“Okay, Daisy,” she said, folding her hands in front of her and lifting her chin. “What can I do for you, Daisy?”
“I need Sullivan’s address. And I need it right now.”
“I’m not obliged to give out a client’s address, Scarlet and you know that.”
I rushed her, slamming her against her front door as I fisted a handful of the pussycat bow of her pink silk blouse.
“He’s not a client,” I said, gritting my teeth. “He’s a fucking kidnapper and he has my son. Now, tell me his fucking address before I sink my fist into your mouth, Ruby.”
Her eyes grew wide with fear.
“Kidnapping?” she cried. “Surely not…”
I twisted my fist, the silk tightening even more around her skinny, wrinkled throat. It took everything I had not to hurt her, really hurt her, now that I was here. She was responsible for many years of torture and seeing her again, after I’d come so far, was a shock to the system.
I had to keep my cool, though, and Jason’s calm presence, watching quietly from the shadows, helped tremendously. Still, it didn’t dull the satisfying pleasure I was getting out of the fear shining in this mean old lady’s eyes.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Ruby,” I said, lowering my voice to a menacing growl. “I’m going to let you go. And you’re going to write down Luke’s address and I’m going to let you live. For now. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to come back and make sure you pay for all the hell you’ve caused. But for now, for today, I’ll let you live. Now, do you understand? Because if you don’t, you can pay that debt today.”
She nodded, tears stinging her eyes.
I smiled and shook my head.
“You’re a fucking horrible excuse for a human,” I sneered, shoving her away from me and letting go of her blouse. She scampered away quickly and I kept my eyes on her. She opened an old-fashioned address book on the counter and quickly jotted down Luke’s address and handed it to me.
“Thank you,” I said, my eyes trailing over her with complete disdain.
She nodded solemnly as I walked to the door. I turned back before leaving, throwing her a quick glance.
“Watch your back, bitch,” I sneered.
Bones
I was in awe of Daisy’s composure.
I’d thought for sure she’d break down completely when I went back to the motel. I dreaded facing her, feeling like a complete and utter failure, feeling like barely half a man.
What kind of man comes back empty-handed in a situation like that?
I was mortified.
And angry. And fucking worried out of my mind, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. All I could do was apologize and watch as she went through the most amazing transformation.
Her fear melted away in the face of her determination. She became steady as a rock, possessing the focused precision of a hawk, steely and resilient in the face of such an overwhelming crises.
This is how she did it, I thought, as I watched her change right before my eyes. This is how she survived all the bullshit life had thrown her way. This was how she made it to the other side.
She turned off the chaos, she turned off the pain, rejected the panic, and did what ever it took to get shit done.
Not only had she obtained Sullivan’s address in just a little over an hour since he’d sped away from us, but now she had the balls to be standing in front of the huge wooden doorway of his home, which ironically turned out to be not too far from my own.
I ignored the voice telling me that perhaps if she hadn’t moved in with me, he never would have found her. I’d deal with that fact later.
After all this was settled.
After Alex was back where he belonged, in the arms of the people who loved him.
Sullivan’s home was a sprawling estate on a quiet street. We listened for a minute before knocking, but there was no sound of movement inside. I’d suggested calling the cops, but Daisy insisted we try on our own first. For some reason, she seemed to be convinced she could deal with Sullivan on her own.
I was doubtful. That’s why I had the full force of the Gods waiting right around the corner for my call.
I figured I’d screwed things up this much, I had to at least try Daisy’s way first. I owed that to her.
She knocked on the door and took a deep breath.
My pulse throbbed in my temple, the torturous anticipation of waiting to see what was on the other side of that door ripping my insides to shreds.
When the door finally opened, my mouth dropped at the friendly smile on the face of the woman that appeared. She wore a long, flowing jewel colored skirt with glittery threads woven through it, and a long flowery silk scarf tied in her kinky blonde hair. She was barefoot, her toes painted a glittery gold. She smelled of weed and patchouli and her skin glowed with a healthy sheen.
“Hey,” she drawled. “What’s up? Do I know you guys?”
“No,” Daisy said. “Are you Mrs. Sullivan?”
“Sure am,” she nodded, her smile widening. “Who are you?”
“Is your husband here?” Daisy asked.
“Luke? No, he’s not. Not sure where he went off to. But why don’t you come in? We can give him a call. Are you friends of his?”
Daisy looked over at me and shrugged, before walking into the house.
“We need to talk, Mrs. Sullivan,” Daisy said, lifting her chin with quiet determination.
Daisy
I expected her to be upset, to lash out, maybe not believe me at all, but she was quietly enraged.
I had no idea what I was walking into when I walked into that house.
I’d hoped Luke would be there and I could take Alex back right away. Instead, I had to explain to the man’s wife that he’d been lying to her all along. That I’d had a child. That her husband had not only betrayed her and lied to her about it, but that he was now on the run with the child he’d kidnapped.
“So you’re saying my entire life has been a lie?” she muttered, looking at me in disbelief.
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” I said. “I respect how shocked you must be. I wish I didn’t have to come here. But we have to hurry. I have to find Luke and get my baby back. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?”
“Yeah,” she said, shaking her head. “I might. He has a cabin in the gorge. In Bridal Veil. He never lets me go with him anymore, but I was there when he bought it. I don’t know where else he’d go.”
“Thank you, Lily,” I said. “I’m going to need you to write down the address for me.”
“This baby. Does he look like Luke?” she asked, her eyes squinting at me.
“Yes,” I said. “He has a bit of both of us in him. Red hair, green eyes…”
She nodded, and stared at me thoughtfully before replying.
“I’m coming with you,” she said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, ma’am,” Jason said, finally speaking up. He was a wise man, allowing me to handle the betrayed wife up to now.
“Luke won’t have anything to do you with you if I’m not there,” she said, her voice rising in anger. “You want the baby back or not?”
“Of course, but —.”
“Then I’m coming with you. Trust me,” she said. “I’ll help you get your boy back. Besides, I’m not giving you the address, so you have no choice but let me lead you to him.”
“Fine,” I said, nodding. “But we need to hurry.”
“Go on outside. I’ll just grab my purse and be right out.”
“Thank you,” I said, searching her eyes. I wanted her to understand, and I think she did. She could have turned her anger on me, but she didn’t, and that told me a hell of a lot about her character.
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling softly, and reaching down and squeezing my hand. “I’m sorry this prick has ruined your life this way.”
“Me, too,” I whispered. “I’m sorry, too.”
“I’ll be right out,” she said, before turni
ng away and heading down the hallway.
Lucifer
The fucking baby would not stop screaming.
He screamed in the truck, he screamed when we arrived at the cabin and he was screaming still, hours after we’d arrived.
Like a regretful fool, I was completely unprepared. I stopped at a supermarket on the way, randomly grabbing diapers and baby food from the shelves, only to find out that I’d picked up diapers that were way too small for him.
So, I’d removed the soiled diaper he was wearing and put his pants on without one. So far, so good.
But that crying wouldn’t quit.
Piercing, incessant, relentlessly sending daggers of blinding pain to my brain, it was never ending madness.
I tried feeding him, rocking him, walking him and nothing would make him quiet down.
“Stop your fuckin’ wailing, son!” I shouted, which only served to make him cry louder. He squirmed in my grip, so I finally sat him down. He flung himself to the floor, howling and flailing like a wounded animal.
I stood over him, at a complete loss for how to console him.
I’d tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked.
I had to admit that this was entirely out of my league. I’d been an only child and I grew up fast. I didn’t have a clue how to take care of a kid.
Maybe I’ll keep Lily around for a while after all, I thought. At least until I could hire a few nannies. I wasn’t even sure how many nannies he would need. Six? Eight?
With the amount of energy required to keep up that amount of crying, I figured the more the better. I stared down at him, squirming and quivering on the floor, and felt a surge of pride.
“You’re already a fighter, aren’t you, boy?” I whispered, leaning down to him. He reached up with a tiny fist and hit me square in the eye.
I burst out laughing, holding my eye as I stood up.
“That’s my boy,” I said. “That’s my boy…”
I left him there on the floor, taking a quick inventory of the supplies I had on hand in the kitchen. I hadn’t been there in over a year, and I had no recollection of what I’d left behind. I was hoping for a bottle of whiskey, or three, as I could already tell this was going to be a very long night, and I wasn’t quite sure how I’d make it without a little help.
Unfortunately, I came up empty.
In fact, there was nothing but a bag of beans and a few steaks in the freezer, and not much else. No beer, no booze, not even a little bump of coke.
I’d emptied the place of all the good stuff last time, apparently.
“Well, shit,” I muttered. “Now what?”
I picked Alex up from the floor and walked into the tiny living room of the cabin. I’d furnished it with a few brown leather couches a few years ago and let Lily throw a few of her grandma’s quilts around to cozy it up. But today, it just seemed cold and empty.
Alex cried in my arms, doing his damnedest to escape from my embrace. I let him go and then took the time to start a fire in the wood stove, even though it wasn’t cold yet. Tonight, the temperature would drop to the low fifties and we’d need the heat.
Afterwards, I tried feeding Alex the baby food I’d purchased at the store, a few jars of Gerber’s peas and applesauce. He refused to let the spoon enter his mouth, slapping my hand away every time I approached his face. Finally, I gave up, letting him cry on the couch while I made the bed and opened the curtains.
Still, the place looked sad and sterile and I couldn’t help but wonder if the reason I couldn’t make it seem like a real home was because I never really had one.
Sure, I had homes all over, beautiful masterpieces worth millions of dollars. But none of them had ever been full of love. Maybe in the beginning with Lily, but that was so fleeting, I could barely remember it now.
Maybe I thought that would just happen naturally.
Maybe I thought it was something that came easily, once you signed the papers on a property.
Maybe I thought that once I had my son in my possession, all those things I’d longed so long for would finally arrive.
Love. Family. Happiness.
I’d yearned for that all my life.
Alex cried out again, plopping himself on the floor, as a huge puddle began forming around him.
“Piss! I guess I was wrong,” I muttered, picking him up and heading towards the bathroom.
Daisy
Lily rode in the truck with Ryder and Grace, as we all followed behind. It was a half-hour drive to Bridal Veil, a tiny town nestled into the Columbia River Gorge. Lush with a thick canopy of trees, the cabins that most people lived in were down winding dirt roads, their homes concealed behind towering curtains of pines and oaks and ashy-white birch.
It was one of those places where it was easy to hide. Where neighbors kept to themselves and minded their own business, no matter what. A place where you would only be found if you wanted to be found.
If Lily hadn’t shown us the way in, down multiple back roads and many unmarked turns, we’d have never found it. To be safe and not spook Luke, we hung way back from the cabin, out of sight while we discussed our plan.
For me, the plan was simple.
Lily and I would go in and confront Luke, a united front against his abuse.
But the Gods had other ideas.
They wanted to surround the place, go in all at once, use the element of surprise against him.
But Lily and I both knew better than that.
That was the kind of thing Luke thrived on.
Chaos, sudden assaults, the unexpected blow…
He’d trained for that. He lived for that.
What he wasn’t trained for was the full force of two women scorned. He was used to getting what he wanted from us. He’d always expected that we would bow down to him, that we’d submit to his every demand.
He would never expect I’d show up here with his wife, all his secrets exposed. That was the element of surprise that we needed.
The illusion of his power would be shredded.
“No,” Lily said, rejecting their proposals. “Daisy and I go in together. We got this. Y’all hang back. If we need you, we’ll call. I know how to handle this motherfucker.”
“So do I,” I said.
The Gods all muttered in half-hearted agreement once they realized we weren’t straying from what we thought was the best approach.
“Let’s go,” she said, her eyes fierce with rock-hard determination, a complete contrast to the way she was dressed. She’d added a pair of slouchy suede boots to her outfit, her bangles jangling as she threw her purse over her shoulder. “Can we take the truck?”
I looked over at Jason and he handed me the keys.
“We’re right behind you,” he said.
“Make sure you stay out of sight,” Lily said. “If he spooks, my plan won’t work.”
“We’ll be close, but he won’t see us,” Ryder said. “If you get in trouble, open a curtain or blind to signal us. If we see that, we’ll run right in.”
Jason grabbed me, hugging me tight.
“We got this,” I murmured into his chest. I knew he was worried. I was worried, too. But Luke had my boy. I had no choice but to take this chance to get him back. Sure, we could have called the cops. They would have raided the place, guns blasting, and the chances of my boy surviving a storm of flying bullets seemed like a lot worse than me and Lily walking in alone.
“I’m there in a second, just give the signal,” Jason said. I pulled away, staring into his eyes.
“Right. Open a curtain. Got it. Thanks.” I gave him a quick nod and jumped in his truck. Lily was already inside, waiting behind the wheel. The truck started up with a loud roar and she put it into gear, slowly following the dirt road.
“It’s just around this bend,” Lily said.
A lump formed in my throat, my heart racing as the cabin came into view.
“I was right,” Lily said, “there’s his truck.”
The truck was park
ed next to a modest little log cabin, surrounded by acreage of thick, old growth. A large deck surrounded the house, attaching to a covered front porch with an old rocking chair next to the door.
“How quaint,” I muttered, my hands shaking.
“I guess. It’s cold and dusty and dark. Not exactly my cup of tea.”
“So, how are we going to handle this?” I asked, looking over at her after she parked the truck.
“You’ll see,” she said. “I have a plan.”
“You act like you’ve done this a million times,” I said, flashing her a half-smile.
“Stand up to Luke? No. But I’ve dreamt about it for years,” she said, her eyes glossing over.
“I just want my boy. You ready?”
“Let’s do this,” she said, opening the truck door, throwing her purse over her shoulder and waiting for me before we walked to the door of the cabin together. We stood in front of the door, looked at each other and nodded before she reached out and knocked.
The door flew open quickly, startling us both.
Luke stood there, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, holding Alex — a very wet, very naked Alex.
The initial look of shock only lasted a second, before it was replaced with relief.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Lily? God, I’m so glad to see you both,” he said, ushering us both in and closing the door.
“Alex!” I cried. He reached out for me and jumped into my arms.
“Alex, huh?” Luke said, handing him to me willingly. “That’s his name? Hell, I’m surprised his name isn’t Little Hellion or something. He will not shut the fuck up!”
“Hello to you too, Luke,” Lily said, her voice cool and calm.
“Why is he naked? And wet? Where are his clothes?” I demanded.
“He pissed himself, that’s why! His clothes are ruined. I don’t have any fucking diapers. Why isn’t he toilet trained, for fuck’s sake?”
“He’s only one, you idiot!” I spotted a quilt on the couch and grabbed it, wrapping it around Alex’s body.
“What did you call me?” he sneered, coming towards me. I stood my ground, lifting my chin defiantly.
BONES: GODS OF CHAOS MC Page 24
