by Debra Kayn
Wyatt directed his attention back to Travis. "You're grounded for the rest of the summer. You'll stay at the apartments. You'll have extra chores. No parties, no riding, and on Sundays, you're going to go to work at the Tarkio clubhouse and do whatever they believe your punishment should be to pay them back for the gas they used and wasting their time searching for you.
Travis's eyes widened, and he looked behind his dad to the parking lot of bikers watching the punishment.
"Do you hear me?"
Travis nodded.
Wyatt growled. "Go to the apartment."
Travis scrambled to his feet. Jess rushed to him, running inside with him.
Joey shook, wanting to go to the children and knowing Wyatt was right. To go easy on Travis because he still grieved for his mother and the only life he'd known would only make him run away again.
Yet, she hated today for both of them.
Wyatt's chin fell to his chest. He planted his hands on his hips. His chest expanded, and his shoulders broadened. Glued to the ground, Joey lowered her hand from her mouth. She supported him but to go to him now while he was in the middle of imploding wouldn't be the wisest choice.
Several seconds later, Wyatt walked to her. His hard, formidable body, turned, so the bikers were at his back.
"Tiger?" he said hoarsely.
She reached out and drew her hand back before touching him. "Yes?"
"Go to my son and be there for him," he whispered.
"Okay," she mouthed.
Walking to the apartment, she looked over her shoulder. Wyatt had joined the bikers in the parking lot. He was taking care of his responsibilities, taking care of his family, and doing what a good father would do.
She hoped he knew that.
Chapter 28
Wyatt
JESS AND TRAVIS SAT on the couch with Joey in between them. Wyatt stood in the middle of the living room. After struggling with how to raise his son and have him understand the importance of the rules he'd set when he came to him as a teenager, he'd come to the decision to discuss the reasons why he asked them to be careful and watch out for each other.
They were old enough to understand the dangers without scarring them for life. While he always wanted to protect them, he knew doing so without involving them was no longer an option.
The world wasn't safe like the way it was when he was growing up, and children were allowed to run wild, only coming home to sleep. There were people, strangers, even those close to them, who could hurt them. He needed to make sure they understood that what he asked of them was for their safety.
He also needed to explain to them the threats made by Dean. Whether they were aware of their former stepdad trying to gain custody of them and threatening him, he couldn't take the chance that one of them would get hurt in the process.
He'd tried to keep their mother's struggles with drugs from them, and while they were little, he believed they remained unaware of her addictions. As they grew older, Claudia stayed away from the house more when she was using but the kids knew something was wrong with her. It wouldn't surprise him to know they were aware of her being an addict.
"Not long after your mom died, Dean threatened to take me to court," he said.
"Why?" Jess sneered.
"Because he was married to your mom, he believes he has a right to see both of you. To have visitations."
"No way." Jess crossed her arms and sulked on the couch. "I don't want to see him or stay with him. He never liked us when mom was alive. Why would he want to spend time with us now?"
"He can't do that, can he?" Travis leaned forward, his elbows planted on his knees. "I mean, he's not our dad."
"I wouldn't think he could, but I don't know what a court would decide. Over the years, I've tried to go to court to get full custody of both of you, and the judge always believed you should stay with your mom." Uncomfortable talking about the time in his life when he'd been pressed into a corner with no ability to help his kids, he had never told them of his fight to gain custody. At the least, he would've gotten their hopes up and disappointed them.
"That's stupid." Jess scoffed. "Couldn't Travis and I tell the judge who we want to live with?"
"It's possible. You're old enough, and you might be able to if it comes to that." He looked at Travis. "While Dean was making his threats, you were running away. Son, I don't know what Dean will do. He could be blowing smoke, or he could have a lawyer and going through with his threats. The fact that he picked you up at school and there have been sightings of him around the apartments, I will not chance him thinking he has a right to take my kids from me. Got it?"
Travis nodded. He hoped his son had come to understand the seriousness of him running off over the last two days.
"I don't know how much you know about Dean's marriage to your mom, but there are reasons why I believe he's not a good person to be around," he said.
"Because he's a jerk." Jess's lip curled. "He was always leaving her, and then coming back, and mom would disappear. I think he made her leave most of the time. He'd yell that she had a job to do. I don't know what, because she never acted like she went to work."
His jaw cramped for how hard he gritted his teeth. Being the oldest and a girl, Jess would be more attuned to what happened around her. If she hadn't known about her mom's drug problems, it wouldn't take her long to figure it all out. He rather she and Travis hear the truth from him.
"Your mom loved you guys, but she had..." Fuck, it was a hard conversation to have. "She had an addiction to drugs. That's why she would leave the house for days and why you'd come to me when you weren't scheduled for visitation."
Jess swiped her cheek with her hand. "I thought so. I heard Dean yell at her about being stoned."
If only it'd been marijuana Claudia used. He looked to Travis. His son sat watching him and Jess, not adding anything to the conversation.
He sat down on the coffee table in front of his family. "Now is the time to come clean. I've let you get away with not talking about your reasons for running away. But I need to know why. Are you unhappy here? Is there someone you're running to? A friend?"
Travis leaned back and gazed at him. He wiped every bit of frustration from his face.
"I just..." Travis exhaled loudly. "I don't know why."
"You can talk to me. If you don't want to do it here, we can go for a ride or up on the mountain. Wherever you want to go, I'll go, and I'll listen."
"I won't go anywhere alone." Travis swallowed. "I promise."
"Part of being a man is making sure your word is good. I'll take your promise. Don't disappoint me." Wyatt squeezed his son's knee and turned to the others. "Any questions?"
Jess leaned forward. "Uh, duh. I don't want Dean to bother you. I don't want to live with him again. I don't—"
"I will never let that happen." He stood. "Now, you two need to gather your laundry off the floor of your rooms, and then I need to hit the store. Travis, you're riding with me. Joey is going to hang with Jess here. Be ready in fifteen minutes."
When the kids were gone from the room, he sat down beside Joey. The truth hung heavily in the air. It felt a lot like he'd stolen his kids' innocence.
"You did the right thing." Joey leaned against his shoulder. "You've got good kids."
"I don't know. Years ago, when I left Claudia, I swore never to say a bad thing about her in front of the kids. It feels a lot like I ruined any of the good memories they had growing up with her," he muttered.
She rubbed his thigh. "Do you want to take my car, so you can hang with both the kids for a while?"
"No. The ride on the Harley will be good for Travis. He needs some wind in his face. I can put a lot in the duffle, and he can carry a bag with whatever doesn't fit." He lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders, holding her close. "Thanks for staying for the family meeting."
"Mm..." She kissed him. "I wanted to be here."
"What time do you have to leave?"
"At seven o'clock. You
have plenty of time to shop."
He grunted. After telling her he wouldn't be able to go to Riverside Bar and watch her shoot pool, he'd hoped she'd stay home with him. The warning from Tarkio that Dean would go after those he loved included her.
There was no question that Joey had filled the holes in his heart and became a part of his family. To have her there and him staying home sat wrong with him. But he couldn't deny her a chance to play. She had a goal to hit, and she wasn't there yet.
The only way he could make sure she was safe was by calling Tarkio and asking them to watch over her. He was in debt up to his eyeballs to the club. In return, he would depend on his crew to do the two remodel jobs on the schedule and would take the days off to hunt down Dean and hand him over to the motorcycle club.
He hoped he could end the outside threats to his family, so he could concentrate on the future.
He wanted Joey under his roof. His kids to be happy and thriving, knowing they had two adults that would do everything possible to make sure they knew they were loved and safe.
Joey owned his heart. She'd healed him. And thank fuck she had, so he could see how much he loved her.
Chapter 29
Joey
THE STACKS OF CASH grew in front of Joey. She set the one-hundred-dollar bill in the first pile, the fifty in the second pile, and two twenties in the third pile. Picking up her pen, she jotted down the new total.
Her front door opened, and Wyatt walked in. She gathered the money and straightened the bills before slipping it all in the small tin safe where she kept the winnings from her pool games.
"Getting close?" He leaned down and kissed her upturned lips.
"Mm..." She shrugged. "Five thousand and five hundred dollars."
"You're over halfway there." He sat down at the table beside her.
"It's September. Even if I played every Friday and won the pot each time, I'd be five hundred dollars short." She slipped off her chair and sat in his lap, hooking her arms around his neck. "I have about a thousand I could take out of the safety fund for the apartment unless I hit up Kingston Bar a couple of times, then I'd be over the amount I need."
"That place isn't safe. It's not worth it."
She nuzzled his neck. "You could go with me and protect me."
"I could, but I don't want you associated with that place. All it takes is one time when you're alone, getting your hair cut or doing some shopping, and one of those guys recognizes you from the bar, and I guarantee, there will be trouble."
She doubted that. Most of the men there wouldn't connect her with the sexed-up woman who played pool. They'd probably mistake her for an apartment manager who was wildly in love with a biker and his two kids and leave her alone.
"Are you listening?" He smacked her butt.
She jolted on his lap and laughed. "Yes, sir."
He growled. "Don't start something you have no plans on finishing, tiger."
She turned his face, kissed his lips, and said, "You have to take Travis to the clubhouse. It's his last day of punishment. School starts Tuesday."
"About that..." He palmed her breast through her shirt and trapped her nipple between his thumb and index finger. "Tomorrow is Labor Day. Tarkio is throwing a party tonight. The kids have been invited to Banks' house. You think I should let Travis go?"
"He hasn't done anything fun in weeks, and today is his last day cleaning for the club." She shivered as her nipple hardened. "He's been good. I think he's talking more and seems happier."
Wyatt rubbed his hand between her breasts. She sighed, content to sit here the rest of the night, and let him touch her.
"I'll let him go to the party."
Happy for Travis to have time to enjoy something he liked to do and be around kids his own age, she kissed Wyatt deeply. "I think you made the right choice."
"You know what this means with both kids at the party for hours?"
"Hm?" She stroked his beard.
"I'll have time to come back here and be with you." He slid his hand under her shirt and rubbed her stomach. "Alone."
She kissed him. "I like that idea."
He picked her up and set her on her bare feet at the same time Travis and Jess came through the front door.
"I'm ready to go to the clubhouse." Travis rolled his eyes and turned his head. "Geez, really?"
"Maybe you could knock first." Wyatt refused to let go of Joey and spare them the cuddles. "Give me a minute, huh?"
Travis went outside. Jess stayed. "Tyler's waiting in the parking lot to take me to his house for the party. Can I go now?"
"Yeah. Be good." Wyatt wound his hand in Joey's hair. "Oh, and Jess?"
Jess stopped at the door. "Yeah, Dad?"
"I'm going to let your brother go to the party after he cleans the clubhouse. Keep an eye on him," said Wyatt.
Jess beamed him a smile. "Rad."
The door shut. Wyatt brought Joey to her toes and kissed her deeply. "You know what I want to do to you later?"
She laughed. "I couldn’t even guess."
"You naked with your legs wrapped around me, wearing those red heels you had on the other night." He stepped back, ogled her from head to toe. "Feel free to answer the door looking that way."
"Oh, yeah?" Her stomach fluttered. "Does that turn you on?"
"Damn right." He walked backward and cocked his eyebrow. "That and what you're going to do to me afterward."
"What will I be doing?"
He winked, not telling her anymore. She caught her lower lip between her teeth. He was going to leave her all worked up and wanting him.
"You're mean," she said.
"Yeah," he said softly, knowingly.
He slipped out the door, but not before she noticed he'd turned the lock before he left. She sank down in the chair he'd vacated and sighed. She had three or four hours to wait until he returned. That was enough time to straighten the apartment, shower, and find her red heels.
Chapter 30
Wyatt
PACO RODE OFF WITH Travis on the back of his motorcycle. Wyatt walked over to his Harley, prepared to ride back to the apartments and make good on his promise to Joey when Priest called his name, telling him to hold up.
He waited by his bike, taking out his gloves. The nights were getting colder. It wouldn't be too much longer, and snow would blanket the streets. Usually, with the arrival of winter, he grabbed a ride with Carter who lived a block away from the apartments when the snow kept him from riding to work.
The pressure of the upcoming season reminded him he needed to go buy a car. He hated to do it, but he couldn't rely on others to haul his kids around.
"You got a few minutes?" said Priest.
He nodded and followed Priest back into the clubhouse. The other bikers were arriving and filling up the main room. He weaved through the others, tagging Priest's steps.
Ushered into the back, Roddy came out of what he knew to be the meeting room and shut the door, joining them in the hallway. He looked between the two men, but neither one gave anything away on why he was asked to meet with them.
"I want you to look at something." Priest unfolded a paper and pressed it against the wall. Automatically, Wyatt held up a corner, studying to see what he was looking at. It appeared to be a map of the city of Missoula.
"As you know, we've been following Dean Miller for over a year. We've marked everywhere he's been spotted since day one. Yellow marks are the oldest, then red, and the latest ones are in blue—they coincide with the time that Claudia Miller was killed," said Priest.
Seeing the information was new to Wyatt. He followed the dots. There were a lot of markers around Dean and Claudia's house—or their old house. From there, the dots migrated to downtown Missoula near the college. Then, a blue cluster of dots surrounded Sixth Street.
He whipped his gaze to Priest. "Why the hell hasn't anyone told me he's got a pattern of staying around the apartments?"
"We did."
"Bullshit. I was told he was spotted twi
ce. There are at least a dozen fucking dots within a block of my family." Wyatt studied the map, needing all the information. "How many Tarkio members are covering the apartments? What times are you there?"
Now that he knew, he also assumed Tarkio was watching his family, and that was the reason he hadn't seen or heard from Dean lately. If the bikers showed their presence, Dean would go in the opposite direction to escape them. At least that's what any sane person would do.
He couldn't understand why a man who wanted nothing to do with his kids when he was married to Claudia would risk his life to make contact with them.
"I want in." He let go of the map and faced Priest. "I want to know everything."
"What are you going to do with the information?"
He met Priest's eyes. "I'm going to kill him."
"Not good enough." Priest folded up the map. "He's killed one of our own. We'd hate to be on opposite sides with you, Carr. I understand your reasons for going after him, but he took out a member of Tarkio, and there are over a hundred members waiting for a chance to bring justice down in honor of our brother."
"If what you've told me is true, he killed my children's mother." He refused to back down. "I might not have loved her, and there were times that I wanted her out of my kids' life, but she was still their mom."
Priest never flinched. "Have you ever thought of riding under the patch?"
"Is that what it's going to take to get all the information and go after Dean?"
Priest's gaze hardened. "It's a start."
"I have children and a woman I plan to make a life with, a family..." He looked at Roddy, knowing he had been a member for as long as he'd been employed by Carr Construction. A dedicated worker. He never let his loyalty to Tarkio interfere with his job. Every time he'd needed help, it'd been Roddy who stepped up. The whole motorcycle club dropped everything to look for his son, numerous times and continued to protect his family. "I'll need to know more."
