Page 64 of Sabre’s Guard
Linsey melts into my side but Noah is still stiff. It takes him a second to blink and then to relax just a little. Then he asks without looking at me, “The brothers came for us, right?”
“Yes, of course. The whole club is here. Every single brother came.”
Finally, Noah snaps out of it and lets his small body relax. “I knew you’d come,” Noah whispers against my chest. “I told Mom. I told her the brothers wouldn’t let us down.”
“You made it easy for us by leavin’ one hell of a trail.”
When Noah pulls back he’s smiling and more like his old self. “I was thinking on my feet. Sergeant Rock said that’s one of the first things a good soldier learns on field maneuvers.”
“Sergeant Rock sure has a lot to say for a comic book hero,” I deadpan back.
I check them over for injuries. I’m gonna have a word with him about those knives, but for now I’m just so relieved he and his mom are safe.
My hand moves low on Linsey’s stomach before I can stop it.
She freezes and looks up at me. She can tell by my intense gaze that I know she’s carrying my child.
“You looked in my purse, didn’t you?” Her voice is part laugh and part worry.
“Everything fell out on the seat, including the test strip.”
“Wait. What’s a test strip? Is my mom sick?” Noah’s serious voice cuts through whatever brief conversation we were going to have.
Linsey’s head whips around to stare at him. “No. Of course not. Where did you get that?”
He asks again, “What is a test strip? It sounds like a medical thing.”
Linsey is struggling to find the words, so I go ahead and explain it to him. “It’s a pregnancy test strip. It was positive. That means I’m about to be a dad for the second time and you’re about to be a big brother for the first time.”
Noah gazes up at me with a confused expression on his face. “The second time? You’ve got a kid? Why didn’t you tell me? Can I play with them?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s you, buddy. You’re my first kid.”
That’s when Noah launches himself at me. I wrap him up in my arms, knowing this wasn’t the best time or place to have this conversation.
I add gently, “That’s if you’ll have me for a dad.”
“Yeah, of course I will. I’ll be a good big brother. I’ll be their protector, I swear.”
Linsey reaches out to rub his back. “I know that you will. You handled this situation like a champ. But we probably need to have a conversation about you having real knives.”
“I won’t do that again,” he says. Adding in a quiet whisper, “Unless I have to.”
“We can talk about this later. Let’s head downstairs. I think the police are here.”
Linsey’s father is waiting in the front room when we come downstairs. He’s the only one of them still standing. The room is secure, and the rest of the men are restrained in rows beneath the supervision of my brothers. Siege and Rigs are talking with two detectives, while several members of the sheriff’s department start handcuffing and taking out the men one by one.
When Gerald sees Linsey and Noah walking beside me, he draws himself up and speaks in the same voice he probably used from a pulpit.
“That woman is my daughter, and that boy is my grandson. They need to go with my wife. No law gives criminals authority over a man’s family.”
“I know you actually believe all the stupid shit you say, but none of that is true. You don’t get to traffic your daughter and call it family values.”
Detective Harper walks over from talking to Siege. “That’s enough. You have the right to remain silent…” We all stand there listening to Gerald get read his Miranda rights. It’s much less satisfying than I thought it would be. After seeing Noah trembling and my old lady bruised, nothing will make this right in my own mind. The minute he gets out of jail, he’s gonna find me waiting on him.
Two deputies bring Linsey’s mother from the kitchen with her hands cuffed in front of her. Linsey steps into her path. I stay close enough to protect her while leaving room for whatever she needs to say.
“They made me do it,” her mother begins. “You know what your father is like. I didn’t have a choice. I was trying to save you.”
