Highway Don't Care (Freebirds)

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  Sliding my new Ruger into the holster, I did a few jumping jacks to see how the fit was. Kinda annoying, but definitely doable. It was definitely a heavy presence at my back.

  Slipping my bare feet into a pair of old Nike’s, I changed my shirt into an old volleyball one from high school, and walked out the front door. There was no answer at Cheyenne’s place, so then I tried Blaine’s, but had the same response. Then I went searching and found them all in the bay area of the garage.

  “So, how did he measure up?” Elliott asked when he saw me walk through the back door.

  Cheyenne and Blaine snickered and my stomach sank. Why would they ask that? Looking to Gabe for a clue as to what was going on, I found him giving Elliott the look. You know the one where if it were possible he would be slicing you in half with his death ray stare.

  “How did what measure up?” I asked confused.

  “You know. The package.” Jack chimed in glancing at Gabe, and then back to me.

  Glancing around, I tried to figure out what the hell they were talking about, but found nothing.

  “I’m confused. What are y’all talking about?”

  “Well apparently, Ember dear, your man over here forgot to turn off the sound on his microphone. Your sexcapades were heard over the airwaves. Unlucky for you everyone was playing at the time. So, how big was he, best friend?” Cheyenne teased.

  My face flamed, and I was stunned speechless.

  They had heard the entire thing!

  Turning my own death ray stare at Gabe, I found him contemplating the rafter’s in the ceiling. I let my eyes travel down his t-shirt covered chest, down to his jean-clad package. This was one of those times where I was supposed to let it go. Unfortunately, my mouth didn’t agree with my mind.

  “Well.” I drawled, “I never got him out of me long enough to measure him. My Gabe has some stamina. I did measure him with my fists and mouth though, how big would that make him if he takes up both fists and some of my mouth?”

  They all looked thunderstruck.

  Poor Max’s face was bright red, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Blaine’s mouth was hanging open, and Gabe was close to crying he was laughing so hard. Albeit silently. It was the type of laugh when you were laughing so hard no sound came out.

  Cheyenne came unstuck first.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Come on, let’s go measure.” She said grabbing onto my arm.

  I shook her off, and turned back to Gabe.

  “Knock it off, you big galoot.” I said to him.

  He straightened and wiped the tears that were running down his cheek.

  “What do you think of these?” I asked Gabe as I turned around and lifted up my shirt.

  “That’s fucking sweet!” Blaine yelled.

  “I thought so, but does the gun look that noticeable? I don’t really want anyone to know I’m carrying it.”

  I felt Gabe’s hand on my back as he traced the outline of the gun.

  “Pretty nifty little contraption. How does it feel?” Gabe asked.

  “Can you run around in it without it falling out?” Max asked.

  “Do a couple of rounds of the parking lot and come back.” Sam said.

  Rolling my eyes, I took off across the lot, did two loops, and then came back to the garage. All the while, the gun stayed in the correct position at the small of my back.

  “Feels good. No slipping or anything.” I said to the group as a whole.

  All the men were studying my back as I looked over my shoulder.

  “Where did you find these at?” Cheyenne said, “Do they make them in maternity sizes?”

  “Amazon, and no probably not.” These are stretchy though. Might try them on later and see if you like them.” I said to her.

  Nodding, she made a loop around me, and I decided I’d had enough attention for the moment. Clapping my hands and turning around, all eyes went to my face.

  “Now, what’s for dinner?” I asked.

  “We could go out. We haven’t done that in a long time.” Blaine suggested.

  Nodding my head, I concurred.

  “Sounds good. As long as we go somewhere that will let me wear these shorts, we’re good.”

  Everyone had something to say about the shorts again, but I went to Gabe and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

  “Love you.” I whispered into his ear.

  He leaned back and took my face into his hands.

  “Love you more.” He said gruffly.

  Ω

  We were all sitting around the table at Bodacious, a local BBQ joint, when the woman in the photo finally clicked on where I knew her from.

  “Motherfucker!” I said when it finally registered.

  Turning to Gabe I asked him, “What does Sidney look like?”

  “Tall, brown hair, skinny. Dresses like a high society princess. Why?” He asked perplexed.

  “Cheyenne, do you remember the lady that came and picked Story up?” I asked.

  “Tall, brown hair, stuck up.” Cheyenne supplied.

  It was all starting to fit together. Story thanking “Sid” for the lift as the door closed. Why the woman looked so freaked to be at Free. Then another sinking feeling started seeping into my chest, and burrowing in until I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.

  Jesus Christ. That woman had a baby. Oh my God. No.

  “Can I talk to you a minute?” I whispered to him.

  His eyes studied me for a moment, and noted the change that had come over me. Standing up, he grabbed my hand and lifted me out of my chair. Guiding me outside, he took me to the bench that ran along the front and side of the building. Taking a seat, he pulled me down next to him, and waited for me to tell him what was wrong.

  “Gabe.” I said and swallowed thickly.

  How do you tell someone you think he has a kid out there that he’s never met?

  “What?” He asked evenly.

  He could sense something was wrong, but he had no clue. This was going to be one hell of a bombshell.

  “Last month, when Story was picked up, it was by a woman named “Sid” who I swear on my life looks like the woman who was in the Army Ball photo of you and her that I saw in the closet. She looks exactly like her, just a tad older.” I said.

  His mouth opened and then closed.

  “But she used to live in Michigan. Why would she be here?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, but that’s not all. She also had a baby with her. It looked to be about a year and a half old. She looked just like you, and seeing her was what made me ask you about kids later that day. She made me want to have one that would look just like you, just like her.” I whispered.

  Gabe sat in stunned silence.

  He sat there so long, that I was beginning to get worried.

  That is until he exploded. I watched the seat where he had been sitting not even seconds before, and then turned and watched him as he stalked to his bike, started it with a roar, and tore out of the parking lot. Without his helmet even strapped to his head, I might add.

  Going back into the front door, I made my way back to the tables that we’d pushed together. My food still sat half eaten on my plate, but I had no appetite what-so-ever. Even looking at it made me want to puke. Looking around at the curious faces, I finally settled on Max.

  “I’m gonna need a ride. Gabe needed a minute.” I said to him.

  Nodding he said, “Lucky for you that I had a bitch seat put on. Didn’t want to have to deny any rides if I wanted to pick someone up at a bar or somethin’.” Max said bawdily.

  Curling my lip, I started to explain what was going on, and what I thought might be going on.

  “So let me get this straight, Gabe was seeing someone during his last deployment, he’d gotten her pregnant, and went off to war, only to be dropped like a hot potato and told she’d aborted his baby and ran off with another man. Then she lied, or possibly lied about it all, and actually had Gabe’s baby? Do I have all this straight?” Blaine asked.
/>   “That’s what I’m thinking. I saw that little girl, and she’s the spitting image of Gabe in the looks department. I remember thinking that she could totally pass for his kid. Except that I think that really was his baby. There are just too many coincidences here.” I said.

  “Let’s get out of here. I’ll call Luke and see if he can find her last address. We can run a check on her at the shop. Jack, go see if you can find Gabe.” Sam demanded.

  I exhaled slowly. Time to find the underlying cause of this monster clusterfuck.

  Ω

  “I’m coming with you, and I am not arguing with you. If you don’t take me with you, I will just go myself.” I said to Max and Sam.

  Sighing in defeat, we all made our way out to Sam’s Suburban and piled in. We were going to go stake out Sidney’s house, and see if we could collect any more information. I’d grabbed my Canon in case I was able to get a photo. I wanted to prove to Gabe that this was his child. I didn’t want there to be any doubt.

  Thirty minutes later, we were parked three houses down in one of the nicer subdivisions in Longview. The Moran household looked like one of the nicer ones on the block.

  According to the background check, Elliott ran, and the information from Luke, Sidney was now Mrs. Logan Moran. They’d married about a year ago, and had a one and a half year old daughter. Mr. Moran was an engineer at LeTourneau industries. Sidney was a stay at home mom, and didn’t have any record.

  We watched the house for over an hour before we got our first break. Sidney pulled up in her Audi and parked outside the garage. She went to the back door and started unbuckling the child that was in the back seat.

  Using this excellent opportunity, I leapt out of the car with my camera ready, and started snapping photos of Sidney and the little girl. Sidney set the girl down and walked up to the house, calling out behind her for the girl to follow, and getting upset when the girl stopped to grab a flower that was growing in a flowerbed on the side of the driveway.

  I stayed out of sight, but zoomed in as far as I could go, getting some excellent shots of the little girl with the flower up to her face. I took picture after picture, only stopping when Sidney was fed up with the little girl. She hauled her into the house by her arm, slamming the door behind her.

  My heart was pounding. That was Gabe’s little girl. I just knew it.

  Getting back into the Suburban, I clicked my seatbelt into place, and waited patiently for Sam and Max to get over their shock.

  “How could a person do that to a man?” Max asked.

  Nobody answered. We didn’t know.

  The ride back to the compound was a silent one. Arriving at Free, we all headed into the office where everyone else was still residing. Checks were being run on the Moran family. Cheyenne was on the phone with the hospital setting up a DNA test. Blaine was on the phone with a judge. Elliott was on the phone with a lawyer explaining what was going on. All of these people loved Gabe, and this proved it.

  A thundering roar pulled up outside of the shop, and I knew that Jack finally convinced Gabe to come home. I sat and waited, camera still in hand, for him to come through the door. He didn’t disappoint.

  He looked ravaged.

  Ω

  Gabe

  “I need to get in contact with a lawyer.” I said to no one in particular.

  “We’ve already gotten the ball rolling. All we are waiting on now is paperwork, which can’t be filed until tomorrow morning. Your lawyer will be filing a custody suit at eight AM. She’ll be served with papers shortly after. Blaine here called in some favors and the Judge moved the case to the front of the list, so as soon as they’re served, a trial date will be set. The lawyer recommends not having any contact with the Moran’s until you have him present. He doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.” Elliott said to me.

  I was dumbstruck. All this had been done in the two hours since leaving the barbeque joint. A little bit of hope took life in my chest.

  Finally making eye contact with Ember, I noticed the camera she had clutched in her fingers.

  “What’s going on?” I asked her.

  She didn’t answer, but instead showed me.

  Picture after picture was of a beautiful black haired, olive skinned girl. The girl was wearing a yellow top with flowered shorts. The shoes she was wearing were bright yellow. Her hair was in pig tales, ringlets flying in the wind. One picture was of Sidney herself taking the little girl out of the car seat. Another was of the little girl bent over picking a flower. Another of her smelling the flower. The final one was of a mean faced Sidney dragging her by the arm.

  The last one set my gut back to churning.

  “Jesus Christ. What’ve I done?” I said roughly.

  “Gabriel, you didn’t do anything. You did what anyone would have done when presented with that situation. Why would you think she would lie about something like that? That’s just not something a good person lies about. Take this in, and then let it go, because you’re about to be in the fight of your life.” Ember said.

  She always knew just what to say to get my mind in the right place. She knew if I needed a laugh, if I needed some love, and when I needed it to be real. She just knew me, and I was never more grateful for her presence than now.

  “Alright, tell me what I can do. I just can’t sit here. This is driving me fucking nuts.”

  “Actually I finished my part of the bike. It’s all yours. You have a week to get it painted.” Jack said to me.

  Nodding my head, I contemplated what to do. My head wasn’t in the right place to do anything that had to do with Sidney, I didn’t want anything to go wrong, so painting the bike was probably the best option I had right now. I also knew that the intricacies of painting the bike in memorial of Dougie would put everything in perspective for me. This was when I thought my best, made my best decisions.

  I left the room without another word and went to work.

  I buffed, primed, taped, and painted for hours. I didn’t stop until my vision started to get blurry from lack of sleep. The clock on the wall told me it was a quarter after three in the morning, and told me I’d been doing this for way too long. I was surprised that Ember let me be on my own for this long, but since she knew me so well, she probably also knew that I needed to think. Being the woman that she was, she knew that if she interrupted me, then I wouldn’t be able to think as I needed to.

  I’d worked it all out in my mind, how I wanted tomorrow’s meeting with Sidney to go. I knew what I was going to say to her, I knew what I was going to offer her, and I knew I was about to be in one hell of a fight. That woman didn’t have one reasonable bone in her body when I was with her, and I was sure she hadn’t changed much in the year and a half since I’d last seen her.

  Putting all my tools and equipment away, I quietly made my way around the shop and to my front door. No noise came from inside, and so I knew Ember was sleeping already.

  I unlocked the door as quietly as I could and was bombarded with the smell of baked goods. Following the scent into the kitchen, I found a pan of brownies and a note.

  Everything always looks brighter when you have something sweet to eat. I love you.

  Em.

  Damn. I love that woman.

  Tomorrow I was going to stop by a ring store and find a ring that was perfect for her finger, and then I was going to put it there for the rest of her life. If anything else, today proved how much she meant to me. How well she supported me. How much she loved me.

  I ate three brownies with a large glass of milk, and then went to the bedroom and took a shower. I dried off, and then climbed naked into the bed behind Ember. I needed her.

  I made love to her slowly, and when we were finished, I held her close the rest of the night, feeling her heartbeat against the palm of my hand. I was one lucky SOB.

  Ω

  The next morning

  “Do you still have this letter?” Martin, my lawyer asked.

  It took me a minute to decide where I had
left it, but decided I never moved it from its original location. “Yeah. It’s in my rucksack at the bottom of my closet. I felt damn near homicidal after reading it and I wanted to be able to read it later with a little calmer state of mind. I never touched it again though. I just stashed it in a book she’d gotten me and left it there.”

  “Good. We need to have that letter on file, and then I want you to put it in a safe deposit box for safekeeping. Now, on to the main event, do you want to have full custody, or do you want to have joint?”

  “Full.” I said without hesitation.

  “Alright. With everything that’s been discussed today, I will go over it with my associate. We will get these papers filed ASAP. She’ll probably be served with them later this afternoon. Most likely, the trial will be held in a month’s time. Until then, I can assure you we will work out some sort of visitation schedule so you can meet your child. The DNA test will have to be done later this week, as per court order. You’ll have to go provide a sample at your convenience. I’ll have my secretary give you the information on where it is located. I highly advise you to go ahead and start making plans as if she will be coming to live with you. The more you show that you want her, the better it will look in the judge’s eyes.” Martin said.

  We made our way to the door, and were just shaking hands when I glanced over and spotted Ember in one of the lobby chairs. She’d come, and I didn’t even ask her to. She smiled when she saw me, and made her way to me, wrapping her arms around my waist and letting her headrest against my chest.

  “Ember, this is Martin Barnes, Martin, this is my girlfriend Ember Tremaine.” I said.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Tremaine. Gabe here tells me you are the one who made the connection.” Martin said.

  Ember nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  Pleasantries were exchanged, and we made our way out of the building.

  “How’d you get here?” I asked.

  “Drove.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yep.”

  I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face me.

  “Let me get this straight. You drove over here with a hit on you. By yourself? At least tell me that someone knows you came.”