Page 22 of Torrent’s Treasure

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.