Page 17 of Selah's Wish

“Why’s that?” Dragon asks, his eyebrows raised high into his forehead. “We’ve had a decent, workable relationship with Chief Matthews since he took office.”

“I agree that he’s been a good guy and has turned a blind eye to some of your less than lawful dealings in town, but it’s the fact that he’s so squeaky clean that one would think he didn’t exist before taking office in Cedar Creek.”

“What’s that mean?” Butcher asks, pulling me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me into his chest. “Does he not have a paper trail?”

Nestling deep into my old man, I convey, “He does, but it’s the basics. School transcripts, a driver's license that he didn’t obtain until he was older, those types of things.”

“Only enough to make him seem legit,” Brick sighs out. “Does he have any medical files to trace back to his childhood?”

“Nothing,” I confess. “No shot records, no broken bones, nothing that your typical boy has in his background. That’s what makes him suspicious to me. It’s like somebody thought him up and made him magically appear.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve got a skunk burrowing in the closet, waiting for the right time to perfume, and take the town as well as its inhabitants down with its stench,” RiffRaff supplies, rubbing his hand over his scruffy jaw as he considers what he wants to say. “Something stinks where he’s concerned.”

“I still have a program running a background check on him and a few of his deputies I find suspicious.” I let them know. “I agree with RiffRaff, the odor reeks to high heaven in that station. There’s more going on there than the eye can see.”

“We need to give those names to our contacts in the alphabet agency,” Butcher insists. “If anyone can figure out who they are and what they’re up to, it’s them.”

“Unless they’re not who we think they are, and they’re working against us,” Dragon spits out.

I shake my head before interjecting, “They’re legit and on our side. Beast, Hawg, and I have done a thorough search on them. Whereas they may not be thrilled to be working with us, they know it's a necessary thing. We both have the same objective. They’re aware of the fact that they can’t get rid of the foulness in the agency without our help.”

“We know they’re the good guys because they’ve sent us some intel that should’ve been blacked out,” Hawg inserts. “That’s how we found out that they’ve been shipping cargo overseas.”

“Cargo,” Butcher grits out, grinding his teeth. “What he means is they’re shipping people across the ocean so we can’t rescue them.”

“That terminology helps us digest the information easier, biker man,” I say, consoling him by patting his hand that’s laid over my belly.

After bringing Gabriel and Hannah home, alongside Moira, he’s been sensitive to the predicament these innocent people find themselves in. Most of their victims not having a voice in the matter. They’ve been ripped off the streets or stolen from their beds. If the community finds someone they want for their cause, they don’t ask permission—they take.

“We’re playing a game of chess and need to determine our next move,” Brick states, sighing as he crouches down in his seat.

“First things first,” Dragon says, his lips lifting in a snarl. “We bring Joceline and the kids here. Ensure their safety, then we start moving the rest of our pieces around.”

“Check and mate,” Wrecker snickers. The smile on his face tells me that we’re making the right decisions.

“Well, fellas. It looks like it’s time for me to pack my bags, pick up my lady, and hit the road,” RiffRaff reveals as he stands up and walks away without another word spoken.

“What lady?” I ask, my head canted to the side. This is the first I’m hearing about RiffRaff having a woman in his life.

“Don’t worry, sis. He hasn’t been ready to share her yet, but when they get back, I have a feeling they won’t be able to stay away from each other,” Wrecker says as he stands up and leaves.

“That didn’t answer my question,” I mumble underneath my breath. The guys laugh at me and my need to solve puzzles before they abandon Butcher and me. I cross my arms over my chest and pout. “Sharing is caring.”

“Babe. Give them a break, huh? Some ladies need to be slowly introduced into this madness,” Butcher acknowledges. “I have a feeling his woman has been sheltered and has an opinion of how MCs are run. She most likely has watched some shows that depict us as horndogs that do nothing but drink and fuck in public.”

“I mean, that’s not too far off from the truth,” I tease him.

“That depends on how adventurous our woman is,” he says, nipping the lobe of my ear with his blunt teeth. Shivers race up and down my spine when his heated breath hits my neck.

“I think an open field, with no spectators, is as adventurous as I’m willing to get,” I breathlessly admit.

“Seeing as I don’t want anybody but me to see you without clothes on, I agree with that,” he confides.

“Good to know, biker man.”

We sit there for another twenty minutes, simply existing and enjoying it being the two of us before we decide it’s time to grab the kids from the playroom and head home.

FOURTEEN

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