AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d said some things I didn’t mean and would have to live to regret. It was best that I gave her space for now. My heart and my head were all over the place. I’d allowed my obsession with Anna’s murderer to cloud my judgment and send me into a blinding rage. I only prayed that Aeir would forgive me and God would, too, for what I was about to do.
“I’m sorry, Aussie. Just put on your shoes, okay?”
“Okay.”
Her broken heart sparkled in her tearful eyes. I reached over and pulled her into my chest. I was responsible for all the pain she’d endured in the two short years she’d been on this earth. No matter what, I kept failing her. Aussie was my world, but I couldn’t seem to get it right with her. Since Anna, Aeir was the best thing that happened to her and I’d managed to ruin that for her, too.
Fuck.
“Daddy is sorry, okay? Mommy is a little upset about some things I said but I will make it better, okay? I promise. She belongs with us, Aussie. I can’t see my life any other way.”
I kissed the top of her head and rocked her back and forth until she stopped trembling from her tears.
“Better now?”
She nodded, letting me know she was as good as she could be under the circumstances. I felt the same.
“Alright. Let’s get some shoes on your feet and get you to Pop Pop’s.”
Because Aussie was emotionally impaired and I was running off pure emotions, I took the lead on finding a pair of shoes she liked, getting them on, and getting her to the truck. Once she was situated, I ran back into the house, down the hall, and into the guest bedroom.
I punched in the four-digit code and watched the wall slide to the right, giving me access to eighteen guns, including automatic handguns. I didn’t want any of those. This was very personal. I wanted to control every bullet that left my possession. I grabbed the Glock 40, a spare cell, and the black backpack that held clothes, several full clips, emergency cash, and a ski mask.
On my way out of the door, I shut off all the lights. When I made it back to the truck, Aussie was sound asleep. The forty-minute drive to my grandfather’s home felt like fifteen. I pulled into the driveway, barely putting the gear in park before I was out and in the backseat, unbuckling Aussie.
“Malachi?” Pops yelled through the yard.
“Yeah, Pops. It’s me. I need you to keep an eye on Aussie for me tonight. I have some business I need to handle.” I ran across his yard with both our bags in my hand.
“Is everything alright?”
“Nah,” I told him, handing Aussie over. “It’s not.”
There was no need to lie. He could see right through me if I did. Besides, it wasn’t a preference of mine on any day or at any time. It required too much energy to tell a lie and keep track of the lie you’d told.
He grabbed her bag and left mine in my hands. He took Aussie from me as we made it into the house. She was still asleep. While he got her situated, I began stripping down and replacing the clothes on my body with the clothes in the bag.
“Now, you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I know who did it.”
I powered on the cellphone from the bag. When the home screen popped up, I dialed a number I knew all too well. Before sending the call through, my grandfather demanded I give him my undivided attention.
“Malachi, tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Lawe and Milo had it honest. They’d taken after our grandfather. Makai wasn’t too far from the tree. He was silent as he was deadly. He didn’t say much, but when he came, motherfuckers needed to move.
“Anna. I found out who murdered Anna.”
“How?”
“Aeir. She’s been having nightmares and shit every night. I’ve been hoping to hear her say a name or call out any details but she gave me nothing. Tonight, after we discussed the pregnancy, I asked her. I asked her what she’d been seeing in her dreams.”
“Pregnancy? She’s pregnant?”
“Pops. That’s beside the point right now.”
“Well, we’re going to get to that point before you leave, nigga. ’Cause if Aussie is in that back room and you need me to see ’bout her, then it means you’ve fucked up with Aeir. Your knuckle head ass better get it together, nigga. I’m not fucking playing with you, boy. I’ll crack your shit wide open.”
