INDIGO

The ride in the back of the patrol car is the only time when I think the cops might kill me. Tommy talks to someone on the phone while another cop drives. I can’t hear most of what’s being said since the asshole slammed my face and ear against the door frame while shoving me inside the car.

However, I can tell something’s gone wrong with their plan. I catch a few words here and there to sense Siobhan went to Natasha’s house. I’m relieved she’s safe. I never would have considered they’d chase her. Whatever move Alec Brennan is pulling today has drawn a huge target on his back.

I can’t hear if motorcycles are tailing the cars. As we raced away from the Play Hut, I spotted Golden and Pork Chop turning onto the road. I instantly felt more secure.

Except time passes, and the drive seems too fucking long for us to be headed to the nearest police station. Did Golden and Pork Chop follow the cruisers? Am I on my own right now?

I find myself thinking of my brother as the police cruiser pulls into a precinct on the East side where the Brennan family exerts the greatest pull. Bubby practices law in Virginia at one of those firms with a half dozen names. Years ago, when he was in college, I reached out to him online. I only wanted to get to know the kid I loved and lost, but he never responded.

We were walking on different sides of the law. He no doubt needs to keep up appearances. I still wondered if he saw the videos of Tack and me saving Hunter last summer. They were all the rage for a while. People recognized me around town, but I don’t know if Bubby even cares if I’m still alive.

As the cops yank me out of the cruiser, I’m overwhelmed by a renewed sadness over what I lost when Bubby got a stable family who didn’t want me. I always understood why they rejected me. Bubby seemed so normal while I was quiet and moody. They never would have loved me, and I doubt I would have been happy with them.

Bubby feels like a ghost by the time I’m dragged into the bullpen by Tommy and his partner. My head hurts, and I can’t hear shit out of my right ear. My eye is also swelling shut. While my brother is a long-ago wound, I have newer issues to focus on .

As Tommy storms into the precinct chief’s office, I get fingerprinted. Then, the lady cop wants to take my mugshot.

“Are you fucking stupid?” sneers a cop from the Play Hut. “Look at his fucking face.”

The lady cop’s just doing her job, going through the motions, not part of the in-crowd. I see how she struggles to adjust to how she needs to act differently in this situation. So many people are on autopilot, including the chief who looks confused as fuck as Tommy yells at him inside the closed office.

The Brennan family holds immense power over these cops. That’s why a street cop like Tommy can boss around top brass.

For the next thirty minutes, the other uniformed pigs from the Play Hut glare at me from their spot near the back office. I memorize their faces for later. If the Brennan family demands a war with the Backcountry Kings, I want to be sure to target the right assholes.

A half-hour after my ass hit this seat, a cop hurries through the office, glancing quickly at me before knocking at the office door. By now, Tommy and the chief seem to be talking to someone on the phone. I assume they're receiving new orders from Alec. Meanwhile, the antsy cop knocks with more fervor.

My face throbs, so I’m unsure if I actually grin. I feel like I do, and the cops nearby react as if I’m smirking. I can’t help myself. I know what’s about to happen. As much as I want a quiet life with Siobhan, I wouldn’t mind helping to put these pigs on a roasting spit.

Zoot’s heavy boots herald his arrival. A barely legal prostitute stops sniffling and stares at the double doors.

Zoot enters like a pissed bull. His dark eyes flash to me. I see a moment of relief at how I’m not in a ditch somewhere. That moment of humanity disappears behind his rage. Tommy and the chief stop huddling around a phone and look up. The nervous knocking asshole hurries out of the way before Zoot throws open the door.

When the door slams behind him, the glass shatters. The bullpen goes still. The sniffling prostitute’s eyes light up at how Zoot unloads insults on the cops. She glances at me. I shrug and gesture for her to enjoy the show.

“This is what you want?” Zoot hollers after calling them several variations of cock suckers. “You chased my niece around town! You tried to arrest my family! You put your pig fingers on my guy when he’s out with his fucking kids! Are you suicidal? Is your life so fucking boring you’ve decided to die violently? ”

Zoot is plenty loud enough for me to hear him. Tommy’s response is muffled. I think he’s threatening to arrest Zoot. The chief’s tone is more conciliatory. I think I hear the words “a big misunderstanding” at one point.

“You wanted my attention, Brennan!” Zoot yells, either talking to Tommy in front of him or Alec on the phone. “Well, you’ve fucking got it! I’m going to get real attentive now like a tick draining the lifeblood from an ugly mutt!”

The bullpen’s double doors open, and I brace for Tommy’s backup. Instead, Pork Chop, Golden, Bear, Sync, and Tack enter. Just behind them is a small army of lawyers. The head lawyer slaps a paper on the desk of the only cop not huddled in the back.

“Mister O’Malley is to be released immediately by order of Judge Rosewood,” she states. “The mayor is on his way down here to ensure this situation is handled properly.”

My club brothers fan out in the room. Bear sidles up to me and rests a hand on my shoulder. I like knowing Siobhan and the kids are safe at his house.

As the cops act like they’re having trouble reading the judge’s order, Zoot yells cuss words. He’s no longer forming sentences. He takes objects and throws them around the room while calling Tommy and the chief names. If he were half as crazy as people claim, he would have shot both men by now.

But my president is no doubt devising a plan to make these fuckers bleed. A war is bound to get messy. Killing cops is always tricky. However, not every member of the Brennan family is in law enforcement. There are plenty of thugs whose deaths won’t mean shit to the press.

Zoot storms out and yells at the cop uncuffing me. “I’m going to find out where your mom lives.”

“My mom is dead,” the cop mutters.

“She better be cremated or I’m taking a shit on her grave,” Zoot growls like an insane beast.

Zoot’s enraged gaze finds me and softens for just long enough to show he cares. Then, he returns to making threats and calling everyone’s mom a whore.

Bear leads me out of the room. Tack and Sync flank me while Pork Chop and Golden remain with our pissed-off president.

While the cops focus on Zoot, I’m hurried outside to a waiting SUV. Noble leans inside and looks me over .

“Siobhan and the kids are safe,” he says, knowing what I need to hear. “You need to go to the hospital and get checked out.”

“I’m fine.”

“No,” Noble says in a softer tone. “You look like shit. Besides, this thing is blowing up. Those parents at the Play Hut have put their videos online. It’s trending everywhere. It’ll be on the news by tonight. We need to document your every injury so the law is on our side against the Brennan family.”

“What about Siobhan?”

“Aunt Fred will take Siobhan and the kids to the farm tonight. That’s where you’re headed after the hospital.”

As the SUV races me to the hospital, I push away my concerns and the bone-deep pain. My thoughts are on how much has changed since last summer when I protected Hunter. Back then, my life didn’t really matter. I was just going through the motions, having gone numb after feeling deprived for so long.

Siobhan’s love woke me up. I want more now. I have dreams that don’t feel like foolish fantasies. I want to see my son grow up. I want to become a father to Glen and Nora and a good stepdad for the twins. I need to steal Siobhan’s heart every morning and cherish it each night.

As my club rallies around me, I see the future clearly. Even a brewing war with the Brennan family can’t keep me from claiming what I need.