by Ryan Michele
My stomach roiled. If Rocco was injured, what was going on with Hayden? “Is she okay?”
Stormy shook his head, and a fear like I’d never felt gripped itself so hard around my heart, I felt it hard to breathe.
“Let’s fuckin’ go.”
I took one look at the address and was out the door in a flash, calling my brother on the move.
34
Hayden
My father was beyond pissed, and I knew I was in for it. The beating would be first to intimidate me into doing what he wanted. It would then proceed to him getting his anger out. Then it would continue after I blacked out. It was a well-thought out-system he had.
He didn’t know, though, that he’d already lost.
“Every ten minutes there’s a pin I have to enter into the laptop. If I don’t enter it, the information stops downloading and gets wiped out.”
His nose flared. “You fuckin’ bitch!” Even expecting the blow, it still took the wind out of me.
“So happy you haven’t changed in the years I haven’t seen ya,” I said through huffs of breath.
“I should’ve killed you as soon as your mother brought you home.”
I’d never felt wanted. He made sure of it, and my mother was too terrified of him to stand up for me. She was weak, always had been. There were many times when I wished he would’ve just done it. Wiped me out of all the pain and torment. He was a tyrant, and living on the streets was better than being under his hold. Under his rule, I had not a single moment of reprieve. I just wanted it all to end.
Then there were times when I was laying in Wrong Way’s arms, loving being there. It was the only time in my life when I could truly say I was happy and looking forward to something. I knew that was a dangerous game to play with myself, that hope that I could somehow hold onto something good.
When I was young, I didn’t understand the hate inside my father. Kids had this resilience about them. At least I did. No matter what my father did to me, I still loved him. Why? I had no clue, but I did. Maybe it was the hope that he would change and things at home would be different. Hope was something we all had and once we lost it, it was a difficult thing to come back from.
I didn’t anymore. For a while I simply didn’t think of the man. Now, though, I was no longer numb or forgiving. Instead, I despised him.
“Yeah. You probably should’ve.”
“You think you’re so smart.” He nodded at the brute who’d been watching me the entire time. “Fix it.”
The brute looked like a deer in headlights. He had no clue. I wished I would’ve known that quicker, and I could’ve taken some of the pressure off of me. The good thing was no one could stop it.
Not that my father would ever get the information. Ever. He just didn’t know that tidbit.
“I don’t know how,” the brute said as my father fired the gun, shooting the brute in the head.
My breath lodged in my throat. Did that just happen? Yes. Yes. I think it did.
The man fell to the floor with a thud. My father went through one more of the men and shot him too.
“I’m gonna rip your fuckin’ heart out when this is done,” my father sneered, gripping my arm hard and moving me in my chair. This taped/tied up shit was for the birds.
“Sounds good.”
His brow quirked. “What?”
“I’m not stupid. As soon as you get what you want you’re gonna kill me. I’m fine with it. Because once you do all the information will disappear, and you won’t have it. I stay alive, you have a fighting chance.”
The computer dinged. “Oops, sorry, I need to enter the code.” I turned around and did just that, sending the code rapidly flowing once again. “Now you have ten more minutes.”
My father had no idea what to do with this situation. His smarts were lacking. He used brutal force instead. Actually using that thing in his head, not so much.
When he didn’t say anything for long moments, I did. “You’re probably wondering how this is going to work, correct?”
He growled.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes please’.” He didn’t appear pleased, and I didn’t care. There wasn’t much to lose at this point in the game. “What’s going to happen is you’re going to give me one of your guy’s phones and your number. You’re going to leave me here, and in ten minutes I’ll text you the code. It will be the final code to end the check-ins. Then everything is yours.”
“You think you’re gonna live after this?”
“Nope. Just don’t want you to have the privilege to do the job.”
Two blows to the stomach that I tried to evade and one to the cheek. My face ached, bile and acid burned in my throat, and every part of me was in agony. There wasn’t an inch of my body not crying out for relief. My abs felt locked tight as if I had spent the day at the gym. Damn, I’d lost count how many he aimed there. Something was for sure sprained maybe even broken in my ankle where he’d tossed the chair I sat in and my foot landed wrong. My cheek throbbed and had puffed up, making my eyes blink rapidly from pressure. He got in a headshot that had me seeing stars like a stupid ass cartoon. Those damn boots he had on must have been steel toed. Boots and khakis—great fashion sense. I wanted to roll my eyes to myself, but the agony was overwhelming.
“You little cunt. I’m gonna hunt down Rocco and skin him alive. Then go to Ms. Janey and do the same. Then that old hag who lives next door. Every single person that has been in your life I’ll go through one by one.”
This made my stomach fall, and bile rose in my throat. I had to fight it back. This wouldn’t work if he saw what he said got to me. Not a single tear had fallen during his assault, and I couldn’t break now. Shoulders back, our gazes locked. “Did I forget to mention… Oh…” I tried to chuckle, but it came out ragged. “If you don’t put the final code in, all the information goes to the Ravage MC, and they will hunt you down.”
That was when my father exploded, kicking, punching, throwing anything he could at me. Which was stupid on his part because I needed to be conscious to enter the code in a few minutes.
My head was dizzy, and stars flashed before them along with bright lights of color. I was actually seeking the reprieve of unconsciousness. Then no matter what he did I wouldn’t be aware of it. Never had he gone this far with me.
No one had.
The timer on the computer went off, and I looked up at him with swollen eyes. “What do you want me to do?”
“Put the fuckin’ check-in code and finish this.”
I chuckled but spat up blood. That couldn’t be good. “I don’t know the code for it.” He kicked again, and my body lifted, flying in the air, the chair fully breaking and coming seriously close to the dead guy and his blood.
“The fuck you don’t!” he raged.
“It’s true. The code will only be sent to my computer in twenty-five minutes.” The second alarm went off, and my dad swore. He picked me up roughly and placed me in front of the screen. My arms ached, but I entered it, and the scroll continued.
Sirens could be heard in the distance, and my father panicked. “Let’s go.” He took out a knife, my knife, and began to cut through the bindings at my middle and feet that were still attached to the broken wood. When I started to rise, my body protested, screaming at me to sit my ass back down.
“We’re gonna go to that shit house of yours and get this so we’re done.”
In my house, knives and guns were hidden throughout the place. In my house, I had the power. In my house, I would have the upper hand.
In my house would be where all of this ended.
35
Wrong Way
When we arrived cops, EMTs, and firefighters were everywhere. Along with some nosy as fuck neighbors who were standing on their doorsteps, watching with avid curiosity. Why couldn’t people just stay out of others’ shit? It was annoying as fuck.
The EMTs were rolling a gurney out of the house, someone in a black bag. My stomach sank to my knees at the thought of
it being Hayden in that bag. No, just no. “Hayden,” I whispered, jumping from the van and running up to them. I wasn’t ready for her to go. Fuck.
“Sir!” was yelled by several people, but I didn’t listen; instead, I went to the body bag, reaching over to unzip it.
“Stop!” the EMT said, gripping my hand.
I tore it away as my brother, Kenny, came up. I asked him. “A woman. Dark hair and tattoos. Is she in there?”
The EMTs looked at each other and then my brother as I waited. Fuck me.
My brother spoke. “Hayden wasn’t in there. Calm down.”
I felt relief and fear all at the same time. Fuck. Now where in the hell were they?
I gripped Kenny’s arms, needing to know what was going on and not wanting to know in the same breath. “What?” I asked, his face looking grim.
“Two male bodies inside. Blood in several rooms. One had a table and what looked like the tech shit that you have. Brace, brother.”
My gut twisted. “There was a chair shattered, layin’ on the ground. Duct tape attached to the legs and the smell of urine is strong. Lots of blood around it.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Do you know if it was Hayden?”
He shook his head. “We’ve got nothin’ right now but dead bodies and a crime scene. We’ll get it taken care of.” Loved my brother, and the way he covered for Ravage was a debt I could never repay.
Out of options, I dialed Hayden’s cell, hoping like hell Rocco would answer.
36
Hayden
He made me hold the laptop the entire trip and kept his gun trained at me. I wasn’t going to jump out. I wanted him at my house. That was the main objective. When one felt like they were going to die, nothing was off the table.
All was fair in love and war. This was definitely war.
We pulled up to my house, and Ms. M was outside pulling weeds from her garden bed, something I had not anticipated.
Fuck. I needed her not to make his radar again. I needed her to remain unaware, but Ms. M was clever, and I wasn’t sure I could keep her away.
“You say one fuckin’ word and I’ll gut her,” he warned me, getting out of his SUV and coming over to my side as I jumped down.
Making eye contact with Ms. M, her eyes narrowed. I felt like shit and probably looked like it too. No doubt blood everywhere and it hurt to walk. Instead of ignoring her, I put a smile on my face that felt strange because my skin was pulling in different directions from the dried blood. Lifting my hand, I flicked it her way as my father grasped my arm tight, no doubt leaving more marks on my body.
When we entered, the alarm didn’t go off, but Luna came running up to us. I made a move to bend down to her, but my father kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her yelping, flying and crashing into my television, shattering it. Luna yelped again, and I tried to go to her, but he held me tight. Her whimpers and whines were torture to my ears.
“Luna, it’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” I told her.
“You stupid mutt.” My father held out his gun and aimed it at my dog. I elbowed him, sending him off balance. When he came back to me, he took out his anger with his fists, and I heard nothing from Luna. I looked over and it looked as though she was knocked out.
He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me down the hall to my office. How he knew this, I had no idea, but as we approached, I saw a large hole was through the drywall. My body tensed.
The security, the safety, everything I built in the four walls of this home felt violated. I wanted to find Ravage and Wrong Way in my office so I could end this, but then again, I didn’t.
“Oh, didn’t I tell ya.” My father pushed open the unlocked door, and my computers stared back at me. The chair was askew. “I made sure if anyone came in here, and I knew Ravage would, that they’d see this.” He pointed to a screen where sure enough, it was sending messages to Ravage via my computer therefore, my IP address. Over and over again, spewing.
Wrong Way would know it instantly. He would think I betrayed him.
They were going to kill me.
He was going to kill me.
Did I want to die by my father or by Ravage? Because at the moment, all I felt was dying was inevitable, and I just wanted it over with.
For a brief second in time, I thought this disaster could be fixed. But this… I’d thought what I did back at that house would make everything good.
Judging from the huge hole by the office door, Wrong Way believed it. He thought I’d betrayed him… And his club.
He was without a doubt hating the very breath I took.
My chest hurt, and this time not from the kicks, but from my heart breaking. Before I left this world, I had one more thing to do. This world needed to be safe. Something I didn’t feel for a very long time. It would be my last act. The final curtain call. Or whatever the hell they said. It had to be done.
My father pushed me roughly into the seat, holding the gun out at me.
My body ached, and I prayed there was enough energy in me to see this through. My father had to come with me. He couldn’t be left behind. I’d see him in Hell, right next to me. Maybe I could set him on fire down there? Who knew.
“Get the fucking password or whatever.” He pointed to the laptop he made me bring. “Open it and get busy!” he barked.
I did as he said, opening the laptop and getting my computer to a code page I’d made for a client and got busy, needing just the right moment. Typing and trying to buy some time, I allowed the anger to bubble up inside me. It was all I had at the moment, and I needed something to grasp on to.
Physically he had me at a disadvantage, being injured and weak, but mentally, I would never break, not by his hands. All of that fed into my anger.
This man had taken everything from me growing up. Now an adult, he was taking it all away again. I hated him. Detested him. Despised him. And I only wanted one thing. One small last gift to Rebellion.
A loud sound came from the living room, and my dad looked to the door. Under my desk I grabbed the blade I kept there.
Using every bit of energy I could muster, I kicked the gun out of his hand, and it clattered to the floor. Wasting not a moment of time, I pressed the blade into his carotid artery, slicing it completely open. Blood oozed down my hand, but I didn’t let go of the metal. He flailed around, gasping and reaching but unsuccessful in his attempts to save himself.
“Fuck you. See you in hell,” I spat at the man as he fell to the ground.
My body, unable to hold itself up any longer, collapsed to as my knees, then down to the floor.
It was done.
He was dead.
The world was a better place because of it.
I did one last act before my demise.
Because as I heard the boots running through my house, I knew my end was near, and for the first time, I welcomed it. The room was spinning. Holding onto the light, I just wanted one more glimpse of him. Just to see his face so I could remember it for eternity.
The guns came in first, then the bodies followed. It was hard to keep my eyes open. No sleep, screen time, getting the shit beat out of you and murdering someone would do that to a woman. The adrenaline was crashing. Hell, I wasn’t even sure it was there in the first place. Maybe it was iron will.
For the briefest of moments, my eyes locked with Wrong Way. This beautiful, hard as nails man who made life really special for a period of time. Who held me while we slept and made me feel truly safe for once in my life. This man was everything I could’ve ever wanted in a partner.
And it was all over
Everything inside me hurt, but it was my heart that hurt most of all because he believed I betrayed him. It was written all over his face. The contempt.
The anger.
The disgust with me.
That pain was worse than any physical my father could inflict. It was worse than being called a cunt all my life. My world was spinning, and I’d lost complete control.
The
one last glance of him was a mistake. Never did I want to see those eyes hit me with disdain.
It was over. Done with. Finished. What we had was completely and totally gone. “Kill me,” I said softly to Wrong Way, as I felt a tear form in the corner of my eye, then closed them, not wanting to see his face and the hatred he had for me.
A loud noise went through the room as my body laid flat on the ground. It was done. All of it was over. There would be no more pain. No more hurt. No more broken hearts. No more anything…
My world went black.
37
Wrong Way
“What the fuck do you mean?” Phoenix stood toe to toe with me. “Take her out,” he clipped.
I wanted to scream, throw something, shoot someone and that someone wasn’t going to be Hayden. Taking in the scene before me, my gut was tight, telling me my very soul knew she wasn’t behind this. Things weren’t always what they seemed, and this was a prime example. I just didn’t have all the answers yet.
“I’m tellin’ you. She didn’t do it. I feel it in my bones.” I’d been pleading this for the past five minutes after checking to make sure she was still breathing.
Rooster had knocked over some lamp in the living room, causing a loud noise, and then Hayden’s eyes closed not opening again.
Grams’ system gave me the first alert, and from the camera in her flower bed I watched a man half drag Hayden, battered and shaken, into her house. Grams called immediately, and I gave her the clipped answer—I was on it. At that point I rallied everyone, and we headed here. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would find her like this.
The woman who had been a warrior, training in her backyard with those knives, was limp on the ground. Her breathing was steady but labored, as if her ribs were confining her lungs. Her ankle was so swollen I wasn’t sure her sock wasn’t cutting into her skin.