Chapter 12

Tav

" Y ou're positive that he isn't going to come back here and fucking arrest everyone?" Tank asks as Pops releases Officer Dickwad from the St. Andrews cross where he spilled his guts. Both literally and figuratively.

I already have the cleaning supplies out of the closet and am ready to put Chewy's room back to rights as soon as we see the loose lipped officer from the premises.

"Yup," Pops replies, popping the ‘p'. "He's out of it enough to not remember a thing, but I'll hit him with another dose of Midazolam before we send him on his way. Oh, and a little something to flush the Rohypnol from his system. That way, he'll just feel a little dazed, rather than dazed and feeling like shit."

Pres turns to look at Switch for confirmation. "Hate to agree with the old coot, but he's right. Midazolam calms the brain and impairs memory. Hit him with enough and he won't even remember this all happened."

"Exactly!" Pops finger guns Switch, "We'll give him a little more, then put him back in his cruiser. He'll wake up in about three hours feeling like he had the best goddamned nap of his life,"

Judge and Tank step forward and half carry, half drag blabbermouth out of the shed, presumably to his vehicle.

"Right, thanks to two people who don't fucking listen," Marx grumbles, giving Chewy and Pops the stink eye to end all stink eyes, "we know Officer Martin purposely led the murder investigation of Jovie's mom in our direction to take the heat off Hammer and Royal, at Royal's orders, and there have been two additional auctions we didn't know about."

"Yeah. But we didn't really get a good read on whether he's had a hand in the actual trafficking business. We also don't know if he's the only dirty cop in Rose Grove," Chewy points out.

"What's your read on Sergeant Davies?" Rhodie asks his brother.

"He's as straight as they come, and the only fucker in that department I would trust. We need more evidence that Martin is dirty. Once we get that, I'll hand it all over to Moss." Marx says, his brother nodding at his plan.

Hands on hips, Pres stares at my sister and grandfather, squinting at them. They stare straight back.

"I mean it you two. No torture, no murder, and I'm adding no drugging or kidnapping. At least until after we get the pigs off our backs. Fuck sake." He scrubs his hand down his face.

With that, he storms out, the brothers slowly following behind. The gentle warmth of my Ol Lady leans against my side. "You good Pixie?"

She squints those gorgeous dark eyes before tipping her head side to side, as if weighing up whether she's good or not.

"Talk to me babe," I balance the mop in my hand against the wall, before turning to take her hand and leading her to the couch. All of my family, both biological and MC, have gone their separate ways, leaving me and my Pixie in Chewy's brightly colored room, complete with floor drain and the distinct smell of vomit where Officer Dickwad barfed everywhere.

"I feel, I feel fucking ashamed, Tav." Her dark head drops as she stares at her hands, fiddling in her lap. I expected pissed, but not ashamed.

"Why would you feel ashamed? What they are doing, your uncle, cousins, Hammer, all of them, that's on them, not on you." I reach over and lay my much larger hand over the top of both of hers.

"There are women, girls stolen off the streets, being sold to god knows who. FUCK!" she jumps up from the couch, storming toward my cleaning bucket and kicking it across the room. "Not two fucking weeks ago, Tav, I put a bullet in Valor because I wanted to stop him from selling people. I beat DRMC there and I took my revenge against my father and the Keep. But I was shortsighted. If I had let him live, then you all would have enough to shut down the operation. Because of me, Tav, ME!" She thumps her chest with her fist, eyes blazing, "There are more women and children being sold. What have I done?" With that, she crumples to the ground, sobs wracking her compact frame.

My heart breaks for her, as she blames herself. This isn't on her and for the first time ever I see another facet of Blanche, my woman. I see the broken girl who has been fighting hard, so hard to right the wrongs of men who should know better.

I scoop her up in my arms and carry her back to the couch, cradling her gently, rocking her as I rest my lips against the short hair at her temple.

"Shhh, it's OK baby, we're going to shut them all down. All of them, and we'll find those girls and return them back to their families. Trust me Pixie, this is what we do. We find the lost and we bring them home." I continue rocking her, breathing in her spicy scent, the one that clings to my sheets, the one that makes me rock hard. But this isn't about that, this is about comforting my strong, fierce woman when she needs it.

"Thank you, Tav. For everything." She snuggles closer, her face in the space between my collar and jaw, her small hand rubbing the stubble on my face.

We sit in quietly, taking comfort from each other, before Pixie breaks the silence. "What the hell does Officer Martin eat? That barf stinks,"

A chuckle bursts free before I'm laughing with wild abandon, my head thrown back, my body shaking with laughter, bouncing my little Pixie.

"Want to help me clean up?" I gaze down at her sparkling eyes and then chuckle more when she screws up her nose.

"Ew, hell no! You're on your own!" She moves to stand, a thoughtful look on her face, "When you said you're usually on cleanup duty, is this what you mean?"

Looking around the room, I think about how many times I've been out here cleaning up after my sister and grandfather. "This isn't actually too bad. At least this is just vomit. Usually its body parts," I shrug.

"Wait a minute, so you're not bothered at all by what happens out here?"

Frowning, I try to understand what she's asking me. "Why would I? I mean, it's definitely unorthodox, and my sister takes more pleasure out of this than she should, but it's for the greater good." I stand so close to her that my chest brushes against those perfect tits of hers. "Pixie, I like to think we're good people that sometimes do bad things for the greater good. Are you going to be OK with that?"

She tips her head back to look at me, her eyes darting between mine as if looking for something. "Tav, I'm on a mission to kill 8 men for the greater good. I'm sure I'll be just fine with whatever it is you need to do."

"We're totally a badass couple. Probably even more badass than Chewy and Rhodie," I murmur to her.

"I wouldn't go that far, big guy, but we're definitely in the running." She moves to her tiptoes and presses a kiss to the underside of my jaw. "I'm going to go yell at my kids for a bit. I'll see you after clean up duty."

I give her an affectionate pat on the ass and move to pick up my favorite bucket she kicked across the room.

"Why are you going to yell at the kids?"

"Not sure yet, but chances are they've been up to no good since I've been gone," she winks and sashays out and I can't help but grin at how lucky I am.

Blanche

What a goddamned rollercoaster that was. I knew Royal and Co were fucking evil, but not this evil. I'd like to blame the drugs and things on Hammer, but I know deep down that Royal is sadistic enough to come up with that on his own. I'm willing to bet that Hammer is Royal's puppet, not the other way round.

"Mommy! Look what we've been doing!" Cove calls out, holding up a drawing. Well, I think it is. It's hard to tell because she's waving it around in the air.

"Wow, baby, that looks amazing!"

Elio looks up for a moment, giving me a little smile before turning back to his chess set. He's moving the pieces one side at a time, effectively playing himself. Shitting hell, what am I going to do with a chess genius?

"Just breathe, Mom, he has years before we'll have to spend weekends traveling to chess competitions," Niko says with a snort.

"How are you feeling? Still headachey?" I place my hand on his forehead, but he leans away from it.

"Mom, I'm fine. Still a little sleepy, but not bad. So, what was all that stuff with that police officer?"

I side eye my eldest for a moment, then the second eldest sidles up looking just as interested.

"He's involved in the whole Royal people auction thing."

They both suck in a breath. "What are we going to do?" Sage asks, snuggling into my side.

"We -" I wave my finger at her and her brother, "aren't going to do anything. Marx is coming up with a plan. DRMC will shut it all down."

Sage stares wide eyed at me. "They're not going to go to the police, are they?"

"No Sagey, they're not."

"Good."

I try to hide my smile at my girl's vehemence but instead decide to share it with her. She may only know about the Keep and the people there from my stories, but she knows from the times we've had to run or hide how dangerous they are.

"Just so you know, I'm not sending any of you back to school until Royal's taken care of." I hold my hand up to stop any protest. "I know it sucks, but I think it's best. I've already contacted your teachers and they'll be sending your work through. Same for the Littles." I give them my stern mom eye, only to be met with little resistance.

"It's OK Mom, we talked about it last night. We'd feel safer not going back and sticking close to the Littles until this is done." Niko pulls me in for a hug. "Love you Mom."

"Love you too, Son."

I pull back and see Sage side eye her brother. They're scheming something.

"Because we're so worried about safety and all that, we've asked Takoda to teach us to use weapons safely and responsibly," Sage says all in one breath.

She must see the look on my face because her eyes dart to her brother, who backs her up. "Mom, we would feel better if we could protect ourselves. We're not going to go on a rampage or anything. It'd just make me and Sage feel better if we knew how to use them. Just think about it, yeah?"

They smile their very best smiles and back away slowly, before turning and hustling their cheeky asses down the hall. I keep my frowny, angry mom eyes glaring at their backs until I can't see them any longer.

"Come on, kotiro , help me in the kitchen and we'll solve all the ills in the world, yeah?" Debs gently loops her arm through mine and none too gently walks me into the kitchen. From the serving hatch I can see Cove and Jovie coloring and chatting to their heart's content, Elio with his chess and Takoda watching over them. After years of doing this mom thing all alone, it feels weird to have all these people happy to help keep an eye on my kids.

"So, tell me all about what has your angry mum eyes on," Debs asks, bent over with her head inside a cupboard. "We're making brownies, so maybe you can tell me while you get the ingredients for me."

I get the butter out of the fridge, then start rummaging in the cupboards for the cocoa and the flour. "The kids asked if Takoda could teach them how to use a gun," I sigh.

"That sounds reasonable. I mean, I'm sure you know this, but you're American. I thought everyone knew how to use a gun," Debs says, concentrating on getting the oven preheated.

I try not to smile. "Well, yeah, I mean, a lot of us know how to use guns and open carry. But they're my babies," I pout.

Deb's rich laugh washes over me. "They'll always be your babies. But at some stage those babies grow up. I never once thought that my daughter would grow up to work for the Bratva. I mean, a little girl from the other side of the world in the Russian Mafia? That's crazy!"

I mean, yeah, it is kinda crazy, so I nod in agreement with Debs.

"You want to know the thing that made me feel better about her job?" She raises her brows at me, waiting for my nod. "What made me feel better is knowing that as a little girl she learned to hunt and fish with my husband. Ana knows how to use guns safely. That made me feel better. That as a parent we had provided her with the education and the knowledge. Even if she never grew up to wield a gun, at least I knew she was safe."

I know I'm frowning back at Deb's smiling face, but when I think, my whole face collapses into a frown. "I never thought about it like that,"

Debs shrugs, still with a smile on her face. "If guns are a step too far I'd be more than happy to teach them how to use a bow."

"What?" I splutter. I know I shouldn't, because I know you can't judge a book by its cover and all that, but surely this mild mannered, lovely little brown woman with a halo of curls is joking, right?

"You're looking at a bow hunting champion, e hine . I've been bow hunting since I was a girl."

"Made her a sharp shot with a gun as well," Sniper says quietly as he enters the kitchen. He drops a kiss to Debs' cheek, who then bustles into the pantry to pull out a small container. They must be special treats the way they look furtively around, Debs passing it off as if it's contraband.

I don't know too much about Sniper. He's one of the quieter brothers, sticks mainly to himself, which I guess makes sense seeing as his actual job in the military was as a sniper.

"Shooting arrows at moving targets trains you to shoot anything, really."

I think about her offer for all of 30 more seconds. "Alright, Debs, I would love it if you could teach Sage and Niko how to shoot a bow."

Whooping and hollering sound out and I lean through the hatch to see my two teens on the other side, backs against the wall. Spinning back to Debs, I glare at her.

"Was this a setup?" I ask, my eyes narrowed.

"No way! I'm offended you even thought I'd do something like that," she says, hand on her chest as if clutching at pearls. I almost believe her until I see the little wink she gives the kids.

I shake my head to myself, but I can't help the little smile playing on my lips.

"You raised good kids, Blanche. Just think what you would have done at their age," Debs says, pointing at the chocolate she wants me to hand her.

At Sage's age, 16, going on 17, I was living my life in the Keep. Going to prayer in the morning and then heading to my work placement. All girls over the age of 12 have work placements. Most of us work in either the kitchen preparing all meals for the Keep members, while others get laundry duty. We work these jobs until we're married, because obviously we'll be too pregnant to do anything else. If a girl is really lucky, and unmarried over the age of 18, they get to graduate to teaching the younger kids in the school on site. Obviously the curriculum leans more towards what Mercy thinks is important, rather than what's in the American education system.

At Niko's age, a few months shy of 18, I was preparing to marry my uncle. This is where my hatred for the Eden's Keep Council comes from. Eight older men, all chosen by Mercy, sit you in a room with other young women on the cusp of marriage. There we were made to watch pornography, video after video of women being used by men; vaginally, anally and orally. All to teach us how to please our husbands. If you didn't learn from the videos, or were unable to please your husband, there were special group evenings you could attend with your husband. Royal dragged me to two such evenings because he said I was frigid. On those nights, men would bring their wives to a small room off the side of the main hall. There were mattresses on the floor and we'd be encouraged to relax. From there Mercy himself would talk everyone through fucking, using one of his young wives as his assistant. We'd all be encouraged to join in. It was at one of these such events that I learned to zone out. Blank my mind to everything that was happening to my body. Here I'd plan my escape from Royal, from my father, from the Keep.

Looking at my babies, on the cusp of the age I was during my last year or so at the Keep, I realize Debs is right. At their age I wouldn't have asked my mother if I could learn to use a weapon. If I had access to one I would have taught myself and then killed them all then and there.

"You're right, Debs, I wouldn't have asked. But I'm glad they did, and I'm glad they have you and everyone else to guide them. Thank you for offering to teach my babies."

Her gentle eyes take in my face, softening when we share a look that only mothers understand. Shaking the flour off her hands, she rubs them on the front of her ever present apron, then she pulls me into a hug, her surprisingly strong arms wrapping me up.

"I'm proud of you Blanche, you're a good girl," she pulls back, stroking my cheek and I tear up a little. It's been a long time since I had a mom in my life. "Now pull yourself together. How are the kids and men going to fear you if you're in here blubbering?" Her lips twitch as she gives me a wink and gets back to her baking.

I huff out a laugh and clean my face. To distract from my emotions I take a deep breath, then exhale, looking out the window. Before I can even finish my exhale, the rest of the breath is stolen by a laugh that bubbles up at the sight.

"What's so funny?" Debs comes to stand at the window with me, then bursts into laughter as well.

"What the hell are you two laughing at?" Niko's voice says, but he sounds distant as Debs and I hold on to each other, laughing like a pack of hyenas. "Wait, are those dicks on that police cruiser's lights?"

Roaring comes from the common room and I'm guessing the rest of the brothers have spotted what we have, Officer Martin driving off in his cruiser, his light bar decorated with 10 wobbling dildos.