REAPER: GOLDEN SKULLS M.C. by Rebecca Joyce (best e book reader TXT) 📕

The woman nodded and stopped when she saw me.

“Remi, this is Patti and her sons, James and Michael.”

“Nice to meet you all,” I smiled, seeing the small boys sleepy and clinging to their mother.

“Your Reaper’s woman?” the pretty brunette grinned.

“Yes.”

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Reaper talks about you all the time.”

“Patti let's get the boys settled in one of the spare rooms,” Shamrock said, carrying the youngest Michael down the long hallway.

While Shamrock was helping Patti, I got a good look at the cabin. It was beautiful, that was for sure. Vaulted ceilings, a large fireplace, a loft, a massive chef’s kitchen, and windows. Holy crap, was there a lot of windows. But what caught my attention the most was the number of bedrooms. There were five in total, and the master bedroom was massive. An oversized king bed sat in the middle of the room against the far wall, another fireplace went up the wall on the right, and a large clawfoot tub sat in the corner next to it. The room was spacious and very well maintained, almost as if someone took great care in keeping the place beautiful.

I was sitting at the granite bar in the kitchen waiting for the coffee maker to finish brewing when out walked Shamrock and Patti. “Coffee, anyone?”

“That would be lovely,” Patti sighed, sitting on a stool next to me. “I’m sorry we weren’t properly introduced. I’m Patti Summers. I own and operate the local diner in town.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Remi Anderson.”

“Shamrock, care to explain what is going on?” Patti asked as we both turned to look at the man who had the answers we wanted. Yet, from the look of him, I knew he wasn’t going to say anything. Whatever was happening, he may know a little about but wasn’t sure about the whole. Nope, Shamrock was in the dark just as we were.

“All I know is if Ghost is back, we need to stay here.”

“For how long?”

“Until Reaper or Ghost says it’s okay.”

“That can be days!” Patti shouted. “I’ve got a diner to run, and my boys have school. I can’t just drop everything because Ghost says so.”

“Patti,” I whispered, placing my hand on her arm. “I may not know much, but if it has anything to do with what I think it does, you and the boys are better off here for the time being. Please trust me on this.”

Just then, Grimm walked in the front door followed by an older woman, who didn’t look none too pleased to be here. “I mean it, Grimm, you better start talking. I don’t have anything to do with the club anymore. You know that. Why am I here?”

“Caroline,” Shamrock said, moving around the counter. The older woman blanched. “Shamrock, what are you doing here?”

“Ghost is home.”

“Oh shit,” the older woman sighed, looking around the room. Then as if none of that mattered, she frantically began talking. “Mia. Mia is missing. She was supposed to be home last night, but she never arrived. You have to find her.”

Shamrock looked at Grimm, who just nodded and grabbed his phone, and started texting. “Caroline, we will find Mia. In the meantime, come have some coffee. Remi made it, and it’s good. Patti is already here with her boys.”

“Remi?” the woman named Caroline said, then turned, her eyes finally seeing me for the first time. Smiling, she walked over to me and hugged me hard. It was a welcoming feeling, one I hadn’t had in a long while, other than Max. The woman was vaguely familiar to me, yet I couldn’t remember ever meeting her. Yet, when she let me go, I did nothing as her hand gently touched my cheek as she said, “You haven’t changed one bit. You were so little the last time I saw you, so I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I’m Max’s mom.”

Instantly, Remi remembered the pretty blonde woman who hovered over Max fiercely when they were rescued all those years ago. She never once left his sight, tending to his every need. She even made sure that I wanted for nothing. Looking at the woman now, I felt the sheen of tears form in my eyes as I looked at her. “I remember.”

Hugging her to me, I didn’t want to let go of her. When I was alone and scared, only a few people gave me the support and protection that I craved, and Caroline was one of those people like Uncle Peter.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Caroline said, pulling away. “I’m here now, and no one is going to hurt you again. Isn’t that right, Shamrock?”

“Damn straight,” Shamrock nodded.

“I know both of you girls probably have lots of questions, but the main thing, whatever is going on, we are here for a reason. So, trust in Max and the rest of the boys. When it’s safe, they will come to get us.”

As the night wore on, the arrival of several others, including twin girls who I later found out was Chaos’s sisters, arrived in the dead of night, and a woman named Kitty with a small baby. Though there was plenty of room for everyone, the cabin was filling up quickly. I didn’t know what I was doing half the time, but Caroline told me to just help where I could and make sure everyone was comfortable. It was after three in the morning when I heard motorcycles coming up the long trail.

Getting out of bed, I walked into the living room to find Shamrock and Grimm on either side of the front door, guns in their hands, waiting. When they saw me, they motioned me back into the hallway. While standing there, I could clearly hear the bikes shut off and someone walking up the stairs.

“I’m serious Healer, they ain’t tellin’ us everything.”

“Oh, shut up, Ink. Nobody wants to hear your conspiracy theories tonight.”

“Seriously man, if you don’t stop, I’m going to kick your ass myself.”

“All three of you, shut up.