Page 27 of Single Mom for the Bikers

The waitress’s eyes widen as she takes us in. I'm sure she’s seen our members come in, but dishing up pancakes to a couple bikers occasionally is nothing like having three of us show up ready for a fight. I’m very aware that we’re a lot fucking bigger than she is, and my hand's still resting on the grip of my gun. Itake it off and let my cut slip down so it covers it. “Thanks for taking care of her.”

Maggie slips out of the booth and nods. “Of course.” She sounds relieved. “I’m just glad everything is okay. Is one of you her dad? You should be proud. Mia knew exactly how to contact her mom. It would have been a lot harder if she didn’t.” She leans in a little closer. “I don’t know who to give this to, but the woman who came in with the girl left this at the table.” She hands me a slip of paper.

We protect what’s ours. Can you?

Jesus. I pass it to Havoc.

He crushes the note in his fist before carefully opening his fingers and smoothing it back out. “I want to know who the fuck did this, but what do you want to bet the woman is just following orders?” He looks around, scanning the faces of the other patrons before focusing back on Maggie. “Describe exactly what you remember.”

She nods nervously. “A tall lady came in with her. I don’t remember exactly what she looked like other than skinny and bright orange hair. Sorry, people are coming in and out all day. If I had to guess, she looked like the kind of woman that hangs around with guys like you. No offense. I noticed the girl was alone because I was waiting to see if the lady wanted coffee or anything but she was never there when I looked. Like I said, I thought she'd gone to the bathroom, but eventually it started to feel off and I saw Mia looked upset. I'm so sorry,” she adds at the end like this clusterfuck was her fault.

“Nah, you did good.” I try to smile. “If you hadn't called, we still wouldn't have known where the fuck she was.”

“Here.” Sledge takes out his wallet and pulls out two hundreds. “Keep the tip. You deserve it.”

Maggie looks at the bills with huge eyes. “Oh, but… I couldn't, I mean, thank you. I really wish I had more to tell you.”

“Any security footage?” Havoc gestures towards the parking lot. “We’re already working on a picture from the daycare when she was taken, but anything would be good. If you have cameras outside where we might see how she got here, that’d be perfect.”

“Oh, actually, maybe… I’ll have to talk to my boss, and he's not here today.”

Sledge pulls out another hundred.

“No, no, you don't have to. It’s not about that. He’s just the only one that has the password to the computer. Just give me a number and I'll ask him. I'm sure he can get you the footage once he hears what happened. He's a good guy. Really, I get paid okay. I'm just glad Mia's safe. She's a sweet little girl.”

“Well, take it anyway.” Sledge smiles and holds the bill out. “Pay it forward or get yourself something nice. I don't give a fuck, but we’d appreciate it if you keep this quiet.”

She looks at our cuts, proudly proclaiming our allegiance, and nods. “Tha—thank you.” A family comes in the front door who look a little concerned when they see us. “I have to help the customers, but I promise I'll contact you as soon as I've spoken to Harry, okay?”

“Sounds good.” As she gets back to work, I turn to Sledge. “Why the fuck are you carrying so much cash, man?”

“Always good to have some spare cash around.” He shrugs.

“Hi Mr. Phoenix! Hi Mr. Sledge! Hi Mr. Havoc!” Mia says enthusiastically when we slip into the booth with them.

I wave back. “Heya, kid. You doing okay?”

She nods. “I got soooo many pancakes! With syrup!”

Shelby smiles, looking exhausted but happy. “She's safe but on a sugar high. I’ll probably be up all night with her waiting for it to wear off. Honey? Can you tell them what you told me? About the lady who picked you up?”

“Ms. Ginger?” Mia wrinkles her nose. “Her car smelled gross. Like Grandma’s coat after she goes outside.”

Shelby snorts out a tiny laugh. “Cigarettes. We talked about never going anywhere with strangers, right?”

Mia nods, looking suddenly very solemn.

“What are you supposed to do?”

“Yell and yell and yell. Find another adult.”

“And why didn’t you?”

Mia’s chin wobbles a little. “She said she was a friend of Mr. Phoenix and his friends. That you were waiting for me and we were going to play hide and seek.”

I’m going to fucking shoot someone, and Ms. Ginger is going to have to give me a damn good excuse to not be on the list of potential targets. If she isn’t someone’s old lady, then she’s a club slut, and I don’t recognize her description so I doubt she’s one of ours. I look up and find Havoc and Sledge watching me with the same thoughts in their eyes.

“You’re not safe in the house,” Havoc says to Shelby, low and dangerous. “I don’t know why you’re being targeted, but if they know where Mia is during the day, they know where you live.”

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