Maui
Our trip to Hawaii hadn’t lasted nearly long enough. We’d been gone four days, but they’d been pretty fucking great. I didn’t know when we’d be able to go back. Even if we didn’t go to Hawaii again, I’d love to take my little family to other places. Seeing the look of awe on her face when she saw the ocean for the first time was something I hoped to witness again. What other things did she want to experience? Before I’d come here, I’d traveled across the country. Ending up in Oklahoma hadn’t been planned. I’d found the Savage Raptors when I needed a family the most. It had felt right to prospect for them, and eventually patch in. Now I was an officer for the club.
The furniture I’d ordered from Ravager was ready. He’d had our two Prospects bring it over, and they’d already placed it in Becca’s room. It still felt unfinished. I’d have to convince Casey to help me pick out prints for the wall, or something to make the space look like a child’s room.
Speaking of my wife and daughter, they were at Atilla’s house. Solena wasn’t feeling well, and I had a feeling it was nearly time for the babies to arrive. Casey had gone over to clean the house and cook a few meals for them. Atilla insisted he could handle it, but Casey didn’t like feeling useless. So I’d taken the time to bring in a few more new items for Becca’s room. It would be a nice surprise when Casey came home.
Roscoe kept pawing at my boots, wanting attention. When we’d first arrived back home, he’d been pissed at me and refused to acknowledge me at all. Now he wanted attention every second of the day. Finicky little shit. I reached down to scratch his back.
“Sorry I was gone for so long, buddy. But you and Santiago liked each other. I’m sure he took good care of you.” Roscoe stared up at me. I’d take that as a skunk version of so what. He’d have to get used to it because I wanted to take Casey and Becca to more places they’d never been.
My phone buzzed with an incoming call and I answered without even checking the screen. “This is Maui.”
“It’s Wire. I thought you’d want to know I found Seth’s parents. They’re in Bryson Corners.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” I asked.
“You heard me right. I have no idea why they’re there. I’m hoping it’s a coincidence, but it may not be. They probably know that’s where Casey moved. I doubt they’ve tied her to their son’s disappearance, and yes, he’s technically a missing person since no body has been found.”
“Never will be either,” I said.
“I’m aware. Listen, if you can, keep Casey at the compound. They can’t get to her there. I’m going to reach out to the local police. The father isn’t exactly squeaky clean. Once they receive the information I have on him, I’m sure they’ll arrest him.”
“What the hell did he do?” I asked.
“Have you heard the saying the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? Seth’s father has been covering up his own crimes for a really long-ass time. I’m slowly unraveling everything. Right now, I have enough for them to detain him. I’d love to have enough for them to lock the asshole up and throw away the key.”
“What about the wife?” I asked.
“That’s where things get really fucking bad. She’s one of his victims. That asshole has been abusing her for decades. The really sick part is that she was only fourteen the first time he raped her, and he was in his twenties.”
“Are you shitting me? How the hell did he get away with that? What about her parents?”
“Seth’s family paid them off. The Lutons are a long line of monstrous men who do horrible things. The uncle is twisted in his own ways. I’ll be blowing his life up pretty soon. By the time I’m finished, I’ll have destroyed the entire family.”
“Good. What do we do about the wife?” I asked.
“I’m going to find a safe place for her. Change her name. Give her money to start over. Whatever she wants, I’ll see that she has it.”
“If the husband is arrested here, then…”
“I believe Specter said he’d come visit you before he went home. He hasn’t left Oklahoma yet. Once he finished with Seth, he took care of a few other things. He’s in Bryson Corners now. Doubt he’ll be able to keep his word about visiting the clubhouse, but he’s agreed to get Mrs. Luton out of there and make sure she’ll be okay.”
“Wait, if that man has been with her since she was fourteen, then how old is she?”
“Nelly Luton gave birth to her only child, Seth, when she was fifteen years old. Since Seth and Casey went to school together… well, you do the math.”
“Thirty-two. That woman is younger than me.” Damn. I wondered if she mourned the loss of her son, or if she’d known he was just like his father.
“She’ll get the help she needs. If she wants to fall in love and have another family, then she can. We’ll make sure of it.”
“Need anything from me, other than keeping Casey here?” I asked.
“No. I think we have it handled. Give your club a heads-up for me? Just do it in a way Casey won’t hear what’s going on.”
“I’ll go talk to Atilla now.”
I ended the call and grabbed the keys to my bike. Atilla’s house wasn’t far and I arrived in a few minutes. I parked beside Casey’s new SUV, and then let myself into the house. Now that I was family, I’d been informed I didn’t have to knock.
“Atilla,” I called out.
“Kitchen,” he yelled back.
I found him at the table with a beer in his hand, and my wife at the stove. It looked like she was still cooking. Now I just needed to get him to another part of the house, or outside. Somewhere Casey and Solena wouldn’t hear us, or the kids.
“Got some club business I need to talk about,” I said. It wasn’t the truth, but I didn’t know what else to say to get him out of here without my woman getting nosy.
“All right. We need the other officers or the rest of the club?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t hurt to bring the officers in for this.” The more of us who knew, the better.
“I’ll have them meet us at the clubhouse.”
I waited for him to make a few calls, then we got on our bikes and rode over to the clubhouse. We each grabbed a cold beer on the way to Church, where we knew we wouldn’t be interrupted. Once everyone settled into their seats, I started to talk. I told them about the call from Wire, what he’d found out about Seth’s parents, and about Specter being in our town.
“So what do we need to do?” General asked.
“Nothing, as far as I know. If they need help, I’m sure Wire will be in touch. For now, he said to let Specter handle Mrs. Luton, and he was reaching out to someone to have Mr. Luton arrested.”
“An entire fucking family of rapists?” Spade shook his head. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“From the sounds of it, the uncle was into other shit. But yeah, the entire family is rotten, and that poor woman was trapped in hell all this time,” I said.
“I can’t even imagine. They made her marry the man who raped her? Gave birth to his child, then her own son turned out to be just as evil as the dad. It’s all kinds of fucked up,” Knuckles said.
“How should we keep Casey on lockdown without letting her know she’s on lockdown?” Atilla asked. “Because that girl is pretty sharp. She’ll figure this out sooner or later.”
“Not sure. I hope Wire makes his move soon. Once Mr. Luton is rotting in a cell, then it’s safe for Casey to be out and about,” I said.
Atilla was right, though. My wife was smart as hell, if I tried to delay her from leaving the compound, or found ways to keep her home, then she’d get suspicious. It wouldn’t take long before she’d figure out we were keeping her here on purpose.
“So we tell her,” General said. “If she knows it’s dangerous to leave, she’ll stay put. I know the two of you want to coddle her, protect her, and make her think the world is all rainbows and sunshine, but it’s not.”
“I don’t want her to be scared,” I admitted.
“She won’t be,” General said. “You took care of her problem before, right? So, it’s likely she’ll trust you to protect her now. Just be up-front.”
I glanced at Atilla and he gave me a nod. While the officers kept drinking, I called Casey and asked her to meet me outside Atilla’s house. It was one thing to tell her about Seth’s parents, and another for Solena to hear it. If I put any stress on Atilla’s pregnant wife, I knew he’d hand my ass to me. And I’d let him.
I pulled up and parked on the street, waiting for Casey to come down to me. She made her way across the yard and wrapped her arms around her waist.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Did something bad happen?”
Very perceptive of her. “Got a call from someone about Seth’s parents. His father is every bit as evil as Seth was, and for some reason, he’s in Bryson Corners. I need you to stay at the compound until he’s been taken into custody.”
She paled and swayed. I reached out to grab her, pulling her across my bike. I needed her to be strong right now. This was why I hadn’t wanted to say anything. I didn’t like seeing the fear in her eyes.
“Mrs. Luton is a victim in all this. Someone is going to get her to a safe place and help her start over.” I kissed her temple. “Everything is going to be fine, baby. Just stay close to home and don’t go outside the gates until all this is over. It won’t take long.”
She nodded and cuddled against me. I wished we hadn’t come back home yet. If we’d extended our vacation, then she wouldn’t have been home for this mess. I knew we couldn’t always run from trouble, and I didn’t want to, but Casey had been through so much. She deserved a break, and some happiness.
“Where do you want to go on our next trip?” I asked. “You’ve seen the ocean now. Anywhere else you’ve always wanted to go?”
“Everywhere.” She smiled up at me. “I’ll go anywhere as long as I’m with you.”
“Make a list of cities or states you want to see. We’ll check them off one at a time. Maybe go somewhere twice a year. Sound like fun?”
“Yeah, it does. But can we afford to do that? And what about Roscoe? He’s going to get depressed if we’re always leaving him behind.”
And now I needed to tell her the rest of what I’d kept from her. So, I confessed about the money, and everything Wire had discovered about the Lutons. I couldn’t keep it from her. Not anymore. If it meant she’d be safe, then I’d do anything, even go against Atilla’s wishes. Nothing meant more to me than Casey and Becca. Not even my own life.
“I love you,” I told her. “More than anything in this world. You and Becca mean everything to me.”
“I love you too.” She pressed her lips to mine. “And thank you for telling me everything. I promise I won’t leave the compound until you say it’s safe. The last thing I want to do is run into Seth’s dad. Still didn’t answer my question about Roscoe, though.”
I ran my finger down the bridge of her nose. “Good girl.”
Her cheeks went pink. “Don’t do that. Not here, not now.”
Hmm. It looked like she’d enjoyed me calling her that. I’d have to remember that for later. “Are you finished here?”
“Almost. I’m just putting everything into containers and labeling it, with heating instructions. I’m sure Dad will be just as frazzled as Solena when the babies are here, so I’m trying to make things easier on them.”
“You’re such an angel.” I hugged her tight. “I’m going to head home. Don’t stay too long, okay? And as for Roscoe, we’ll figure it out. You know I’ll make sure he’s taken care of anytime we’re going to be gone for a day or longer.”
“I won’t. And maybe once Becca goes to sleep, you can think of ways to keep me occupied at home.”
“Are you trying to get pregnant?” I asked.
That sobered her. “No, but as much as we’ve been tempting fate, maybe we should just let it happen when the time is right. I wouldn’t mind waiting until Becca is a little older, but if you happen to knock me up before then, maybe it’s meant to be.”
“All right.” I kissed her once more, then helped her stand up. “Hurry home, baby.”
I watched her go back into Atilla’s house before I rode home. Let fate decide, huh? I grinned. Yeah, I could do that.