by Alora Kate
Sofia was my life, my best friend, and soulmate.
The one thing I had that was real.
I had to find her.
Chapter 14 – Randy
I saw Harper walking towards me in a pair of short shorts, which were actually a pair of men’s boxer shorts. I doubt they were Jaxon’s, but it was fucking hot today and I didn’t blame her for not wanting to wear the sweat pants they had.
We were both up early and talked the entire time we made and ate breakfast. For some reason, from the first night we had our Tequila party, I was closer to Harper than the other two women. I’m sure it had to do with the fact that she was hell bent on finding her brother’s killer and I, along with Jaxon, was trying to talk her out of it. We had more one on one conversations and even though she didn’t smoke, she’d follow me outside sometimes to chat.
I shut the blade off and turned the lawnmower around to meet her halfway. I took the glass of water first, drank it all, then she handed me the sandwich.
“This is good,” I mumbled with a mouthful.
“Just a sandwich,” she replied, looking around the yard. Latch had acres upon acres, but I only took care of the grass up until the start of the trees. I’ve never ventured out there. As far as I knew, it was just a lush piece of forestry with nothing but trees for miles.
“You want another one?” she asked wiping the sweat off her forehead. Her hair was pulled up into a bun on the top of her head, yet a few strands escaped and clung to her skin.
“It’d be appreciated, Harp.”
She gave me her, I like being called Harp but won’t admit it smile and started her trek back to the house. I had no clue what time it was, didn’t care or need to wear a watch, not that I owed one but it did feel like she’d been gone a lot longer than it would have taken her to make another sandwich. I finished the area I had been working on and decided to call it a day. The sun had started it's slow descent so I figured it had to be after four or five in the afternoon. It took forever for the lawnmower to make it back to the shed, but I put it back where it belonged and headed towards the house to see what happened to Harper.
I came around the front of the house, saw the truck and instantly started to panic. I ran up the stairs, through the door and came to a stop in the living room.
Sweet, adorable Harper was on her knees in the middle of the living room, silently crying. Her hair was messed up, letting me know she probably struggled with her attacker.
The voice I hadn’t heard for a year decided to speak. “Thought you’d be out there all day.” He was standing behind Harper, hands in his black slacks. He was wearing the matching suit jacket but without a shirt. His standard look because he thought he was a God.
Arsen Wells thought he was a God, acted like one, and tried to look like one. He’s never changed his look. He was half Mexican, half white and his skin was flawless and tan all year round. People bowed down to him. No one said no to him.
He wasn’t one of the bad guys, he was the bad guy.
“Let her go,” I ground out.
“Her?” he asked, at the same time lifting his foot and shoving it into her back, pushing her forward so she was on her hands and knees. I moved towards her only to hear a click of a gun on my right. I didn’t have to look, I knew it was his right-hand man, Shane.
“Thought I’d come alone?” he asked reading my mind while Harper tried to sit back up.
“Stay,” he shouted and Harper stopped moving and started crying more. “A woman’s place is on her hands and knees.”
“Don’t you fucking touch her!”
“Randy, Randy Randy…” He shook his head and ran his ugly green snakeskin boot over Harper’s ass. “Don’t pull this holier-than-thou shit on me, Randy. Don’t you remember all the shit we did? You did?”
I said nothing and I couldn’t even look at Harper if I wanted to. Her head was bowed down and I couldn’t imagine what thoughts were running through her mind. I knew what we had done in the past, what I had done, and I had no time to hash that out nor did I want to.
The gun Latch left me with was in my room, empty. I took the bullets out when the girls moved in, just to be on the safe side.
“How did you find me?”
His sinister laugh filled the room and he dropped his foot back to the floor. Shane hadn’t moved and I could feel the gun still pointed at my head. It wasn’t the first time I’ve felt cold metal on my head.
“You should know Randy; I always get what I want.”
I did know that.
“I found you a long time ago,” he informed me. “I thought I’d let you get comfortable, enjoy your time out here in the country, think you were safe.”
I should have known.
“It was fun, wasn’t it?” he asked sarcastically. “Enjoying your freedom.”
The idea of changing my name and making my way to some private island was what I should have done in the first place, but the prosecutor told me this was the best thing to do. They promised me with only a few people knowing my location that I’d be safe.
I should have known the sick bastard would do this.
Lost fucking promises.
Then again, I didn’t deserve the life I thought I did. Half of me knew this would happen but sometimes I hoped it wouldn’t.
Harper deserved her life, though.
“You can have me.”
“Been there,” he waved his hand in the air, “done that.” He smirked.
Fucking asshole.
“Just let her go, Arsen. You don’t like blondes anyway.”
“Hmmm,” he walked around Harper like she was one of his whores and said, “you’re right about that.”
“I’m right about a lot of things,” I reminded him. “Let’s go. Without her.” I tried to move and the gun made contact with my head. No one said anything, but Arsen pulled out his cell, hit a few buttons, and then slipped it back into his front pocket.
“Well, this was fun, Randy,” he said walking towards the front door which surprised me a bit, but the phone call must have been important. Shane was still next to me until Arsen whistled and he went running like the dog he was. I was standing sideways, afraid to move and Harper did the same, staying on the floor with her head still down.
Something wasn’t right.
It wasn’t over.
It’s never over this quick.
“Randy,” Arsen called my name from the doorway and I slowly turned around. “You were one of my favorites.”
I had heard that more than once and to the Old Randy, that was a big deal. It was a big deal to anyone who heard it, and everyone who hung out with Arsen wanted to be his favorite.
I slowly turned to face him, trying to prepare myself for what was to come.
His arm was hanging at his side, with his hand gripping his shiny gold magnum 45. He was never without it. It was the one and only gun he’s ever shot. He rarely shot someone himself, but when he did, it was his and it meant something to him. “You remember the kill shot, Randy?”
I could never forget, but said nothing. It was a game he loved to play, and all his favorites played it with him. Preparing to die was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I prepared for it the best I could this past year but now that it’s actually happening, well, it was worse. We both knew if he ever found me and had the opportunity to kill me, he would do it.
“I wish I had time to stick around Randy, see how long it takes for you to bleed out. Make a bet on your life.” He raised his arm and aimed the gun. “But I don’t have the time.”
The shot rang out and the bullet pierced my stomach exactly where it was supposed to. I knew he hit an artery, he never missed. I grabbed the couch and slid myself down until I hit the floor. I heard the faint click of Arsen’s boots as he left, he didn’t stick around to watch me fall to the floor, he knew he hit his mark. My life didn’t flash before my eyes and that was probably for the best. I didn’t need a reminder of all the fucked up things I’ve done.
“I don’t know what to do,” Harper said, falling to her knees at my side.
“There’s nothing to do, Harp.”
“I’ll get some towels.” She tried to stand and I pulled her back down.
“Don’t,” I grunted feeling my heart beating the life out of me.
“Randy,” she whispered, caressing my cheek, “please don’t leave me.”
“That was a kill shot, honey.”
“My brother just died. I just can’t lose you. It’s not right.”
I tried to ignore the pain and the blood soaking my clothes. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything,” she promised.
“Tell Latch something for me.”
She nodded quickly and scooted closer to me.
“I owed him one.”
“One what?” she asked.
“He saved my life. A life not worth saving.”
She slapped my arm. “Don’t talk like that.”
I smiled. “I owe him my life and now I can’t save his.”
“My sweet Randy, you deserve to live. You just have to hang on, don’t give up.”
“This is the price I have to pay,” I told her what I truly believed.
“What do you mean?”
“I was a bad person Harp; this is what I deserve. I’m paying the ultimate price with my life. It was always supposed to end this way.” I chuckled and ignored the blood flowing freely from my stomach and into my clothes settling on the hardwood floor. “I’m surprised I lasted this long.”
“Stop being so negative,” she cried.
“I’m dying, woman, let me be fucking negative.”
She cradled me in her arms and got us as comfortable as possible. “Harp honey, you have to stop looking for him,” I begged staring into those sad blue eyes.
I didn’t have to say who ‘him’ was. She knew, and I knew she knew by the look in her glossy eyes. “Those men are just like Arsen.”
She could only nod.
“Promise me you’ll stop, Harp.”
I started to get lightheaded, the room was spinning, and I tried very hard to focus on her. When Arsen played, The Killshot Game, he’d make us all take bets on who’d live the longest. Some would bleed out faster than others, some would take hours.
I would not last for hours.
Harp was crying hard, trying to keep it together.
“I know your sweet on Jaxon, but I don’t care.” I found every single piece of energy and power within me to sit up and press a small kiss to her lips. “Every dying man deserves a kiss before they meet their maker.”
She nodded agreeing with me, and I continued to say at much as I could say before I wasn’t able to. “Promise me, Harp. I have to hear the words.”
She nodded her head again and very softly said, “I promise.” As my body fell back into her arms.
“Cremate my ass and bury me in the woods.”
She chuckled through her tears and kissed me gently on the forehead. “I love you, Randy.”
Chapter 15 - Latch and Marvey
Latch
I could hear Harper screaming before I even parked the van. Ten minutes ago, when I saw the black truck on the dirt road, a bad feeling formed in the pit in my stomach. I didn’t really know the neighbors or what they drove because I wasn’t around much, but I knew this vehicle didn’t belong.
I slammed the van into park and rushed to the already open front door. I slid to a stop, dropped to my knees, and pulled Randy away from Harper so I could start CPR.
“Randy,” I barked out, checking his pulse. “Shit.”
“He’s gone,” Harper cried. “I’ve been waiting for someone to come.”
Marvey pulled her aside and I started chest compressions.
“No one came!” Harper cried out as Marvey got her out the front door. “No one came!”
I saw Jaxon feel for a pulse.
“It’s too late,” Jaxon said full of regret but I kept going. Randy saved my life. I would save his. I had to. I didn’t have a choice. He took a bullet for me a year ago and I’ve done everything I could since then to pay him back. I owed him. I owed him life.
“Latch…”
Everything inside of me told me not to stop. “Call 911”
“I’ll go call them, but man, you have to stop.”
“It’s Randy!”
“I know who it is!” Jaxon snapped back. “I saw him take that bullet for you. He saved your life, and you saved his life… but in a different way.”
“I can bring him back,” I grunted. I breathed air into his lungs then started compressions again.
“He’s gone,” Jaxon said angrily.
I kept going. I couldn’t let Randy down.
Jaxon leaned over and with both hands pushed me off Randy. “Dedrick!” he called me by my real name and I couldn’t hide from his glare. “It’s over. He bled out.”
I shook my head, trying to get back up on my knees. “I can’t-”
“There’s too much blood.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Go!” He pointed towards the door. “You go call it in, I’ll take care of Randy.”
“Jaxon-”
“Get the fuck out of this house!” he yelled and I finally got up and walked out, but stopped and glanced back at Randy on the floor. His eyes were shut and I could tell his soul had left his body.
He was gone.
It was all my fault.
“Latch,” Marvey called, and I glanced at her and Harper sitting at the far end of the porch, the furthest away from the door. “I’m so sorry.” Her eyes were glassy and she held Harper in her arms.
I’m not sure if she heard Jaxon call me by my first name and at this point, I didn’t care.
Everything was fucked up.
Falling apart.
Turning to shit.
Sofia was missing.
Randy was dead.
And we were making no progress with our operation to bring down the worst MC club in the state.
I got in the van and drove until I hit the spot that I’d have signal and made the call to my uncle.
After the paramedics left with Randy’s body, after my uncle and the few cops he brought with him left, after our interviews of the events of the night, after Harper showered and cleaned the blood off her and joined Jaxon in his room, I went to bed.
Marvey was sitting in the middle of the bed, wearing a white tank top with black boy shorts, her long dark hair was falling out of her messy ponytail, and she was quietly crying. I shut the door and she lifted her head up and gave me a small smile.
“Hey,” she whispered.
I kicked my boots off, stripped down to my boxers, climbed to the middle of the bed, and pulled her into my lap with her legs wrapped around my waist. She laid her cheek against my chest and let out a long slow breath. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. I let Randy down. I had to find out how Arsen found him. Then I had to find Arsen and kill him. I knew about the game they’d played, I knew everything about Randy’s life, prior to Arsen and after Arsen. The sick fucking bastard.
“No, you’re not,” she said tipping her head back. “And that’s okay, Latch. I know how close you guys were.”
There wasn’t anything to talk about so I said, “I’m wiped, babe.” I kissed her forehead and we moved under the covers where she curled into me gently and wrapped her arm around my waist. She placed a kiss on my chest and whispered goodnight.
Marvey
Latch wasn’t alright. He’d been on edge all morning and I couldn’t blame him. He was all business today, barely even looking at me. He was completely overwhelmed and had so much pressure and stress piled onto him.
I was pissed Sofia was missing and upset that Randy was gone.
Latch and Jaxon were either on their phones or talking outside most of the morning while Harper and I sat on the couch, watching Randy’s favorite movie, Remember The Titans. We talked about Randy and his favorite parts of the movie, but not
about the fact that he was gone. Harper watched him die, saw him take his last breath, and she wasn’t doing well. She told me what they talked about in his final minutes and I was relieved that she was done looking for her brother’s killer. Now she was worried Arsen would come back for her because he threatened her before Randy had come into the house. The guys were confused as to why Arsen kept her alive, but they planned to kill the man before he could do anything to Harper.
As far as I knew, the guys had no clue where Sofia was or who had her. I was so worried about her. She was in a new world right now, one where she didn’t belong, but I knew she’d hold her head high and fight back. No one thought they’d take her to get to Kennedy but it made sense. There were so many people that Kennedy and his family employed and they weren’t making any progress with the list. They had no idea who had problems with Kennedy and it was making it harder to find her. I overheard some things that Latch and Jaxon had said while on the phone and I knew they got the security camera feed from the college and one of the businesses across the street from campus. My understanding was that the guy was inside the college prior to her arrival and that he took her after her second final. Why they waited I wasn’t sure.
Nothing made sense over the past week.Well almost nothing, I was starting to have real feelings for Latch. I mean, Dedrick.
“Ladies,” Jaxon’s voice boomed into the house making us jump. We both glanced at him in the doorway. “Pack up, we’re leaving.”
“What?” Harper gasped sitting up on her knees, backward on the couch. “We can’t leave.”
“We gotta go.”
“But Randy…”
