"You find the f.u.c.ker who did this yet?"
"Not yet. We"ve still got eyes out." I hate we can"t give him the answer he wants. Yeah, Mayor Morre has been dealt with, but the man responsible for this needs to be found.
"I want him, Beau. I want him found and I want to deal with him." I want him, too. After finding out who we"re looking for, Jesse and Hunter did some digging. It turns out it"s the same guy who threatened Mackenzie in Liquid.
Yeah, I"ll make sure we get him.
"We"re on it, brother. Rest a.s.sured, I will find him." I offer the only thing I can: my word. We haven"t had any blow back from the Mayor. T"s promise on the Mayor turning up dead came through. A week after we left him alone in the barn with the Warriors, he was found dead a few hours out of town. Media called it gang war. Mayor Morre was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I called it good riddance.
"I want him to pay." I nod, knowing that feeling all too well. Even with the blood on my hands, knowing Chad and the Mayor are gone, I can breathe easier.
"While we"re talking about club business, I need to talk to you about Missy"s Place. We decided we need to keep things moving on it." I hate being the one to tell him we want to go ahead with it. It"s the last thing he needs to think about, but I won"t go ahead without him knowing. I"m not keeping it from him.
"Kelly would want you to go ahead. You can"t keep putting it off." He gives his okay and I"m relieved. We"ve already put the staff off for three weeks. I don"t want to risk losing them.
"The club is gonna have a fundraiser night for the opening, you want to come?" I know it"s pointless asking him, but I told Mackenzie I would, just in case.
"I can"t leave her, man. What if she wakes up?"
"You"re right. I just wanted to make sure you know you"re welcome." A knock at the door stops Brooks from replying. I twist my head to watch Bell walk in.
"Hey, guys, how are we?" She steps into the room and walks over to Kelly. She"s wearing her nurse"s uniform today so I know she"s on shift.
"Hey, Bell." I nod and watch her lean down and squeeze Kelly"s free hand.
"Morning, Kelly. Are you going to wake up for me today?" She smiles down at her before picking up her chart. "How was last night?" She looks up at Brooks.
"Same. Nothing." He lets out a frustrated breath.
"She"s showing activity, Brooks. I know it"s hard but keep talking to her. Some people say they can hear what"s going on around them in this state. Everything helps." She places Kelly"s chart back into place then moves around the bed.
"I"ll be back in later." She waves us off, leaving just as fast as she came. The room falls silent again, and I wonder if I should just head out too. Mackenzie is at the clubhouse and I"m bringing her up later, so I can always stay longer when we return.
"I think I should head out. Give you some quiet time before the next visitor," I tell him, deciding to leave. Every day he gets more distant and every day, it gets harder to watch it.
"How"s Mia?" He looks up, stopping my retreat and I see a flash of pain in his eyes.
"She"s doing okay. We"re taking her tonight. We can bring her down before dinner if you like." I sit back down, letting this one play out.
"I don"t like her seeing Kell like this. The tubes and the machines, it"s too much. She was in yesterday."
"I don"t think she minds. She just wants to see you and Kelly," I try to reason with him. This subject has been a huge issue within the club the last four weeks. While Mia is being looked after by all of us, there are concerns for Brooks" reluctance to have her around.
"I just can"t deal with her questions right now, Beau. She doesn"t understand. How can she? She"s five." His jaw ticks and his body tenses. Agitation seeps from him, so I don"t push it. I know it"s his way of dealing, who am I to tell him otherwise? I have no idea how I would react in this situation.
"I get it, bro. It"s all good." The last thing he needs is to be getting worked up, not here in front of Kelly.
"I just need more time. I"m not trying to push her away."
"No one thinks you are. We just want to make sure you"re both okay." He doesn"t reply, so I don"t continue pressing it. It"s up to him now.
"Well, I need to head out. You want anything before I go?" I look up at the clock knowing Kadence will be in next. The girls have s.p.a.ced out their visits throughout the day. Kadence, Holly, Bell, then Mackenzie, followed by the boys. I opt to come early in the morning, less chance of dealing with an agitated Brooks, plus fewer people.
"Nah, I"m good."
"Okay, I"ll be back later with Kenz." I stand and step up to Kelly.
"Come on, Kell, you need to knock this s.h.i.t off and come back to him," I whisper in her ear, and then gently kiss her cheek. I hold back, almost antic.i.p.ating her reaction. Like every other day, it doesn"t come and I try not to let it pull me down.
She"ll come to when she"s ready.
"See you, bro." I walk around the bed and plant my hand on his shoulder. He reaches up and squeezes it tightly for a few seconds, like he is taking in my strength before releasing.
"Look after my girl," he whispers. I squeeze him back, a silent reply I have it sorted.
Without another word, I walk out and head straight for the bathroom.
I make it just before bringing up my breakfast.
It doesn"t happen every visit.
Only the tough ones.
The problem is the tough ones were becoming more frequent.
"I don"t want to make a big deal with the opening. Let"s keep it simple, quiet, and just have it over with," I tell Mackenzie later that day while we"re at Missy"s Place getting s.h.i.t sorted for opening next week.
"Not even a celebration at the clubhouse?" She looks up from her notebook. Kelly and I had planned a run to raise some funds, but we"ll put it off for a bit. Until she wakes.
"Nope, don"t need it. Not with everything going on. Besides we have the fundraiser." Mackenzie nods, making another note.
"Okay, that"s fine. We also need to go through the list of volunteers. I know you and Kelly had chosen some, but with the postponing of the opening, we may have lost a few." I stop reading over the list of jobs I have to do before Monday and watch her quietly. She"s sitting across the desk from me on the sofa against the wall, with bare feet, denim jeans, and a black Harley Davidson tee. Her hair is down today in a ma.s.s of curls and my hand itches to run my fingers through it. She looks f.u.c.king amazing.
Too f.u.c.king amazing.
"What"s wrong?" She catches me staring.
"Nothing." I shake my head and continue to have my fill.
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
I smile at her as she worries her bottom lip with her top teeth. It"s a quirk of hers I"ve come to love. "Just noticing how beautiful you look today."
She releases her lip and lets her smile take over her face. "Thanks." A small spark in her eyes brightens at my compliment.
"It"s good to have you back, darlin". Here with me. Together." Ever since the night I shared Missy"s story, I"ve had her back.
My woman came back to me.
"It"s good to be back." She picks up her pen then drops her head back to her notebook. "We need to set up a meeting with Brie this week, so we know what her expectations are and ours with her." Brie is our full-time social worker. Before Kelly had her accident, we hired her. When she found out about Kelly, she agreed to hold out until we were ready. Luckily, Brie had no problem waiting an extra six weeks to start.
"And we need to sit down and do up a roster. I know Bell, Kadence and Holly are all as keen as I am about getting on it. I"ve already spoken with Brie about what we can do for training. Do you think that will be okay?" She taps her pen to paper then looks up, waiting for me to process it all.
"Do you want to keep working for Nix at the clubhouse or would you like to come work here?" I ignore her roster plans and ask her right out. Sitting here listening to her ramble about rosters and training, I realize she"s just as pa.s.sionate about this place as I am.
"Here?"
"Yeah, you don"t have to if you don"t want to. No pressure. But, darlin", I haven"t seen you this alive in months."
"Well, what you"re doing here is the most amazing thing ever, Beau. You don"t have to offer me a job. I"m happy to just help out when you need me."
"You didn"t answer me, Kenz. Do you want to work here?"
"What would I do? You have all the spots filled."
"Head of administration." I offer her the one job Kelly and I were going to share.
"I"m barely qualified."
"Not from where I"m sitting. Kelly and I were going to share the job. With Kell not up to it at the moment, it"s just me. I"m going to need help."
"I can just help."
"I want you here full time."
"What about Nix? I can"t let him down." She keeps fighting it, but I"m gonna wear her down.
"He was doing his books long before you came along. He"ll manage." She worries at her lip again, letting it all sink in.
"You really mean it? You want me here?"
"Couldn"t think of a better place for you."
"Beau, this is huge for me." She stands, places her notebook down, and walks around the desk to me.
"So that"s a yes?"
"Yes!" She falls into my lap and wraps her arms around my neck. "For you, for Missy. It"s more than I could ever want."
"I love you, Kenz." I wrap my arms around her, trying to memorize having her back in my arms.
"And I you, Beau." She rests her forehead on mine. I"m about to kiss her when a large bang on the front door interrupts us. Spinning in my chair, I turn and look at the CCTV monitors. We had more installed at the front door after Kell was attacked.
"Is that Detective Carter?" Mackenzie leans forward for a better look.
"Yeah." I shift her off my lap and stand. "Stay here while I talk to him." I kiss her briefly and then head out past the common area and toward the front door.
"Jackson?" I open the door and step outside.
"Beau, how are you?" He offers me his hand and I take it. If he finds it odd I just stepped outside instead of offering him to come in, he doesn"t show it.
"Good, busy. You know how it is." I release his hand and wait for him to tell me what he"s here for.
"No news on Kelly?" I shake my head, not prepared to talk about it.
"I"m not here on official business. Just wanted to give you a heads up." I still my breathing and lower it to stay composed.
"What"s up?"
"Had an envelope delivered to my desk last week. Pretty full on s.h.i.t implicating Mayor Morre to Axle David, and his cl.u.s.terf.u.c.k of a rap sheet."
"No s.h.i.t?" His brow rises at my tone, but he doesn"t comment. I know the file he has. Tiny was responsible for setting it up.
"Yeah, him and Chad to be precise. Chad"s been working some cases for them. Too bad we can"t collar him for it. You still have men looking for him?"
"Not gonna do your job for you, Jackson." I know he"s fishing for information right now. Probably knows we know more than we"re letting on.
"I"m just concerned, Beau. Mayor turns up dead. Chad"s missing-"
"I"m not worried about Chad," I cut him off. I probably shouldn"t be so c.o.c.ky, but I"m done beating around the bush. Chad is gone. The Mayor is gone. I"m not going to play along.
"You"re not?" His head tilts slightly.
"Not in the least."
"One would think you had something to do with his disappearance, Beau, with a comment like that. Just weeks ago we were getting hounded to find him and now you aren"t worried. What did you do?"
"Nothing. You know we run a clean club, Jackson. Maybe his father"s connections caught up with him. Axle David was responsible for Paige"s disappearance. I"m sure he"s capable of getting rid of sc.u.m," I remind him how much he risked last time to help Paige out of her situation. It"s a low move, but I don"t give a f.u.c.k.
"You know we still have eyes in the Warriors." He ignores my dig and delivers his own. I keep my expression blank, trying not to react. Jackson did tell Jesse a few months ago they had a man undercover, but somehow in the stress of things, we seemed to f.u.c.king forget.
"Then you"ll know we had nothing to do with it," I call his bluff.
Yeah, okay, we f.u.c.ked him up a bit, but he has nothing on us and the s.h.i.t with Chad. No body. No crime. Simple.
"You might not have signed his death certificate, but you had a hand in it." I don"t bother arguing any more. I"m done with this conversation.