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She sighs and I can feel the wetness of her tears as they run down her face onto my chest. “This has to end soon Cooper. I want to be free from him and everything he has put me and the ones I love through.

As for John, wasn’t he being blackmailed by Michael? Maybe if I can talk to him? He was always nice to me.”

I hug her tight and step away to grab some clothes. I put them on, and then walk back to Bex, kiss her forehead, “Foxy, we need to go let Doc check us over. We’ll see what dad says about it in church. He has asked that you be there.” She nods as she gets some clothes to put on. I wait until she is ready, and then we walk down the hall to Doc’s exam room. Wolfe and Hawke are in here already. They are laying out some of the stuff that Doc is telling them that he needs. He looks up when he hears us enter.

“Good Lord, what was done to you?” he asks me as he looks me over.

“Oh, not much. He cut me, burns from a lighter, hit with a baseball bat, strung up like a damn pinata. Nothing that I couldn’t tolerate, except for Bex crying and screaming.” I tell him as he has me stand up against the board for an x-ray.

“Hmm, seems to me, that you’ll both be needing someone to talk to. And don’t hand me that shit like you did before about Marines not needing to talk. You’ll need to. PTSD is serious Tires. I don’t want you to regress to how you were when you first came home from your tour.” I look up at Doc and finally nod.

“I’ll talk to someone. Bex already has someone she talks to. I will see if she can work me in.” I say, Doc gives me a look, and then turns to the picture of the x-ray.

“Well you’re in luck. Your ribs aren’t broken, just bruised. Now let me put some ointment on your cuts and burns, and then we can all head to church.”

“What about Bex’s wrists?” I ask.

“Wolfe done took care of them. They were both cleaned out from where she twisted the rope and got loose. They cut her pretty good, but she won’t need stitches. He wrapped them up after putting ointment on her.” Doc says as he finishes with my cuts and burns. I put my tank top on, and we head to church.

Sixteen

Cooper

Bexley,Doc, Wolfe, Hawke, and I walk into church to see Tech being tossed into a chair. I start when Cotton jumps in front of me and gives me a hug. I hug him back. “Brother, I’m so happy that you weren’t at the garage when this happened. We would be having a funeral for two.” I whisper in his ear. “Do we know why the prospects weren’t there?” Cotton looks at me and shakes his head no. I nod. “We’ll talk about fixing it up later. So, what’s up with Tech?” I ask.

“I think we are all about to find that out, Bro. He is in some kind of trouble though according to what Saige and Lynch found.” He says. I nod and we head over to the table. I sit and pull Bexley into the chair beside me. Dad stands at the table, gives me a look over and nods, then bangs the gavel.

“We’re here because of what happened to Tires to Bexley. Michael is dead. I feared we were going to have trouble with his brother John the senator. But he sent this message to me, it is being reported to all the news stations that he died in a hunting accident, and he also said that there will be no retaliation on his part. He also said to give Bexley his apologies for all his brother has put her through and for not stopping it. He has money from Michael’s account transferred to you for compensation, he says that he knows it will never be enough to cover what was done to you, but to do with it what you will. Now let’s get to this other business. Tech! Would you like to explain to me why you have betrayed for us?”

I look from my dad to Tech who is now squirming in his chair. The door opens and Commander Thomas walks in with two other officers. Tech squirms even more. “I’m so sorry Stone. I had no choice. He has my niece. I was to hack into the cameras at the garage and the police station, make sure he wasn’t seen, I was to ghost him if he was on film. I tried to keep Lynch and Saige out of my room for an hour so that I could do so, but they pushed their way in. They got to the station and that system before I could get completely done, and Lynch kicked me out of the system. I don’t know if Richard knows about this yet. If he does, he will kill my niece! She is only ten!”

We all sit in shock for a moment. To take a child hostage, threaten to kill them is horrendous. But how did he know about Grange being with Tonya? That wasn’t something that wasn’t disgusted with the club. “Tech, how long have you been doing things for him?” I ask.

He looks at me, “Since we got Saige and Bexley back. Richard sent me videos of my niece. I had to do it to save her. I hacked into yours, Saige’s, Stone’s, Cotton’s, and Bexley’s phones. I knew everything that was going to happen and when. I called off the prospects at the garage. Told them you decided not to open, that you were sick. They believed me. I set them off to do some measly task. I also had to find a place for him to take y’all too. I’m so sorry. My niece, he’ll kill her.” He cries.

I look around the table and see mixed emotions. “You knew he was going to kill Tonya and Grange. You knew he was going to kidnap us. Why not come to us about your niece in the first place? You know we would have done everything in our power to save her. It’s what we do! Why not come to us!?” Stone pounds the table as he asks. Tech looks at him, tears running down his face.

“Because I don’t trust you to help me get my niece back. All you have cared about is your precious daughter and son. You believed me at every turn and never questioned me about anything. All I had to do was erase the tapes and I would have her back. Michael would have Bexley and I would have my niece.”

I look at him pissed and I stand up, “You would let that man murder me and Bexley?”

Tech looks at me, “I would let him murder everyone here, so long as I got my niece back alive!”

I watch as dad punches him. “You damn fool!!! Did you really watch the videos that he sent you of your niece? Did you even analyze them? Because Lynch did. They are pieced together. They aren’t real! Commander Thomas went to your sisters house. Your niece is home with her sick with the flu. They are now in protective custody until we get Richard. As for you, you will be stripped of your cut. Your belongings will be left with your sister. Your computer system wiped completely clean, and you will be serving time in jail. You will never be a part of this club again; you will not be addressed by any of us. As far as we are concerned, you no longer exist.” Dad says to him, in menacing tone.

Tech looks up at the table and no one will make eye contact with him. Commander Thomas walks forward and takes him into custody. As they are walking out the door Tech shouts at us, “You will never see him or me coming at you! You made a huge mistake today!” We all watch as Tech is lead out of the room. Cruz follows to make sure they get him in the cruiser and taken away. I look at Bexley and see that she is crying.

Saige stands up, “Father, Lynch has asked you to transfer here. Why don’t we let him clean up the computer system, and take over the technical stuff? You know we can trust him.”

Dad looks at her then to Lynch. “Do you think you can get it done soon, erasing everything he has done?”

Lynch looks at Dad, “Yes, in fact I had started it after we left the police station and I had copied everything. Once it’s erased, I will destroy his hard drives. Nothing will remain. I think everyone here should all get new phones. It would be the best bet. Destroy the ones you have now. And the best news of all, I know where to find Richard.”

With that everyone cheers. Saige smiles and signs to me, ‘Love you brother. We will get this man, and everything will be right again. Bex will be safe.’ I smile at her. Saige is a lot smarter than people think. I don’t know if she asked Lynch to stay here, or if he asked to transfer on his own. I’m glad though.

I sign back to Sis, ‘Who is going to be over the Nomads now?’

‘Lynch has asked Bear to take over. He took it.’ She signs. I nod. Bear will be good leader to the nomads. I look over to Bex by my side and see that she is barely holding her eyes open. I know how she feels. Dad calls end to church and I take Bex back to our room here. I lock the door, strip her clothes off then mine. I lay her down on the bed, kiss her, pull the covers up, and we are both out as soon as I pull her to me so that I can hold her close.