Covering my face with my hands, my muscles are aching, my head hurts from where I hit it on the floor when I fell, and the weight of the day is beginning to take its toll. I don’t want to think about the guys reactions when they learn Jessica is responsible. But most of all, I don’t want to see the heartbreak I know it’s going to cause, Bella, Jonas, and Angie.
Fortunately, I’m spared from those depressing thoughts as the roller door flies open, and in strides what looks to be half of Vengeance.
“About time,” Meg exclaims. “I’m starving, my ass hurts, and I’m in dire need of a shower.”
“Fucking hell, baby,” Dex exhales, dropping to his knees beside me.
Cupping my face tenderly in his palms, Dex presses his lips to mine. This is a gentle kiss, not hungry or passionate, but a kiss that communicates so much emotion that if I weren't already sitting down it would knock me on my ass.
His hands run restlessly over my body, no doubt searching for injuries, which has me trying to put his mind at ease.
“I'm all right, Dex. I passed out and hit my head, but I’m not hurt. I promise, honey. Someone needs to call and ambulance or take Kennedy to the hospital, though. We decided to wait until you got here because we didn’t know what the protocol is when it comes to this kind of thing.”
Smiling gently at me, Dex winks.
“You did great, baby. Did you see the guy who took you?” He asks, his voice holding a deadly edge.
“Ah,” Meg announces, clearing her throat. “Brace yourselves because this is going to hurt, okay? I don’t know how to tell you this, but it wasn’t a guy. It was Jessica.”
“What the fuck? No,” Dex growls emphatically. “You’re wrong, Meg. Jess wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“I’m so sorry, Dex,” I whisper. “But she’s telling the truth. You need to look behind the couch,” I tell him, my heart breaking at the crestfallen expression on his face.
Taking the opportunity to search the faces of the men filling the cavernous space, my eyes automatically zone in on Cash, who is staring at Kennedy with a look of desperation and terror. It’s the look of a man who feels deeply, and in his case, Cash feels deeply for Kennedy.
Motioning him over, I murmur,
“Can you please check her leg for me? I’m not completely sure how it happened, but I was trying to wrestle the knife off, Jessica, but she tripped me and somehow I lost my grip. She wrenched it away from me, her arm swung back, and I think that’s when she hit Kennedy.”
According to Sarge, Cash has patched up his brothers just as often as Lonnie, Maddox’s old lady, and a nurse in the ER has. No one knows what kind of medical training Cash has had, but it’s obvious he’s had some.
Dex squeezes my hand, kissing me lightly muttering,
“Be back. You good with Cash for a minute?”
He wants to check on Jessica and find out what’s going on, and while I know they had a close friendship it still stings that Dex is so concerned about her. Especially after what she’s done today.
“Yes,” I mumble, but he doesn’t hear me. Dex is already half way across the room, staring down at Jess with his heart in his eyes.
“Don’t worry. It’s not what you think,” Cash assures me. He slips his finger between Kennedy’s leg and the belt, testing how tight it is. “He cares about Jess, sure, but only as a friend. I tried to warn the blind idiot for years that she had a thing for him, but you know Gage. If he can’t see it for himself, then it isn’t real. Never thought she’d go this far, though.”
The door bangs again, and in runs a teenage boy, yelling,
“Mom? Mom? Where are you, Mom?”
Cash’s head snaps up, staring at the boy who’s tearing at his hair frantically.
“Over here, kid,” he calls out gruffly.
The poor kid rushes over, skidding to a stop next to his mom with tears clinging to his eyelashes.
“No. Oh, shit. No, no, no, no, no,” he chants. “Come on, mom, please be okay.”
As if remembering something, Cash interrupts him.
“You take your meds, kid?”
Narrowing his eyes at Cash, this boy has no fear whatsoever. He scrutinizes the huge man guarding his mother’s body and takes in the fierce protective glint in his eyes. Something passes between them, causing the boy to jerk his head back and his mouth to drop open.
“You’re him,” he questions softly. “The guy who saved my mom and me.”
“Yeah, kid. Now, did you take your meds? Your mom came into the bar earlier saying you’d run off when she went to get you food. Told me you couldn’t take them without eating.”
His head bobs up and down, at the same time his hand extends, offering it to Cash to shake.
“I’m Talon, and we’ve been looking for you my whole life.”
What’s this now? Shaking my head in confusion, I’m not sure if I want to hang around and be nosy because it sounds like whatever story these three share is interesting, to say the least. However, my head is still pounding, and my battle with the nausea that’s been churning my stomach since I woke up is about to be one I’m going to lose any minute, so story time will have to wait for another day.
“I think I should go check on, Meg. Are you okay to watch her until the ambulance gets here?” I ask, already knowing Cash has no intention of moving from Kennedy’s side.
Before he can answer, Talon jumps up and throws his long arms around me, pulling me into a crushing hug.
“You helped my mom, didn’t you? I’ll never be able to thank you for that, she’s all I’ve got.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Talon. It’s me who owe her a debt of gratitude,” I admit. “Your mom saved my life tonight.”
A weighted sigh slips from his mouth, and he hugs me tighter for a few seconds before letting me go.
“She’s always doing stuff like that. Well, maybe not exactly like this,” Talon says sarcastically, gesturing to the room at large. “I mean, there’s some serious drywall carnage going on in here.”
Giggling at him, I nod.
“Yep, but just to set the record straight, that wasn’t actually your mom’s fault.”
Cash places a pillow behind Kennedy’s head, resting her more comfortably back against the chair, and rises to his full height.
“What do you mean, she’s always doing shit like this?”
“Language,” I hiss, slapping his arm. “There are children present.”
Snorting, Talon grins at me.
“You sound just like my mom. All I meant was that she’s always helping people,” he shrugs, sitting back down, taking hold of his mother’s hand. “She donates blood every month, volunteers at homeless shelters, and pays for Arthur’s prescriptions. Makes sure he has food, clothes, and blankets too. Last year she put herself on the donor registry, and less than a week later they called her, telling her she was a bone marrow match for a kid with leukemia. Mom dropped everything and raced to the hospital so that she could have the operation done. I was hard on her,” he mumbles sadly. “Mom forgot it wasn’t pay week, and she’d just filled all Arthur’s prescriptions, so she couldn’t afford to get the pain meds the doctor prescribed her.”
“What?” Sarge rumbles, coming up on our right.
“Yeah,” Talon groans. “It was bad. I was so freakin’ worried about her. She was really pale, got sick a lot, and the bruise on her hip where they took it from just wouldn’t go away. It kept getting worse and worse.”
“Jesus Christ,” Cash snarls.
Talon looks at him and then Sarge, adding,
“We didn’t have insurance; mom’s job didn’t include benefits. The operation was taken care of by the family who’s kid was sick, but it didn’t cover any of mom’s aftercare. I didn’t know what to do, so I hacked into the hospital records and found out the families address. I made the trip across town to see them, to ask if they’d help my mom, but the lady who answered the door, I think it was the kid’s mom, laughed at me and slammed the door in my face.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
“But do you know what my mom said when I told her what I’d done?” He questions, quirking an eyebrow at us, a small grin tipping the corners of his mouth. “She explained that when you give something, you do it without expectations or conditions. You give it freely because you want to, not because you expect to get anything in return. Then she grounded my ass for a month for hacking into the hospital's computer system.”
“And I’ll do it again if you don’t stop your secret life as a criminal mastermind,” Kennedy murmurs weakly.
“Mom,” Talon yells. His expression brightens momentarily but then shudders as his shoulders heave and the tears he had been holding back start to fall. “I thought I lost you,” he rasps, burying into her side. “God, mom, I can’t lose you. I’m so freakin’ sorry I left the motel room, I only wanted to go for a walk and get some air. S-s-sorry, mom.”
Even though it must be excruciating, if her grimace of pain is anything to go by, Kennedy wraps her arms around her son and holds him close.
“Hush, baby,” she coos, stroking Talon’s back. “You’ll never lose me, and do you know why?”
Talon sucks in a deep breath, whispering,
“Because everyone needs a compass, and I’m yours and you’re mine.”
I couldn’t stop the sob that escapes my throat if I tried. That is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard, aside from Dex telling me for the first time that he loves me. And Sarge doesn’t help matters when he tells her,
“You’ve got a place here as long as you want one. I’ve got a house about ten miles from here if you need somewhere to stay till you find your feet. Any woman who does what you did for that kid deserves all that and more.”
Kennedy smiles at him, but it isn’t filled with relief or gratitude. Instead, it’s forced and laced with what appears to be trepidation. And I understand why when I notice her eyes stray to Cash, confirming that there is most definitely a story there.
These two share some kind of history, and with the way things go around here, it’s only a matter of time before we find out just how deep that history goes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
~ Gage ~
“Life is just like a cock. Simple, relaxed, and hanging freely. It’s the women that make it hard.”
– Gage to Cash
“Jay, you need to calm the fuck down brother,” Boss orders, not removing the hand that’s pressed against Jonas’ chest.
“Calm down? Have you lost your fucking mind? That’s my sister in there,” he shouts, pointing at the hospital room Jess is in. “I need to see her with my own eyes, brother. Make sure she’s alright.”
Cash takes a menacing step toward the pair, putting me on high alert. He hasn’t been the same in the week since we found Aislinn and Meg, Kennedy was stabbed, and Jess ended up admitted to the hospital under a Section 5150, involuntary psychiatric hold. None of us have.
“You know who you should be checking on?” Cash snarls, his tone laced with venom. “Kennedy. You remember, the woman your sister fucking stabbed. The one who needed two blood transfusions and surgery to repair the damage she caused. The one with a son who looks like he’s about to fucking drop because he refuses to leave his mother’s bedside. That’s the woman you should be worried about, motherfucker, not your sister.”
Boss whips his head around, glaring at Cash in warning.
“Stand down. Go get that kid some food and try to convince him to take a shower. He’s been wearing the same clothes for days, and it wouldn’t do him any harm to get out of here for an hour or so. Take him back to your place and sort him out.”
Cash doesn’t acknowledge any of us, he simply turns on his heel and stomps back down the corridor toward Kennedy’s room. Narrowing his eyes on Jonas, Boss forcefully pushes him back against the wall, sneering,
“He’s not wrong. All this time you’ve been worried about Jess; how she’s doing, if she’s coping, what going to happen to her. Not fucking once have you thought to visit the women who suffered at her hands. This situation could’ve been a fuck load worse, brother, and if it had, I’d let Cash loose on your ass. Hers too,” he snaps, jabbing his finger toward Jess’ door.
“Cash won’t let me anywhere near Kennedy,” Jonas groans. “Tried to get in there to talk to her a few days ago and he pulled his fucking gun on me.”
I’m not surprised. Right now, as volatile as he is, I wouldn’t put anything past Cash. And that includes shooting one of his closest friends.
“Fuck me,” Boss growls, pacing the floor in a tight circle. “This is a goddamn clusterfuck. I’ve got Reaper out for blood, Cash who’s strung so tight it’s a wonder he hasn’t snapped yet, Meg bitching at me to let her at your sister, and you, my brother, and best friend whose sister is the cause of all of it.” Sparing me a cursory glance, he adds, “And this asshole’s so quiet no one knows where his head is at.”
I’ve spent the entire week trying to get my head around Jess’ betrayal, and I’m no closer to an answer than I was when I began. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fucking angry at her, furious, but I just can’t seem to reconcile the quiet, shy, sweet woman who was one of my closest friends.
“Baby,” Blaine whispers carefully, approaching from down the hall where she’d been visiting with Kennedy. “Hey guys,” she mumbles, waving at Boss and I. “Why don’t we go see how your mom is doing? Mel has to get the kids home soon, and I’m sure she could use a break by now.”
Melanie, the oldest Jonas’ three sisters, is married with two kids and lives just outside of Lower Falls where her husband Lee works as a firefighter. One thing I can say about Mel is that very little phases her, and this situation is no different.
When Boss called her after we arrived at the hospital and filled her in on what was going on, Mel took on the responsibility of telling her mom and Bella, organized her kids to be watched until Lee could make it home, and drove straight here. She fetched coffee for everyone, pestered nurses and doctors for updates, ordered in food, and convinced the two officers who showed up an hour after the women were brought in to wait a few days before giving their statements.
Every day since, Mel has been at the hospital morning and night, spending the hours in between taking care of Angie, who is devastated after what Jess has done. Mel was also the one who put forward the suggestion that Jess be assessed by the psychiatric team. She wasn’t using it as a ploy or an excuse for her sisters’ behavior, Mel was simply giving a voice to what no one else wanted to broach.
“Go see your sister and your niece and nephew. Your mom needs you more than Jess does right now, brother,” Boss backs Blaine up. “Jess is sedated, the doctors are gonna keep her that way until she can wake up and not freak the fuck out.”
The first time Jess woke up on a gurney in the ER, handcuffed to the metal side rail, she lost it and broke her wrist struggling to get free. The second time, she spat at a nurse and kicked wildly, knocking over the tray table, her lunch and the jug of water on it landing all over one of the doctors checking on her. And so it went. Every time Jess would rouse from sleep, she’d lose her shit, and the hospital staff would have to sedate her again.
“Boss, she’s my baby sister,” Jonas’ sighs raggedly. “I have to know what’s gonna happen to her.”
“Not now you don’t. Now you need to focus on your family and making sure you keep your shit together. We’ll talk later,” Boss commands, not welcoming further discussion.
“Jess is sick, brother. I don’t know what’s going on with her, no one saw the signs, not even remotely, but something’s not right with her. I’ve got to know how the clubs’ going to deal with this.”
Isn’t that the truth, I think to myself? Something is most definitely not right with Jess, and it can’t be as simple as her harboring a crush on me for years. There’s more to it. Something deeper. Something that makes her a danger to herself and others.
Shaking my head sadly, I say,
“Go to your mo
m’s, Jay. There’s nothing you can do here, and you’re not getting in to see Jess until one of us have talked to her first.”
“I know she fucked up, there’s no denying it, but let me get her help. Let me see if I can get her into a facility that will help her get better,” he pleads.
Boss’ shoulders slump in defeat when he admits,
“That’s not gonna be up to us, brother. The police want to talk to her, and from what I heard, when she is lucid, Jess is gonna be up on some pretty serious charges. Attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, wrongful imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, and carrying an unlicensed firearm. Hate to say it, but the best she can hope for is a mental health diagnosis from the doctors here that might mean she ends up in a hospital instead of prison.” Boss hangs his head, “I’m sorry, brother, but it doesn’t look like Jess is gonna see the outside of state-mandated four walls for a long fucking time.”
Jonas’ knees give out, and he slides to the floor, taking Blaine with him. Clutching her to his chest, Jonas finally breaks, his six-foot-five frame jolting with body-wracking sobs.
Vengeance MC Box Set - Volume 2: Gage ~ Cash ~ Knight (Vengeance MC series Book 8) Page 25
