Page 42 of Wyatt (The Black Roses MC #5)
“Where’s Mommy?” he asks, his eyes darting to the doorway behind me. “The mean man said she was going to be here, but he’s a liar.”
“She’s waiting for you right outside, buddy.
I’m going to take you to her now.” I stand with Colby wrapped tightly around me.
“I need you to do something for me when we walk out of here, okay? I need you to squeeze your eyes shut real tight and keep your face on my shoulder, okay? Don’t open your eyes until I tell you to. Can you do that?”
Colby nods and he closes his eyes, burying his tearstained face in my neck. I haul ass out of the room with my hand protectively gripping the back of Colby’s head to make sure he doesn’t move it. I don’t want him seeing the gore that covers the walls of the dingy hotel room.
When we get outside, the back door of the van swings open and Maizie runs toward us.
“Okay, buddy, you can open them now,” I say just as Maizie reaches us and wraps her arms around the two of us.
“Mommy,” Colby cries and wiggles from my grasp right into her arms, clinging to her as though he’s never going to let her go.
I wrap them both in an embrace and look at Maizie, who has tears running down her face as she whispers to Colby.
“You’re safe, monkey. I love you so much. You’re safe. I’ve got you.” She repeats some variation of the words over and over while I hold the two most important people in my world protectively in my arms.
Lifting my head, my eyes dart to my brothers standing in front of the motel then to Lucy with Cece wrapped in her arms. Cash is standing close with a hard look on his face while Jude stands behind Lucy, a comforting hand on her back.
“We need to get them out of here before Nolan comes back,” Barrett says.
“I don’t want to leave you,” Maizie whispers, looking at me.
“I know, baby.” My hand cups the side of her face. “But we have to finish this.”
God, I want to stay with my family and try to comfort them after everything we’ve been through the last few hours, but there is no way in hell I’m going to leave Nolan to anyone else. It’s my family he fucked with, and it’s my justice to carry out.
I nod toward Barrett, who reads the request on my face loud and clear.
“I’ll drive you back to the clubhouse,” he says, and I walk with my arm around Maizie’s shoulders as she carries Colby to the van, Lucy and Cece following behind us.
Colby doesn’t let go when I help her in the back or when she sits down.
Not that I can blame him. I hope to God he didn’t see anything more than what is already sure to scar him.
The anger I feel toward Nolan, that he put Colby in that situation to begin with, is one of the biggest reasons I’m staying to finish that fucker off.
“Barrett is going to come back for us and Linc is going to stay at the clubhouse with you until I get back.” Maizie nods, her worried gaze piercing into my chest. “It’ll be okay, baby. I’ll be home soon. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replies.
“I love you, too,” Colby says, tilting his head toward me.
I look at Maizie, who has a teary smile on her face.
“I love you, too, buddy. So much. You take care of your mom until I get back, okay? Don’t let her go. She needs all the hugs in the world right now.”
“Okay, Wyatt. I won’t,” he replies solemnly.
The lump in my throat is nearly cutting off my air supply as I shut the doors of the van. Barrett takes off down the road back to the highway, and I walk back over to my brothers.
“Surprised you didn’t go with Cece,” I say to Cash.
“I’m staying here to make damn sure that fucker doesn’t have a heartbeat when you’re through with him.”
“That was never an option,” I say as two black sprinter vans pull up in front of the motel. All of us raise our guns until we hear Jude call, “Put them away, boys. It’s just my twat brother.”
Liam Ashcroft opens the door of the first van and steps out with a broad smile on his face as though he wasn’t about to be filled with lead only seconds ago.
“Little brother. Having all the fun without me?” Liam calls to Jude.
“You almost got your stupid arse shot up to bloody hell,” Jude says as the part-time security expert, part-time mercenary makes his way toward us. “How did you know where we were?”
“Who used to own the van you drove here in?” Liam asks.
Jude shoots him a flat look. “And you still have the GPS on it?”
Liam scoffs. “Of course,” he says as he walks past us and peeks his head in the room, eyeing the dead man on the bed. “Good thing, too. Looks like you’re going to need some extra hands for cleanup,” he says and walks to the other open door to find another dead Bone Breaker.
“Happy to have you here, Liam, but I need you to move the vans to the back. One of the guys left about ten minutes ago, and we don’t know when he’s going to be back.”
“Yup,” Liam says and waves at whoever is driving the second van toward the back of the building.
Without a word, the van pulls around the side of the building and disappears. It never fails to impress me how Liam and his team operate like a well-oiled machine.
“We’ll set up out here to make sure this fellow you’re waiting for won't get away.” He looks up at the awning above the doors and notices a camera. “I’m assuming these are off?”
“Barrett talked to the owner. As far as he’s concerned, we were never here and he had to leave for the night,” Jude tells his brother.
“Alright. I’ll have Sawyer double-check everything to make sure there’s no digital proof that any of us were here.” Liam walks back to his van and grabs a bag, handing it to me. “A few essentials for when the boy’s father returns.”
“I’m his father,” I tell Liam as I take the duffel from his grip.
The man nods. “Duly noted.”
He heads back to his van and pulls it behind the building.
“Fucking wanker,” Jude mumbles under his breath as we head inside the room and shut the door behind us to wait for Nolan to get back.