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“You can’t?” Him and a few of his buddies laugh.
“My mom’s an addict. I’ve seen what that shit can do to people and…”
“So you’ll run it around and put it out there on the streets but you ain’t got the balls to…” The door suddenly smashes open and the whole place turns to chaos when armed officers storm in from every entrance.
“It’s a setup,” Oscar calls out. “Get the fuckin’ kids.” I keep my head low and rush for the corridor to find Alex. A jolt of pain busts through my shoulder before I can reach the door he went through and when I turn around, I see one of Oscar’s men with his gun still pointed at me. The next two shots take me off my feet and when I look down and see the blood soaking through my tee, I know I’m in some real trouble.
“What the fuck’s goin’ on?” The door opens and a half-naked Alex stands staring at me in shock.
“Get the fuck outta here. It’s a fuckin bust and Oscar thinks we had something to do with it.” I can feel my head going woozy when Alex tries to lift me onto my feet. The fact I’m a foot taller, a good few kilos heavier, and a dead fuckin’ weight makes it impossible.
“Get out of here, Alex, use the bedroom window.” I press my hand deep into my stomach to try and slow the bleeding.
“I can’t leave you,” he whispers, still attempting to get me up.
“Alex, you gotta go. If we both get arrested for this, who the fuck’s gonna protect your sister?” I yell at him. “I’ll say I stoleyour car, no one here knows your name. Now get the fuck outta here.”
He looks doubtful. Then when he hears an officer call a warning through the house, all his doubts turn to guilt as he nods his head and disappears. I lay back on the floor, feeling the blood pouring from my wounds and knowing that I’m losing consciousness.
“Suspect down,” a woman’s voice yells and hands replace mine when I feel them slip from my stomach. “We need an ambulance…”
I jump back awake and when I realize I’m in the bunkhouse, I pull back the covers and press my fingers over the bullet wounds on my torso to remind myself they’re real. Apparently I nearly died that day. But knowing I did the right thing by Louisa and her brother made all that seem worth it. I could have done myself some favors if I had testified against Toby or Oscar, but I ain’t a rat and so I did some time in county.
I learned a lot during my jail time. I met Finn not long before he was released, and his plan for when he got out led me here too. Back then, I had every intention of bringing Louisa here with me. Fork River sounded like a nice place. The kinda place to make a fresh start.
I never heard from Alex while I was inside, I figured it was to keep his name in the clear so I was good with that. Of course, it meant tracking him down when I got out was a challenge. We’d talked about him getting away so briefly, I didn’t have any idea what his plans were. I failed to find him or her but I never gave up lookin’.
It was a whole year after I got out of jail when he found me, and when he told me she was dead I started hoping that there was a heaven. Now, I kinda hope there ain’t because if there is and she’s watching me I’d hate to think how she’s judging me for the man I’ve become.
“What the hell’s that?” Maisie looks at me across the room when we both hear the loud revving of engines that comes from out in the yard. I take a peek out the window and when I see my Uncle Jimmer flanked by two of his members, I smile to myself.
“We got visitors.” I lead her out the door so we can greet ‘em.
“What ya doin’ here?” I ask my uncle as he gets off his bike and comes toward me.
His arms grab around me, squeezin’ tight, and it’s hard to believe there was such a huge chunk of my life that he was absent from. Our dad hated his brother, so he kept us all distanced from him. Jimmer may not be a cowboy, but his morals are the same as ours. He’s the son I know our grandpa would be proud of.
“We were passin’ through, thought we’d pay ya a visit.” He slaps my back and starts introducing me to his buddies.
“This Jessie, my VP, and Troj, my Sergeant at Arms.”
“We’ve met,” I remind him, reaching out to give ‘em both a handshake.
Ever since I reconnected with my uncle, we’ve worked closely with the Souls. Jimmer has a lot of connections and a tech girl that makes Zayne look like a novice. Plus, Jimmer sees theadvantages of having somewhere remote to store supplies if it’s hot.
“So what brings ya to town?” I don’t see no van with ‘em.
“Do I need an excuse to come and see my nephew and his beautiful wife?” He looks at me doubtfully before smacking a kiss on Maisie’s cheek.
“Never,” I respond, feeling a strange sort of comfort in having him here. He reminds me so much of our grandfather and I really miss having him around, especially with all that’s goin’ on right now.
“You stayin’? The house is kinda cramped but I can have the studio above the barn there made up for your brothers if they don’t mind sharing.” I nod my head toward Maisie’s art studio.
“We’d appreciate a bunk for the night.” Uncle Jimmer winks at me.
“Milo,” I call across the yard toward the new farm hand. He's pretty green but seems like a good kid.
“Show my uncle’s friends here up to the studio. Jimmer, you can come with me.”
