FOREVER DECEMBER: GODS OF CHAOS MC (BOOK 15)

by Honey Palomino

  Wolfe’s phone rang and he walked out onto the deck, leaving me there to sit with the guys at the small bar and eat my breakfast. Slade kept trying to dance around Wreck, begging him to fight. It was entertaining and I was happy to watch.

  The look on Wolfe’s face when he returned alarmed me, wiping away any trace of a smile on my face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Fuck,” he said, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair.

  “What’s up, dude? Spill it,” Slade said.

  “That was Riot,” he said. “He got a hit on the boat’s GPS but it was last night. He checked again this morning and it’s been disabled.”

  “Disabled?” I asked. “So that means we don’t know where they are.”

  “That’s exactly what that means,” he replied. “All we have to go on now is the float plan and there’s no guarantee he’s going to follow that.”

  I nodded, my heart sinking, tears springing to my eyes.

  I jumped up and ran to the bedroom, slamming the door and flinging myself on the bed as huge sobs of disappointment washed over me.

  Chapter 24

  LEO

  My plan hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped.

  I thought maybe if he wasn’t drunk, Dad would be okay to be around. I was wrong. It was obvious he didn’t care about me. He only cared about his booze and whatever sick revenge he thought he was getting on Mom.

  My eye swelled quickly and it throbbed painfully. Lucy stayed extra close to me now, but her little body was shivering with fear.

  For the first time, I realized how much I hated my father. I wished he wasn’t my father, that I had someone normal to look up, someone who was kind and gentle and protective and loving.

  Not whatever he was.

  He was a monster and I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Unfortunately, the boat didn’t allow that. I was almost grateful when we drifted into a small marina in Astoria. I jumped off the boat before he could even drop the anchor, anxious to get away, if even for a moment.

  There was a little store for the boaters right near the marina, as well as a place to gas up. As Dad filled the tank, I took Lucy and let her pee outside, then tied her up and went inside and looked around, gathering a bunch of chips and candy and soda to take back on the boat. I was the only one in the store, and I could feel the man behind the counter staring at me.

  When I dumped all the stuff on the counter, he lifted a brow.

  “My Dad will be in to pay in a minute,” I said, turning away.

  “Son?” His voice was warm and kind, and hearing him say that word, without it being laced with anger, threw me a little. I turned to see his eyes full of concern. “Are you alright, son? Do you need some help?”

  He pointed at my eye and I realized I’d almost forgotten about it. I reached up, touching it gingerly, hesitating. Should I ask for help? Could he help me? Maybe he could hide me and call my Mom and I could wait somewhere for her. My head started spinning with possibilities, and I opened my mouth, the words forming in my head before making it to my lips.

  The door opened and Dad walked in, my mouth slamming shut before I could say anything at all. The man looked over at Dad then back at me, his eyes squinting suspiciously.

  “Did you get your shit?” Dad growled my way.

  “Yeah,” I mumbled, avoiding the man’s eye.

  Dad pulled three cases of beer out of the cooler and dropped them on the counter next to my snacks, then scanned the shelves behind the clerk.

  “I’ll take a bottle of Maker’s — no, make that two — and a bottle of Patron. The biggest one you have.”

  The man turned to pull the bottles from the shelves, turning back to face Dad.

  “That it?” he asked.

  “I filled my tank outside,” he said.

  The man nodded, hitting the buttons on his register, and taking Dad’s money. All the while, he was stealing glances at me, but I couldn’t look at him again. If Dad knew I was about to try to make a run for it, he’d hurt me even more.

  “Carry your shit!” Dad growled angrily. I shuffled over and grabbed the bag the man had filled and walked out the door, Dad following along behind me after I untied Lucy, cussing at me for going too slow as we walked back to the boat, my heart filled with dread at having to get back on there and be alone with him again.

  Chapter 25

  DECEMBER

  I didn’t want to break down in front of everyone. I’d kept it together so well so far, but knowing we couldn’t track them now had dashed every ounce of hope I had.

  A few minutes after running out, Wolfe softly knocked on my door.

  “Hey, can I come in?” he asked. He was so kind and polite, it almost broke my heart.

  “Yeah,” I said, wiping my eyes and trying to pull it together. But as soon as he sat down on the bed and pulled me into his arms, I lost it again.

  “Shhh, it’s okay, babe,” he said, holding me tightly. His warm palm caressed my hair as I rested my head on his shoulder. “We’re going to find him. Trust us. Riot knows what he’s doing, I promise. He has some other tricks up his sleeve. It’s just going to take a little time.”

  “What if it’s too late?” I daringly uttered the words that had been banging around my head for days.

  “It’s not.”

  “What if it is?” I said, pulling away and searching his eyes.

  He took a deep breath, shaking his head.

  “Do you really want me to answer that, December?”

  “Yes,” I said, stubbornly.

  “Fine,” he said. “If it’s too late and Shane’s hurt even one hair on Leo’s head, I will rip him apart with my bare hands.”

  It felt good to hear that. It was what I was thinking myself. I was furious with Shane, ready to kill him myself, if necessary.

  “Okay,” I nodded. “We’ll kill him together.”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “This kind of thing is our job. It’s what we do. I’m not about to put you in any danger, December. You’re going to have to let me — and the Gods — handle this.”

  I didn’t want to argue with him.

  I didn’t have the strength.

  His words were meant to comfort me, and while they did that, they did something else, too. I wanted so badly to believe him, to trust him — to rely on him.

  Since Wolfe had walked back into my life — since I’d pulled him back into my nightmare, that is — he’d done nothing but be a rock that I could lean on. Without hesitation, he’d come running when I needed him.

  He was the man I should have been with all these years.

  He should have been Leo’s father.

  He should have been the man I built a life with, not the lunatic I’d ended up with. His arms were still wrapped around me, his massively thick arms bound around me like a shield from any pain the world might heap upon me.

  I wished like hell they’d been there all along.

  My eyes searched his, looking for the answer to a question I’d never asked.

  “Wolfe,” I whispered his name when I saw the answer I’d always needed in his eyes. I glanced at his lips, then back up into his fiery eyes.

  His lips crashed into mine and the whole world stopped.

  Years of pent up emotion exploded inside of me, the heat of his kiss igniting the fire I’d spent so long trying to extinguish.

  He kissed me with an intense passion and I matched it, needing every sensation coursing through me, years of yearning rushing to the surface and begging for release.

  Our kiss lingered, his tongue parting my lips and slipping inside. I opened my mouth, welcoming him into my heart where he’d always had a home.

  Chapter 26

  WOLFE

  She tasted like heaven.

  Like the gates of heaven had opened up just for me, and I’d been invited in to taste the celestial ambrosia I’d always dreamed of.

  Our tongues tangled together, our mouths searching deeply for the connect
ion we’d both tried to ignore. My hands caressed her back, pulling her closer, needing her body pressed against mine before I went absolutely crazy with desire for her.

  My breath seemed to stop, as well as my heart, as I kissed her with all the passion my body possessed.

  I wanted to chase all her demons away, put the light back in her heart before everything went black.

  I wanted to love her like I should have been loving her ever since I’d first kissed her all those years ago.

  Just as she began to melt into my arms, our bodies sliding back onto the bed, our hands exploring the flesh we’d hungered for for so long, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

  With a painful groan, I wrenched my arms from around her and pulled it out of my pocket.

  “It’s Riot,” I said, sitting up.

  “Brother,” I answered. “What’s up?”

  “I’ve been listening in on the scanners in the coastal towns,” he said. “A man in a marina convenience store in Astoria called the cops and reported a man and an older boy that seemed suspicious.”

  “You think it’s them?” I asked.

  “It could be,” he said. “Is December with you?”

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “Well, maybe keep this part to yourself, but the man said the boy didn’t look good. He had a swollen and bruised eye and it was like he was trying to ask for help.”

  “I see,” I said, my head trying to quickly analyze how much I should tell December. Riot was right to protect her. But lying to her felt so wrong.

  “Did they get back on the boat?”

  “Yeah, he said they were headed north.”

  “Towards the Strait,” I said.

  “In that general direction, yes,” Riot said. “I think you’re on the right track. Stay the course and keep going. The cops said they were calling the Coast Guard to ask them to investigate and look for the boat.”

  “Oh yeah? Well, that’s more than the assholes in Lincoln County did.”

  “Well, Shane’s not one of their men they need to protect, so maybe we’ll get lucky here.”

  “Thanks, man,” I said. “I’ll tell the others and tell Storm to pick up the pace a little.”

  “Yep,” Riot said. “Everything good there?”

  “Yeah, man, sure,” I replied. “Slade was a little sick yesterday, but I think he’s a little better today.”

  “He fucking hates boats,” Riot laughed. “That’s why I sent him with you. He’s always fucking with me, I gotta get my punches in when I can.”

  “Well, score one for you, brother, he was practically green yesterday.”

  Riot laughed, “I’ll be in touch soon. Give Slade my love.”

  “Will do,” I said, hanging up the phone.

  “What!?” December asked. She was sitting next to me, her eyes wide.

  I took a deep breath.

  There was no way in hell I could tell this woman a lie.

  Chapter 27

  SHANE

  When I left Depoe Bay with Leo, I only had a loose plan in place. Now that I was becoming more frustrated with him, and the further we got away from that god awful town, my plan began to come more into focus.

  I spent most of the day sitting out on the deck, bundled up against the wind, a never-ending glass of whiskey in my hand, and my head full of fantasizing about what it would feel like to be free.

  I fucking hated being a cop, almost as much as I hated being a father.

  The idea of starting over fresh somewhere was extremely appealing. I’d have to assume a new identity, of course. Maybe it was best if Shane died with Leo. Then, both of us would be free and I could start over as an entirely new person, somewhere up north.

  I’d visited the islands around the Strait once when I was a kid with my folks, and I’d never forgotten how beautiful it was. A ninety-six-mile body of water that leads from the Salish Sea to the Pacific Ocean, it feels like another world completely. Hundreds of small cabins are sprinkled along its shores, and the thought of finding one of them to disappear into sounded like heaven.

  Nobody to tell me what to do.

  Nobody to remind me of all the mistakes I’ve made.

  No more having to see Leo’s face — which looked so much like his dead uncle’s face — a constant reminder of that fucked up night. I was so far beyond blaming myself. In my mind, all that shit went sour because of Leo. If he’d only kept his cool, he might still be alive.

  Instead, I was stuck living in a prison of responsibilities that I never fucking asked for.

  It just wasn’t fucking fair. I deserved better than this boring life.

  I walked down into the cabin, ignoring Leo and Lucy lying in bed together, his nose in a book, like most days. It was obvious all of my feelings were mutual, because he didn’t even look up.

  I opened the closet and pulled out my backpack, unzipping it and pulling my handgun out.

  I was close to putting my plan in place. I just needed to think a few more details through. But when I was ready, I wanted to be ready right there in that second, so I didn’t have time to change my mind.

  With my gun in hand, I headed back upstairs, my head spinning a mile a minute.

  Chapter 28

  LEO

  We didn’t speak to each other the entire day.

  Instead, Dad poured the booze down his throat all day, speeding through the water like a madman. At times, I could hear him out there, seemingly cussing the wind. The snow had finally stopped, but the wind was so sharp and biting that I stayed down in the cabin, enjoying the heat and the protection from the relentless wind.

  Dad drove for a while, even after it got dark, but he finally dropped anchor and drank himself to sleep.

  I was starting to like the evenings alone. I could breathe a little easier as he slept and I wandered upstairs to look out at the stars. Now that we weren’t moving, the wind wasn’t as brutal. I sat down in Dad’s chair, looking up at the sparkling, black sky, plagued with endless worry for Mom.

  I wondered if she was looking for me. But who would help her? I hated that she was all alone. I wondered if the cops Dad worked with would help her, but from the sound of Dad’s conversation with his boss, I figured not.

  I tiptoed downstairs and found Dad’s cell phone had slipped out of his pocket and was on the floor. I grabbed it quietly and took it back upstairs.

  As I suspected, there was no service. Nothing. We were too far from shore again.

  I sighed, flipping through the pictures on his phone out of boredom. His gallery didn’t hold even one picture of me or Mom and it made me sad. Maybe he’d never loved me. Maybe he never would.

  I pulled up his email and saw a bunch of messages from Mom. I opened one and began reading, my heart racing in my chest. She was begging him to come home, to bring me home. I scrolled down, hating that she was so scared.

  When I saw the message he’d sent her first, I froze.

  “Consider Leo lost at sea…”

  What did that mean? My thoughts drifted to this afternoon when Dad pulled his gun from the closet. I never thought for a second it was for me. Dad always liked to have his gun close, so I just figured it was some weird ego thing.

  Did he plan to kill me?

  Tears stung my eyes and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I tried to type out a message to Mom, but every time I hit send, it wouldn’t go through.

  Frantically, I threw the phone down and began pacing, Lucy’s alarmed gaze tracking my every movement.

  I had to think.

  I had to get away.

  I had to stay alive.

  Lucy jumped up suddenly and ran to the stern and I followed her. When I saw the blinking of another boat’s bright red lights in the distance, I almost shouted in joy.

  I began jumping up and down, waving my arms as it neared. Lucy danced at my feet, sensing my excitement. I kept waving, unsure if they could even see me in the dark. I ran into the wheelhouse and began turning our own lights on and off, before running back out
and waving again.

  When I saw them turn on a bright spotlight and shine it my way, my heart skipped a beat. As they came closer, the blue logo on the side of their boat told me it was the Coast Guard.

  “Help!” I called out, waving to the man who’d appeared on their bow. “Help! Help!”

  Lucy chimed in, barking at the quickly approaching boat.

  My Mom’s face flashed in my head and I could see her smile. She was going to be so happy to have me home. I couldn’t wait to hug her.

  Tears of happiness sprang to my eyes as the smile of the officer came into view.

  Chapter 29

  SHANE

  The boy’s screams woke me up.

  “What the fuck?” I roared, my head spinning as I jumped to my feet way too fast. The room spun as I grabbed my gun and stumbled up to the deck. I turned the corner and saw Leo waving and jumping as a Coast Guard boat approached, the boat’s spotlight shining brightly on us.

  If they knew how wasted I was, they’d arrest me.

  I could try to talk my way out of it, but the Coast Guard was infamous for not being too fond of actual police officers. We were not on the same side.

  And Leo’s black eye wasn’t going to do me any favors.

  In an instant, the future I’d been dreaming of disappeared before my eyes and my hopefulness was replaced by white-hot anger.

  How dare Leo ruin this for me too!

  I raised my gun, my finger squeezing the trigger.

  Chapter 30

  DECEMBER

  “I know it doesn’t sound great, but it means he’s alive, December.”

  Wolfe was doing his best to comfort me, but my anger at Shane was raging through my veins. A black eye? My sweet boy?

  I wanted to kill Shane, there’s no denying my feelings.

  But Wolfe was right. Leo was alive, and that’s what mattered. And, if it was really them, then we were on the right track and maybe we’d get to him soon. I had no idea how much time we were making, but the boat seemed to be working overtime as we sped through the water.