Page 5 of Lies Beneath Secrets

“Her face?”

“Yes, sir.” I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath.

“How did you know to call me?” I direct my question to Casandra now.

“Her mother had listed you as the child’s father and an emergency contact.” I raise my brows and look back at my daughter.

“When can we leave?”

“Mr. Mathews. Do you have the means to take care of a five-year-old?” Casandra asks me.

“You called me to get her, and now you’re questioning if I should take her?” Turning around again, I keep my tone low and bite back the urge to take a step toward her.

“I apologize. I only mean this will be a shock to you both, and Gabby has been through some very significant trauma.”

“Gabby?” I ask, interrupting her. Fuck, I didn’t even know her name.

“Yes, Gabby. She’s going to need professional care. A child this young, experiencing something like this, isn’t a simple thing to overcome,” she explains.

“You mean her mother’s husband coming home from prison and beating her to a bloody pulp while she watched? Yeah, I get that.” I pause, then look over at Officer Rice. “Did you find him?” My fists clench tight as I imagine them strangling the life right out of the motherfucker.

“Some officers caught up to him a few blocks away. He drew a weapon on them, which resulted in him being shot. He died on scene.”

“He got off easy then,” I state. “Get me whatever I need to sign so I can get her the hell out of here,” I tell Cassandra.

“It’s just a couple of release forms, but you should go in and meet her first, don’t you think?” I nod in agreement and follow her into the room. Damn, this is such a messed-up situation and not at all how I wanted to meet her for the first time. To be honest, I never thought I would ever get the chance to meet her. “Hey, Gabby, remember me?” Gabby flinches slightly at the abrupt noise of Rice speaking, then turns to look our way. I can only imagine what I seem like to her. After a day on the road, I must look pretty damn scary. Especially to a kid. I tried my best to tame my beard, and I tied my hair back under my bandana. I did leave my cut at home. No way I’d be showing who I was down this way. At Casandra’s question, Gabby gives a small head nod, then looks at another woman who’s in the room. I was so focused on my daughter, I didn’t even see her sitting at a desk in the corner.

“Gabby, can you say hi?” the woman asks and stands up from the desk, making her way over to us. “Are you her father?” she asks very quietly. I nod my answer and direct my attention back over to where Gabby is watching me like a hawk. “She hasn’t spoken yet.” The woman keeps her tone low but by the sharp stare of my daughter, she can hear every damn word. She’s a smart kid. “It’s very normal in these cases, but I do strongly suggest she see someone at least once a week.” I nod again and take a tentative step toward Gabby.

“Hey, kid. Do you know who I am?” She still keeps her eyes on me and gives a small nod. “Yeah?” She nods again. This time, it’s a little bigger. “Good, then you aren’t afraid of me, are you?” Her head shakes back and forth and damn, if I wasn’t in love before, I sure the hell am now. “Casandra?” I ask without taking my eyes off my daughter. “Get me them damn papers. I’m taking my kid home.”

CHAPTERFOUR

Con

Another shoe goes flying at my head and crashes into the wall “You bring home some skank’s kid and expect me to be okay with it?” Tina throws yet another item at me, this time one of her damn purses. Fuck, I figured she’d be mad but not this mad. “After lying to me all this time!” I do my best to grab my things from the room. I’ve been crashing at her place more often than not. She was fun in the beginning. Not so much anymore. I knew when she heard about Gabby, she would lose her shit. Sharing has never been her strong suit.

“It was none of your business, and it happened before me and you got together,” I defend myself and catch the next thing she throws. “Woman.” I toss the purse onto the floor and stalk over to her, gripping her wrists into my hands so she can’t swing at me. “Now listen. We weren’t nothing official anyway, and I know damn well you’ve been sleeping with the guys at the club. Let’s not drag this shit out. I’m here to get my stuff and be on my way,” I say, keeping my tome low and sharp.

“You’re a bastard,” Tina hisses and tries to get loose.

“Yeah,” I agree with her.

“King,” she tells me. “I’ve been seeing King. He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be.” I let out a laugh that makes her eyes grow wide.

“You let me know how that one turns out for you,” I say in a chuckle, grabbing the last of my clothes that she threw on the floor. If I leave something behind, so be it. I’m over all of this anyway.

I walk down the hallway to the living room where Gabby sits on the couch, headphones covering her ears. Hopefully, she didn’t hear any of that. I gave her my phone to play with. She probably knows how to use that thing better than I do. Knox showed me how to get a few games for her to play and shows for her to watch on the phone, then told me to get some headphones for it. He was right on that account. Twenty minutes into some cartoon thing, I was about ready to rip my ears off.

I bend down to get into her line of sight. She still hasn’t said a word to me, but she doesn’t ignore me either. Nor does she seem scared of me. I suppose she has already seen the devil himself; I must not look too bad compared to him. She takes the headphones off her ears. “You hungry?” I ask, getting a little nod in response. “Good, me too.” I stand and offer my hand to her, which she doesn’t take. I try not to let it get to me and lead the way out of the house. The sound of Tina bitching in the back room and throwing stuff around cuts off the moment the front door slams shut behind us.

I normally don’t come into town to eat; in fact, I don’t even remember a time that I have. It’s avoided mainly because I just don’t like being around too many people; trouble also seems to find me when I do. I’ve been pulled over while riding my bike and harassed by the local PD more than enough. Then with Boe being killed, the local PD has been up our asses trying to find out what happened. No way they’re getting answers from us though.

I’m in my truck with Gabby in the backseat. Today is day two of her being here with me. Last night, we crashed at Knox’s house after the long drive back from Milwaukee, which is where we’ll most likely call home since I won’t bring Gabby to the clubhouse.

When we get to the small diner across town, she doesn’t wait for me to get her out of the truck. Silently letting me know she can do it herself, she hops down and slams the door behind her. We start walking toward the diner when something catches my eye. A barbershop. “Hey, you think we can wait a few minutes on the food? I need to make another stop.” She nods and follows me into the shop, taking the seat I point to. “Shouldn’t be too long,” I tell her and walk over to the barber sitting in a chair, watching the news.

“Well now, it looks like it’s been a decade since you’ve seen a pair of scissors,” the old man tells me, getting to his feet.

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