Page 59 of Walker

“Where is she?”

“Dead.”

“You killed her?” Reesa asked, shocked that her friend could take a life.

“Not for lack of trying, but no someone else got the pleasure.” Her eyes darted to Trouble who was unabashedly staring at the woman who he had been pushing away for so long, I didn’t think he even remembered why he started doing it. It seemed as though that was about to come to an end.

Trinity’s full attention immediately came back to Reesa. “I’m so sorry for everything you’ve been through. Why didn’t you call me?”

“I was afraid to.”

“Why?” She demanded.

“Tillie wouldn’t take us in, and I didn’t want to chance the fact that you and Shaina might get hurt. I called Walker because I knew he would keep us safe.”

My heart thudded in my chest at the conviction in her statement. Someone grabbed hold of my hand, and I nearly shook it off until I realized it was Ariel. “Thank you for taking care of us.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that shit.”

“Yeah, I do.” She let go of my hand and shocked the shit out of me by exchanging it for a hug. I wrapped my arm around Ree’s daughter and held on for dear life.

Diesel took charge of his new best friend and walked him over to a table where some of the old ladies were setting out food for everyone. “Let’s go get the boys handled and leave your mom to catch up with Trinity, okay?”

Ariel nodded her head, and I went to get a gaggle of kids sorted for breakfast while my club brothers were clumped around the clubhouse talking quietly about logistics for what was to come. The mafia still hadn’t been dealt with and as far as I knew, we also didn’t have answers for why the women’s club had gotten into bed with them.

Once I had the kids settled, I tracked down Snake. “Has anyone heard from Spike?”

“Quickshot put a prospect on him, but I’m pretty sure that Keys, JoJo, and Steel are over at his house with him. They’re sorting what needs to be done with…” Snake glanced away, and I could see the moisture in his eyes. “Fuck man. This shit is insane. Why didn’t we even know about the fucking mafia hanging around and giving out loans to begin with? Across the fucking border is less than an hour drive away. We’ve all been over there a time or three to the casino.”

“Don’t know but we’re going to find out and put a fucking end to it. They fucked up when they came after someone under club protection.”

“From what I hear, they thought they had their own club protection. Since when do the mafia get in bed with women, let alone a female motorcycle crew?”

“Not sure, but I damn sure want to find out, especially since they brought trouble into our area that took one of their own - one of our own and they were gunning for my fucking family to begin with.”

“Your family?” Snake was serious in asking it. I glanced back over my shoulder to where Reesa had parked her ass with Trinity and the kids.

“Yeah, that’s my family over there. Every damn one of them.”

“We’ll keep ‘em safe for you, brother.”

20 - A Cancer Among Us

“Walker, Snake, Trouble, and Hollywood,” Quickshot called out as he stomped across the common area. “Church in five.”

We all stood and got ready to head to the soundproofed room where we held our club meetings. I looked down at Reesa and then leaned in and kissed her. “You okay with the kids?”

“Go handle business. I’ve got them.”

“I’ll help her as soon as I find a spot to take a shower and get some clean clothes on,” Trinity announced.

“We have an ensuite in the room they put us in. Use that. If Reesa’s shit doesn’t fit you, have her check with the other old ladies to see if they can find you something comfortable.”

“Thanks, Walker.” Trinity called out.

“We owe you for putting your neck out and then sticking around to help out.” I didn’t wait to hear if she had anything to say back to me. Keeping everyone waiting when we were already sitting on the edge of a cliff ready to dive headfirst into whatever was thrown our way wouldn’t be smart.

No sooner than I got into the room, Ghost, Chief, and a few other club brothers piled in behind me. “We have some serious shit to handle, and I’m afraid some more bad news for some of us to process.”

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