Page 6 of Stone

“Officer Wahlberg, why don’t you go outside and check in with the station, see if they’ve managed to contact the parents’ lawyer,” Ms. Wilder directs, but when I glance in her direction, I can see she’s intently watching the interaction between us. “As you’re aware, I need to go over a few things with Mr. Parish and I wouldn’t want to waste your time.” Despite the officer casting Ms. Wilder a disproving look, she places her coffee cup on the countertop and makes her way to the front door. It’s not until we hear the click of it closing that she continues.

ChapterFour

Stone

“There’s a lot of paperwork you need to complete, along with a background check. Do you have a criminal record?”

“They know of me, but they’ve never managed to get a charge to stick, and I certainly haven’t been involved with anything to do with kids.”

She glances over to the entrance hall as if to make sure no one else is around. “I take it I can talk openly in front of your president,” she nods towards Smoke.

“You wouldn’t even ask that if you knew anything about MC brotherhood.”

“Believe me, I know plenty enough about the MC life, but I was just making sure I wasn’t talking out of turn,” she sniggers, giving me a wink. “Just because I look like a mature woman who works for the system, doesn’t mean that’s all there is about me.”

“You’re old man?” I asked, unable to hold down a laugh at how she had turned my own words against me. Sasha takes hold of my face between her hands and giggles along with me.

“Lord, no.” she signs a cross over her chest. “My father, two brothers and my older sister married the Road Captain, but I wanted normality, so I took a step back from that life. That doesn’t mean my family don’t mean anything to me, so I can’t help but still have an allegiance to the club and its members.”

“So, what are you saying, Ms. Wilder?”

“Please, call me Mandy.” Taking a step forward, she puts the tips of her fingers against Sasha’s waist and wiggles them just enough to tickle her. Sasha chuckles and wriggles around in my arms. “What I’m saying, Gabriel, is that this isn’t my first rodeo, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time I’ll have to limit how much information I put in my reports. It doesn’t take a genius to see how comfortable Sasha is with you, and it’s blatantly obvious that you’re totally enamored by her too.”

“I’d kill for her,” I say with conviction, pulling her tighter against me, breathing in the unmistakable scent of a young, innocent child.

“I don’t doubt that for one minute, that’s why I’m willing to help you get custody of Sasha, but first we need to make sure whatever information the police have on you, isn’t easily found.”

“Cannon’s shit hot lawyer,” Smoke joins the conversation. Mandy raises a brow. I’m not sure if it’s prompting him to explain further or her aversion to him cursing when young impressionable ears can hear. “He’s the president of the Young Outlaws, Florida chapter. He owes me a favor and just happens to have one of the best lawyers there is on retainer. I’ll give him a call, ask him to get on it straight away.” Smoke moves over to the patio doors, slides them open and then disappears outside so he can make the call with some privacy.

“What are my chances of doing this legally?” I ask Mandy, “because if there’s none…”

“If you’re toying with the idea of running it isn’t the answer,” Mandy groans. “And I think you know that. What kind of life would it be for Sasha and you, if you were always looking over your shoulder, the constant fear that one day you could lose each other?”

“Then tell me what I need to do, because I can’t lose her.”

“Why don’t we grab some toys and while we entertain Sasha, I’ll talk you through everything and how we need to play this. In the meantime, I’ll set you up as her temporary guardian on condition that you take care of her here, in her home in familiar surroundings.”

“I’ll stay for as long as it takes.” I gesture towards the stairs. “Let’s go up to Sasha’s room. There’s a whole store’s worth of plushies in there.” I take the steps two at a time while exaggerating the bounce causing Sasha to let out little squeaks of excitement. Mandy falls close behind, her attention purely on the sweet child in my arms, offering endearing chat so that she doesn’t pick up on any of the tension that is running through my veins. When we reach the top of the stairs, Sasha shifts within my embrace, pushing against my arms wanting to get down. No doubt eager to lead the way to her room. As she takes off running towards her open bedroom door, she stops suddenly, almost toppling over at her sudden halt, to pick up a bright pink teddy bear that must have been left as they had hurried out for the day. “Slow down, baby girl.” Clutching the toy tightly in her arms, she takes absolutely no notice and takes off again, disappearing around the open door and into her room at the far end of the hallway.

“Give it to me straight, Mandy. How long can it take to get permanent custody?”

“That, I can’t say. Could be weeks, could be months. To start with, we need to fill out a whole load of paperwork, but believe me, I have a few favors I can call in and I’ll make sure that I get this pushed to the top of the pile.”

We step into Sasha’s room to find her pulling out one soft toy after another from the top of the large square, open-top box that’s painted up with a variation of illustrated animals. When she sees us, she grabs one in each hand and skips towards us.

“That’s great news,” I say to Mandy while bending down to Sasha so I can take the rather ugly-faced hippopotamus from her outstretched hand. I gently catch her wrist and turn her hand so I can place a kiss on the back of it. “I appreciate that, but what I don’t understand is why are you so willing to help me?”

It’s Mandy’s turn to receive a gift from Sasha; this time, it’s a cute as shit, fluffy white puppy dog with piercing blue eyes. This child is so generous and good-natured that it doesn’t surprise me one bit how she’s instantly taken to Mandy, a kind, but never the less, a stranger.

“Thank you, Sasha,” she responds, receiving her offering. “That’s very kind of you.” Sasha smiles up at us both, bouncing on her toes before doing a one-eighty turn and going back to see what else she can liberate from the box.

“Gabriel, you dropped everything to get here without hesitation, and the way you launched yourself out of the house like your life depended on it, it’s damn clear that there’s only one thing on your mind and in your soul. Sasha. You quickly and unselfishly pushed your grief aside because all that mattered was to make sure you were here for her and her alone. That alone was convincing enough, but the love and connection between the two of you is there for everyone to see, so I don’t doubt for a minute that despite your lifestyle, you will give this little girl everything that she needs and more.”

“Fuck,” I whisper quietly enough so the younger ears in the room don’t hear. “You’re going to get this big, a-hole of a biker blubbing like a baby if you don’t cut that shit out.”

“Besides all that, I was brought up within a Club environment and if truth be known, if it hadn’t been for my desire to do this job and the fact that if I had still been in that life, it would have been a hurdle I would have had to climb to get to the point where I am, then I would still be living it.”

“You’re not just some middle of the road social worker, are you?” I ask, realizing there’s a lot more to this woman than a basic pen-pushing, box-ticking nine-to-fiver.

---