by Bella Jewel
I hold Magnolia until the tears dry up and our bodies stop shaking, only then do we stand and face the police officers walking our way. They stop and speak to King, who growls something at them before pointing over to us. The two men walk over and stop in front of us, their faces kind. “We’re so sorry to hear of your loss. Would you mind if we asked you a few questions?”
I glance at King, and his eyes are so intense, so broken, I almost feel sorry for him.
Almost.
Except this is his fault.
I look back to the officers. “We don’t mind.”
They lead us into a private room, and we all sit. I don’t know what I’m going to say, I don’t know how much information to give, but I do know I want my mother’s killers found, and if the police are going to be the ones to find them, then so be it.
“Can you tell us what happened, from the moment you arrived at the house?”
I swallow and take a deep breath.
“When I arrived, there were two men reversing out of the driveway in their car. They were just leaving.”
“Had you seen these two men before?”
“No.”
“Did they say anything to you?”
“No, they looked at me and then just sped off.”
“Are you able to describe them for us? Anything at all that you can remember about their appearances as well as the car?”
“I remember they both seemed tall, their heads nearly touching the roof of the car. One had blue eyes, really, really blue eyes, and blond hair. I don’t remember the other one. I don’t know the make of the car, but it was white, small, a hatchback of some sort maybe.”
“Did you happen to see the license plate?”
“No,” I whisper.
“That’s okay, please. Tell us what happened then.”
“I went into the house, I was worried. Those men didn’t look nice and I was concerned for my mom. I called out her name, but she didn’t answer. I stepped into the hallway and I saw ... I saw blood smeared on the wall.”
Magnolia makes a pained whine beside me, and I reach over, taking her hand. She hangs her head and cries, and I would do anything, anything in the world right now, to take that pain away for her. I’d take it on a thousand times over if it meant I didn’t have to see my baby sister the way I’m seeing her right now.
My heart is broken.
In so many different ways.
“It’s okay, take your time, there is no pressure,” the officer calmly says.
“I went into her room,” I go on, taking a deep breath, knowing more than anything in this moment that I have to be strong for Magnolia. I have to be the person she can rely on, because from this moment on, I’m all she’s going to have. “I heard a gurgling sound and realized she was alive, so I called paramedics and then I called her husband, King.”
“Did King arrive right away?”
“Yes.”
“Did he seem shocked at all? Concerned?”
“He seemed like he had seen a ghost, like the love of his life was dead in front of him. He didn’t seem like he had any clue it was going to happen.”
That doesn’t mean it’s not his fault it happened, though. Or the club’s fault.
“What happened after that?”
“We came here, and she passed.”
“Can you think of anything else you might have missed?”
“No, nothing. That was all I saw.”
The officer nods and stands. “If you remember anything else, please call us right away. We’re going to look into it. When you’re feeling okay, we do require you to come and make an official statement.”
I nod, glancing down at my hands and taking deep, shaky breaths.
“There is one more thing,” the officer says before walking away. “King is part of a motorcycle club; do you know if anything has been happening within that club that might have caused this death?”
For a moment, I freeze.
Every single part of me wants to scream what I know about Aviana, about the club, and about the fact that I blame King for all of this.
Yet something holds me back.
I don’t know what it is. Loyalty? Maybe? Knowing my mom wouldn’t want me to do it? Maybe. Not wanting to see anything happen to the man I love? Maybe.
All I know is that when I open my mouth, the truth does not come out. “No, I know nothing. As far as I know, this has nothing to do with the club. You’d have to speak to King about that. He loved her. He really loved her. He would never want her hurt.”
The words are strained, but I know it was the right thing to do.
The officer nods and leaves the room.
I glance at Magnolia and she’s staring at me, her face puffy, her eyes so empty it scares me.
“What are we going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
And I don’t know.
I really don’t know.
16
NOW – BRIELLA
“Answer the fuckin’ question,” Alarick roars, grabbing the scrawny man I first spoke to when I came to town by the throat, and slamming him against the wall.
“I don’t know nothin’ man,” he wheezes.
“You do fuckin’ know somethin’. You think we don’t know who you deal with for your fuckin’ substance abuse? We’re the people who supply that shit. I know good and well that you know fuckin’ somethin’, or someone, and if you don’t talk, I’ll make you fuckin’ talk.”
His eyes get a little big, and he yells, “I can’t say anything, man. I can’t.”
“You fuckin’ can, and you will. Now tell me whatever it is you know or I’m goin’ to start cuttin’ your fingers off, one by one, until you start speakin’.”
Oh, boy.
I swallow and cross my arms, so as not to show how freaked out I am right now.
I mean, I’ve never seen Alarick like this. Never.
He’s always been strong, sure, but I’ve never experienced the biker side. It’s quite ... scary.
“Please,” he whines, shaking his head from side to side as Alarick pulls out a knife and slams his hand onto the table, Cohen moving behind him to hold the man down.
I look away, because I’m terrified he might actually cut his finger off and I’m not sure I can stomach that right now.
I’ve seen enough horror this week.
“Stop! I’ll tell you what I know. Just stop!”
I realize in that moment I can’t recall his name. This man they’re currently tormenting, I don’t ever recall asking for it. I wonder what it is? Probably something totally sleazy, because nothing short would suit his skinny, hideous, drug ruined form.
God damn.
That was harsh.
“You got five minutes to speak before we start cuttin’,” Alarick growls and the man winces in what sounds like pain.
I turn around and Cohen has his hands firmly jerked behind his back, making sure there is no way he can move. Alarick is trailing the knife over his neck in a threatening manner, one that says if you don’t speak soon, we’ll do things you will never escape from.
I glance at the man and ask, “What’s your name?”
He looks to me, his eyes wide with fear. “Did you bring them onto me? Because you were lookin’ for that whore of a sister of yours? Is this your doing?”
I storm toward him and my fist lashes out, slamming into his face. I think it hurts me more than it hurts him, but I’m so highly strung right now that I had no control over my actions just now.
“My sister is fucking dead, you piece of shit. Now you tell them what they need to know or I’ll be the one to cause damage, only I won’t leave you alive.”
He stares at me, a little shocked, considering last time I threatened him, it was to tip over a pot plant. So, you know, I’ve stepped up in the world in regard to that.
“I hadn’t seen her for weeks before I took over that apartment, wasn’t lying when I said that. She was rentin’ a room off the owner, and sh
e moved out, so I moved in. She was hangin’ out with some bad crowds, bad people that deal around town. Not just that, they were gettin’ into some twisted shit.”
“What kind of twisted shit?” Alarick demands.
“The kind that will have your head spinning. Dark and dangerous. Her friend, Sally-Anne, was seein’ this fella and he was like, I don’t know, part of some weird cult, I suppose you could say. He’s dangerous as fuck and dealin’ drugs, but not only that, I heard he takes girls and sells them overseas for money. Like, trafficking. It’s a big deal. He takes them and convinces them to play along with him, don’t know how, guess they have to be fucked up in the head to fall for it. But they do fall for it. I heard that’s how he gets them to do what he wants.”
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
What am I listening to right now?
“Sally-Anne went missing a month ago, just before Magnolia moved out of this place. Nobody knows where she is, she just vanished without a trace. Magnolia got involved, wanting to find her friend I suppose, and shit started gettin’ bad.”
This is not what I ever expected to hear.
Not in a million years.
“Who is this man that’s running the show?” Alarick asks.
“I don’t know his name; I just know of him. Look, I only heard about it because I overheard them talkin’ about it one night, and I’ve heard talk around town. I don’t get involved in that shit. I buy my drugs and mind my own damned business. Nothin’ more. Nothin’ less. You’re going to have to dig deeper if you want to know more about that.”
“Can you give us anything, anything at all, about where we might find some people involved in this fuckin’ mess?” Cohen asks, tightening his grip on the man’s arms until he winces in pain.
“Ease up, man,” he cries out. “I’m tellin’ you what you want to know. I don’t know any names. You guys sell drugs around town, you know the big dogs, go and fucking talk to them. They’d know more than I know. It’s a whole fuckin’ secret dark world out there, and Magnolia got tangled up in it.”
I feel pain swelling in my chest.
Pain that I didn’t know what was going on in Magnolia’s world.
Pain that I didn’t come soon enough to help her.
So much god damned pain.
It feels like it’s never going to end.
In fact, judging by what I just heard, it feels like it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
Really quickly.
“I KNOW IT AIN’T RELATED now, but back when King was dealin’ with Aviana’s father, there was mention he had somethin’ to do with sellin’ women.”
I stop in the hallway when I hear Alarick’s voice. Curiosity burns and I inch forward just a little, so I can hear better.
I haven’t heard anyone mention Aviana’s name in such a long time. She was never seen again after she disappeared all those years ago, and to this day, I still don’t know if she’s alive or dead. It haunts me often, thinking about what might have happened to my best friend, but I was living my own nightmare at the time.
I was incapable of finding her.
There was zero trace.
Everyone I asked said she just moved away.
Nobody wanted to help.
“Did hear that,” Mykel murmurs. “Heard her uncle had a good deal to do with it. Know that a girl went missing years ago and all eyes were on them. They’re messy as fuck and I’m fairly certain they were involved in that underground sales bullshit.”
“I know for a fact her dad was, never heard about her uncle. I know her dad was messin’ with the wrong people just before he got taken out. King was gettin’ real fuckin’ close to him, and he didn’t like it. Started tryin’ to mess with King, take things from him, stole a bunch of drugs, caused a fuck loads of problems, and well...we all know how that fuckin’ ended.”
“You think her uncle still has somethin’ to do with this?”
“Well, gotta question it, yeah. Aviana has been missing a long time now, and I’ve often thought she got tangled up in the wrong hands. Those hands might just be her uncle. Any idea on his location?”
“No idea,” Mykel murmurs. “I don’t even know his fuckin’ name, but I’ll do some digging, see if I can find out. It’s worth lookin’ into.”
“It’s the only lead we’ve got right now. Never heard a thing about no cult and a leader than convinces people to fuckin’ let themselves be sold overseas, as fuck knows what. It seems like somethin’ out of a fuckin’ movie, doesn’t seem like somethin’ that happens in real life.”
“Could be a cover up?” Mykel suggests. “Maybe he was tryin’ to throw us off?”
“Could be, still, gotta take it all seriously. Startin’ with that cop ...”
“You still think he has something to do with this?”
“I’m fuckin’ certain he has somethin’ to do with this. I just haven’t figured out what, but I fuckin’ will. He’s dirty as they come, and I want to know who he’s workin’ for.”
“You think he killed Mags?”
Alarick exhales. “I don’t know who killed Mags, I don’t know what she was into, I don’t know who she was hangin’ out with. There is so much mystery surroundin’ this whole fuckin’ thing. It isn’t something I’ve had to deal with before. All I know is that before she wound up dead, someone took her from her car, and I gotta wonder who that person was.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Mykel says, and I peer around the corner just in time to see him slap Alarick on the shoulder before disappearing into the living area.
Alarick turns, and when he sees me standing there, he tips his head to the side just slightly. “You hear all that?”
I nod.
“Pretty fuckin’ messy ...”
“I didn’t know Aviana’s dad was involved in that sort of thing,” I say softly. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that back then, when I was so damned angry?”
“Because it was club business, and it was dangerous. Didn’t need you runnin’ around tellin’ people that sort of thing. It was too big of a risk. Better you hate King, then to know the truth about what Aviana’s father was really doin’.”
“Do you think someone has Avi?”
Alarick exhales. “I don’t fuckin’ know. There is a high chance she’s dead, nobody has ever seen or heard from her after she disappeared.”
“What if someone has her, all this time, and we’re just here living our lives?”
“You want me to look into it again?”
I nod, frantically. “That girl didn’t deserve anything that happened to her. I should have looked for her sooner. I should have considered that maybe she was in danger, but I guess I just thought she ran away ... Maybe that was just an easier thought to have.”
“You’re only human, and you just lost a shit load in your life, too. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
He turns to walk down the hall, but I call out his name and stop him.
He glances back.
“I’m sorry, for the way I carried on back then. I know now that it was something I didn’t understand, but please know at the time, in my eyes, King had taken everything in my life because of his actions. I couldn’t cope with that. I couldn’t cope with you not having my back. I had nobody and the one person I needed wasn’t defending me.”
Alarick stares at me for a moment, and then walks over and stops in front of me. “You might not have seen it then, but we were protectin’ you. Protectin’ your sister. We didn’t want anything bad to happen.”
“I have to ask one more thing ...”
He nods.
“Who killed my mother?”
“To this day, we don’t fuckin’ know. There was nothin’ that came up after it. No warning. No message. Someone wanted revenge, someone wanted to make a point, but we don’t know who that someone was. King would have gone to the ends of the earth to find out who did that to her.”
Yeah.
I know he would have.
That much I am sure of.
Alarick takes my chin in his hands and tips my head back. “You have us, Briella. We’re your family now and forever. You are not alone.”
Tears burst forth and stream down my face.
I needed those words far more than I could have ever realized.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He swipes a tear away with his thumb. “We didn’t start off real well here, but know this, you fuckin’ matter to me. There hasn’t been a single moment since I met you that you haven’t mattered to me. Don’t you forget that.”
He leans forward and presses a kiss to my head, lingering there for long moments, and then he’s gone.
I watch him go, with tears running down my cheeks.
And I know I’ll be okay.
It might take a long time.
But I know I’ll be okay, because I have these guys, and these guys are family.
The only family I have left.
17
THEN- BRIELLA
“You’re not listening to me,” I cry, throwing my hands in the air. “Nobody is listening to me. Not my mother, not you, and everything is going so wrong. If she had listened, she might still be here. This club is dangerous and what you’re all doing is dangerous, and people are dying. God dammit!”
I stare at Flick, panting with rage, and he stares back at me. His stance strong. His eyes hard. He’s not going to break on this, no matter how much I scream and yell at him, he’s not going to break. That’s his family. His club.
“You’re hurt, Briella, and I understand that. What you’re sayin’ is crazy.”
“Crazy?” I cry, staring at him, hurt. “Crazy?”
“You know what I mean,” he growls, frustrated. “You’re takin’ this out on the wrong people. Whoever killed your mom has nothin’ to do with my dad. I believe him when he tells me he doesn’t know why that happened to her. There is a chance it has nothing to do with the club at all.”