by K. J. Dahlen
Now her fears were greater than they had ever been before. She knew Cordy was waiting for her to make a mistake. Her betrayal was something Cordy would never forgive her for. This time, she would kill her and there was nothing Cricket could do to stop her. No one could stop her and Cordy knew it.
Swallowing hard, Cricket opened the door of the truck and prayed the man Raine was close by. He was the only one that could stop Cordy now. The others were too far away. They were surrounding the cabin but Cordy wasn’t there anymore.
“I know you’re out there just waiting for the right time to strike,” Cricket called out as she searched the shadows for her sister.
“You’re right dear sister. I’m here,” Cordy called back. “This time, I will kill you.”
“I know.” Cricket nodded. “I think I’ve been waiting for this day to come since Mom died.”
“I know I have,” Cordy called out as she moved in closer. “What I want to know is why you betrayed me? Why did you take his daughter back to him? Didn’t you have faith that I could get him on my own?”
Cricket shook her head. “You shouldn’t have taken his kids. If you wanted him to love you, why did you have to hurt him that way?”
Cordy finally came out of the shadows and stood in front of her sister. “I needed an edge and taking his kids gave me that edge. Holding his son will still give me the edge to get to him.” She moved closer.
Cricket could see the knife in her other hand. The gleam of the moon shone bright on the blade.
“Is he here with you? Did Deke come after his boy?”
Cricket nodded. “Yeah, he’s here. Him and four other guys.”
Cordy smiled wickedly. “I wasn’t sure you would remember this cabin. I thought maybe I’d be stuck here for a few days before you thought of this place.”
“Is Sammy okay?” Cricket asked.
“Who?”
“The boy.”
Cordy laughed out loud. The sound wasn’t joyous nor was the look on her face. “Oh yeah, naming his son after his father. And here I thought he hated his old man.” Then she turned her hate toward Cricket. “We can’t put this off any longer. If Deke is here, then I have to get away but I’m not leaving you breathing.”
“Deke will hunt you down for taking his kids. He is like beyond pissed,” Cricket warned her. “He isn’t going to let this slide.”
“I’m counting on that.” Cordy smiled an evil smile. “I may have to kill him before this is over. And that would be such a waste. He was the only man I could have loved.”
Cricket scoffed. “You could never love anyone. To do that you’d have to have actual feelings and we both know you don’t have any of those.”
Cordy stepped closer. Her eyes glinted in the moon light. “Don’t you preach to me about feelings. You know the hell I’ve been through. You were right there with me when that bitch tore whatever feelings I had away from me.”
Cricket shook her head. “That’s not what happened and you know it. She just wanted the truth known.”
Cordy paced in front of Cricket. “She tore away the only family I ever knew and she did it because she didn’t want me to have anything after she was gone.”
“She loved you,” Cricket assured her. “She loved us both.”
“You’re a fool.” Cordy scoffed. “How could she love me when I was a daily reminder of what happened to her? How could she love me when every time she looked at me, she saw my father glaring back at her? Every fucking time she looked at me, I could almost feel her pain. I was the result of the day she was raped. How was that supposed to be right? How was that supposed to make me feel okay? She had to relive the agony of her humiliation every day. She once told me when the pain of her cancer got bad, it wasn’t as bad as the pain she felt when he took her that day. She told me his voice echoed in her brain and she could still hear the harsh words he screamed at her.”
Cricket shook her head. “I don’t remember things that way.”
“Then why after she died, did Orrin shut me out?” she screamed. “Why did he ignore me like I didn’t exist? Why?”
Cricket shrugged. “You weren’t the only one Orrin shut out,” she reminded her. “He shut me out too.”
“But he didn’t,” Cordy insisted. “His eyes followed you everywhere you went. He had everyone in the club watching you, but when she died, his eyes were dead when they looked at me. I was hurting too, yet he only had time for you. He would still hug you every night when you went to bed. Where were my hugs? He couldn’t bear to look at me after she was gone.”
Cricket shook her head. “That wasn’t the way it was and you fucking know it.”
“Yes, it was.” Cordy sneered. “You were too young to realize what was happening right in front of your face. But that’s in the past, it’s over and done with.” Cordy took a step toward her.
Cricket took a step back.
Cordy’s mouth sneered her disdain. “You know what has to happen. You betrayed me and now you’ll pay for that betrayal. For once in your fucking life, step up and take your due.”
Cricket shook her head. “I’m not going to just stand here and let you kill me. That’s insane.”
Cordy grinned. Reaching down, she grabbed the knife from her boot and held it out for Cricket. “I’ll give you a fighting chance.”
Cricket stared at it for a moment then slowly reached out and took it. “Some chance this is, I don’t know how to handle a blade.”
“Stop whining!” Cordy shouted as she began circling her sister. “Let’s get on with this. We don’t have much time before the others get back here and when they do, I want to be long gone.”
“If you run, Deke will come after you,” Cricket warned. “Like you, he doesn’t take betrayal well.”
“He’ll have to find me first and I know how to hide.” Cordy scorned. “My dreams of being with him are gone forever. You saw to that. He’ll never find his son and that will be his price to pay for betraying my love.”
“You never loved him.” Cricket scoffed. “You never loved anyone but yourself. You couldn’t even love your own son.”
“I couldn’t love Dusty because he wasn’t Deke’s!” Cordy yelled.
“Where is the boy?” Cricket asked as she leapt backward to avoid Cordy’s blade.
Cordy grinned and slashed at her again, this time the blade struck and blood welled up. Then she took a deep breath as the scent hit her nose. Closing her eyes briefly, she looked satisfied.
Then it was Cordy’s turn to move quickly to avoid Cricket’s blade. Then they both heard someone rushing toward them. Cordy growled and gripped her knife tighter. “This is not finished!” She rushed forward and jabbed at Cricket.
Cricket screamed as the knife in Cordy’s hand struck home. She felt the blade pierce her shoulder. The pain stunned her and she dropped the knife. Cordy twisted the blade as she pulled it out and Cricket dropped to her knees screaming. Cordy turned to flee but only got a few steps away.
Then the silence was disrupted by a loud blast and Cordy dropped to the ground. She began screaming and her hand covered her arm as fresh blood welled through her fingers.
Raine rushed forward and pulling Cordy’s hands behind her back, he secured her with zip ties. He then came over to where Cricket was and knelt down beside her. She raised the knife and he took it from her. Then he ripped her shirt and began examining the wound on her shoulder. He pulled her shirt free and wadding it, up he pressed the fabric into the wound.
Cricket hissed as the pain hit her.
“I know it hurts but we have to stop the bleeding,” he told her. Glancing over his shoulder to where Cordy was laying, he shook his head.
“Did they find the baby?” Cricket asked. She watched as Sam and one of the other men that had followed Deke to the cabin returned.
Sam snapped his head around to glare at her. “No they didn’t,” he growled. “They searched every room twice and couldn’t find him.”
Cricket glanced over at her sister.
A strange smile spread across her lips. Her eyes gleamed weirdly for a moment, then it was as if a shutter came down over her face.
Cricket turned back to Sam and asked, “Did they check the hidey hole?”
“What hidey hole?” Sam frowned.
“You stupid bitch!” Cordy screamed.
Cricket looked back over at Raine. “Help me stand up. They need to check the hidey hole and it’s very hard to find.”
Raine helped her to her feet. He looked over at Sam. “You watch her and I’ll take Cricket up to the cabin. Little Sam might be here yet.” He turned and assisted her over the rough ground to the front of the cabin.
Sam glanced at the other man who stood there and growled, “You watch her, I’m going with them.” He hurried to catch up with Raine and Cricket.
Deke raised his head when they approached and the defeated look on his face almost broke Cricket’s heart. “What the fuck is she doing here?” he growled. Then he noticed the blood. “And what the hell happened to her?”
“Cordy got around you and confronted her,” Raine informed him.
Deke got to his feet. “My son isn’t here. Where else would she have left him? Did she tell you he’s still alive?”
Cricket shook her head. “Are you sure he’s not here?”
“We checked every room twice!” Deke shouted. Running his fingers through his hair, he looked to the heavens. “He’s not here.”
“Did you check the hidey hole?”
Deke frowned and turned to face her. “I didn’t find any hidey hole. You told us about that but I couldn’t find one.”
Cricket nodded. “Unless you know where to look, you wouldn’t have found it. Orrin wanted it so no one could find it. He put it in to protect us.” She grabbed Raine’s arm for support and began walking toward the cabin.
When they entered, Cricket felt a flood of memories rush through her. She tried to shut them down because right now, she didn’t have time to explore them. She led the way to the second bedroom. Going over to the closet, she tugged on the pull-chain and the lights snapped on. Then she pointed toward the back of the closet. “There’s a small hole back there near the floor. You need to put your finger in it and pull out the panel. It isn’t very big but there is a small area behind there that’s big enough for a small child to hide in, in case there’s trouble coming.”
Raine led her to one of the beds and sat her down while Deke searched for the opening in the panel near the floor. “There’s nothing here,” he yelled back. “Wait a minute…I think I found it, it’s there.”
A moment later, they heard the panel pop out of place and then they heard Deke yell out, “Sammy, he’s here.” Then Deke backed out of the closet with Sammy in his arms.
The boy looked to be sleeping but with the way Deke was handling him he should have woken up. Deke looked over at Raine. “What the fuck did she do to him? Why isn’t he waking up?”
They all could her the panic in his voice
Raine took him from his father and laid him down on the bed next to Cricket. He began examining him but could find nothing wrong.
“When she brought the kids to the house in Albany she’d been giving them cough syrup to make them sleepy. She used to do the same thing to Dusty when she didn’t want him to fuss,” Cricket informed them.
Raine leaned closed to Sammy and caught the scent of children’s cough syrup. He glanced up at Deke and nodded. “That’s what she did. Probably to keep him quiet like Cricket said.”
“Will he be okay?” Deke looked worried.
“He’ll probably sleep for a while but once the medication wears off, he should be fine.” Raine nodded.
Deke glared at Cricket. “He’d better be okay or I’ll kill her.”
“Feel free to do it.” Cricket shrugged. “The whole world might be a safer place without her in it.”
Deke frowned. “That’s rather cold, don’t you think?
“It’s the god’s honest truth. She has tortured Dusty and I many times over.”
“That’s your sister you’re talking about,” Deke reminded her.
Cricket shook her head. “She stopped being my sister a long time ago. She can’t stop hurting people. I think she’s been looking for her own death for a long time now.”
Deke picked up his son and held his small body closes to him. Breathing in his baby smell, he closed his eyes. His world was back and suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get back to Cassie. Looking at Raine he said, “Let’s go home.”
Raine helped Cricket to her feet. “I’ll have to bandage this before we go back. She’s lost a lot of blood.” He grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Deke nodded. “What about Cordy? Is she in any shape to travel?”
Raine nodded. “She’s got a bullet in her shoulder but she can get back to Troy. I’ll look at her wound once we get back.”
Deke curled his lips. “Good. I want her alive to face a tribunal. We’ll let the club decide her punishment.”
“I thought tribunals were only for club members?” Cricket stated, she was aware of the laws of the club as they had grown up in the MC but since they didn’t belong to any club, she hadn’t been aware their laws extended to nonmembers.
Deke gave her a cold smile. “Usually they are, but exceptions are made. She took something that affected the whole club when she stole my kids and for that, she’ll face the whole club’s justice.”
Cricket swallowed hard. “And me? Will I face the club’s justice as well for the part I played in her scheme?”
Deke stared at her for a moment then turned to his son’s sleeping face. “That is yet to be determined.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The trip back to Troy was a silent one for everyone in the truck. Cordy was tied and riding in the back under guard, while Cricket, Raine and little Sammy rode in the cab. When they were almost home, Sammy began to stir.
“Hello little one.” Cricket crooned as she smiled.
Sammy smiled back. Then he looked over and saw Raine and he laughed out loud.
When they pulled into the club parking lot, the door was nearly ripped open and Deke was there.
Sammy’s face lit up when he saw his dad and he lunged toward him. Deke caught him and swung him high into his arms. Shouting for Cassie, he turned and started for the door.
When Cassie came to the door and saw her son in Deke’s arms she cried out, “Sammy!” Then she flew to Deke’s side. Taking her son, she held him close to her.
Deke wrapped his arms around both his son and his wife.
When Raine helped Cricket out of the truck, two other men got Cordy out of the back. They dragged her inside using a back door.
When Cricket turned to follow Cordy through the back door, Raine turned her around and helped Cricket inside using the front door.
They didn’t say a word and when they crossed the threshold into the club, everyone got quiet.
Raine helped her to a chair and came to stand behind her.
Deke raised his head when he noticed the quiet. He looked around at the members of the club then found Raine standing behind Cricket.
Cricket was staring at the floor in front of her.
Deke walked over to where she was sitting and in front of everyone, he knelt beside her. Taking her hand in his he told her, “I know you had nothing to do with taking my kids, in fact you brought Jemmia home again and if it wasn’t for you, I never would have found Sammy. We damn near left him behind.” Then he stood and addressed his club. “But we got the kids back and neither of them seem to be hurt. We also got the one that took them. While it’s not normal for outsiders to face our justice, I feel you have earned the right to judge this woman. Her name is Cordy Tannis. Now some of you might know her father, Captain, he belonged to my dad’s group in Maine. The girls grew up in the MC, might not have been ours but they understand the rules very well.”
People began to grumble.
Cricket could see the b
loodlust in their eyes and she knew she would be judged by these same people. She shivered a bit but refused to show her fear. Hanging her head, she was astounded to hear Dusty’s voice call out her name.
When she raised her head, she saw him running to her. Opening her arms, she gathered him close.
“You came back!”
“I’ll always come back to you, don’t you know that by now?” she whispered as she nuzzled his neck.
Dusty pushed the blanket to one side and saw her wound. His eyes filled with tears. “Did SHE do this to you?” he whispered.
“Yes. But she got shot, she’s in bad shape.”
“What will they do to her?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” Cricket admitted.
“What are they going to do with us?”
“I don’t know that either. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Dusty wrapped his six year old arms around Cricket’s neck and clung to her.
She held him close to her and then patted his back. “Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.”
“I love you Cricket,” he murmured in her ear.
“I love you too Dusty,” she whispered back.
~* * * *~
Hours later after they’d shown her to a room, Cricket laid there wide awake. Dusty was curled up at her side and her shoulder was paining her terribly.
She heard footsteps walking down the hall toward her door and then she heard the lock being turned. She tensed waiting for whoever was out there to come in.
When she turned her head, she found herself looking at Deke’s wife, Cassie.
Cassie closed the door behind her and leaned against it for a moment. She stared right back at Cricket then seemed to make up her mind about something. She motioned for Cricket to come with her.
Cricket got out of bed carefully so as not to disturb Dusty and followed her to the main room.
Cassie sat down on a chair and motioned for Cricket to join her. “You and I need to talk.”
