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“Wolf! Wolf!” A tiny voice sobs my name, and then two thin arms go around my waist.

All at once, the darkness fades and the crimson cast ebbs. My focus shifts, away from the chaos of a dozen or more men descending on one debilitated bastard, and to a spot on the floor right beside me.

Artie buries his face against me, repeating my name still. I wrap my arms around him and lift him up against me, holding him close to my chest as I have seen Julia do a hundred times. He puts his arms around my neck and lays his head on me. “You found me,” he whispers. “Can I go home now?”

I bury my face in his hair and kiss the top of his head, and I feel our hearts connect. I was prepared to give my life for this boy. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. But it’s over now, and there’s just this one thing left to do.

“Yeah, Artie,” I say. “Let’s go home.”

I carry him past my brothers, past Steel, who turns his head to watch me go. I figure I’m going to be reprimanded for going off on my own. I’ll take my licks some other time, not now. All I care about right now is getting us back home.

Chapter 26

Julia

When we’ve finished speaking, the detective holds out her hand to me. “I’m sorry things had to come to this,” she says, looking me right in the eyes. “I just want you to rest assured that it’s all over now. This is in our hands now. You can go home and focus on your family.”

I take the hand offered to me and shake with Detective Reyes. Her firm, strong grip makes me all the more aware of how very tired I am. It’s been an incredibly long day.

“Thank you, Detective.” I feel like I sound like I’m speaking underwater, my voice weary and vague. “Yes, all I want now is to just go home.”

A small hand tugs at my shirt. Artie. He holds up his arms, and I pick him up to hold him against my breasts. He lays his head on me, eyes closed. I tighten my arms around him and think that I may never let him out of my sight again.

We’re off to a good start with that, because he has been by my side ever since Wolf brought him back, riding up with him in his arm, followed by a whole pack of bikers. That was the hardest I’ve ever cried in my life, like I lost full bodily control. And Wolf just held me and rubbed my back and kissed me until the storm eventually passed.

Then, we all went to the police station. Me, him, the whole horde of bikers, plus the others who were just arriving, bringing Malcolm with them.

Chaos had followed, hours of it. Detective Reyes had taken charge, sending Malcolm to the hospital and divvying everyone up to be interviewed—myself included. We had to go through everything about a hundred times, and then a hundred more times whenever the officers passed information along.

Now, finally, I guess everyone knows everything they need to know, since we’re being allowed to go home. The police have the information that Tracker dug up about the strange incidents in Malcolm’s past. This most recent incident gives them reasons to reopen those old investigations and look harder at him. Even if those don’t pan out, he’s still going to be charged with breaking and entering, kidnapping, assault and battery, child endangerment, and so much more.

The divorce is going to be uncontested. That’s what Asha told me when I called her, because of course that was yet another thing that needed doing. The paperwork needs to be completed, but she reassured me that there was nothing Malcolm or his lawyers could do now. I should consider the case closed and start moving on with my life.

And I plan to do exactly that.

Detective Reyes opens the door to the interview room and holds it for me so I can step out with Artie. She leads me through the station. We pass the Chief’s office, and I glance inside. He sits at his desk with his big hands clasped together over his even bigger middle. He looks back at me, then glances away.

Was it shame I glimpsed on his face? He was supporting Malcolm, after all, based on what Wolf told me before. So, it could be guilt, but part of me doubts it. Part of me thinks that this police chief and Malcolm are very much alike. They care more about appearances than anything else.

This man will definitely withdraw his support for Malcolm, but he’ll only do it now because it would be career suicide to be caught covering for a kidnapper and suspected murderer.

I want to shout at him, to call him a hypocrite. He turned a blind eye when he thought Malcolm was a jealous husband threatening his wife. He enabled this. But I don’t say anything. Maybe it’s best to let the past be in the past now that I finally have the chance to do that.

Detective Reyes opens the door to the lobby, which is filled to overflowing with bikers. Steel and some of the others went to the hospital with Malcolm, but Edge, Tracker, and other familiar faces are still present.

I go to Edge, and he puts an arm around me and pats my back. There are circles of exhaustion forming under his eyes. I’m sure I look worse.

“Thank you,” I tell him. “Be sure to tell Steel that I thank him, too. If there’s anything I can do to repay you…”

Edge stops me with a shake of his head. “Just go on and be happy. That’s all the reward we need.”

I give him a kiss on the cheek, and that actually makes him blush. To save him from further embarrassment, I turn to the next biker. I hug, shake hands, and thank as many of them as I can.

And then I come on one I have never seen before. Tall, thin, but with the kind of muscles that show he’s far from weak. He looks at me with a clenched jaw and an almost entirely blank face. What emotion is there, I can’t identify it.

“You’re Tracker, right?” I ask. “If it wasn’t for you, all of this could have gone much differently. I owe you so much.”

He looks down at me and grunts. “Don’t owe me nothin’,” he says. “I’m repayin’ my debts. Got a lot of them.” Then, he turns and walks away.