I grinned widely at the two men, loving the addition they made toward our family.
Ever since our mother and father had cast us aside, we’d been sorely lacking in that.
“Where did you go?” Rome asked as he took the seat beside me. “One second I was searching for coffee, and the next you were gone.”
“I didn’t want to wait to hear anything while you searched for coffee,” I shrugged. “I’m so excited I could burst.”
One by one, the waiting room filled with members of the Bear Bottom Guardians MC. Family. Kids. Babies. Grandparents. Every single person that meant something to Slate was here.
Now all that had to happen was a baby had to be born.
***
Slate
“Harleigh,” I said softly. “You can give it one more try, but if she doesn’t come with this push, you’re getting the C-section.”
“Him,” she corrected me out of habit, looking exhausted and beautiful and scared.
“No argument?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, it’s time.”
And it was. She’d given it her best shot, but if it didn’t happen this time, we both knew what needed to happen.
“One more time,” I said, watching the monitor.
“Push!” Payton ordered, helping hold up one leg while I held up the other.
Harleigh hunched over her belly and pushed with all she had…and our baby came sliding out as if she was ready to be born.
That was right.
She.
“It’s a girl,” I murmured, stunned.
Harleigh burst out crying. “I knew it!”
Payton and I started to laugh, and as the baby was cleaned up and placed on Harleigh’s chest, I knew that everything was all right.
The baby was crying hard and loud, and the doctors weren’t rushing her away like they said they would if she came out not crying.
She honestly looked beautiful…though very small.
“Well,” the doctor said as she stared at us. “That’s one tiny little baby to be giving us so much trouble!”
Harleigh started to laugh. “My dad said the same thing when I was born.”
“It must run in the family,” I said as I ran my finger down the baby’s cheek. “You’re going to make my life a living hell, aren’t you?”
It was directed at my daughter, but Harleigh was the one to answer.
“And you’re going to enjoy every single second of it.”
What’s Next?
Hide Your Crazy
Book 1 of The KPD Motorcycle Patrol
Chapter 1
I’m not sure where you learned to whisper, but my guess is in a helicopter surrounded by chainsaws.
-Logan’s secret thoughts
Logan
“This is a new venture for us,” the captain said. “It’s never been done before, and if I’m being honest, I’m not sure it’s going to last. But there you go. Starting Monday, each of you will be on a motorcycle provided by the Kilgore Police Department while on patrol.”
My brows, along with those of the four other men surrounding me, went up.
“You won’t all be on shift at the same time, and this won’t be a nighttime thing. You will only be on duty during the daylight hours due to the high motorcycle fatality rate after six in the evening.”
My jaw clenched.
That was truer than true.
“Pace, Justice, Lock.” The captain held out my paper. “Logan.”
“Did you happen to notice how all of our names are right there in the same part of the alphabet?” I asked. “No, just me?”
All five sets of eyes belonging to the people that were sitting in the stupid little desks at my sides and behind me looked at me with various stages of annoyance.
“What?” I asked, genuinely curious. “I really feel left out of the cool club sometimes. Y’all always share these looks…”
Captain stood and walked to a box. “We got y’all’s sizes from the uniform shop.” He grunted as he opened it with a pocket knife that he’d produced out of thin air. “If they don’t fit, take it back and they’ll have to order you a new pair. But get it done by Monday so they will arrive in time.”
And that’s when he started passing out little slips of fabric that didn’t look fit to be put on a ten-year-old.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I said as I held up the uniform. “This isn’t fuckin’ Chips, Captain,” I growled. “This is real life!”
Captain Morgan (yes, that really was his name) gave me a droll look.
“This is the exact uniform that LAPD uses, as well as the California Highway Patrol. They’re proven safer when they’re tight. Nothing to get caught up on while you’re on the motorcycle. Tougher fabric to protect you in case of an accident.”
“Yeah, and you’ll see every single goddamn cock hair that I have,” I grumbled.
The men at my back chuckled, but the captain wasn’t amused.
“Gibbs,” Captain said. Uh-oh, he’d pulled out my last name. Shit was getting real. “You can take it or leave it. Just know that leaving it means that you’ll be leaving the job as well.”
I sighed. “I’ll take it.”
If I got to get paid to ride motorcycles all day, then I’d take it all day, every day. Even if I did look like an extra straight out of Chips.
“What’s with the bright black stripper boots?” Justice asked. “Seriously?”
Captain Morgan growled.
“Listen, ladies,” he snapped. “I’m not answering any more questions about the uniform. Wear it. Fucking like it. And stop fucking bitching.”
“It’s not too bad.”
The door pounded open again, and a large blond man by the name of Jonah Crew, aka Tickey, lumbered in.
He didn’t talk. He didn’t make pleasantries. In fact, he was the biggest dick on the entire force.
He’d joined the department at his brother’s urging, and had quickly taken to the job.
I didn’t see anything similar when you compared my friend, Lachlan Downy, to Jonah. Both men were large, sure, but they didn’t even act the same. Whereas Downy was a big ball of fun and an expert negotiator, Jonah was the complete opposite.
He was brash, rude, and I fucking loved him.
But I also hated him.
The man had a shit life when he was younger. Sure, I got that. But it didn’t mean that he could make everyone’s life a living hell.
He actually reminded me of Martin Riggs off of the old movie Lethal Weapon. Full of piss and vinegar, and he pretty much got off on pissing people off just because he could.
He was a loaded time bomb, just waiting to detonate, and nobody knew when and where he was going to go off.
Now, Downy’s son, Lock, who was also a member of our new band of merry men, was a lot like his father. Downy Sr. and Lock Jr. were definitely cut from the same cloth. I liked and respected both men equally the same.
“Nice of you to join us, Crew,” Captain said. “Have a seat. Would you like to comment about the uniform as well?”
Jonah shook his head once and then stared blankly ahead.
The captain sighed and continued explaining our duties, finally ending a half an hour later when our shifts would end.
“You’ll work a rotating shift. Any given shift you’ll be working with three other motorcycle cops, and they’ll be different each shift, so don’t bother making plans from one week to the next. We’ll put you where we need you, but mostly you’ll be cruising through our busiest roads to help enforce traffic laws, and also give the other boys more time to respond to other calls.” He paused. “Any questions?”
Nobody said a word.
“All right then. Just remember…this is your last chance. No more fuck-ups, y’all.” He stood up. “New schedules will be posted tomorrow. You’ll start this next week after the rest of the equipment arrives. Okay?”
Nobody said anything again.
“Good.” He got up and left
the room.
Jonah went out right on his heels, leaving the rest of us staring at our shiny motorcycle boots and tight ass pants.
“This is a fuckin’ nightmare.”
That came from Justice as he held up the pants.
“Amen to that,” I grunted and stood. “We free to leave now?”
They all shrugged.
“Good enough answer for me,” I grumbled, heading out to the bullpen, and then farther to the locker room.
Kilgore Police Department was a fairly good size, but at this time in the evening, it was dead quiet due to shift change. The only person that was making any noise in the entire place was the 911 operator that worked in her own little room off to the side of the bullpen.
Normally there were three of them, but likely since it was shift change, the other two had taken their lunches.
“All right, Logan,” I heard called from behind me. “You try that on for us, model it, and we’ll tell you what we think.”
I gave Pace a look.
“Fuck you.”
But before we could all make the break for it that we should’ve done the moment that Captain Morgan left the room, he was back just as fast. “Oh, don’t forget. We have a team building exercise at the goddamn painting place. If I have to be there, you have to be there. And make sure someone finds fucking Jonah and tells him to be there or else. Eight o’clock, sharp. It’s also BYOB—bring your own goddamn beer. And make double damn sure that you bring your own because you’re not drinking mine.”
Pace and I shared a look. “Not it.”
The fact that we both said it at the same time was highly amusing.
“I’m not telling him,” Pace grumbled. “He’s going to shit himself at hearing we have to go to a fucking painting party.”
“Just make his nephew do it,” I suggested, looking over at the fresh-faced Baby Downy who’d been out of the police academy for all of six weeks.
He was the only one of us who’d gotten to this particular unit out of want rather than necessity.
The rest of us, Jonah, Pace, Justice, and Lock had all gotten here because we’d gotten into a bit of a tight spot with something or another over the last couple of months. And since we had a new therapist who felt that maybe a change of pace/scenery would benefit us, we’d all been transferred to a unit that was pretty much a precursor to being fired.
Which none of us wanted, but we didn’t really have much of a choice seeing as the goddamn therapist was fucking the mayor, and what that woman wanted, that woman got. Regardless of the fact that none of us had done a goddamn thing wrong other than find ourselves in that woman’s office.
“Downy looks like he would do it,” Pace agreed. “Let’s go talk to him.”
Table of Contents
Blurb
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
F-Bomb (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 9) Page 21
