This girl doesn’t have a clue who we are. She can see our patches very clearly, but for all she knows, we’re going to kill her here tonight. Still, she struggles against her binds, and curses at us behind the gag.
I stare at the girl for a long moment, wondering how two people can look so alike. The similarities are surreal. If this woman is who I think she is, many questions will need answering.
“Remove the gag.” I tip my head at Eagle, who does as I’ve asked.
The girl stretches out her mouth before growling at Eagle. “You didn’t have to knock me out, you little bastard!” Eagle chuckles to himself and walks away. “When my uncle finds out what you’ve done, he’ll kill you all! What the fuck do you assholes even want with me?” She screeches while yanking on the restraints again.
“BlackJack won’t do shit once he knows the truth about you!”
“Who the fuck is BlackJack!?” She screams at Jethro. “I don’t know you people, or anybody named BackJack!”
Jethro turns to me, shaking his head. “What the fuck is this girl on?” He turns back to the girl. “How the fuck can you sit there and act like you don’t know your own husband?” The girl’s eyes narrow in confusion. “This double life bullshit you’re leading, Wynter...”
“Wait!” She yells and cuts him off. “Wynter? I’m not Wynter,”
“You lying little bitch!”
I grab Jethro’s arm and yank him back. He looked like he was about to throttle the girl. “That’s enough, Jethro. If you honestly believe this woman is Wynter, and you dared to make a move toward her…”
Jethro growls at me, cutting off my words. “How the fuck are you standing here so calm, Havoc? Your wife is lying to your fuckin’ face!”
The girl laughs loudly from the gut, and each of us turns to look at her. “Jethro, is it? Were you born this stupid, or did you have to take a class?”
I notice Jethro’s eyes widen in anger, and I have to stifle a laugh. He was right about one thing; this girl is mouthy.
“I can see why you’d think I was Wynter. But come on!”
“What the fuck is going on?” I don’t know if Austin was asking a question or not, but he mumbled the words to no one in particular.
I fold my arms around myself and stare at the girl in front of me. She’s looking right at me, and it’s beyond evident that I haven’t got this wrong. I know who this woman is. What I don’t understand is how she’s here in front of me when she’s supposed to be dead.
“Either she’s a damn good actress, or she’s banged her head and lost her memory, Havoc,” Eagle tells me.
“I’m not an actress, and I haven’t lost my memory. Have I, Havoc?”
“What’s she talking about?”
I turn to Jethro. I don’t know whether to laugh or scream. I understand why Jethro did all of this, and in a way, I have to thank him. But surely he can’t believe that I’d be standing here like this, saying nothing, not beating the crap out of him if I thought this woman was my wife?
A strange sort of calm falls over me. I don’t understand why when there’s still so much to sort, but my head is suddenly clear for the first time in weeks.
“This isn’t Wynter.”
“What?” I know he’s confused, anybody would be.
“He said I’m not Wynter. What, are you deaf?”
Jethro charges toward the girl, but I grab his arm, stopping him again. “Don’t do it, brother.”
“I know she’s your wife, but she’s driving me crazy! No woman has ever pushed my buttons like this, Havoc.”
I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. “You really believe she’s Wynter?” He nods. “Then, I should rip your fuckin’ spine out for daring to charge her like that!” I breathe deeply and shake my head. I can’t lose my temper here.
“Why don’t you rip his spine out anyway? The man’s an ass!”
I keep my hand on Jethro’s arm, holding tightly to the spot. I can feel his anger like hot lava slapping me across the face. “Let it go, Jethro. I know she’s a mouthy bitch, but she isn’t Wynter.”
“Of course, she is! Look at her!”
“I am looking at her, Jethro. Do you honestly think I don’t know my own wife inside and out? This woman isn’t my wife. If she were and you moved towards her like that, I’d have killed you where you stood for thinking about it, and you know it.” Without a fucking doubt, no matter what she’d done.
“If she ain’t Wynter, who the hell is she?”
I open my mouth to answer Eagle, but the girl cuts me off.
“Where is she?” I look at the girl. “Wynter. Where is she? I didn’t believe my uncle when he told me that Wynter was out there. I thought he’d lost his mind when he said he’d seen her, but he hasn’t, has he?” I shake my head, and she closes her eyes. We all see the tear that rolls down her cheek.
I can’t even imagine how this feels for her right now. All these years, believing you were the only survivor. All I know is that’s how Wynter has felt all these years.
“Obviously, you’re Wynter’s husband.” I nod, even though I didn’t need to. “She always did say that she’d one day marry an incredibly handsome man.” I raise my eyebrow and try not to smirk. “I never imagined she’d marry a biker. Wynter always struck me as the type to marry a computer nerd.” The girl laughs to herself. “Is she okay?” Again, I nod my head. “Can I see her?”
I sigh and push my hands into my jeans pockets. “I need you to answer a few things for me first. How did your uncle know Wynter was alive?”
“By chance,” I watch her flex her fingers. Those bonds must be hurting, but I won’t remove them until she’s told me what I want to know. “Uncle Julian and two of his men went to a diner. They were in a small town on business. Julian told me that Wynter walked over to his table to take his order. Julian was shocked; the men with him believed she was me. They wondered what I was doing working in a diner when usually, I’m at the office.” I don’t need to know what she does for a living. I don’t much care to. “But Julian knew better,”
Every man in the room stands listening to this girl speak. Not one of us says anything, we just listen.
“As Wynter walked away from the table with their order, Julian said her name. He told me that she turned around and asked how he knew who she was. Of course, he told her that he’d read her name tag. She wasn’t wearing one, and naturally, she was spooked. She ended up running from the diner. I’m guessing because she thought my uncle and his men might hurt her. After that day, each time Julian’s men managed to track Wynter, she ran. Not once did they get close enough to tell her what they knew and why they wanted to speak with her.”
“So, there are no men out there who want to hurt, Wynter?” The girl shakes her head at Jethro. “If you’re not Wynter, who are you?”
“This is Spring,” Each man looks at me. “Wynter’s sister.”
“What?” I look at Eagle. “Bullshit. Wynter’s sister died along with her mother. You know that, Havoc.”
I roll my neck and let it crack. He’s right, and this doesn’t make any sense right now, but it will.
“Is that what Wynter was told?” I nod my head at Spring. “We were told the same about Wynter. You haven’t got a damn clue what it was like for us the day John lost his shit and shot us.”
Now, we all know that John Anderson shot Spring and Julianne. However, from the way this girl is talking, I don’t think anyone died. So what the fuck is going on?
“What happened, Spring?”
She looks at me and sighs. “I don’t want to relive this shit again, but I will if it means I get to see my sister. I’m assuming that Wynter told you what she knows about that day and how it came about?”
I nod. “She explained that John had taken your mother to the store. While there, her older brother saw her and yelled her name. Julianne fought to get to him, but John dragged her away before they could be reunited.”
“That’s right,” Spring smiles. “John knew that
Julian would have killed him had he caught him. God knows how many times I’ve wished we could go back to that moment so that Julian could destroy that monster.” She shifts a little in her seat.
“The day John shot us, Mom had planned our escape. John was supposed to be at work, and she’d have plenty of time to take us and run. It didn’t work out that way.”
I watch Spring turn her face to her shoulder and wipe away a tear.
She turns to look at me again. “Mom realized that Wynter had snuck out to meet her friend, and I had no choice but to tell her where Wynter had gone. We were about to go and find her so that we could leave when John walked through the door. He laughed and asked where Mom thought she was going with his daughter. For the first time in her life, Julianne really stood up to him. She was so strong until the moment he told us that he’d shot Wynter and buried her somewhere no one would find her.
“I watched my mother crumble to the ground, sobbing and begging John to tell her that it wasn’t true. John laughed and told Mom that he was smarter than she ever was and that he knew what she’d been planning. Then he turned the gun on me and shot me.”
Spring shrugs, and Austin sucks in a breath. What it must have been like to be shot by her own father is something we’ll never understand.
“I remember my mother’s screams and her hand on my face. Then she was dragged away from me, and I must have lost consciousness. I woke up in the hospital, confused and frightened. I remember turning my head to the right. My mother was in a bed next to me, hooked up to machines, and her eyes closed. There were strange people beside her, three men and two women. I was afraid because I didn’t know who they were. They were all dressed so fancy, and I could smell the older woman’s perfume; it was so strong.”
Spring stares into space for a moment. “Are you okay, Spring?” She looks at me and nods her head. “You don’t have to carry on if it’s too difficult.”
I can be a bastard at the best of time, but I’m not heartless. It’s blatantly obvious that retelling this story is effecting Spring more than she’d let on.
“I’m okay, thank you.” I nod my head. If she says she’s okay, then I’ll leave it at that. “As I was saying, the younger woman noticed me watching them, and she tapped the older man’s shoulder. He smiled at me and told me that his name was Jeremy and that he was my grandfather. He introduced the older lady as May, my grandmother. The two men, Julian and Justin, were his sons, and the younger woman’s name was Ashley, Justin’s wife.
“Jeremy told me that John had shot me in the shoulder and then left me to die. He’d then dragged my mother to the bedroom. She tried to run from him, but he shot her three times in places that would mean she’d die slowly. A neighbor called the police when they heard the first shot. The cops arrived quickly and arrested John. Miraculously, Mom and I were still alive when the paramedics arrived.”
“Is your mother still alive?” I ask.
Spring nods. “Yeah, she’s still alive. Though after she woke from her four-day coma, to be told one of her kids was dead, I thought she’d die from grief. Julianne may have hated John and what he did to her for those fifteen years, but she loved Wynter and me because we were hers.”
“What happened after your mother woke up?” Austin asks.
“Well, she was shocked to see her family. She’d spent fifteen years believing they were dead, and there they were, right by her side. According to Justin, after Julian had reported seeing Julianne to the police, they worked out pretty quickly who we were. As soon as Mom and I were bundled into ambulances, a detective called my uncle and told him that he believed he’d finally found Julianne. The detective had been looking for Julianne for fifteen long years.”
I shift on my feet and force myself not to keep asking questions, though I want to.
“My grandparents,” Spring continues. “Took Julianne and me to live with them. I’d never seen a house so big in my whole life. My grandparents were very wealthy, and we wanted for nothing. Julian still lived at home, and my mother needed him more than anyone else. I learned from my uncle Justin that Mom and Julian had always been close. Julian and Justin are twins and have a close bond, but Julianne had always been Julian’s shadow. Their mother even named Julianne after Julian in a fashion.”
Spring chuckles to herself. Everyone else in the room looks at each other, and I shake my head slightly. Christ knows what’s funny right now.
“Julianne and I went through a lot of therapy, which helped us come to terms with many things. However, Mom still suffers from flashbacks sometimes, and the nightmares about losing Wynter won’t seem to go away. Somethings are just too hard to get over. John was told that we’d died to protect us. My grandfather is a powerful man, and he brought a court order against the tabloids,”
“Why?” Jethro asks, even though that was possibly the most stupid question he’s ever asked.
“Because of who he is and the fact when my mother first went missing, the story was everywhere. For years, Julianne’s parents searched for their daughter to no avail. Of course, once the news report was out that we’d been found, the whole world would know we were still alive, and we’d never get any peace. My mother needed time to recover without people following her around. It was fine for me, I wasn’t abused, though I got hit a couple of times, and my life in that house seemed normal. My grandfather couldn’t have his daughter worrying that John, even from prison, would never leave us alone.”
Spring shifts in her seat. “It was fine for a while, but someone eventually leaked the story that Mom and I were alive, but no pictures were ever taken of us because of the court order. Mom freaked out, scared out of her mind that John would somehow escape prison and find us. It set her back so far; I thought I’d lose her for real.”
Another tear escapes Spring’s eye, and I realize this girl has suffered far more than Wynter has. That will destroy Wynter, but I’ll be there to put her back together again.
“Mom fought hard through more therapy to get better, and she did well. Hell, she did better than most would in her situation. Though she never went anywhere without two people with her, and it took years before she’d go shopping with anyone, even her mother. Bad memories and fear.” She shrugs.
“It had been three years after Mom and I were freed before I found a letter in uncle Julian’s desk. It was from John, sent around the time he’d found out that Mom and I were alive. He’d written to Julianne because he wanted to see us. I read his words, and with every word, I felt the sickening fear creeping in because I was terrified that he’d get out and find me, just as Julianne had feared.”
Spring runs her tongue over her teeth. “Julian found me reading the letter. He saw how afraid I was, shit my hands were shaking. Julian sat me down and explained how John would never get out of prison. I had nothing to worry about because I was safe. John was just a sick old man who had nothing left in his life, but the hell he’d go through in that place. I cried to my uncle, asking why John thought Julianne and I would ever visit him after what he’d done.
“It was John’s words about how much he loved and missed me that seemed to get to me the most. John stated that the best thing he’d ever done in his life was me; I was his pride and joy. I told my uncle that maybe if I visited John, he’d tell me where Wynter’s body was, and we could finally find peace. Julian said to me that John would never give up the information, even to me. That monster would sit there and feed me lies about finding Wynter, just so that I’d keep visiting.
“I tried to argue the point with Julian, but he told me that I needed to get the idea out of my head and quick because he’d never allow it. John had kidnapped my mother, raped and beat her, left her with child, and kept her a prisoner for fifteen years, so why would I want to see a man who was capable of that?”
Good question.
“As much as I wanted to find Wynter, when I looked inside myself, I knew that John would never tell me. He hurt my sister almost every day of her life because she wasn’t perfect in his
eyes, and he got off on it. John blamed my mother for Wynter’s deafness, but praised her for the fact, in his eyes, I was perfect.”
I close my eyes and shake the awful thoughts from my head. It killed me, hearing Wynter tell her story. I couldn’t bear to hear how John Anderson tormented Wynter from someone else’s lips.
“I don’t understand something,” I grit my teeth at Jethro. He doesn’t need to understand anything! “If you were all John’s prisoners, why were you and Wynter allowed out of the house? Wasn’t he worried that you’d tell somebody what he’d done?”
Spring rolls her eyes, annoyed. “Of course, he wasn’t worried. Wynter and I didn’t know what he’d done to Julianne until much later. John made us believe that we were like any other family. Mom never left the house without John, but we didn’t think anything of it because we knew no different. Like any other child who lives in a violent household, we knew never to say anything about what went on at home. John warned Wynter and me how evil people are, and what would happen to us if we ever said anything.” She sighs.
“Every person close to John, his parents, his friends, not one of them every thought anything was wrong. Shit, he lied about Julianne’s age so that no one would know she was a child. I’ve often wondered how no one realized who Julianne was. Her face had been everywhere for months. Though when I think about it, I’m pretty sure his parents knew. They knew and did nothing to help my mother or ease her family’s pain.”
Typical.
“It was John’s mother who told John that he needed to send Wynter and me to school, to make sure people saw him as a good family man. I guess so that if anyone ever did come looking, they’d think Julianne was with him willingly.
“No one ever did come looking, though, and John carried on his front of a wonderful husband, and amazing father. Everyone thought he was brilliant, though we rarely saw people that mattered. Inside the house, John was a monster of the worst kind. Julianne and Wynter took the brunt of his anger because, for some reason, he favored me.”
Havoc: Snakes Henchmen MC Page 14
