by Ryan Michele
“Thanks for findin’ my girl.”
That was when her tone changed. It went back to the Rylynn who loved with her whole heart. Family was important to her. “Always.”
Damn, I loved this woman. “Be there in a few,” I said, then disconnected after she told me bye. Sending out a piercing whistle, Brewer turned around and saw the look on my face and made his way to me. I relayed the information quickly, then looked around to notice no one was close.
I bent in and lowered my voice. “Lemon. Need eyes on him. Somethin’s not right there. You and Wrong Way are the only ones on this shit. Get together with him and come up with a plan to figure out if he’s hidin’ somethin’. Hope to fuck he’s not, but damn it’s not sittin’ right with me. Gotta get to the hospital.”
“Got it.”
I lifted my chin and took off. There were several things in my life I hated right now, and Jenny was at the top of that list. Van deserved better than that.
Making my way to the hospital, memories of the last time I had been there assaulted me. Doing everything I could to keep my father alive. Rushing into that room and waiting and waiting. The smells of the place were a mixture of pine and bleach. It was a smell I’d never forget.
It was stark white only giving off a bleakness to it. I remembered the exact spot I stood when the doctor came in and told me my father had passed away. There were probably still marks there from my boots being riveted to the ground.
I hated this place. Hated even pulling into the parking lot. Hated Jenny for being a shit mom.
I also hated the possibility of Jenny dying. Van was too young to process something like that. To grow up with no mother. Even if Jenny was a shit one. I’d wanted Jenny to clean up her damn act up so much. Van deserved it. Jenny always pushed back on it though.
While I knew it was the addiction, I still hated that Jenny wasn’t strong enough to do this one thing for her daughter.
If Jenny made it through this shit, I’d make it so she couldn’t sign herself out. Some way, somehow. Jenny was getting clean.
Parking my bike, I made my way through the doors as the smell assaulted my lungs slipping me right back in time. This eerie feeling hit me passing through them. Like déjà vu. One person died here and now there was a chance for another. It was too close to the bone.
“Daddy!” Van called out, running to me and jumping up in my arms. Damn, she was getting big. Where did my little girl go? Her little legs wrapped around my hips as her body shook, while her tears covered my shirt. I wanted to absorb all her pain and take it on my shoulders.
“Hey, peanut.” I wouldn’t lie to her and tell her everything was going to be okay. Whatever happened next, she needed to be strong for it. Lying to her would defeat that purpose. Alive or dead, her mother would be gone for a while. I just hoped it was alive and in rehab.
Carrying her over to Rylynn, Goldi, and Shell, it struck me. Shell was one of our girls and from Rylynn’s voicemail, she was done not knowing about it. It was time to tell Rylynn about the girls. Not here, but very soon.
“How’s she doin’?” I asked as everyone rose.
“Not good,” Rylynn said, and Van’s little body jerked, her face burrowing into my neck. “She’s alive, but heroin was in her system, and she took a lot of it according to the tests. They’re pumping as much fluid in her veins to get it out, but it’s a process. It just depends on her body if she’ll make it through.” The last things, Rylynn said low.
“Fuck. How’d you get the doctors to talk to ya?”
Goldi raised her hand. “I’m her mom, of course.”
“Is Mommy goin’ with Grandpa?” Van asked me, and my fucking heart squeezed to the point of pain. Every emotion started hitting me from different ends. From sadness to pissed off, all playing with me. Fuck, I hated this for Van. Hated she saw her mother like that. That it could be her last vision of her mother, and I had no doubt it would be seared on her brain never releasing its grip for the rest of her life.
Rylynn was breathing in deep, her eyes a mask of pain for my little girl, but she held it back. Her hands balled in fists like she was itching to take Van in her arms and hug her pain away. Rylynn and I were in the same boat with that.
“I can’t tell the future, Van. Whatever happens, I’m here.”
She snuggled her face back into my neck as her sniffles continued. Lying to her wasn’t an option, but she needed to know I was here with her every step of the way.
We sat and at some point during the long wait, Van nodded off. When the doctor eventually came back out, flashes of my father came to me. It wasn’t the same man, but the same situation. Was he going to tell us she was gone? How would I help Van through that pain?
“She’s alive.” The relief of those words hit me harder than I had anticipated. “She’s sedated, and we’re pumping the drugs through and out of her system. I strongly advise you get Jenny into a rehab.”
“I tried that. She didn’t stay.”
The doctor’s eyes skitted around, then came back to me. Sitting in the chair, he lowered his voice. “Look into forced rehab. They come to the home and do detox there. There is someone with her twenty-four hours a day weaning her off slowly.”
“I’m guessin’ you’re not supposed to be tellin’ me this.”
The doctor gave a sad smile. “You want that woman around for that little girl, she needs to be clean. It’s an option, or you can go through the courts for the rights to keep her inside. That could take a long time.”
“Got it. How long is she gonna be in here?”
Plans needed to be set in place. The first being making sure the damn house was cleaned up because that would be where she’d get the help. No way I’d allow it at my house with Van watching every step of the way. Hadn’t protected her from that shit before, but I would now. I’d need to have the place searched too, in case she had any stashes.
“We’re flushing out her system to remove the toxic levels of the drug. She’ll be out in twelve to forty-eight hours depending on how it goes, and she’ll will want a fix badly. We’ve had patients before who stripped their IVs off and tried leaving the hospital because the need for the drug is so great. That is what you’ll be dealing with. Jenny will want to score any way she can and fast.”
“We’ll get it set up,” I responded immediately.
The doctor nodded once, then left. “Let’s go home.” I turned to Rylynn and she rose, grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze. It was comforting and something I didn’t know I needed until she gave it to me. Rylynn held Van in the backseat of Goldi’s SUV while I drove my bike right behind them the entire way home.
Forced rehab. Didn’t know that shit existed.
Every time I put her inside a facility, she just checked herself out when she damn well felt like it. This though, this would get her on the right track. I’d lock down the house so she couldn’t escape.
This time, Jenny was getting clean even if I had to tie her to the goddamned bed to do it.
“Thanks.” I disconnected the call and tossed my cell to the couch where it bounced once and settled. Rylynn stared at it like it would come alive and dance. Drew, the man from the forced rehab, was handling everything, from the locks to knowing how to get Jenny off the shit. He cost serious money, so he’d better know what the fuck he was doing. I would have Hornet and Rooster go check it out just to make sure and have them install a few cameras to keep an eye on things.
Drew was coming by to pick up the key and get started on the house. There was no doubt in my mind that Jenny would try to flee. She’d do it the very moment she could and not think twice about it.
She was so addicted to the drugs. I was learning they had ahold of her in a way that she’d never get free by herself. It was my turn to step in and make it happen. Van needed her. Jenny may be fucked up, but she was a mother. This was about Van now. Not about Jenny.
Jenny would come to realize it at some point during her detox, hopefully.
“Everything good?
” Rylynn asked, and I held out my arm to her. She came instantly, curling into my body on the couch. Her warmth and smell surrounded me, settling me.
“Guess you didn’t realize just how big of a pain in the ass my life was,” I joked.
Her hand came to my chest as she looked up at me. “We’re in this together, Crow. Thick or thin. Heavy or light. We have each other’s backs. This is life. We deal.”
I kissed the top of her head loving she thought that. “Yeah. Happy you’re here, Pixie.”
“Me too. What’s the plan?” she asked as she turned and looked down the hall then back at me. Van was in her room sleeping. The events of the past few hours wore her out completely and she passed out.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I said, “Get Jenny home and get her clean for good.”
Rylynn rolled her eyes up at me. “I got that one. I’m talking about how it’s going to be accomplished.”
My woman was a smartass. Loved that about her too. “Drew is gonna handle it. I’ll have Goldi, and maybe Shell, go pick up Jenny at the hospital so she doesn’t freak out. If I do it, it’ll set her off. Once Jenny gets in the house, she’ll be on lockdown, not allowed to leave the house for anything. I’ll either be at the house to make sure it goes off without too much resistance, or I’ll have one of the guys. It just depends on timing. We let the rehab people do their work and see how it comes out in the end.”
“Van is gonna ask questions.”
I nodded, not liking that. Hard to shield your child when it was right in her face. “Yeah. She will. We’ll answer them as they come. How are you doin’ with all of this?”
Her body shifted so we were eye to eye. “Other than scared out of my mind when Van wasn’t there for me to pick up, I’m fine. I hate that Van is going through all of this, but all I can do now is be there for her.”
My arms squeezed tighter around her. “Thanks for that. Who was the lady at the school you talked to?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t get a name. After she told me what had happened, I got the hell out of there to try to find Van.”
“Whoever it was will hear about this shit.”
Her hand came to my chest. “Let’s worry about that later. Let’s focus on Van.”
I nodded and pulled her lips to mine for a light touch. She sighed and laid her head on my chest.
“Has Jenny always used?” she asked as I got comfortable on the couch.
“Not the heavy shit like heroin. Pot she’d smoke every now and then. It wasn’t until Van was two that Jenny started really using. But it was so subtle I didn’t peg it until Van was around six. Now, four years later, look where we are.”
“It’s not your fault, Crow.” Her words rumbled on my chest. She was wrong.
“It is, for not gettin’ my girl out of there sooner.” That guilt would ride me for years to come.
“She’s out now, and Jenny’s gettin’ help. That’s all you can focus on right now.” She was right. My woman was smart.
I could hear this constant tapping or clicking sound, and my eyes flew open. Laying full out on the couch, the lights were off, but the television was on with light and no sound. Turning around, Rylynn was typing away at her computer lost in whatever she was doing. Her face was intense. She was deeply focused on something.
Looking to the clock, it read one fifty-three in the morning. Swiping my hand over my face, I rose from the couch stretching, my shirt going up with my movements. My body needed relaxing a bit.
“Now that’s a good vision,” Rylynn purred from the table, and I smiled at her after releasing a breath.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
She chuckled. “What, wake you so you can go back to sleep? Seems a dumb way to go.”
True. Entering the kitchen, I went to the fridge and pulled out a half gallon of orange juice, twisted off the cap, and drank from the bottle.
“Remind me not to drink from that,” Rylynn said as I pulled the bottle down.
“Pixie, we share bodily fluids.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, but not in my OJ.”
Taking a few more large swallows, I twisted on the cap and set it in the fridge, moving to Rylynn and taking a seat next to her. “What'cha workin’ on this late at night?”
“Two cases I had a bit of a breakthrough on before I had to pick up Van and all that started. It’s been on my mind, so I couldn’t sleep,” she answered immediately. Her trust may not be full with me, but part of it was still there. I just needed to make it grow.
Grabbing her, she squealed when I pulled her into my arms and wrapped them around her tight. “Can I help with anything?”
She leaned down and kissed my lips, taking it deep then pulling back. “Yeah, maybe you can.”
“Hit me.”
She smiled. “Don’t say that unless you really want me to.”
I tightened my arms around her and nibbled on her neck. She laughed, but did it in my neck as not to wake up Van. “Woman.”
“Alright. Alright, Grizzly. Do you know of a town around here called Stagnet?”
The laughter flew from my body as it went on high alert. “Yeah. I know it.”
“I’m trackin’ a guy whose wife got money in a divorce settlement, but the cash has just vanished into thin air. I’ve checked every possible avenue, and the only lead I have as of right now is Stagnet. Is it a big place?”
My head shook. “Nope. Not much there. How much is he hidin’?”
“Eleven thousand, four hundred and twenty-seven dollars. What banks are there?”
“There’s a community bank, but nothing large scale. Has it been withdrawn?”
She sighed heavily. “Not that I can find. The money the account was in, just vanished like it never existed. There are no traces to go on. Either this guy is super smart, or he has someone around him who is. Money just doesn’t disappear once it’s in the system.”
She had that one right. There were always ways of hiding money, but once it went into a bank account, it was traceable. That was unless he knew a good hacker who could cover their tracks as they went. Which was completely possible.
“We both know the only way it could completely vanish would be for whoever touched or moved the money cleaned up their digital footprint as they went. That takes skills. Your guy have those?”
She shook her head. “According to the wife, he worked as a mechanic all his life. She handled the bills until he left her.”
That didn’t mean he wasn’t good enough to do it. But being untraceable would be a difficult thing.
“What’s the guy’s name?”
“Rodney Burman.”
My body turned to ice at the name. She felt it because her playful face turned serious in a snap. “What?” she asked.
This was a crossroads for me. The difference between home and club. Never had I trusted another soul with any club business who wasn’t in the Ravage MC. It was a tricky road to walk on. Nothing could get out about what we did.
But this was Rylynn. She grew up in the club life, knew how things worked. None of this would be a surprise to her. I trusted her completely. She may not trust me yet, but it would come. That being said, this was a huge step. Claiming her as mine, making her mine, and now entwining our lives with the club. It would bond us even tighter, and I loved that idea.
She was so damn smart and could hack anything that came her way. She’d proven that time and again. She’d been my safe place for a while now. The only place besides the road where I felt at peace.
The decision was easy.
“We’re searchin’ for Rodney.” Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything. “He’s involved with the same shit Simon was. We have a lock on his location, but he hasn’t been to it in awhile. It’s not in Stagnet, but the place where we saw him, Purple Pride, is.”
As I watched my woman, I could almost hear the gears turning in her head. It was one of the many things we had in common. Our acute thoughts and looking at situations from every different angle trying to s
olve the situations.
“What’s Purple Pride?” she asked.
There was a weight that came off of my shoulders as I let the words pour out, giving them to someone I knew would keep them safe. Maybe even help the club. A man couldn’t ask for more.
12
Rylynn
Listening to Crow, all the information that I had on Rodney rolled around in my brain trying to connect the pieces of the puzzle that just suddenly grew five times the size it was. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a lot. He didn’t know what was happening there for sure. The bar was definitely a cover though. Whatever was going on was happening in that barn. That I felt down to my bones.
“Did you tap into the feeds inside the barn? If they’re being that secretive, they have to have cameras or some type of surveillance going on.” That would be the first thing I’d do in this situation. The fact they hadn’t was odd to say the least. One look and they’d know what was going on.
“Tried it. Lemon said he couldn’t tap into them.”
Lemon. That man was rubbing me the wrong way all the way around. Fucker. I’d bet anything I could tap into them quickly. Instead of saying that, I said, “Let me get to my laptop.”
Crow released me, and I could see a war going on inside of him. I knew this was big, him confiding in me with club shit. It was an honor he trusted me with it. No way I’d ever break that. Me helping him was on the same level.
Pulling up the map of Stagnet, Crow pointed out Purple Pride giving a large aerial view of the place. It was secluded with nothing really around it. Tapping on the keys, I went through my usual searches.
“Lemon was right about the cameras inside. They’ve been wired to shut down whenever someone from the outside tries to cut in on the feed. That’s some sophisticated shit.” A few more clicks of the keys. “But the outside cameras…” I trailed off, turning the computer fully to Crow. “Are accessible.”
