Chapter Twelve

A fter the shit show that was dinner at Killer's place, we were able to come to an understanding. We might not like or trust one another, but we have something in common that is worth protecting. Especially now that he has been targeted as well.

"Thanks for providing a place for us to go over this stuff," I reluctantly tell him as he lets me in.

"Of course. This is Binx." He waves at a man as he leads me to where he has an office set up.

The man looks away from the computer and nods before turning back.

"I can get my IT guy on the phone too if we need," I tell him.

"Probably a good idea to see what he has already done. No need to repeat work," Killer says as he takes a seat at the table behind Binx.

I take a seat as well, dialing the phone.

"What's going on?" Trigger answers.

"We are looping in the Noche Oscura. I'm going to let you talk with their tech guy, and you can tell him what we have already done."

I hand over the phone to Binx, who takes it off speaker and puts it against their ear.

"What did you do with Fend?" I ask as I pull out the folder my father left me.

"I put him on ice. Without knowing who left him, I can't trust anyone. When we figure out what happened, we will decide what to do with him then."

I nod. "He was my father's best friend. He deserves a proper send-off."

"Did they ever give your father his send-off? I don't remember getting an invite."

I shake my head. "Those fuckers are playing games. They keep freezing me out. Once we get things settled, we will give him a proper send-off as well. He wasn't the best father, but he was a good president."

"He was a good man." Killer agrees.

Clearing my throat, I push the folder over to him. "This is what he had collected before everything went down."

He opens the folder, looking over the photos that I've been staring at since my mother handed them to me.

"He suspected his own guys?" he asks.

"His last words were to tell me to trust no one. When I asked if it was an inside job, he said yes. Someone in that club is a rat. Looking at those photos, it appears he had his suspicions about Fend, but with him dead, I think he was a decoy. So we need to look into these other members. Tiny was at the top of my list. These three I don't know much about, though."

I point to the three photos.

"This one approached us to join, but I thought he was better suited for your father. I sent him his way."

"Timber. He doesn't talk much. He didn't avoid me when I was at the clubhouse the last couple times. The one on the left is Dagger. He seemed upset when he found out about my father. Offered his condolences. They are both fairly new. I'm more worried about the last guy. Toker. He is an old-timer. Been around as long as I can remember. I can't imagine him being disloyal, but who knows. He's close with Baldie, the treasurer, but he was also close to my dad and Fend. It's hard to believe he would fuck them over, but obviously my father thought he could." I rub my hand down my face.

"I hacked your father's computer. It looks like he was watching all of his men via cameras. Someone has been trying to access them, but they couldn't. Who is the tech guy over there?" Binx asks.

"He didn't have one. After Gigs was killed, he never found anyone to take his place. He outsourced his tech issues. I'll be honest, I didn't think he even knew much about computers," I admit.

"Well, he had someone set him up with a computer with encryption. The feeds are wireless, but they are protected very well, and they are still running. I'll have to go back through and check the past feeds, but we might be able to find something from this," Binx tells us as he puts the phone back on speakerphone.

"Send me over some files. I'll work through them too. Let's start at the night Rogue was killed and move from there. You go backward and I go forward?" Trigger asks through the line.

"That's smart. Also, I watched the feeds from last night from your house. The body was left just out of range for the camera on the porch. It's a blind spot, one I will rectify. Still, that doesn't help us. I don't see anyone moving about the property except you and the wife. Then Colt drives up, but never goes near it. I have no clue who left the body," Binx says.

"That's unfortunate," Killer admits. "We can't give up. Someone put a body on my property, knowing Colt was coming. I think they were banking on us fighting it out and one of us dying, if not both. That means someone in our midst is a traitor too. No one is safe until we find them."

"I have Fang on Kaitlyn at all times," I tell Killer.

He nods. "I can't trust any of my men to watch her. Binx, set up some cameras over there too. I know I promised her I wouldn't, but this is more important than her privacy. Until these men are found, I want them protected."

"Agreed," I tell him.

It's the first time we have been on the same page. It's like some unspoken agreement has been put in place. We still don't like one another, but until we solve this, we are going to work together. We are going to do everything we can to take care of Kaitlyn and Kolby.

"Consider it done, boss. I'll do that now, then I will come back here and monitor them while I watch these feeds," Binx says.

"I will start looking through it now. Call if you need anything, Colt," Trigger says before hanging up.

"I've been keeping tabs on guys from the club. Fang and I take turns. When he's with Kaitlyn, I follow them around while he does the same at night," I tell Killer.

"When do you sleep?" he jokes. "I wish I could lend you men, but I can't trust any of them. I should, but after seeing what happened to your father, we can't take anyone off the table. Hell, Binx here is even on the list."

Binx gives Killer a "really" look but doesn't defend himself.

I get what Killer is saying. When someone in your club betrays you, it's not usually the person you think of. It's almost always the person you thought would never do anything to hurt you or your family. It's the one that is going to hit the hardest and the deepest. It's why Fend was the main suspect.

Now that he's not, it'll be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Let's just hope we find the fuckers before they cause any more damage.

Four months of craziness. That's what my life has seemed like.

Between learning to be a mother to this adorable child of mine and dealing with Colt being distracted by the death of his father, I'm not sure I am settling in well.

I feel like at this point my life should start to feel normal again, but everything is still up in the air. I still have no idea where we are going to live. If I'm going to fight to stay here or give in and go back to Vegas with him.

Do I want that life, though? Do I want the same shit my dad has pulled a million times with my mother.

It's club business.

That phrase has always meant that my father would disappear, and my mother was never allowed to complain about it. I don't want that for my life.

So far, Colt has been good about not pulling that shit with me. He never just disappears on me. We are in Texas, though. His duties are likely muted because of his being here.

Feeling like I'm too far in my head, I go to the garage and knock on the door. Fang answers, looking as if he was working on his bike. When I look over his shoulder, I see the door open and his bike sitting in the driveway.

"Are you too busy to go to the park with us? I know Colt doesn't want me going places by myself," I tell him.

"Give me a minute to put a few things back on, and we can go."

"Oh, take your time. It'll probably take me a bit to get the baby ready anyway."

I leave him to do his thing while I get Kolby ready. By the time I have him dressed with all the things I wanted to bring with us, a good thirty minutes have passed. Carrying Kolby out to the car, I start to buckle him in. I smile when Fang pops my trunk, putting the stroller inside for me.Shutting the door, I smile at him. "Thank you."

"No problem. Which park are we going to?"

I rattle off the general location of the closest park. It's the one I grew up going to. It's not the nicest park, but it holds fond memories for me. I skinned my first knee at this park. I also saw my first fight here when two of the club kids couldn't agree on who got the swing first.

So maybe it's not the best park to take my child to, but it's the one I'm most familiar with.

Pulling up in the parking lot, I smile when I see it mostly empty. I know Kolby is too small to really play on anything, but I figured it would be a nice place to take a walk.

As I get out of the car, Fang parks a few spaces down before coming to help me. By the time I have Kolby out, he has the stroller set up and ready.

"Thank you. I think I'm going to take a walk around. You are more than welcome to walk with me."

He shakes his head. "I appreciate the offer, but you have the look of a woman trying to work through a few things. I'll hang back so that you don't feel obligated to engage in conversation."

"Very observant of you. Thanks, Fang. You're a good man."

"Yes, ma'am."

I start walking through the park, enjoying the slight breeze. It's too hot to keep Kolby out here too long, but it's good for us to get some fresh air.

Maybe that should be a positive in the Vegas column. It gets hot there too, but from what I looked up, it also gets cool. It wouldn't be ungodly hot like here, possibly.

Then again, I wouldn't be able to bring Kolby to the places that I grew up in. I wouldn't be able to share history with him.

I think about my father again. It would kill him if I moved away. He always wanted more children, but after my mother had me, she had complications. It led to her having a hysterectomy.

Maybe that's why I have issues with her. I feel like she has always blamed me for it.

I could stay here, and I think Colt would even move here for me if I really wanted him to. We could build a life together. Then again, that would be selfish of me knowing that he hates it here.

I remember when we spent that week together. He confided in me. He told me things I'm sure never would have left his mouth if he had thought we would ever see one another again.

His mother was absent, choosing drugs over him. His father was borderline abusive to him. He never beat him per se, but he did train him to be a tough man with walls built up so high that even heaven can't reach them.

Now that his father was murdered, that's another negative memory here.

Would I actually ask him to stay somewhere he obviously hates?

It all boils down to one thing.

I'm scared.

Part of me wants to give everything to Colt and have him give it back to me. We could have a happy life together with Kolby. He would be the father I always wanted in my life.

What if we move to Vegas and, down the line, he changes and turns out to be just like my father, though? My father is an amazing man, but he never put me before the club. There were many times I needed him with me, and he ran to do the club's bidding instead.

At the time, I didn't understand, but I do now. It's how it always will be.

I'm not sure I could live with Colt if he was like that. That's the other part of me. The one who wants to hide and shield us from the pain that I know will come when I realize that he cares more about his brothers and club than he does me.

I'm so lost in thought that I almost don't see the two figures at the end of the path as I turn the corner.

I stop, considering turning around. They don't look like they are doing something legal. Before I turn around, though, one of the men turns toward me.

I gasp as I recognize him. Morgue accepts an envelope from the man in front of him. He looks so out of place here in this park. He's wearing a business suit. I can see the sweat stains from here.

The man says something else before walking further down the path.

That's when Morgue sees me. I can see him narrow his eyes as he starts to stalk toward me. The look on his face is so angry that I almost take a step back. My heart is beating out of my chest when I feel a body step up next to me.

"Do you want to speak with him?" Fang asks quietly.

"No. I don't."

I don't even know if Fang knows who he is. It doesn't matter, though. Fang steps in front of the stroller, pulling out a gun as Morgue gets closer.

"I don't think you want to come any closer, buddy. The woman doesn't want to speak with you, so run back to wherever you came from," Fang says so nonchalantly that I'm wondering if Morgue will even listen.

He does, though. He stops, his eyes locking on mine.

"We aren't done, Katie. You will be mine sooner or later. See you soon, love."

When he winks, I feel like I might puke. Why would he say that to me? I'm his? Fuck no, I'm my own person. No one owns me.

Well, Iguess I wouldn't mind if Colt said the same thing, but Morgue is not even close to being on the list.

I watch as he walks down the path away from us until he disappears.

Then the shaking begins. Fang is at my side, pulling me under his arm as he pushes the stroller back to the car.

Once at the car, he dials a number on his phone, talking softly before he shoves the phone at me.

"Hello?" I say as I watch Fang start my car, turning on the air conditioning before strapping Kolby in.

"Little Mama, are you okay?" Colt's voice comes through the line.

"I'm not sure. Morgue was here. He scared me."

I hear him cuss. "Listen, I want to talk to you the entire way home, but you wouldn't be able to hear anything over my bike. So what I want you to do is take a deep breath. You and Kolby are safe. When you feel well enough, get in the car and drive Kolby home. Fang will be with you every step of the way. I'm leaving now, and I will meet you there."

I swallow hard. "I thought you had club business."

"Fuck the club. I'll be there."

He hangs up before I can say anything else. I hand the phone back to Fang.

"You okay to drive?"

I nod. "I think so. You will be with me?"

I look around as if Morgue is waiting for him to leave my side.

"I'll be visible at all times. I won't leave you until Colt is at your side."

"Okay. Let's go then."

As I climb in the car, I wonder if I really am ok or if I'm faking it.

Either way, I can't lose it. Not when Kolby's safety is on the line.