Page 18 of The Crowing of Hell

Now that I was safe inside, I started to feel foolish. I was probably overreacting and making a mountain out of a molehill. My breathing calmed down, and Isat on a chair in my hallway. As I waited for Mac to knock, my eyes roamed and landed on the window ledge before narrowing. Something was wrong.

Moments later, I was flying through the front door, which slammed back against the wall. Mac came running around the corner at the noise, and I headed straight for him.

“The birds look outwards, not inwards,” I babbled, and Mac frowned.

“What?”

“Someone’s been in my house. The window next to the door has two glass birds facing outward. They’re now facing inward,” I explained, my breathing hitching.

“Wait in the car,” Mac demanded and pulled a gun from his waistband before heading in.

Nervously, I sat inside the car and locked it until Mac came out.

“Kenny, I want you to see something,” he said, and I followed him back to the hallway.

“Are those the two birds you meant?” he asked, pointing at them.

The blood drained from my face. They were now facing outwards.

“Mac, someone was in my home at the same time as me,” I whispered.

“Kenny, I have to ask, are you sure they’d been turned around?” Mac questioned.

“Yes,” I replied firmly.

“Let’s check the rest of the house,” Mac stated.

As we searched, it became more frightening.Initially, Mac doubted me, but upon discovering anomalies in each room, Mac became convinced. Especially when I closed my eyes and told him to question me about the placement of my items. It was a strange quirk I possessed. Everything had its place.

“Honey, I’m gonna call Lance from the Fallen Warriors. They’ve just set up a monitoring company and are the best by far to upgrade your security system. Seriously, I could bypass this in a split second,” Mac said, nodding his head to the camera. “Did it throw up an alert?”

“No.”

“Okay, I’m going to check how secure the house is. Then I’m calling a prospect to guard your ass tonight until Lance gets here tomorrow. Once he’s here, we’ll get you covered. Also, we need to report this to Ramirez, so at least we have a record of it,” Mac said, and I nodded.

To my bemusement, Harley was dispatched to watch over me, and Lance had promised to come the next morning. Mac called Ramirez, who informed Mac to call it in, and two officers attended. I could tell that they thought I was imagining it until I showed them my memory recall. They took statements, checked the cameras, which had indeed been turned off, and left after delivering strict warnings.

I went to bed an anxious woman, despite the fact Harley was downstairs to watch over me. This situation was way beyond my experience.

???

A few days later, I was out with Blue, happily shopping for my nephew, who was now two. I couldn’t believe how quickly Blue was growing, and as I pushed his stroller, Blue babbled at me. Apparently, Blue had a lot to say, just like his parents, but I could only understand a few words he spoke. Mom, Dad, En for me, and surprisingly clear, bike. I rolled my eyes as bike popped up several times.

Blue’s biological mother had given him a biker name, and she’d picked right. Blue was going to be a biker through and through. Despite Casey and Mac not being Blue’s bio parents, he was clones of them. To me, it showed that blood didn’t matter, rearing did.

Blue’s excited squeal caught my attention, and he bounced in his stroller as he pointed to a shiny Harley parked up. It was gold and red and had a beautiful rendering of an eagle on the tank. Blue got happier as we got closer, and I had to stop when his chatter rose when I walked past.

“If that kid isn’t gonna be a biker, then I’m a monkey’s uncle,” a deep voice said, and I turned quickly, shoving Blue behind me.

Approval shone in the dark brown eyes that checked me out from head to toe.

I refused to step back unless there was a threat to Blue and held the man’s gaze.

He smiled and bent to speak to Blue. “How ya doing, my main man? Does your daddy know you’re checking bikes out? We won’t tell him that UncleInglorious has a better bike than him. Don’t wanna make Mac cry now, do we?” the guy spoke to Blue. It appeared that Blue knew him when Blue reached for him.

“Gory!” Blue squealed.

“Yeah, you gotta learn either uncle or Inglorious, kid. You shouting Gory gives people the wrong impression.” His attention turned to me. “Hey, I’m Inglorious, President of the Unwanted Bastards. You must be Kendara, I’ve seen you at cookouts but never got a chance to speak to you. Rage hides the pretty ladies well,” Inglorious teased.