STEADFAST

by Shirleen Davies

  Chapter Five

  Cara parked in a visitor space outside the pediatric medical clinic. She’d taken the call from Tessa Clarke, the pediatrician who also served as managing partner for the medical practice providing services to children from birth to twenty-one.

  The receptionist, an older woman with graying hair pulled into a tight knot at the back of her neck, looked at her with a confused expression. “May I help you?”

  “I’m Cara Mortensen. I have an appointment with Doctor Clarke.”

  Running a finger down the calendar, the woman mumbled something to herself. “Yes, I see you do. I’ll let the doctor know you’re here.”

  Stepping away from the window, Cara looked around the colorfully decorated waiting room. Bright animals from various parts of the world formed a mural spanning the entire room. One corner contained a variety of toys and books, a screen on one wall showing a vintage children’s movie. Her oldest brother, Seth, had two boys under the age of five. She felt certain they’d love visiting the doctor if this was what awaited them.

  “Ms. Mortensen? The doctor will see you now.”

  Following the woman down the hall, she noticed the bright colors gave way to softer tones, although the animal motif continued.

  A woman of above average height with deep red hair and emerald green eyes stood inside the office at the end of the hall. Offering her hand, she smiled when Cara grasped it.

  “I’m Tessa Clarke. Thank you so much for coming at such short notice. Please, have a seat.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Clarke.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you’d call me Tessa or Tess. It would make this much easier.” She brushed strands of hair from her forehead, tucking them behind an ear.

  The flustered movements caught Cara’s attention. “If you’ll call me Cara.” She watched Tessa’s hands shake before clasping them together to rest on the desk. “You have a wonderful clinic. I wish my nephews had such a fun place to go when they visited their doctor.”

  Tessa appeared to relax at the statement. “It took a lot of hard work to get it to this point. Every morning when I enter, I feel a huge sense of satisfaction.” The smile she offered seemed hollow, more out of misery than joy. “Anyway, I got your name from a friend at the university. She told me your practice includes corporate law as well as family law.”

  “It does.”

  “Good, as I may need both.”

  That got Cara’s attention. “Both? Perhaps you should start at the beginning.”

  Her gaze darting around the room, Tessa sucked in a slow breath before starting. “My partner in the practice wants to leave. She wants me to buy her out so she can start over with her, um…her new husband.”

  Cara jotted down notes. “All right. That doesn’t sound too difficult.”

  “Under normal circumstances, no. You see, her husband of one week is my ex-fiancé, Glenn. Two weeks ago, he was my fiancé. And two weeks ago, my business partner, Patsy, had been my closest friend since high school.” Tessa reached out, lifting a glass of water, hands shaking enough some of the liquid spilled onto the desk.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Setting the glass down, Tessa lifted one shoulder. “There’s something else.”

  Cara lifted her gaze from her notepad, hand pausing on the page. “What?”

  “The night I found them in bed together was the same night I’d planned to tell him of my pregnancy.” Swallowing what had to be a knot of pain in her throat, she met Cara’s questioning eyes. “He doesn’t know of the child, and I intend to keep it that way.”

  An hour later, Cara transferred her notes from the meeting with Tessa into electronic form, pain squeezing her chest. After three years, listening to other women relate their stories of betrayal and cheating partners still got to her. She suspected it always would.

  Resting her hands on the keyboard, Cara stared out the window, her thoughts returning to the night she discovered her husband had been cheating on her for years. They’d argued, which they’d rarely done, ending with her sleeping alone upstairs. She wanted a divorce. Greg didn’t. He’d refused to discuss it that night.

  The next morning, she’d woken to an empty house, a terse note next to the toaster. His team had been deployed on another mission, a mission from which Greg never returned.

  Her attention jolted away from the window at the sound of her phone. She didn’t bother checking caller ID before answering.

  “Cara, it’s Wrath.”

  Glancing at the time, she remembered the shop would be returning her bike in thirty minutes. “Hello. Are you on your way to my place?” She heard him exhale a ragged breath.

  “Tracker and Fuse will be bringing it over. I’m afraid something’s come up and I won’t be able to take you to dinner. Sorry for the late notice.”

  She felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. “No problem. I’m just leaving my office and will meet your men when they arrive. And don’t worry about dinner. I’d best get going so I don’t keep them waiting. Thanks for calling.” She hung up before he could say more.

  The numerous times Greg had called from base to let her know he’d be unable to make it home crashed into her thoughts. Normally, she’d ruthlessly push them from her mind, knowing remembering their life together would provide nothing except pain.

  Cara had no intention of going through another failed relationship. Becoming friends, perhaps more, with the president of a local motorcycle gang would be a surefire way of being hurt again.

  Her phone rang, drawing her attention. She looked at the ID this time. Wrath. Stifling her desire to answer, she let it go to voicemail. In a few days, she might listen to any message he left. Might being the operative word.

  After meeting Tessa, learning what she’d endured, the odds of having another conversation with Wrath were slim. Maybe someday in the future, but not now. Not while she still considered herself healing from the pain of the past.

  The corners of Wrath’s mouth tilted upward. It had been a long time since a woman had dismissed him in such a nice way. He detected a hint of finality in her voice. Too bad for Cara he didn’t know how to give up on any mission, and she was a mission Wrath had no intention of walking away from. At least not until he’d figured her out, understood what enticed a woman to leave San Diego for a small town offering heat, snow, and no ocean.

  “Wrath?” Ghost walked in, a pack in his hand, followed by Rock, Gunner, and Moses. “Are you ready for the debrief?”

  He nodded, motioning to the conference table on the other side of the room. “From what I know, the mission was a resounding success, gentlemen.”

  Ghost glanced at Rock, then back at Wrath. “There’s additional information we didn’t include in the initial report last night.”

  Leaning back in his chair, Wrath nodded for Ghost to continue.

  “You already know we got the targets. An Army chopper picked up the bodies before we returned in our helo.”

  Wrath’s brows drew together. “I didn’t know the Army was involved.”

  “All I know is it was an Army chopper that retrieved the bodies.” Ghost rubbed the back of his neck. “We recovered a couple boxes of files.”

  “They’ll need to go to the admiral,” Wrath said.

  “Already done. But there’s something you need to see.” Ghost reached into his pack, sliding a file across the table.

  Cocking a brow at Ghost, Wrath opened it, his eyes flickering wide for an instant before he controlled the reaction.

  “Sonofabitch.” Wrath spat out the words as he scanned the documents. “Why do they have a file on the Night Devils? And why didn’t the admiral know anything about this?”

  Rock leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “That’s why we kept this file. The two targets appear to have been working with the Devils. Why? My guess is they were using the money from illegal goods, human trafficking, and money laundering to fund their terrorist activities.”

  “All the more rea
son we need to find a way to shut them down.” Moses crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair.

  Gunner pushed back his chair, stretching his long legs in front of him. “We also need to see if there’s any connection to Demons Blood. I know there’s no affection between the Devils and the Blood. Still, the terrorists may have found a way to work with both.”

  “Or pit them against each other,” Ghost added.

  Finishing the last document, Wrath closed the file, passing it to Rock. “Take this down to Raider. Have him transfer the information to Grayson.” He looked at Ghost. “Anything else?”

  “Nope. The mission couldn’t have gone any better. Textbook, Prez.”

  “Textbook.” Wrath repeated the word to himself, drumming his fingers on the desk. Rock, Gunner, and Moses had left, Ghost staying to brainstorm while they waited for a call from the admiral.

  Each had a copy of the file, going through it page by page as they tried to come up with an answer to too many questions.

  “I don’t see any connection to the Blood, but the terrorists have been working with the Devils for at least two years.” Wrath blew out a curse. “Right under our nose.”

  “The Devils have never been a part of our missions, Prez. We knew they existed, have a small amount of intel, but they’ve never been our target. If they hadn’t shown up on the last run for the Blood, we could’ve gone on a long time without knowing the extent of their network.”

  Wrath grabbed the phone before it could ring twice. “Admiral. Ghost is here with me. If you don’t mind, I’m going to put you on speaker.”

  “Fine, Commander.”

  Ghost raised a brow at Wrath, who shook his head.

  “Now, let’s talk about the connection between the Night Devils and the terrorists.”

  An hour later, the three men had come to one conclusion. The Eternal Brethren needed to complete more reconnaissance on the Devils, along with trying to keep up a working association with the Blood.

  Wrath still chastised himself for being blindsided by the Devils showing up during the last run. They’d known about the transfer of goods, knew where they were headed, and worse, may have known the FBI was involved. None of those set well with him.

  “Maybe they have someone inside the Blood.” Ghost’s comment coincided with what Wrath had been thinking. “We don’t know much about how Drago makes the final decision as to who gets patched in. It would be a long haul to be a prospect, then hope to become a full patch member.”

  Rubbing a hand across his forehead, Wrath sat up. “A transfer from another club. We know of five chapters across the country. Drago gets a good report from another club president, making it tough not to take the guy into the Blood. If he blends in, does what he’s told, and already has a certain amount of trust, he’ll hear of runs ahead of time and will pass what he knows to the Devils.”

  Ghost tapped a pen on the top of the desk. “What would make him betray the Blood?”

  “Money. Jealousy. Not being elected into a position he thought he deserved. Hell, the list is endless and filled with human shortcomings.”

  Ghost snorted a derisive laugh. “Whatever the motivation, it’s a viable idea. We need to find out who he is. The question is how?”

  A grin broke across Wrath’s face. “How do you get anybody to talk about something they’d normally never mention?”

  A light flickered in Ghost’s eyes. “We’d need neutral ground.”

  “Talk to Rock and Raider. The three of you scout out a spot and set up surveillance. I’ll clear it with Grayson and let Ethan know once we have more details.”

  “Will your brother give us any problem?” Ghost knew Sheriff Ethan McCord didn’t put up with crap from anyone, including his brothers, Wrath and Wrangler. It didn’t matter if he knew the truth about the Brethren. Anything that might cause harm to his citizens would be shut down, brothers or not.

  “Depends on how he’s approached and the reason.” Wrath scratched his jaw. “I’ll talk with Ethan as soon as we have all the details worked out.”

  “Citizens?”

  Wrath thought about it a minute. “Only close friends of the Brethren. Those who know what to expect.”

  Standing, Ghost picked up his copy of the file, handing it to Wrath to be locked away. “We’ll need to keep it quiet. You know how word about our parties travels. No one wants to be left out.”

  “Hopefully Drago and the Blood will feel the same.”

  Cara shifted on the sofa, reading through her notes on Tessa for the third time. Drawing up papers for the dissolution of the partnership didn’t pose any substantive problems. Tessa planned to establish a Limited Liability Company without any other partners. All current staff planned to stay, creating as little angst as possible for existing patients.

  Patients would be told of the other doctor’s departure. Since her ex-partner would eventually be going to work for a different clinic over forty miles away, Tessa doubted too many patients would want to move. If anyone did ask to have their records transferred to her, it would happen immediately and without question. All Tessa wanted was to put it all in the past and move on.

  The tricky part would be the baby. Tessa didn’t plan to keep the baby’s existence from the father forever. She did want to wait as long as possible, not wanting him to have any part in the pregnancy or delivery.

  Afterward, Tessa would share the results of a DNA test, telling him she expected nothing. She doubted he’d want to complicate his newly married bliss with the addition of a child. At least she hoped as much.

  Cara would draw up a document stating Tessa would have full custody without the expectation of support. If all went well, she’d end up with full control of the clinic and complete custody of her child.

  Setting down her pen, Cara closed her eyes. Greg had always professed to wanting children but had convinced her to wait. After his death, she’d discovered a document from a clinic. Without her knowledge, he’d had a vasectomy a year before. The information of yet another betrayal by her husband had been just one more blow to a marriage which had been a scam from the start.

  When she did have a child, it would be with a man who loved and adored her. He certainly wouldn’t seek additional pleasure with another woman. Or, as in Greg’s case, other women.

  For some strange reason, an image of Wrath appeared in her mind. Even with his take-charge manner and obvious arrogance, she enjoyed his company. He was the first man to interest her in three years.

  Absently picking up the ringing phone, she answered. “Hello.”

  “How’s the bike, Cara?”

  She sat up, energy level rising at the sound of his voice. “It’s perfect. Your men did a great job.”

  “Any problems at all?” He sounded worried, tense.

  “None. I took a mile ride and everything seemed fine. I plan to take a longer ride on Saturday, maybe to Oakwood. I’ll let you know if I have any concerns.” She held her breath, hoping he’d invite himself along.

  “Good idea.” His voice still didn’t sound right, as if he was preoccupied. And he didn’t mention joining her.

  “Well, I’m sure you’re busy. Thanks for checking on the bike, Wrath.” She hovered her finger over the end call button when she heard his voice.

  “Cara, wait.”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you want company on your ride?”

  Surprised, she told herself to calm down, not show too much enthusiasm. “You sure you have time?”

  “I’ll make time. Meet me at Bari’s at seven. I’ll buy you breakfast, then we’ll take off.”

  She grimaced at the time. “Make it eight and you have a deal.”

  The tension in his voice disappeared when he let out a soft chuckle. “Eight it is. See you Saturday, Cara.”

  Setting the phone down, she felt a wave of excitement. It didn’t have anything to do with seeing Wrath. Absolutely not. The eagerness came from having someone to ride with her. Anyone would do, but it didn’t hurt the companion
was a tall, handsome, quite buff biker.

  Chapter Six

  Cara sipped her coffee, checking the time again. Fifteen minutes after eight and Wrath hadn’t arrived. She should call, see if he’d changed his mind or gotten held up. Glaring out the window, not hearing the sound of his custom pipes, she straightened, signaling the waitress.

  “Decided not to wait?” The tall, slender woman with a broad smile and wrinkles from years in the sun focused on her.

  Until that instant, Cara hadn’t quite decided. Well, she did have to eat. “Two eggs over-easy, hash browns, sausage and bacon, two pancakes, and wheat toast.”

  “You’ve got quite an appetite for such a petite thing.”

  She shrugged. “I woke up starving.”

  “I know how that goes, honey. Happens to me all the time.” The woman winked, giving Cara a moment to catch on. She felt her cheeks heat, but shook it off. “Anything else?”

  “That’s it.” Looking at the time again, her mood took another dive. No message from Wrath. Cara didn’t know why she expected more from him. She heard the door open, not glancing over.

  “Sorry, Cara. The bike broke down a mile from here. I had to have one of the boys bring another one and haul mine back to the shop.” He sucked in a breath. “I should’ve called, but…” He tilted his head as he sat across from her. “Are we still good?”

  “Well, at least you have a good excuse. I wasn’t sure you were coming, so I already ordered.”

  The same waitress walked up, pouring him coffee. “Morning, Wrath. So you’re the one who made this nice lady wait. What can I get you?”

  Wincing, he let out a frustrated breath. “Morning, Blanche. Whatever Cara’s having will be fine.”

  Resting his arms on the edge of the table, he leaned forward. “I am sorry. And so you know, I would’ve found a way to get here no matter what.”

  Cara felt her lips curl upward, forgetting her irritation of a few minutes before.

  Wrath took a sip of coffee, letting out a moan of pleasure. “Blanche does make good coffee. So, what am I having for breakfast?”