Truck Stop Tempest

by Daniels, Krissy

  I snatched them from his fingers and ran into the diner to grab my purse. Without looking back, I tucked myself into the driver’s seat. Fired the engine. And drove into the night.

  The night sky collapsed around me. Falling. Falling. Crimson stained drops. Drip. Drip. Drip. I watched until my headlights disappeared, dragging my guts behind.

  She wasn’t supposed to come outside. She wasn’t supposed to witness my final act of savagery.

  Fuck.

  I scooped Erik’s bloody digits off the ground.

  “The hell you gonna do with those?” Baldy asked, sneering at the mangled flesh in my hand. “Make a necklace?”

  “Nah. Fish food.”

  I didn’t regret taking my two pounds of flesh. Men said desperate things when death came knocking. Erik, however, knowing he was on his way to a miserable, bloody end, had only laughed, telling me, “I had her first. My fingers were inside her first. You’ll think of me every time you touch her. I win.”

  He’d practically begged me to follow through on my promise. I didn’t regret taking his fingers. I regretted the look on Tuuli’s face.

  “Sick fucker.” The bald man laughed. Wasn’t sure if he meant me or Erik. Didn’t fucking care. I’d made a promise. I kept my promises.

  “We good?” Dane asked.

  I nodded. “All good.”

  “See ya on the flip side.”

  I waved him off, waited for the men to make their exit, then drudged through the rain, across the lot, and down the steep incline to the beach.

  The storm was farther away now, lighting the sky behind the mountains in the distance.

  I stood ankle-deep in the black water. I wasn’t a praying man. Far from it. But I was beginning to believe there was a higher power pulling my strings, guiding me toward redemption, deserved or not.

  Death’s claws no longer pierced my blood and bones, her grip loosening, surrendering my destiny to the woman more deserving of my soul. Tuuli led me out of the dark. I never wanted to go back, and I feared if she didn’t return, if I’d broken her for good, I’d fall deeper into that vile pit and give myself wholly, completely, forever to Lady Death.

  I tossed the bloody appendages one by one, trusting the current to carry them far away, waded deeper into the murky water, then deeper still, until my lungs constricted and my muscles locked tight. I sucked in oxygen and submerged myself completely, the cold bite consuming me, washing me clean.

  When I came up for air, Tango waited on the shore. “The fuck’d you do now?”

  I only laughed, lifting heavy, water-logged legs toward the shore. “Great timing, cousin. Great fuckin’ timing.”

  After we’d cleaned the diner, leaving no trace of Erik, Riley, or the Slayers, Tango let me into Tuuli’s apartment. I showered, slid between her sheets, and sent a text.

  Bunny. Come home.

  I waited three hours. No response.

  She would come back.

  I love a girl.

  No response.

  Fuck. What a fucking day.

  I loved her. She loved me.

  I laid back on her pillow, phone in hand, and engaged the tracking app connected to my car.

  She would come back.

  “SHE CALL YOU YET?” Tango dropped to his ass in front of me, finally dropping the football he’d been spinning on his finger for the past five minutes.

  “No,” I grumbled, choking on the bitter taste of anxiety.

  He laid back in the grass, using the pigskin to prop his head. “But you know where she is.”

  “Of course, I do.” I’d pulled out all the stops to keep tabs. Traced her debit card. Her phone. My car. I’d even breeched Roger Caldwell’s privacy, knowing he was in constant contact with my girl. I owed that man. Owed him big.

  “And?” He arched one brow, arms folded across his chest, waiting for my full confession. “It’s been three weeks. Why haven’t you gone after her?”

  “Sometimes people gotta work shit out on their own.” I didn’t mention the fact that her last and only text had said, “Have a little faith in me.”

  Easier said than done.

  Fucking sucked. But I’d give her all the time she needed to clear the shit in her head. Come back ready to move forward. Hopefully with me at her side. And she was coming back. That I knew. The little green dot on my cell phone app told me she was close. What I didn’t know was whether she was coming back to stay or say goodbye.

  Fuck. Why was I so goddamn nervous?

  “She called Slade this morning.” He studied my face for a reaction. When I gave none, he continued, “But you knew that already. Didn’t you?”

  I shrugged.

  “She found her mother. You knew that, too.”

  His words cut deep, but my chest swelled with pride, regardless. Tuuli had done that good deed all on her own. Hurt like a son of a bitch knowing she’d gone to Roger and the Feds for help instead of me, but those wounds were superficial. The endgame was all that mattered, and my little bunny had come out the victor.

  Tuuli had slain her final beast.

  “Is it ready? Is it ready?” Rocky barreled our way, stick in one hand, bucket of lake water in the other.

  I tugged one last time on the ropes, checking my handiwork, then stepped back. “What do ya think? She look ready?”

  He nodded, wide, green eyes blinking up at me. “Will I go high?”

  “To the sky,” Tango threw in.

  Rocky dropped his gear.

  I grabbed his hips and hoisted him into the seat. “Ready?”

  “Go high, Tito.”

  I gave him a big push and the little guy squealed.

  Slade and Aida made their way across the lawn, opposites in build, but equals in beauty. Slade wore a faded T-shirt that hugged her tits, and cutoff shorts that showed off long, lean legs. Aida wore a faded pair of overalls over a tank top that barely covered her ample chest and a pair of well-worn work boots.

  I couldn’t hold back a grin, or a laugh. Shit. Seemed like only yesterday Aida wouldn’t be caught dead in anything other than designer heels, and now she sauntered my way with dirt on her face and a smile that would bring the devil to his knees.

  “Yay! It’s done.” Slade jogged to my side and took over pushing her son. “Hold on tight, babylove.”

  Aida pulled me in for a hug. “Guess what?”

  “What?” I leaned back and wiped at a smudge on her cheek.

  “I just signed the last check. The contractors will be out of here tomorrow.”

  “God, Princess. I’m so fuckin’ proud of you.”

  She grabbed my hand and walked me toward the shoreline. “We’re gonna do something good here, Tits. Can’t you feel it?”

  “You’re an amazing woman. I don’t tell you that enough. But you are.”

  Aida was either sunburned or she’d grown a heart because those cheeks of hers blazed. “You’ve never told me that.”

  “Well. I’m telling you now.”

  “Thank you,” was her simple reply.

  We walked for a bit along the small stretch of beach until we reached the edge of the property. Aida stopped and plopped her ass in the sand. I followed suit.

  “Can you believe where we ended up?” she asked, shielding her eyes from the early afternoon sun.

  I shook my head.

  “Ever think about going back?” She picked up a stick and drew swirly patterns in the sand.

  “Not a chance in hell.” I leaned back on my arms, raised my face to the sky, and sucked in the clean, untainted air. “You?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Hell, no.”

  Aida turned to look at me, a question in her eyes. She reached up and traced a finger over my scar. “You know what happened to my dad was not your fault, right?”

  My ticker dropped to my gut. “It was my fault. I led those fuckers straight to him.”

  Aida grabbed my chin and pinched hard. “It’s not your fault.”

  “No offense, Princess, but you weren’
t there. You can’t say that.”

  She looked over her shoulder, then back to me, eyes narrowed. “Tucker found my mother. A few months back.”

  “What the fuck? Why haven’t you told me?”

  “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with that information. He said she had good reason for staying out of my life and that he would tell me more when I was ready.”

  “Well? Are you ready?” Fuck. How was she so calm? She’d spent her whole life wondering who her mother was and why her father had refused to talk about the woman who had given birth to his only child.

  Aida cocked her head to the side, offering a crooked grin. “I’m happy. I don’t need to know. She’s alive. She’s safe. That’s enough for me.” Her eyes focused over my shoulder. She opened her mouth to speak. Then snapped it shut.

  “Aida, what is it?”

  “I have my suspicions, Tito.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper with a Georgia address written in black ink. “I think you’ll find the closure you need if you check this out. If my gut instinct is right, you’ll see you’re holding on to misplaced guilt.”

  I tucked the paper into my pocket, met her soppy gaze, and wiped moisture off her cheek. I didn’t have to ask to know she was talking about her father. If she suspected Voltolini was alive, then he was alive. Aida’s gut was never wrong.

  “Is this something you need me to dig into?”

  “No. This is for you.” She offered a sad smile and studied my reaction before turning her attention to the shoreline.

  The truth wouldn’t matter. I had stewed in guilt for so long, I reeked of it. Knowing whether or not Luciano had survived the fire wouldn’t change anything. Too many others had died.

  I studied the scenery. Soon, Lake Willow would be alive with boats of all shapes and sizes. Water skiers. Jet skis. For the time being, the water was quiet and still, small waves licking the shore. I envied the stillness.

  “Hurts, doesn’t it?” Aida’s voice broke my reverie.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Love.”

  God, the woman always knew right where to hit me. I dropped my head. “I miss her so goddamn much.”

  “She’ll be back. You’re doing a good thing, letting her work this out on her own.” Aida patted my back, then hopped to her feet. “I gotta go inside. Feed Lucia. Lunch will be ready soon. Lettie’s making a feast.”

  Tucker’s mom had settled into the mansion like she’d lived there all along. She was going to be amazing with the kids.

  I sat in the sand, listening to Rocky’s laughter, an ache settling in my gut. My father and I had once been close like Tango and Rocky until the night Luciano had covered my crime. After that, neither one of my parents had been able to look me in the eye again. Shame. Guilt. Disgust. Fear. Whatever the reason, our relationship had suffered because I’d killed a man. I’d ended an untouchable man’s life so he couldn’t fuck up another kid.

  I had no regrets. My path, no matter how vile, had led me to Tuuli. If my actions also took her away from me, so be it. At least I’d known for a little while that I still had a beating heart in my stone-cold chest.

  I had Aida. I had a family. I was an uncle by default to Lucia and Rocky. And I would only give them the best of me. The me who had been uncovered by the tempest that was Tuuli Holt.

  “Tito. Come on. Lunch is ready,” Rocky bellowed, mere seconds before slamming into my back and circling his arms around my neck.

  Yeah. Shit was good in Whisper Springs.

  I pushed to my feet, hoisted the little monkey higher up my back, and hooked my arms under his legs, bouncing him hard as I jogged across the lawn. We had almost reached the door when the familiar rumble of an engine drew my attention to the driveway.

  Fuck me.

  My Mustang.

  Dirty as shit. Gospel music thumping out the rolled-down windows.

  I swung Rocky around to my front and set him on his feet. “Hey, little man. Go inside, get washed up. I’ll be right there.”

  “Hurry. I’ll save you a seat.”

  I reached the driver’s side door before the car completely stopped.

  The smile that greeted me was so goddamn beautiful, so fucking serene, I knew all my worry had been for nothing.

  “Bunny.”

  “Grim.”

  Sweet Jesus. The man was a sight. Rumpled hair. Overgrown facial fur. Firestorm blazing in his tired eyes. Before I could set the brake, he jerked the door open, unhooked my seatbelt, and pulled me against his thick chest, choking me with a hug so tight and full of gratitude I feared my head might pop.

  Face buried in his shirt, I savored the aroma of sweat and sunshine.

  His words came fast and furious.

  “Fuck. I love you so fuckin’ much, Bunny.” Kiss, kiss.

  “I thought I lost you.” Nuzzle, nuzzle.

  “Couldn’t fuckin’ breathe.” Nibble, nibble.

  “I love you.” Emotion choked him, his voice breaking, his hold tightening.

  He loved me.

  I had so much to tell him. So many things I needed to say, but I couldn’t speak past the lump in my throat. And that was fine. We had time. We had forever.

  So, I stayed between his strong arms, breathing him in, memorizing the rhythm of the thump, thump, thump in his chest.

  I was home. I was where I belonged. I was his bunny; he was my beast. He was safety. Protector, lover, friend, fighter, my rock, my home. My beautifully broken, perfect man.

  He showed no sign of letting me go, so I mumbled into his shirt. “Can I kiss you?”

  His whole body rumbled with a chuckle. Into my hair, he mumbled, “Tell me something I don’t know about you. Something big.”

  I smiled, unable to contain my joy. “I found my mom.”

  A rush of air blew my hair. His hands dropped to my hips, rendering me weightless before I landed on the hood of his car. “Baby. That’s…” He dropped his head. Laughed. Lifted his eyes to mine. “I know. I knew the whole time. I’m so proud of you.”

  He knew. He’d kept tabs. I expected nothing less. “Thank you for not coming after me.”

  “You have no idea how hard it was for me to stay here, waiting.”

  I had a very good idea. Every day I was gone, I struggled not to hop in his car and hightail it back to Whisper Springs. “I needed to go alone, Tito. My mom and I…we needed that time.”

  He nodded, eyes darting from my eyes to my lips, and back up again. “Is she okay? Are you okay?”

  “I took her home, Tito. To her family. Her real family. I met them. Both of my grandparents are alive. They’re still married. They’re wonderful people. I have aunts and cousins. We cried a lot. Mom was overwhelmed. She’s going to stay. We found her a good doctor to help her work through all of this.”

  He dropped his forehead to mine. “God. I could’ve helped, too.”

  “I know. But my mom, she’s been through so much. Worse than I have. It would’ve been hard having you there. Having any man there.”

  His chest rose and fell. “I want to hear everything. When you’re ready.”

  “Erik’s parents took her from the hotel where she worked with her boyfriend.” A shiver tore through me. “My father.”

  “Michael Foster,” he added. He’d read every file he could find on my mother’s disappearance. “Did you meet him?”

  “No. But he knows we’re alive. He’s been in contact with the Feds, and he knows how to find me when he’s ready. He blames himself for what happened. Thinks he should’ve been there to protect her.”

  “What happened? How’d they snatch her from a busy hotel?” Tito brushed soothing strokes up and down my arms.

  “The day they checked out, Erik’s mother said she lost her wedding ring and asked if my mom could help her find it. Of course, Mom goes into their room to help. Next thing she knows, she wakes up in a strange bed in another state.”

  “She must’ve been terrified.”

  “They threaten
ed her life, her parents. After I was born, they used me to keep her quiet. Said I’d suffer at the hands of every member of The Brotherhood if she ever tried to leave or told anyone who she was.”

  Tito cleared his throat, his restraint evident in the tight set of his jaw. “Your mom isn’t the first girl they’d abducted, I suspect.”

  I shook my head, my gut tightening. “Jonas’s mother was their first. She’d tried to leave. When they caught her, each male member of The Brotherhood was allowed to punish her however they saw fit. Then she disappeared.” I pinched my eyes shut, halting the tears. “Jeremy showed my mom pictures of what they’d done to Jonas’s mom. He reminded her every day of what would happen if she tried to leave.”

  “So, your mom raised Jonas as her own.”

  “They gave her no choice. Sixteen years old, forced to raise another woman’s child. Scared for her own life.”

  I continued to fill Tito in on the past weeks. He listened. He wiped my tears when I cried. I clung to him, grateful for those solid arms.

  “I’m sorry I stole your car,” I said, wiping the last tear with the back of my hand.

  “You didn’t steal it. I gave you the keys, remember?” He flashed his playful grin. “Now, can we stop talking and get to the kissing?”

  I hooked my fingers around his neck and pulled him down, meeting him halfway with a clumsy, hungry kiss. A kiss I felt from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes.

  “Toodaloo!” Rocky bellowed from the front door, interrupting our reunion. “You’re here. Did you see the swing?”

  “Swing?” I pushed Tito away and stretched to see around his massive chest.

  “Yeah!” Rocky took off at a sprint toward the beach, squealing, “I helped build it!”

  I followed the little man’s trajectory. Sure enough, hanging from the willow tree was a simple, yet beautiful, handmade swing. Tito gripped my hips and buried his face in my neck. “I wasn’t done with the kissing.”

  “Get off, you beast. There’s a swing!” I shoved a groaning Tito away and hopped down to run, my inner child breaking free.

  I thought I’d have to fight Rocky for a turn, but the little lady killer stood in wait, and when I reached him, he said, “Get on. I’ll push you.”