by K. J. Dahlen
Deke came up to the passenger side of the truck and pulled the door open. Cricket wouldn’t look at him, so he grabbed her chin and pulled her face around to his. “I don’t give a fuck about you being pissed about being here. I don’t give a fuck about you at all but I do give a fuck about my son being in that cabin with your sister. I want him back before she hurts him and I don’t care what I have to do to get him back. Is that clear?”
“You treat me like shit when all I did was return your baby girl. Yeah, that’s fucking clear.” Cricket growled.
“Good, now give me the layout of the cabin,” he ordered.
Cricket turned and studied the cabin. In her mind, she could see the inside as it had been all those years ago. “Inside the front door is an open layout. Straight ahead is the living room, In the middle of the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room is a big fireplace. There is a cabinet next to that and off to the right, is a small kitchen and a storeroom. Off to the left, is the bathroom and two bedrooms. Straight ahead of the front door is the patio door leading to the back deck.”
When she stopped talking Deke stared at her for a moment. “Is there anything else we need to know before we go in there?”
Cricket shrugged. “I have no idea if they are still there or not but my dad had a gun cabinet built across from the fireplace. It looks like a solid wall but it isn’t. He always kept it locked but Cordy might have the keys. When he died, she went through his bedroom and what she didn’t throw away, she kept. I don’t know what she kept.”
“What else would she have for weapons?” Sam asked.
She turned and glared at him. “She always keeps a knife in her boot and a dagger in the back of her pants. She can’t help it, she likes knifes and she knows how to use them.”
“Where do you think she would put Sammy, if he isn’t with her?” Deke asked.
Cricket shrugged. “The first bedroom was Mom and Dad’s, the smaller bedroom belonged to me and Cordy. Inside our bedroom was a small closet. There was a hidey hole inside the closet dad had built for us. He claimed it was our little getaway but he had it built in case we needed to hide from people coming after him. He wanted us to be safe from his job. He told Mom what he did for a living wasn’t always a good thing but that he did it to provide for his family. She didn’t like his job much but it was all he knew.”
“Your dad was a smart man,” Sam commented.
She glared at him. “He was a fool. He trusted the wrong person and it got him dead.”
Deke glared at her. “You two can argue this later. I want to find my son.” He turned and began walking away.
Cricket called out one last warning, “Don’t fall for her tears. She cries on cue and she’ll stab you in the heart if you’re not careful. She’s very good with a blade. She’s got the heart of a killer and she loves the scent of fresh blood. She says the scent of blood is better than a love potion. She claims she has a stronger orgasm when she smells fresh blood. She cuts herself for a reason. She cuts herself to feel anything. She welcomes the pain she inflicts on herself.”
Sam looked troubled at her words. “That’s so sad. What happened to her that she never felt she was loved?”
“She has no soul,” Cricket told him in a flat tone. “She lost it a long time ago. She told me when Mom died, she gave it to mom to take along with her on her way to hell.”
“She thinks your mom went to hell?” Sam asked.
“I keep telling you Cordy is bat shit crazy.” Cricket shook her head. “When Mom died, Cordy lost any feelings she once had. It was like she just didn’t care about anything or anybody anymore.” She turned to Deke. “That’s why when she said she was in love with you at the age of twelve, Orrin was worried about her. He knew she was building you up into something only she could see and he tried to warn her that you wouldn’t ever see her the same way she saw you.” She just shrugged. “She never listened to anything she didn’t want to hear.”
Suddenly the lights in the cabin went out.
Deke and the others spread out and slowly made their way up to the perimeter of the cabin. In the darkness of the evening, they simply disappeared into the shadows.
Raine pulled his weapon and told her, “Stay in the truck. I’ll be around in the shadows watching.”
Cricket nodded and shivered when he blended into the night. She couldn’t help but be afraid. Cordy might be out there right now watching her. Minutes stretched into what felt like hours but Cricket knew not much time had passed. Fear always did that to her. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she closed her eyes and tried to calm down but she found she couldn’t.
Then she felt her sister’s eyes on her. She knew it was Cordy out there watching her. She could always feel it whenever she looked at her. Cordy had a certain way of staring at her that raised the hairs of the back of her neck. That stare had always freaked Cricket out and Cordy had laughed at her on more than one occasion for her fears.
Now her fears were greater than they had ever been before. She knew Cordy was waiting for her to make a mistake. Her betrayal was something Cordy would never forgive her for. This time, she would kill her and there was nothing Cricket could do to stop her. No one could stop her and Cordy knew it.
Swallowing hard, Cricket opened the door of the truck and prayed the man Raine was close by. He was the only one that could stop Cordy now. The others were too far away. They were surrounding the cabin but Cordy wasn’t there anymore.
“I know you’re out there just waiting for the right time to strike,” Cricket called out as she searched the shadows for her sister.
“You’re right dear sister. I’m here,” Cordy called back. “This time, I will kill you.”
“I know.” Cricket nodded. “I think I’ve been waiting for this day to come since Mom died.”
“I know I have,” Cordy called out as she moved in closer. “What I want to know is why you betrayed me? Why did you take his daughter back to him? Didn’t you have faith that I could get him on my own?”
Cricket shook her head. “You shouldn’t have taken his kids. If you wanted him to love you, why did you have to hurt him that way?”
Cordy finally came out of the shadows and stood in front of her sister. “I needed an edge and taking his kids gave me that edge. Holding his son will still give me the edge to get to him.” She moved closer.
Cricket could see the knife in her other hand. The gleam of the moon shone bright on the blade.
“Is he here with you? Did Deke come after his boy?”
Cricket nodded. “Yeah, he’s here. Him and four other guys.”
Cordy smiled wickedly. “I wasn’t sure you would remember this cabin. I thought maybe I’d be stuck here for a few days before you thought of this place.”
“Is Sammy okay?” Cricket asked.
“Who?”
“The boy.”
Cordy laughed out loud. The sound wasn’t joyous nor was the look on her face. “Oh yeah, naming his son after his father. And here I thought he hated his old man.” Then she turned her hate toward Cricket. “We can’t put this off any longer. If Deke is here, then I have to get away but I’m not leaving you breathing.”
“Deke will hunt you down for taking his kids. He is like beyond pissed,” Cricket warned her. “He isn’t going to let this slide.”
“I’m counting on that.” Cordy smiled an evil smile. “I may have to kill him before this is over. And that would be such a waste. He was the only man I could have loved.”
Cricket scoffed. “You could never love anyone. To do that you’d have to have actual feelings and we both know you don’t have any of those.”
Cordy stepped closer. Her eyes glinted in the moon light. “Don’t you preach to me about feelings. You know the hell I’ve been through. You were right there with me when that bitch tore whatever feelings I had away from me.”
Cricket shook her head. “That’s not what happened and you know it. She just wanted the truth known.”
Cord
y paced in front of Cricket. “She tore away the only family I ever knew and she did it because she didn’t want me to have anything after she was gone.”
“She loved you,” Cricket assured her. “She loved us both.”
“You’re a fool.” Cordy scoffed. “How could she love me when I was a daily reminder of what happened to her? How could she love me when every time she looked at me, she saw my father glaring back at her? Every fucking time she looked at me, I could almost feel her pain. I was the result of the day she was raped. How was that supposed to be right? How was that supposed to make me feel okay? She had to relive the agony of her humiliation every day. She once told me when the pain of her cancer got bad, it wasn’t as bad as the pain she felt when he took her that day. She told me his voice echoed in her brain and she could still hear the harsh words he screamed at her.”
Cricket shook her head. “I don’t remember things that way.”
“Then why after she died, did Orrin shut me out?” she screamed. “Why did he ignore me like I didn’t exist? Why?”
Cricket shrugged. “You weren’t the only one Orrin shut out,” she reminded her. “He shut me out too.”
“But he didn’t,” Cordy insisted. “His eyes followed you everywhere you went. He had everyone in the club watching you, but when she died, his eyes were dead when they looked at me. I was hurting too, yet he only had time for you. He would still hug you every night when you went to bed. Where were my hugs? He couldn’t bear to look at me after she was gone.”
Cricket shook her head. “That wasn’t the way it was and you fucking know it.”
“Yes, it was.” Cordy sneered. “You were too young to realize what was happening right in front of your face. But that’s in the past, it’s over and done with.” Cordy took a step toward her.
Cricket took a step back.
Cordy’s mouth sneered her disdain. “You know what has to happen. You betrayed me and now you’ll pay for that betrayal. For once in your fucking life, step up and take your due.”
Cricket shook her head. “I’m not going to just stand here and let you kill me. That’s insane.”
Cordy grinned. Reaching down, she grabbed the knife from her boot and held it out for Cricket. “I’ll give you a fighting chance.”
Cricket stared at it for a moment then slowly reached out and took it. “Some chance this is, I don’t know how to handle a blade.”
“Stop whining!” Cordy shouted as she began circling her sister. “Let’s get on with this. We don’t have much time before the others get back here and when they do, I want to be long gone.”
“If you run, Deke will come after you,” Cricket warned. “Like you, he doesn’t take betrayal well.”
“He’ll have to find me first and I know how to hide.” Cordy scorned. “My dreams of being with him are gone forever. You saw to that. He’ll never find his son and that will be his price to pay for betraying my love.”
“You never loved him.” Cricket scoffed. “You never loved anyone but yourself. You couldn’t even love your own son.”
“I couldn’t love Dusty because he wasn’t Deke’s!” Cordy yelled.
“Where is the boy?” Cricket asked as she leapt backward to avoid Cordy’s blade.
Cordy grinned and slashed at her again, this time the blade struck and blood welled up. Then she took a deep breath as the scent hit her nose. Closing her eyes briefly, she looked satisfied.
Then it was Cordy’s turn to move quickly to avoid Cricket’s blade. Then they both heard someone rushing toward them. Cordy growled and gripped her knife tighter. “This is not finished!” She rushed forward and jabbed at Cricket.
Cricket screamed as the knife in Cordy’s hand struck home. She felt the blade pierce her shoulder. The pain stunned her and she dropped the knife. Cordy twisted the blade as she pulled it out and Cricket dropped to her knees screaming. Cordy turned to flee but only got a few steps away.
Then the silence was disrupted by a loud blast and Cordy dropped to the ground. She began screaming and her hand covered her arm as fresh blood welled through her fingers.
Raine rushed forward and pulling Cordy’s hands behind her back, he secured her with zip ties. He then came over to where Cricket was and knelt down beside her. She raised the knife and he took it from her. Then he ripped her shirt and began examining the wound on her shoulder. He pulled her shirt free and wadding it, up he pressed the fabric into the wound.
Cricket hissed as the pain hit her.
“I know it hurts but we have to stop the bleeding,” he told her. Glancing over his shoulder to where Cordy was laying, he shook his head.
“Did they find the baby?” Cricket asked. She watched as Sam and one of the other men that had followed Deke to the cabin returned.
Sam snapped his head around to glare at her. “No they didn’t,” he growled. “They searched every room twice and couldn’t find him.”
Cricket glanced over at her sister.
A strange smile spread across her lips. Her eyes gleamed weirdly for a moment, then it was as if a shutter came down over her face.
Cricket turned back to Sam and asked, “Did they check the hidey hole?”
“What hidey hole?” Sam frowned.
“You stupid bitch!” Cordy screamed.
Cricket looked back over at Raine. “Help me stand up. They need to check the hidey hole and it’s very hard to find.”
Raine helped her to her feet. He looked over at Sam. “You watch her and I’ll take Cricket up to the cabin. Little Sam might be here yet.” He turned and assisted her over the rough ground to the front of the cabin.
Sam glanced at the other man who stood there and growled, “You watch her, I’m going with them.” He hurried to catch up with Raine and Cricket.
Deke raised his head when they approached and the defeated look on his face almost broke Cricket’s heart. “What the fuck is she doing here?” he growled. Then he noticed the blood. “And what the hell happened to her?”
“Cordy got around you and confronted her,” Raine informed him.
Deke got to his feet. “My son isn’t here. Where else would she have left him? Did she tell you he’s still alive?”
Cricket shook her head. “Are you sure he’s not here?”
“We checked every room twice!” Deke shouted. Running his fingers through his hair, he looked to the heavens. “He’s not here.”
“Did you check the hidey hole?”
Deke frowned and turned to face her. “I didn’t find any hidey hole. You told us about that but I couldn’t find one.”
Cricket nodded. “Unless you know where to look, you wouldn’t have found it. Orrin wanted it so no one could find it. He put it in to protect us.” She grabbed Raine’s arm for support and began walking toward the cabin.
When they entered, Cricket felt a flood of memories rush through her. She tried to shut them down because right now, she didn’t have time to explore them. She led the way to the second bedroom. Going over to the closet, she tugged on the pull-chain and the lights snapped on. Then she pointed toward the back of the closet. “There’s a small hole back there near the floor. You need to put your finger in it and pull out the panel. It isn’t very big but there is a small area behind there that’s big enough for a small child to hide in, in case there’s trouble coming.”
Raine led her to one of the beds and sat her down while Deke searched for the opening in the panel near the floor. “There’s nothing here,” he yelled back. “Wait a minute…I think I found it, it’s there.”
A moment later, they heard the panel pop out of place and then they heard Deke yell out, “Sammy, he’s here.” Then Deke backed out of the closet with Sammy in his arms.
The boy looked to be sleeping but with the way Deke was handling him he should have woken up. Deke looked over at Raine. “What the fuck did she do to him? Why isn’t he waking up?”
They all could her the panic in his voice
Raine took him from his father and laid him down on the
bed next to Cricket. He began examining him but could find nothing wrong.
“When she brought the kids to the house in Albany she’d been giving them cough syrup to make them sleepy. She used to do the same thing to Dusty when she didn’t want him to fuss,” Cricket informed them.
Raine leaned closed to Sammy and caught the scent of children’s cough syrup. He glanced up at Deke and nodded. “That’s what she did. Probably to keep him quiet like Cricket said.”
“Will he be okay?” Deke looked worried.
“He’ll probably sleep for a while but once the medication wears off, he should be fine.” Raine nodded.
Deke glared at Cricket. “He’d better be okay or I’ll kill her.”
“Feel free to do it.” Cricket shrugged. “The whole world might be a safer place without her in it.”
Deke frowned. “That’s rather cold, don’t you think?
“It’s the god’s honest truth. She has tortured Dusty and I many times over.”
“That’s your sister you’re talking about,” Deke reminded her.
Cricket shook her head. “She stopped being my sister a long time ago. She can’t stop hurting people. I think she’s been looking for her own death for a long time now.”
Deke picked up his son and held his small body closes to him. Breathing in his baby smell, he closed his eyes. His world was back and suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get back to Cassie. Looking at Raine he said, “Let’s go home.”
Raine helped Cricket to her feet. “I’ll have to bandage this before we go back. She’s lost a lot of blood.” He grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Deke nodded. “What about Cordy? Is she in any shape to travel?”
Raine nodded. “She’s got a bullet in her shoulder but she can get back to Troy. I’ll look at her wound once we get back.”
Deke curled his lips. “Good. I want her alive to face a tribunal. We’ll let the club decide her punishment.”
“I thought tribunals were only for club members?” Cricket stated, she was aware of the laws of the club as they had grown up in the MC but since they didn’t belong to any club, she hadn’t been aware their laws extended to nonmembers.
