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My phone rings in my hands, causing me to jump at the suddenness of the loud ring. The screen is lit up with Lay’s name, making my heart drop and speed up simultaneously. I take a deep breath, calming my voice as much as possible.
“Lay, what happened?” I ask, my voice far more frantic than I would like it to be. “Is everything okay?”
Lay lets out a heavy sigh, the sound both sad and frustrated. “There’s been a problem with the bar. It’s been trashed from what Ashe said. I’m sure it’s Kevin since this is something he’s done before,” she explains, the sounds of her moving around coming through the speaker. “At least this time he didn’t burn it down. Small victories, I guess.”
“That motherfucker!” I curse and start storming towards my work locker. “I’m going to fucking find him and then I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.”
“Hudson, no. I know you’re angry, I’m angry as well. I want so badly to make him stop and leave us alone, but violence isn’t going to solve this. I need you to promise me that you won’t go do something stupid,” Lay begs, her voice quiet and sad. “Please.”
My hands are shaking, the need to take matters into my own hands overriding all of my common sense. There’s no more letting this slide or waiting for the strong arm of the law to finally put an end to this. We did that once and now we’re back in the same fucking position we were in before.
“I won’t do anything stupid,” I assure her. Pushing my hand through my hair, I take a deep breath before continuing. “I’m just at the end of my rope with this. I don’t want us to keep living in a perpetual state of fear. It’s not good for any of us, but especially not for you and the babies.”
“I know,” Lay breathes out sadly. “I don’t like it either. We need to be smart about this, though. If we do something stupid and excellerate Kevin’s insane revenge plans, we could end up a lot worse off.”
“You’re right,” I reply automatically, laying my head against the cool metal of my locker. “Do you need me to come meet you at the bar? I’ve already informed my boss that I’m going to be leaving for the day.”
Lay’s phone goes in and out for a moment, causing anxiety to flare in my chest. When I hear the start of her car, I exhale in relief. Her car bluetooth system takes over a second later.
“Sorry about that,” Lay sighs, the sound of her hand slapping the wheel echoing in the speaker. “I should have warned you I was getting in the car. It’s okay, Big Guy. You go visit your mom and sister like you had planned. Rhys is going to want to come to the bar and figure out how to work the security system to stop this from happening again.”
“That’s fair,” I answer, holding back the disappointment in my voice. “Okay then, Lay. Call me if you need anything. I’ll head over to Mom’s house, but I’m going to have my ringer on and I can be wherever you need me quickly.”
“Thank you, Hudson. I love you,” Lay murmurs through the phone, pulling at my heartstrings.
“I love you, too. Stay safe, sweetheart,” I mumble and squeeze my eyes shut. Above all else, I desperately need her to stay safe.
“I will, Big Guy. I promise.”
We hang up the phone and I slam my fist against the locker door with unbridled rage. I'm beyond fucking over this piece of shit trying to ruin our lives. I won't fucking allow it any longer. If Kevin wants to kill us, he's going to have a hard fucking time from the bottom of an unmarked grave. There's no one that will miss him when he's gone. His legacy can be the fact that he's a missing fugitive that will never be fucking found. I will end this by ending him.
Throwing open my locker, I grab my bag of shit and head out of the break room. With a passive wave to my coworkers, I dial my mom's number in my phone and walk out to my car. Mom answers on the third ring with a chipper voice that does little to settle the anger inside of me like it normally would.
"Hello, my favourite son. Aren't you supposed to be working?" Mom asks with a laugh.
"I'm, uh, leaving early today. Lay's bar got trashed last night and we're pretty sure it was Kevin," I explain, sitting in my car with my head back against the headrest. "I'm going to head to the bar and be with Lay, today. Can we do a raincheck for our late lunch?"
My mom gasps into the phone and I can almost picture her hand shaking over her heart like it does every time she hears heartbreaking news. The only time she didn't do that was the night Hannah and I got in the accident. Hayley told me later, the anguished screams coming from Mom could be heard all the way down the street. She broke that day, dropping to her knees and letting out her pain in a visceral scream that Hayley says she can still hear to this day.
Mom's voice shakes me out of the memory, bringing me back to the present. "Oh, of course. Don't worry about that right now. Is Lay okay? How is she handling this? Are you okay?"
Clearing my throat, I answer with only a slight choked sound. "Yeah, she's okay. Thankfully no one was there when it happened. She's shaken up, understandably so. Lay's tougher than nails, she's just pushing forward and getting it dealt with. I'm also okay, just worried about her. I hate that this psycho keeps going after her and everything she loves. That bar is dream and he just fucking destroyed it."
"I hate it, too. Lay is such a kind, strong soul. I can't understand why anyone would want to hurt her. It breaks my heart. I'm glad she has you and the boys to help her through this. You all are good for each other," Mom murmurs, her voice heavy with sadness.
"Thanks, Mom. I like to think so, as well."
"Do you need me to bring some meals to the house so you guys have something easy to make and eat for the next few days? I've been planning on building up a deep freezer full of meals for when the babies are born, anyways. I could get started today!" Mom switches gears, talking a mile a minute. She always turns into a busybody who needs to find a task to do during hard times. She says it's in her blood to be a helper and if she is capable of helping someone who's going through a hard time, why wouldn't she?
"You know what, that would be awesome, Mom. I can drop by once Adam and Rhys are both off work and pick some of them up. I'll have to run back to Lay after, though. Is that okay?" I tack on the end, not wanting her to feel like I'm just using her for her kind deeds. She raised me to be more polite than that.
Placing the keys in the ignition, I wait for her answer before starting up the car. It's almost funny how concerned I am about being polite to Mom. She also raised me not to be a liar, and here I am lying to her. I should be ashamed of myself, yet I don't. When lies are told to keep people safe, they can't really be considered bad, can they? Fuck, I'm too messed up mentally to think about that.
"Of course, Hudson. Just focus on taking care of my sweet daughter-in-law, okay? I'll let you know when the meals are ready," Mom says with concern evident in her voice. "If I can do anything else for all of you, you let me know."
"We will, Mom. Love you," I mumble, my mind already switching to what I'm going to do for the rest of the day.
After Mom says her goodbyes, I start up the car and hook up my phone. Setting up the GPS, I put the name of the coffee shop down the road from the bar. If I'm going to track this motherfucker down, the latest crime scene he created will be the best way to do that. It means I'll have to stop in on Lay despite her telling me not to worry about it. I'll just make up an excuse, however, about wanting to see her before I head out to Mom's. I don't enjoy lying to Lay or Mom, but I can't trust that the police will do their fucking jobs. They didn't do it right the first time, which means it's up to me to make sure my family is actually fucking safe.
