by Jadyn Chase
I rounded the grocery store and hopped into the Jeep. I hit the gas and screeched out of town. I didn’t give a damn for the law. No one could do anything worse to me than Amy just did.
The Lynches! She was working for the Lynches the whole time. All those dainty smiles of hers, all those casual glances—Christ, what a colossal shmuck I was!
I peeled around corners and nearly skidded off the road motoring up the Ridge toward home. At least I still had that. At least I still had my Clan. I caught her before she did us any real damage. The worst that could happen was the Lynches would all show up at the tannery at midnight tomorrow and I wouldn’t be there.
As things stood right now, Pop would want to attack them instead. He would roust out all the boys and we would convoy down to the tannery, probably long before dark. We would stake the place out, and when the Lynches showed up to do their dirty work—kaboom!
The thought gave me some consolation, but that meant punishment only for the Lynches. They would pay for trying to trap me, but it let Amy off the hook. I couldn’t think of any punishment bad enough to retaliate for what she did to me.
I ought to kill her, too. I ought to hunt her down and put a bullet in the back of her head. That would be a kindness. If she worked for the Lynches once, she would do it again. She might develop a vendetta of her own against me for dumping her the way I did.
I regretted showing myself to her. Now she possessed a secret she could use against me. She might be able to harm the Clan with that.
On second thought, Dean might have told her all about me beforehand. He might have used the information to threaten her. He might have told her not to cross me, or I would destroy her myself.
If I capped her, I might as well cap her old man while I was at it. He couldn’t survive on his own without her. I would have to put him down to stop him from suffering, and I already knew I couldn’t do that.
I couldn’t kill Amy, either. Whatever she was, I still cared about her. Christ, I hated her for that! I wanted to hurt her as bad or worse than she hurt me, but I couldn’t think of anything besides killing her father.
I might be a loser and a hellion with no prospects, no skills, and no future, but I wasn’t scum like the Lynches. Whatever Dean told Amy about me, I never killed anybody that didn’t deserve it. I certainly never killed any innocent bystanding civilian, and I wasn’t about to start now.
I skidded to a stop in the homestead yard. My cousin Adrian leaned over the engine block of a shiny red pickup. Two grease-stained asses stuck out from under the open hood. When I braked, they stood up to face me and I recognized the Cochran twins, Jackson and Julian.
They both grinned when they spotted me, but I didn’t go over to them. I turned and walked away. I didn’t want to see or talk to anyone right now. I couldn’t face my own failure. As angry as I was at Amy, I was madder at myself.
I really must be a loser if I got myself into this mess. My Pop always told me to pull my head out the ground and start living my life like a man instead of an unruly boy. I never gave him much credence until now.
I was no man. I was less than a boy. I was a parasite on my own Clan. I couldn’t even protect myself and the ones I loved most from our enemies. I walked right into their trap like a brainless fop.
No more. From this day forward, I would start doing my part around this Clan. I would build a real career that benefited everyone instead of just myself. I might even convince myself to go back to school.
No more running around. No more chasing brainless skirts. No more drinking and getting into trouble knowing full well Pop and my uncles would bail me out. Today was the day I grew up. Today was the first day of my adulthood. Today I would start being a man my family and my parents and relatives and kin could be proud of.
I stormed around the barn before I stopped. I couldn’t run. I didn’t want to. I lived on Smokey Ridge all my life. I wasn’t going anywhere. Whatever disaster I created, I had to face it. I just needed to get my head together before I knuckled down to the dirty work.
I walked over to a pile of lumber stacked on pallets. I sat down on it and rested my elbows on my knees. Dense woods surrounded the homestead. I knew every tree and molehill on this Ridge. They accepted me. They knew me and understood me. I didn’t have to explain anything to them. I belonged here. I always would.
Now that I got home, I started to calm down. My heartbeat slowed, but I still kicked myself over Amy. I couldn’t believe I let myself care about her as much as I did. I actually fantasized about marrying her and living happily ever after.
I might not do it with her, but I would do it with someone—someone who deserved it. I would find a good woman—a really good woman, not one who just pretended to be good. I would marry her and give her a good life. I would raise my kids on Smokey Ridge the way my brothers and uncles did. I would become a fully mature member of this Clan and join the other men in their councils.
A noise startled me out of my thoughts. I glanced over to see Pop sauntering toward me. He jammed his hands deep in his jeans pockets. He ambled to the lumber pile and sat down next to me.
He didn’t say anything. That’s the way a real man starts a conversation. He didn’t impose himself on anyone. Watch and learn, Liam. See how it’s done from a master.
He gazed out at the woods. He understood them, and they understood him. He grew out of the soil here like the trees. It ran in his veins and made him what he was.
I took a deep breath. “I’m in love, Pop. I’m in love with a woman who works for the Lynches.”
His head snapped around. He stared at me hard for a second before he turned away. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“They blackmailed her into trapping me. They wanted her to seduce me to the old tannery tomorrow at midnight. They were going to ambush me. I figured you would want to know. They’ll all be there. We can take ‘em all out. Just give the word.”
He kept still and quiet the way he always did. Nothing surprised that guy—at least, if anything surprised him, he didn’t show it. “Thanks for telling me, son.”
My shoulders drooped. Now that I got it off my chest, the anguish of losing my castle in the air hit me like a ton of bricks. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t dare in front of my old man. That would be the ultimate humiliation.
“I’m not sure what to do about her,” I breathed. “I should want to kill her to pay her back for betraying me, but I can’t.”
“Is this the girl whose house you rebuilt—the girl you took that stove to?”
I nodded, too desolate to reply.
“If that’s true, then you don’t have to pay her back,” he told me. “She’s suffered enough, and if she’s working for the Lynches, she’ll suffer more when you don’t show up at the tannery like they want you to.”
I cocked my head to frown at him. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think they’ll do to her when she doesn’t deliver you? Do you think they’ll tumble out and come up here to burn us in our sleep? Of course not. They’ll take it out on her. She’ll suffer a lot worse at their hands than she ever would at yours. I can promise you that, son.”
My heart crashed into my stomach. I never thought about that. I never considered what the Lynches would do to her if she failed. Now my conversation with her in the ally came back to me word for crystal clear word.
Dean threatened to kill her. He threatened to kill her father if she didn’t deliver me. I heard him myself. He manhandled her in that alley. He choked her and suffocated her. Heaven only knew what else he did to her when I wasn’t around.
The terrified misery in her face hovered before my eyes. I was too mad and self-absorbed in the alley to notice it, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind now. She was petrified. She begged me to forgive her. She did it to save her father.
Pop interrupted my thoughts again. “What’s their beef with us now? Why do they want to target you?”
“Dean Lynch blames me for his brother Theo’s death. Do you remember
Marjorie Atchison? She was dating him. I……” I hated to admit to him now what I had done. “I picked her up in a bar. I got her drunk and I hooked up with her. A few weeks later, she turned up dead in Lynch territory. Someone informed the Police and Theo took the blame. Someone shanked him in prison. I’m guessing it might have been the Hodges or one of the other Clans.”
Pop nodded. “That proves it.”
“Proves what, Pop?”
“They’ll kill her,” he returned. “From what you say, they never planned to kill you at the tannery at all. They were going to kill her and frame you for murder, the same way they think you framed Theo. Either way, they have no reason to keep her alive. As soon as they find out it’s over between the two of you, they’ll ditch her.”
My blood froze in my veins. He was right. Holy shit, I was stupid! Why did I let my temper get the best of me? I should have realized all this in the alley before I let Amy walk away.
Pop stood up and slapped my shoulder. “You’ll be all right, son. We all have women in our past we can’t forget. A man can forget the women he had. It’s the ones that got away that haunt you and keep you awake at night decades later when you’re happily married to the woman of your dreams. That’s the curse of being a man.”
He started back toward the house. “Hey!” I called after him. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get the boys out. We have some planning to do if we want to surprise the Lynches at the tannery. Be ready to move with the rest when I give the order.”
He left me alone with my tortured thoughts. Amy told me point blank Dean threatened her life. No one knew better than I did that the Lynches were capable of that and a lot more.
She took money from them to save her father. Now she wound up in way over her head. She might even know she was dead meat, now that she no longer entertained any hope of delivering me to the tannery.
Why didn’t I listen? Why didn’t I understand? It took Pop to paint a picture for me. Her voice drifted into my ear. I didn’t mean to get you roped into this when I met you at the fishing hole. I never meant for any of this to happen. Just remember I said that.
I got her into this. I flew off the handle when I found out the truth. A man doesn’t do that. A man takes it all in with a calm mind and plans accordingly. A real man would have taken the truth and used Amy to his advantage. He would have turned her into bait to trap the Lynches in return.
I threw away that chance, but I didn’t have to throw away Amy. I thought for a few dreamy days I found the woman of my dreams, but I sure didn’t treat her like that. If I wanted to marry her and give her a decent life, if I wanted to make her my partner in life, I should have stuck by her. I should have supported her. I should have forgiven her and worked to find a solution to our mutual problem.
Now it was me who needed to ask her forgiveness. What if she didn’t forgive me? What if she didn’t take me back? I would lose nothing by trying. I already threw her away for no good reason. If she didn’t take me back, I would be just as alone as I was now.
At least she would be alive. I might not be able to salvage anything with her, but I could save her life. She didn’t have to die for my stupid mistakes.
I hopped to my feet and wheeled around. My pulse raced to get on with it, but I stopped in my tracks. Adrian and the twins tinkered beyond the barn. They would see me walk past. They would see me get into the Jeep and drive away. Pop would probably see me from the window, too, but I didn’t care anymore.
I did a quick mental calculation. Pop gave me a direct order to be ready to move when he gave the word. I couldn’t violate that, but I had some time before the hammer came down. It was noon now. That gave me thirty-six hours before I had to show up at the tannery with my Clan.
I barged out from behind the barn and got into the Jeep. I didn’t drive like a bat out of Hell this time. I measured each gear shift and every depression of my foot against the gas pedal with unerring accuracy.
I drove down the mountain and retraced my route back to town. Where would Amy go when she realized she couldn’t lure me to the tannery? She would go home. She would spend some time with her father before the roof caved in.
I paused outside the alley, but I didn’t go into it. She would be long gone by now. What I wouldn’t give to use my dragon nose right now! I could track her down in seconds that way, but I couldn’t exactly waltz down Main Street in dragon form. I inched along and checked between the buildings, but I didn’t see Amy anywhere.
I turned my tracks out of town along the highway heading east. I surveyed every corner and rest stop for any sign of her all the way to Road 28L. She must already be home.
The wind cooled my forehead but not my emotions. I could change my mind about Amy but not about the Lynches. Those bastards got me into this—and her, too.
The Lynches possessed no compunctions about killing an old man or plaguing a helpless girl—not that Amy was helpless. Still, she couldn’t exactly stand up to the Lynches. No one could without a powerful Clan behind them.
The cabin came in sight, as I parked the Jeep. Old Man McMasters sat in the same chair out front. His bleary eyes stared straight ahead. He didn’t even blink when I approached the house.
I greeted him the way I always did, even though I didn’t expect an answer. “How are you doing, Mr. McMasters? Nice day, isn’t it?”
I shook his hand as usual and moved to the doorway. The screen still lay on the grass where I threw it. The door stood open and I squinted into the house. I knocked on the doorjamb. “Amy, are you home?”
No one answered.
I knocked again. “Amy, it’s me, Liam. Can we please just talk about this? I’m sorry I lost my temper at you. Please come out.”
Nothing. I listened hard. I didn’t hear any sound from inside. No crying. No housework. No nothing.
I banged louder. “Come on, Amy! Don’t leave a guy hanging like this. I said I was sorry.”
Silence answered me. The longer I listened to it, the more chills shimmered up my spine. That silence sounded like something was wrong. I glanced down at Mr. McMasters, but he gave me no indication that he knew what was happening.
I mustered my courage and stepped into the house. The instant my foot crossed the threshold, I knew I was right. Something was wrong. She wasn’t here.
From here, I could see the living room and kitchen deserted. I strode down the hall. The bathroom door stood back with no one there. Across the hall, a crack around her bedroom door revealed the sun streaming through the window.
I pushed the door open with one finger. The quilt lay smooth and unruffled on the bed. Not a scrap of paper sullied her desk. No one set foot in that room since Amy left for town this morning.
I beat it out of there with my pulse throbbing in my skull. She wasn’t here. She didn’t come back from town—or maybe something else happened to her. If Dean threatened her and then she realized she couldn’t hold up her end of their bargain, she would retreat to familiar safe ground, and that meant this house. She had nowhere else in the world to go.
I barged out of the house. I wasn’t getting anywhere here. I stomped onto the porch before I stopped to think the situation over. Where could she be? What if the Lynches already took her? What if Dean somehow already found out about our fight?
Of course. He must have seen me in town. He must have seen me arguing with her. He might even have seen me shift to scream at her. He knew all about it. Now he would take steps to cover his tracks and destroy any evidence of his plan.
I stole a glance down at Mr. McMasters. He couldn’t help me—or could he? I eased around in front of him. He stared at my belt buckle. His lips quivered in tremulous silence. What did I hope to accomplish by trying to talk to him?
I had nothing left to lose and hopefully everything to gain. I dropped to one knee in front of him and my face came level with his eyes. “Do you remember me, Mr. McMasters? I’m Liam Kelly.”
A flicker of recognition danced in his eyes before i
t submerged beneath a tide of delirium.
I grasped that hint like a drowning man. I had to find Amy. If she was in danger, I had to be the one to help her. “Where’s Amy, Mr. McMasters? Did she come back here? Was she here just a little while ago? Did someone come and take her? I need to know, Mr. McMasters. She might be in trouble. I want to help her. Please tell me. Did she come back here after she went to town?”
He blinked. I swear he blinked at me. His lips quivered once and then he closed them for a fleeting second. He opened and closed his mouth three times before he managed to make a sound. “Blue…..”
My eyes widened. “Blue? Blue what? What does that have to do with Amy?”
He tried again. Now that I got him to respond, my spirits soared. He was trying to talk to me. He must know something about Amy—something important. He was trying to communicate it to me. He must know she was in trouble, too.
“B….bb…. blue…..” he stammered. “Blue pickup.”
I fought down the urge to shake him by the shoulders. “A blue pickup? Was there a blue pickup here?”
“Took…..took her away…..” He went into a paroxysm of trying against all odds to get his mouth to function. I didn’t want to think how long it must have been since he tried to say anything. “Took…..my Amy.”
“Someone took her in a blue pickup?” I heard my voice rising to a yell, but I couldn’t control myself. They took her. They came here and took her.
The old man’s eyes glistened with moisture. I could no longer deny that he was looking right at me—at me! He was talking to me.
“Pointed a gun at my head. She said no, but he pointed a gun at me.”
I sank back on my heels. Dean threatened to kill her father if she didn’t go with him. That made sense. I cast around for any plan to get her back. One thing I knew for certain. I couldn’t leave the old man here alone.
I stood up and looked around with my brain in a whirl. Amy took care of her father every day. Without her, he had no one. The Kellys already took partial responsibility for these people. Now it was my turn. It was my fault Amy wasn’t here to do the job.
