Page 55 of Torrent’s Treasure

Abby had kept quiet, keeping watch while the Chief ranted.

“Sir, I don’t think we’re getting anywhere,” Abby intervened, her voice imploring him to calm down.

“I’m taking her in. I have an arrest warrant,” he declared, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. “See?” he demanded.

Torrent reached for it and let her read it while he did. It had her maiden name. She wondered if that mattered, but what she really wondered was why he felt the need to arrest her.

“Got the wrong name on it,” Torrent grunted.

She could always count on her man of few words to protect her.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m taking her in,” he bellowed.

“Sorry, I’m late,” a handsome, older man with salt-and-pepper hair announced as he walked in, carrying a briefcase. He had on jeans, biker boots, and a white T-shirt with a black leather jacket.

“Who the fuck are you?” the Chief spat.

If his voice was any indication, their answers were not sitting well with him. Cecilia listened as the man explained he was the club’s lawyer and would be representing Cecilia in any questioning. She listened to the Chief and lawyer argue back and forth before the Chief gave up on taking her in. When the lawyer started throwing around words like liability and harassment of individuals, the Chief had backed off.

The Chief and Abby left with the Chief grumbling as he walked out the door. After that, the lawyer shook her hand, then Torrent’s and Dragon’s, instructing them to call him if they had any more trouble. Sally tried to send him food, but he said he’d been on a date and needed to get back to the restaurant.

Cecilia couldn’t believe how the lawyer walking in had turned the tide on what was happening.

“You okay, darlin’?” Dragon asked.

She nodded. “Yes. I’m glad you had the lawyer come,” she said.

“We’ll always take care of you. Let’s party now that Useless, the waste of space, is not polluting our clubhouse with his presence!” Dragon yelled.

The Prospect behind the bar turned the music back on and she sat down to finish her food.

Sally patted her hand that was on the table. “It’s all good, sweetie. The club won’t let anything happen to you,” she reassured, nudging a plate of cookies over to Calliope.

Cecilia took a breath and realized her hunger was back. The Chief had confronted them and she’d stood her ground. She had been worried before that when faced with him, she wouldn’t be able to lie. She had, and whether or not he believed them, the narrative they’d given him didn’t have any room for Horse’s Ass to be at her house. To verify that she’d seen his brother that day, Useless would have to admit that he and his brother had talked after she’d been assaulted. He wouldn’t want to do that.

This wasn’t over by any means, but it was a step in the right direction.

They finished eating, with Willow finally joining them. She’d run behind because she’d been picking flowers to bring for their rooms.

Cecilia thought about the horrible loss that had brought her back to Demise to handle her parents’ estate and then enduring something no one should have to when Horse’s Ass had assaulted her. But each step along the journey, no matter how traumatic, had brought her to Torrent and Hazard, Missouri—and to a man, a biker who might not be the most talkative but had shown her through his actions how much he adored her.

She glanced around the clubhouse and realized that this building, with these people, was home. The place where love grew and laughter echoed, and maybe a couple of illegal things happened, but she could live with that.

“Hey, Mav, I’m bored and could use a laugh or two. Do you want to take a large amount of Willow’s Wish and provide tonight’s entertainment?” Willow asked, giggling.

Maverick rolled his eyes. “Sometimes, I don’t like you very much. Mom, she’s teasing me,” Maverick whined while scowling at everyone laughing.

“Son,” Sally said, getting up and walking over to him, placing her hand on his cheek. “You’re so pretty,” she cooed.

Cecilia laughed and stared around the room at her family and her husband chuckling. The man who barely smirked was laughing hard enough he was slapping his thigh. She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but for tonight, she was safe with her Grave Prowler family.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Torrent rode his bike, Ashe and Maverick close by. It had been almost a month since Useless had tried to take Cecilia in for questioning. Things had been relatively quiet. Useless was stopping at least one of their guys every three to four days, either on their motorcycles or the trucks transporting the caskets. Since he never found anything, it was merely an inconvenience.

Abby and Jonah were still looking for more information on who Useless’ contact was and where. Although Jasmine had been in Time Out for a month, Mace had let Dragon know yesterday that they hadn’t been able to get any more useful information out of her for the last week.

Torrent had hoped that the Honey Creek Badgers MC would be able to get them more information. They’d met for Church multiple times and were still debating if they wanted to call in the helicopter pilot to search for the cabins. The debate between bringing more eyes on the club was weighed against finding women and kids possibly being trafficked, but without more information, they were flying blind. Jonah had mentioned he and Abby had an idea for possibly obtaining more information, but it would take a little longer to work out.