by Voss, Deja
“Relax, Delaney,” I say. “Don’t make a scene. You’re going to upset him.”
Jesse’s got himself out of his booster seat and has climbed to the window by this point, and he’s staring out, confused.
“Come on, Jesse, unlock the door,” she says. “I miss you. I want to give you a hug.”
He bursts into tears, his screams piercing my ears and breaking my heart at the same time.
“You promised, Aunt Stacy!” he yells through the glass. “You said she wasn’t going to take me.”
I just want to climb in the back seat with him and comfort him. Seeing him upset like this feels like I’m being stabbed. I want to tell him I will make good on my promise. This bitch is definitely not taking him from us.
“I’m sorry,” I say to her, prying her off the window of the truck. “You’re going to have to make arrangements with Hank. I’m not trying to keep you from your son, but this is a really irresponsible way to go about seeing him. Come up to the house sometime soon and we’ll do whatever it takes to get this sorted out.” I hit the lock on the truck and reach for the handle. As I swing the door open, I feel a hand grab for my throat. I struggle to get away from its reach, pushing myself up into the lifted truck. This woman couldn’t even kill a bug, she’s so frail, there’s no way in hell she’s going to take me out in this parking lot.
I reach back with my leg to try and kick her off of me, everything getting blurry as I gasp for air. All I can hear are Jesse’s piercing screams of “Aunt Stacy!” and I fight with all my might to stay awake, flailing wildly as I’m being choked from behind.
It’s not Delaney, these aren’t the hands of some fragile junkie. The body behind me has to be twice my size. My kicking isn’t even making them flinch. The hand moves up over my mouth and a man whispers in my ear.
“If you even thinking about biting me, sister, this kid is getting shot.”
It’s a voice I never wanted to hear again. A voice I thought I’d long forgotten.
“Give her your keys, Az,” I hear my father growl. “As much fun as this double family reunion is, it’s time to hit the road.”
Where did they come from? How did they find me? My gun is in the truck. I don’t stand a fighting chance. The only thing I care about is that this little boy is safe from these two psychopaths who are definitely going to kill me. I stop fighting. There’s no use. They say they’re going to shoot the kid, they probably will just to prove a point.
I drop the keys to the ground, and my dad picks them up and hands them to Delaney.
“Get the fuck out of here,” he says. “Ditch this truck as soon as you can.”
“Where’s my cut?” she whines. “I thought I was getting paid.”
My skin crawls thinking about the fate of Jesse in this woman’s care.
“You’re going to have to take that up with Moses. Isn’t getting your son back payment enough?” The confused look on her face and the sound of Jesse’s cries of “Aunt Stacy!” coming from the backseat make me want to fight.
I scream into my brother’s hand covering my mouth. “Please!” I try to cry out. I need to save him. I think about Hank and how wonderful my life has been with him, how much I love him and our new family, trying to calm myself if only for the sake of Jesse, trying to figure out a way that everything is going to be alright and how I’m going to get myself out of this jam, and the last thing I see before being shoved into the van is Jesse’s face pressed up against the truck window.
The door slams behind me, and my dad and brother get in the front seat. The engine is already running, and they begin to pull out of the parking lot while I gasp for air, my face streaked with tears.
“Daddy, I can explain,” I plead.
“This oughta be good,” Tim laughs. “I can hardly wait to hear this one.”
I kick the back of his seat. I don’t have time for his stupidity right now. All I want to do is convince them to take me back to Jesse, no matter what it’s going to take.
“Well, Azalea?” my dad growls. “Are you going to spit it out or are you going to pretend like we’re just going to drive home and go about our lives like everything is normal.”
“I was trying to help,” I say. “I had to run away or people would start getting suspicious. Everything I did was to protect our patch.” It sounds so stupid, I almost can’t spit it out. Everything I did was 100 percent self-preserving. Everything I did was in my own best interest. Until I met Hank, I lived my life looking out for me. Now all that has changed, and I am going to do whatever it takes to make this right, even if it means losing my life.
“Well, you’ve helped enough, child. Helped get us all in deep shit. We’re on constant watch after that little stunt back there.” He’s driving faster down the highway, and every second that goes by, I grow more and more frightened about if I’m going to lose Jesse and Hank forever. I have no idea what these two plan on doing with me now that they found me. I just need to start talking and hope they believe me.
“He was going to throw us all in jail if I didn’t cooperate. He wasn’t even trying to bust us. He was looking for connections with the cartel. I had to play along.”
“I thought I raised you better than that,” he said. “Why didn’t you just take care of it?”
“He told me my house was bugged! I had to play along.”
“Well we have the rest of your life to get the truth out of you. How long that’s going to be depends on how well you cooperate with us.”
“Daddy!” I shout, but he just turns up the music until the heavy metal drowns me out. I try the van door as stealthily as possible. I will throw myself out into moving traffic to get away from these assholes. It’s obviously locked.
He weaves sharply in and out of traffic, and I watch as the contents of my purse dump out over the floor of the van. How could I be so stupid? My cell phone sits there right out in the open, and I stare into the rearview mirror, making sure he isn’t looking as I carefully reach down and start pressing buttons. 911 isn’t going to help this situation at all. We’re a bunch of criminals. We have to make our own justice.
My only prayer is that Hank’s driving and it goes straight to voicemail. It’s the only way I’m going to come out of this alive. Either way, I’m going to drop him as many clues as possible so he can get back to Jesse as safely as possible.
“Dad!” I scream over the loud music. “I have to pee!”
“You’re going to have to wait,” he says.
“You’re making a huge mistake!” I yell. “Do you think I was up here hiding out? I’ve been doing recon since the day I got here. These morons were an easy fucking target. You know those keys you just made me give to Delaney? I’ve got access to literally everything the Mountain Misfits have. Their clubhouse, their bike shop, their bar, their stash houses… everything. You always said you wanted to expand the club.” If I know anything about my father, the easiest way to appeal to him is through the idea of power, promise of riches, and the thought of a gang war. His favorite things.
“We gotta catch her before she gets back to Moses. We gotta get those keys!” I yell.
He turns the music down and pulls over on the side of the road.
“Are you fucking with me?” he asks. “I don’t care if you’re my daughter, I’ll slit your goddamn throat and leave you on the side of the road for the turkey vultures.”
“I promise!” I plead. “I wanted to make things right by you guys. This is going to solve all our problems.” I mean, kind of. Those keys ARE what I say they are, but hopefully Hank gets this message before they have a chance to find out my intentions.
“You look like shit as a brunette, by the way,” my dad laughs. “I can’t take you seriously.”
“Fuck off,” I groan. “Let’s go find that bitch. I’m so glad you guys came and got me. Playing Susie Homemaker was getting old real quick. How did you even find me?”
“We got eyes everywhere, Azalea. And these guys have one sick twisted pissed off ex-presid
ent.” He jams the truck into drive and does a U-turn across the four-lane highway. So much for laying low. My dad is on a mission. As long as that mission isn’t to murder me anymore, I guess we’re making progress here.
Chapter 31
Goob:
We pull into the gas station to fill up on our way home from the run. Brooks and Gavin head inside to pay, and I pull out my cell phone. My phone went off awhile ago, and I’m sure it was Azalea, but she’ll kick my ass if I talk to her while I’m riding. It’s strange having a woman concerned about my well-being. Even stranger is the fact that I get where she’s coming from and want to do right by her and Jesse.
She left me a voicemail. That’s really strange. Maybe Jesse got ahold of her phone and was playing with it. I click to listen, expecting to hear a bunch of mumbling, and instead I get blasted with heavy metal. It makes me chuckle at first, thinking about my sweet old lady cruising down the road, teaching my son the joys of Slayer, but when the talking starts, my heart damn near stops.
Something isn’t right.
She’s yelling over the music, telling her dad she’s infiltrating the club, something about getting the keys off of Delaney. Something is really fucking bad here. Whether she’s telling the truth or not, my son is missing, and she’s with her father.
There’s only one man who can give me the answers I need.
I can barely keep it together, thinking about my son and what that junkie could be doing with him, thinking about what Azalea could be up to right now. Did she betray me? Did she betray us? I don’t want to believe the worst.
Except it’s all the worst. There is no good outcome of this situation. I feel like I’m going to throw up. I drop my phone to the ground and clutch my head in my hands.
“What the fuck?” Gavin asks as he sprints over to me. “What’s wrong?”
I look up at him, my older brother, the man who has always looked out for me no matter what. “It’s bad, Gav,” I say. “Delaney’s got Jesse. Azalea’s dad got her. It’s a fucking mess.”
Brooks has now joined us. I’m trying to explain the situation, but the words aren’t coming out right. Nothing makes sense. I need to get my son. I need to find my old lady. I don’t even know where to start.
“How?” Gavin asks.
“Moses,” I say. “We need to find our father.”
“I’ll round the crew up,” Brooks says, “We’ll start looking for your truck.” He wraps his arm around me, hugging me tight. “We’re gonna find them, Goob. Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.” He pulls his phone out of his cut and paces the parking lot of the gas station.
“You want me to call Dad?” Gavin asks.
I shake my head and pick up my phone off the ground. I’m not his problem anymore. I’m not his burden. This is between me and Moses. This is my battle to fight. He already knows Gavin isn’t going to put up with his shit. It’s my turn to show him he’s fucked with the wrong son.
I scroll through my numbers, my hands trembling. I never wanted to have to dial this number again, but now I have no options. Wherever he’s hiding, he’s close by enough to keep pulling strings. He’s got another thing coming, though.
It rings two times before he answers. He doesn’t say a word, but I can hear his breathing on the other line, that long term smoker’s wheeze that sends chills down my spine.
“Where the fuck is my son?” I ask.
“Your son, huh? You couldn’t even call your old man and tell him you were a father and now you’re asking me where the kid is? Real responsible, Goob.”
I don’t owe him anything.
“Where is he?” I snap.
“I’m actually on my way to go get him right now. Looks like his mother had a little accident. Drove your truck into a ditch and can’t get out.” That bitch. If this accident didn’t kill her, I sure as fuck am going to. My poor kid.
“Where?” I yell.
“Oh now you want something from me? Well we’re going to do this on my terms, boy. I’ll call you back when I feel like it.”
“Where is Azalea?” I ask.
He chuckles so hard that he has to gasp for air. “I imagine she’s on her way back to Kentucky with her kin. It’s a damn shame. That tight little ass of hers, I would’ve kept her for myself if it weren’t for the fact that I needed some clout with the Debasers. It’s not every day guys like that put out a search for someone and they’re fucking your son.”
I hang up the phone. I’ve got nothing more to say to him. All I know is that we need to find him and end this once and for all. Wherever he is, that’s where Azalea and her crew are going to be. That’s where my son is going to be.
“Clutch saw your truck on the side of the road near the camp,” Brooks says. “He’s there now.”
“Where’s Jesse?”
“He’s gone. There’s nobody else there.”
“Has that asshole been staying at camp this whole time?” I stammer. At least it’s far enough off the main roads that the cops aren’t going to get involved. I’m still worried that Jesse is hurt though, and I’m definitely worried about what’s going to happen to Azalea. I know they’re looking for the truck, too. I know they’re probably on their way to camp as well if that’s where Moses is staying.
“We need everyone at camp,” I say. “Shit’s about to get really ugly.”
We mount our bikes, engines roaring as we speed off onto the highway. It’s going to be the longest twenty minutes of my life.
Chapter 32
Stacy:
“So what’s this Moses character like?” I ask my brother, Tim. We found the truck on the side of a dirt road, stuck in a ditch, and I crane my neck looking out the window. The backseat door is hanging wide open, and Jesse is nowhere to be seen.
I’m trying to make small talk, trying to keep the chatter going. I’m sending Hank another voicemail and I need to give him as many clues as possible.
“What the fuck do you care?” Tim asks.
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked in almost a year. I was just making conversation.”
“About an old guy you don’t even know?”
I hear a gunshot fire, and it sounds like it’s right outside the window. My dad is running towards the van, keys in his hand, clutching his shoulder with the other. There’s blood running down his arm, so much blood, it makes me queasy.
Tim swings open the driver’s side door for my dad, and I think that now’s my chance. I don’t know who shot him, but I’m thankful they did.
Kind of wish they would’ve had the mind to make it a kill shot, but I’ll take a stun shot for now. I pull up on the lock and swing the door open, rolling out onto the grass.
“Help!” I scream. “Help! I’ve been kidnapped!” It’s gotta be one of the guys out there. Hank probably sent them looking for the truck. They’d know my voice, I’m sure. I push myself up off the grass and look over my shoulder. I’m sure my brother is nearby, and I know he’s armed.
I take off down into the ditch that the truck is stuck in and it doesn’t look like there’s much damage.
The sound of heavy breathing rings through my ears and I look down on the ground near my feet, and there lies Clutch. He’s grasping his leg with his bloodied hands, his chiseled jaw and piercing blue eyes twisted into a wild grimace.
I only heard one gunshot, and my dad’s obviously been hit. That means we’re not alone here.
I rush to his side, kneeling down next to him.
“Are you ok?” I ask.
“Do you know how to make a tourniquet?” he asks. I shake my head in fear.
“Talk me through it?”
I help him rip the sleeve off his shirt, and tie it tight around his leg.
“The guys are on their way,” he says. “You need to run. Moses took off that way,” he says, trying to point over his shoulder, his face pained. I don’t want to leave him. I want to wait here until Hank gets here and I want to do whatever I can to help him get Jesse back.
“Yeah, sis.�
� I feel the gun pressed up to the back of my head and I hear him click the safety off. “You better run.”
“Fuck,” Clutch grumbles. “I didn’t realize there was more of you.”
I put my hands up in the air and stare into Clutch’s eyes, trembling in fear. I don’t know what the endgame is for my brother and father, but I do know that my father doesn’t like being shot. He’s probably mad as hell.
“Is Dad okay?” I ask.
“The fuck do you care? Get up,” he says, and I begin to oblige. “You want to kiss your boyfriend goodbye one last time before I spray your brains all over the side of his truck?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say, “but he is my friend. So I’d really appreciate it if you would help me get him in the van and I can get him and Dad to a guy who can fix him up.”
He laughs like that’s the funniest joke he’s ever heard.
“Dad’s fine. You know how many times that man’s been shot? Where did you say Moses went? That asshole shot my dad.”
Just then, the sound of sirens fills the air. Like music to my ears on this remote back road. The flashing lights stop on the road overhead, and Tim drops his gun to the ground and takes off running. For once, I don’t feel like I need to run, too. I’ve done nothing wrong. I’m actually happy to see the police.
I can hear someone telling my father to get out of the van and put his hands in the air.
“Holy shit,” an officer says as he rounds the front of the truck and sees Clutch on the ground and me standing there. “We need an ambulance.”
It seems like only seconds pass when the dirt road is completely lit up. Cop cars, ambulances, there’s even a fire truck. These people out here don’t mess around.
