by K. C. Stone
“Where the hell did you get these?” he demands.
“Cara, where did you get these!!!” he barks out.
“Someone must have put them in the mailbox,” I tell him completely numb.
“They were there when I went to check the mail,” I tell him, the images still burned in my mind making my stomach turn in disgust.
“That motherfucker,” he yells, pulling out his phone.
“Dom, you and Jules head to the kitchen we need to talk,” he says, hanging up.
“What are you doing, I don’t want her to see these,” I plead.
“Cara, she needs to know, I have to tell the club so I can have the brothers working on them, find out where and how we got them,” he tells me, running his hand through his hair mussing it up.
“I don’t understand, why would someone do something like this,” I ask horrified.
“I am sorry, honey, I tried to keep you out of this,” he tells me.
“There are more? What? Where?” The bile in my stomach rises and I think I am going to be sick.
Just as I am about to say something Dom and Jules walk in.
“Hey, what happened?” she asks as Dom takes the images from Matthew’s hands.
“What! Where did these come from?” Jules panics.
“We don’t know, they were in the mailbox, your mother found them and opened them,” Matthew tells her.
Sitting at the table even with the images put away they are forever burned in my mind. What kind of sick vile creatures do this kind of thing?
“I can’t look at these anymore.” I shove the images, envelope and all, scattering them onto the floor and leave the room.
“I thought I would find you out here.” Looking up I see Jules propping herself up next to me.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie, I didn’t mean to run out like that. I just couldn’t see one more image of you like that, my heart hurts that you went through all that and I could not stop it,” I say, the pain of what she went through must have been terrifying and unbearable. “I’m so sorry you must have been so scared. I’m sorry I could not stop them. I’m sorry about everything that happened, everything that happened with Sal and with Matthew,” I whisper, sobs that I held in broke free.
“Momma, don’t be sorry, it is okay, I will be okay,” she tells me.
Looking over at my daughter I could never have the amount of strength she has, maybe if I did things would have been different. Looking at her, she reminds me so much of her father, her mannerisms, the way she smiles when she sleeps you can tell her dreams are always happy ones. Sometimes I wonder if Sal noticed it too and that is why he acted indifferent to her sometimes.
“You know, you are just like him,” I say, wringing my hands together. “In a sense when you are sad your eyes soften; they are not the brilliant emerald green they take on more gold. Your eyes can’t hide anything. When you smile your right dimple sinks in deeper than the left just like him,” I tell her.
“Do you think Daddy ever looked at me and felt cheated?” she asked.
“What? What do you mean?” I asked unsure of the question.
“Daddy, I mean you guys never had another kid, so when he saw me do you think he hated me?” she asks.
“No, Juliane, I don’t think he hated you and he did have another kid.” I tried to keep the sourness out of my voice. “I think your father realized that my heart never really belonged to him. His heart never belonged to me really, he wanted the idea of true love and he tried. It was just never there,” I tell her.
Chapter Eleven
Locke
Jules, Dom, and I look over the photos as vile as they are.
“Where did you say these photos came from?” Jules asks.
“They were in the mailbox when your mother checked the mail, why?” I ask curious on why she is studying them so closely.
“These are of me, but the others are not of the girls,” she says, stunned at what she is looking at.
“What, what do you mean?” I ask, picking up the photos.
“Look, here this is not Leah, it looks similar, but this is not her and this is not the place where they kept us?” she says disgusted.
“How do you know?” I ask.
“Look, this girl is chained one hand to the wall, look at my photo I am chained to the floor. What does this mean, are there more girls that were taken?” she asks, panic rising in her voice.
“Honey, I don’t know what it means, that is what we need to find out. We will need to show these to the brothers and then we need to figure out if these were before you or after you. I can promise you this, Juliane, I will not let anything happen to you, I swear to it, nothing like that will ever touch you again,” I tell her.
She nods her head at me. “I need to go find my mother,” she says and heads out the way Cara left.
Sitting in church with the photos spread out in front of me, repulsive, vile images of Jules chained to the floor. More of the other girls drugged maybe, beaten, bloody, broken. God I could kill someone, I will kill someone.
“So, Jules is your daughter? I knew Sal wasn't her father but I had no idea that you were,” I hear, interrupting my thoughts. I look up to see Dom come in through the door.
“She told you?” I said, still when it is said out loud seems surreal. “Fuck, dude, I don’t know what the hell I am going to do,” I tell him in all honesty.
“What do you mean?” he asks, sitting in the chair next to me.
“I went from banging hang arounds to having an ol’ lady and two fucking kids,” I tell him, and he busts out laughing.
“Nice to know you care you dick,” I say, shoving him.
“Seriously, brother, what are we going to do about this? Because this lets us know someone is still out there fucking kidnapping, torturing, and keeping girls. We need to get these bastards and fast. I do not want my girls fearful to go out,” I tell him.
“When do you plan on starting construction on the new building?” Dom asks.
“I approved the plans today it shouldn’t take long; the brothers should be here soon.” Right on cue, they started walking in.
“You know the rules, phones in the box and sit,” I tell them. “We got a fucking problem, guys, this shit was delivered today.” I say, tossing the images across the table each one sicker than the one before. “To Cara,” I say pointedly.
“Who the fuck?” Ranger asks.
“Who the fuck indeed, I want to know what the hell is going on, I want every man on this,” I demand.
“Jules saw these photos, she said this one is different than the rest, notice how the others are chained to the wall not the floor, she said in the basement that she was kept in they were chained to the floor not to the fucking wall,” Dom informs them.
“This is what I want to know, are these older photos or is this bastard fucking taking girls again? I want to know every fucking thing we can dig up and I want something soon!” I demand.
“You got it, Boss,” they respond.
“What do we know, when are the others getting here?” I asked.
“Tex, Gunner, and Fitz arrived today, Rooster and Bear are due in a few days and Capone is on his way as well, but he can’t be here till next week,” Mac informed everyone.
“Okay, I will have Cara set up rooms. Tech, I want you to work on the photos find out what you can. Dom and Axel, you hunt down any one you can. How did the meet and drop off go?” I ask, hopeful for some good fucking news.
“Good, they were happy with the guns, we shot some off they said they would keep their ear to the ground and call on the prepay when they have something,” Mac informed the rest of us.
“Good, keep up the good work make sure this is our number one priority, I want this fucking threat dead soon. I got shit to worry about and I am fucking sick of these assholes fucking with our family,” I say, pounding the table.
“Until we get the all clear, they go on lockdown, the girls go nowhere,” I tell them.
I look
to Dom he gives a slight head nod, fuck here come the questions. “You guys remember a while back when Cara told us about Sal and how he had another child, well we also know that Jules is not Sal’s daughter but she is mine.” I breathe out, fuck that was a mouthful, not many people can say that shit but I did.
“Before you get all excited no, I do not want any fucking questions, no, I didn’t know, and yes, Jules is aware so that is all the information you need right now,” I say, slamming the gavel ending the meeting.
Fuck, I need a drink, I am sick of today. I head to the bar.
“Here, Boss,” Ezra says, passing me a glass filled with sweet amber colored whisky sharp, the burn starts at my throat warming all the way down.
“Fuck, that is good give me another,” I say, sending the glass back toward him.
“You got it, Boss,” he says, filling the glass and without a second thought I shoot it down.
“God, I love this stuff,” I tell him, tossing the glass his way.
I make my way to find Cara. Instead, I find Jules looking at her baby book flipping through images of her that make her smile.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Ohh, just going through photos, would you like to see?” she offers.
“Sure,” I tell her, sitting next to her. I don’t have time, but I will make it for her.
“Here,” she says, handing me pictures of a small dark-haired girl in ballet shoes with the brightest green eyes.
“You know how you got your name?” I ask.
“No, do you?” she asks.
With a small nod I tell her, “Your name belongs to my mother, you look like her. She is so caring and sweet has a soft smile, everyone loves her. Your grandmother is still alive you know, she lives in Ireland off into the countryside. My father passed away about ten years ago, he is another story for another day. Maybe one day soon I will take the five of us back to Ireland and introduce you to my family there.”
“I would like that; I have never been there,” she says, playing with her necklace and I will be damned. Around her neck hangs a familiar silver heart one that was lost to me years ago or at least I thought it was lost to me.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, pointing to the simple heart that was clutched between her fingers.
“My mother gave it to me on my twelfth birthday, she said it was a very special necklace. That it was from a very special person to her, she said the lady that it belonged to would be honored if she gave it to me.”
“I see,” was all I could get out, my throat was tight. The image of my daughter wearing my mother’s necklace would bring her to tears.
“I figured that some lady left it to her,” she says, shrugging.
“That necklace that you are wearing turn it over,” I tell her.
“Why, it is just a heart with a cool looking cross on the front,” she says.
“Etched on the front of the heart is a Celtic cross, yes, but on the back of it there are initials, JEM,” I tell her and the urge to find Cara is strong but right now I need this, we need this.
“How did you know that?” she asks, questioning me.
“That necklace is not from some random lady, Juliane, that necklace was my mother’s. I gave it to your mother one night, actually it was right before I ended things with her. On the back of the heart are the initials JEM, they stand for Juliane Elizabeth McKenzie. My father gave my mother that necklace as a wedding gift the night of their wedding. She wore that necklace every day until she gave it to me when I left Ireland. So, I did, and I gave it to your mother and then she gave it to you,” I tell her, brushing her fallen hair of out her face.
“If you loved her so much, why did you send her away, why did you end things with her?”
“Honestly,” I said, “I could not imagine anyone hurting her, I was just given the VP spot in the club and we were still dealing with a bunch of fall out from business stuff.”
“You mean guns and dealings with my grandfather,” she interrupts.
Damn she was a smart girl, she knows far more than I give her credit for.
“Yeah, babygirl, that is what I meant but what your mother doesn’t know is that, shortly after my uncle was killed, I met your mother. She was so amazing I couldn’t hide it from anyone. I would have never hidden her, I loved her with everything I had. Before her, people accused me of not having a heart, I was a cold-hearted bastard and when she left that man came back. What your mother doesn’t understand was that because I wanted her, because I wanted to show her off to the world she was put on a list. We started getting word that people were putting threats out on her. We started receiving threats against her, ones that wanted to use her to hurt me. I could have kept her safe but, what kind of life would that be. Little did I know that she would marry Sal then I found out she had a baby. That was hard to watch, I saw the life that should have been mine, the family that should have been mine. I still kept an eye out I just did it from afar,” I tell her. I don’t know why I felt like I should share all this information, but I am glad I did.
“So, you never remarried, had a family of your own,” she asks.
“I did get remarried she was wonderful, but she was not your mother. I met Sara years later, we were only married for five years before cancer took her. After that I just never felt the need to get serious again. Then everything with you, your mom, and Sal it was almost as if I was finally awake after being dead inside, I know I sound like a pussy,” I tell her.
“No, I like hearing your story, it must have been so hard for you to watch me grow up, you never wondered?” she asks.
“Honestly, sometimes I questioned your eyes or how when I saw you smile you look just like my mother but with dark hair. I never thought in a million years that your mother would not have told me something like that, I just figured that it was somewhere in your genetics,” I tell her.
“How are you not angry with her, how can you just act like nothing happened?” she asks.
“Well, we can do either two things, we can be pissed and take it out on your mother or we can forgive her and move on, either way there is nothing we can do about it now. I have you and now we know the truth we can get to know each other,” I tell her.
“Yeah, I would really like that.” She wraps her arms around me and heaves a contented sigh.
“Do not worry, Juliane, everything will be okay,” I reassure her kissing her forehead.
Chapter Twelve
Cara
“Hey, babe, hop on it is time we head out.”
I love the way his crooked smile gets me every time, that one dimple that makes my heart falter with every smile. Hopping on the back of his bike, we make our way to our spot. Nothing fancy, just a small clearing. Just on the other side of the park, hidden away from the rest of the world. At times like this when it’s just him and me on the back of his bike, my arms wrapped around his granite muscles, the heat from our bodies causing enough friction a minute shift from either person could set us on fire.
Hopping off his bike we head toward a blanket set up in the grass.
“Here come have a seat.” He pulls me down toward the blue, green, and white plaid blanket. Wrapping me in his arms the smell of sandalwood and cloves, spicy and sweet enveloping my senses fogging my head and causing my inhibitions to falter.
“I love the way you smell.” He takes a deep inhale nestled between my collarbone and neck. “The smell of crisp apples turns me on every time.” My body quivers in response to his lips caressing my skin, a shiver runs through me causing my body to push back into him. My fingers blindly searching gripping any part of his body, while he continues his repeated assault on my neck and shoulder ripping a moan from my chest.
The baby crying brings me out of my dream. Sitting up I take a deep breath trying to level out my breathing, my body still reacting from the memory. I get up and head to Killian glancing down at my watch, it must be feeding time for the chubby baby.
“I got you, sweet baby, I know you mus
t be starving, let’s get you some food,” I coo at him. He giggled in response to me letting me know he understands.
Once he is fed and changed, I put him on the floor for playtime while I get changed to head out.
“Cara,” Matthew yells as he opens the door, walks in, and stops.
“In the living room,” I call back but no response.
“Yes, Matthew, what is it?” I ask as he rounds the corner, wondering what all the franticness is about. Out of nowhere he leans in and kisses me, not just a small peck but a burning kiss. One that aches for the rest of your body to join in. Hands clutching at everything and anything, groping and fondling each other, finally we pull away both breathless.
“What was that for?” I ask, my chest still heaving from his kiss.
“You gave her my mother’s necklace,” he puffs out.
“What?” I ask, still trying to lift the fog from his kiss.
“I was talking to Jules and she was playing with a necklace, my mother’s necklace,” he says, cupping my cheek.
“Yes, I did. I figured she might not know that she was yours, but she deserved her father’s heirloom and I know your mother would’ve wanted her to have it. It was my way of connecting the two of you without either one of you knowing,” I tell him.
“I can’t believe you kept it; you have shocked me yet, again. First, you use the necklace I gave you for the lock on Jules’ baby box, and now you gave her my mother’s necklace. Damn, woman, you amaze me,” he says, leaning in and kissing me once softer and gentler this time.
The fire coursing through my veins is screaming for him to push the kiss to become more urgent, I press my body into his wrapping my arms around his neck.
Bang, bang, bang.
We separate long enough for Matthew to yell out, “What?”