All That Matters (Nightshade MC Book 3)

by Shannon Flagg

“Thanks, but I'm good. I just need to get out of here. I need my phone.” Meg's mind began to move at about a thousand miles an hour. She needed to find out what happened to Leo, and she needed to call Train. She needed Train. It took a ridiculous amount of time for her release to be processed. Meg shivered as she stepped outside the station house. It was cold and she had no jacket, just the long sleeved tee shirt she'd been wearing when she was arrested. Her comfort didn't matter. She took her phone out of the property bag she'd been handed.

  There was a stream of missed calls from Train and a single message. He never left messages. It was only then that Meg realized she'd essentially dropped off the face of the earth the day before. He had to be pissed. She accessed the message, listened and felt her stomach clench sickly. “What the fuck is wrong with you that you don't answer your phone? You're not at the house or the school. What the fuck, Meg? This is what pisses me off. I don't have time for this shit.”

  Meg's hands shook as she dialed his number. Each ring seemed like an eternity, and finally she heard the call connect. “Train! It's me. I need...”

  “You need to stop, right there.” Train's voice was cold, detached even, and the sick feeling in Meg's stomach grew by leaps and bounds. “I don't need to hear whatever bullshit you're trying to spew at me. Got to give you credit, you had me fucking fooled.”

  “I don't understand what you're talking about,” Meg cried out, except that she did. She knew by the cold feeling that had wrapped around her spine and spread through her. He knew.

  “You lied to me, over and over again. You made me think that you were someone who you weren't. I know who you are now. I know what you've done. I know.”

  “Train, please. Please, let me explain. I...” She didn't know what she'd say. What could she say? “Please.”

  “Fuck you and fuck your explanation. I don't know where you are and I don't care. I don't ever want to see your fucking face again, you lying fucking whore.”

  “I'm not a whore!” Meg screamed the words, and people stared. She didn't care. There was nothing inside of her but a growing numbness.

  “Yes, you fucking are. You're a lying, dirty whore who takes it up the ass and down the throat at the same time.” He let out a dry laugh. “You should have told me, you should have showed me your true face. Instead, you tricked me.”

  “Train. Please. It's... the...” She tried to tell him that Leo was gone, that Roxie was back and that she needed him but all she could do was sob.

  “Fuck you,” Train snarled through the phone. “If I never see your face again, it'll be too soon. Dirty fucking bitch!”

  He ended the call then, but Meg stood where she was for a long time, the phone held to her ear as she felt the entire world go slow and then still. Train's words echoed through her mind. The disgust in his tone was like the flick of a knife over her skin each time.

  It was that pain that roused Meg enough to remember Leo. She called the number she had for Nancy Firestone's office, got the administrative assistant, a woman named Joan, who had always been very nice to her. “Joan, this is Meg Castle. Please, I need to know what happened with my boys, please.”

  “I'm so sorry, Meg. The judge ruled in favor of the biological mother. Leo was turned over to her at the courthouse and she's had Joshua transferred to a private center,” Joan whispered.

  Joan might have continued to speak but Meg didn't hear because she ended the call. Nothing else the woman could say would matter. Her boys were gone. Leo was with a woman whom he hadn't seen in years, and he had to be terrified. Since he'd been taken directly from school, he only had his book bag, which meant all of his treasures were still at home. Leo's things were important to him, especially the stuffed owl he slept with even though no one knew. Meg knew. She picked the thing up at least once a night so he'd have it when he woke.

  She'd been exposed, but at least now she realized that even if she'd told Train herself, the outcome wouldn't have been any different. It didn't matter how he'd found out. Nothing mattered. Everything was gone, and it was all her fault.

  <#<#<#<#

  Train's truck was in the driveway when Meg finally reached the house. Hope sparked inside of her, cut through some of the numbness. She ran the last steps to the house, up the stairs and into the front door. “Train!” Her voice echoed back at her. Inside of the house was silent and still. “Train!” She called out again and the hope deflated.

  He wasn't here. He must have dropped the truck off at some point, maybe when he'd left her the angry message. The keys were on the table and there were several snack sized chip bags empty on the counter. He'd come home, had a snack and left the keys.

  Meg went upstairs, sat in Leo's room for a long time with his stuffed owl in her hands. She only got up when she heard the front door shut. She listened to footsteps cross the floor. It was Josh, she recognized the sound of his walk, the way he shuffled his feet in some sort of attempt at swagger. The steps came up the stairs and straight to Leo's door, as if he'd known just where he'd find her.

  “Happy now, Meg? You don't look happy.” Josh leaned against the door frame with a smile. “You should have just left me alone.” His face was still a swirl of yellow and green bruises, along with several lacerations which were scabbed over and bumpy. Train had really done a number on him.

  “He should have killed you,” she replied. Once, she'd have done anything for the man standing in front of her, but now she only wished that she never had to see him again.

  “If he would have killed me, you'd still have the boys,” Josh informed her. “Roxie's been sniffing around for weeks, looking to get me to sign away my parental rights. I figure fuck her, stupid cunt, she's the one who left me, but then I had my run-in with your old man. I called her right away, told her that all I needed was a little cash incentive.”

  “You signed away your rights for some cash and to spite me?”

  “Pretty much,” he replied with a laugh. “Truth is, I'd have done it for ten thousand but she offered me twenty-five. Who was I to argue? I'm going to take that money, go to California and start over. I've been seeing this girl, and she likes it out there.”

  “What about the boys, Josh? Your sons are with a woman who threw them away like trash. Leo was taken from the only place he feels safe. You son of a bitch! How could you do that to them? To me?”

  “I can't have 'em, you made sure of that when you told the cops I was the one who put that shit in their bags. All those little shits had to do was bring them to my friend, end of story. Easy peasy. I was even going to buy them that game that they wanted.”

  “You're a bastard,” Meg said sadly.

  “Maybe I am.” Josh shrugged his shoulders. “But I'm a rich bastard, one who is going to leave this place behind. You're the one who is going to be stuck here. And you'll be alone. See, I decided to go through some old files, found the video I sent you and another one. Did you really think Carlos only drugged you once? There were even a couple of trial runs, nights that you simply thought you were blacked out drunk. Anyway, Train, and all of Nightshade, have them now. I think that they'll enjoy them.”

  So that was how Train knew about the video, or should she say videos, but like she'd realized before, it didn't matter how he knew. He knew. They all knew. “Get out of my house, Josh. Leave and don't come back.”

  “I'd like to see you make me,” Josh answered.

  The last thing that he expected was for her to rush at him, she did exactly that. Meg wasn't sure where she found the strength to even move, but there was such satisfaction in the punch that she did manage to land to his face. It almost made up for the pain that followed when he began to hit her back. He was bigger, stronger and obviously angrier. Meg felt something break inside of her, a rib maybe, but he continued to hit. Once she fell to the ground he started to kick. Things went blissfully black after that.

  The next time Meg opened her eyes, she was alone, and it was dark outside. She lay still for a moment, trying to figure out from the pain if anythi
ng, or everything, was broken. She was pretty sure that a rib was, she found it hard to breathe, but maybe that was from the way she'd landed on the floor. When she got to her feet, she was able to breathe easier. Everything hurt, though. One step at a time, she made it out of Leo's room and down the stairs. Each step brought with it a deeper level of pain.

  When she'd gone upstairs, Train's truck keys had been on the table. They were gone. Instead she saw a key ring with two keys, keys to her front and back door. It took an extreme toll to walk over to the window and confirm what she suspected. Train's truck was gone. He'd come, taken it and left her keys all while she was lying upstairs, unconscious on the floor. Had he come upstairs? Seen her and left her to bleed? Was there any clearer message than that?

  Meg limped into the kitchen, found the Jack Daniels in the cabinet over the sink. She grabbed a glass and noticed a bottle of pills labeled painkillers and took that as well. She made her way to the couch, managed to find a position that was somewhat comfortable, opened the liquor and used it to swallow two of the pills in the bottle. The Jack didn't bring the warmth that she'd expected so she drank more, and when that didn't help with the numbness or the pain, she took another few pills.

  The thought crossed her mind that drinking and taking pills while she likely had internal injuries or a concussion wasn't the best idea. She could die. She just didn't care anymore. All that she had, all that was good and light in her life, had been snatched away from her. Her boys were gone. Train was gone. In that moment she didn't have a friend in the world or a reason to care about anything. The darkness that had stalked for years returned, filled her with thoughts that made her cry until there were no more tears to be shed.

  The nearly empty bottle of Jack slid from her hand, smashed on the floor but Meg didn't budge. She was blissfully unaware as she slipped deeper.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The washers were filled with jewelry packed into small velvet bags tucked into larger bags. All of it was stolen, all were exceptionally valuable, according to Anzaldi, but too recognizable to be broken down close to where they were taken. He got them cheap, he said with a grin. They could take something each as a token of his appreciation for their good and hard work.

  The man might have said all the right things, but it didn't relax Train any. He didn't bother grabbing a bag of jewelry, he just wanted to get the fuck out of there before he said or did something to ruin the calm. There was something off with this situation, but he couldn't see what. Try as he might, his mind was still clouded by the shit with Meg.

  He shouldn't have taken her call while they were waiting for Anzaldi to show, but he had. By the time that he hung the phone up, everyone was staring at him as if he'd grown a second head. He'd snarled for them to mind their own business, and Buster had demanded that he focus. So here he was, focused.

  It was a relief when the meeting was finally over. Train walked directly over to Ace, whom he'd ridden with. “I need you to take me to get my truck.”

  “Not sure that's the best idea, Train.”

  “I need my truck, now.” There was menace in his voice, but to Ace's credit, he didn't back down. “Just the truck. Fuck that bitch. I'll give you the key and you can go inside and get the keys if you're so worried about her.”

  “I'm worried about you, Train. I don't want you doing anything that you're going to regret,” Ace answered. “Come on, let's go. If you want, you can crash at my place tonight instead of the clubhouse.”

  “I'm looking forward to it, actually,” Train replied. “You notice that new girl who was with Claire last week? The redhead with the nipple ring? I'm thinking that she's going to be a lot of fun tonight.” He ignored the look that Ace gave him.

  “You were ready to mark Meg.” Ace waited until they were in the truck and on the road to bring up the subject, probably because Train couldn't avoid him while they were speeding down the highway. “And now, you're just ready to walk away from her?”

  “She lied to me. She lied about everything.”

  “Maybe you could have asked her why she didn't tell you. I'm just saying, I'm sure that she had her reasons.”

  “If I wanted advice, I'd ask for it.” Train leaned back against seat and shut his eyes. “Wake me when we get back to the truck. I'm tired.”

  <#<#<#<#

  The redhead was named Chastity, a name that Train would have rolled his eyes at a week ago, but now he watched with interest as undid his belt. She was naked, her tits were fake but they were nice fakes, her waist was small and she had a huge swirl as a tramp stamp.

  His phone rang, he reached in his pocket and saw that he didn't know the number. “Yeah?” He answered and motioned for her to keep going.

  “Train! Where's Meg? She's not answering her phone. Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her I'll be better. Please, tell her to come and get me.” Leo was just about sobbing. Train had never heard the boy so scared.

  The panic in the boy's voice had Train pushing Charity back. He shook his head and pointed to the door. She pouted, and he repeated the motion as he fastened his belt. “Calm down, kiddo. Where are you? I'll come get you.”

  “I don't know where I am. I'm with my mother.”

  “What? Meg gave you to your mother?” Panic flared inside of Train. “Why would she do that?” He zipped his jeans and fixed his belt.

  “She didn't! We went to court and the judge said that I should be with her so they made me go with her. I took her phone. Where's Meg? I want to talk to Meg.”

  “I'm not with her right now, kiddo,” Train replied.

  “I want Meg. I want Meg.” Leo's voice shook with sobs; Train felt them like a knife into his heart.

  “Easy, kiddo. I'm going to her right now. Can you stay on the phone with me?” He didn't know what was going on but realized that this had to be what Meg had been trying to tell him yesterday. He'd stopped her from telling him anything, told her what he wanted to tell her and hung up.

  “I don't know. Roxie is in the bathroom taking a shower. She told me I can't use her phone.” Again the boy began to cry. “She's going to be mad when she finds out! I want Meg. I want Meg.”

  Fuck. Fuck. “Listen to me, Leo. You're smart. I need you to be smart right now. I need you to talk to me. Did you leave in a car or truck with Roxie?”

  “We took a car to the airport and then a plane. Oh no, here she comes. Please find me. Please.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Train shoved the phone back in his pocket, took the stairs down to the first floor two at a time. He nearly ran straight into Monroe. “You still got that friend in child services?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I just talked to Leo, he says that the court took custody away from Meg. Find out what happened, now.”

  “Where are you going?” Monroe asked as if it wasn't completely obvious.

  “Where do you think?”

  “Alone? Wait, I'll go with you.”

  “I told you already, stay out of shit between me and Meg. Make the call and get me on my phone.” Train headed for the door. He heard someone call out to him, but he didn't stop. It was only once he was in the truck and on the way to the house that he really realized he was doing the opposite of what he'd planned to do when it came to Meg. He told himself, countless times, that he was done with her because she'd lied, yet here he was.

  Fresh anger rolled through him just at the thought of the videos. How the fuck could she have kept that from him? The closer he got to the house, the more impatient he became. Once he was on the porch, he realized that he'd given the house keys to Ace when he'd picked up the truck. Fuck. There were no lights on; he didn't bother to knock.

  He'd smoked a joint in the living room a few days before so he'd had a window open, and he wasn't sure that he'd locked it. Train stepped over to the window, tried it and looked inside to see Meg on the couch. He banged his fist against the window; the glass cracked from the force, but she didn't even budge. From where he was, he couldn't see if she was breathing. Something deep insi
de him told him that she wasn't. History was repeating itself.

  “You bitch. You better fucking not have.” Train slammed his hand against the glass again. It shattered. Sheer rage took him back onto the porch. He kicked the door twice, it flew open. “Meg!” Train heard panic in his voice as he reached the living room. There was a nearly empty bottle of Jack on the floor; it was impossible to tell how much she'd drunk and how much had spilled on the floor. The liquor bottle didn't bother him as much as the pill bottle did.

  He grabbed her wrist, glad to see that it was whole. For a horrible moment he'd wondered if the dark couch had hid the blood. There was a pulse, it was weak and sporadic, but it was there. “Meg!” Train went to smack her enough to rouse her but dropped his hand at the sight of her face. “Jesus Christ.” Someone had already kicked her ass. She had a black eye, split lip and her cheek was swollen in a way that suggested it was at least badly bruised.

  “Train!” Ace's voice called out from the porch. “Why is the door broken down? Train?”