Page 9 of Shank's Tricky Situation

“Threatenin’ her life, our sons life, and I don’t even know what else. He wanted her to abort my fuckin’ kid. After less than about a year, Calla disappeared and had the baby and kept on movin’ so her father wouldn’t find her. Or the men he’s had tailin’ her. They watch her every fuckin’ move and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it until I get all the information I need. If I make any mistakes, it could come back on the two of them and it’s the last thing I’ll allow to happen.”

“That right there is why I know you’ll get past your anger and hurt toward Calla keepin’ your boy from you. You don’t want anythin’ to happen to her. If she were just a baby mama, you’d care, but not to that extent. I know you too well to realize that as anythin’ but the truth. Shank, you don’t let a ton of people in. Boxer is one of the few who truly knows you here at the clubhouse. I’m the one who sits back and watches. That’s how I know who you truly are. Calla is the only other person I believe you’ve ever let in your life. No one would think any less of you forgivin’ her for that. I know I sure as fuck won’t. I’d fuckin’ admire you,” Sabotage tells me honestly.

“Every man and woman in this room would think highly of you for forgivin’ Calla and movin’ forward with your life,” Lash speaks up. “I will say, the next time Calla comes to this fuckin’ clubhouse, she better have a better reception than what you all gave her last night. While you weren’t rude or cold, you didn’t make her feel very welcome either. Especially the ol’ ladies sittin’ here with us tonight.”

“We didn’t know if she was just some random woman who was here for some reason,” Bronwan says, her voice barely above a whisper. “We’re careful about who we let in and it’s the first time we’ve ever seen Shank with a woman at his side. Now, we kind of know the situation so we can make amends with Calla and bring her into the fold. I’m sorry, Shank. I’ll make sure to apologize to her the next time I see her.”

“I appreciate it, Bronwan. I’m just not sure if Calla will come over here again anytime soon. There’s a lot goin’ on with her and I’m not sure if she’s ready to step in here again. I’m sure you’ll see Zane before you do her.”

“We’ll make sure it happens sooner rather than later,” Hartley states, looking at the rest of the ol’ ladies as they all nod in response.

I sit back in my chair and push thoughts of Calla and Zane out of my mind. Tonight she’s working the overnight shift so I can’t see my boy or Calla. She was going to bring him back to the clubhouse and instead remembered she had to work late. Now, I’m sitting here alone and don’t know what to do with myself. Even after a day of my son being in my life, I already know I don’t ever want to give him up for any reason. I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep seeing him.

I’m still sitting in the common room with a few of the guys. None of us are drinking or anything for some reason. I’ve got a horrible feeling in my gut and wonder what’s going on. We haven’t really had anything going on with the club since our last shit, but that’s not to say there’s not something we don’t know about coming our way. Or, it could have something to do with Calla and my son. I go to pull my phone out of my pocket just as it starts vibrating. Pulling it out quick as fuck, I look down to see Calla’s name on the screen. Why would she be calling me when she’s at work?

“Calla, what’s wrong?” I answer the phone, my gut seizing up with the thought of something being wrong with her or Zane.

For what feels like forever, the only sound I can hear from the other end is Calla crying and trying to catch her breath. My fear level shoots sky high as I jump from the table and everyone around me immediately stops moving and keeps their eyes on me.

“Calla, I need you to tell me what’s goin’ on, baby. Are you okay? Is Zane okay?” I ask her, my voice cold as fuck because I don’t have a clue what’s going on right now.

“B-B-Billy, I-I-I need you,” she finally manages to stammer out. “It’s Zane. S-S-Someone took him from the house.”

“What?” I roar out as pain like I’ve never felt before fills me.

“My friend called me and told me she was just waking back up after being attacked in my house. She purposely took a nap so she wouldn’t go to sleep when she was with Zane. That’s what she always does. When she went to check on Zane, he wasn’t in his room. She called me immediately after talking to the police. Now, I’m telling you. I don’t know what to do, Billy. Our son is gone. My father took him. He told me I was going to keep paying for seeing you and I didn’t believe him. Now, Zane is the one paying for me going against his wishes,” Calla tells me, her voice breaking and wavering with all the emotions she’s feeling right now.

“Baby, you stay at work. I’m gonna work shit on my end and give you an update the second we know anythin’. Are you sure your father is the one who has him?” I question her as the rest of the guys close in on me with the exception of Sabotage. He races toward Zeus’ room and I know it’s just a matter of time before he’s out here to find out what the fuck needs to be done to find my son and bring him home where he belongs.

“I don’t know if they’re gonna let me stay here, Billy. My boss is already pissed at me and worried I’m gonna bring trouble to the door where innocent lives could be hurt or worse.”

“We’ll go over that as soon as we can, Calla. For now, you stay there as long as you can. If the cops come to talk to you, tell them any and all information you have. I don’t want you holdin’ a fuckin’ thing back from them. If you do get sent home, you come to the fuckin’ clubhouse. Don’t go to your house for any reason. I will make sure you two have everythin’ you need or want. I don’t know that you’re goin’ back to that house, Calla. It’s clearly not safe for either one of you,” I order her, not sure if she’s even comprehending the words coming out of my mouth right now. Personally, I can barely think or anything but my son being taken from us.

“I don’t want to go to the clubhouse, Billy. No one wants me there. It was made clear the other night. I’ll be fine going home. Or maybe I’ll go to Heather’s house. She’s a wreck right now and is taking this hard. She’ll be discharged from the hospital soon. They brought her in because she was pretty banged up from the attack,” Calla says as I hear someone coming up to her in the background. “I gotta go, Billy.”

Calla hangs up the phone and I stand there staring at it as if it’s a foreign object I’ve never seen before. It’s not until someone comes up and places their hand on my shoulder that I snap out of the haze that’s quickly trying to suck me back down again.

“What’s goin’ on, Shank?” Boxer questions me. I didn’t even know he’d gotten back from the hospital.

“My son. Someone took my son. Calla’s at work tonight. Her friend was watchin’ him. Someone came in and attacked her. When she woke up, Zane was gone. Calla is positive her father is the one who has him and I can’t say that I don’t disagree with that. He’s been threatenin’ her and beatin’ her for years. I don’t honestly know how long. So, what I need to do right now, is go find my fuckin’ son. I just got him and I can’t fuckin’ lose him already,” I tell my best friend as my voice breaks and I collapse to the floor.

Boxer follows me down as I break apart in his arms. I don’t give a fuck who sees me crying, screaming, or anything else I’m doing right now. The only thing that matters is me getting this emotion out so I can focus on the job at hand. Right now, I can barely hear anything going on around me. There’s people talking, but I have no clue what they’re saying. I don’t even know what Boxer’s saying and he’s right next to me. Everything is fucking gibberish and sounds foreign. The only thing I can hear is my heart beat pounding in my ears.

“Shank!” Boxer finally yells in my face. It’s just enough to pull me out of my head and snap me out of the shit keeping me from being in the moment.

“I gotta get him back, Boxer. I didn’t know how much I loved him until I knew there was a possibility of him not bein’ in my life anymore.”

“Shank, I got some information that might help us to find your son and bring him home. Calla’s father has a second home in his name. It’s on the outskirts of town up in the mountains. He barely uses it and uses it mainly for a tax write off. Let’s big name assholes rent the place out for shit we more than likely won’t approve of. I say we start there and move on if it turns up nothin’,” Zeus tells us all, his voice my entire focus.

“You got the blueprints already?” I ask him, knowing how thorough the man is when he gets set on digging up information on someone or something.

“I do. There’s one way in and out of the house. It’s more a large cabin than anythin’ else. There’s a ton of trees surroundin’ the cabin and not many windows at all. What I do know is that it’s gonna be easy to surround since there’s only one entrance or exit. I don’t see a basement on the blueprints and it’s only one level. The bedrooms and bathroom are the only areas with doors. Everythin’ else is an open floor plan. As long as the asshole doesn’t get past us, we’ll be able to bring him in and hopefully take the fuckin’ trash out once and for all,” Zeus tells us all as everyone else surrounds the table he’s at and looks over the blueprints.

“Shank, you’re between Boxer and Talon at all times. I don’t want you to fuckin’ leave their sight for any reason. You go off half-cocked and there’s a chance Zane can get hurt. That’s the last thing any of us want,” Lash states, his voice hard and cold as he switches from a brother to President mode. “Everyone, I want you to gather up your weapons and anythin’ else you need. We’re takin’ Shank’s truck and two vans. I don’t want to take our bikes because it’s too fuckin’ cold out there. Zane needs all the protection he can get and that’s what we’re gonna give him.”

We all nod in response as Boxer follows me from the room. I grab what I need from my room. His room is right by mine and that’s the only time he leaves me. Once I’m ready to go, I make sure my phone is in my pocket in case Calla calls or anything else. I send her a quick message to let her know we might have a lead and that I’ll update her as soon as possible. There’s no way in fuck I’m getting her hopes up for no reason at all. I’d rather give her the bare minimum details instead of telling her something that might be a lie.

Chapter Eight

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