Page 39 of Creed

Accusations

Creed

After giving Morgan, the quick tour of my house, I walked out to the detached garage and sat on my favorite bike. When I shut my eyes I could still hear Addie’s screams as she was forced out of my arms. I stayed with her all night and letting her go with those social workers tore my heart out. For some unknown reason, Addie took comfort in me. I really didn’t understand it because I was a big guy that could intimidate the toughest of men, but Addie saw right through me. I had seen a lot of shit in my life, but finding little Addie on the road then staying with her all night did something to me. Then I saw Morgan with her injuries, and a rage built inside me. My jaw hurt just from clenching it for as long as I did. As soon as I sent Company D off that morning, I went straight back to the hospital. I had one goal in mind and that was to bring Morgan home with me to protect her.

Darren and Tanner agreed with the girls staying with me almost instantly. Darren had been inside the gates, and he knew it was the safest place for his niece.

Tanner said Jenny already contacted an attorney about getting Addie out of the foster care system. I knew Morgan couldgive her a good home, but I knew I’d want to watch over the little girl. She didn’t stay asleep in the hospital bed. I fell asleep in the chair and woke up to the little girl crawling on me. She ended up sleeping on my chest all night, periodically waking to cry then falling back to sleep. It was heart-wrenching to say the least.

I rode toward headquarters, knowing it might have been hours before I could get back home. Stephanie was going to help Morgan arrange for a funeral home to pick Callie up after her autopsy was complete, then Zoey, our community doctor, would look Morgan over. Bolton would also visit her while I was gone. Bolton, a woman a few years older than me, wasn’t just an operative, but she was an officer with a PhD in psychology. She saw all the men after they returned from missions and a few still saw her consistently. She was also one of the reasons I thought Darren might come knocking on my door when his term as sheriff was up. Zoey, or Dr. Fields as she was called outside the gates, was married to one of my men, Glen Henshaw. They were married a year prior, and they had an infant son together. Zoey worked at the local hospital and Henshaw was in Company B. He specialized in explosives. I knew Morgan was in good hands while I was gone, and had plenty to keep her busy if she didn’t want to rest. She had so much shit, the guys had to use a truck and unload it in one of the spare rooms. I knew the girl was spoiled, but holy shit. I would have hated to see her house in California. I told the guys to just leave the boxes, and she could arrange her things the way she preferred.

I knew as soon as I stepped into the clubhouse I was about to catch shit. Instead, as soon as I walked in, I could hear the chaos of the mess hall, but the moment I stopped in the doorway, the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I looked around the mess hall, then behind me but saw nothing out of the ordinary, other than about twenty men staring at me.

“What?”

Nobody answered.

“Please tell me I have no reason to call Darren to bail someone out again.” I braced myself to hear who did it and who needed bail money that time. When prospects came to us they were usually freshly home to the states after taking missions. Some had a very difficult time adjusting to civilian life. A few were a mess and needed intense therapy, but others didn’t exactly behave like soldiers. They’d leave the gates, hit the bars, and they had anger issues that presented themselves when drinking. I couldn’t count how many of them got into fights at the bars. That was one of the reasons we had a fighting ring in the gym area. They simply had some aggressions to work out.

Frank’s cleared his throat. “Is it true that Morgan Rossi is staying at your place?”

“Uh, yeah. I thought Axton informed everyone what happened last night.” I looked around the dining room and a few guys probably could have picked their jaws up off the floor.

Frank’s spoke up again. “You have Morgan Rossi naked in your shower and sleeping in your bed?” He gulped.

“No, she has her own bed and shower. Don’t let your imaginations get the better of you. I told her she was free to roam around, so don’t make me regret it. Behind those gates and in this community she is just like everyone else. She doesn’t get special privileges, and you will all treat her with respect. She is not here to sign autographs, have her picture taken, or hear about your wet dreams. You may engage in professional and mature conversations with her, but there will be no staring, no cat calling, and absolutely no touching. She’s off limits. Understand?”

“Yes sir.” They answered like the soldiers they were, but I wasn’t all that convinced.

Perkins raised his hand, and I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Perkins?”

“Does this mean we have to cancel Rossi night in the theater next Tuesday?” He asked.

About a year ago, my men started a movie night event once a week where they played three back to back movies starring their favorite actresses that showed their bare ass and titties in R rated movies. I was fine with it because it kept them here and not finding trouble in Clarity. Rossi night happened about twice a month with the same damn movies over and over again.

“Yes, cancel it.” I stopped and thought about those gorgeous eyes and beautiful smile. “In fact, there’s a new rule. Only PG Rossi movies from now on and if I find one poster in this place, you’re out on your asses. I can’t control what you do at home, but it won’t be happening in common areas.” I started to walk away as all the men groaned in disappointment. If anyone in the community got to see those tits, it would have been me. Shit! What the fuck was I saying to myself? I had to shut that shit down quick. After stepping into the elevator, I shut my eyes and rested my head against the wall behind me. I was exhausted. After spending all night with Addie then having her ripped away from me, I had to come back for the pre-deployment meeting, then get back to the hospital and my day was just getting started. Hopefully, Stephanie would make sure Morgan got some dinner because I would be in the command center probably until late morning. Unless Axton would take over for me. It was my mission to command, and Axton had the night off.

Axton normally took those kind of contracts and I took the military contracts. I was the only one that was given clearance to command certain missions that involved the military.

Besides that, about two years prior I was called back to duty. Not to be an active soldier, but to assist General Pendleton with a Special Tactics Squadron. It consisted of members of Seal Team Six, Delta Force, Air Force Special Force, and the Marine Raiders. As far as anyone knew, except Axton, I was still retired. I worked alone on it, my command center was in my home, and I had to check in daily. If there was a mission, Axton took on everything else and my only focus was on the tactical unit. For the most intense missions, I was expected to report to the Pentagon and Axton had to run the business and community by himself. My life was crazy, and just because I was experiencing some downtime lately, it didn’t mean I had time for Morgan and Addie. Morgan was in the community for safety, not for me. I had to remind myself of that fact almost constantly.

I was called back up, not given a choice, and when or if that once in a lifetime mission came where I was needed, the military would ship me out and I’d once again be in a war zone. I had no doubt it was coming with everything happening in the middle east and with Russia and the Ukraine.

I felt the exhaustion in my bones. I was still a young man, but my body felt old and worn out. I still took rescue missions, on top of the tactical force and running the special ops groups. I also had a community of men women and children to protect. Taking out vital members of the cartel made for enemies, and we could never be too safe. That was why I had to keep my eyes on the Rejects since we built this community. They were a threat tous because of who they were dealing with in Mexico. The fucking cartel…

The words of the men in the dining hall came back to me. Morgan showering in my house. With my eyes shut, I imagined soapy water trailing down those plump breasts and around erect nipples. Fuck! I had to stop with that shit. I had to adjust the obvious bulge in my jeans before I made it to the command center.

The elevator doors opened and yet again everything suddenly became quiet, and everyone just stared at me. “Get back to work.” I walked to my office and slammed my door shut.

Grief

Morgan

Stephanie was nice, but my grief weighed me down. I couldn’t even argue with Creed earlier. I couldn’t force a smile, and I felt like my insides were all scrambled up. I tried my best to be appreciative for his help, but I just couldn’t shake the grief.

Stephanie ordered a pizza from the community center for lunch and a woman named Valerie Bolton brought it with her. I couldn’t eat and I wasn’t ready to talk about Callie. Instead, both women helped me with making arrangements for Callie. The funeral director said I was welcome to stop by the following day to make arrangements, and he would call me when he was given the go ahead to pick Callie up. I also spoke with Leslie and of course she was fine with me paying for the funeral, but she wanted included in the process of making arrangements. Of course, she never once asked about Addie. Then finally, my mom heard from Brett. He was available to meet with me in the morning, so Bolton called Creed, and he said Josh could take me out the following day to run errands. Unfortunately, Creed would not be available.

Bolton left, but Stephanie said her children would be going to the community center after school and she had time tohelp me organize my things. I wasn’t even in the mood to do that much. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for about a week.

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