-Lucille Ball
Jack
I sat in the office chairs stunned. Absolutely stunned.
How could he have done this? Why did he do this? What the fuck was going on?
Honey laughed when she saw my expression. “Oh, honey,” She said patting my back with her small hand. “You didn’t know I was a trust fund baby?”
My mouth worked, opening and closing like a fucking moron, but no sound came out.
John turned his chair around so he was staring directly into my eyes. Thomas did the same beside him. “He spoke with us at length as soon as the trust was released to him last year. He’d always planned to invest in the Freebird project. He let all of us know what and why he was doing what he did, and we agreed.”
Honey’s eyes were watery. “Even if he hadn’t died, this still would’ve happened. We loved Catori like a daughter. What happened to her was a tragedy and we all wanted to help this adventure become a reality.”
“You…you…” Jesus Christ. The words were not even there.
“Yes, it was us. Or me, anyway. Your father told us what your dream was and we made it a reality. We started the For You Foundation, and had them silently give you anything and everything you would ever need. Although, we used Catori’s name instead of ours. We wanted to make sure you took it.” Honey laughed as tears spilled over her cheeks.
Years and years have gone by, and I’ve always wondered where that money came from. I’d thought that Catori’s husband had given it to assuage his guilt, so I’d never questioned it. Jesus, I was one lucky bastard to have found this second family.
“I don’t know what to say.” I rasped.
Thomas’s hand slapped my back hard, and he laughed. “Yeah, you’re the Golden Boy who could do no wrong. Of course, mom would fund anything to make you happy. Now, Adam, just felt sorry for wrecking your old Chevelle. He told me to tell you, if you ever wanted to know why, that was it. He said he didn’t mean to take it mudding and he hadn’t realized it wouldn’t make it through all the way. He hopes you’ll forgive him when you see how much money he gave you.”
The laugh that came out of me felt freeing. Like something in my chest was now loose enough for me to breathe. “That rotten little bastard. That’s why I had to get my motorcycle. Do you know how hard it was to get girls to go home with me?”
“Oh,” John said slyly with a look towards Honey. “From what I remember, you finally found one that enjoyed the shit out of riding that old bike of yours.”
I smiled again. My face hurt. I never smiled this much. “Yeah, she’s one of a kind, that’s for sure.”
“Did you give any more thought about renewing your vows?” Honey asked as she stood and threw the cardboard coffee cup into the trash.
I shook my head. “No. Thought about it, but there’s too much shit going on right now.”
She looked at me disapprovingly. “Jack, you, of all people, should know how short life is. How about you let me set it up and we’ll do it down there in two months’ time?”
Arguing wasn’t going to happen. The woman had a will of iron. If she wanted you to do something, you damn well did it. No questions. No arguing. If you didn’t, she’d find a way to make you do it anyway, and then punish you for not listening the first time.
“Sure,” I said warily.
“Excellent.” She said, before going to her junk drawer and pulling out a pen, phonebook, leather bound book, neon colored sticky notes, and a highlighter.
“On that note, I’ve got to head out. I wanted to go pick up some of Tai’s things for him before I head back. Y’all need anything before I head home?”
“No, but be careful. You know he lives in a bad part of town.” Honey said in all seriousness.
“You do remember that it used to be my old apartment, right?”
“Yes,” She said huffily. “But you’re my son, and I worry over you. I worry over Tai just as much. I think you should talk him into staying at Adam’s house when he gets back. We don’t plan on getting rid of it, but we also have a house of our own and it’s too hard to be there.”
I completely understood. Adam’s house looked like it was frozen in time. When I’d gone there just after Adam’s death, everything was still in place from when he’d left the morning before. Dirty dishes in the sink. Underwear on the floor in the living room. Porn magazine partially sticking out from under his mattress. Keys and mail tossed on the kitchen table.
“Need me to go check on it?” I asked.
“No, w-we can d-do it.” She said before turning around to the counter and getting very busy planning our wedding.
My heart hurt, and, of course, me being me, I said something that did not make it better. “Did you know Winter was pregnant? She lost the baby after the attack. Miscarried while she was still in a coma.”
John stood and came to me, wrapping me in a bear hug like the one he used to give me when I was younger. “I’m sorry, boy. God has a plan though. That’s what we keep telling ourselves. Doesn’t feel very good in the meantime though.”
Honey snuck her arms around me from the side and Thomas from the other side.
***
The first clue that something was wrong at Adam’s house was the security lights. We’d installed them, and had them pointing to the front and both sides of the house. Now, the only one on was the one furthest away from the road. They also wouldn’t go out on their own, because they both ran on solar power and electricity.
My first mistake was not leaving as soon as I’d gotten there and noticed the lights.
However, I hadn’t been paying attention because I was thinking about Winter, and the child we’d lost. Which seemed to be all I ever thought about anymore.
I was all the way at the front door before I realized it. My second mistake was not pulling the gun from the small of my back in time.
“Don’t move.” A smoky voice said from behind me.
Pack a day smoker for sure.
My muscles locked, and I didn’t move. Silently cursing myself for my stupidity. What the fuck, Stoker, where in the hell did you spend the last ten years? Training my ass.
The barrel of the gun that was pointed at me pressed up against my neck tightly. Wrong move, dumbass, I thought silently. You don’t ever get that close to someone. At least not someone trained.
Pivoting and raising my elbow to displace the position of the gun, I had the man pinned in an arm bar faster than he could blink. Years of honed skills had me doing this effortlessly.
“You should really try not to get that close to someone when you’re pointing a weapon at them.” I supplied helpfully.
“Fuck you.” He forced out past smashed lips.
They were smashed because I had his face up against the brick wall of the house. I grinded his face in a little more just for emphasis before pulling my right arm back in a flash and letting it rip.
My fist hit his face with a crack. Bones crunched underneath the blow, and he dropped like a ton of bricks. I didn’t help him fall nicely either. As he went down, his head hit the potted plant beside the door, opening a cut on his forehead.
I walked to my bike silently and pulled out a length of chain I kept there.
Once the man was secured at the back of the house, gag in place, I investigated the rest of the property before checking out the inside.
It was all clear, and I made the call that I knew would get the answers out of him without preamble.
It rang twice. “Yeah?”
“Max,” I growled.
Chapter 16
According to the BMI chart, I’m too short.
-T-shirt
Jack
Five hours and forty minutes later, Max pulled up in his truck. Mr. Smoker was now secured in a kitchen chair with the chain around him, hands duct taped to his thighs, and I was in the recliner with my feet propped up, watching a rerun of Roseanne.
“Nice.” Max said when he walked in through the front door.
He looked surpris
ingly awake with it being eleven at night and driving nearly six hours.
“The show or the man?” I asked.
His eyes flicked towards the man who was now awake and looking at him warily, and then back to the TV. “The show. I haven’t watched this in forever.”
“Only thing on this late. That’s unless I want to watch porn on Cinemax, which is out of the question since Winter’s not here to relieve the ache.” I stated the obvious as I stood up.
“Sam’ll be here in a few. Had to take a piss first. James took up watch at the end of the road in the Suburban. What’s the story?” Max asked
The front door opened and closed, and Sam came into the living room a few moments later. “Fuck its cold out there. The only thing warm on me are my balls, and that’s only because they’re hiding in my body.”
He stomped to the fire I’d lit and warmed his hands.
“Not much I can tell you. He wouldn’t talk. Held a gun to my head and then tried to take my gun. Got too close though.”
“Amateur.” Max muttered, studying our new friend.
“I thought so, too. No ID. Car’s a rental. Rental name is under fucking John Smith. What the hell were they thinking renting him a car? No ID on file there either.” I answered the unspoken question.
“Help me get him outside. I brought some plastic liner from the house with me.” Max said with an evil smile.
Five minutes later, I was sitting next to the fire with Sam, telling him about the funding for Freebirds.
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Sam exhaled, just as flabbergasted as I was.
“Not in the least. Fuck of it is, I should’ve known. Cat’s husband was a piece of shit. Never would he have done anything for her. Not willingly anyway. Another thing to look into then, I guess.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Sam said.
The vibration of Sam’s cell phone interrupted our conversation, and he frowned as he glanced down at the number. Putting it up to his ear he said, “Yeah?”
His face went utterly blank, every single line was smoothed until not one single emotion could be read on his face. “Adam’s place. What’re you doing here?”
His dad. In town.
Thoughts sped through my brain, and I knew that this could be the big break I’d been waiting for. If his dad was here, then he’d most definitely have some answers. Ones that I desperately needed.
“It better not be illegal. I swear to God, I’ll fucking hunt you down to the ends of the earth if it fucks up my life.” He insisted.
“Yeah, you better fucking hope so.” He spat, before throwing his phone like a missile at the couch before burying his face into his hands.
Deciding he needed some time, I went to the kitchen, then out the back door, heading towards the detached garage that Max had set up shop in. According to Max, the copious amounts of tools might come in handy.
“You do realize that even if you don’t give us anything, we’ll still find something. Either way you’re fucked.” Max said pleasantly.
I knew he hated doing this shit, but he’d do anything for a brother. That’s what we were to each other. Brothers.
“Fuck you.” He said painfully.
I’d probably broken his jaw with my punch to the face, but it looked like Max had done a little more in the time we’d been apart.
“Wrong answer.” He said just before he ripped out a chunk of his hair by the root.
Mr. Smoker’s screams turned to whimpers as Max ran the blade of his knife across his jaw line. “Shut up.”
Good thing Adam lived in the country. Otherwise, we would’ve had cops here in minutes.
The sound of water hitting the plastic tarp brought our attention to the man’s leaking bodily fluids.
“What the fuck? Grow some balls. Or maybe we should just take care of the ones you have instead. I’m helpful like that.” He said, just as he stabbed the knife through the crotch of his baggy jeans. Although he’d missed all the parts, as he’d intended, it was the threat that counted.
“Oh, God. He’s gonna fuckin’ kill me. Oh, God. It’s Edward Clayton, okay? Edward Clayton! He sent me to bring you to him.” He yelled urgently.
Surprisingly, the man was very informative. Although he was but an underling, he listened. He played dumb, but soaked up information like a fucking sponge. Hell, we had everything but his bank account numbers after he was through talking.
“Gonna let you go. How about you keep that mouth of yours shut. Just say we were never here. Got it?” Max said darkly.
Mr. Smoker nodded like a bobble head going over multiple speed bumps. Any harder and he’d be in jeopardy of losing his head. “You have any kids?” Max asked.
“Yeah, got two.” Mr. Smoker answered warily.
“How about a wife?”
“Yeah,” he all but choked on his terror.
“If you don’t want them to see your mutilated body, I’d stay the fuck away from here. I’m good with a knife. I’m sure that lovely wife of yours would love to have those balls of yours in a jar after you’re gone.”
As soon as Max had his restraints undone, Mr. Smoker got up very warily.
Piss soaked his entire bottom half. Blood streamed from three very precise cuts on his neck, cheek, and right forearm. I tossed the car keys I’d confiscated from him earlier. They hit him on the chest and fell to the ground. Right in the puddle of piss he left.
He stooped down and picked them up, then went to the side of the room to get his shoes. As soon as he made it to the garage door, he bolted.
“Got him?” Max asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. One in the keys, the car, his shoes, and his belt.”
“Good. Now, where the hell is Sam?” Max asked, while pumping some Fast Orange onto his hands, then wiped it off with a red rag.
The cleaner enabled you to wash the dirt and grease off your hands without soap, which was incredibly handy when a sink wasn’t always on hand. Also handy when you’re in the middle of a fucking desert. Or you torture someone and have no sink to wash the blood off.
“His Pop is coming. I’ll take left, you take right.” I said before wandering off into the dark.
Sam was right. It was cold out. Definitely frigid compared to normal Texas weather in January. Twenty-eight degrees with a wind-chill of eighteen definitely made for chilly balls.
I pulled out my phone and shot James a quick text to keep him informed just as I heard the sound of a car pulling up and the opening of two car doors, followed closely by the soft thunk of both closing. I stayed to the shadows, removing my Glock from the holster at my back and watched.
Two figures were standing beside the newer model Ford. One large and muscular, the other small and dainty. The large man reached for the smaller form, but she pulled her arm out of reach before he could get close.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” She snapped.
Her voice was husky. Not the pack a day kind of husky, but the hurt kind of husky. Like something happened that made it to where her voice just wouldn’t go up any higher than that.
“Shiloh,” Sam’s dad warned.
“Oh, go fuck a duck. I’m still mad at you. How could you?” Shiloh said with tears in her voice.
“There’s a lot you don’t know, darlin’,” He said, taking a deep breath. “Maybe one day you’ll understand.”
“Doubt it. How could you not tell me something this important? I could have had years with him. Years!” She finished on an ear-splitting scream.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked from the front porch.
My eyes moved from the two figures still standing in shadows to Sam. He’d turned the front porch light on, and he was waiting with his arms crossed over his chest. His sweatshirt was gone, and in its place was a t-shirt.
“Tell your boys to come inside. You can tell the one watching the road that he can come out, too. There won’t be any more people coming tonight. I’ve taken care of that for the moment.” Sam’s dad said.
“If you don’t
mind, Silas, I’ll leave at least one. Not like I can really trust you to be truthful.” His eyes flicked up and down the woman at his side as she came into view. “Little young for you, isn’t she?”
“That’s just fuckin’ nasty. I’m not that kind of daddy’s girl. Incest isn’t my thing.” Shiloh sneered.
Sam’s shoulders tensed and then rounded on his father. One punch had the old man on his ass three steps down. Shiloh just watched as Sam straddled his father and got one more punch in before Max was there to pull him off.
I stayed in the shadows. I’d wait and then come back in through the back. I didn’t trust the man either, especially since he’d just admitted that Sam had yet another sibling he didn’t know about.
“What the fuck?” Sam boomed. “Another one, really? Did I ever even fucking know you?”
Silas sat up and wiped the blood from his jaw with the back of one hand. The other went behind him and helped boost him up off the grass. “Yeah, you knew me. I did things for you and your brother and sister that you couldn’t even dream about. Want to know more? Take care of your sister. She got snoopy when Sebastian told her that they had a brother. Now she pulled some powerful shit down on top of herself, and I have to go clean it up.”
With that, he stalked off towards the truck and hopped in. Just as he was about to pull out of the driveway, he rolled the window down and looked right at where I was standing in the shadows.
“Your girl pissed off a powerful man in San Antonio. Dad is the father of the boy that dated your wife’s sister all those years ago. Sister set her up. Watched while all the shit that happened to her went down. You want answers? Go to the sister.”
He left after that, squealing his tires as he went.
“Well, that was a fun family reunion. Do you have any beer in there, big brother?”
Chapter 17
Good luck and take care. By good luck, I mean go fuck yourself. And by take care, I mean go fuck yourself.
-E-card
Winter
“Oh, God. I forgot how much this hurts.” I said and gritted my teeth.
“Probably because you’re doing it on a sensitive spot.” Ember said, patting my hand comfortingly.
Last Day of My Life Page 19
