Got another kid, Harleigh Rose, grew up like an angel and only now had discovered how to be a serious pain in my ass. She was too gorgeous for her own good and she’d discovered it young, given how she’d grown up around a group of men that were all men and made sure she knew that ’cause she was such a beaut, they’d beat on any man that mistreated her. My girl found she liked the attention, both from my protective brothers and from other darker men. She was dating a two-bit drug dealer called Cricket of all fuckin’ things and she was “in love with him.” Keepin’ track of her was a bitch and now with this new threat, there was no way I wouldn’t shackle her to her fuckin’ bedroom so I’d know she’d be safe. She’d fuckin’ hate it, cause a drama because she was too much her mother’s kid sometimes. Not that I gave a fuck, so long as she was safe.
Then there was Lou.
What the fuck was I gonna do about Lou?
I was a man who kept his fuckin’ word and I’d promised to teach her about the outlaw life.
It wasn’t the place for a girl like her, with a soul too wise for such a young thing, with eyes the colour of pure, unblemished skies and hair like pale gold. She may have had the body of a sinner but she had the looks of an angel and the heart to match.
Too good for the likes of me and this life.
But she was in it now, I told myself because I wanted to believe it, she was in it and if there was trouble brewin’, she’d be at my side for all of it.
No one could keep her safe like me.
“Garro.”
Just what I fuckin’ needed.
Cops.
I turned around, crossed my arms over my chest and tipped my chin at the young officer Danner and his partner, Riley Gibson, as they stepped outta their squad car.
To say “fuck the police” was The Fallen’s mandate would have been an understatement. Cy actually had the words tattooed on his back over The Fallen symbol.
I hated the fuckin’ pigs.
“Long time no see, Garro,” Danner said, strollin’ toward me as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Not long enough,” I told him as I felt my brothers take my back. “What can I do you for, pretty boy?”
I grinned at his frown. The kid was always tryin’ to prove himself. He was somethin’ like sixth generation British Columbian cop and his daddy was staff sergeant. He’d been tryin’ to use the MC for years to make his mark but fuck if I was gonna let ’im.
“Seems the question is, what can I do for you?” he asked, recovering quick enough to indicate the wreckage. “Wasn’t aware you had property up here but seems like you’ve had something of an accident.”
I snorted. “Yeah? What makes ya think that?”
His partner, more impulsive than Danner, stepped forward. “Stop screwing around, Garro. We’ve got forensics coming up behind us. Before they get here, why don’t you tell us what the story is?”
“Can’t say for sure, boys.” I shrugged and rubbed at my bearded chin like I was confounded by the situation. “Just bought an empty building up here, thinkin’ about demolishin’ it and making myself a pretty ranch like home on the land. Not surprised it went up in flames, givin’ how old it was and how dry the weather’s been.”
The cops stared out at the scrubby, remote wilderness and looked back at me skeptically.
I fought the urge to laugh and won. Instead, I shrugged. “Like bein’ alone.”
“Cut the bullshit, Garro. It’s obvious there was foul play at work here,” Gibson snapped.
I pressed a palm to my heart. “Now, why the fuck would anyone want to do somethin’ like that to little ole’ me?”
Gibson looked ready to beat me but Danner just smiled slightly and shook his head. More cop cars pulled up and my favourite cop of all time emerged into the sunlight.
“Hutchinson,” Danner greeted the other man with a grimace as he approached.
The other cop, a Fallen cop, grinned at him and clapped him on the back. He was an older man with serious seniority in Entrance police ranks and he’d been livin’ in my back pocket for a good nine years. Older, yeah, but the old codger sure as fuck loved the weed we gave him to soothe his arthritis.
“I’ll take it from here boys. Let’s let the experienced men get to the bottom of this, hmm?” Hutchinson told the rookies, already roundin’ em to shake hands with me and Bat. “Spot a trouble here, Garro?”
“Not much. The old thing crapped out on us. I’ll file an insurance claim and all that shit but I gotta be gettin’ home to my kid. You cool to catch up with me later if you find anythin’ in your investigation?”