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“Double shift, while we wait for Axton to find more warriors.” I shake my head.
“You need sleep!”
“I’m fine, though some of the others are feeling it. Slater hasn’t slept in three days running purely off adrenaline and caffeine.” he shrugs then yawns.
I grit my teeth and shake my head. “I’ll handle it. Go home, Eli.”
“No can do until Axton gives the order,” he tells me. Shaking my head, I wind the window up and continue up the driveway, parking out the front of the house. The moment I pull up, I leave the car running for AC and grab my phone from my handbag. Axton answers after only two rings.
“You’re home?” he asks immediately.
“Yes, but your men are falling asleep. Order them home until you find others to take over. Eli was asleep leaning against the front gate!”
“I can’t for a few more hours; I just pulled a heap from the borders that were dropping.”
“Order them home. We can run patrols for a few hours, Axton. They’re no good to us asleep!” I tell him and he falls quiet.
“Axton!”
“Fine, fine. I will order them to go home. The next rotation starts at 9 PM. Can you wait till then?”
“Yes, we’ll be fine. Order them home.” I tell him before hanging up annoyed. We were perfectly capable of doing patrols.
Climbing out of the car, I see Michelle and Noleen rush over from the barn to help get everything out of the car. Grabbing the boys, they both wake and I juggle them in my arms when the front door opens and I see my mother in her robe and slippers, her hair a mess and she looks exhausted..
She looks like she spent all night crying but rushes to help me by taking Kyan. Climbing the last few steps, I find Sondra sitting in her rocking chair, staring out at the fields.
“She needs to tell us the truth.” Lexa tells me and I nod my head in agreement.
When I stop, she turns her head to look at me and sighs. “Spit it out,” she says and my mother stops.
“I know about Floyd,” I tell her, gauging her reaction, and she purses her lips and nods her head once, her features turning stern like she knew this was coming and was just waiting for me to figure it out.
“Sondra!” I call out to her and she stares at the women working the fields and tending to the vegetables patches. “You and I need to talk.”
“You figured it out.” she states and reaches for her tea.
“No but I know you’re hiding something, I know what Floyd was.”
Sondra watches me over the rim of her mug, takes a sip before lifting her head and turning her head back to watch the women. “Settle the boys first.” she says.
“So Axton is right?” I question, and I could see my mother staring at me, confused.
“Settle the boys, then I’ll tell you about Floyd.” She says then takes another sip of her tea, she sets the cup back down on the small table and looks at me leaning back in her chair.
“And I’ll tell you why I killed him.” she turns her gaze away and I look at my mother who holds the same shock on her face that I feel.
Of all the answers I was waiting for, that was not one I was expecting. My mother gasps, and I swallow but quickly nod my head.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I was gone for the weekend. Yet getting home, the place was in chaos and anyone would think I had been gone for months. Women had complaints, and orders for supplies, the accountant had left messages about the bakery and Marco had dropped off the appeal my father placed against the title. He was trying to say it was done while he was intoxicated.
Which is laughable because if you know my father, he isn’t much of a drinker and when he drinks, it’s never enough that he actually gets drunk. The man has control issues, and that extends to not being in control of his own body.
“Do that first! Get settled, then we’ll chat.” Sondra says, making yet another cup of tea. She watches me for a few seconds while she waits for the kettle to boil.
“Are you going over the documents Marco dropped off last night?” She asks me and I hold them up.
