Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Mattie

I’m sitting at the bar, sipping a virgin cocktail with one hand, while my other hand is in my pocket, wrapped around a pregnancy test. Cleo brought it to me around an hour ago, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around what I’ve just learned. I’ve had the birth control implant for three years and it’s always worked like a charm. Well, I assumed so, but since I had the implant inserted, I’d not had sex—at least I hadn’t, until getting together with Rigs.

I thought I was safe, that was until Cleo and I were having a girly chat, and she reminded me that it was closer to five years since I’d gotten the implant. With everything going on at work and with the syndicate, I guess I’d let a lot of stuff slip. Like not scheduling an appointment with my OB-GYN to get a new implant fitted. One rapid response test later, and my world has changed thanks to my hot biker’s strong swimmers. It’s still early days as far as the pregnancy goes, but I know this is what I want.

I’d watched women all around me gush over their pregnancies. Having children has been a pie in the sky dream that I kept on the back burner, my neurologist had said that my MS shouldn’t impact on my fertility or ability to be a mom, but I’d assumed that it would never happen. But seeing that line appear on the test suddenly made my future look a whole lot different. Now it was my turn to get what Cleo and my other co-workers had. I was relishing every single moment of it. Somehow, I know Rigs will be thrilled when I tell him the news, even though it’s the last thing we expected.

I take another sip of my drink and watch as Evan continues pacing by the front door. He’s been doing that ever since Rigs and his brothers left. I don’t know exactly what he’d talked to the brothers about, but he’s been nervous since they left. I wish I could take away all of his pain and anxiety. Unfortunately, the best I can do is be a sympathetic ear if and when he wants to talk, and make sure he has a good therapist to help him work through all the terrible things that have happened to him. I’m worried how Evan will take the news of my pregnancy more than Rigs, we want him to have a settled life, and I hope he doesn’t think this is going to change my plans of adopting him.

***

Evan runs to Rigs as soon as he walks in. Whatever he says makes Evan hang his head and wipe at his eyes with the backs of his hands. Then Evan turns and runs upstairs, presumably to our suite.

Rigs looks over at me and smiles, but instead of coming closer, he follows Evan upstairs. I hastily get up from my seat and rush after them.

By the time I make it to our living area, I hear the shower running and Evan sobbing in the bedroom with the door closed. Something in my gut tells me to leave Evan alone until I talk to Rigs. He clearly needs a moment to himself. So, I pace around the living room until Rigs comes out of the bathroom wearing clean jeans and a button-up shirt.

I immediately ask, “What happened? Why is Evan so upset?”

Rigs takes me by the hand and leads me to the sofa. Once we’re sitting side by side, he explains. “Pope was after Evan because he witnessed him kill one of his friends. We tracked down where Pope lives and found the kid’s body in a shallow grave, right where Evan said he would be. His family claimed the body, we captured Pope, and we’re going to interrogate him later tonight. With any luck, we might get good intel on what happened to the rest of the missing children.”

I’m shocked by what I was hearing. “I’m glad Evan is finally able to grieve for his friend. I think I should go check on him,” I say, and stand up.

“No.” Rigs pulls me back down. “Leave him be for now, sugar. He’s a strong boy, but this has been an emotional day for him, on top of everything he’s already been through.”

“So, Popelstone, Pope, was the last member of the syndicate, right?”

“Yeah, we searched his house and didn’t find any evidence that he was part of a larger network. It seems like a regional organization that had a chokehold on key positions in local government that enabled them to neutralize every single person they saw as a potential threat to their organization.”

“You just never think anything like this can happen in a small town where most of us know each other.”

“Well, you sure as hell can’t tell who the bad guys are just by looking. If we could, it would make life a whole damn lot easier.”

The social worker in me knows that is all too true. Most of the brothers in the Savage Legion look like they could be criminals, but most were war heroes. That police chief looks like a hero and was most definitely a villain. I learned long ago not to judge a book by its cover.

I glance up at Rigs. “You look exhausted. Do you want to take a nap before we have to go out to interrogate Pope?”

He stared at me in shock. “No.”

“But—”

“But nothing. I don’t want you within a million miles of this situation.”

“I’m the one who has every one of those cases memorized. That means I’m the only one who knows what questions to ask for the best chance of recovering them. You need me.”

“Mattie, sugar, you’ve got to know that getting information out of a man like Pope will require more than polite questioning.”

I just stare at him. What had I imagined an interrogation to look like? Shining a light in his face and shouting rapid fire questions at him until he broke and told us everything we wanted to know? Looking at Rigs’ face told me it was going to be more like slapping him around, breaking a few fingers, and whatever else it took to get him to talk. A sick feeling swirls in my stomach because I know he isn’t going to admit to anything without that kind of persuasion.

Still, I’m those kids’ best chance of being found. I’m not about to let them stay in whatever hells they were trapped in simply because I’m too squeamish to see what it takes to motivate answers out of a scumbag like Pope.

Lifting my chin, I say, “I don’t care what it takes. I’m all in.”

Rigs’ face falls. “Mattie, no. This isn’t you.”

I take his hand and press it against my stomach. “It’s the new me. I’m going to find every single one of these kids before I give birth to my own, so help me God.”

Rigs’ mouth falls open in shock and then he scoots closer. “You’re carrying our child?”

I reach into my pocket and pull out the test.

As he gazes down at it, a slow smile spreads over his face. “We’re going to be parents again,” he said excitedly.

I like that he saw Evan as our child even though we haven’t gone through the official process of adopting him yet.

Suddenly, his arms are around me, lifting me onto his lap and hugging me close. “I love you so much, Mattie. More than I’ve ever loved anyone before. We’re going to be the best parents two kids ever had.”

I lay my cheek against his chest. “Or more than two. Who knows what fate has in store for us?”

Rigs pulls back and tilts my head up to look into my eyes. “What are you saying, sugar? You want to adopt all the kids who no longer have homes to go back to?”

I absolutely do, but admitting something like that seemed so wild and unhinged. I close my eyes and tell myself it isn’t logical, much less possible.

While I was trying to talk myself out of it, Rigs says, “We’re going to need a much bigger house than the ones I’ve earmarked for you to look at.”

My eye pop open. “Are you serious? Don’t you think that idea is a little ambitious? We don’t have enough money to take care of so many kids.”

“You may not have enough money, but I’m fairly wealthy. I’m one of the founding members of this club and the only one who works here full-time. I’ve been getting ten percent of every job since I was a teen.” Gesturing around his suite, he says, “As you can see, I don’t spend much on myself. Trust me, sugar, out of all the things we have to worry about in life, money isn’t one.”

“Oh. Oh, I see. Do the folks around here know you’re loaded? Is that why every club girl in the clubhouse has warned me that you’re spoken for?”

He snorts a laugh. “Nope. You’re the only person I’ve ever told about that. I can almost guarantee Siege doesn’t even know how much money I have, and he’s our club president.” Giving me a wicked smile, he adds, “Those club girls just like my pierced cock.”

I burst out laughing because this rich hot biker of mine was not wrong about his magnificent cock. “Well, the baby maker’s all mine now.”

I watch his expression turn heated. God, I wanted to have sex with him so badly, but now was not the time. “Too bad we have that interrogation coming up or we could celebrate.”

“Mattie, are you sure about this?”

“Yes, and I don’t want to argue about it. Whatever it takes to find those kids is what I’m going to do.”

H rests his hand on my belly. “Fine, but I don’t want you within striking distance of this cruel fucker.”

I hold up both hands in a gesture of capitulation. “I promise not to come too close to him. I just need to look him in the eye and ask my questions.”

“Alright, sugar. If you change your mind before or after, just say the word and I’ll get you out of there.”

“You’re going to get the other kids back?” Evan asks from the doorway, startling me and Rigs.

Rigs motions Evan over to sit with us. “Yeah, we’re going to have a little talk with the police chief and get him to tell us what he did with the others.”

“I remember something Ben told me. Something that really tore him up.”

I dread what’s going to come out of his mouth because I knew it had to be something horrible.

“What is it, Evan. So far, the things you’ve told us has not only checked out, but been incredibly helpful in taking Pope down,” Rigs says.

Evan leans forward slightly. “Ben told me that he overheard the chief tell one of his men that the birth certificates went in the safe at the precinct. He thought the chief was talking about his horses, because they are pedigree. I think it makes more sense that those birth certificates belonged to kids rather than animals, even if they were worth a lot.”

Rigs pats him on the back. “Kiddo, you just gave us the best intel we’ve had so far to help find the others. Thank you, Evan. You’re proving to be a Godsend to us right now. Looks like I’ve got me a little job to do before I have a chat with Pope later on.”

Some of the anxiety and darkness lifts from Evan’s expression. “Do you really think you can find them?”

“Yes. We found you. We can find them,” I answer firmly.

“And you’re gonna keep them? I’ll have brothers and sisters?”

I nod. “Maybe, but we hope that they can all be returned to their families. But you will be having a brother or a sister in eight months’ time.”

Evan stares at my belly. “You sure about that, Mattie? You don’t look pregnant.”

I hold up the test. “This says I am, but I’ll still need to get checked out by a doctor to be sure.”

“Oh wow, my grandma is going to be happy.”

“You’ve been talking to your grandmother?” I say, totally bewildered.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell phone. “Haze gave me a burner phone from the club stock. He said I could have it, so first thing I did was call the nursing home.”

“How is your grandma? Does she need anything?” Rigs asks.

“She’s alright. She couldn’t stop crying when she found out I was okay. Wanted me to say hello and thank you for looking after me.”

“Tell her that we’ll take you out to visit her real soon,” I add. We need to talk to his grandmother about the adoption. We’ll be his foster family for as long as he needs, but now we know his grandmother is alive we can discuss the formal adoption details with her.

“Can I go with you to talk to Pope tonight?” Evan asks expectantly.

“Absolutely not,” Rigs and I answer at the same time.

“Okay. Just be careful when you go to his office, he’s got all the police working on his side.”

“Don’t worry kiddo, we’ve dealt with worse, and I think now he’s out of the picture, the precinct’s getting a long overdue clean up. We’ll always be here to take care of you, and I’m not gonna do anything to threaten that.  You’re part of our family now,” Rigs says.

Evan smiles. “My grandma is really happy I’m getting looked after by nice people instead of assholes like Mr. Strawn.”

“Do you think Strawn had anything to do with you getting abducted or was that all your old case worker?”

Evan shakes his head. “I didn’t get the feeling Mr. Strawn knew anything about the syndicate. He was all wrapped up in being the world’s strictest teacher. None of the kids could stand him.”

“Great. That’s on less ass I have to kick tonight,” Rigs grins.

Evan chuckles. “Mr. Strawn thought he was a real badass, but I’ll bet you could beat him up with one hand tied behind your back.”

Rigs laughs as he heads toward the door. “You two be sure to get some dinner. Mattie, I’ll see you later at Rufus’ house.”

With that, the love of my life strolls out the door to go steal confidential information from the police chief’s office. Him being in danger worries me greatly.

“You look scared, Mattie.” Evan says, sounding years older than the teen he was. “Rigs is going to be fine. He’s tough and knows how to get things done. Haze told me he was in the military and is trained to kill.”

My sweet Rigs was in the military, but he wasn’t trained to kill. He was trained to be a minister. I didn’t want to tell Evan that and have him worry, so instead I say, “Thanks, Evan. That was a really nice thing to say, and I appreciate it more than you know.”

“We should do as Rigs said and go get some dinner. You’re eating for two now, right?” He says glancing down at my belly.

Evan’s excitement over the baby gives me faith that he is going to overcome all the obstacles he’s had thrown in his path and turn out to be strong and resourceful. Heck, he already is strong, resilient, and resourceful to have survived Pope wanting to kill him.

“And you too, you’re still trying to build up strength after being held captive. What do you want for dinner? I reckon they might have a nice salad.”

“Yuck, no green food, I want a burger. I was thinking of burgers every day I was in that hut.”

“Okay, burgers it is,” I say.

“And candy for dessert?” He asks hopefully.

“Obviously, we can raid my snack duffel.”

“Yay,” I look over, Evan has been to hell and back and I know it’s not going to be an easy recovery, but hearing the teenage enthusiasm coming out of him gives me hope that he’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.