Page 6 of Demo

“She just left our house.” Hannigan looked sheepish as he admitted, “She needs help. Financially, I mean. Her clinic is not bringing in enough revenue. She’s swimming in debt Richard left behind.” He swallowed hard, cheeks reddening. “Cindy and I are barely getting by ourselves. As much as I want to help her, I can’t. I offered for them to sell the house and move in with us, but her house has negative equity with the second mortgage. Selling it wouldn’t help her. Plus, our house is small. We have a very small guest room. It would be doable only in the short term.”

Demo didn’t look away from Hannigan but heard Keys’ fingers on his laptop’s keyboard behind him. He schooled his features to give nothing away, though inside he was deeply confused. Keys and Demo had set up a recurring monthly system for Paige Hannigan to be receiving a couple thousand dollars. She was depositing the checks, because it would have flagged Keys’ system if she didn’t. But if she was taking the money, why was she in such debt? Where was that money going?

Hopefully Keys would be able to answer some of those questions once Hannigan left. No one in the club wanted Hannigan to know Paige was getting money from them. While Hannigan had selflessly given up his life savings to help get his son out of debt with a cartel loan shark, no one believed he had a right to any of the money the club had stolen back to help the victims of the cartel’s human trafficking scheme or the two rape victims of Deputy Mark Connelly. Recently, Keys had taken funds belonging to a one-percenter motorcycle club in Pittsburgh, the Black Pythons. That money also helped their victims, as well as a large donation to a rehab center in Alexandria for the club women who had been hooked on drugs.

Steel’s face betrayed none of his knowledge about Paige’s situation. “I fail to see what Mrs. Hannigan’s finances have to do with us.”

“You have pull in this community. Help her get some business to her clinic.” Hannigan’s voice was turning frantic, almost pleading. Demo saw Lucky’s concern increase, though he continued to allow Steel to take the lead. “Maybe host a fundraiser for her. Anything to help out is better than nothing.”

Demo tried to think back to the last time he’d seen Paige. Over the summer, she’d been around during some of the women’s ol’ lady get-togethers. The patched members would take the kids for the day or afternoon while the women had a carefree day to do as they wished—most of that time included wine, snacks, and a lot of giggling. Lucky would occasionally bring his nephews, Nelson and Michael, which meant Paige was with the ol’ ladies. Despite the name of their gathering, it was for more than just the ol’ ladies of the club members. Female family and friends of the ol’ ladies were also included.

Hell, evenCagecalled himself Angel’s ol’ lady and would hang out with the women while Angel went off with her club brothers and the club kids. He originally did it as a joke, but now was an honorary ol’ lady despite being a patched member. Demo had a feeling he also did it because calling himself her ol’ lady never failed to bring a smile to Angel’s face.

Love had a funny way of changing a man. Not that Demo knew from experience, but he’d seen it enough times in his life to know the truth of the statement. Some men thought that love made them weaker—and it did. But Demo had also seen the strength the love of a good woman gave a man. Looking around the clubhouse, his eyes fell on Steel, Lucky, Bulldog, Bear, and Jumper. Men who would do,had done, anything for their wives.

Demo had witnessed the pain and the suffering Bulldog had endured when his Abby had returned to him broken and abused. At first, Demo had pitied him, thinking that his intense love for Abby made him seem wounded. How could loving a woman so much be a good thing? If Bulldog lost Abby a second time, it would have destroyed him.

Like it had Demo’s dad.

Demo quickly pushed that train of thought away. Bulldog hadn’t lost Abby. She was alive and healing, getting stronger every day. There was nothingweakabout Bulldog. His love for his wife and children had only made him a better man.

But was that love worth the risk of losing it?

Steel started speaking again, and Demo forced himself to concentrate on his President’s words rather than his childhood memories. “I feel for Mrs. Hannigan, but I still do not understand what this has to do with us?—”

“Her parents are threatening to take the boys!” the former sheriff shouted. There was a desperation in Hannigan’s voice that did not match his words.

Clearly, Steel picked up on it too. “Why would her parents do that?”

Hannigan shook his head. “You don’t know her parents or the havoc they bring with them.” Hannigan ran a hand down his haggard face. “I’ve fucked up a lot in my life. Richard is dead because of me, I know that. You’ll never understand the pain that knowledge inflicts on me daily. But I have to make this right, Steel. I have to protect my grandsons. If they… If the boys are taken… There’s a reason Paige went no-contact with her family years ago. You don’t know what they’re like. You don’t understand what they’ll do to the boys, what they’ll turn them into.”

Steel’s eyes flew to Keys behind Demo. Out of the corner of his eye, Demo saw Keys lift his chin to Steel in acknowledgement before returning his attention to his computer.

Through all their dealings with cleaning up Richard Hannigan’s crimes, Demo could not recall seeing anything about Paige Hannigan’s side of the family. But above the anxiety and shame Hannigan was portraying, his biggest emotion was fear. Something about Paige’s family made the former sheriffafraid.

Demo shifted in his seat. His arm tapped the side of the bar and pain shot up to his shoulder. He had to bite back a hiss of pain, as well as keep his right hand from going to the healed wound. His eyes met Bulldog’s from across the room and he saw his SAA’s eyes narrow on his shoulder.

Demo forced himself to look away, ignoring Bulldog’s concern. He wasfine.

“What do you mean?” Steel asked Hannigan without drawing any more attention to Keys. His voice deepened in anger. If there was one thing Steel would not stand for, it was women and children being threatened or harmed.

“They’re awful people. Paige hated growing up in that house. Her birth father died when she was three and her mom remarried. I don’t know all of the details but she told Cindy that her stepdad and stepbrother were horrible to her growing up. Not physically abusive, but mentally. Always putting her down. She was never good enough, never smart enough.” Hannigan shook his head. “I know what you think of me, Steel. Believe me, it’s no worse than I think of myself. I failed my son, but I refuse to fail my grandsons. Which is why I’m here, begging for your help. I no longer have the means to do so myself.”

Steel was silent for a long time. Then, finally, he nodded. “We’ll see what we can do.”

Though his answer was noncommittal, Demo knew his President would not allow anything to happen to Paige or her sons.

The VDMC officerssat around the long conference table. Keys set up his laptops and various equipment in front of him while Demo placed his trusty pad and pen before him. As soon as Hannigan had left, Steel ordered them upstairs.

Steel wasted no time getting to the point. “I thought we were sending her money each month?”

“We are,” Demo and Keys said together. Demo nodded for Keys to continue, since he was the one with the more accurate information in front of him. “She’s depositing the checks each month,” Keys informed them without looking away from his computer screens. His eyes were squinted as they darted around between devices, his fingers dancing across the keyboard like spider legs. “However, about four months ago, she started putting the funds into a savings account instead of her checking account. Once the checks are deposited, she never withdraws the funds. I don’t understand why. She has close to fifteen-thousand dollars just sitting there.”

Steel looked to Lucky on his right. “Has she said anything to you or Harper?”

Lucky shook his head. “We haven’t seen them since before the holidays. She was invited to dinner here with us on Christmas Day but chose to remain at home. I think Harper said something about wanting a day with the boys without the ‘festive hubbub’.”

Demo could understand that. The holidays were certainly a time for stress and not relaxation. He did not understand why so much time and effort were put into them when the end result was always too much exhaustion and a lot of holiday weight. Maybe he would feel differently if he had a wife and kids to spend the time with, but those were his current opinions.

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