Page 34 of Wire
“Word to the wise? Lie low for a while.”
Chapter Ten
Wire
The door barely shuts behind the last police officer before it’s slammed open and the clacking of high heels on the wood floor clip clops in my direction.
“Hey Momma,”
“Hey baby.”
My mom kisses me on the cheek and then turns slowly, stopping when she sees Marx. “OK, Pres, hit me with it.”
Marx lets her know everything he knows, which at this point is fuck all other than the police are looking for evidence related to a body that was dumped on club-owned property. Momma takes notes in the notepad that she always carries with her, then barks questions at everyone else in the room. Did any of the officers touch us? Did they damage any property? That sorta shit.
“Your mom is beautiful. And awesome,” is breathed out next to me. I don’t need to turn to see who it is. My body felt Remy’s presence when she moved into my orbit.
“Yeah. She’s a force to be reckoned with.” I smile down at her before darting my eyes back to my momma.
She is exactly that. After Dad took off, she single-handedly raised me and my sisters. Made sure we all got the best she could give us, all while working hard to become one of the top defense lawyers in the area. When I was a kid, it was just some boring grown-up job that meant nothing to me. Now I’m an adult, I can see the determination and drive she had to have had to be a black, single mother working through all the paperwork, exams, sexism and bigotry.
“So, just so I have this straight, the only people arrested tonight were both senior citizens. And one of them is currently on holiday from New Zealand. Is that correct?” Momma frowns up at the Tombs family, who all have smiles on their faces.
“Yes, our Pops and his girlfriend.” August offers.
“And they were arrested because Deborah Taylor - that’s your mother, right Ana?” Ana nods. “She had marijuana on her person?”
“She may have. Or she may just have had a brownie in her pocket.” Ana shrugs and my momma stares at her for a moment before looking back at her notepad.
“Riiiiight. Whatever it was, was on her person, and when restrained, Sidney Tombs then intervened. Whilst he was being restrained by another officer, Debs then called him a-” She flicks her eyes down to her notepad. “‘To teke’ and proceeded to attack said officer. Do I have all that correct?”
Everyone looks at each other before nodding.
“One question, what’s a ‘To Teke’?” Rider asks what we are all thinking. Well, OK, it may not be the only thing we’re thinking. It’s been a wild night. We have a new prospect, a pregnant lady and the two oldest people at the compound have been arrested because someone tipped off the police to a body on our property.
“Oh, ‘To Teke’ is Maori for cunt,” Ana enlightens us all. Snickering can be heard from all corners of the common room. Even Marx cracks a grin.
Momma’s lips twitch before she clears her throat. “So, is there a possibility their actions could be seen as self defense?”
The Tombs family shuffle around, avoiding Momma’s eye contact. Tav has his palm facing toward the ground wiggling his hand as if to say it was 50/50.
“We have footage for this area. Do you want me to link it to the big screen?” Remy murmurs. A smile slowly works its way across my face.
“Yeah go on Rem.” She scuttles off down the hall as I address the room. “Remy’s linking the footage to the big screen.”
Whoops go around the common room as we all jostle to get a good view and in a matter of moments, the chaos of the last hour plays on the projector.
“He has a hell of a punch on him. I can kinda see now how he escaped that kidnapping,” Tank says. I nod in agreement as Momma’s eyebrows slowly creep up her forehead.
“Well, I’ve seen enough. That is most definitely assault BUT I’m pretty sure I can plead mental confusion given the age of them and the stressful nature of the situation. I’ll have them out by morning. In the meantime, with the police investigating this poor girl and her case, you lot are going to have to lie very, very low. They will use any excuse to bring you in. No matter how friendly you are with the Sergeant, Marx.” Momma looks around the room, making sure we are all paying attention. “Lie low, do not get in trouble. I know you all want answers and by all means look, but give the information to the police. Trust me. One foot outta line and they’ll come down hard.”
She gives us one last hairy eyeball before coming to stand before me, placing her warm hand on my cheek and giving me a kiss. “Find the information, pass it on. OK baby?” She holds my gaze and I hold hers.
“OK, Momma.”
She pats my cheek then clip clops toward the door. “Be good, lie low, and nobody get killed or arrested!” With that, the door slams behind her.
“She was BADASS! I’m going to make her a bracelet,” Chewy chirps out.