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She stopped me. An actual nurse, Brenda, introduced herself. She claimed she didn’t want me to hurt myself, but she worked for the Music City Syndicate, all the same. Which meant she was a relative of theirs. She worked for the mob. For the man, I promised to get information on Kingpin for. That was before I fell for the biker.
“Your baby ain’t yours,” she announced cryptically.
“What?”
“Family is all. Make good on your promise to Ralph or you’ll lose another child.”
“He’s threatening to kill our baby?”
She placed her hand over my mouth and whispered, “No. He’s the father. He’ll take him by right.”
Brenda didn’t remove her hand right away then she suddenly covered my nose. I found myself too weak to fight. Instead, I tried to process her words as she cut off my air.
When she released me. I gulped. “He’s not,” I said, determined. “There’s been no test.”
Kingpin swore he didn’t want one. Had he gone behind my back?
“There has been,” she said. She explained the mob had her do a paternity test. “There’s nothing wrong with your baby so calm down.”
As I understood it, Kingpin didn’t know Ralph was the father. It took some more explaining, but I soon realized the threat. The Getty’s would claim the boy if I didn’t make good on giving Ralph what he’d asked me for when he first found out I’d gotten close to Kingpin.
Brenda gave me a list. The MCS wanted intel, books, codes, numbers, the list went on.
“There’s no way. I can’t get all this. Not right away.”
“Get something. And your baby can go home.”
Later that night Brenda wheeled me to the NICU to hold my baby. Only five pounds, he was so small, their official excuse for keeping him there. Otherwise, he was as healthy as could be. Thinking I could overcome the threats, I complained that the baby shouldn't be there. I wanted to be the one to take care of him. But Brenda claimed I’d not been cleared to do so.
Kingpin appreciated the abundance of caution. Watching him with the baby, I regretted my conversation with Paisley. Would it just be better if no one knew about Eve’s baby? I didn’t think so until I found out this child wasn’t his. I didn’t want him to know this child was Ralph’s. What if he found out? He has a baby coming that is his. Would he leave me?
And I certainly didn’t want the mob to take my baby.
The next day my mother came and insisted we name the baby Beau, after Kingpin. Bubba would never have a child, so it didn’t matter to him.
“I don’t care if it does matter,” Kingpin rebutted. But he decided we’d spell it differently.
Telling Brenda I would take the deal, I was released without my baby. Back at Royal Road, I had to find something to give to Ralph. It didn’t matter if I needed to recover myself. I wanted my baby home. I knew Kingpin’s codes. While he slept peacefully in the music room, I went to Royal Road. Thankfully, at three am, Paisley was the only one in the bar. That wasn’t always the case.
“Where’s everyone?” I asked her.
“Pagan canceled the late-night parties, out of respect.” She spoke of the baby we lost. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m looking for evidence,” I said, as I went into Kingpin’s office.
The whore wouldn’t tell.
Thankfully, the code I remembered from when Kingpin and I were happy was the same. And even better, it was the same for the door and the vault in the wall. My task had been too easy. Inside lay a jackpot, a treasure trove of things to offer Ralph so he wouldn’t take the child. Bags of cash, documents, weapons, and strange, tagged items.
But what would Kingpin do when he discovered it missing, and he learned I was in here? Paisley knew. Once it became clear I cleaned it out, Kingpin would hate me. The whole reason I was doing this was, so he never found out my baby wasn’t his.
The answer was right under my nose. I spotted her name. Eve, written in black Sharpie on masking tape on a USB drive. What the hell? I picked it up. Taking it to Kingpin’s computer, I tried the same passcode. It didn’t work. I couldn’t figure out what was on that disk. Having an idea, I took it to Paisley.
“Look what I found.”
Paisley smiled her crazy grin. “What’s on it?”
“I’m sure it’s evidence. Maybe who the real father is. But I don’t want anyone to know I’m involved.” I handed it to her. “Don’t tell anyone you got this from me.”
