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  Phoenix arched a brow. “Are you saying if I tell you me or one of my boys did something on the wrong side of the law in the name of good that you’ll overlook it?”

  He nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. We’ve never had any problems with the Blackwings and I for one appreciate it when you guys take out the trash for us when red tape and such gets in our way.”

  “All right then, continue,” Phoenix said.

  “Mr. Allen Anderson is insisting that you’re holding his girlfriend in your clubhouse against her will. Is there any truth to that?”

  Phoenix rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Well, see, about a week ago, someone forced their way onto my private property - my private, gated, and secured property. That person then attacked one of my employees and kidnapped an infant. That infant being John Jackson’s son and Chase Walker’s nephew. We caught up with the kidnapper and brought them back to the clubhouse. Turns out, the kidnapper was Melissa Massengill. We called her sister to come and get her, but due to personal circumstances, she couldn’t come until today. Then, all of this happened. Unfortunately, that hasn’t left me with any free time to return to Croftridge to deal with Melissa. If you would like to verify that story, it just so happens that Melissa’s sister, Shannon Jackson, also happens to be William Anderson’s Old Lady and she is sitting right there in that waiting room.”

  “Nothing about that sounds unreasonable to me. You called her sister instead of the authorities because of her mental instability, correct?” the officer coaxed.

  “Yes, that’s correct. John here knows Melissa and Shannon from years ago. He was familiar with Melissa’s mental history and suggested we call her sister instead of the authorities,” Phoenix explained.

  “That takes care of that. The reason I called you two out here,” he gestured to me and Carbon, “was to let you know that we aren’t going to try to determine where the bullets came from. The fact of the matter is, it was a self-defense situation for both of you and you had every right to shoot him. Your permits were in order and your guns were registered, so no charges will be filed against either of you.”

  Carbon and I remained silent, as was our custom when talking with police in the presence of our president. Phoenix always did the talking. “Thanks for letting us know. Did you need us for anything else?” Phoenix asked.

  “Not specifically, but I thought you might like to know the team that searched the cabin found much more than expected. Mr. Allen Anderson made the same mistake that most killers make. He did a fantastic job of covering his tracks, but he kept a trophy of sorts from each of his victims. In short, he is responsible for a number of unsolved murders around the area over the years. If he survives his injuries, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison,” the officer told us.

  That caused Carbon to go against the rules and speak out of turn. “Who did he kill?” he demanded.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Walker, we haven’t finished with the investigation and notified the family of the victims. I can’t release that information at this time,” the officer politely informed him.

  Carbon growled low in his throat. Phoenix stepped in front of Carbon and continued talking to the officers. I took a step back and opened the waiting room door. “Reese, now.” She didn’t question me at all. She got up and came right to me. “Help your brother before he gets arrested.”

  Reese nodded and squeezed herself between Phoenix and Carbon. Phoenix kept the officers engaged in conversation while Reese spoke softly to Carbon. He whispered something back to her that made her entire body stiffen. She slowly pivoted her body as one solid unit. It was the eeriest thing I had ever seen. She said in a very robotic, monotone voice. “I’m Reese Walker and this is my brother, Chase Walker. We are the next of kin for James Walker, Heather Walker, Mason Walker, Sage Walker, and Ruby Walker.”

  The officer’s face blanched. He looked to his partner who had been silent the entire time. The partner stepped forward and nodded his head. “Allen Anderson is responsible for the murder of your mother, father, brother, sister, and grandmother.”

  I braced myself for the fallout, hoping like hell Carbon would be easier to contain with a wounded arm. The big man sank to his knees and pulled his sister to him with his good arm. His body shook with silent sobs while Reese allowed her cries to be heard. When I heard Carbon say, “We got him, Reesie. It’s finally over,” I knew their tears were tears of relief.

  “Thank you, officers. They needed that more than you will ever know,” Phoenix said, extending his hand to them.

  A man in light blue scrubs approached our group. “Excuse me, I’m looking for the family of Coal Martin.”

  Phoenix cleared his throat, “That’s me.”

  “May I speak freely here?” the doctor asked. Phoenix nodded. “Mr. Martin is out of surgery and in recovery. We will need to keep him for a few days. He’s a very lucky man. We removed three bullets and got the bleeding under control. The bullets didn’t hit any major organs, but they did significant damage to several of the larger vessels in the abdomen. Had he not gotten here when he did, well, it was touch-and-go there at first, but he stabilized and pulled through. You can see him as soon as he is moved to a room.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Phoenix said, reaching out to shake his hand.

  The first officer cleared his throat to get our attention. “We’ll let you get back to your family and friends. We have all we need from you for now and we know how to get in touch with you if we need anything. Thanks for helping us out on this one.”

  We had just entered the waiting room when another doctor came in. “Family of William Anderson.” Shannon stood and followed him into the hallway. She returned a few minutes later to tell us that Boar made it through surgery and was being moved to the ICU.

  Thinking I would have a few minutes of reprieve, I dropped my ass into a chair and pulled Reese into my lap. Not even two minutes later, Copper showed up. I swear the room was busier than Grand Central Station. “You folks need a place to stay tonight?” he asked.

  Sounds of agreement echoed through the room. “Me and a couple of the guys brought some cages up here. We can take some folks back to the clubhouse if anyone wants to leave. I’ll leave two cages here in case some of you want to stay and need transportation handy.”

  Phoenix walked over to Copper and pulled him into a bear hug. “Thanks, brother. You’ve been a Godsend every step of the way this past year. Appreciate it.”

  Copper gasped in mock outrage. “Who let Phoenix grow a pussy?”

  “Fucker,” Phoenix shot back and clipped his shoulder.

  I patted Reese’s thigh to get her to stand, “Come on, sugar, let’s take James to the clubhouse. I need a shower and about 20 hours of sleep.”

  EPILOGUE

  Duke

  “Reese! Let’s go! We’re going to be late!” I shouted up the stairs. She had been in the bathroom for over an hour getting ready for a party at the clubhouse. I had no idea what was taking her so long, but I had been ready to go for well over 30 minutes.

  She came down the stairs looking just as gorgeous as she always did. “Calm down, I’m ready. I just wanted to make sure I looked nice.”

  I gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “You always look nice, sugar.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, but tonight is different. This is the first time I’ve ever been to a patch-in party and it will be the first party I attend as your Old Lady. Sue me for wanting to look good.”

  “Shut it, Reese, and get your ass on my bike,” I growled and swatted said ass.

  Reese and I moved in together pretty much as soon as we returned to Croftridge. She asked to see written proof of my divorce before she agreed to move in with me. Thankfully, all I had to do was file the papers and it was a done deal.

  There was an empty house on Phoenix’s farm property that he said we could rent for a steal. I didn’t think Reese would go for it, but she did. She said she didn’t want to live on the farm forever,
but it was okay for the time being. It was close to Ember and Mrs. Martin, both of whom loved to babysit James.

  I thought it might take some time for Reese to be comfortable leaving James with a babysitter again, but she was surprisingly okay with it. Of course, that might be because the culprits who orchestrated our son’s kidnapping would never be a threat to his safety again.

  Omen was found dead in his hospital bed a few days after everything went down. Thankfully, it was after Coal had been discharged and no Blackwings were anywhere near the hospital. Boar, however, was still there. We’ll never know, but I personally believe Boar was behind Omen’s death.

  Melissa was arrested for numerous crimes. I have no doubt some strings were pulled and favors called in because it was quickly decided she was mentally incompetent to stand trial. She’ll be reevaluated periodically, but, as I understood it, she’ll never be found competent and will spend the rest of her days in the maximum security wing of the state mental hospital.

  My musings came to an end when we pulled through the gates of the clubhouse. As expected, the place was packed. We had parties almost every weekend, but this particular party was special. The president’s son was being patched in.

  After Coal was discharged from the hospital, Phoenix and the Martins sat down and told him about his biological parents. Having known about his adoption from an early age, he took the news in stride. Regardless of his paternity, he was receiving his patch just shy of a year prospecting because he risked his life when he charged into the line of fire to help his brothers.

  Fingers snapped in front of my face. “Did you hear me?” Reese asked, clearly annoyed with my lack of attention.

  “Sorry, sugar. What did you say?”

  She smiled. “I said I’m ready for you to take me in there as your Old Lady.”

  I laughed. “Sugar, they’ve known you were my Old Lady for a while now.”

  She playfully slapped my chest. “Don’t rain on my parade. I want to make a grand entrance.”

  I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me. “I love you, Reese Walker.”

  “I love you, too, Duke Jackson.”

  Phoenix

  I was fucking exhausted after Coal’s patch in party, but I had work to do. In addition to my regular club responsibilities, I spent several hours a day going through the shit we found hidden all over the farm. Boxes upon boxes of files and folders. Octavius kept meticulous records. It had taken me almost a year to get through the better part of it, and I still had nothing on Annabelle.

  I tossed the current papers I was holding in the shredder and moved to the next folder in the stack. When I opened it, my breath caught in my chest. I closed my eyes and slowly opened them again, not believing what I was seeing. At the top of the first paper in the folder was the name I had been searching for. Annabelle Burnett.

  My hands were shaking as I carefully placed the folder on my desk and began looking through it. My heart was pounding in my chest, blood whooshing in my ears as I looked at the contents of the folder. The first things I saw were Annabelle’s birth certificate and social security card. Then, birth records for Ember, Coal, and Nivan. Nivan’s death certificate. But it was the next few papers that changed everything. “Fucking finally,” I said as I reached for my phone.

  Coming Soon

  Phoenix (Blackwings MC Book Three)