Page 101 of Never Trust the Living (Battle Crows MC 7)

Meaning, my head wasn’t on straight, I needed to get shit figured out, and I had a feeling that my depression was on a downward slide. As in, I was headed straight down into a slump if what I had a feeling was about to happen, happened.

“Sure.” He jerked his chin at the chair in front of him. “Have a seat. She’ll come out here. Two birds, one stone.”

I sat and waited for less than five minutes for the lawyer to come out.

According to the White Pages on Google, her name was Birdie John VanDerBeek. She was thirty-one and had been practicing law for five years.

She was a criminal defense attorney, but also did family law and end of life planning.

I was fairly sure that this certain instance equaled end of life planning if I’d ever categorized it.

“Hello,” she said softly, her eyes missing nothing. “Can I help you?”

I took her hand that she offered me, then dropped it the moment her brother set a shot of whiskey down in front of me.

After knocking it back, I turned to study her. “I need to do a last will and testament for myself.”

She blinked. “Um, okay. As in, right now?”

I thought about it. “Yes, right now. My wife is in the hospital in ICU and I’m fairly sure that she’s not going to make it.”

What I didn’t say was, ‘I’m not going to make it if she doesn’t make it,’ but the implications were quite clear.

“Okay,” she said in that quiet tone of hers. “Let me go get my papers. I’ll write down everything. Get it typed up, and you can look it over before you go. My brother can witness it and notarize it.”

So that was what we did. I gave information, she wrote it down, I gave her more.

Up until she asked me the most important question of all.

“Who do you want to have your son if you both die?” she asked.

I swallowed hard.

That was the worst question I’d ever been given in my life.

“Um,” I hesitated. “One of my brothers. Haggard is the oldest. But he’s the least likely to want a second baby in his life. Then there’s Price. But he has a problem listening to people chew. Then there’s Tide, but he’s a doctor, and he really doesn’t need to be adding my son to the mix when he has his own problems to deal with.” I hesitated again. “I could always give him to my uncle, who’d take him in a heartbeat, but his own wife has had a setback lately. So I really don’t want to add to their burdens.” I squinted my eyes. “My gut would say Shine. Let’s go with him.”

She paused. “Is Shine his real name?”

My brain was too foggy to remember correctly.

“Um, no.” I stopped. “That’s his club name. His real name is…” I stall. “Let me call him and find out.”

She waited patiently for me to do just that.

The first ring went unanswered. The second didn’t.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Shine snarled.

I smiled.

God, I loved my brother.

“I’m at the lawyer’s office drawing up my will and drinking myself into an unfeeling coma while I’m at it.” I hesitated. “What is your name?”

There was a long second of silence before Shine said, “What do you mean, what’s my name? Are you sure you’re okay? Where are you? I’ll come get you.”

I looked over at the lawyer who was smiling.

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