Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 250

Storm POV

Shock, anger, hurt, and frustration.

They are the first feelings that hit me when I found Cloe at the base of the wheelchair.

Penny mentioned she was awake, when she came bursting into the office to announce that Cloe had agreed for Penny to use her for Penny’s assignment, at first Dad didn’t want that to happen, but that will change, when it came to Penny, he often would change his mind, or tell her to talk to her mother, in other words he was caving in, or not a subject a man should be discussing with his daughter. When Penny started her menstrual cycle, Dad was the only one home, and Penny went to him, in tears because she was bleeding. He had the uncomfortable job of reminding her of the health education class and that she was becoming a woman, and showed her where Mum kept the product she would need; she was eleven at the time.

But finding her on the floor was the last thing I had expected.

I am pacing the floor outside the bathroom, concerned. How can I leave Cloe alone, thinking she would be safe and sleeping? I can’t trust leaving her to be on her own and not try to exhaust herself; she’s far too independent. I am kicking myself for not putting a baby monitor in the room, and I am investigating when Penny started talking to her. That might be the only way around this to give me peace of mind, or I am going to go mad when away from her, worrying.

“Storm.” I was back in the bathroom, the moment her soft voice called out, eager to assist and avoid any more pain she had gone through. That’s partly why I am angry; she didn’t need to get hurt, and I should have been there with her when she woke up.

After Cloe was fed, there was an uncomfortable silence between us, and that was eating me up. I have never felt like this around Cloe. So I told her about the computer issue, and her eyes lit up, as if I had just given her the best gift ever. I carried Cloe to Dad’s office and sat down with Cloe on my lap.

“Dad Cloe would like to give the computer ago.”

“Great news, over here.” I stood, carrying Cloe to the chair, and this time sat her down alone so she could work.

“The moment you start to ache or have any pain, let us know; we can either get some pain relief or take a break, no hiding it,” Dad commanded in his no-nonsense voice,

“Okay.” Cleo shyly answered, turned to the computer, and her fingers started to bounce over the keys at a fast pace.

“Son, we have been through the man’s house, and only found evidence of previous work the shooter had done; we have not found a link to this latest job to anyone, but the payment came from a town called Brownstone town.” Cloe’s head popped up and stared at us.

“Dad, that’s the area that Cloe came from. You don’t think her father had anything to do with this?” I watched Cloe scrunch her nose up, in a frown, and turn back to the computer.

“It’s also the place the woman Grams insulted at some card game comes from. I have started an investigation into the woman, but I will get one going for Cloe’s family, too. Maybe they know each other. The thought that Cloe’s family was involved alone seems unfeasible; they wouldn’t have known the connection to Grams, and it was the first time, Cloe had been to their home, it has to be someone who knows the family, and or their movements, as it appears that Grams was the target, if it was her father, it was to cause trauma to Cloe, seeing a death in front of her, so many suggestions and idea have been floating around, and we will have to check them all. However, the shooter could have been watching Cloe and heard about her going to Gram’s place, possibly someone at the party? The Astore family is known worldwide. That party and all those uninvited guests could be that link, and all I had said about unfeasible might now make it feasible. Too many loopholes, too many could-be’s.”

“One step at a time, eliminate one, and move on to the next. We will get there, Dad.” I tried to

calm him down; all this had rattled him more than he would admit. He was more concerned that if they were ready to shoot at Grams, our family could be easy targets too. First thing Dad did, when the shooting happened, was increase our security and get Dirk to ensure all our protocols were in place, so no slip-up like that could happen here. I bet we will get more perimeter checks, and the bottoms of trees cut and trimmed, so climbing up would be more difficult.

“Storm, can you come here?” Cloe called out, causing us both to rush over,

“These files are now open. Do you want to look into them before I work on more?” She pointed to one of the six files we had trouble opening.

“Will you come to the school assembly, and come on stage with me, so you can answer any questions the school might have?” Cloe’s eyes widened, and she looked at Dad and then Mum, then back to Cloe, like an animal caught in the headlights.

“Penny, sweetie, it’s too soon for Cloe to be out and about; she only got out of the hospital yesterday..’ Cloe looks at Mum, grateful for her intervention. Penny pouts.

“I was hoping bringing her along would give me extra credits,” Penny admits in a mumble.

“Maybe in a week or two, when I can get around in less pain, my stomach hurts too much to be in the car,” Cloe added, agreeing with Mum, although I think the truth was Cloe didn’t want to go at all, but was pacifying Penny, and would endure for her sake.

“No, next week we have something else to do.” Penny picked up again after the interview issue was resolved.

“In four weeks, I get my braces, and I get to pick the colour of them. I was going to get the rainbow ones.” I didn’t think they came in rainbow, color but I wasn’t going to burst Penny’s bubble.

The kids disappeared to the lounge room or their bedroom to do homework.

“Can we go back to the office? I think I can get the other files open before bed.” Dad didn’t need any coaxing; that was more than enough to have him walking in long, fast strides to the office, in front of us. Mum was going to hunt down Dotty and find out what Cloe needs to take before bed, and whether she had to take any with dinner. For some reason, I forgot about her meds.