Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 116

Maxine/Fixer POV

The meal was delicious, as I wouldn’t expect anything less from Uncle Simon. I get the idea that he always has the best quality of everything. It’s a pity he stayed single his whole life; he would have been a great father, spoiling the children rotten, even his wife would have wanted for nothing. He blamed his job, and never being home long enough to establish a lasting relationship, most cheated on him while he was away. That he gave up looking for a wife, and stuck to one-night stands, something a bit longer, if the woman interested him. Plus losing his twin, and how bad it hurt, he didn’t want to have that feeling again, not over someone so young and full of life. She never once complained about her husband being away so much, having been deployed.

That box was a square meter, a big box, that I wanted to open, and at the same time, I was afraid of what I would see.

The first item, was a brightly colored photo album, I didn’t bother opening, it would mean more to uncle, and then he can share the memories with me, the next was a large A3 size scrapbook, and when I opened it up, there staring at me, was the newspaper clipping of the accident, I closed the scrapbook fast, not wanting to look at that yet. Handing it to Tandy, who then said that Tank might want to go through it with him, as it concerned his parents, too, which got Uncle Simon staring at Tank.

“Thought you would have investigated me when you found out I had married Tanks chuckled at Uncle Simon’s reaction.

“As tempting as it was to do just that, I wanted to meet you both first, without any prejudice that an investigation might dig up. I think you both are made for each other, and now knowing that you have this link, I am more than pleased I didn’t dig up dirt on you.” Tank gave him an honest smile, and a new level of respect between them was found.

The jewelry box, was large, and full of trinkets, that Uncle Simon would be able to fill me in on, what they meant, maybe why there were purchased, I had thought I had all my mother and Grandmothers, jewelry, so these must be something special, after a quick look I handed the box to Jenny to look at, she loved that sort of thing, but she would never own them, something tells me they need to be kept safe, we have a safe in this house, a walk in one, hidden behind a secret wall in the master bedroom, I found it by accident, when cleaning, and haven’t told anyone about it yet, not even Tank. There were things in there that looked old and could belong to our family. I want Uncle Simon to look at them. It wasn’t included in any of the information I had on the house, which was strange.

When Uncle Simon said my real name, I had forgotten about the birth certificate Tandy had given me. I had been looking into who my mum and dad really were and hadn’t realized that my name wasn’t Maxine, sure, Maxine was on the certificate, and that was all I had taken in, it was like I was having information overload that day, I am much more calm today, having my uncle here, and Tandy for any legal questions, they had given me a sort of calming effect.

The next item out of the box was more photos. I placed them on the table to go through after I emptied the box; the photos were in black and white. School albums, these must have been mum’s, then a hand-stitched blanket, a silver serving tray, goblets, and a jug. The items just kept coming, all special to mum, or Grandma, who had put this together with love and care, each with a meaning I hoped to understand at some point. I finished the box and placed most of it back in the box to sort through again another time. We had albums and paperwork to sift through.

“Come, sit with me, and we can go through this album. Tank you, go sit with Tandy and go through that scrapbook. Tandy let me know if there was anything new, for what we had already investigated over the years.” Uncle Simon took over the rest. I left Jenny to continue sorting through the large jewelry box and, if she wanted, go through it again. Her eyes gleamed at some of the items, explaining they were too expensive to wear.

For the next hour, Uncle Simon explained each and every photo in both books, as far as his recollection could go. It was good that whoever put these albums together, and I have a feeling it was Grandma, had dated and given some description beneath each.

“I would like to see that report, if you can get your hands on it. We might be able to correlate ideas here. Now we have fresh evidence.” Tandy requested, and Uncle Simon nodded in agreement.

“I think that will do for tonight, Uncle Simon, Tandy, please stay the night, and we can continue this in the morning when we have all had a night to think about it.” I offered, and was happy when they agreed, we found them rooms, and the two bodyguards, who were shocked, were included in everything. I guess not many people even see them, like invisible men, there to lay their lives on the line for you. I don’t like attitude, we’re all doing a job, and should be treated as equals, not everyone has the guts to protect someone as a living. I respect them and their profession.

“You not too upset, are you, Tank?” I asked, not knowing how to approach the subject, he was floored by what he had seen and read, and I can see it rattled him more than he might admit.

“I won’t deny it; seeing those photos was hard. I hadn’t seen that before, Dad and Mum, crumpled, bloody body on the ground, dead, before the police arrived and took over, all this information was squashed, hidden or destroyed, why you Grandma held onto this, I don’t understand, mind you, she didn’t know me, and most likely save it all for you, to decide if you wished to go forward with this. They might have tried to get more information, tried the legal way, and got the same as us, which might be why they didn’t divulge it, worried the police would confiscate it, and history would be lost. I am a little emotional, as you can guess, my mind running all over the place, trying to figure this out, and where it would go from here.” Tank was a mess, you could tell by his eyes and how his shoulder sagged. I wanted to comfort him, but didn’t know how.

We had just turned out the light and were holding each other when Prez’s bike came up the driveway. Tank was up in a flash, heading downstairs to let him and Sticks know we had guests and to stop the bodyguards from appearing with guns drawn. We had told them that.