by K. J. Dahlen
Without a word, she got up and cleaned the mess up. When she was done, she didn’t know what to do next. Without Lester her to tell her what to do… she was lost.
That’s when she heard what sounded like someone whispering in her head. At first, the words weren’t clear but there was a constant buzzing in her ear. She frowned and titled her head, trying rather desperately to understand what was happening.
She frowned again and then she heard the words clearly. It was Lester’s voice from beyond the grave. She began to tremble. He sounded angry with her. She did so hate when Lester was angry with her. He tended to lose his temper and then he would hurt her.
It seemed he’d been losing his temper more often than not lately. Jonah had told her that once of these days Lester would end up killing her if she wasn’t careful. She had to remember to be more careful in the future.
The drama of the last few days had drained her and she was suddenly overcome with wave after wave of tiredness. She laid down on the sofa and closed her eyes for a bit. She knew she couldn’t rest for long…Lester would be home soon.
~*~
It was almost dark when Mona opened her eyes again. She panicked and quickly got to her feet. A wave of dizziness swept over her as she swayed and almost fell. Then she realized she hadn’t eaten anything all day.
She looked around the room for her daughter before she realized Destiny wasn’t there anymore. For some reason that pissed her off. She walked through the whole house before she remembered that Lester would never be coming back here again.
She went out to the kitchen and sat there in the pending dark. Then the whispering voices in her head started in on her again. She tried to ignore them but they wouldn’t leave her alone.
She reached up and held her hands tightly to her temples. She cried out as the pain in her head increased. She didn’t know it but her fingers were digging into her scalp so hard she was tearing her own hair out.
Finally, she laid her head on the table and fought just to breathe. Her sanity was leaving her now and she was slipping into an abyss she couldn’t come back from. She chose this path rather than being alone.
As darkness fell, she laid there staring into the nothingness. Then about four in the morning, she bolted up and got to her feet. She went into her bedroom and to the closet. She reached for the box at the very top of the closet and pulled it down to her.
If Lester could see her now he would have a fit. She wasn’t supposed to know about this box but she did. This was Lester’s box and while he was alive, she knew better than to touch it but he was gone now and she knew what was in this box.
The voices in her head were telling her what to do. She lifted the cover of the box and took out the handgun inside. The voices were telling her she needed to get revenge on Cassie for taking her daughter away.
It was because of what Cassie had done that Lester was no longer around. The only thing that mattered was the fact that she caused Lester’s death, however remotely.
In Mona’s mind, she was responsible for what had happened and she needed to pay the same price Lester did. Mona knew what she had to do. She also knew when and where she had to do it. She couldn’t get close enough to Cassie at Redemption House, all those other men around would protect her. No, she had to find her at the MC clubhouse. She would prefer her to be alone but she had her mission.
Even if someone killed her for what she was about to do, Mona would send Cassie to hell for her part in all of this. The voices in her head agreed with Mona. Cassie needed to die.
She placed the gun in a plastic bag and walked out of her house. Turning up the street, she began the long walk to the outskirts of town in the direction of the road leading to the clubhouse.
A little over an hour later, she turned off the main road and began the long walk of the driveway. Each step brought her closer to her goal. She stopped just outside the view of the clubhouse. The sun was just breaking over the horizon so there was enough light for her to see the structures. From where she was, she could see the main house and a few houses nearby.
From where she stood, she could see shadows moving around inside the building. Judging from the sunlight she deemed it was the time most young mothers got up to tend to the family’s needs. The gate was standing wide open and as she passed, Mona had to smirk. The MC was careless. They must have known about the fire at the warehouse. It wouldn’t have surprised her to learn they set the damn thing on fire to get rid of Jonah and Lester’s bodies after they killed them.
She may never know the truth about that but she knew what she had to do next. She walked through the gate and right up to the front door. Taking the weapon out of her bag, she hid it under her shirt. She opened the door and went inside.
There were several men sitting there as well as a couple of strange women. The only one she cared about though was sitting at one of the tables holding a small child on her lap. She was speaking to one of the men in the room and they were laughing at something the baby was doing.
Mona reached under her shirt and pulled out the gun. Cocking the trigger backward, the sound it made echoed in the stillness around her. When she lifted her head, she found everyone staring at her in horror.
No one moved for a moment. Pointing the gun at Cassie Mona announced, “I want my daughter back. I know you know where she is. I want her back.”
Cassie shook her head. “I’m sorry Mona I can’t do that.”
“If you hadn’t taken her away from me my husband might still be alive!” Mona cried out. “I would still have a husband. I wouldn’t be all alone right now.”
“I had nothing to do with what happened to Lester,” Cassie insisted. “That was all on Jonah Rossi. He’s the one who killed Lester, not me.”
Mona shook her head. “No I was going to give him Destiny in trade for Lester’s life. Lester would have been able to come home with me if I had only done what I was told to do. Because of you, I couldn’t do that and now my Lester is gone!” She ended up screaming the last part of her statement.
Cassie handed her daughter to Deke and stood up to face Mona. “Dear god, Mona even you must know how wrong that is. Lester was not a good husband to you. He beat you all the time. He even hit your daughter. How is that okay with you? Jonah wasn’t a good man. He would have hurt your baby girl.”
“I don’t care. Lester would have been able to come home if you hadn’t interfered with his plans. Lester was my whole world and he was teaching me how to please him. When I didn’t, he showed me how to do it the right way.” Mona had tears rolling down her face. “Now he’s gone and I have no one. I’m all alone and I don’t like being alone. She would never know what was happening to her anyway, she’s retarded or something. Being four years old and wasn’t talking yet. Lester said she was damaged.”
“She isn’t damaged,” Cassie admitted. “She was neglected.”
Mona shook her head. “I did the best I could for her but Lester wouldn’t even look at her. He wanted a son and when she came out, he was mad. Now he’s gone and so is she.” Tears ran down her cheeks and the voices inside her head were screaming at her now. Lifting her gun, she tightened her finger on the trigger. “You did this and now I have to do what I have to do. I need to take you to hell with me. Lester wants us to join him there.”
Suddenly, there was the crack of a gunshot and for a moment, no one was able to move.
Then Mona dropped the gun in her hand and dropped to her knees. She had a stunned expression on her face briefly then her eyes went vacant and she dropped to the floor face first.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Cassie looked up along with Deke and everyone else. Leon was standing there in the entrance of the hallway holding a gun in his hand. His expression was cold and unforgiving. He calmly returned his weapon to the holster under his shoulder then walked over to where Cassie was standing. “Are you all right my dear?” he asked of her.
Cassie nodded then looked into his eyes. “Thank you I think. She was going to kill me, wasn’t she?�
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“Yes, I think she was.” Leon nodded. “I think she finally slipped over the edge into her own realm of insanity.”
“Leon, we don’t kill women here,” Deke told the man as he got to his feet. Running his fingers through his hair he added, “Not that I’m not grateful. I am but that woman needed help, not a bullet.”
Leon turned his head. “If I hadn’t stopped her, she would have taken the woman you love away from you. She knew the risk of what she was doing when she came here. She wasn’t an innocent by any means and I don’t think she would have wanted any help, not in her condition. She came here looking for revenge and nothing more.” Then he paused and stared at Deke. With a small smile on his face he asked, “Are you saying you don’t kill any women? Not even those who betray your club?”
Deke paused for a moment. Then he remembered Connie the woman from years ago who’d betrayed everyone in the club. “We try very hard not to. I don’t want this MC to be known for that sort of behavior. We aren’t killers.”
Leon smiled. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t belong to this MC. I’m Family and Family does take care of nasty business such as this. For us, justice is swift and sometimes it’s deadly.” He turned and looked at all the other men just standing there. “Might I suggest you boys clean up this mess before even more of the women come for breakfast? They don’t need to see any of this. Not the children, especially Destiny. I think her parents have hurt her enough.”
Everyone began to hustle. Two of the men picked up Mona’s body and carried it outside. They knew where to take it so no trace would ever be found. Another of the men went to the kitchen, grabbed the mop and began mopping up the blood from the floor.
Leon sat down and sat Cassie back down to her chair.”
“How could she blame me for something her husband did?” Cassie asked.
Leon reached out and took her hand in his. “My dear, you know better than most how fragile the human psyche is. That woman had been abused to the point where every time her husband smacked her she thought it was her fault. He was the monster.” He shook his head. “You saved that little girl the same way you saved Peaches all those years ago. It still astounds me that you took Peaches under your wing when you were only a child yourself.”
Cassie sighed. “By then, I had lived with Janelle for two years. I knew what she would do to a girl like Peaches. She hadn’t broken me because my mom was with me. Maybe not in person but she was in my heart.” She placed her hand over the place she could feel her heart beating in her chest. She looked into Leon’s eyes. “In a way, Destiny is like Peaches was all those years ago. She’s just a lost little girl looking for someone to show her a better way.”
“So now what are we going to do with her?” Deke interjected.
“I might have a suggestion for that.” Sam sat down with them.
“And what would that be, dad?”
Sam stared at his son for a moment then suggested, “Take her to DSS.”
Cassie startled. “Why would we turn her over to them?”
Deke didn’t say anything but glared at his father.
Sam lifted his hand. “Hear me out before you start bitching at me. Both her parents are dead but nobody knows that. And we can’t exactly tell them now can we? Even though we didn’t kill her father, we can’t tell anyone how we know he’s dead. His body burned to ash along with Jonah’s and his bodyguard. Her mother is dead now too. And we can’t tell the authorities what happen without sending Leon to jail. Now I don’t know about you but I’m not willing to throw him under the bus. As far as I’m concerned, he saved our Cassie. He stopped a very real threat to her life.”
“But to turn her over, why?” Cassie asked. “DSS doesn’t help the kids it just shuffles them from one house to another. Sometimes those kids fall through the cracks and you know it. Melora is a good example of that.”
Sam nodded. “I know, but don’t you see? We have to do it this way to protect the club. Marnie can go to bat for her. She set it up so Gator and Reva could take care of those three kids when no one else wanted them. She traveled all the way here from Boston to keep them together and now those kids are very happy. Maybe she can work her magic for Destiny too.”
“What do you mean by that?” Deke frowned.
“If I’m not mistaken, Quinn isn’t going to let that girl go anytime soon. And as much as I don’t want it, Chance isn’t letting Quinn go. Maybe together, they can take Destiny and show her what a real family is like.”
“That sounds good to me.” Quinn’s voice came from behind Sam.
They all turned and watched as Quinn, Chance and destiny walked into the room. They all came over to the table Deke, Cassie, Sam and Leon were sitting at.
Cassie got up and reached out her hand to Destiny. “Sweetheart, why don’t we go get you something to eat? Jemmia is getting hungry too and maybe you could sit with her this morning. Would that be ok?”
Destiny turned to Quinn and when Quinn nodded her head, Destiny timidly reached for Cassie’s hand.
When Cassie led her away, Quinn sat down next to her brother, Deke. Looking at her dad she asked, “Do you think it would work?”
Chance came around and lifted her up then he sat down and pulled her down on his lap. Then he turned to look at Sam. He saw the other man frown at his actions but as long as Quinn didn’t mind, neither did he.
“It might if you two are serious about your relationship,” Sam admitted halfheartedly. “I don’t know if being single would help or hurt your chances.”
“I want to marry your daughter Sam. I have since day one,” Chance told him. “I know you aren’t happy with that but you better get used to it. I’m not going anywhere and I’m claiming her here and now.”
Sam exhaled deeply. “It isn’t that I don’t like you kid, it’s just that I finally got her back. This is something I’ve wanted all her life, even if I was too scared to admit it to anyone, even my own dumb self. But she’s a woman now and I have to respect that and let her live her own life. It’s way too late for me to be telling her what to do and who she can or can’t see socially.” He glared at Chance. “But she seems happy enough with you and she better stay that way or my boot is going to find its way up your ass, you hear me?”
Chance laughed at this threat which could be filed along with the many others. “Understood old man.”
“Well now, that we have the threats taken care of,” Quinn commented drolly. “Can we get back to the matter of Destiny?”
“Before we get into that there’s a little something I have to ask you,” Chance stated. Reaching into his shirt pocket, he hauled out a little band of silver. “This may not be the way I wanted to do this but I wanted you to know something. I love you and I know you love me too, so why don’t we just go ahead and get married?”
Quinn was stunned. Yes, he’d spoken of it before but a proposal right here? Right now? She did love the idiot but this was so unromantic. “Are you serious?”
“Yup, I guess I am.” Chance nodded. “This wasn’t how I wanted to ask you, especially in front of your damn father and brother but I know you want that little girl. And I want you. Us getting married gives us both what we want. Besides, I’ve kind of gotten used to having her around. I think between the two of us we can give her a good home.”
Quinn took a deep breath. She was ready to blast his proposal right out of the water then she looked at him and saw the twinkle in his eyes and the smirk of a smile on his face. He knew she was mad and was almost daring her to push it.
Quinn wanted him to suffer greatly for his attitude. She decided to turn the tables on him. “Ok.” She slipped the ring from his fingers and put it on her own finger. “As long as we get married in two weeks and we get a house. I want a house rather than an apartment. It’s better for raising kids and we’ll have room to expand when our kids are born. I want at least four.”
~*~
Quinn rattled on with her demands and Chance wanted to laugh out loud. She thought s
he was teaching him a lesson but in fact, she was falling for his master plan.
He looked over at Sam and saw the same smirk on his face. Sam knew what he was doing. Then he checked on Deke and saw that he was on board too. Looking over at Leon, he noted a smile on the older man’s face as well. Well, as long as they were ok with his plan, he was going to hold Quinn to it. He stopped her long tirade about how many bedrooms and the huge backyard with swings by covering her mouth with his own. The kiss they shared was wild and hot.
At first, she stiffened then after a long moment she melted into his kiss. When he broke it, they were both breathless. Chance looked her in the eyes and whispered, “If you want a house we’ll get a house, if you want a wedding in two weeks we’ll have a wedding in two weeks. If you want four kids, we’re gonna have four kids. The lessons those kids give me might kill me but I’d give you the world if you wanted it. I love you woman.”
Quinn stared at him. Her lips were swollen and stinging slightly but her heart was beating heavily in her chest. Then she finally realized what he’d done. Her eyes softened and she smiled. “I love you too, you crazy man.”
“Then let’s get the show on the road,” Chance urged her. “We have to talk to Marnie and see what we can do to get custody of Destiny.”
“Maybe you can tell her the parents abandoned her,” Leon suggested with a shrug. “I’m not really sure but I don’t think telling her they were going to give her to a pedophile in lieu of a debt would be a smart move.”
“Yeah, the less she knows about that, the better off we’ll be,” Quinn agreed.
“Well…” Cassie joined them again and Deke hauled her over to sit on his lap.
Quinn glanced around the room and relaxed when she saw Destiny sitting at a table with Sam and Jemmia eating breakfast.
“We do have the paperwork that shows Mona came to us for help,” Cassie continued. “We can show DSS that and the fact that she just left her daughter there without a word, will be a clear indication of her state of mind.”
