by Jess Bryant
Love you babe.
She typed back a quick response and then put the phone aside. She was too nervous and too scared to simply sit here and do nothing while she waited. So she decided, despite everything, she might as well clean.
She knew the plan. She couldn’t leave the trailer now that she’d made the call. If Craig showed and she wasn’t here, he’d get nervous and bolt. And the boys couldn’t come in and keep her company, if he saw them before they saw him, he’d get nervous and run. She was on her own with only the knowledge that a few Bomar boys were tucked out there in the dark somewhere keeping an eye on the trailer for movement.
Remy was out there too but he wasn’t alone. For that much she was thankful. He and Lincoln had fought on his involvement for a good half hour before Colt finally stepped in and taken his cousin’s side. The look of betrayal on Remy’s face had been awful to see but the truth was, she agreed with the other men. If he was going to be there, he needed someone to watch his back, and hold him back if necessary.
He would come charging in to protect her the second Craig showed and that could be dangerous for all of them. It was best if Craig made it inside and let his guard down. Then, when the guys came for him he would be stuck inside with nowhere to run. He wouldn’t be able to get away.
That was the plan and honestly, she thought it was a pretty good one all things considered. She called for help. Craig came running, hopefully, even if it was just because he thought he might have a new way to stick it to the Bomars. And then once he was cornered, they took him away and…
She didn’t like to think about what came after the and. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good. Lincoln hadn’t gone into details when they were planning this and for that, she was grateful. She didn’t need to know what he intended to do to her brother. All she needed to know was that he was out of their lives and the people she loved were safe.
During their little planning meeting, Lincoln had let slip that the reason for his extended absence the last week was meetings with the Santos Peridos MC. She’d only known MC stood for motorcycle club because Sons of Anarchy was in her Netflix queue. She certainly hadn’t been aware a real motorcycle gang existed nearby but even with her limited knowledge she knew enough to know they must be dangerous and that if they were talking to Lincoln he was far more connected in the dangerous underworld than she’d ever realized. Whichever members of that gang Craig was working with to destroy the Bomars, they were being handled on their end. Lincoln hadn’t said what exactly handled meant in that situation but she could guess.
Trying to wipe her mind of what would happen when her brother showed, Rachel busied herself by stuffing as much trash as she could into the extra bags she found beneath the sink. After that, she pulled out cleaning supplies and started wiping down every available surface. She didn’t wash the dishes though. Something about washing the plates that Craig had left to rot with mold and mildew left her uneasy and she couldn’t explain why. Maybe it was just that bug.
She had no idea how much time had passed when the trailer began to look as though it was inhabitable for humans. She put the bags of trash outside the door and did a quick glance around. Not a thing looked out of place.
She knew Ford was out there somewhere, though not in his ostentatious car. He was hiding in some beat-up old thing he’d scrounged up from the garage. She thought they’d parked it a few slots down but it wasn’t there and she had no idea where he’d have gone. She knew he wouldn’t have left though so she didn’t worry about that. He was here somewhere. She could practically feel someone watching her. The hair on the back of her neck rose and she ducked back inside.
Colt was out there too, despite a lot of arguing with Skylar about it. He’d wanted to be part of this because of what they’d done to him. His girlfriend hadn’t wanted him diving back into the family business of blood and mayhem but since he’d sworn that all he would do was keep an eye on Remy, she’d eventually caved. Skylar was at home, alone in their apartment, though despite the late hour she was probably wide awake.
Lincoln on the other hand was neither at home nor alone. He’d gone somewhere public and at this hour that had meant to the bar. They’d all agreed it was best that nobody associate him with whatever happened tonight. If anyone saw Craig come home before he went missing again, Lincoln needed an alibi. As the leader of the Bomars, he had the most to lose.
They all protected each other. That was why Colt was with Remy right now, keeping him company and keeping him sane so he didn’t barge in too soon. That was why Ford had taken the job picking her up and watching her now, so that nobody else would have to get involved. And, she liked to think, because he kind of liked her just a little bit too. Because she was going to be one of them when all of this was over.
Rachel yawned and looked at the clock on the microwave. It was nearly one in the morning. She had called Craig a little after eleven. It had been almost two hours and there had been no word from him. She glanced at the phone, found another text from Remy telling her if she wanted they could call it all off but she only sighed and typed back another quick message letting him know that they were doing no such thing.
Craig was well known for staying out half the night. It wasn’t even that late. Not really. The bars wouldn’t close for another hour. He might not be ignoring her plea to come home. He might just be drunk somewhere with a whore. That had always been more important to him before so why would it have changed now?
Rachel chewed her bottom lip as she stared at the closed door to her bedroom. In all of her cleaning, she’d never glanced inside. She’d been too worried about what she would find. If Craig had left the rest of the apartment to this sort of disrepair she wasn’t sure what he would have done to her private space.
He’d always hated that she took the big bedroom before he moved in. He hated her for so many things. But she’d left all of her things here. Her books and clothes and old photos. And she knew if she opened that door and he’d destroyed everything that she would probably cry even though she kind of already hated him too.
Finally, with nothing else to do, she pushed the door open and stepped into her old room. And her breath caught because the room was completely untouched. Nothing was out of place. Her closet was still in shambles from where she’d pulled out clothes for her emergency bag the night she’d gone to Skylar’s and then to the barn. Her bed was neatly made. Her headphones were even still on the nightstand where she’d left them.
Was it possible? Had it really only been a little over a week since she was here? This place didn’t feel like home at all. Nothing here looked like it belonged to her and she smiled softly when she realized why that was.
She wasn’t the same girl that had lived here. She’d changed. She’d grown up. She was stronger now. She was actually living, making choices and deciding her own life. She had a job she adored, friends she cared about and a man she loved. She had a family, a real family that cared about her, for the first time in her life.
She was happy.
Rachel sat down on the bed and lifted the only framed picture she had of her old family to look at it. For most of her life she’d stared at this picture and tried to figure out where it all went wrong. Now, looking at it, she could see it had always been wrong. Because nobody had looked like they wanted to be there, together, not even in this old photo.
Her father was scowling at the camera. Craig was half out of focus, as if he’d moved at the last minute, maybe trying to escape. Her mother was looking down, at her, instead of at the flash. And little Rachel, barely four years old, was crying.
It was the only family photo she’d ever been able to find so she’d framed it despite the awfulness of the image. That was how much she’d longed for a real family. She’d wanted it so badly that she’d been willing to stick with Craig no matter how badly he treated her but she knew now that wasn’t family.
Now she knew what real family meant. She was part of one. A rag, tag band of outlaws that barely liked each ot
her some days but still had each other’s backs no matter what. They loved and hated and hurt and protected each other all at the same time. And she was one of them now.
Maybe it was all the stress of this day catching up with her. Maybe it was just her emotions finally winning out over her brain. But the tears began to fall again and Rachel could do nothing but curl up in a ball as the sobs began to wreck her. They weren’t giant, heaving, empty sobs like they had been when she thought she’d lost Remy. They were just sad, dejected tears for the girl she’d been. For the girl she hadn’t known she could become. For the girl that was finally part of a real family and felt loved for the first time in her life.
There was no telling how long she cried before the tears finally ebbed. It was late and she was tired and she was curled up in her bed. So she fell asleep. She only jerked awake some time later when a strange sound caught her subconscious. Between the hangover of a little bit and not nearly enough sleep and her emotional upheaval, her eyes were swollen so she squinted them shut and tried to listen.
She’d have sworn she heard… footsteps.
“Oh God…” She whispered as she hurriedly rose from the bed and rushed toward the door but it was too late.
By the time she reached it a large figure filled the space, blocking her way. She barely got a glimpse of her brother in the dim yellow light but it was enough to understand that cornering him had been a mistake. Because she was cornered in here with him until someone showed up to save her. And Craig hadn’t come home to talk to her. He’d come home to kill her.
“You little bitch.” He hissed a moment before his hand streaked across her cheek, whipping her sideways so hard that she fell into the wall and would have gone to the ground if he hadn’t wrapped a hand in her hair and jerked her back upright, “You think you can just come back here after what you did?”
“Craig, please…” She whimpered as he jerked her around by her hair.
“Don’t you fuckin’ say a word. You already did enough of that!” He screamed in her face and then shoved her hard enough that she went sprawling back onto her ass. “You think I don’t know you been runnin’ your whore mouth, Rachel? Tellin’ shit you were never supposed to know?”
Her vision was blurry and her face stung from the painful slap she hadn’t expected. Oh and she should have expected it. Her eyes were crusty from the earlier tears and her nap and fresh tears sprouted to make her vision blurry. She tried to crawl back, to get away from him, but he bent over and grabbed her hair again, making her scream.
“What’d you tell them, Rachel?”
“Everything!”
He landed another hard slap to her face and she reeled as the world spun around her, making her nauseous. Momentarily, she thought she should have lied but when he shook her until her teeth rattled she knew there was no point. He hadn’t really been asking anyway and this way, at least she wasn’t a liar.
“They know everything? Ha! You don’t know shit so how could they?”
“Fuck you, Craig.” She hissed as she kicked at him, landing what she hoped was a solid knock in his kneecap but he only pinned her legs beneath him, straddling her and holding her down, which set off every survival instinct she had.
She flailed madly against him but it was no use. He had at least a hundred pounds on her and most of it was muscle. He was strong, too strong. And he was wild and ravenous for her pain right now. She glared at him but he didn’t even look like her brother right now. More like a mad animal with wide eyes and snarling lips and it hit her then that he was probably on something.
He definitely wasn’t sober.
“You grew a backbone while you were gone. I think I kinda like it. Say it again.”
She bit her lip to stifle a cry of pain as he slapped her again and laughed like a maniac.
“Fuck me? Fuck me? Yeah, okay.”
“Stop it!”
“You gave it up to that Bomar boy didn’t you? That piece of shit got between your legs, didn’t he? All that time makin’ sure you saved it for someone special and you gave it to him like a groupie whore.” Craig snarled, ripping at her clothes and true fear curdled in her belly.
“Oh, God… don’t. Don’t. Craig! I’m your sister! Don’t!”
“You’re not even stuttering. You’re not scared of me anymore huh? Well, I can fix that.” He ripped at her shirt again and she bucked, trying to get him off her.
She was still scared of him though. That was the thing. She’d just found a way past it. Hadn’t let herself think of what might happen if he got around the others and got to her. She couldn’t have thought about that and agreed to this plan. So she’d only focused on Remy. She’d focused on doing her part for the family and getting rid of Craig once and for all. But she’d still been scared of him, and now, with him holding her down and ripping at her clothes like a madman, she was absolutely terrified.
He’d lost him mind. He was crazy. And where the hell were her boys at? Why wasn’t Remy rushing through the door? Or Ford? She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold him off.
“Craig! Stop!” She screamed as she threw all her weight into freeing her arms and managed to slide one loose.
She reared back and punched him in the nose with every ounce of strength she had left in her body. It knocked him backwards and he sputtered in shock. She took advantage and scrambled out from beneath him. A quick glance showed blood spray the hand he’d used to cup the wound. She’d broken his nose which gave her a momentary feeling of pride before she saw him snarl and head her way again.
Rachel scrambled to her closet. She just had to get to her closet. The vent. She kept her gun hidden in the vent. If she could get to it she could pull it out and point it at him and he would have to stop, he would have to stop or she would shoot him. She would shoot him if he made her. If it was between the two of them, she would have the guts to save herself this time.
“Nooooo!” She screamed when he latched onto her ankle at the same time her hand brushed the vent, which was wide open and empty.
He jerked her backwards and then grabbed her hair, slamming her face forward into the carpet and making her head spin all over again.
The gun wasn’t in the vent, she remembered too late. She’d taken it to the salon and Colt had put it away for safekeeping. But the note she’d left behind as an insurance policy for Skylar to find was gone too. She’d been distracted by the seemingly untouched room. She’d thought he hadn’t been in here but he had. Craig must have found it which meant he knew that she knew everything. Those were the secrets he thought she’d spilled. He knew. She’d come back here with nothing to defend herself and he was going to kill her. She was overpowered and all alone just like she’d always feared she would be.
Where was Remy?
“You fuckin’ bitch.” Craig snarled, flipping her over as he spit in her face, “I shoulda killed you years ago. Saved me a shitload of trouble. My mistake but I can fix it. I’ll just have to bury you next to your whore mama. Nobody’ll even miss you.”
“Th-Th-That’s… not… t-true.”
An eerie red blood-stained grin spread over his face, “There’s the stutter.”
He was going to kill her. She knew it as simply as she knew the sky was blue or the grass was green or that she loved Remy Bomar more than she’d ever known was possible. Craig was going to kill her and it was all her own fault.
If she’d told Remy sooner, they’d have gotten to Craig before he knew what was coming. He wouldn’t have been able to sneak his way in here, past the others. Because she hoped he’d snuck past them, that he’d found a way around them and that he hadn’t already done something horrible to the men she’d only just begun to consider her true family.
No. No. Her mind screamed. Remy was fine. Safe and fine. Sitting out there somewhere in the dark with his brother, completely unaware of what was happening in here. Because if he knew, he’d be here and she hoped that when he did realize something was wrong, that they’d missed something, that he wasn�
��t the first one through the door. She didn’t want him to be the one to find her body.
Tears prick her vision again but this time it wasn’t for herself. It wasn’t because she had protected this man who cared so little about her that he would kill her with his bare hands. It wasn’t because he was supposed to be her brother and care for her. She only cried now because she knew how badly this would hurt Remy.
He’d asked her not to do this. Not to go. Not to involve herself. But she’d insisted and he’d been right. She’d gotten herself hurt. Worse, if she didn’t fight, she was going to get herself killed.
Big hands landed on her throat and she tried to scream again, “Remy! Help! Remy!”
“What the… you’re callin’ for that fucker? When he sent you away? You’re a stupid fuckin’ bitch ain’t ya! He aint’ gonna help you. Ain’t even gonna care you’re gone.”
Craig tightened his hold on her throat and her entire body bucked, trying to get the air she so badly needed into her lungs. He didn’t know Remy was out there. He’d believed her message that they were done. Which meant Remy was alive and unhurt. He was okay. And if she was going to die, then at least it was knowing that.
She scratched at Craig’s face with her free hand and he released her throat to smack her again. She sucked in a gasp of air but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. He easily pinned her arms with one hand and used his other to press against her airway. Stars began to dance in her vision and the entire world started fading to black. The roaring of her desperate, oxygen-deprived blood in her ears was so loud that she wasn’t even sure the sharp noise she heard was real until a second screeching bang rang out a moment later.
Craig jerked above her, his hands leaving her throat as he grasped at his chest, and she sucked in a gulp of air. The stars were still dancing and the entire room was spinning. Her brain was still in a lull and it took her an extended second to see that the reason Craig had stopped choking her to death was because he was now clutching at his own throat.
