I was still going to punch Riot, though. Maybe twice for this one.
Chapter 6
GRACE
The Marshall House reminded me of New Orleans, with its block-long balcony decorated with ornate iron work the color of the deepest forest. It looked out over a bustling street, with a luscious park across from it. The building itself was old and stately, the lobby filled with flowers and antique couches, fringed lamps and stained glass windows. The marble floors and elaborately carved wooden banisters gave it an old-world feel that took you back centuries.
I loved it immediately and knew it would be the perfect place to use as a base the next few days. The staff was intensely courteous, even if they did give Ryder a few extra glances.
Riot had spread us out into different hotels, but he and Lacey were staying in the room next to us, so we could easily hand off Sadie when I needed to work. Slade was at the Kehoe House down the street and Blade was staying at the 17hundred90 Inn not far away. Hannah had checked into the same hotel as Blade before we arrived.
They were all located within fairly close proximity to each other, should any of us need each other in a pinch. It was nice knowing we were all nearby and had easy access to one another.
After we’d all gotten settled in our respective rooms, we invited Hannah and the others over for another meeting, taking advantage of the privacy of our own room. Blade and Slade sat around a small table near the window and Hannah sat on the bed. Lacey and I sat on the floor with Sadie while she played with the little stuffed bunny Slade had given her. Ryder was on edge, pacing the room like a pissed-off lion. Riot took notes as Hannah began going over everything with us again.
“So, tell us more about the girl Cherry met at the salon,” Ryder prompted Hannah.
“Her name’s Trudy. She’s young. Probably about nineteen or so. She said she got out of Savannah as fast as she could after graduating high school and was on her own now. Her family had disowned her for refusing to work at the family business and adhere to their expectations and giving them grandchildren, she’d said. She’d been in New Orleans for just a few months when she got a job washing hair at the salon where Cherry got her hair cut. I guess they got to talking and when Cherry mentioned we were private investigators, the girl opened up. Cherry was intrigued, enough so that she hopped on a plane after a few weeks of digging through news articles.”
“Where’s the girl now?”
“Still in New Orleans. Said she was never coming back here again.”
“I’d like to talk to her,” Riot said. “Can you get her number?”
“Sure, of course,” Hannah replied.
“Did Cherry give you any more info?”
“Not much. I was deep in the middle of another case myself, and I hate to admit it, but I was distracted. All I know is that some very prominent families were suspected to be involved in the murders and she was excited because she was uncovering some information she thought was valuable. I just didn’t get to hear what that was. Cherry always keeps very detailed notes, though. She has a notebook she keeps in her purse that she writes everything down in, but when I got here and looked through her things, the notebook was missing.”
Ryder sighed, shaking his head.
“Could it be in her hotel room? Where was she staying?”
“I went there when I arrived and cleaned it out and checked her out. I have her suitcase and clothes and things. You’re welcome to go through them, but I didn’t see anything that would give us any more information than we already have. Like I said, the police won’t let me look through her car.”
“That’s not a lot to go on,” Ryder said.
“Right,” Hannah nodded. “I keep thinking she’s going to wake up any minute and tell us this really was a big accident, but my gut says otherwise.”
“Mine, too,” Ryder said. “I think we need to start at the beginning. Riot, get on the phone with the girl from the salon and we’ll go from there.”
“I’ll send the number to you,” Hannah said, pulling out her phone. “I should get back to the hospital in case Cherry wakes up. I’d hate for her to wake up alone.”
“Thank you, Hannah,” Ryder said, walking her to the door. “Please call us if anything changes. We’re going to start from scratch here and we’ll keep you posted.”
“I’ll do the same.”
Ryder hugged her and closed the door, turning back to us with concern in his eyes. I wanted to throw my arms around him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but that’s not what he wanted to hear.
He wanted revenge.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he growled.
Chapter 7
BLADE
“Blade, what do you have to add to Hannah’s information? Do you know anything about these murders?” Ryder asked.
“I’ve been out of touch for twenty years,” I said, shaking my head. “Savannah’s population has grown in the last few decades, but I suspect the families that ran shit back then haven’t given up their grip. If anything, the sheer amount of people here now makes it easier for them to cover up the corruption. It’s old money — inherited money, inherited power, and most likely it's now being controlled by their kids who grew up as entitled teenaged pricks, and I would be surprised if they didn’t grow into entitled adult pricks.”
“You sound so nostalgic,” Slade joked.
“I left for a reason,” I replied, wryly.
“I can relate, man, I didn’t stick around the place I grew up either. Although, I gotta say, it was a lot shittier than this place. It’s beautiful here,” he replied.
“Maybe on the outside, but it’s always been rotting from the inside,” I said.
“So, there are two recent unsolved murders,” Riot said. “All young women, just out of high school. Each a year apart. Rumor has it the town is all on edge, since graduation is right around the corner again. Since they are both open cases, the cops are keeping quiet about the details. Lots of leaks, though, but who knows what is true and what is just fabricated or exaggerated. There have been reports of ritualistic evidence found near the bodies — like candles and animal skulls and feathers and stuff like that, someone even mentioned the body was in an entire tub of blood, but that seems excessive, if you ask me. The causes of the two deaths haven’t been released either, but rumors run the gambit — everything from hanging to gunshots to meticulous organ removal. Honestly, at this point, I don’t know what to believe because the information is all over the place.”
“There have been rumors like that around since I was in high school myself,” I replied. “But kids like to make shit up. One year, one of my buddies dressed all in black, put on a wolf mask he had left over from a Halloween costume and ran around starting small fires in the forest and howling at the moon, sparking rumors of a werewolf. People went out searching for months after that and he’d only done it for one night. There were claims of actual werewolf sightings for years after that. So, the truth could be any version of those rumors, Riot.”
“Okay, so it’s our job to figure out fact from fiction,” Ryder said. “I think the best thing to do to achieve that is to get out there and talk to people. Feel people out, get them to open up, get whatever details you can, and then we’ll compare notes.”
“Sounds good to me,” Riot agreed. “Blade, what’s your position in this community?”
I scoffed. “Non-existent, these days. My sister lives here, with my nephew. She still lives in my folk’s old house, so I can visit her and my presence won’t be questioned. I’ll find out what she knows about everything, and dig around in some other places. There’s a few prominent families that I know, so if I need to, I can show my face and see what I can uncover.”
“Why’d you leave, man?” Slade asked.
I shook my head, the memories of my last few days here flooding my brain.
“A girl,” I said, lifting my chin so my voice wouldn’t crack with emotion. “Rose. She still lives here, married some asshole fro
m one of those prominent families I told you about, just like the family she was born into herself. Rose was a Finley and she married a Davenport. I’ve known her all my life. We had a pretty intense relationship but I’m from the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak, and her family didn’t approve of us being together. Hell, they never did, even when we were just friends. But, once we graduated from high school, and it was clear I had no intentions of going anywhere, her family made sure I did.”
“What do you mean?”
“Her father made it very clear that he had other plans for Rose’s life. I was not a part of those plans.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“He threatened my sister. At the time, I was defenseless against him. They’re powerful people. They can get away with anything they want. I was just a kid. I tried to resist, but they killed my sister’s dog, just to make their point. So, I didn’t have a choice but to break up with her. That wasn’t enough for them, though. They wanted me gone and I knew that staying here without Rose would be too much for me to handle — I knew it would be impossible, in fact. I loved her too much. And I knew I’d never be able to watch her marry someone else. And I loved my sister, too. I knew I had to leave, so I did. And I never looked back.”
“That fucking sucks,” Slade said.
“You said it, brother,” I replied. “But I did the right thing, at least at the time. My sister is healthy and happy and has a son of her own now. I went on with my life, and so did Rose. She got married right after I left and didn’t waste any time starting her family.”
“She still here?”
“Yep, as far as I know.”
“You still love her?” he asked.
“Always, man,” I said, shaking my head. “But what’s done is done.”
“You should go get her back, brother,” Slade said.
“Slade!” Grace said. “Stay out of that.”
“Why?” Slade asked, wrinkling his brow. “Love is love, right?”
“We’re here to work, not disrupt anyone’s life,” Ryder said, his voice gruff.
“Yeah, and to fuck up the bastards that hurt Cherry,” Riot replied.
“Yeah, yeah,” Slade said, shaking his head. “I know that. And I’m all for kicking some serious ass. But y’all know what a hopeless romantic I am and I hate stories of true love being interrupted.”
“I seriously doubt that Rose wants anything to do with a man like me,” I said, laughing. “It was a long time ago and I’m a different person now. I’m sure she is too.”
“Well, I’m just saying leave a door open in your heart,” Slade replied.
“Leave a door open in your heart?” Riot teased. “Damn, Slade, when did you get so fucking sappy?”
“When I fell in love with Diana, I guess,” he snapped. “And I’m fucking proud of my sap, you asshole. I’m like a fucking maple tree, man! Sappy and delicious!” He roared at his own joke, and I couldn’t help but laugh with him.
“I’m going to head over to my sister’s,” I said, standing up. Talking about all of this was getting to me and I really just wanted a break.
Riot threw me a set of keys. “Your rental car is outside. It’s the black Mercedes.”
“Keep us posted,” Ryder said.
“Will do,” I replied, ignoring the pointed look Slade gave me. As I reached the door, he called out to me.
“Blade!”
“Yeah?” I said, looking back at him over my shoulder.
He formed a heart over his chest with his fingers and then spread them out, making an explosion sound with his mouth. “Open heart, buddy.”
I shook my head and walked out, his words ringing in my ears.
‘You should go get her back…’
Chapter 8
ROSE
The shrill sound of the school bell rang out, followed by a steady stream of kids pouring out of the doors of Windsor Forest elementary school. I scanned the faces, looking for Clem’s familiar smile, the spitting image of her father’s smile.
Not that I saw that smile too often these days — neither his, nor hers, unfortunately.
In fact, none of us had been smiling lately.
Between all the drama of life — having two daughters, including one about to turn eighteen, the seemingly constant talk of murders in town, and the quickly rising temperatures of a humid Southern spring, there really wasn’t a lot to smile about.
That made it even better when I finally spotted Clem and she actually was smiling. She flew into my arms, embracing me like she hadn’t just seen me a few hours ago. Unlike my oldest daughter, Magnolia — Maggie for short — Clem still loved seeing me. I relished every moment of it.
“Hello, my darling Clementine,” I whispered in her ear, before pulling back to smile into her eyes. “I missed you!”
“I missed you, too, Mommy!” I kissed her on the forehead and we climbed into the car to head home.
“Did you have a good day?” I asked. Listening to her rattle on about her school day was one of my guilty pleasures. I hung on every word, letting her stories and school yard drama take me away from my own troubles like a soap opera.
“It was good,” she said. “Mrs. Bradshaw let me be her helper today.”
“That’s nice,” I said.
“It was fun,” she replied. “And in Mr. Reynolds science class, Jeremy got in trouble again for taking the tarantula out of its terrarium again.”
“He didn’t!”
“Yep,” she laughed, “he put it on Cynthia Robert’s back and she didn’t even notice until it started crawling up her neck.”
“Oh, no!”
“She screamed so loudly, Mr. Reynold’s dropped his glass beaker full of water. He was so mad, his face turned bright red!”
We laughed together and my heart swelled. I was grateful she was the class helper, and not the class trouble-maker, but also glad she found the humor in life. She might look just like her father, but she was exactly like me, through and through.
“Hey,” I said, the urge to spoil her running through me, “do you want to get ice cream and go to the park before we go home?”
“Of course I do!” she cried, her smile growing wider.
I’d have done anything to make her happy. Like I said, happiness was few and far between these days, and I knew I was partly the cause of that. I figured doing a little extra work to turn things around wasn’t too much. Besides, a trip to the park was a simple pleasure and it would give me time to do my favorite thing these days — sit around and stare into space and think about the good ol’ days.
The future promised to be bleak, at least for a little while longer.
So, I found my happiness in the memories of my youth, and holy crap were some of them pretty amazing. I used to feel guilty about relishing in the past, but I gave that up recently — along with life as I knew it.
Guilt was useless at this point, and if I was clearing out my life to make room for new experiences, I decided that there was no room for guilt or regret.
What’s done is done.
I’m here now and that’s all that matters.
And, of course, making sure Clem chose whatever ice cream flavor that brought the most joy to her sweet little heart.
Half an hour later, we’d devoured two scoops of banana nut and chocolate-chocolate chip and she was running full speed towards the play structure at her favorite park. I lagged behind, walking slowly, breathing in the fresh air and turning my face up to the sunshine.
Now that the days were warming up, I never wanted to be inside. I couldn’t get enough of the blooming daffodils and tulips, the trees blazing with budding magnolias and cherry blossoms. The restlessness I felt just contributed to that feeling of needing to be outside. Since asking for a divorce from Derek, I couldn’t seem to sit still.
At first, I fretted over if I’d actually done the right thing. Of course, I’d thought about it months and months, if not years, before asking. But once I’d ripped off that band-aid, I knew there
was no going back and suddenly I panicked.
Had I really thought everything through?
Was I prepared for the consequences? From the girls, from his family, from the whole damned town of Savannah, practically…
It took a few weeks, but once the whispers died down and the girls figured out not much was really going to change for them, my heart stopped racing in fear and I learned to breathe again.
Outside. In the sunshine. Surrounded by the vibrant shades of the evergreens and the menagerie of color that popped up endlessly, the blooms seeming to be as excited for a new life as I hoped to be soon.
First, I had to actually get through the divorce proceedings, but once that was done, then my future actually would be as bright as today’s sunlight.
I just needed to be patient.
Chapter 9
BLADE
“I changed my name to Snake!”
Frankie — or Snake, rather — was so stoked to see me that he’d not left my side since I jumped out of the car. My nephew had grown at least a foot since I’d seen him last and it was obvious he wasn’t finished growing.
Tall genes ran in my family. My dad was tall, my mom was tall, my sister, Sera, was tall, and so am I. I quickly inherited my father’s nickname, and after the sixth grade, nobody called me by my given name again. I was simply ‘Blade’, like a tall blade of grass, and that was it, whether I liked it or not. It just stuck.
“I like Snake,” I said. “Good choice.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Everyone at school calls me that now, but Mom won’t do it.”
“She’ll come around,” I said, ruffling his hair. “Where is she?”
“Inside,” he said. “She’s going to be so surprised to see you!”
“I bet,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t be unpleasantly surprised. I should have called, but I didn’t. “Let’s go surprise her!”
SURVIVING SAVANNAH: GODS OF CHAOS MC (BOOK 16) Page 3
