Page 71 of At Last

My woman finally broke.

“Dammit.” I shout and bring my fists down onto the coffee table’s salvaged wood, swiping my arm across the top until the damn computer crashes to the floor. The brothers come running again. “She bought two tickets to Ireland. Departing from Nashville.”

Hero puts his hand to my shoulder. “Sorry. I should have been here. She never leaves the house anymore.”

“Not your fault.” I grind out. “You were off duty today. I should never have left her without a guard in place.”

“Need passports for that.”Blood. “Would those have been here or her place?”

“Her place.” That’s what I call to my brothers as I tear out of my house.

Men right on my heels, we head for our bikes. Way my heart beats a million beats a second, if I don’t get control of myself, I’m liable to lay my bike down. And that won’t help either of my girls.

We strike a menacing picture, engines rumbling. Nothing sounds like a Harley roaring down the road. It’s as unmistakable as it is beautiful. Five Harleys, all with men wearing Lords’ cuts, we inspire both fear and awe. Cars part for us, taking the shoulders as we pass them. Even the cross traffic at the intersection we come to waits their green light for us to pass.

Before long we’re turning down Doc’s street. The truck ain’t parked in the drive. Shit. Not what I wanted. We park there instead and head up to the front door. I knock. Door was shut but not latched and pushes open from the force of my knuckle.

“Doc?” I call out. “Caitlin? Honey, you here?” Nothing. Starting to panic again.

While the boys check the downstairs, I run up, taking the steps two at a time until I reach her bedroom. Her closet door’s open and inside the closet, an empty safe. That’s where she’d have kept her important papers like passports. I’m too fucking late.

Time to regroup. That’s it, I need time. I close my eyes, drop my chin and bring my hand to the back of my neck, holding on. Seems not just to my neck. Feels like my sanity needs holding, too.

After a couple deep breaths, I pull myself together.

Even though I know it’s pointless, I check out the other two bedrooms and the bathroom while up here just to make sure they ain’t hiding or something. Then Boss calls me from the base of the stairs.

“Duke, brother. Get down here. Something you need to hear.”

When I meet the brothers in the kitchen, Boss passes me a phone receiver. “She has a landline. Most have voicemail set up. So I checked it. Listen,” he orders, grinding his teeth so hard they might crack on him.

I will never in my life forget that voice. My gut clenches. “Hello Caitlin… or should I call you Dr. Brennan?” He sounds like that crazy Lecter guy fromSilence of the Lambs.Hannibal Lecter with a Kentucky accent.“You should have stuck to doctoring. Club presidents make poor bedfellows. We’ll be in touch. Oh, and tell theHollister whoreI can’t wait to meet my nephew.”

Then the next voicemail starts up. “Caitlin, you can’t keep ignoring me.” Fucker has an Irish drawl. Didn’t Caitlin say her ex was Irish? Fuck him, he thinks he’s gonna come crawling back into my woman’s life. Those are my girls.

I throw the phone down with such force the face and number pad pop off when it hits the floor. “One more thing we don’t fucking need. Seems on top of the Houdini mess, Peaches’ father might be looking for her.” Palms to my eyes, I press down, trying to clear my head and think. Then I let out a resigned breath. “Don’t know where to go from here. Blood, you and me, let’s get on it. The rest ’a you, head back to the clubhouse. Keep ready to mobilize. Yeah?”

All the brothers save for Blood and me exit Doc’s house. But dammit, this ain’t her house anymore. Her house, her home is with me. When I get her back, a few things are gonna change. First being the address on her driver’s license.

Blood gets on his phone putting word out we’re looking for a woman with curly red hair and a small kid to match. He gives a description of my truck.

It hits me, I roll up on my bike she’s gonna hear me. And I can’t take the chance she won’t run. “Heading back to get the van. Pipes’re too loud.”

“I’ll call if I get something.” He’s still looking down at his phone.

“Lock up if you leave.”

I grow angrier and angrier the closer to the compound I get. What was in that woman’s head? Never mind. I know what was in her head. Hearing about that little girl has finally broken her. But she knows better than to leave. She knew I was on my way to her.

Not even realizing I’d ridden here, I roll to a stop in front of Peaches’ school. There’s police tape tapping off a large area and several cruisers block the parking lot. Their blue and red lights flash, but no sirens. In the distance, I see Tommy doing his thing.

When I get my hands on them, first thing I’m doing is kiss my Peaches, then kiss her mama. If Doc is lucky, if I’ve calmed down enough, I’ll be fucking her when I spank that ass. If not, I’m gonna bend her over my knee and throttle her for putting me through this. As it stands, there’s a whole lot of hurry up and wait going on. And if it’s two things she should already damn-well know about me, two things I absolutely despise, it’s toworryandwait.

Before long, I’m back at the compound to switch out my bike for the van. My old truck, although quieter than Harley pipes, still rumbles too loud to keep her from knowing I’ve shown.

My cell rings. I pull it thinking Blood has something for me, but the screen reads Doc calling.

Doc.

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