Page 58 of Hard Corps (Selected Sinners MC 7)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Fall 2014, Austin, Texas, USA

Several months into Kace’s pregnancy and Shane disappeared. For those who didn’t know Shane, maybe it wouldn’t have seemed at all a shock or out of character. For me, however, I knew something was terribly wrong, so I went to his home and talked with Kace at length about his disappearance.

“So, the doctors did that test, you know, the amnio deal, and they said our baby was probably going to be special needs,” she said.

“How’d he take it?” I asked.

She shook her head and tossed her hands in the air.

I nodded my head and reached for my glass of tea. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I know sorry doesn’t fix things, but it’s out of our control, you know? This is all God’s will. So, did you two discuss it?”

She shook her head. “He clammed up, Alec. He wouldn’t talk. He freaked out. I just thought he needed some space, but then he was gone. He hasn’t talked to Ripp or Kelsey or anyone. And he’s supposed to be getting ready for that fight. I swear, when he does come home…”

“I’ll find him,” I said.

“How?” she asked.

“I have my ways,” I said.

“Kick his ass, Alec. I mean it. You know, everyone thinks he’s so nice, and this? This is bullshit. Who leaves their pregnant wife? Who?” she asked.

Someone who’s scared, that’s who.

“I don’t know,” I said.

Kace was a saint. She was barely five-foot tall, a blonde, and more full of spunk than any other woman I had ever met. Her husband, six-foot two and 200 pounds of undefeated professional boxer, was no match for her. She would challenge him in a moment, and argue with him until she was blue in the face if it was something she believed in.

For Shane to leave her at such a time was absolutely unforgivable, but I fully understood. His reasoning for doing so was similar to my reasoning for keeping my distance from my father. The space that separated Shane and Kace prevented him from dealing with the issues in life he took exception to.

But a man can’t hide forever.

Sooner or later, we’re all forced to face reality whether we like it or not. It’s only a matter of time.

I stood from my seat. “Well, thanks for taking the time to talk. I’ll be in touch.”

She stood and waddled to my side. After a heavy sigh and kicking one of the pillows across the floor, she gave me a hug.

“I meant it about kicking his ass,” she said as I walked toward the door.

“We’ll see,” I said.

I had yet to meet a man I was scared of. If push came to shove, I’d fight Shane over this, but I sure didn’t want to.

First, I had to find him.

***

The entire thought of Shane leaving Kace, their child potentially being born with special needs, and not having the best of luck finding him, and I went to Mr. Ripton and requested my cigarettes back.

Six days, half a pack of cigarettes, and 600 miles after talking to Kace, and I rolled into the parking lot of a shitty little diner in Anthony, New Mexico. Spitting distance from the Mexican border, and miles from any real civilization, Anthony was a small town of 9,000 people and a step into yesteryear, with half of the residents still riding horses.

As I pulled my motorcycle alongside Shane’s filthy Harley, I peered through the glass and caught a glimpse of him sitting at a booth facing the lot. I wanted to walk in, grab him by his thick hair, and drag his ass back to Austin. After smoking two long drags off the cigarette, I put it out, and placed the butt in my shirt pocket alongside the others.

“You might need a lesson or two in how to hide, Dekk,” I said as I walked into the diner.

He gazed back at me as if I were a ghost. “I won’t even ask.”