by Naomi West
“No, fine. Well, he’s a baby, what do you want me to do? I don’t have an old lady to help me out!” A pause. “Yeah, fine. I’ll be there.” He came back into the room. “I’m sorry to have to do this and right now, but the Kings need me to do something. I tried to put it off, but it can’t wait. Are you able to watch him a little while?”
“Sure. I think we’ll go back over to your place, though. I didn’t get to clean up much.”
“Of course. And I don’t know how long it will be anyway. Could go late.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“Thank you.” He leaned down to kiss her and Damian, then walked out the door. His bike started a few minutes later and he drove off.
“Well,” she said to Damian, “I guess I’m off the hook for now.”
Chapter 18
Hawk left the house pissed off. Blade had called and asked him to come do something for the MC which normally wasn’t a big deal. The club knew exactly which members had which skills and they used them to their full advantage. It was part of being in the club, part of your dues. You help the others and they help you. It was that simple.
But he’d asked for a reprieve, a chance to straighten things out, and instead of accommodating him they’d threatened him instead. If Blade had said he’d kick his ass or punch him or even cut him, he would have laughed it off. Even if he’d threatened to kill him, he would have been fine with that. But he’d threatened to take his patch and that was no light threat.
Taking someone’s patch meant they were gone from the MC for life. It was like being excommunicated except worse since it entailed a bunch of angry bikers who had no problem doing stuff like slashing your tires or trashing your bike if they came across it just because you’d wronged the MC. Threatening to take a patch was the very highest form of insult there was. The fact that Blade had issued it to him had him writhing in rage.
Hawk knew he hadn’t been at the headquarters as much as he should be but what he said on the phone was accurate. He was raising a baby alone and that was no easy business. Yeah, the old ladies at the club would watch him, but that wasn’t the best solution, either. They were busy enough, and if they had to leave, he’d be stuck.
He pulled up to the address Blade had given him. It was some old bar with a line of bikes out front. Blade stood against his car, which was odd enough – seeing him without his bike was like imagining him as a different sex. Hawk shivered and stopped himself right there.
He gave Blade a head nod and walked over to him. “What was so deathly important that you threatened my patch over it?”
Blade looked at him, then looked away. “First, swear your absolute silence.”
“What the hell, man? Do you know me at all?”
“Swear it!”
Hawk rolled his eyes. “Fine. I swear. What they hell is going on?”
“I locked my keys in my car.”
Hawk blinked at him. “And?”
“And I need you to open my door so I can get them out.”
“And?”
“And… it’s not my car. It’s Allie’s car.”
Hawk blew out a long sigh. “I thought that was over, man.”
“It was. Then it wasn’t.”
It was a good thing he kept a few tools with him at all times. Either for crap like this or if he happened upon a car he was searching for while he was out doing something else.
“This is some bullshit, you know that, right?” Hawk glared at him and went to retrieve a tool. “Threaten to take my patch because you need me to come right this instant because you locked your keys in your girlfriend’s car and can’t let your old lady find out? Messed up.”
“I wouldn’t have taken your patch.”
“You sounded pretty serious over the phone about it.”
“I had to get you here somehow.”
“That was a low threat.” Hawk stuck the slim jim down the window and popped the lock.
“I’ll make it up to you.”
He crossed his arms. “How’s that?”
“Come inside. I’ll buy you a beer. The baby has a sitter, right?”
He nodded. He had told Alexa it might be a while, and this had been super quick. He had plenty of time to sit and have a drink. They went in and sat at a table where Allie was waiting. She smiled at Blade and gave Hawk a sheepish look.
“Heya,” Hawk said to her.
“Hi.” Generally, she didn’t talk much, and right now she had her hand on Blade’s thigh and kept looking at him.
Blade set a beer down in front of Hawk. “Let’s just say I owe you a favor, okay? You helped me out big time today.”
Hawk took a sip of his beer. “Favor.” This was a big deal. Blade didn’t do favors or give them out. He would have to use this carefully, like a child with his one wish. “Thank you.”
He stayed for a while and caught up with some of the boys and drinking a little but after an hour and a half he figured he better get back. Wasn’t fair to Alexa to leave her there with Damian all the time. And now that he’d alerted Blade and the MC about this Jessica chick, he felt much better about the situation. He might not be able to own a gun right now, but at least he had lots of friends who did. He just hoped he wouldn’t need to call in his favor too soon.
He texted to let her know he was coming, then hoped in his car. At the stop sign before he turned onto his street, he glanced at his phone. Usually she texted back quickly, but maybe she was in the middle of putting Damian down for a nap or giving him a bath.
He pulled in the driveway, but shut the garage door when he looked at the house. Something wasn’t right. The door was open. Not much, just a crack, but given what had happened with Jessica and the break in the other day, he wasn’t taking any chances. He parked in the driveway and grabbed a screwdriver. His PO couldn’t keep him from all weapons.
Hawk rushed to the door, but paused before entering to listen. Nothing came from inside the house but the usual hum and buzz of things. He pushed open the door and looked around. He stepped inside, still listening. He wanted to call for her so badly, but if someone was in the house, he didn’t want to alert them that he was there.
As he came to each room, he put his back to the wall and peered around the corner. After getting a full view of the empty room, he moved on. He came to the living room and when he poked his head around the side of the wall to look in his heart dropped.
Alexa lay on the couch, a big red splotch on her forehead. He rushed to her.
“Alexa? Alexa!” He gently shook her shoulders. She was out.
He took her pulse and it felt strong. Someone must’ve come in and knocked her out. The next thought made him go cold. Where was Damian?
He tore through the house, careless now in his searching. Every room, every closet and nook and cranny. After two sweeps, he had to admit the truth. Damian was gone. He went back to Alexa to check on her. She hadn’t moved. He considered calling an ambulance, but that would send the cops here, and he didn’t want to deal with all that just yet. He took a washcloth and wet it with cold water, then laid it on her forehead. After a moment, she stirred.
He called her name and put his hand to her cheek. “Can you hear me?”
She nodded slowly and muttered something he couldn’t make out. He sat her up and gave her a glass of water. She sipped it, then tried again to speak.
“Damian,” she said in a croak. “Where is he?”
Hawk shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s not here. What happened? Do you know who took him?”
She took another sip of water. “Jessica. She came back.”
Hawk sucked in a breath. “Was she alone?”
“Yes, but she barged in and hit me on the head. I didn’t expect it. I should’ve been ready for her, I should have—”
“Stop.” He pressed his lips to hers. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I wouldn’t expect you to fight off an attacker like that.”
“No, I should have, you don’t understand. It’s my job.”
“I know you did your best to protect Damian. It’s not your job to fight someone like that.”
“Hawk, no, I—”
“All we need to do now is find her and figure out why she took him.”
“At one point, I started to come to. She admitted to me that she’s not his mother.”
“I knew it. I didn’t think she was.” His hands balled into fists. He didn’t care if she was a woman, he would knock her cold when he got his hands on her. “If she’s not his mother, then what could her motive possibly be? Sell him on the black market?”
“I don’t think so. She kept asking about the diaper bag. Did you see it?”
Hawk pulled his eyebrows together. “I didn’t, but I wasn’t really looking.”
He got up and helped Alexa to her feet. She held his arm, but was walking fine on her own after a few steps. They searched through the nursery and the rest of the house but there was no sign of the diaper bag.
“It sounded like it was really important for some reason. But then she hit me again before I could find out more. And that must’ve been when she took him and left. And the diaper bag, too, apparently.”
“If the bag was so important, why wouldn’t she just have taken it and not him? I don’t get it,” Hawk said.
“I don’t know, but we have to get the police on this before she can get any farther. It’s already been far too long. She wanted the bag for a reason, and she took Damian for reason. Whatever those reasons are, we need him found and brought back, and the cops are the best ones equipped to handle that.”
Hawk shook his head. “No way. I am not calling them. I’ll do this my way. I’ll start with that car and that Rucker Marshall guy. If he’s not involved, fine, but I need to know.”
“This is out of your league. You can’t go chasing after criminals like that. Let the cops do their job.”
“Oh right. Like they did their job when it came to finding Hugh’s killer? I don’t think so.”
“They’re your best chance at finding him.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. I don’t need them, and I don’t want them involved.”
Chapter 19
Alexa knew she couldn’t wait any longer. He had a thing against the police and it was understandable, but she needed help from her connections on the force. Even if they were going to do this alone, she needed their help. She’d already planned to tell him the truth, and it couldn’t wait any longer.
“Hawk…” She closed her eyes for a moment, then took a breath. “I think you should sit down. There’s something I have to tell you.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you know something about this?”
“Not any more than you do. But I know people who can help. Please sit.”
He kept his eyes on her, but pulled out a chair at the dining room table and sat in a defensive stance. “Let’s hear it.”
“I’m telling you this now because finding Damian is the most important thing. I want you to remember that. I had planned to tell you before, but then Jessica showed up and all this mess-”
“Alexa. Let’s hear it already.”
She took in a deep breath and blew it out. “I used to be a cop. In fact, I was the detective who worked on Hugh’s case.”
She paused for a moment. His jaw tightened and his eye twitched slightly. She decided to continue.
“I tried my best to find his killer. Please, believe that. I didn’t give up. Closing the case was not my call. In fact, it was the reason I left the force. My chief made me close it. He didn’t think a lowly drug informant was worth-”
“Informant?”
“Hugh was my informant. He gave me information about Rucker Marshall. I’d been watching him for months, waiting to have enough evidence to bring him to trial. My chief made me call it a gang crime and close the case. I fought against it. And in the end, I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t stop thinking about Hugh, and I couldn’t rest until I found justice for him. I quit the force and started my PI business so I would have a cover and connections and the time I needed to do my real research. I moved here to be close to you. Because you’re Hugh’s brother, and I hoped you’d give me the information I needed to find his killer. I never planned to get so close to you. I certainly never planned to fall for you, but I have.”
Hawk glared back at her, and said nothing.
“I’m still looking. I’m sure it was Rucker Marshall who killed Hugh, but I need solid evidence to put him away. Your testimony of seeing him there only provides circumstantial evidence and it’s not enough. Especially in a case like this where there were so many false leads and so many twists and turns. I’m sorry I lied to you. I thought if you knew who I really was from the beginning, you wouldn’t tell me anything and you’d just be pissed. And you have every right to be pissed. I would be, too. But right now, I want to focus on getting Damian back. That’s all I want. I’m not asking for your forgiveness, but I am asking you to let me make some calls. I still have tons of connections on the force, and I can get the right people in place and get the information we need to find him.”
Hawk still said nothing. She waited, giving him time to process and respond. After several long minutes with neither of them speaking, she finally had to do something.
“Do you have nothing to say to all this?” she asked.
“Do whatever you have to do to find him.” He stood up, slid the chair hard into place. “You should probably go to the hospital. Your head looks really bad.”
He turned to face her, his arms crossed and his face blank.
“I’m fine. I have a little headache, but it’s nothing some Ibuprofen can’t fix. Time is critical right now. I need to get started right away if we’re going to have any chance.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“Do you have a notebook?”
She pulled out her phone while he went into his office. She took a moment to gather her thoughts. She couldn’t read him, he’d gone back to that static and placid expression of coolness. She could hardly blame him. In his position, she’d probably have done worse.
Refocusing on the task at hand she started with her old informants. They weren’t required to tell her anything now that she was off the force, but she hoped they would do her a favor since she’d been good to them.
“Have you heard anything on the street about a kidnapping or a ransom, anything like that?” she asked them both.
Neither had heard anything. She asked about Rucker, too. Nothing. She called to her former partner, who was still on the force.
“I know this is a favor, but we were partners for years. This could lead to solving two cases. And I’d let you get all the credit,” she promised.
Joe laughed. “Yeah, sure. I don’t need credit. It’d be nice to have my partner back, though.”
“I don’t think that will happen. But it would be nice to solve this one last case with you. I need everything you got on Marshall since I left. And I need you to keep your ears open about a baby. He was stolen today. He might end up with a ‘for sale’ sticker somewhere. We’re not sure why he was taken.”
Joe sucked in a breath. “You do get into your cases, that’s for sure. Did you report this stolen baby?”
“Well, I just told you, didn’t I?”
“Alexa, come on.”
“We don’t have time for all that. I need answers now.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
She hung up and looked at Hawk, who had an expectant expression.
“Let me guess,” he said, “they don’t know anything.”
“Well, not yet. He’s getting me info on Marshall, and he’s going to check around about any news on a baby.”
“So, they know nothing, and Damian is out there somewhere.”
“He’ll call back soon. This is our best chance.”
Hawk got up and started pacing. “I have to get out there and start looking for him.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere. Everywhe
re. I don’t know, but I can’t just sit here.” He looked down at his phone. “What the hell?”
“What is it?”
“Blocked number.”
She scrambled to her feet. “Answer it!”
“I never answer blocked calls.”
“You do today, when your child is missing. Answer it.”
He pressed the button and held the phone to his ear. “Hawk.” Then he hit the speakerphone button so she could hear, too.
