“You didn’t know she was married?” I carefully asked.
“Fuck no. Who the hell is she married to?”
I cleared my throat, “My SAA, Duke, also known as John Jackson.”
He turned his angry eyes toward Judge. Judge just smirked and said, “We ain’t that stupid. I’m the Devil Springs SAA, filling in for my cousin today. Name’s Judge by the way.”
Boar dropped back into his chair and leaned forward, elbows on the table. “You said the baby’s mother is Tank’s daughter?” I nodded. “This being Reese, my son’s ex-girlfriend?” I nodded again. “I see. All roads led to me and here you are.”
“That about sums it up.”
A woman walked through the front door and made her way straight to Boar. “Honey, is everything okay? They said I needed to come here but wouldn’t tell me why.” So this was Shannon.
Boar pointed to a chair. “Sit down.” She did, her eyes widened in fear. “Got anything you want to tell me about your sister?”
She dropped her eyes to the floor and sucked in a sharp breath. “What has she done now?”
“I think you know what she did,” Boar barked.
“Last night, she said she had taken John’s baby. I told her to bring the baby to the clubhouse. I didn’t believe her at first. Then, I thought if I could get her to bring the baby to me, we could get him back to John. She never showed up and she stopped answering my calls and texts, so I thought this was one of her usual shenanigans,” she explained through her tears.
“That’s a good start,” Boar snapped. “Now, you want to tell me who the fuck John is?”
She wrapped her arms around herself and sniffled. “He’s my husband. I’m sorry I never told you. I haven’t seen him in 10 years. We weren’t married for very long, but I never did anything about the marriage. I’m so sorry,” she wailed.
“Shannon, I’m going to ask you this one time and you better give me the damn truth or these men right here just might kill us all before it’s over with, you hear me?” She sat up straighter in her chair and rapidly nodded her head. “Did you arrange the kidnapping or have anything to do with it?”
She shook her head. “No! I would never do anything like that. I didn’t know until after the fact. I didn’t even know John had a baby until last night. You know she says crazy shit all the time, but she’s never actually done anything.”
“That you know of,” Boar added.
I studied the woman sitting before me. She appeared to be giving honest answers and her tears seemed genuine. Damn, part of me wished Carbon was here, he was far more skilled at reading people than I was. “Where is your sister now?”
She turned her head and seemed to notice me and the two men beside me for the first time. She looked back to Boar, unsure if she should answer me. “You answer any questions they have with absolute honesty,” Boar ordered.
“I don’t know where she is. After I told her to bring me the baby, she stopped taking my calls. Wait. Are you here because…? Did she…? Please tell me she didn’t.”
I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake, but I believed that she didn’t know anything about the kidnapping. “She did.”
She crumpled over, her body shaking with violent sobs. She said something, but I couldn’t make out what it was the way she was carrying on. Boar had no sympathy for her, though I can’t say I blamed him. “Don’t ask me. You ask them,” he barked.
She lifted her tear-stained face. “Is the baby okay?”
“He’s fine. He’s been returned to his parents,” I said. I quirked a brow, “You don’t want to know about your sister?”
She wiped the tears from her face and resolutely said, “No, I don’t. She’s been nothing but a pain in my ass for years, always causing trouble, threatening to pull some stupid stunt like this. She got herself into this and she can get herself out of it as far as I’m concerned.”
Boar tugged on her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Go back to the clubhouse with the prospect. We have some other shit to discuss when I get back.” He turned to face me. “Unless you need her for anything else?”
“Nope. The rest we can discuss with you.”
Shannon quickly exited the bar. Boar sat down with a sigh, “I know this looks bad, but she’s telling the truth about Melissa. Shannon’s said before that she’s always had problems. I’ve only known her for a few years, and during that time, she’s been nothing but trouble. Honestly, I can’t say I’m sad to see her shit finally caught up with her. Is there anything we can do to smooth this over?”
“The way I see it, it wasn’t your doing, so there’s nothing to smooth over, but maybe you’d be willing to help us out by answering some other questions.”
“Depends on what those questions are, but I’ll answer if I can do so without endangering myself or my club,” he carefully stated.
“Where’s your son?” I bluntly asked.
