Page 30 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

He shook his head, pretending not to understand.

“Your moods. You have high points and low points. Right now you have more lows than highs. It’ll change. Just give it time,” she assured him.

He wasn’t sure it would ever change. He seemed to be stuck. But he wasn’t sitting in her car to discuss his moods. “Who’s your father?”

“Malcolm Moore…”

That name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.

“But he’s better known as Magnum,” she finished.

He stared at her as that information sunk into his brain. That name sounded alotmore familiar. In fact, he knew that name pretty damn well.

“The sergeant at arms for the Dark Knights.”

Aaliyah shrugged like it was no big deal. “The one and only.”

Thankfully, therewasonly one of him. “You’re tied to an outlaw MC.”

“By blood, I guess. I wasn’t raised in the club. In fact, my parents split up when I was very young and so were they. At the time, he had no involvement in any MC. That came later after he no longer had any contact with us.”

“Why didn’t he have contact with you?”

“That’s,” she sighed, “a long story that caused a lot of hurt for me and my brother. We’ve moved past it and have forgiven our mother for her lies. But that’s what it was. We were told a story that wasn’t true and, of course, being kids, we didn’t know any better. That wrong has been righted thanks to my stepmother.”

“What did she do?”

“She located me and made a point of making contact. She convinced me to give my father a chance. At the time, Devyn was only about eight weeks old, and Cait just had her first child with my father. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have mended the relationship with him. So, I owe her. And no matter what anyone thinks about my father, I’m grateful he’s in my sons’ lives.”

“You think the sergeant at arms of an outlaw MC is a good father-figure?”

“Like I said, I don’t care what anyone thinks of him. He loves his children, he loves his grandchildren, he’d give his life to protect them. If you saw him with his wife…” She sighed almost dreamily. “He’d do anything for her. That’s the type of love most people are searching for. Their relationship made it, despite being a bit controversial at first and doubts from others.”

“Why were there controversy and doubts?”

“Mostly because of their age difference.”

“Which is?”

“Sixteen years.”

That was quite a gap. “She’s younger?”

“Yes.”

“You said mostly… What else?”

“Her father belongs to the Dirty Angels MC.” Her mouth twisted. “Working for SVPD, I’m sure you’ve heard of them.”

Of course he had. He had lived in Shadow Valley with Jackie. When not on the task force, he worked there, too. You couldn’t live or work in that town without knowing about the Dirty Angels. Their territory included all of Shadow Valley and the surrounding area. That MC established themselves in the town back in the early seventies.

“The Angels and the Knights are close allies.”

“Now, yes, but they didn’t start out that way. The two clubs skirted each other for years. They didn’t become allies until the Shadow Warriors began to hit the Angels hard and heavy. Decades ago, they wanted Shadow Valley for their own but the DAMC had already claimed the area and weren’t giving it up without a fight. So, the Warriors created all the havoc they could. A lot of damage was done, and some lives lost. Some destroyed. But… I’m sure you’re aware of that, too.”

After decades of chaos, death, violence and prison sentences, some life-long, suddenly those Warriors suspiciously began to disappear. “I am. Not only because I dealt with some of that shit with work, but because Axel Jamison is my sergeant. Just like I know who your father is, I’m sure you know who he is.”

“The DAMC president’s brother. Axel decided not to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps like Zak did. Talk about two brothers taking two very different forks in the road.”

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