Chapter Six

I set down a snack and a new glass of water on the end table next to Kaitlyn.

"Thank you," she murmurs from her spot on the couch as she nurses Kolby.

"No problem," I say as my phone starts to ring.

I pull it out of my pocket and see my father's name flash across the screen. I clench my jaw and answer, even though it's the last thing I want to do.

"What's up?"

"Colt, I need to see you."

"I can swing by tomorrow."

"No, Colt. I need to see you now. There's something you need to see." He pauses. "It's important."

Before I can respond, I hear a scuffle happen in the background, and my father starts to shout.

I frown. "Dad?"

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Fuck." I rush toward the door, grabbing my cut on the way.

"Colt, what's going on?" Kaitlyn asks, worry in her voice.

I drop my phone into my pocket and put my cut on as I look at her. "I heard shots. I have to go."

Kaitlyn starts to stand. "Shots? Where? Who?"

I point at her. "Stay, please. I don't know what I'm walking into."

She nods, tears filling her eyes. "Stay safe and keep me updated."

I nod and rush out the door.

"What's going on?" Fang asks as I get on my bike.

"Something's going down at the club. Stay here and keep an eye on her," I say before I rip out of the parking lot.

I make the twenty-minute ride in ten and don't even bother turning off my bike as I jump off. I rush into the clubhouse and find it in complete chaos.

I point to a prospect and demand, "Come with me."

We make our way to my father's office and find the door open. My father lies there bleeding with a gunshot wound to the chest.

"Dad!" I say as I drop down next to him, my hands moving to his chest to apply pressure to the wound. I look over at the prospect. "Get a doctor!"

"Yes, sir," the kid says before rushing out.

His bloody hand comes up and clutches onto my forearm. "Colt." He starts coughing up blood.

"Stay calm dad, help is on the way," I tell him as my heart races.

Logically, I know help won't make it in time. Not when he's coughing up blood.

"D-don't…t-t-trust…any-o-one," he chokes out as blood dribbles down his jaw.

"What do you mean, Dad? Was this an inside job?" I demand as I push harder on the wound.

Dad coughs up more blood. When he's done, he looks over at his desk and jerks his head in a nod.

"Who is it?"

He tries to speak as his grip starts to loosen on my arm. "L-love y-y-you."

"Stay with me, Dad," I rasp as tears start to fill my eyes.

Before my eyes, I watch as my father crosses to the other side. I let go and run my hands through my hair as I tilt my head back. "Fuck!"

The prospect comes sliding to the doorway. "The doctor is on his way."

I hang my head. "How many are hurt out there?"

"Two, and they are still breathing."

I nod. "Okay, come get me when he gets here. I need a minute."

The prospect slaps the doorframe. "I'm sorry for your loss."

After he walks away, I get up and shut the door before walking over to my father's desk. He said he had to show me something. I wonder if it's still here.

"What am I looking for, Pops?" I mumble to myself as I start to move some papers around.

Nothing stands out, so I start trying his drawers, only to find them all locked. Blowing out a deep breath, I look back over at my father's body.

Motherfucker.

I get up and make my way back to him. Ihad my issues with my father, but I never wanted him dead. Knowing he is now is killing me.

I'll need to go let my mother know. As much as they pretended to hate one another, I know they cared. My father never gave my mother money, but I know I'm not the only one who would pay the mortgage or light bill.

He's gone now. The man who I hated so much at times yet could never find the will to stop loving.

Fuck.

This can't be happening.

A knock at the door makes me sigh.

Pull it together.

"Yeah?" I call out.

"Sir, the doctor is here," the prospect says.

"Is Fend here?"

The prospect shakes his head. "He hasn't been around lately."

I nod. "Okay, and any of his advisers? Sergeant at arms? Treasurer? Anyone?"

"I'll have to look." The kid cringes.

"Okay, then for the time being, I'm in charge, and you are my right hand. Let's go," I say as I slap his shoulder, pausing. "What's your name?"

He shakes his head. "I don't have a road name yet."

"You loyal?" I ask as we walk down the hall.

"Yes, sir."

"Then I'm going to call you Loyal until you prove otherwise. That work for you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Stop calling me sir and let's get to work."

I give him several tasks to complete as I step outside.

Picking up the phone, I call Reaper. When he doesn't answer, I curse. Then I call Wrath.

"What's going on?" Wrath answers.

"Rogue is dead. Fend is missing. The charter has been betraying the code. It's a shitshow. I can't leave it like this," I tell him.

He's silent for several minutes.

"What do you need from us?" he asks.

"Nothing yet," I admit.

"Thank fuck. Things have gone to hell here."

"What's going on?"

I hear a door close. "Are you sitting down?"

"Tell me what the fuck is going on, Wrath."

"Elenore was in a car accident, and she's in a coma."

"What the fuck, and I'm just hearing about this now? How is Honk?"

"You haven't exactly been easy to get ahold of, and how would you be if you were told things aren't looking promising for your old lady?" he says, making guilt hit me right in the gut.

I run a hand through my hair. "Fuck, man. I'm sorry."

I hear someone murmur on the other side of the line.

"I'll be right there," Wrath says to the other person. "Colt, I got to go. I'll try and keep you updated on things here, and call us when you need us. You know we have your back."

The anxiety I felt from finding my father's body and then finding out shit is going on at home makes things so much more complicated.

"I know. I'll call you when I need you. For now, keep an ear to the ground for any news from this, and I'll reach out to Trigger. Shit, we need to catch a break."

If that isn't the understatement of the year.

I'm half asleep when I hear the door open and shut. I tense, waiting for the sound to wake Kolby, only he doesn't stir. Reaching over, I turn the alarm clock toward me and read the glowing numbers.

4:10 a.m.

I clench my jaw as my anger builds. I texted him ten times, asking him to update me and tell me what happened. I've been worried all night, especially with how fast he tore out of here.

This isn't acceptable.

I won't have him coming into my house at all times of the night when he's ignored me.

Yes, tonight might have been the first time this happened, but once it happens, it doesn't stop. The club will keep calling, and he will keep going.

I rip the covers off of me and crawl out of bed. I look down at Kolby and watch as he sucks on his pacifier, none the wiser to his mother's wrath. I pad out to the living room and see the silhouette of Colt sitting on the couch with his forearms braced on his knees with his head in his hands.

"What the fuck, Colt. Where have you been?" I hiss into the dark.

Colt doesn't speak, which only makes me angrier. "I texted you. You can't just run off and not let me know if everything is okay and then expect to come back here hours later, thinking everything is going to be okay."

Again, he doesn't respond, so I reach over and flip on the light. I gasp as soon as I see him. His hands and the knees of his pants are covered in blood. Slowly, I approach him and sit across from him on the coffee table.

"Colt, whose blood is that?" I ask quietly as my heart races and dread fills my body.

Please don't be his. Please don't be his.

"My father was murdered tonight," he rasps.

I open my mouth, but the words don't want to come out.

His father was murdered.

Murdered, and he walked right into it.

Fuck.

"Is that his blood?" I ask when I find the words.

"Yeah."

My shoulders sag as I blow out a breath, relief filling my veins. Thank God it's not his blood or the blood of a man whose life he took.

I reach forward and pull his hands away from his face.

"Are you okay?" As soon as the question leaves my mouth, I cringe. "Wait, sorry. I obviously know you aren't okay."

He looks down at his palms. "I felt his last breath leave his body. He died while I was touching him, Kaitlyn."

"W-who killed him, Colt?"

He shakes his head slowly. "I don't know. Shit isn't adding up."

"He called right? What did he want?"

He looks at me with pain-filled eyes. "He told me he needed to talk to me. He was going to ask for my help."

I feel the tears hit the apple of my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Colt. I'm so damn sorry."

I scoot forward and crawl into his lap, pulling his head into my chest. Colt wraps his arms around my waist as his body begins to shake.

"Let it out," I say quietly as I run my hands through his hair.

I hold him as he lets it all out. Colt shakes as the loss of his father and the chaos of the night hits him in full force. I rest my head on top of his and cry with him.

I cry for the man who lost his father, the one who held him as he died. For our son, who lost one of his grandfathers. For the current situation we find ourselves in. Colt might not realize it yet, but this is my fight too. Whether he likes it or not.

My entire life, I've lived in dread of nights like tonight. When one of the men in my life would come home covered in blood, torn up over the loss of a brother. Only for Colt, it wasn't a brother but his father.

God, I don't know how to help him. I can't even begin to imagine how he feels.

Colt's body stops shaking as he tries to steady his breathing. My hand moves to his back, and I begin to rub it.

"What happens now?" I ask against the crown of his head.

"Now we go to war."

I feel my heart trip. "What does that mean?"

"What I mean is Fang and I are going to figure out who killed my pops and clean house." He pulls back and looks me in the eye and squeezes me. "I won't bring trouble to our door, and if you want to take off with Kolby and get out of town for a bit, somewhere safe, I get it, but I have to see this through. I can't let his killer go free. My father was an asshole, but he cared about his people. He was a good president, just a shitty father."

My heart clenches as I think about it. It would be smart to leave, but that's the last thing I want. I need to be here. I can't leave and risk Kolby and me losing him to the darkness. He needs us to keep him in the present and give him something to look forward to. Something to come home to.

I pull the hair at the nape of his neck. "I'm not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere."

His eyes darken as he clenches his jaw. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

He nods. "Okay."

"Okay, now stay right here." I slide off his lap and go into the kitchen.

I grab an old dish towel from the drawer and fill up a bowl of warm water with soap. With the supplies in hand, I make my way back to him. I sit down on the coffee table across from him and set the bowl next to me and reach for his hand.

"What are you doing?" he asks as I dip the towel into the water and start wiping his hand.

"Taking care of you."

His other hand reaches out and latches onto the back of my calf. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

It doesn't take me long to clean him up. It's not perfect, but it works well enough. He should really take a shower, but I'm not sure I want him to be alone right now.

"Let's go to bed," I tell him.

He nods. "You go get some rest."

I reach down, grabbing his hand. "Together, Colt. Come lie with me."

"I'm not good company right now, Kaitlyn," he warns me.

"You don't have to be. I just want to hold you for a little while," I tell him.

He reluctantly lets me pull him up and behind me as I lead him to my room. Once there, I take off his cut, folding it neatly as I set it on top of my dresser. Then I move back to him, pulling his bloodstained shirt off his body. I toss it on the floor at his feet before I move onto his pants. I make sure to empty his pockets before pulling them off, too.

Once he is in his boxers, I pull up my blanket and gesture for him to get in.

He does as I ask, climbing into the bed. Once I have him covered, I move back to his clothes, taking them to the trash. Then I open the door to the garage, seeing Fang sitting on the edge of his bed on his phone.

"What can I do for you?" he asks as he looks up.

"I don't want him to have to see these clothes again," I tell him.

He nods. "I'll take care of it. Go get some rest. Take care of our boy."

I nod, locking the door behind me as I make my way back to the bedroom.

Colt is sitting up, staring at Kolby. When I get into bed next to him, he finally lays down. I bridge the gap between us, cuddling up to his side.

He takes a deep breath before he wraps his arms around me and holds me tight to him.

That's how we stay until I finally drift off to sleep.