by Freya Barker
Five minutes later—my kids installed on the couch with Trunk and Jesse, Lissie’s oldest, and his mother and Sophia not far away with both babies on a blanket on the floor—Brick grabs my hand, gives it a squeeze, and walks me to Ouray’s office.
Both Gomez and Ramirez are sitting at the big conference table, Gomez on his phone while the detective indicates for us to sit. Even when we do, Brick doesn’t let go of my hand.
“Sorry about that,” the FBI agent apologizes when he ends the call. “That was Luna; the coroner and crime scene team just arrived. I’m sure they’ll be a while. You may want to consider staying somewhere else, at least for tonight. Remind me to give you a number for a cleaning company who handles things like this after we’re done here.”
“I’ll clean it.”
Three pairs of eyes look at me disbelieving.
“Sugar…”
“Brick, I’m cleaning it.” I turn to him, slipping my fingers between his. “I want to.” Holding on tightly to his hand, I face the officers. “I know that man as Victor, a friend of the Hinckles and he was a regular visitor at the big house in Moab.”
“You saw him there,” Gomez confirms.
I don’t bother stopping the derisive snort forming. “More than I cared to.”
Brick’s hand spasms in mine. “What do you mean?”
“He was a special kind of racist. A bigot,” I take a deep breath in and blow it out before I add, “the kind who enjoys bullyin’ and violatin’ those he hates. I imagine mopping up his blood’ll give me some satisfaction.”
The sudden silence feels thick in the room when Brick suddenly lets go of my hand and surges to his feet, slamming his fist on the table.
“He raped you?” he says on a whisper that holds more venom than a rattlesnake, and I duck my head. When there’s no answer he bellows, “That piece of shit fucker raped you?”
“Easy, brother…” Ramirez cautions, pushing himself out of his seat, but Brick is already on the move, hauling out with his fist and planting it through the wall next to the door. Then he yanks it open and stalks into the hallway, the detective rushing out behind him.
I know I should’ve told him before sharing a bed with him. I avoided it because that existence, where I had no choices and no power, was behind me and what would be the purpose in bringing it back to life? I’d given those people all they were going to get. In the two years since I’ve been here, I was treated with more kindness and respect than I’d received my entire life. Why would I risk letting old harm sully the beautiful life I was building?
Still, I should’ve told Brick. Shouldn’t have held back with him, that was a mistake.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Gomez breaks through my thoughts. “Why didn’t you ever report that?”
I shrug. “And then what? Wouldn’t have made a difference. I’m pretty sure the cops have a stack a mile tall of sexual abuse accusations just like it. The word of a black woman against a powerful white man? How far do you figure that would’ve gone?”
The agent looks uncomfortable and I know I got my point across.
“Got my amends, though. Man’s in my house, no longer breathin’ so don’t feel bad for me. Like I said, cleaning his blood off my floor will feel like a sweet justice.”
Ramirez walks in right at that moment and takes his seat.
“He’s cooling off,” he says by way of explanation. “Ouray’s got him.”
“Good. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get this over with,” I suggest, and for the next twenty minutes give them every detail I remember of the events from earlier today.
They share what they were able to piece together from the boys’ accounts. Apparently, Nosh had just come back with the boys from a hike, and some target practice up the mountain, when he spotted a guy getting out of the car parked in front of the cottage. He sent Michael to the clubhouse and told the others to stay put. They watched him sneak into my house and heard a gunshot seconds later. Then they saw a woman bail out the back door with Nosh on her heels.
If not for Nosh, I realize things might’ve ended a lot differently today. Once again I owe the old man a huge debt of gratitude.
Just as I come out of the hallway, the front door to the clubhouse opens and Yuma walks in, a supporting arm around his father. I rush over and help him get Nosh out of his coat. The old man is frozen.
“I’ll get him something warm,” Lissie announces, having rushed over as well.
Nosh is trying to sign something but I have trouble making out the words, his hands are shaking too hard.
“He says you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Yuma translates. “He didn’t know what state you were in when he took off after the woman, but he was afraid she snatched the baby. He noticed the empty high chair and ran after her.”
I cup Nosh’s grizzly face in my hands.
“You’re a fool, old man, but I love you anyway,” I tell him, making sure he can read my lips. The grin on his confirms he did.
“He had her pinned in the snow,” Yuma explains. “Sitting on her back with his gun to the base of her skull and didn’t want to let up. Feds were two steps behind me when I found them and took her into custody. They were both near frozen.”
The front door slams open again, this time revealing Brick and Ouray. Brick’s eyes find me right away and he stalks over, pulling me into his arms roughly as he buries his face in my hair.
“Fuck, Sugar,” he mumbles.
I wrap my arms around his waist, holding on tight, offering my silent apology and understanding his. That’s what love should be, acceptance and forgiveness.
When I finally let go my head is throbbing but my heart is full.
CHAPTER 28
Brick
IT STILL LOOKS dark outside when I open my eyes. The only indication it’s later than it looks is the fact Lisa’s no longer in bed with me and the baby is gone from the crib.
We stayed in the clubhouse last night. Ouray let us use his old bedroom behind the office, the only one big enough to house Finn’s crib as well. Lisa had been adamant having the baby sleep with us, and I didn’t object, sharing her need to keep him close.
Law enforcement roamed around the compound until about eight last night. I almost had to sit on Lisa to keep her from preparing food for all of them. Ouray ignored her protests and simply ordered a stack of pizzas for dinner, to the kids’ delight.
She put the kids to bed, and didn’t last much longer herself, the events of the day catching up with her.
I spent some time drinking with my brothers after that, but when I rolled into bed and pulled her in my arms, I was suddenly not tired anymore. We never mentioned what she’d revealed in Ouray’s office, unable to change the past or claim revenge for her, I’d pushed it to the back of my mind.
Until I felt her soft skin under my fingers. Skin that piece of scum had defiled, the body I loved so much violated by his touch, and the rage I felt earlier came back in full swing with nowhere to direct it.
Spent half the night lying awake, reminding myself how grateful I should be to be listening to the steady breaths of my grandchild and of the woman who claimed my heart. Could’ve lost them like I lost my daughter, and I don’t think I’d have been able to come back from that.
A quick glance on my phone shows it’s high time to get my ass out of bed. A cool shower in the en suite wakes me up the rest of the way, and by the time I walk into the great room I feel half-human. To my surprise most of the brothers are here, as are all the kids.
“Papa!”
Kiara comes running toward me and I scoop her up in my arms.
“Morning, Princess.” I kiss her forehead.
“Nana said we shouldn’t wake you, but you took soooo long.” She sighs dramatically.
I walk over to the large sectional where Ezrah’s eyes are locked on the screen of the TV. Some kind of PlayStation game involving a lot of shooting, by the looks of it. I set Kiara back on the couch and ruffle her brother’s dreadlocks.
“Sleep okay, Son?”
He tilts his head back and looks up at me.
“Yeah. Took me a while,” he admits.
“Me too, kid. Your nana in the kitchen?”
“Probly,” he mumbles, his attention drifting back to the game.
On my way to the kitchen, I’m greeted with some chin lifts and ‘mornin’s,’ which I return. I find Sophia and Finn, who welcomes me with his wide smile from the high chair Ouray fetched from the cottage before dinner yesterday.
Last night had been filled with regrets and guilt on the part of just about everyone over the empty comfort of a few beers. Hindsight being twenty-twenty we should’ve never left the old man to guard the compound by himself, but we all assumed the threat was dealt with. The FBI thought they had Nowak covered in Mexico. We were all wrong.
I’d voiced my gratitude to Nosh for his quick actions, which may well have saved Lisa from a fate worse than the cut on the side of her head. The old man brushed it off and luckily hadn’t seemed any the worse for wear following his chase after the Lunsden bitch.
Hopefully we’ll get an update today, because I’m curious to know how she got involved in this scheme.
I lift my boy from his chair and onto my arm. His little fingers instantly tangle in my beard. Sophia turns from where she’s washing dishes at the sink, her crutches leaning against the counter.
“Morning.” She smiles as she wipes her hands on a towel. “Lisa said you were restless all night and to let you sleep.”
Damn woman looking after me again, when I should be looking after her.
“Where is she?”
I know the answer before hearing the words. I can see it in the way her eyes suddenly avoid mine.
“She said she had something to do at the house.”
Goddammit. She’s over there by herself. I’m sure it’s not by accident she took off while I was still asleep. I bet she knew there’d be no way I’d let her go over there alone.
I quickly kiss Finn and plop him back in his seat.
“Mind keeping an eye on him a little longer?”
“Not at all,” Sophia says with a twitch of her lips.
The smell of bleach greets me when I open the door. I find Lisa on her knees in the kitchen scrubbing at the stain on the floor, her ass up in the air. She doesn’t even bother turning, she already guesses it’s me.
“Was hopin’ to get this done before you got up.” There’s a note of irritation in her voice.
“Figured as much,” I return immediately.
“You don’t need to be here, Brick.”
Hell no, we’re not going to go there.
I step up to her from behind, reach down, and grab her under her arms to pull her to her feet, ignoring her grumbled protests as I turn her in my arms.
“Yes, I fuckin’ do,” I growl at her, ignoring the heat of her glare. “I get you need to scrub your life clear of that sumbitch, but, Sugar, so do I. Can’t save you from the pain he caused, can’t make him pay for it either, since the asshole is already dead, but I sure as shit can help you eradicate him from your life. From our life.” Her eyes soften as she pulls off a rubber glove and reaches for my face.
“Brick…”
“Tell me you can give me at least that.”
She nods, her fingers stroking my cheek. “I can give you that, honey.” She lifts up and brushes my lips with hers.
“Terrific. Now where’s another damn bucket?”
Lisa
I was right.
Washing him off my floors gave me some closure.
I was wrong as well.
Doing so with Brick helping didn’t take away from that; it was an added fuck you to the man who thought I was something to be used and discarded. Brick showed I was something to be respected and treasured.
Two men, who may have appeared similar on the surface; yet one was pure evil, while the other is good and decent.
“Are you sure?” Brick asks again, as he empties the last bucket in the sink in the laundry room.
“Positive. The kids have school tomorrow and we need to get back to normal.” I watch him walk into the kitchen and over to the sink to wash his hands. The house smells of a combination of bleach and cleaning detergent. Brick had insisted on mopping with cleaner after we got rid of all the blood. “The kids will be none the wiser. They didn’t see anything.”
“Ezrah knows,” he answers. “He may not have seen but not much passes him by.”
He may have a point. I noticed the way my grandson looked at me.
“I’ll have a word with him.” I get up from the stool I’d been perched on and walk up to him, placing my hands on his chest. “Thank you.”
He locks his hands in the small of my back and leans down for a kiss.
“My pleasure. But how about we both have a word with Ezrah?”
He may have a point. The boy is very protective of me, but seems to know he has that in common with Brick. I get the sense he may believe Brick before he believes me when it comes to my welfare. I should be offended, given I raised those kids by myself for years, but oddly, I’m not. I am thankful Ezrah has someone worthy to look up to.
“I’m good with that.”
I take one last discerning look at the kitchen before we put our coats and boots on. It’s just my kitchen, nothing more, nothing less, and when Brick takes my hand in his; I follow him out the door feeling lighter than I have in years.
Sophia is still hiding out in the kitchen where I found her earlier this morning. I say hiding out, because she seems keen on avoiding certain club members. She’s kept busy, judging by the number of containers with chopped vegetables on the counter and the spotless kitchen.
“Hope you don’t mind,” she says when I walk in, looking a little sheepish. “I may have gone overboard, but you mentioned making a big pot of soup for dinner. I wasn’t even sure what vegetables you wanted in there so I cut them all.”
I grin at her. “Perfect. I try to hide as many vegetables as I can get away with in soups and stews. Don’t know if you noticed, but some of these guys are as bad as the kids. If it ain’t meat, potato, or deep fried, they won’t touch it.” I notice Finn’s high chair is empty. “Is the baby with Nosh?”
She shakes her head, chuckling. “Wapi. I’m sorry in advance, but he said he’d change his diaper. I’m not even sure he knows how.”
I’m about to go chase down Wapi when Brick walks in, Finn on his arm. The baby grins wide and reaches for me.
“Hey, Little Man.” I blow a raspberry in his neck, making him giggle this belly laugh I love so much. His hands grab in my hair and I do it again.
“I just came to grab his bottle, but if you want him…” Brick grumbles.
Untangling little sticky fingers from my hair, I grin up at him. “You take him, I’ve got soup to put on.”
“Kids were looking for you,” he says with a serious face.
I nod my understanding. “I’ll get things started in here and I’ll come find you guys.”
It takes a few minutes to get his bottle ready while I listen to Brick asking Sophia about some job she was apparently looking at. The moment he leaves the kitchen to feed Finn, I turn to her.
“You’ve got a lead on a job?”
She nods and smiles, but it’s not convincing. “Yeah. A job in payroll for a parts manufacturer in Denver.”
“Denver.” I raise an eyebrow at her, as I put the largest pot I have on the stove and light the burner. “So you plan to go back?”
She shrugs, looking conflicted. “For now, yes. I mean, I have my apartment there, friends, a life. I can’t just drop everything.”
“I guess.” I drop a pat of butter in the pan along with a drizzle of olive oil, and toss in onions and garlic. “Be sad to see you go, and I’m thinking I’m not the only one.”
It takes a while for her to answer, and I occupy myself stirring the onions around until they’re glazed.
“I think it’s better. At least for now,�
�� she finally says softly. “I think we can all use a little breather. It’s been an intense couple of weeks.”
I turn to face her. “I was hoping you’d be here for Christmas.”
“Well, I still may be. I have another checkup at the hospital in eight days. I’m hoping I can ditch the crutches, but it’ll just be a short week to Christmas then. I don’t really have any plans so I could stay. Unless of course a job comes up that won’t wait until after.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
With the soup simmering on the stove, I head into the clubhouse to find my family. Brick is sitting at a table, Finn dozing off on his shoulder. The kids are still planted in front of the TV. That’s one thing about winter here; it’s easy for them to get addicted to the tube. Now that things have settled down, I’ll have to come up with some other ways to keep them occupied, especially with their Christmas break looming.
I notice Ezrah watching me and I crook my finger at him. Kiara doesn’t even notice when he slips out of his seat and heads this way.
“Want me to put him down?” I ask Brick, indicating the baby.
“Nah, leave him here for now. I’ll put him down in a bit.”
I take a seat across from him and pull out the chair beside me for Ezrah to sit down.
“Am I in trouble?” are the first words out of the boy’s mouth, and Brick barks out a laugh.
“Not this time, Son. Your nana and I just wanted to talk about what happened yesterday.”
Ezrah flinches and immediately glances over at me.
“It’s over, boy. It’s over for good.”
“I heard a gunshot,” he says in a soft voice. “I thought it was you who got hit.”
I know he’s getting too old for hugs, especially in view of his friends, but I don’t care. I need one and I’m grateful to note he wraps his spindly arms around me as best he can.
“I’m fine, honey, but someone got shot. He was not a good man and he meant to hurt Nana, but Nosh stopped him.”
“Dead,” my boy concludes correctly. “What about that woman?”
“She was caught. The police arrested her,” Brick answers. “Everyone is safe now and we’d like to go back home after dinner, but we wanted to see how you felt about that.”
