Page 50 of Moose

“It makes me fucking sick, brother. At least they have Bambi and Lily now.”

“That’s the fucking truth. Alright, man. I’m outta here. I’ve got some bikes to work on then dinner with my family.”

I laughed as we headed toward his truck.

“How’s the babies?”

He smiled. “The twins are amazing. Willow and Mav made some beautiful babies. I can’t believe how big they’re getting, Moose.”

“Wait until you have your own. Time fucking flies.”

“One day, man. One day... Hey, you should bring Nova by the studio sometime. She’s got some real talent. Willow would love to work with her.”

I looked over at Nova at the table, drawing again.

“Yeah, she would like that. Have Willow shoot me a text and we’ll get something together. Nova needs something to do. Maddox has peewee football.”

“Sounds good, brother. See you later.”

He got in his truck and headed out. Turning back around, I walked toward my kids with a smile on my face.

ThekidsandIwere just setting the table when Lily came back to the house. She looked upset as she made her way up the steps. I followed her up and found her sitting on her bed.

“Princess? Everything okay?”

She looked up at me with complete defeat on her face.

“No. I couldn’t get her to stay. The poor girl had bruises but claimed she fell. It’s a classic lie.”

I sat down next to her. “You just gotta wait. It took us forever to get Sav to come around. I know you’ll save her too.”

Lily shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that simple. None of the girls know her. And I’ve put feelers out and come up with nothing. No boyfriend, husband, family. I think this is deeper than just domestic violence.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe I occasionally toe the line…” She looked up at me and smiled. “So say I may use some not so ethical ways to find out more about these girls. And every channel I’ve checked comes up with nothing. Her prints don’t show up at all.”

I gazed down at her. “You ran her prints?”

“Well yeah. I want to know everything about them so I can understand more. They don’t open up at first. Anyway, this girl has nothing in the system and that’s concerning. I think this is going to get messy.”

“What are you thinking?”

She shrugged. “Arranged marriage, kidnapping, cult, sex trafficking. The list goes on. But I plan to find out. I will save her.”

I kissed Lily’s head and stood, putting my hand out to her. “She’s lucky to have you, princess.”

Lily smiled and placed her hand in mine. We walked down the steps and into the kitchen. We all took our seats and dug in.

As the night went on, I leaned back and watched as Lily listened to everything my kids said. She was so attentive to them.

Dinner was finished, and she was on the couch reading them a book while I cleaned up the kitchen. Lily looked like a natural, changing her voice to the different characters and waving her arms in the air.

I leaned on the counter and watched as she finished the chapter and closed the book. Pushing off, I walked over and scooped Nova up in my arms.

“Bedtime, kiddos. Move it, move it.”

Nova jumped down and took Lily’s hand, dragging her up the steps with her. Following behind, I watched as Lily danced down the hall with Nova.

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