and getting nods from the Keep chapter.
“As a change of topic,” Wire’s deep voice rings out, “do any of your prospects look like they have any aptitude for tech shit? Ican leave the spare laptop setup, at least for the mean time. That way the Computas can send shit through if we need to,” Wire asks.
“If I had to take a guess I’d say Justice. Touch base with him once we’re done,” Dex says, glancing at me. I dip my chin, knowing he’s made the right choice.
Justice is a quick learner and a fucking perfectionist. He’ll soak up that shit fast. Damian has other strengths. Like conning nuns out of their rosary beads or something. I sit there and wait for the gavel to drop, dismissing us. Then I sit there a little longer. I lost my shit one part there and that’s not my role. My role is to trust my gut and my brothers. I know deep down that both Dex and Marx are doing what they think is best for the MC. The original chapter brotherhood has a lot more skin in the game than we do. They have Ol Ladies, kids, whole families to keep safe. If Marx thinks this is the best plan, then it’s the best plan, and I trust Dex as my Prez that he will make the call that is best for us. That includes the twins and Loyal.
Dex calls the end of Church and I follow the rest of the men out, but instead of heading to the common room, I slip out the back, sitting on one of the chairs that someone must have put out here for the views of the river. I contemplate how much of what I found out I should share with Loyal. I don’t want her to take this shit to heart, but hell, she won’t know how to help the girls if I keep her in the dark.
“You good, man?” Saint’s voice breaks through my thoughts as he takes a seat next to me.
Flicking my eyes up to look at him I notice Omen at his side. “Yeah, I’m good. It’s just, fuck, Loyal has been through enough. Now she’s the guardian of a set of twins that I know have stolen her heart already, and the first friend she makes outside of The Keep turns up battered.”
“Your woman has shit luck, brother,” Saint says solemnly, making me snort.
