Tank put his gloves on and flexed his hands. He was wearing a snowmobile jacket, bibs, and Sorel winter boots. "You ready to go and have some fun?"

"Hell yeah," I said, now following him out the front door of the clubhouse. "Although, I'm not really dressed for it."

He shrugged. "I've got an extra jacket, if your leather isn't warm enough."

"As long as you have a helmet, I'm good," I answered.

"Suit yourself."

As we walked toward his trailer, I could tell that the wind had picked up. I decided to take him up on the offer of the jacket when we got to the lake.

"Guess who shocked the fuck out of me this morning?" I said as we drove away.

"Who?"

"My mother."

"No shit? Mavis? What did she want?"

"She came to warn me about the Devil's Rangers. Apparently, they've ordered a hit on my head. Mine and The Judge's."

Tank laughed. "Really?"

"Maybe I should warn him," I said, now smiling myself.

"It might solve all of our problems," said Tank. "Especially if he takes out their entire Chapter. If anyone can do it without breaking a sweat, it's him."

I nodded and pulled out my phone.

"What are you doing?" asked Tank.

"I'm going to send him a text. To let him know," I said, typing.

"Good idea. I can't wait to see his response."

I'd never sent Jordan a text message before, but I didn't feel like disturbing him with a phone call, especially in his line of work.

The lake was deserted when we arrived, which wasn't any surprise, considering the fact that it was a Tuesday and most people were at work. After we unloaded the sleds and started them up, Tank threw me his other Colombia jacket.

"Thanks," I said, removing my leather. "It's colder than I thought."

"It's only about twenty-five degrees," he said. "No sense in freezing your ass off."

Agreeing, I zipped up the jacket and grabbed a helmet. "Where do you want to ride?"

"Just around the lake," he said, locking up the truck after I shoved my leather inside the cab. "Let's go riding, brother."

We jumped onto the sleds and it only took me a few seconds to get acclimated to mine. After a while, we began racing toward the other end of the lake, both of us trying outride each other. Eventually, I pulled ahead, being the smaller driver, and we turned around and went back the same way. We spent the next hour-and-a-half exploring the lake, chasing each other, and laughing our asses off. When it was time to load the sleds back onto the trailer and head back to the clubhouse, neither of us could stop grinning. The winters in Jensen were long and I was already missing my bike, but being on that sled had felt real fucking good.

"I needed that. Thanks for inviting me," I told him.

"No problem, brother. We both needed that. It was a good time."

"It was," I said as we strapped the sleds back onto the trailer. "Next time we should hit the trails up north."

"That's what I was thinking. Like last year. Make it an all-day run."

"Hell, yeah."

"You need to do as much as you can before that kid of yours comes into the world. Once Adriana pops it out, you won't have much spare time."

"Good point."

When the sleds were secure, I changed back into my leather jacket, and we hopped back into the truck. Hearing my cell phone go off, I pulled it out.

"Who is it?"

"The Judge left me a text," I said, checking the message.

"What did he say?"

I smiled. "You called it. He said he'd take care of it."

"I told you," said Tank, with a shit-eating grin. "What else did he say?"

"That's it."

"Huh."

I sent him another message, asking him that meant.

He called me.

"It means don't worry, I'm handling the situation," he said.

"Did you see the news report, about that guy in Hayward? The one that was murdered? It was April's brother."

"Who's April?" he asked.

I told him.

He was silent for a few seconds. "Where is she now?"

"We have no idea."

"You got a last name for her?"

"No."

"She mean anything to you?"

"Other than that she helped save my girl, not much. I'd just hate to see her murdered."

"Same with me," said Tank loudly. "The woman is too hot to die."

"I'll look into her brother's murder and see what I can find out. As far as the rest of those fuck-heads in Hayward, you'll be reading their obituaries in another week."

"I'm glad we're kin. I'd hate to have you on my enemy list."

"Acid was kin."

There it was. He'd just admitted to killing his old man.

"Speaking of kin, Mavis showed up on my doorstep this morning. She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry for being a lousy mother and abandoning the both of us. Acid scared the fuck out of her."

"I'm sure he did. I don't have any sympathy for her, though. She made her choices and most of them were selfish."

"I agree."

"I have to go. I'm in the middle of something."

"An assignment?"

"I'll let you know when the Hayward Chapter of the Devil's Rangers isn't a problem anymore," he said, ignoring my question.

"You sure you don't want to get together for Christmas?" I joked, waiting for a cocky comeback. Instead of delivering, he simply hung up.

I looked at Tank as I put my phone away. "I think I'm growing on him."

Tank grunted.

Chapter Thirty-eight.

After Vanda left for work, I called my Gynecologist and made an appointment for the following week. I spoke to a nurse and told her that I thought I was pregnant.

"Did you take a home pregnancy test?" she asked.

"Yes. Two of them."

"What did the test results show?"

"That I was pregnant."

"Then you probably are. They're pretty accurate, especially if you get a positive test result. Okay, we'll see you next week, then?"

"Yes."

After hanging up, I took a shower and then grabbed a pair of black slacks and a green turtleneck sweater. The pants, which used to be loose-fitting, were hard to button and I made a mental note to go shopping for new ones while I was searching for gifts the following day. I then took out my suitcase and began filling it with clothes. Although I'd stayed at Trevor's place before, this time I was packing for a stay that would become permanent. I felt excited, and yet the thought of leaving my mother all alone made me anxious and a little sad. Trevor had said that she'd be fine, but I wasn't so sure. The only thing that comforted me was that she had Jim.

Maybe it would be the push she needed to marry the man?

He was certainly good to her and now both of them were in love. They deserved to be together and I hoped that she'd change her mind.

When I packed as much as I could into my suitcase, I grabbed a duffel bag and started stuffing my toiletries into it. When I'd gotten what I could into the bag, I looked around my bedroom, knowing that there were still quite a few things that I'd need to come back for. As I carried the luggage downstairs, my cell phone rang.

"How was your trip?" asked Tiffany, when I answered it.

"It was amazing," I smiled. "The best time of my life, actually." I told her about some of the excursions we had done.

"I'm so jealous. I haven't been on a trip in so long and I've always wanted to visit Hawaii. I wonder if I can talk Jeremy into going..."

"You two are still dating?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know. We finally had sex, too."

"Oh? And how was that?"

"Nice. Very nice. He certainly knows how to use his gun."

I laughed. "And he let you play with it? Isn't that dangerous?"

She laughed, too. "Probably. Maybe that's why he handcuffed me to the bed."

"Oh, my. I'm never going to look at Detective Stone the same way again."

"You and me both. Anyway, what are you doing for New Year's Eve?"

"I'm not sure. We haven't made any plans yet. What about you?"

"Jeremy is having a party and told me to invite you."

"Really? I'll have to talk it over with Trevor. Those two don't really get along, you know?"

"They can get over themselves and push aside their differences for a few hours. Anyway, I have to get back to work. I'm on my lunch break."

"Well, thanks for inviting us. I'll talk to him and find out if he's already made plans. I have a feeling that he celebrates New Years with his biker friends."

"You're probably right. Maybe you can just stop in for a drink?"