by KJ Dahlen
Cin turned to him. “When we left here, Ms. Katie got me into self-defense classes. After that, it was Tai Chi and Taekwondo. She wouldn’t let me stop until I mastered the classes. She told me I was her security and she felt better knowing I could protect us both if I had to.”
Silas shook his head. “I’m sorry you had that worry on your shoulders all those years. Ms. Katie was right to take you away from here but I hated the fact I didn’t know where you were. I feel as if I failed you sweetheart and that has been something I have had to live with for a long time now.”
Cin moved closer to him and Beast growled. She turned to him and shook her head. “Don’t start. You can see I don’t need you to protect me, ok? So stop it.” She looked at Silas. “Don’t worry about this anymore. It happened this way for a reason. Fate will always have her own way and we can’t change what was meant to be.”
Silas shook his head. “I should have tried harder to stand up for you and Ms. Katie back then.”
She laid her fingers over the other man’s mouth. “No Silas if you had, the Dogs would have killed you too. Then I wouldn’t have any family left.” Tears filled her eyes. “You did what you had to do just as Ms. Katie did. My life was ok and at least I had family with me. No matter what happened, I had Ms. Katie right there beside me. She wouldn’t let me out of her sight for any reason.”
Beast frowned as he listened to her words. Looking over his shoulder at Jackal, he turned back to Cin and Silas. “How did you go to school? Or to a job, if she never let you out of her sight?”
She shrugged. “Same as I did here, I guess. They were homeschooling me. After we left here, she would enroll me in online classes and I graduated from school when I was sixteen. Then I started working online and we had enough money to pay our bills.”
Silas frowned at something she said. “What did you and Ms. Katie live on when you left here? She didn’t take much with her that night?”
Cin thought for a moment then shook her head. “You know I never thought about that. I don’t remember much about leaving here. I was just a kid remember. I think I was still in shock from what happened. I mean what happened was so bizarre. My life up until then had been had just been so normal and then suddenly two of the people I depended on were brutally murdered in front of me. Not only that but I just lost my dad. My whole world was shattered in a few short days.” She thought for a moment then added, “I don’t really know what she did for money. We never really went anywhere. I think she was afraid of being seen, so we pretty much stayed in our apartment. Once every other week, we went to the grocery store. I remember sitting in the window of my bedroom looking outside watching the world go by but you know something? Ms. Katie made me feel loved that I never really missed going out.”
Jackal shrugged. “Maybe she took whatever hidden money there was with her? We may never know anything for sure now.”
Cin paused at this. After Ms. Katie passed, Cin had gone through her things and found something in her things that she couldn’t explain. She hadn’t said anything about it yet but it did puzzle her.
Old George got to his feet and came toward Silas and the fireplace. He was looking at the stonework. Scratching his whiskered jaw, he hummed and hawed for a moment. Then he looked at his friend. “I think there’s something wrong here.”
Silas looked at George. “What do you mean?”
George motioned toward the fireplace. “Don’t you see it?”
“See what, you old coot?” Silas grumbled as he turned to look at what his friend was talking about. “It’s a fireplace, so what?”
George shook his head. “That isn’t the fireplace we helped Edward put up that day. Don’t you remember? He asked us to go only five stone deep which left half a wall undone. Where is the undone part of the wall? And who put up the stone part of the wall next to the fireplace? Huh?”
Silas studied the fireplace carefully as he tried to remember the day in question. Memories flooded back in his mind as soon as George mentioned it. “He’s right... Edward had asked that we only went five stone deep. He told us Ms. Katie wanted the walls built out and the entire hearth be stoned as an accent.” He looked over at his old friend and nodded. “You’re right George.”
Old George beamed at him. “I got a keen memory, you old coot.”
Silas rolled his eyes as he used his words back at him even as he began tapping on the wall but it all sounded the same. It was a plain sheetrock wall about halfway up but the bottom of the wall around the fireplace was stoned and the hearth went longer than the normal hearth that was just in front of the fireplace. It went from the fireplace almost all the way to the connecting wall.
“Ms. Katie always kept a row of wood on that hearth,” Cin commented. “She always said she didn’t want the mess on her floors.”
Jackal joined them. “This is Louisiana, It doesn’t cool off enough to need a fire all that much.”
Cin shrugged. “We didn’t use it a lot that’s true but Ms. Katie liked a fire every once in a while.” Then she got a look on her face. “They had one in their bedroom too.”
Beast turned his head to stare at her. “Their bedroom had a fireplace in it?”
Cin nodded. “Why?”
“My bedroom has a fireplace in it,” he replied.
She looked from Beast over to Jackal then back to Beast. Shrugging she commented, “I don’t know what to tell you. Their bedroom was the only one in the house that had the fireplace in it.”
“I should tell you when we got here most of the walls had holes in them,” Jackal told her. “I think the Dogs were looking for hidden safes or something.”
Cin looked at him with tears in her eyes. As one rolled down her cheek she brushed it away angrily. “Sounds like something that bastard would do. He had no respect for anything or anyone.”
“Honey, he was looking for the money he thought Edward was hiding,” Silas reminded her.
“I don’t care!” she yelled. “That money, if it existed in the first place.... wasn’t his. He had no right to wreck another man’s house to find it. He murdered almost an entire family to take something that wasn’t his to take.”
“That’s what some men do,” Beast told her. “Its isn’t fair or right but some men are so selfish they don’t care what they do. They feel entitled to snatch whatever they want and to hell with everyone else. George Norris was one of those men.”
Cin suddenly felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She had driven all night to get here and she was tired. Her heart was hurting so much at the moment. She hadn’t expected to have to relive the day she lost her family. She just expected to bury her grandmother’s urn next to her grandfather’s bones and get out without anyone finding her or even knowing she was back. When Ms. Katie first suggested bringing her home, she had told her she didn’t think she could do it, but Ms. Katie had won her over. Her last promise to Ms. Katie was to bring her back and lay her to rest alongside her Edward.
She’d driven the car and hid it well then walked beyond the fence line to find the cave.
When she entered the cave, she immediately felt at peace. A sense of calm seemed to surround her moving her along to the sub room they had buried Edward in that horrible night. She closed her eyes and said a prayer as she began digging the hole she would put Ms. Katie’s urn in.
Tears ran down her face when she’d hugged the urn close to her heart one last time. Bowing her head one last time, she said a prayer for the people who meant the world to her.
Leaving the group standing where they were she slowly made her way to the sofa and laid down in it. She was drained and she couldn’t take anymore. Her soul was empty. She felt like an old lady as she covered her head and shoulders with the blanket and closed her eyes in the darkness she created.
She didn’t want to think about anything anymore and soon she was asleep.
Beast searched her position and shook his head. “The poor girl,” he whispered. Looking over at Jackal he told him, “She needs us,
she may not know it yet, but she needs to stay here and heal. This is her home.”
Silas nodded. “Yes, she does. She’s lost so much and you’re right, she needs to heal.”
Jackal looked over at Beast and nodded. “Where exactly did you find her coming out of the cave? She had to be parked around there.”
“I’ll show you on the map,” Beast offered.
Beast, Jackal and several of the others walked into Jackal’s office where there was a map of the compound. Beast pointed out where the cave was hidden.
Silas shook his head. “Where we buried Edward. Yep.”
Noelle looked over at Silas. “All they had to do was ask either one of you huh? Has anyone thought about how she got here? She has to have a vehicle or something out there somewhere.”
George snorted and shifted his position. “I can almost bet I know where she left the car at too.”
Silas nodded. “Yes ma’am we know.” Looking over at George, he told him, “Go bring her car around to the clubhouse for her. They’ll never find it if Ms. Katie told her where to park it.”
George turned around and left the building.
Noelle stared at Silas for a moment. This old history showed a depth to Silas. “How did you do it?”
Silas turned his head. “Do what Miss?”
She nodded at Cin in the other room. “How did you let her go, knowing you might never see her again? She was your family.”
“It was hard to do but I had to do it,” Silas admitted. “Don’t you think if I had a choice I wouldn’t have moved the mountains for that girl?” He shook his head. “Even at ten, she was a beautiful young lady. Ms. Katie told me that Norris stared at her in a way she grew uncomfortable with. Knowing George Norris the way I did, I knew that meant one thing. I had to allow Ms. Katie to take her away from here, away from that bastard of a user. He would have used and abused her until her broke her spirit and I didn’t want that.”
Noelle smiled then patted his arm. “You may not think it but you did the right thing. But I should warn you, I don’t think Beast is going to let her go.” Shaking her head she commented, “These men maybe hard hearted but they are also good men. They would put their own lives on the line for her.”
Silas grinned as he looked at her. “I know that Miss. If I had any idea otherwise, I wouldn’t think twice about taking her with me.” Looking back at the sofa he said, “She’s right where she needs to be at the moment and I’m so glad she came home.”
Noelle nodded as she too turned to look at Cin. But there was something in this girl’s eyes that gave her pause. She was just a little doubtful things would go smoothly. She had a feeling something was in the air that could possibly shake things up for the worst. Like there was an evil out there just waiting to show its face and she shivered at that thought.
Chapter Five
Jackal and Beast were still looking over the maps when they heard a car pull up outside. Looking out the window, they saw George getting out of an unknown vehicle.
Jackal glanced over at Beast.
The man was still staring through the open doorway at Cin as she slept.
Jackal just shook his head and turning he walked out of the room just as George was returning to the clubhouse.
George paused then held out a set of keys to the other man then joined Silas at the table.
Beast grabbed the keys from Jackal’s palm and went out to the car. A few minutes later, he returned with a couple of duffle bags. He didn’t stop until he carried them to his bedroom and when he returned he sat down next to Jackal.
He grabbed a cup off the table and poured himself a cup of coffee. Then he sat back and stared at Silas and George.
Tension was building and Silas shook his head. “You seemed to forget for a moment we buried Edward. We know this farm, or compound as you call it. Ii was just quicker if George got the car.”
“Why didn’t you remind us of that?” Jackal wanted to know.
Silas shrugged. “It was easier this way.”
Beast sighed loudly. “Well, I’ve been up all night with computer duty and finding Cin, so I’m going to go to bed for a while.” He got to his feet then looked over at Silas. “I’ll watch over her old man. I’ll keep her safe.”
Silas nodded. “You’d better or I’ll take her away from here without hesitation.” He turned to look at Jackal. “I still want to be able to come and see her anytime.”
Jackal nodded. “I don’t want any problems here,” he warned them both. “She’s going to need you both to adjust to living here and I don’t want any bad feelings between the pair of you.” He stared at Silas then at Beast. “She’s had a hard enough life without the two of you badgering her to choose one of you over the other. Beast, she’s a woman full grown, she has her own ideas about what she wants to do and how she wants to live her own life. And Silas, she may be your family but the only family she’s ever known she just lost, don’t push her or neither one of you will have her. If there is someone out there looking for her, you’ll only push her away from the safety we can offer her and set her up for someone else to hurt her.”
The men went silent as they both looked tense.
His eyes hardened. “I don’t think I need to remind either of you that we still have enemies out there and if they know she’s here, they might come and get her to find out if the rumors are true. We don’t want that.”
“I can keep an eye on the townsfolks and report anything we hear going on there,” Silas informed him. Looking over at George. he brought his gaze back to Jackal. “We’ve been keeping our eyes on a couple of people that seem to be waiting for something to happen. We can usually spot when something is wrong.” He shrugged. “That’s what we do, we watch and observe then we watch some more. We can usually figure out what’s going on by just watching the people’s reaction to certain situations.”
“We do know there are certain people in town that are hiding a secret,” George spoke up. “We haven’t figured out yet what they are waiting for but we will. We always do.”
Jackal nodded. “Ok, you keep us informed of what’s going on in town and we’ll keep an eye on anything coming in from here. We want to put off any trouble before it begins.”
Silas chuckled. “See if she’ll show you around the old farm. Make sure you ask her about her favorite hiding place when Ms. Katie was mad. That girl used to get into all sorts of trouble, most of it was over her disappearing in the woods from time to time. Most often, she would forget to come home on time. She never did say what she was doing but she would always say she was safe.”
Beast grinned. “I can’t wait to find out all her secrets.” He gazed steadily at Silas. “I am claiming her.”
Jackal felt a bit surprised, yet the signs were all there since the girl first showed up here.
Silas didn’t look pleased. “You sure about this? You just met her.”
Beast shrugged. “In war, I always knew things ahead. When a bullet was coming even, and it saved my ass more than once. In life, I knew who to follow. I knew what honor was.” He looked over at Jackal. “In this situation, I knew from the second I saw her face on that feed. She was meant to be with me.”
Silas sighed as he shook head. He didn’t say a word though.
Beast turned and walked over to the sofa. Gazing down at her sleeping figure, he stooped to gather her into his arms. He gently scooped her up and carried her down the hall to his bedroom.
Jackal watched him. He’d known the same with Noelle, so it wasn’t like he could argue the point.
Silas rubbed his beard and looked troubled.
“I know it must be hard old man, “Jackal spoke in low tones so it would be just between them. “But I never met a man better than my VP.” He nodded over at the large man’s receding back as he carried Cin down the hall. “All I can say is, when he states something, promises himself...He never lets you down.”
Silas nodded.
George patted his old friend on the back with empathy all ove
r his wrinkled face.
Laying her down on the bed Beast slipped off her shoes and covered her up with the blankets. Then he sighed and went over to the other side of the bed stripping off his clothes at the same time. He thought about leaving his jeans on but didn’t want to get his sheets dirty.
Crawling into bed, he pulled her into his arms and snuggled close. Wrapping his huge arms around her. She slept through everything but when he settled down, he had to smile as she unconsciously snuggled back.
He’d had women before, but none he’d wanted to claim. His first love at eighteen had ended badly. The poor girl lost her family in a tragic car accident and then she hung herself a week later. He had found her after a day of her not answering her phone. The sight was...one he refused to see even now and it took years to even erase that horrible image from his mind. He thought he would never get over it. So he joined the marines and left his hometown. He even thought if he got himself killed, it might be worth it.
Then he had met these men on his second tour. By that time he’d already gotten awarded a medal of valor for saving his entire tem by grabbing a live pin-pulled grenade and tossing it away from their caravan.
Then men had been in awe and grateful.
What they did not know was he hadn’t cared if he lived or died. He’d just grabbed it.
The camaraderie with men his age and the training honed him into a fighting machine, but humanity had finally reached him in ways he’d never expected. When he got with Wolf, Hades, Jackal, Cobra and Thor, he slowly became a human being again.
But he never wanted a steady woman again. Until tonight. He just knew in his gut that this was his woman. Would be his. Yeah, he would admit that he’d gone a bit crazy about men touching her, but he just couldn’t seem to help it.
He drew in a deep breath. Her scent reminded him of wild flowers and he knew he had to taste her skin. Carefully... slowly, he licked her neck.
The flavor of her exploded in his mouth and Beast groaned. Her skin tasted almost like vanilla. It was a taste he could easily crave. Groaning, he laid his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes.
