Thirty Background Checks
Chapter 05 - Thirty Background Checks
The county judge refused to open the music box during an emergency hearing. Until ownership of Grace's belongings was settled, it would be stored in a court evidence locker. Emma remained with Vivian, but Julia was ordered to make unannounced visits.
Mason left the courthouse furious. Bear caught his arm before he could punch the brick wall.
"Luke taught us not to solve everything with our hands," Bear said.
"Luke isn't here."
"Then we have to remember for him."
The Steel Saints held a meeting that night. Mason expected ten men. All thirty riders from the funeral arrived, along with three wives, two adult daughters, a retired teacher, and a mechanic who had once been a foster child.
Mason explained that the county might consider him as a temporary guardian, but his small apartment above the garage would never pass inspection. He needed a clean home, childcare plans, references, financial records, and background checks.
Bear raised his hand. "Then we give them thirty background checks."
By sunrise, the garage office looked like a tax firm. Men who feared no highway stared helplessly at government forms. Tiny, a six-foot-five veteran, called his sister to ask what "household composition" meant. Someone ordered six pizzas. Someone else found an old farmhouse for rent near Emma's school.
The club repaired the house in four days. They replaced broken steps, painted the bedrooms, installed smoke detectors, fenced the yard, and converted the sunroom into a reading space. Mason chose a pale blue color for Emma's room, then worried it was too childish. The riders argued about curtains for forty minutes.
Julia arrived during the chaos. She watched Bear carefully measure the distance between stair rails. She watched Tiny assemble a bookshelf backward, curse quietly, then start again. She watched Mason place one photograph on the mantel: Luke, Grace, and baby Emma at a summer picnic.
"This doesn't erase your past," Julia told him.
"I know."
"The court will examine everything. Arrests. Debts. Old fights."
"Then they'll see everything."
His answer surprised her. Most applicants tried to hide their worst moments. Mason seemed determined to lay his out in the sunlight.
Before leaving, Julia handed him a sealed envelope. Inside was a copy of Vivian's guardianship petition.
Vivian claimed Mason led a violent criminal organization. She also claimed Grace had left written instructions that Emma should never have contact with the Steel Saints.
Attached was a signed letter.
Mason read it once, then again.
The signature looked like Grace's.
May you like
But the date was impossible.
The letter had supposedly been signed three days after Grace's death.
