Page 53 of Broken Skulls

And now an entire club of bikers has been openly talking about him with me. I’m not quite sure how this happened.

There was a time when I thought maybe a demon had possessed my mind. That none of it was real. Maybe that’s how I survived it in the beginning, but then my pregnancy brought everything into reality. I can’t imagine what he would have done if he’d found out. Would he have killed me? Her? Or would he have kept us both locked away in his creepy house?

The hairs on my arm stand, and I shiver. The old dog lifts his head, giving me a nudge with his nose.

Jesse’s sister, Katie, walks in with three little girls. The oldest one waves to me as she passes through, happily skipping into the kitchen.

“I smell cookies,” she squeals.

Katie laughs. “Fuck yeah, Grandma Maggie is cooking.” She leans over and sets the other two little girls on the floor beside an old toy box. They both watch her like a hawk, making sure she doesn’t leave their sight.

“They’re my little koalas,” she tells me, joining them on the floor. Immediately, they both crawl onto her lap.

Willow gave me a rundown of all of the club members the other day, down to the two newest.

Katie is natural with them. I watch the three of them quietly, wondering if my little girl lucked out with the parents I chose for her. Katie calmly pulls a toy out of the box, gently encouraging the oldest child’s curiosity to dig through the toys herself. Eventually, the little girl leaves her lap and leans over the box. She giggles as she pulls out a baby doll in a pink dress. It simultaneously brings tears to my eyes and a small smile to my face. I hope my daughter had a mother as attentive.

The woman turns her attention to me once her girls are distracted. “Do you want me to do it?”

Jesse hears her from the kitchen. “Forget it, sister. If she doesn’t want to do it, we’re releasing JD on him.”

Katie snorts and rolls her eyes before turning them on me. “So, JD kidnapped you, huh?”

“Katie!” Jesse yells again from the kitchen.

This makes her chuckle. “Petey says that JD has lost his damn mind. I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming. Quiet guys like him are always the ones you’ve got to worry about.”

Grandma Maggie comes out and grabs her by the ear. “That’s quite enough, young lady. Go help your sister in the kitchen. The men will be here soon, and they’ll be hungry.”

She shoos her away as she pulls up a stool so she can take over watching the kids.

My gaze goes back to the clock. Jesse told me what happened when they went into Mr. Baxter’s house. When they found his studio. The paintings.

What must they all think of me? If they wondered why I kept quiet about Dr. Williams, they’re really going to wonder why I didn’t say anything about Mr. Baxter.

I didn’t even tell Dr. Williams about him.

Not about the paintings, or the bodies …

The old woman pats my face. “Honey, you need to breathe.” She smiles when my eyes begin to focus on her.

“They can’t bring him here,” I whisper, my eyes settling over the two little girls in the room.

Her gaze goes to them before resting back on me. She shivers as fear races up the old woman’s spine. She senses it. The way his evil still permeates my pores. A tear runs down her plump cheek.

“Okay, sweetie. Okay.”

She stands, leaving the girls alone with me. The oldest one smiles at me shyly before sticking her thumb in her mouth. I let out a little sigh of relief. They’re so little. I have to protect them. He can’t come here. My hand rubs over my stomach as the fear returns.

Jesse and Katie walk out of the kitchen. They both say “Hey, shh,” each coming to my side.

“I got ahold of the guys,” Jesse tells me. “We’re going to meet them at another location.”

Katie takes my hands in hers. “Thank you for worrying about my babies.”

I nod, my gaze going back to the little girls playing. Their biological father was evil too, and their mother died trying to protect them. They don’t need to be anywhere near another twisted man.

Chapter Twenty-Five

---