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Me: Still impressed as hell at what Angel did for him, y’know?
Brick: Same, Brother. Same. I mean, he’s like his old self, but he has no desire to take the gavel back.
Me: Thank God for small miracles. He was a taskmaster.
Brick: No shit. Especially with me.
Me: Both of us, Brother. Okay, gotta get some sleep. I think we’re having Church tomorrow to discuss a plan of action where those fundamentalist fuckers are concerned.
Brick. Keep me posted. If I need to send more brothers, I will.
Me: I think we’re good, there are a shit ton of other chapters here already, but I’ll let you know.
After turning my phone over, I sip on some water while flipping through the channels with the remote that was next to the charger. Finding a fishing show, I settle in to get some sleep, hoping against hope that the slight noise from the television will cover any sounds I make when the inevitable nightmare shows up.
Wrecker
“He’s exhausted, honey,” Harper softly says as we lay curled against each other, sated after a vigorous bout of lovemaking. “I could sense it earlier and see it in his eyes.”
“I know. Trying to decide the best way to handle this, though,” I mutter. “There’s so much shit swirling with Dragon and Laney, I don’t want to miss anything with Banshee, in the meantime.”
“We won’t.Youwon’t,” she promises, her hand now stroking my pec. “You said that his president told you he doesn’t remember anything beyond trying to run with his sister?”
“Correct. The next thing he recalls is waking up in the hospital days later,” I confirm, kissing her temple. She’s my calm in a storm, the port I’ll always sail toward. Shaking my head at my fanciful thoughts, I focus on what I know of the situation we’re going to attempt to help Banshee remember. “A rival club came in, beat the absolute shit out of him, nearly killing him, stole his sister, and then sent pictures to the club to insinuate that she had been tortured to death.”
“She was only a little girl,” Harper whispers, tears filling her eyes. “A literal baby in so many ways. What really happened?”
“Well, Brick has put many of the pieces together, but a lot of the old timers, who were around back when it all happened, have either retired and moved away, or passed on. His father, who up until recently was lost in his own little world, thanks to Alzheimer’s, got injured and another brother from Ankeny healed him. He’s of sound mind again, so I’m sure he can give even more insight. They had planned to sell her and placed her with a couple to hold onto her until the buyer arrived, but the Raiders, which is what Brick’s club was named before patching in to the RBMC, basically wiped them out save for a few, so that plan fell through. The parents were killed, which left Banshee an orphan, and the couple who thought they were holding the little girl for just a few days got stuck with her. She was verbally and physically abused her whole life, then sold by the people she thought were her parents to another fucker for their drug debt. He beat her nearly to death then dumped her in the snow. Thankfully, she was found and saved, but it was months before they realized that the woman they were calling Rayleigh was actuallyRyleigh, the club princess they thought was dead.”
“Jeez, that must have totally traumatized her,” Harper states, commiserating with young Ryleigh. Both abused in similar, yet at the same time, different ways.
“Angel stepped in and did what he could, and Brick got her into therapy. She’s happy and whole now, and expecting their first child,” I reply. “Now, as to Banshee, he carries guilt from that long-ago day because he was tasked with watching his baby sister and keeping her safe.”
“But he was a kid going up against grown ass adults,” she huffs out, a look of censure crossing her face. “There’s no way he was going to win against something like that! The cards were stacked against him from the get-go.” She’s steaming mad now, ready to fight the ghosts from the past on a brother’s behalf, endearing herself even more to me than she already is, her fidelity knows no bounds.
“I agree, so my plan is to go in and get his adult self to watch, instead of seeing things through youthful eyes. This way, he can see the difference of whatdidhappen that day as opposed to what he thinks did for himself. This way, he’s with me, and I can help him understand the difference between the two times as they cross,” I murmur. “It’s going to be a hard road for him to distinguish between the two. They’ll blend together at first, it’ll take time for his mind to adjust with the difference. But I have concerns.”
She hums, reading my worry as if it were her own before I have a chance to voice them.
“It’s just, with everything going down with Dragon and Laney, should I do it now?”
“No time like the present,” she retorts, no indecision on her part. “Because I suspect as much as y’all want to beat down the doors and get Dragon, Laney, and all the innocents out of that place, you have to plan and get ready. Banshee’s right here, so why not?”
“You’re right, why not?”
Rory
I headinto town to stock up on a few things, enjoying the gorgeous countryside as I drive down the mountain roads. “We picked a good spot to stay at, didn’t we, girl?” I ask Sassy, who is standing in her carrier watching out the window.
When she starts to make a chattering noise, I giggle because there are a flock of birds nearby and I suspect she envisions herself a big game hunter. “You wouldn’t know what to do with them if you caught even one, silly,” I tease.
It dawns on me that since Grampy passed away, I’ve spent most of my time by myself. I resolutely push the memory of Patrick to the far back of my mind, as our conversations typically revolved around what I was fixing for lunch and dinner, and whether or not I was going to ‘put out’ as he would sneer at me, or be a ‘cold fish’ once again.
“I might be alone but I’m not really all that lonely,” I tell my cat, who meows as if she understands the words I’m saying. “I mean, if I could find a man like Grampy, one who lets me be myself while also still loving and protecting me, I’d be content. Patrick was definitelynotlike that at all. While Grams enjoyed being a housewife and taking care of her home and family, I have other dreams that include traveling around the country and seeing places of interest. Plus, I enjoy hunting and fishing, so I wouldn’t mind it if the mythical man of my dreams liked doing that as well. Oh, and he has to like animals.”
That one is definitely a deal breaker as far as I’m concerned. Patrick acted like he was okay with Sassy, but she never warmed up to him at all, preferring to hide in one of her many spots she had at the farmhouse instead of by my side, which is where she typically prefers. If my man doesn’t like animals, specifically cats, I don’t care how luscious he is or if he makes my belly flutter. He’ll be gone before he can open his mouth.
Pulling into the parking lot of the small-town grocery store, I ensure the air conditioning is still running for Sassy’s sake before grabbing my purse and locking the RV down. With my list now in hand, I get a buggy and start going down the aisles gathering what I need to buy. I may only be here for a few more days, but I still need to eat and even though it’s sometimes challenging to cook for one person, I just started meal prepping.
