Page 3 of The Penitentiary (Ghost Seekers Inc. #1)

“Diaz will be back soon. It’s the guys’ turn to make lunch. We use the tour bus as a home base. Sunny and I sleep in the RV. Want to come and see it?” I asked Madi awkwardly.

Madi was so elegant that I often felt clumsy next to her.

She had a thing for the nineteen-twenties, as did her cousins, and they all dressed in clothing from that era.

And it suited Madi completely. Today, she wore a blue day dress with a peacock-green coat.

Her hat perched on top of her curls, and she had matching gloves.

“Yes! Damn, I don’t know if I’m more excited about investigating or the RV,” Madi exclaimed.

“Really? The RV?” I asked as Madi linked arms with me and we walked away.

“Yeah! Honestly, I was dreading staying in a boring hotel room. I wanted the entire experience, and you’re giving it to me. I can’t say thank you enough!” Madi explained.

Madi’s happy energy was catching, and I grinned as I opened the RV’s door.

“Come into my parlour!” I teased, and Madi bounced up the steps, and I followed, smiling. This might work out after all.

Sunny

“Come on, we’re on lunch duty,” I said to Levi, who snorted.

“Putting me to work already?”

“You haven’t got a clue, brother,” I replied, and he hadn’t. I’d wait till he saw the miles of wiring, sockets, and everything else.

I headed onto the tour bus, and Levi whistled.

“This is some luxurious shit.”

“Callie insisted on the best for the team. Phil, Freddie, Jack, and Harry sleep here. Diaz, Solace, Ashford, and Merrick also do.”

“It’s a beast,” Levi said, eyeing the double-decker tour bus. “How does it handle?”

“Believe it or not, it’s easier than the RV to drive,” I replied, and Levi chuckled.

“Damn, Callie didn’t scrimp on the pennies.” Levi whistled again as we entered deeper.

The upper deck of the bus was split into ten bedrooms and three bathrooms. Downstairs were two more bathrooms, a generous kitchen area and a separate living area, which took up a third of the floor space.

There were also two small offices. One belonged to Phil for editing his footage, and the other Harry used for research.

It was luxurious, and we all appreciated it. No bedbug-ridden hotel beds for us.

The luggage compartments under the bus held furniture for the summer and a grill, which only took ten minutes to put up. The guys also stored their seasonal clothing there. Summer clothes in the winter and vice versa. It saved space in their bedrooms, which weren’t exactly large.

Levi wandered around as I pulled the fixings out for sandwiches.

Callie had insisted on a full-sized refrigerator and freezer being installed.

She rightfully guessed nobody wanted to go shopping on a daily basis, especially when coming off a long night shift.

Unlike many ghost-hunting teams, Callie didn’t clock off at two or three a.m.—no, she kept going until dawn.

And even during the day when we slept, the cameras continued rolling.

Needless to say, Phil had a tough job editing.

“Damn, Sunny, this is better than a house,” Levi stated, coming back down the stairs.

“Thank Callie for that! This wasn’t my idea. If I’d had my way, we’d have stayed in hotels.” I laughed.

“Wanna say thanks for this. It means a lot. Brother, it’s not common knowledge—the club knows—but Madi had a miscarriage six weeks ago,” Levi announced softly.

The knife I was holding clattered to the worktop as I dropped it and turned around. My gut clenched when I witnessed the sorrow in Levi’s eyes. He relaxed the false act he’d been putting on and let me see his grief.

“Shit, man,” I said, moving and clasping his shoulder.

“Madi should have been safe; she was eighteen weeks. Fuck, Sunny, we saw the baby. She was fully formed, had fingers and toes and everything,” Levi whispered brokenly. He ducked his head into my shoulder, seeking comfort.

“Fuckin’ surprised you’re functioning, brother,” I murmured as my tee became wet. Levi didn’t raise his head from where it lay on my chest, and I knew he was crying. It wasn’t our way to comment, so I stayed where I was. If Levi needed to grieve, then I was only too willing to help him.

“I had to get Madi away. Tamsin just announced she was pregnant, and it nearly killed her,” Levi muttered.

Shit, I could only imagine. Tamsin was one of Madisen’s cousins, and they were incredibly close.

“Who’s looking after Lily and DJ?” I asked, referring to Levi and Madisen’s kids.

Lily had been born in June twenty-twenty-two, and DJ arrived October twenty-twenty-three.

Levi had been one of those who’d knocked his old lady up before the war.

Between Rage MC and Hellfire, their part of South Dakota had experienced a baby boom.

“Derek has them, with Brandi, Cami, and Tamsin. Madi didn’t trust Derek not to tie them up in the backyard,” Levi snorted and pulled away. He wiped tears from his eyes, and I reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

“Damn, you dumped them on Derek?” The head of the McKenzie family popped into my mind, and I winced.

Derek ran the biggest crime family in Florida, and I’d never seen him in anything but a designer suit.

I couldn’t imagine the immaculate man with two kids, who were often snotty, wet, and smelly!

It was a well-known secret in the club that Madisen was his baby sister, but nobody would ever spill the beans.

“Yeah. Madi broke a fortnight ago. Derek cleared his schedule and flew down. We came up with this plan to distract her. Knowing she had this helped her a bit,” Levi explained.

I felt like shit for complaining about them coming. But there was a problem… “Levi, Callie is pregnant. Is that going to upset Madisen?” I asked gently.

“Chance announced it a few weeks ago when you told Clio. Madi knows, and I think she’ll be okay. Callie’s three months, which is less than what Madisen was,” Levi replied.

“Brother, I haven’t got the words to express my sympathy,” I murmured.

“It seems selfish as we’ve still got Lily and DJ. But Sunny, you should have seen her. She was a fully formed baby. That’s what broke us the worst, ya know?”

“I get it, brother. Something like that isn’t easy to recover from,” I agreed.

Levi and Madi had to be devastated. And woe betide anyone who told them they were young enough to have another. Fuckin’ idiots. Another baby wouldn’t bring the one they lost back.

“I’ll ensure Madi is in the thick of things,” I promised.

“Thanks, brother, we both could use the distraction.”

“In that case, start buttering this fuckin’ bread. I can’t spread butter for some damn reason!” I retorted, and Levi offered a weak laugh.

Callie

“I love this; it’s great,” Madisen said as she sat on the couch. “Who does most of the driving?”

“We take turns. Sunny helps with other stuff on the team, so it frees him up,” I replied.

“I’m surprised he lets you drive.”

“Sunny doesn’t have a choice.” I laughed.

Madi smiled weakly, and I knew something was up. Providing emotional support was well out of my comfort zone, but there was an aura of grief around Madi that was almost painful.

“Are you okay, Madi?” I asked delicately.

“Callie…” She sighed. “I miscarried a baby girl six weeks ago. I was eighteen weeks pregnant and should have been out of danger, but wasn’t.”

“Oh, Madi!” I exclaimed as my palm went to my own bump. I immediately removed my hand as I realised what I’d done, but Madi stopped me.

“Callie, don’t feel guilty for checking your baby is still there. I guess it’s selfish of me because I have Lily and DJ, but this baby was so wanted.”

“I’m not sure what to say, Madi. We all know I’m kinda emotionally stunted.

But I’m so sorry; my heart bleeds for you.

” “Thanks, babe.” “You and Levi are such excellent parents. Your grief must be huge. I’m no good with emotions, but I am a great listener,” I offered, feeling inadequate.

Nothing would make this better for Madi.

Madi forced a smile. “This week has actually got me out of my funk. I’m tired of idiots telling me I’m young enough to have another, or it was only a foetus!

She wasn’t just a damn foetus, she was my baby girl.

Levi had nicknamed her Bean, and he used to talk to my tummy, so she’d hear his voice.

And all the bullshit, time heals, shit. The pain is getting worse each day because I understand how the pregnancy should have been progressing. ”

“Fuck anyone who says that crap to you!” I exclaimed. “How dare they!”

“I know, right?”

“Jesus Madi, get Levi to kick their ass,” I snapped, and Madi laughed before sobering.

“Levi’s hurting too, but he’s burying it to help me.” “Did you name her? Bury her?” I asked, unsure if I was asking the correct thing.

Madi nodded. “We called her Mary, and we insisted she was buried. Usually, the hospital cremates foetuses. But Lynda, Doc’s Paul and Gibbons got involved and swung it so we could lay her to rest.”

“Mary is a sweet name,” I murmured, swallowing my own tears. Madi needed strength, not a weepy pregnant woman.

“Yeah.” Madi fell silent and stared out of the window.

“I’m surprised you came,” I said, and Madi turned her attention back to me.

“Because of what Sunny did to Levi?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly.

“Did I like it? No. Did I hate Sunny for months while Levi recovered and beyond that? Yes. But did I forgive Sunny and walk in his shoes? I sure as hell did. While I’ll never forget Sunny’s actions or what they led to, I understand his thought process.

I just wish Sunny weren’t so hot-headed, and he’d spoken to Levi before beating him badly,” Madi stated.

“You’re a bigger person than I am. I’d still be holding a grudge,” I admitted.

“Oh, trust me, I plan to have Sunny owe me for a long time,” Madi replied with a genuine grin.

I laughed. “Sunny hates seeing tears in a woman’s eyes. That shit cuts him deep. Liv and Cherry learned how to play Sunny with that. He’ll break his back to clear any sign of tears up!”

“Thanks!” Madi said, holding her fist out for a bump.

I bumped mine against hers and was happy to see Madi didn’t seem as grief-stricken. Of course, the heartache remained, but Madi had perked up a little.