by Voss, Deja
“We got a report of a stolen vehicle,” the police officer explains to me. He looks young and wild-eyed as he watches my father and Clutch both loaded into ambulances. “Never in a million years did we expect to see this.”
I want to tell him to go find Jesse, but I also know that Moses is a crazy person, and I can’t imagine what he’ll do if he knows the cops are after him. I just need to make sure Hank is on his way and he knows where to find him.
They want to take me in for questioning, and I completely understand. They keep assuring me I’m not under arrest, keep telling me I just need to make a statement, and keep asking me if I want to press charges against my father and brother.
I know for a fact that even if they get popped on a stolen vehicle charge, they’re both going away for a long time. No need to add fuel to the fire.
“Am I allowed to make a phone call?” I ask, as they escort me to the police car. “I need to call my fiancé and tell him that our kid is with his father.” It’s not a lie. They let me get my purse and phone out of the back of the van.
I dial his number. I’m sure he’s driving. I’m sure he’s not going to pick up. I’m sure if he got my messages he’s probably flipping out. He answers on the first ring, and I can tell he’s driving.
“Hank!” I shout. “I’m ok! I’m sorry about earlier. I was just trying to not make it obvious to my dad.”
“It’s alright. Where are you? What happened?”
“I’m on my way to the police station. I’m ok. I’m not under arrest. Clutch is going to the hospital.” The police officer is standing there, watching my every move, listening to my every word, and I hate having to be coy. “Your dad is babysitting Jesse. Just up the road from the accident.”
“Fuck,” he says.
“I know. I’m sorry. I was trying to get back to him before all this happened.”
“It’s ok,” he says. “We’re on our way.”
“Road’s pretty blocked. Might want to take a back way. Tell Jesse everything is going to be ok.” I’m sure if the police see a bunch of motorcycles flying up the road after this incident, they’re probably going to want to stop and have a talk. That’s the last thing any of us need right now. “I love you so much, I can’t wait to see you.”
“Don’t worry about anything, Azalea. I love you. I’m gonna get my boy back, and then I’m coming for you. And I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
The police officer nods as if to tell me to wrap it up. The only thing I can do now is be a good soldier. Just like the fucked-up man in the back of the ambulance raised me to be. Put my head down, keep my mouth shut, and pray to the good lord that my little boy and my future husband are all going to be alright.
The adrenaline high that I was just feeling swiftly leaves my body as I’m ushered into the back of a cop car. It’s not fair that I get to be safe, when I’m the one who put the two most important people in the world to me in danger. I put my head in my hands and begin to dry heave as they shut the door behind me.
“It’s going to be alright, miss,” the police officer says, driving away from the scene. Cars just keep piling in, one after another. There’s dogs and four-wheelers, everyone is on a mission to find my dipshit dumbass brother when I wish with all my heart those people could all find my little boy. “We’re gonna make sure those men are locked up for a long time. You’re going to be fine. We even have a therapist you can talk to when we get to the office. I’m sure that was a really traumatic experience for you.”
I wonder how long that therapist has to unwrap this giant box of crap that I’ve made out of my life? I don’t think the best mental health professional in the world would be able to make me right.
There’s only one thing that’s going to get me through the next few hours—the thought of going back to ‘normal.’ My fiancé, my adopted son, our little cabin in the woods. Those are the only things I want. I close my eyes and press my fingers into my temples, trying to hold back my urge to puke.
Chapter 33
Hank:
I knew she wasn’t doing me dirty, and I hate that thought even crossed my mind for a second, but that’s the kind of mentality I was raised with. Raised to think all women were out to get me. Raised to put self-preservation over everything else. She wasn’t doing me dirty, she was buying me time. Leaving me clues. Saying just enough to get me where I need to be.
Now I’m flying down the back roads through the mountains of Pennsylvania on my bike, getting ready to face down the man who helped make me that way.
I’m terrified thinking about what he’s doing with my son. Shit, he sold me, his own. He has no value for human life. Everyone is a pawn. Including my sweet innocent little boy.
We haven’t ridden on these roads in ages, and it shows by the way the trees have overgrown, their branches hanging heavy, slapping off my face as I drive through them with no regard. I’m a man on a mission.
I have no idea what I’m going to do when I get to the camp. I feel like such a sucker for not even thinking that’s where he’d be hanging out all this time. It’s a super secluded, perfect little bachelor pad out in the middle of nowhere.
I picture my father’s face, the dark bags under his eyes, the way he snarls when he smiles, the way he towers over all of us. He’s the picture of pure evil.
We crest the top of a hill that overlooks the backyard and he’s sitting on the back porch, smoking a cigar, swirling his whiskey in his glass. He looks up at the three of us and waves as if he was expecting us.
“What the fuck is this crazy bastard doing?” Brooks asks. My dad takes his gun out of his pocket and waves it in the air before setting it to the ground. He puts his arms up in surrender.
“Come on down, boys!” he shouts. “Your old man missed you!”
Either he’s got some good drugs, or we are about to walk into a trap.
We’re all armed, but I don’t want to have to come in guns blazing for the sake of Jesse.
“Where’s Jesse?” I yell.
“My grandson? He’s inside watching TV. I just came out for a smoke. You shouldn’t smoke in front of kids, you know.”
Apparently the rules have changed since we were coming up. That man gave me cigarettes when I was ten. He’s gotta be messing with us.
We drive down the hill and into the backyard. Police sirens scream at the end of the road.
“Thought you called the cops on me,” he says. “I figured you boys got soft without me around to show you what’s up.”
“Dad!” a little voice squeals from behind the glass window. He pounds on it with fists, “Dad! Help me!”
“What do you want, Moses?” I ask, getting right in his face, staring into his evil eyes, all my fears draining. Maybe this is a setup, but I don’t care about anything else right now except getting Jesse out of there safely. He can kill me for all I care. That little boy is getting back on that mountain where he belongs before the end of the day. “Why did you kidnap my son?”
“I was bored,” he laughs. “This whole situation just kind of fell into my lap. That Delaney broad, shit, I would’ve spent my whole life fucked up as you were if I had to deal with that every day. Not a bad fuck, though. You know, you really should learn to return phone calls. If you would’ve played nice with her when she got in touch with Esther, we wouldn’t even be standing here right now.”
“That’s just like you, Dad, using people to get what you want. But I’m dumbfounded. What the fuck do you actually want? I know it’s not a relationship with your grandkid.”
I reach for the back door to pull it open, but it’s locked.
“Get out here, Jesse,” I say. “It’s time to go home. Unlock the door and come outside.”
I can hear him crying, sobbing as he keeps pounding on the window. “I can’t, Dad!”
A dog starts barking so loud, the windows start to rattle.
“He’s not lying,” my dad sneers. “He really can’t. Unless he wants to be Mavis’s lunch. Got him rig
ged up so that if he moves out of the window that cage will swing right open. Anyone who said babysitting was hard needs to get themselves a bad-tempered German Shepard and a little bit of rope.”
“You’re fucking sick,” I say, grabbing him by the shirt. “What the fuck do you want from me?”
“I wanted to sit on my porch and smoke my cigar and not have to worry about your little accident getting into my coke stash.”
Brooks pulls his gun out from his holster and points it at Moses. I’m speechless. He’s the most fair-tempered of all of us, but the way he’s looking at Jesse in the window makes me think he’s about to lose it.
Gavin runs to the window and presses his hand up to the glass. “It’s going to be ok, buddy. You just hang tight. Your dad’s coming to get you.”
“Isn’t this cute,” Moses says. “You boys did always have to take care of old Goob, the fuckup. Always had to fight his battles for him. That’s why I had to send him away. He was weak. Brought him back and he spent the next twenty years kissing my ass and following me around like I was a God or something. You’re not cut out to be a Misfit, son.”
“Give me the key,” I growl, centimeters from his face.
“Why should I? You boys, you took away the only thing that was important to me. You took away my club. You took away my patch. You turned me into some sort of pariah. Nobody takes me seriously anymore. Now I want to take away the only thing that’s important to you.”
The irony is not lost on me.
“What, am I supposed to be like you, Dad? Feed my own kid to the wolves like you did to me? Give me the fucking key.”
A man I’ve never seen before comes tearing through the backyard. He’s got a limp that makes it look like he’s dragging his leg behind him and he’s wearing a Debaser’s cut. This must be Azalea’s brother.
“Moses!” he shouts. “You gotta hide me, man. Cops are everywhere.” He sprints for the back door and pulls on it only to realize it’s locked.
“Get the fuck out of here, Tim,” he shouts. “Can’t you see we’re having family time?”
The crazy bastard punches his fist through the glass pane in the door.
“Cut my kid loose and I’ll kill this motherfucker right here, Tim,” I say. “I’ll shoot him right between the eyes. You can hide here as long as you need to.”
“You’re the guy who’s fucking my sister?” he asks. I just shrug and watch the blood pour from his knuckles.
“You seem alright,” he says. “Just cut him loose?”
“Just don’t open the dog cage.”
“Last words, old man?” I ask, pulling my gun out of my pocket and pressing it to his head. I don’t want the kid to have to see this or I’d already be inside with Tim and Gavin. The dog is barking like crazy, clawing at the cage.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Tim shouts with his southern drawl. “You people are fucked up. I thought we were bad, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
My dad just laughs, laughs so hard that his yellowed teeth look like fangs. His face looks like pure evil to me. He doesn’t deserve any last words. I’ve tried to be the bigger man and just avoid him, I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt over all these years, but now it’s time for me to do the thing that’s in the best interest of my family. Now I need to step up and do the right thing for the club.
I pull the trigger, and everything feels like it’s moving in slow motion. He doesn’t even stop laughing when the bullet hits his head. He falls to the ground with a loud thud, a giant hole in his face and a smile from ear to ear. My hands are shaking. I put my gun back in my pocket. I don’t want to stand here and look at him any longer. The vision of him has haunted me long enough in his life.
Now he’s dead, and it’s time to move on.
Brooks nudges him with his boot, double-checking to be on the safe side. I’m sure if the cops really are in the area, they would’ve heard that gunshot plain as day. We need to get moving, and fast.
I run into the back door, scooping Jesse up in my arms. “Dad!” he yells. “You promised I wouldn’t have to ever go back with the mean man.”
“I know, Jesse. I’m so sorry. You don’t have to worry about the mean man anymore.”
“Looks like you don’t have to worry about the crazy woman anymore, either,” Gavin says out of the side of his mouth.
“That dog ate my real mom,” Jesse cries. “He was going to eat me, too.”
I have to hold back my urge to just throw up everywhere when I look down on the ground where Gavin is standing. Delaney looks like she’s been through a paper shredder, her guts torn out of her stomach, bite marks all over her face. I hug Jesse as tight as I possibly can and try not to wonder what went through his mind when he watched his mother get mauled to death. I feel like I earned the father of the year award. Just when we started making progress, this kid had to experience something that no one should’ve ever had to witness.
“At least we know what to do with Moses’ body?” Brooks asks, dragging him by the leg through the back door like he’s a dirty old couch or something. I press Jesse’s face into my shoulder, trying to shield him from the madness that’s going on. I want him to feel safe. I don’t want him to think this is the norm.
Tim is throwing up into the kitchen sink, and Gavin just starts to laugh.
“You know, your sister told us that the Debasers make us look like teddy bears. She must not know us very well,” Gavin teases.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say. “No need to prolong this nightmare.”
“Can’t I come with you guys?” Tim pleads. “I swear, I’ll be the best prospect you’ve ever had. You know the cops are going to find me here.”
“Goodbye, Tim,” Gavin says, pulling open the door to the cage as we all run out the door. I slam it behind us, the snarls and snaps and growls growing louder. I carry Jesse across the yard and over to our bikes.
“Are you okay, bud?” I ask, setting him down, looking his entire body over. He doesn’t look like he’s hurt. “You had a really rough day.”
“I thought I was getting a booster shot and ice cream,” he pouts. Instead, he got a car crash, kidnapped, and traumatized. I don’t even know what to do. Just the fact that he’s here safe with me now is overwhelming.
“Heat’s gonna be here in a second with his truck,” Brooks says, hanging up his phone. “You gonna be alright?”
“Where’s Aunt Stacy?” Jesse asks. “Did the bad guys get her?”
“We’re going to get her right now,” I say. I hear the truck door slam in the driveway and Tank comes jogging across the yard towards us. He hugs me tight to his body, nearly picking me up off the ground with his burly strength.
“I’m glad everyone’s alright, brother,” he says. “I’m gonna take your bike home for ya. Call me if you need anything.”
I need a lot of things. I need a beer. I need a nap. I need to wake up and find out this was all a dream. But that’s going to wait, because right now I need my woman. I need to see her, touch her, promise her everything is going to be alright.
Gavin and Brooks both hug me before they mount up their bikes. We don’t need to say anything about what happened back there, maybe not ever again. It had to be done. Nobody has to carry the burden of Moses Boden ever again, only in our nightmares. We’re finally free from his grip.
“I don’t have a fancy booster seat or anything,” Heat says as we climb in the front seat of his pickup. His face is kind and smiling, but his eyes look far away. I know him and my father have a complicated relationship, growing up together, helping to build the club into what it is today, but I know he loves us young bucks like his own kids. I buckle the seatbelt over mine and Jesse’s lap, and Heat lets out a soft laugh. “I never thought I’d see you like this, son. Cops still have the end of the road blocked up. We’re gonna have to take the long way.”
I squeeze his shoulder and he turns off the dirt road and into the woods, driving over stumps and potholes while Jesse
cheers with glee.
“Where to now, boy?” he asks as we pull out onto the highway.
“Let’s go to jail. Azalea probably really wants to come home.”
“Can we get Aunt Stacy, too?” Jesse asks. “I miss her.”
Chapter 34
Stacy:
I haven’t been sitting in the waiting room at the police station for very long at all, but every minute feels like an hour, waiting for my men to get back to me. I don’t really know what’s going on with my brother, I guess they haven’t tracked him down yet, but my dad is in critical condition in the hospital. The police wanted to know the basic details of my kidnapping, and I left out the part about Jesse being taken by his mother. All they know is that I was ambushed by my dad and brother, and Delaney stole the truck. I’m not pressing charges.
It’s time to put this day behind us. Time to put my old life way behind me, where it belongs.
I feel like I let everyone down. I can’t believe I was so stupid and careless. I will never forgive myself for letting down the two most important people in the world to me.
Jesse’s running towards me like a speeding bullet, dragging Hank behind him. He wraps his arms around my leg, squeezing me with a grip so tight my foot goes numb.
“Azalea,” Hank whispers, his blue eyes scanning the handprints on my neck, the bruises on my arms. “I’m so sorry. This should’ve never happened to you.”
He hugs me just as tight as Jesse, and tears begin to flow from my eyes. I feel so complete again.
“Is everyone alright?” I ask. We walk out into the parking lot, the sun setting down over the tiny little town. The way Hank’s hand never leaves my body, the way his eyes look like they’re watering, I don’t want to press him, but I want him to know that I’m here for him. Forever.
“I’m tired,” Jesse says, as we help him into the back seat of the truck. I climb up in with him with a groan, my body weary from this crazy day.