Dark Guardian (Black Hoods MC #3) - Avelyn Paige Page 0,26
says, likely trying to lighten the mood. But considering this was a party for a thirteen-year-old girl, the joke falls flat.
When I glance behind me, I see Lindsey on the ground, but the kids are nowhere to be found. My niece, God bless her, meets my eyes and nods with reassurance. She sent the kids to slip away, unseen.
One man wanders from one side of the crowd to the other, his pistol in hand. Besides his Kevlar vest, he’s dressed in jeans, a dress shirt, and cowboy boots. “What the fuck is this all about?” I growl when he gets closer.
“There’s the man of the hour,” he says, squatting low so he can get a better look at me. “Bet you’re wishing you’d given those kids over to DFPS now, aren’t you?”
I narrow my eyes, but before I have time to say a word in response, Grace Halfpenny’s plain black, high-heeled shoes appear in front of me.
“That’s enough, Aaron,” she snaps. “This is way more than I asked for. Why do you have them on the ground? We’re here to get a couple of kids, not bust a bunch of bikers for drugs.”
The cop, whose name appears to be Aaron, sighs. “Grace, I’ve told you already. These men are dangerous.”
He’s about to find out just how fucking dangerous I am.
“Enough!” she snaps again, this time dismissing him completely. “Mr. Grant, I’m here to relocate the children to a foster home in town until we can complete a formal inquisition into the best place for them. I never intended for it to be quite this big of a deal, and for that, I apologize.”
“You’re not taking those kids anywhere,” I say, slowly getting to my feet. One officer moves to stop me, but Grace lifts a hand, indicating for him to leave me alone.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Grant, but I have a warrant. Those children are coming with me.”
Every spark of attraction I’ve ever felt for this woman disappears in an instant. Everything disappears. “You fucking bitch. You miserable fucking bitch.”
For a split second, she looks as if I’ve slapped her directly across the face, but she recovers quickly and turns to walk away, heading for the door of the clubhouse, and straight for my kids.
“No!” I explode.
Everything becomes a blur. A blur of anger, of rage. A blur of fists and blood, and the sound of flesh pounding flesh. Twice I have to redirect one of my own, as Ms. Halfpenny nearly gets caught in the crossfire.
Did she cause this fight? Yes. Am I going to let anyone hurt her? Not a fucking chance.
Stone Face and Twat Knot are guarding the door, more than happy to get their blows in while they do it, but when an officer pushes Karma, he slams against Grace, and I catch her just before she hits the wall.
“Are you okay?” I ask, turning her to face me. And then I feel the cold steel pressed against the back of my head and freeze. Raising my hands, my eyes zero in on Grace, who looks terrified for me.
Grace
“It’s her fucking birthday, asshole,” he yells as Aaron shoves him into the squad car while he pleads with me. He squirms in the backseat, still fighting against the cuffs wrapped around his large wrists. The way he looks back at me through the windows of the squad car may haunt me for the rest of my life, his sadness and rage all too clear.
“Coming here was a mistake,” I tell Aaron. “We should’ve done this quietly and at his home. Not here.”
“They sent us to execute the removal order. Why does the location matter? We neutralized the biggest threat. Now we can get the kids and be done with this.” His tone implies his true intent. I’ll be done with this. That’s all he cares about. Not the kids. Not the additional trauma we’ve just unnecessarily inflicted on the both of them. I narrow my eyes at him.
“Don’t look at me like that. I told you these guys were dangerous. You should be glad I came along.” Yeah, glad. That’s the word I’d use to describe his involvement. Powder keg would be more like it. I knew Mr. Grant would fight us, I just didn’t think he’d fight this hard. He cares about these kids, and that makes him even more dangerous to the father’s case. If he’s their father. “This is just another case, Grace.”
“Why are you even here? You’re a detective.” A patrol officer is normally