The chief nodded and rolled his hand for Agent Lawrence to continue.
“Weston was never supposed to be on the job that long, but it served our purposes to continue the lie, so we did. Lucky for us he stayed in place, otherwise we would’ve never gotten him back inside where we needed him to be.” Agent Lawrence pinned Weston with a glare that was incredibly telling. “It would’ve been great, too, if he’d kept it in his pants.”
Weston shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and the chief chose that moment to sigh. “So what do you need KPD to do?”
“Nothing, really. Just be aware that we’re in the process of getting enough evidence on Anita to bring her in,” Lawrence hedged.
“And us…what do you want with us?” I asked, knowing he had something in mind.
“Nothing…just stay away from each other. Now that you know the story, we just need to keep the lie. Mostly, Weston just needs to keep his head in the game, and not Ms. Murphy’s pants,” Lawrence said.
Weston’s head dropped.
“No,” I said instantly.
Everyone’s eyes went to mine, but I wasn’t giving into this.
“Someone’s going to have to watch over Reese and Rowen. I’m not leaving them alone and defenseless,” I said fiercely.
Reese’s hand came up to rest on my cheek, patting it soothingly. “It’s okay, honey.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not. Not even a little bit.”
She leaned her head against the side of my neck, and I moved my glare to Lawrence whom I could tell was bursting with the desire to hurl out orders.
Which he did moments later.
“If you don’t do it, I can’t promise you anything. In fact, the entire debacle works out in our favor. Anita’s upset, rightfully so, that Weston’s been with his ‘ex’ all this time. She’s mad enough, in fact, to make stupid decisions. Kind of like the shooting that took the life of that K-9 officer,” Agent Lawrence said, knowing it’d elicit a reaction out of us all.
It did.
Spectacularly.
The room exploded with angry indignation.
It took long moments to get the room under control again before the chief’s question was heard.
“Why isn’t she here right now, then? Nearly twelve of my officers could have died. Two of which are still in the hospital for gunshot wounds. Why is this woman not here?”
The answer, though, was what chilled my blood.
“She’s missing. She has been since the night she killed Reese’s neighbor.”***It broke my heart to see Reese crying.
I pulled her into my arms later that night as she and I were saying goodbye.
Her sister still had our kids, and I was grateful for that. There was no better place for them, especially surrounded by a bunch of protective bikers.
Protective, pissed off bikers.
Rightfully so, too.
I’d told Torren and my brother in law, about what had happened, then personally called Trance to let him know about the latest events. All of them had been extremely upset.
Then there was Reese’s father.
Let’s just say that that talk had been fun. Not.
Out of all the men I’d spoken with today, he’d been the most upset.
In fact, they were on the verge of something that I was very close to myself.
Rage.
“Don’t cry, Reesey. We’ll figure it out,” I said softly, pressing my lips against her forehead.
She nodded, looking up at me before she leaned in and kissed me softly on the mouth.
“I had plans for you today. I’m just upset that we couldn’t do any of them,” she whispered softly.
I moved to pin her against the wall of my garage with my body, staring deep into her eyes.
“What kind of plans?” I asked, curling the hair around her ears so I could see her face.
“It was kind of stupid,” she said softly. “But I wanted to take you to my favorite place in the world.”
I looked into her eyes, knowing that this place meant a lot to her and said, “So take me.”
She looked hopeful, so very hopeful.
“You don’t think that we’ll be seen?” She asked hopefully.
I shrugged. “I have a car that’s not quite…done. Nobody will recognize it. We can take it as long as you’re all right with a rough ride.”
She beamed at me. “Aces.”
I shook my head and stepped back, grabbing her hand and leading her to the back of my garage, uncovering the next side project I planned to work on. It was old and rusted. But the motor…the motor was a piece of artwork.
It ran like a top, which was the first thing I’d fixed in it two years ago when I’d bought it.
The rest though, left much to be desired.
“Wow,” she breathed. “Is this what I think it is?”
I grinned. “Yes. It’s a 1967 GTO. The man I bought it from kept it in good condition. One owner. He gave it to me for a song after I asked about it during a traffic stop. Pulled him over because he didn’t have a license plate.”
She ran her hand over the rusted brown paint as if she could envision it in its prime, overlooking the large splotches of paint less body, and the worn out interior.
That wasn’t what made this car what it was, though. Its soul lied in its motor. The pure, raw potential of this car was staggering, and my girl could tell.
“Want to go for a ride?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
She nodded, yanked the door open after a couple of sharp, jerky pulls, and slid across the seat.
When she had herself buckled in, I opened the third most bay door.
“You’re gonna want to lay down. At least until we make it to the highway,” I said as the door started to roll up.
She grinned and stretched out across the seat, her head laying on my lap.
With shaking hands, I started the GTO up.
I could feel the moan Reese let out when the sound of the 400 cubic foot engine filled the airwaves around us.
I revved it, making the car rock, and she laughed, looking up at me with such joy that I couldn’t help but do it again.
Pressing the clutch in, I let it creep forward until we were out of the garage.