CHAPTER SEVEN

– KATHLEEN –

"This is embarrassing," I mutter and want nothing more than to bury my face into Marvin's chest.

Hiding has never been my strong point and it's why I move to get out of the car and come face-to-face with my mother who is standing on the driver's side. While my father was glaring at us, my mom was sporting a grin from ear to ear.

"Nice," she whispers while I wait for Wrench to jump out of the car.

"A word, Marvin," my father clips and strides into the clubhouse without looking back.

"Dad," I snap in an effort to call him back but it's useless.

Marvin wanders my way as if the man doesn't have a care in the world.

He leans in and brushes his lips against mine. "I'll handle it. Like I said, you're meant to be mine. Nothing and no one in this fucked-up world will tell me otherwise."

"Okay," I find myself whispering in return.

I could fight him head-on, but I'd be lying to myself. He annoys the hell out of me and yet the man is also caring, thoughtful, respectful, loyal, and very direct.

He raises one of his eyebrows in challenge when he asks, "You accepting my claim, old lady?"

I jab a finger against his chest and grunt, "I'm still your boss." Smoothing my voice to a whisper, I add, "Besides being your old lady."

The corner of his mouth twitches. "Got it, boss lady."

He spins on his heels and jogs in the direction of the clubhouse.

"That boy has it bad for you," my mother states and hooks her arm around mine as we follow in Marvin's direction. "Now, tell me all about how you made that asshole drop to his knees and give you that look of utter worship."

"Mom," I groan. "Can't we discuss something else? Marvin and I came here to talk about a case."

She pulls me in the direction of the couches where the old ladies of the older generation are sitting, along with Eastlynne and Cosima.

"Later. First, we need to discuss that boy." Pulling me down next to me she adds, "Let the men talk in church while we get caught up here."

"She totally means sucking all the spicy details right out of you," Cosima states.

"Definitely," Harlene quips. "And we're all here for it so you might as well spill."

"Come on, Kathleen, humor us oldies. You managed to snag a lawman who willingly took some steps back law-wise to work under you, moved to your hometown, and switched MCs. The man practically threw his life around just to be with you. Romantic as fuck for sure," Cassidy croons and sits on the edge of her seat.

A deep sigh rips from me and I grumble, "I'm starting to understand that. At first, he was a major asshole who kept interfering with my shit even when he wasn't in town."

"And now he's still a major asshole, but one who soothes out the annoyance by giving you orgasms." Cosima chuckles. "Parker was just as annoying and persistent."

"His father too," Cassidy grumbles. "A woman can only take so much before she caves and lets the dude eat her pussy."

"Oh. My. Freaking. Insanity cesspool," I groan and bury my head in my hands while everyone around me laughs.

My mother bumps my shoulder. "Nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetie. Everyone has sex."

"Yeah, and if they don't? That's just sad 'cause the release of endorphins lightens your mood, even if you just use your fingers instead of riding a Cowboy Biker." Kadence shrugs. "It's important for the brain chemicals so you owe it to your mind and body…you know for the sake of your own health and sanity and all."

"I came here to talk about a case we're working on, not about sex, jeez," I huff and stare at all the old ladies surrounding me.

"Oh, shush." Greta waves her hand. "We might tease you a bit, but we're all happy as hell for you. Now, why did you come here to talk about the case? It's the serial killer one, right?"

I instantly bob my head, liking the way Greta shifts the discussion back to the reason Marvin and I came here. She used to be an undercover DEA agent. That's actually the reason why she stepped into the life of this MC when she posed as Alfie's nurse. Greta has two old men instead of just one. The three of them have been in a loving relationship for decades and have raised several children together.

I clear my throat and tell them, "We have an ID for the body that was buried on the edge of Eastlynne's property. It's Iris Riggs. She went missing six years ago…she's been dead all that time."

Harlene places a hand over her mouth and mumbles, "Oh no."

"I remember when she went missing," Cassidy says with sadness tinging her voice.

"She didn't have an easy life," Harlene whispers and her eyes find mine. "I reckon you want to know a bit about her when she was alive?"

I bob my head. "Anything you might remember."

"I didn't know her personally, though I did hear the rumors and saw her around town. She was Lucian Riggs's daughter, the Bronson's ranch hand. His wife died giving birth to her so she never had a mother and grew up at that ranch because they lived in a tiny house on the property. I remember how the whole town talked about Iris because she had a kid when she was fifteen. The gossip was bad enough for her father to send her to live with his brother in another state. Iris came back when the kid was three years old. By then the gossip had died down some."

"Did anyone know who the father was?" I question. "The forensic anthropologist said there was evidence that she gave birth, but there isn't a record of it."

"No one knew. The gossip went from Lucian knocking his own kid up to Arthur Bronson because he and his wife had a falling-out in their marriage around the time Iris gave birth."

A rush of adrenaline hits me, feeling the pieces of a puzzle fall in place. If Arthur had taken advantage of Iris at that young age, it would explain the falling-out of his marriage and why there was no record of the child being born.

"The kid, it was a boy wasn't it?" I question.

Harlene frowns. "How did you know?"

"A hunch," I mutter and glance over my shoulder at the closed door to church.

"Do you think Weston has the same information you just told me?" I wonder.

Harlene nods. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, those rumors I told you went all over town."

"Uh huh, those and about all those foster kids they took in for the money and spare hands to work around the ranch," Cassidy snarls.

My mother sighs beside me. "Everyone knew they didn't spend one dime of the money on those kids. They had dirty clothes which were donated by church and some of the town folks who took pity on them. Everyone knew about their fucked-up situation, but no one did anything about it. Your father did report them but somehow they always passed the visits and checks with flying colors. They weren't mistreating them, and they had an excuse for everything. Like how they could get a bath but skipped some days because they liked to get dirty and play on the ranch. Decker always used to say they drilled those kids into playing along when they needed to keep up appearances. Beth was a hard woman, no one liked her except her husband. Decker never trusted the Bronsons, but there was nothing to be done about it. Things got less tense on that ranch after his wife's accident six years ago."

Harlene leans forward. "That wife of his was a tyrant, and everyone gossiped how it might not have been an accident she was trampled by bulls."

"Iris was killed around that time as well," I quip, making all eyes land on me.

"No shit?" Greta gasps.

"No shit," I confirm.

"Needless to say, you're definitely onto something," Greta states.

"Yeah. Thanks, ladies. All of you have been a big help," I tell them with a thankful smile in my voice.

The door of church opens behind me and I turn to see Marvin stalking out. "Can we talk somewhere or do you want to head home to discuss the case?"

My mother leans in. "It's already late, the both of you could crash in the room here at the clubhouse."

I nod and tell Marvin as I get to my feet, "Let's go to my room."

"Take mental notes because we will want details," Cosima whispers as I stalk past her.

I flip her off and hear the women's laughter fill the room behind me. Talk about a gossip mill. On the other hand, it did provide me with crucial information. I wonder if Marvin got the same intel from Weston and the rest of the older generation who were around when everything happened with Iris.

As soon as we're in my room and the door closes behind me, I state, "We need to get DNA from Arthur Bronson."

A sly grin spreads across Marvin's face. "You got the same background story I did I reckon? And I think you're right. Even if we don't have anything to compare it with now, the killer might fuck-up at some point and leave something behind. Everything I heard all adds up perfectly that Iris's son is the serial killer we're looking for. It's one hell of a motive with Iris being the first kill."

"Maybe Beth was the first kill," I muse. "If Arthur knocked up a kid, creating a scandal and with it a falling-out of their marriage…Iris being sent away and returning after years. Beth might have resented the kid for being the walking, talking reminder."

Marvin points a finger at me. "Yes. It explains the hatred toward the women and the mutilation. The mouthing off and belittling, it's why he killed those two agents and took a huge risk."

"He's probably been degraded his whole upbringing, living in shame, not even in the system. Fucking hell, it's him Marvin, there's no doubt about it," I state.

"Gonna be a bitch to catch him if we don't have a name or record of this fucker. We don't even have a clue what the fucker looks like," Marvin grumbles.

An idea comes to mind. "Maybe we should lure him out, set a trap he wouldn't be able to resist."

Instantly Marvin starts to shake his head and growls, "No way. No fucking way, Kathleen. I know what you have in mind and it's not going to happen. I won't ever put you in danger or let you willingly put yourself at risk like that. Because that's what you're thinking about, right? Doing the same stupid shit that agent did and got herself killed for it."

I wince, clearly I haven't thought it through. "I know it sounds bad, but you said it yourself, it's going to be damn hard to catch this fucker."

"I don't care," Marvin growls and takes a menacing step forward.

Narrowing my eyes I get annoyed and snap, "Agents all over the world put their lives in jeopardy by going undercover. Why not me?"

"Because none of those are mine and you are," he snarls, throwing his arms up as if that's a logical explanation.

Not wanting to deny it, I fire back, "That might be, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't think about me challenging him as a way to catch him." Closing the distance I add, "I know you'll never let anything happen to me."

The muscle in his jaw jumps, and I can tell by the angry look still plastered on his face that he's not going to budge.

"Fine," I mutter with a sigh. "But we're going to make it a backup plan for now."

He doesn't say anything and keeps standing in front of me, muscles tight as if he's balancing on the edge of flipping the fuck out.

"Marvin?" I whisper, not knowing what to say or do.

"I won't lose you now that you're finally mine," he states with a tormented voice.

Reaching out, I let my fingers slide to the back of his neck and press my body against his.

"You won't lose me," I murmur against his mouth and let my tongue slide over his bottom lip.

Finally, I feel his muscles slightly relax. A growl rumbles through his chest and then he's kissing me hard while his hands grip my hips as he grinds his hard cock against me.

"Need to fuck you," he snarls.

I sink my teeth into his bottom lip and taunt, "What's stopping you?"