Page 62 of Wizard's Spitfire

Charlie

What a fucked up day. Started by waking up blissfully sated, then it all went to shit. Wizard and I pass through the front gate and are headed to the guest house. Doc’s dentist friend Ethan Reynolds opened his office for me. He found a tracking device implanted into tooth.

He put the tracker in a static jar. Marshal Hayes picked it up from the dentist’s office while the dentist put a new cap on my tooth. We were in and out in under an hour. Afterward, we met with the marshals, detective, and officers again.

I went over the details of my meeting thoroughly. The marshals wanted me to stay at their safe location while they had a team scour my home, guest home, family, vehicle, and anything else they can think of.

They’re working on getting into the girls’ school and sweeping it before tomorrow morning. I’m tempted to keep the girls' home, but I can’t. They need to go back, and everything needs to look normal. Even if they’re not being tracked, I have little doubt they’re being watched.

About a thousand times today I’ve thought of different ways to kill JR. I’ve always known he’s not a saint, but endangering the girls is a whole new level of low. In my eyes, he’s little better than the human traffickers. I hope he has to stay in the witness protection program for the rest of his life.

I wrap my arms tighter around Wizard. As we round the curve, I spot four bikes in the drive and wonder who’s there. Ma will be thrilled. She loves company.

“I wonder who’s here?” I ask after we park.

“Havoc, Mayhem, Hollywood, and Preacher. I recognize their rides.”

“I should pay more attention.”

“Good detective skills.”

“Indeed,” I snort.

The front door, as expected, is unlocked. I hear sounds coming from the kitchen. Hand in hand, we walk into the kitchen. It’s wall to wall people.

“We need a bigger kitchen,” Pops says as we enter.

“I’ll include that in the house plans.”

“House plans?” Lucia asks.

Wizard nods. “Mmm hmm. Your mom agreed to be my ol’ lady last night. In the MC world, that's the same as being married. I figure we should build a big house here at the compound.”

That was news to me. I look up at him. He smiles sheepishly.

“We can talk about that after dinner.”

Wizard

DINNER WAS AMAZING, as always. Our guests are full, happy, and have leftovers. They understand we have a family tribunal to get to. We’re all sitting in the living room. The kitchen and dining room is spotless. Everything is put away where it belongs. The guys insisted on helping clean up. Something Valentina was grateful for since it was her job. The teen had been quiet since we arrived earlier.

“Everyone get settled,” Pops says. “We’re not using the ladle tonight. I’ll let you know if and when you get to speak. As patriarch of this family, I’ll lead the tribunal.

“We’re here tonight to first discuss Valentina’s actions. Then decide what her punishment should be before we move on to other pressing matters.

“Valentina, earlier today you put yourself in an untenable situation. You made Wizard uncomfortable and hurt your mother’s feelings. What was your intention?”

“To get him to see me. To break them up. I don’t know,” Valentina says, obviously frustrated. “He’s too young for Mom anyway.”

“That’s not your decision, young lady,” Regina says. “Your mother can date whom she chooses and I, for one, am pleased with her choice in Damien. After all the hell she’s been through, why don’t you want her to be happy?”

“Why should she be happy? It’s her fault dad left.”

“That’s not true,” Charlie says. “And it doesn’t matter. My marriage was just that, my marriage. It’s over. Your dad moved on and so have I. I found someone kind, caring, and willing to accept an entire family. He and his brothers took us in and kept us safe.

“As for punishment, I vote we take away all her privileges for the next week. In addition, she’ll write a two-thousand-word essay on why what she did was wrong. And whatever else the family thinks we should add. What you did was illegal and could have resulted in Wizard being arrested.”

Chapter 43

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