Page 15 of A Biker for Noelle
“You’d be doing me a huge favor if you could finish frying all this bacon while I whip up these pancakes,” Mom says.
“Put me to work.” Noelle smiles.
I sit back in my chair and watch Noelle move about the kitchen, helping Mom with breakfast. She keeps a cautious eye on her brother, slipping him some cooked bacon pieces while he downs his hot chocolate.
Feeling eyes burning into my skull, I tear my attention from Noelle and look across the table where Brewer is eyeballing me with a shit-eating grin. “What?”
“Nothin’.” Brewer stares, knowing it’s making me uncomfortable.
Zack plops down in the empty seat beside me as the women place platters of food in the center of the table. “I like it here.”He grins, eagerly waiting to fill his plate. “There is lots of food, and everyone is happy.” Rooster passes a platter to Zack, which is piled high with pancakes. Using his fork, he pokes and plops a stack of three onto his plate. “Best of all, no one is drunk and yelling,” he mutters.
“Zack,” Noelle whispers harshly, and I cut my eyes her way as she sits beside me blankly. Noelle holds my gaze until Rooster speaks, “Who was drunk and yellin’?” Rooster asks as he passes the syrup to Zack.
“Mostly my dad.” He covers his pancakes in maple syrup, then gets quiet.
Noelle’s eyes bounce between her brother and me, but she remains quiet.
“Your old man the one who hit you?” I want to know.
Zack looks at his sister. “Yeah,” he then faces me. “But he paid for it later.”
“How?” I ask, and sense Zack’s hesitation to keep talking. “Look around.” I coax him to glance around the table, and he does. “You and your sister are safe here.”
Zack takes a deep breath, straightens his back, and looks me in the eyes, about to speak when Noelle interrupts him.
“I shot him,” Noelle confesses.
A beat of silence passes before I speak, “You kill him?”
“No,” Noelle says.
“Look at me, baby.” I wait for Noelle to lock eyes with me. “What you say here stays in this room. Got it? No one else will know.” I wait for my words to take root and for her to understand their meaning. She nods, understanding that they are safe and that we will keep her secret. “What’s the motherfucker’s name?”
Noelle looks back at her brother, unsure if she should offer what I’m asking for.
“It’s okay, Nelly,” Zack offers. “Please. I don’t want to leave. I want us to stay.”
As Noelle gazes at her brother, her eyes reflect her deep affection, shining with warmth and tenderness. After a moment, she glances back at me, her expression speaking volumes about the strong bond they share and the trust she is putting in me and the club. “Rob Cross from Silver Lake City, Texas,” Noelle informs me.
I look to my brother, Tech, who will use the information to dig up what he can on the piece of shit.
The room falls silent until Zack asks, “Can someone please pass the bacon?”
Sitting across from Zack, Poet reaches into the center of the table and grabs the platter of bacon. “A man after my own heart. Let’s eat!”
After breakfast, the men and I file into Church. Hopefully, Tech’s dug up some useful information on Noelle’s stepdad. Looking at her brother’s face makes every man sitting at this table willing to drive that long stretch from here to Texas and give the bastard a taste of his own medicine.
“What did you find out, brother?” I ask Tech.
He lights a cigarette, drawing in his first toke, and speaks as the smoke expels from his lungs. “This fucker is a real piece of shit, Prez. Rob Cross is Noelle’s step-dad and is Zack’s biological father. The bastard is a deadbeat who can’t hold down a job due to a drinking and gambling addiction. He likes hanging out at the local strip clubs. His criminal background consists of domestic battery from a few years ago, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.”
I clench my jaw. “Noelle admits to shooting him. You find anything related to that?”
Tech flicks ashes into the ashtray in front of him. “Nothing reported to the law that I can find.”
I scrub my palm down my face. “Noelle put a lot of miles between them and that piece of shit. Hopefully, the bastard doesn’t have the smarts or means to try to track them down. He’d be foolish if he did.” I look at my brothers. “We need to make sure nothing more happens to them. They’ve been through enough.”
“There’s a bit more I can fill you in on.” Tech snuffs out his cigarette. “Noelle filled out several reports about her brother’s well-being, but nothing came of it. The kid was gettin’ hurt, and the fuckin’ system swept it under the rug.”
