by Dana Arden
More digging into the box and another folder pulled out, she hands a folder to Lily. “Your ex only sent you the flowers. The rest was bought and sent by Sadie. I didn’t know that until after everything had run its course and he was gone. I’m sorry I couldn’t have found out sooner.”
Hands in the box, she pulls out three thick folders and places them in front of me. “Before you open them, I need you to listen to me.” I nod still trying to wrap my head around all this new insight into Razz. “Remember when you came back home from your second tour in Afghanistan.” I nod again. “I gave you the picture of Sadie and old man Jefferson.”
“Yes.” I answer warily.
“You told me that I faked the picture to tear you and Sadie apart. You told me to stay out of your business, because there was nothing I could say that would change how much you loved Sadie.”
“I remember.” I mumble.
“When you left from your break to go back to Jacksonville for duty, Sadie cornered me at Dani’s and told me that if I didn’t back off she was going to make sure that you and the MC would disown me. She said she would spin the story that I was the one causing the MC grief, so I never brought anything up to you again. I wasn’t trying to ruining your happiness. I wasn’t trying to do anything that would benefit me. I just didn’t want you to spend the rest of your life with a woman who didn’t give two shits about you or your family.”
“The club wouldn’t have disowned you, Razz. You’ve been apart of this family since you were little.”
She shakes her head at me. “You have no clue the type of woman she is.” She takes her eyes from mine and stares at my mom. “Remember when you thought someone was stealing your mother’s jewelry?” My mom nods and her eyes begin to water. Razz pulls an antique jewelry box out and slides it to my mom. “You went to Ernest’s Pawn Shop and they didn’t have anything, but told you if it came in they’d let you know.”
“Yes.” My mom croaks.
Razz takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I’ve had a private investigator following Sadie for years now. He’s local and I trust him. He put a tracker on Sadie’s car that is undetectable and every time the car moves, it sends a notification to his phone. Queenie, when you came back from the pawn shop without your mother’s jewelry, I called him and told him to be on the lookout for a possible pawn shop alert. A month later, Sadie drove to downtown Atlanta to Mercy Pawns. I went to Atlanta the next day and told the owner that the jewelry was stolen and he was able to give me a description as well as the video feed from the previous day. Sadie made a couple of grand off your jewelry.” She hands a flash drive to my dad. “This is the proof of her selling it.”
Razz walks to the cabinet and pulls out a glass filling it with water from the sink. She sets the empty glass on the counter and turns back to us. “I never told you all my suspicions or even my truths of Sadie because she’s manipulated most of you for almost a decade. When I tried to intervene, I was shot down and made to feel stupid. There’s just so much one person can take from the person she’s loved all her life before she snaps.” She looks at me and I start to rise from my chair, but she shakes her head. “I’m not finished.”
“What the fuck else could there be?” My dad bellows.
Razz chuckles but it isn’t pleasant. “Sadie didn’t lie about going back to Louisiana. The address she stayed at is the home of one Albin Breaux. He’s lived there his whole life. He has one daughter, Serafina Adélaïde Breaux, but we know her as Sadie.” She pulls another folder out of the box and tosses it onto the middle of the table. “Here’s some more of Sadie’s truths.” She glances around the table at each and every one of us then she turns, grabs her keys and walks out the door.
Chapter 6
Trigger
My eyes trail Razz as she swiftly walks out the door. I know I should probably go after her, but with everything she’s unloaded and everything I’m still trying to process, I think it’s safe to say we need some space. The kitchen is deathly silent as the rest of my family let’s what was said soak in.
Sadie didn’t just manipulate me for nine years. She took it to extreme and went after my family and my club. For most of that time, Razz worked in the background to make sure that my family and club were protected. She used her resources to keep us safe from a threat that was so intertwined in our lives that we were blinded.
What she’s done fills me with pride, but it, also, pisses me off because she should’ve never been put in this situation. I feel like the biggest piece of shit for turning her away all those years ago.
I can’t take the silence and I need to get this shit straight in my head. “What the fuck do we do with all this?” I point to each and every folder and flash drive.
“We put it on the back burner for now.” Dad says with resistance. “In order to make sure that we have all our ducks in a row, we need to roll with it. We need to be ready for Sadie’s next move. She’s not ignorant and after the performance she put on today, she’s just getting started.”
Ma wipes her face and rests her chin in her hands. “She’s going to be gunning for Razz. Razz has never stood up to Sadie before and it threw her off her game. She’ll be coming for Trigger, but only to get him back on her side. She’ll be schmoozing Dani because Dani’s the first one to be captured in her trap in Cumming.”
Dani coughs. “Queenie, I don’t know if I can even be in the same room as her after finding out all the shit she’s pulled. She hasn’t just broken my trust, she’s broken my heart. She was my best friend. I’d have done anything for her.”
Ma pats her hand. “I know, but we have to look at the bigger picture. She’s pregnant with possibly Trigger’s baby. If we ignore her for too long, we have no clue what extents she’ll go to. We need to keep that baby safe, but we have to watch our backs too.”
Running my fingers through my hair, I can’t help but to believe that this is going to destroy my relationship with Razz. “There’s no way in hell I can be with Sadie the way I was before. Do ya’ll not realize what I’m losing? If I go through with this plan to ‘keep our enemy closer,’ I could possibly lose Razz.”
Dad gets up and stands behind me squeezing my shoulders. “It’s time for us to protect Razz. If you stay with Razz, there’s no telling what Sadie’ll do. You’ve seen firsthand what she’s capable of and this probably isn’t the tip of the iceberg.” He slams a folder on the table.
“If this plan in any way, shape or form puts Razz in danger, the cards are off the table and I’m folding.” Dad nods. “How in the fuck did Sadie pull this off without any of us suspecting it?”
The sound of the door slamming has me rounding in my seat.
Chapter 7
Razz
When I woke up this morning, the only thought in my mind was that today my family would be getting together to celebrate in what was finally the bringing together of Trigger and me. But leave it to Sadie to obliterate my happiness.
I’ve dealt with Sadie and her bullshit for too many years. I probably shouldn’t back off like I know I need to do, but I have Xander and Emerson to think about. Their world has been turned upside down enough. I’d rather give them stability than the constant up and down that I know Sadie will bring to their lives. Just in her presence, I feel dizzy as though I’d been riding rollercoasters all day.
So that is why it only took a twenty minute drive up and down the main road our house sits on to come to the conclusion that in order to provide a semi-normal life for the kids, I need to step back once again. I need Trigger to take the information I gave him and deal with his problems. He may have proposed to me and I should have his back, but I’ve had his back since we were teenagers and as he became a man. He was the one who chose to believe Sadie and now he needs to correct his mistakes when it comes to her. It’s time that he did it on his own without me holding his hand even if it is figurative.
Parking the Tahoe, I slowly get out and slam the truck door. As I turn, I almost run into Beanie. The look of co
ncern lights my aggravation more. I’m tired of being pitied.
He pulls me into hug and I release the tears I’ve been holding in. “It’ll be okay.” He whispers.
“I don’t know that it will. I don’t have enough faith in the situation. I’ve never stood a chance when it came to Sadie.”
“But you’ve never been involved when she shows her true colors either.”
“Neither have you.” I huff. “She’s manipulated everyone in this town and gotten away with it for years.” I point to the house. “If it wasn’t for me, they’d never know the shit she’s done and there’s still that small possibility that she could still get what she wants.” I step back from him and head towards the house.
Beanie opens the door and I follow him in, interrupting the table discussion going on. Queenie approaches me with tear stains on her cheeks. Hugging me snugly, she tells me it will be okay. I’ll believe it when I see it. When she releases me, I’m met with Greer, Lily and Dani’s embraces.
I shrug off Dani and step to the side. I need to get this off my chest before I puss out. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve had about enough excitement for one day. Trigger, I need you to move out. Sadie is now you alls problem. I no longer want to be involved in her shit. I have Emerson and Xander to focus on. Their safety and happiness is my number one priority.” I choke up. I’m letting the one person in my life go with the hope he’ll come back. “Trigger, as much as I love you, I can’t deal with this bullshit for another ten years. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life being walked all over and protecting the people I care about when they wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say. I’m not going to spend the next week, month or year worrying about what Sadie is going to do next. That’s your jobs. Christmas break for Xander is in a couple of weeks and I plan to go back to Florida with the kids for the holiday.” I hand Rudy the number for my private investigator. “This is the number for Jimmy Degan, the private investigator. He knows to contact you with anything suspicious.” He nods. I walk the short distance to Trigger and kiss him on his cheek and whisper. “I love you Trigger and I hope you get the crazy bitch under control.”
“I love you too Razz. Keep the kids safe and know I’ll be back for y’all.” He says softly. All I can do his nod.
Leaving behind the people most important in my life leaves dread in the pit of my stomach. I have to hope that they are able to subdue Sadie and her antics.
I go to Emerson’s room to find the kid’s immersed in a movie. I lie on the bed next to Xander and pull him into my side. Kissing his temple, Emerson takes her eyes from the TV with a smile on her face. She climbs over her brother and wedges in between us wrapping her arms around my neck burying her head into my hair.
“I love you two very much.” I say loud enough for them to hear me over the movie.
“Love you too.” They say together.
I may be experiencing dread and loss, but these two will bring the light into the darkness my heart is feeling.
***
Slowly opening my eyes, I’m surrounded by two little bodies tucked to my front and back. The loud pounding reverberates through the house. I carefully distract myself from the kids. I make my way down the stairs towards the front door.
Jerking the door open expecting to see Trigger, I’m disappointed to be face to face with a smirking Sadie. Of course, she wouldn’t waste anytime.
“Sadie.” I grit out.
“Razz. It’s great to see you again.” She coos.
“Sure it is.” I say sarcastically. “Don’t blow smoke up my ass. What the fuck do you want?”
Her face morphs from cheerful to stone in an instant. “Well since you don’t want to beat around the bush, I just came to let you know that if you come near Trigger or any of the Southern Chaotic’s you’ll pay.”
“As you can tell, you won once again so your little impromptu visit is unnecessary. Trigger’s not here and he moved his stuff out last night.” The sides of her lips tip a little. “Congratulations.”
“I’d say thank you, but I knew Trigger would never stay with you especially with me back in the picture and pregnant with his child. But I’m warning you, if I have the slightest inclination that you’re sniffing around, I’ll make sure your little adoption proceedings will be put on permanent hold.” She giggles when she sees the confusion on my face. “Small towns love to be up in everyone’s business, so it wasn’t hard to find out that tidbit of information.”
“I don’t know what else you want me to say or how you want me to prove to you that I’m done with all the bullshit that surrounds you.” I go to close the door in her face when she plants her thigh between the frame and the door.
“Oh, I know you won’t fuck with what’s mine because I’ll fuck with what you want most of all right now and it isn’t Trigger, is it?!” I don’t answer. “That’s what I thought.” She adds snidely as she backs away from the door and struts to the piece of shit car she’s driving.
This is a battle I’m done fighting. It’s time someone else stepped up for the challenge.
Chapter 8
Trigger
Church. The one place I’d rather not be today. I slept alone in my bed at Dani’s. No that wasn’t sleep that was night exercising. I rolled, kicked the sheets off and flopped around to get comfortable. Telling myself that this situation was temporary didn’t quiet my mind from telling me what a dumbass I was to ever find Sadie irresistible.
Razz is my un amor. My mind, heart and body are at war with each other. I know this separation is supposed to protect Razz from the Devil, but I can’t help but know deep down that us separated leaves her wide open to Sadie’s tactics.
The door to Church crashes against the wall. Beanie comes rushing in getting in my dad’s face. The color drains from my dad’s face and then it turns red. My dad’s infamous vein on his forehead is pulsing. Beanie abruptly spins and takes a seat.
Dad bangs the gavel on the table. “So we thought we had time to plan out the best attack on Sadie, but she’s already started. Apparently, she made an appearance at Razz’s this morning.” He looks to me. “Razz is fine, but the Tahoe isn’t. Beanie saw it on the back of Buck’s tow truck this morning on his way here.”
“Why didn’t she get us to tow it in?” Buzzard asks gruffly.
Beanie cuts in angrily. “Because Sadie informed Razz that if she was in contact with any of us that she’d do whatever she could to get the kids taken from her.”
“How do you know that?” I question Beanie.
“Because when I pulled in the Clubhouse parking lot I called her. She told me. She, also, told me not to call her again and to not come to the house.” He points at me. “You need to figure this shit out. I’m not losing my friend because your bitch thinks she owns the Chaotic’s. Sadie told her if she had a little inkling that she was talking to anyone in the MC family that she would make her life a living hell.”
Dad clears is throat. “That’s why we’re here.” He taps the folders in front of him. “Razz has done most of our work for us. There’s more than just tracking Sadie’s every move. I need a brother to go to Louisiana to check on the address for her father. We need background info.”
Beanie interrupts. “The car she’s driving now has Tennessee plates.”
Dad nods. “Yeah.” He tosses Beanie a piece of paper. “Jimmy already ran the plates and got us all the information.”
He scans the paper. “An eighty-four year old woman in Erwin, Tennessee owns that car. How the fuck did Sadie get it?”
“Well,” Dad scratches the scruff on his chin, “you’re going to go to Tennessee and find out.” Beanie nods. “Okay for the next two weeks we need to keep an eye on Razz, discreetly. I talked to Brute last night and he can send a couple of his guys to watch over her. With the Devils involved, Sadie can’t say that the Chaotic’s were involved.”
As much as I don’t like having a Devil in our house, there’s not much I can do because my priority is to make sure that Razz
and the kids are protected since I can’t be there. “That’s fine, but my claim on her still stands even though we are separated at the moment.”
Dad chuckles. “Just logistics, Trigger. She’s yours and nobody will go against that.”
“Noted.” I grunt.
“Einstein, I want you to go through these pictures.” Dad hands Einstein the folder with Sadie and the many men.” If you don’t recognize them, ask. Most of them live in Cumming. I want to dig into these men. I want to know the last time they took a shit. Get me.” Einstein smiles. “No rock goes unturned until we can get enough on these men to blackmail the shit out of them. I want every person that Sadie can use against us unavailable to her.” The table erupts in yay’s. Dad slams the gavel down dismissing us, but I stay in my spot.
When the room clears, I stare into the eyes of the man who raised me to be the man that I am. “How am I supposed to stay away from her?”
“I know it’s going to be hard, but you have to think about what’s important. If you cross that line, you could be putting her in more danger than any of us can expect. Sadie has proven she’s unstable and will go above and beyond to get what she wants. So for now, we need to give Sadie what she wants and that’s you.”
