“It was Viper. After he died, I worried that maybe whoever killed Momma found him too so I went to Raven. Did–” She started sniffling and her face turned beet red. “Do you think they killed Raven because of me?” Her body shook with sobs. “I’m so sorry, Hawk. I never meant for anything to happen.” Her words trembled as tears rolled down her face. “I just didn’t have anywhere to go.”
I cupped her shoulder. “Hey, it’s not your fault. Just breathe.”
Still sobbing, and hardly discernible, she muttered, “They seized her assets when she was killed as part of the investigation, and it’s still open.” She brushed tears off her cheeks. “You know as well I do they’ll never close the case because they don’t care about women like that, so I’ll never get the estate.” She picked up the water and took several long sips.
I lifted my hand for Rooster to grab her another. “I’m sorry about your mom. And I’m sorry about her assets. Who was investigating?”
She took the last sip of the first bottle then opened the new one Rooster put down for her. “GBI. So fucking proud of themselves, like they did something. I asked them repeatedly for progress and they always just say under investigation.”
She was right. She’d probably never see that money again.
“This is so embarrassing,” she sniffled. “But that’s why I kept trying to snag one of you. I got nothing. I just wanted some kind of security.”
We all glanced around. She never aggressively tried to get me. I only recalled Falcon, but she could have attempted others and been shut down hard. Falcon wasn’t the warmest person, but he was never really an asshole, either, so he was probably an easy target.
“Well, you’re safe here, Sugar. I know that doesn’t sound like much right now, but the rest will work itself out.”
She nodded, wiping her face again. “I really am sorry. But I’m as clueless as you.” She took another drink. “I got a box of stuff I kept of hers. It was all I could grab before they made it there. Once they got there, they marked the whole house as a crime scene.”
“We’ll take a look. Is it in the bunny quarters?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Those nosy bitches would go through it. I hid it in one of the extra rooms.”
“Red, will you go help her get it and bring it back down?”
I stood up and put out my hand. She took it and stood.
“I’m sorry to bring up bad memories, but we appreciate your help.” I pulled her in for a quick hug then passed her off to Red, who led her out.
“Feels like another dead end,” Eagle said as he leaned back.
I leaned on the table. “I don’t think so. We know Viper was there. And Pops had him taken out. He was always against human trafficking. I bet you Viper did it. We don’t need to tell her that. Not unless we can prove it. But if we can connect him to the Martinellis, or anyone, maybe we can finally figure this shit out.”
For the first time in months, it finally felt like we were onto something. I was so pumped and the first thought was to run to my Kitty Kat, but then it hit me: she’d told me to stay the fuck away from her. My excitement faded.
Chapter 27
Katarina
We were several drinks deep and had picked over the tray of food Mama Hen brought with her. I listened as all the women reminisced about how they met each of their men and how they got their property patches. We finally pushed Mama Hen to give us her story and had huddled together in a pile on the sofa, with Kristie and Lacy on the floor leaning against it, as we all sat like children listening to a riveting bed time story.
“Falcon brought me and Penny home from the hospital. I was holding it together pretty well until I saw his bike.” Mama Hen paused and sipped her beer. She took a few beats, cleared her throat, then continued. “The boys had already fixed it. Couldn’t even tell it fell down,” she said with a grin. “But it hitme when I climbed on that we already had our last ride.”
Her face turned soft pink and her eyes glassy. The rest of us were sniffling and holding each other as we listened to the whole story with bated breath.
Mama Hen finally let a sniffle escape, then wiped under her eye. I never even saw a tear, but the action was definitely to remove any evidence of one. “Oh, hell. Enough of that. We’re out of snacks.” She smacked her thigh and stood up. “And I need to get some rest so I can get up early and do it all again. Most of the crew is here, so breakfast is back to normal.”
I wiped my cheeks and under my eyes as I stood. I pulled the door and she turned, grabbing my shoulders. “I didn’t tell you all that to give in easily. Give him hell, you understand?”
Chuckling, I nodded. “I intend to. But thanks for having my back.”
She pulled me in and I melted against her soft warmth, squeezing her hard.
“You’re doing just fine, hon.”
Swallowing the lump that rose in my throat, I gave her one last tight squeeze, then pulled away. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Cooking with Mama Hen had become part of my new normal, and it was helping to fill more than one void that plagued me.
“Girls, I don’t want to see any random shoes or pieces of clothes lying in the courtyard in the morning. But it wouldn’t hurt to show a little solidarity to Katya, if you get my drift.”
