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I walk her to her small apartment above Millie’s Diner. She kisses me lightly and turns to walk away. I pull her back and kiss her soundly on the mouth. She melts into me immediately. My Vi, a ball of fire, yet sweet like a candy. “I will call you tomorrow,” I told her.
I head to our meeting spot. We meet at Reggie’s bar, just outside of town. It’s one of our establishments. It’s a bar and this is where the guys come to unwind. Guard is rarely here anymore since Ava come along. He knows how crucial this is and is pulling up into the drive. The roar of his pipes gets louder until he pulls in.
“Hey”, I greeted him with a chin lift. Guard mimics my motion.
“We’ll talk in the office,” Guard said.
We arrive to the inner circle of our crew, less one, War. I wanted to get everyone on board with the plan I devised before we spring it on War. He’s going to hate it. We either force Jefferson’s hand or we risk having the girls on lock down for an undetermined amount of time. I already know that Guard is beginning to lose patience. His baby is arriving and that is one more concern.
After having gotten everyone’s attention, I laid it out.
“Here is what we are dealing we, Jefferson has an apartment that he is renting under an assumed name, Jeff Morris. We confirmed this by showing his picture around the building and neighbourhood. His neighbours think he is a great guy and always willing to help out. He is moving his fiancée in very soon. His fiancée Maddie is a musician and she is on tour. He is proposing when she is back in town. This is how he explains his absence; he is visiting her on tour while setting up their love nest,” I paused for a second to let this all sink in.
Guard prompted, “Go on.”
I sigh before I give them the rest, “Jefferson went to a set of factories and labs, on the pretence that he was meeting a realtor to rent space. I have a feeling that something was weird in him choosing a lab, so I hacked into their system and found a shitload of emails about some missing chemicals and gases. This was not two days after his visit. They reported the missing shit to the cops and they are looking for him as a suspect. Cops haven’t been able to pick up his trail.”
I point to Risk and Demon. “Our two brothers have found that before Maddie, this shithead had his site on another woman. In a span of a few months, her boyfriend left her leaving only a note, she was constantly receiving surprise visits from him and when she refused him, he lost his shit. He took her from the parking lot where she worked. She was smart enough to tell her boss what was happening and when she screamed bloody murder, he called the cops and got the plates of his van that he threw her into. They found her a few hours later, beaten to near death, with a note from the fucker. The note read, “You are redeemed. I have beaten the demon out of you. Rest in peace.”
“Fuck me,” Guard spit out. The tense fury reverberated around the room.
“The woman, Lisa, survived. And after a year of rehabilitation she was physically recovered. Her family moved her home and it took two more years before her life returned to somewhat normal.” I stopped for a minute and pulled out my plan. “This plan is rough, but it will smoke him out. War will lose his shit. I wanted to get your take before we move on this,” I finished.
We reviewed the plan for hours, to each minute detail to ensure the safety of Maddie and all our Pride. We also anticipated every question and conflict that War was going to engage.
Risk was unusually quiet until he said, “What if we don’t give him all of it? What if we give him what he needs to know so that sees the minimal risk to Maddie?”
“We don’t play that way,” Guard replied.
“You know that a conflicted man with a personal interest works on emotion. I admit that War has always been cool and strategic but now there is Maddie.”
“Tell me that you have your sister or mother in this situation, you wouldn’t want to know it all?” I questioned.
“Point made,” Risk responded.
“Call him, Orion,” Guard commanded.
The conversation was brief. We sent a sentry to watch over Maddie while we waited for his arrival and went over the plan once more.
War stalked into the room and knew immediately that something was up. He stood in the middle of the room surrounded by the Pride. I approached. One hand on his shoulder, the other over my heart, “You have to trust me with your life and hers. I swear vengeance for what he put her through, we all do. War do you trust us.”
“With my life,” he said without hesitation. A second later, “And hers.”
We surrounded the table. Mission “Free Maddie” was on.
Twenty-One
I Take My Life Back
Maddie
War left in a hurry. It’s not often War runs out and I’ve discovered that if he is on the move to meet the club then it must be over something important. I’ve always had Paul to lean on. I know that he feels responsible for not being able to stop what happened to me and that has played a part in our relationship. I know when he is back from tour and sees the strong me I used to be before the pain, we’ll be able to be more playful with each other again. I look forward to him coming home.
I decide to head to bed knowing I have protection circling the house. I’m wiped. I had the great idea of wanting to throw a baby shower for Ava. I want to thank her for her encouragement and support, for reminding me that I can laugh, for sharing her best friend, Vi, and for embracing me into her life and introducing me to a new set of gal pals. When I mentioned this to Vi, she thought it was a fabulous idea. Since she is so creative and talented, she is doing the decorations. We decided on a simple BBQ with a baby theme. Baby burgers (or mini sliders), baby sized hotdogs (let me tell you how hard they were to find), mini sized fries, mini cheesecakes personalized for each lady we are inviting, and a big beautiful cake that says baby boy with a mini Harley. Vi told me to prepare because they guys will crash the party and there had better be super-sized versions of everything as well. So that’s on the menu, too. All Ava has been craving is burgers and hot dogs and I decide that fancy isn’t necessary but being true and real is.
I’m in a state of half-sleep when I hear War come into our bedroom. The rustle of his clothes faintly drifts through the air as he undresses. The bed descends as the weight of his body hits the mattress. His arm curves over my waist dragging me from my side of the bed to the centre, his fingers holding me tighter than normal. War’s body is tense. It’s clear that whatever happened at their meeting tonight has upset him.
I turn to face him. Oh yes, something is definitely wrong. His jaw is stern, his eyes narrow, his brow furrowed, beaconed by the moonlight. He is clearly disturbed. I wrap my arms around his middle, forcing him onto his back so that I am semi-laying on top of him.
