Page 40 of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Once we were in the bedroom Tango sat me down and took my boots off my feet. Then he pulled my socks off, and continued like that until I was just in my panties. He tucked me in bed under the covers, and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on my forehead. “I need to go get a shower and wash the road off of me. You gonna be okay while I do that or do you want me to call Charlie up here to sit with you?”

“I’ll be fine,” I stated with no emotion. It all seemed to have clogged up inside me somewhere. “I need to call Michelle. Does she know?”

Tango gave me a sympathetic look then before nodding his head. “She was told just a little bit ago.”

“Okay,” I offered up a weak smile. “I should still call her, I think. See what she wants to do about…” I couldn’t say his name, but I also couldn’t call what was left of my brother ‘the body’.

“Why don’t you wait until I get back out here and I’ll sit with you while you make that call.”

“Okay.” I agreed as I felt the weight of the day pressing in on me.

~*~

Two days later the men and women of the Aces High MC – Dakotas Chapter, and the visiting members who still hadn’t gone home, all gathered with me out back where Tango had set up a memorial service for my brother. Crusher and Vanquish had taken the U-Haul the day before with my brother in it – inside a casket this time – to head back to Tallahassee where he would be received by my sister-n-law. She didn’t want to go back to Reno in case there were still any members of King’s Demons or men who would suffer as a result of their sex trafficking ring being closed down for good. I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t want to ever set foot in Reno again. As a matter of fact Tango was taking Fox and Rabbit out to Reno next week to close down my brother’s shop for him, and take care of packing up his things.

Today was for mourning though. It was touching that they were doing all of this for me. I couldn’t be there for the actual funeral that Michelle had planned, because the guys weren’t completely sure that Guy was on the up-and-up. They didn’t want to take the chance of us leading them back to Michelle in Tallahassee just yet. Eventually, I’d be able to go visit, though probably not until after my niece or nephew was born.

We were standing by the table that had refreshments laid out on it when the guys from Charleston walked up. “We just wanted to pass along our condolences again before we head out,” Double-D told me.

“You guys are leaving?”

“Yeah, there’s something going on with my youngest daughter. My wife told me to get my ass back yesterday.”

“Well, what are you doing here? Get going! Your wife and daughter need you.” Double-D grinned at me then before glancing behind me at Tango who was positioned at my back.

“You got a keeper there, Brother. Don’t let go of that.”

“Don’t intend to,” Tango informed him.

“Let’s get back,” T-Bone finally told his dad. “Anna’s never in trouble. I wonder what the hell she’s done that has mom in a tizzy?”

“Don’t know,” he answered his son with a worried look on his handsome face. “Better get going so we can find out sooner rather than later though.”

“Thank you, again, for coming here to help out with my problems.”

Double-D offered up a brilliant flash of straight white teeth. “No need to thank us, honey, that’s what family does.”

His words hurt my heart even though they weren’t intended to. My brother hadn’t just sacrificed himself for me. He’d given me a place to be and people to love before he left too. I wished I could see him one more time to tell him how proud I was of the man he had become. My anger was all gone now; replaced with the knowledge that he had put me in the best place I could possibly be to weather his loss. After meeting the guys from Tallahassee, I had no doubt that Michelle was being well cared for too.

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