Wraith

by Kathleen Kelly

  And just like that, the thought of moving is banished from his little mind, and he’s smiling. I grab another suitcase and put our meager possessions in it, and we are ready to go.

  “Look around, Jack, is there anything Momma forgot to pack?”

  Jack wanders over and picks up his favorite blanket and his toy bunny.

  “You forgot bunny.”

  “Well, that’s why I have you checking on me! What would Momma do without you?” I ask with a laugh. “You ready?”

  “Yes, Momma.”

  I open the front door and roll my suitcases out. “Momma needs you to keep up, okay?”

  Jack nods and grasps the handrail with his tiny hand, and together we go down the stairs and to the car. I place him in his seat, put the bags in the trunk, and leave this shitty apartment building behind.

  As I turn the corner, the guy who was in the bar earlier talking to Tick, blocks my way. I contemplate running his ass over, but Jack is in the car. So, I put it in park and roll down my window.

  WRAITH

  I doubled back after leaving the bar, and yeah, I was being followed. The skinny motherfucker looked cold without a jacket. No doubt he left his cut behind, so I wouldn’t make him. Now, I’m following him, and he looks like he’s desperately trying to find me. When we get near the entrance to an alley, I whistle, he turns, and I clock him one. The guy goes down with one punch, but I’m not buying it. I drag him into the alley and prop him up against a wall.

  “Okay, Pete,” I say to myself as I pretend to be talking to someone, “…,should we cut off his left or right hand?”

  My pursuer’s eyes fly open as he looks around the alley.

  “That’s better. Okay, who are you, and what do you want?”

  “Hammer told me to follow you.”

  “Why?”

  “Wants to know if you’re legit.” The guy's beady eyes dart all around, I’m assuming looking for an escape route.

  “I’m legit, and I don’t like being followed.”

  The guy shrugs and holds out his hand to me. I grasp it in mine and pull him up. A searing pain goes through my side, and I look down to see a fucking knife sticking out of me.

  “Never underestimate a Harbinger, motherfucker.”

  A growl escapes me as I reach up and twist his head on his neck like a pretzel. Fuck! This is not how this was supposed to go. Sneaky motherfucker! I look at both ends of the alley, and no one is looking. I’ve been careless and let this fucker stick me. My DNA is all over him. I pull out the knife, and more blood runs out of me. It doesn’t feel like a bad wound, but it hurts like a bitch. I need a car. I go to the front of the alley, applying pressure to my wound and see if there are any cars available. Common sense kicks in. I go back, cover him up with rubbish that’s in the alley, and go in search of a viable car.

  As I leave the alley, a car zooms past with the bartender from the MC behind the wheel. I mentally take down the plate number as I walk quickly to find a car to steal.

  I walked three blocks before I was happy with the vehicle I stole. Once inside, I pull out my phone and dial a number from memory.

  “Johnston! How are you? It’s Jamison Felder.”

  “Felder? I thought you were out on leave?”

  “I was, I was. Hey, could you run a plate for me?”

  “Sure, of course. Let me have it.”

  I rattle off the plate and wait as Johnston works his magic.

  “Okay, plate belongs to a Suzannah Stone, lives at apartment 15B, Harrow Street—”

  “Thanks, got it. You’re the man!”

  “Wait, so what are you working on? Can I get in on it? They’ve got me—”

  “Sorry, Johnston, gotta go, but I’ll tell the bosses you were a great help.”

  I end the call, delete my phone’s history, and go back to the alley. The skinny guy weighs next to nothing as I load him into the trunk of the car. I drive it close to where the bartender lives, get out of the car, and she nearly runs me over.

  I look through the windshield, and she’s got a kid in the backseat. I look back at her, and she looks pissed, but she winds down the driver’s side window. I approach her slowly with my hands up, forgetting they are covered in blood.

  “What the f-hell?” asks Suzannah.

  “I need your help, Suzannah Stone.”

  “How the hell do you know that?”

  “Never mind about that. I know who you are and…” I look past her to her son. “Do I really have to say more?”

  Suzannah stares straight ahead, chewing her bottom lip.

  “M-Momma?”

  She twists in her seat to stare at her son.

  “Yes, baby?”

  “Is the man okay?”

  “Yes, Jack, this a friend of Momma’s from work. He just needs our help, and then we can go and get you that kitty, okay?”

  The little guy nods, and Suzannah pins me with a look.

  “If you so much as look at him again, I’ll end you. Got me?”

  “Fair enough. I need you to follow me.” I stand, place my hand back over the wound, then bend back down. “Don’t be stupid, Suzannah. Jack depends on you.”

  I tap the hood of her car, get back in the stolen car, and drive out of the city. When I feel like we are far enough away from the main highway, I stop. Suzannah gets out of the car and comes charging up to me.

  In a loud whisper, she says, “What the fuck? How do you know me? And what do I have to do to get my son and me away from you?”

  “Calm down. I don’t mean you any harm. I’m after Darius Todd and Thomas Strike.”

  “Darius is the VP of the Harbingers of Death and Thomas Strike is Hammer. You’ve already met him.”

  Fuck, Thomas Strike is Hammer?

  “Strike is Hammer?” I ask stupidly.

  “Yeah, get it? Strike,” Suzannah raises her hand in a fist and brings it down. “Hammer.”

  “Great,” I reply as I turn around and look up at the sky. I must be fucking tired not to put that together.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  “Need to torch the car. Then I need you to patch me up. Can you do that?”

  “I can do that. Then you’ll tell me how you know the real me and let me be on my way?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Safely?” Suzannah asks forcefully.

  “I got no beef with you.”

  SUZANNAH

  Before I’d let whoever he is in my car with my son, I grabbed a towel out of one of the suitcases and told him to keep it pressed to his side. I also didn’t want his blood in my car.

  “What do we call you?” I ask.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Jack and I need to call you something.”

  I glance at the kid, and he smiles big at me.

  “Vince, you can call me Vince.”

  “How did you know my name and Jack’s?”

  He gives me a frown then sort of smiles to himself.

  “People in low places.”

  “Up here, take the next exit, then find the first drugstore. There’s a Super Eight not far from here. I can give you cash, but you book the room in your name.”

  “What do you need from the drugstore?”

  “Bandages, disinfectant, a needle, and thread.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “If I help you, you have to let us go. Jack and I are leaving this city behind us.”

  “We’re getting a kitty!” yells Jack from the backseat.

  “Is that so, little man?” I ask.

  “That’s what Mommy calls me! How did you know that?”

  “You look like a little man, that’s all.”

  My son grins at this monster. He knows more about us than I thought. He knows our names, and he knows my nickname for Jack. Who the hell is he?

  “There’s a drugstore up here,” I state.

  “Good. I’ll watch Jack while you get the supplies.”

  “No f-bloody way!”

  �
��I can tell you’re a good Mom by the way you censor yourself, Suzannah. I can’t go in there bleeding all over the place, someone will notice. Jack and I will be fine, won’t we, Jack?”

  “Yes!” yells Jack from the backseat, and I cast a glare at Vince.

  “I swear if you—”

  “Yeah, I know, I know. Jack and I will be fine.”

  I pull up sharply into a carpark and look at Vince.

  “Be calm, Suzannah. Jack and I are going to sit here and see how high we can count. If we get to two hundred, well… let’s hope we don’t get to two hundred.”

  His meaning is clear. I want to reach over and scratch his eyes out, but Jack is in the car. I’m shaking and can feel tears in my eyes, Vince stares at me and smiles. He fucking smiles. All I want to do is hurt him.

  “Say goodbye to Momma!” Vince says cheerfully to Jack.

  “Bye, Momma!”

  I reach over and touch Jack’s face. “Bye, little man.”

  As I’m about to get out of the car, Vince grabs my arm. “Don’t hurry. Don’t make a scene. Get in, get what we need, and leave.”

  “Gummi Bears!” yells Jack.

  “And get Jack Gummi Bears.”

  “Yay!”

  I smile at Jack. “Gummi Bears, it is.”

  Opening the car door and walking away from Jack is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It’s always been him and me. I’ve protected him from his asshole father and then the next loser I hooked up with. That was it for me with men, no more. My boy deserves better, and now look what I’ve gone and done. I went to work in that shitty bar, and trouble has found me. Found us.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” asks a lady in the same aisle as me.

  “Y-yes, my son cut his hand is all and, I need to get some bandages. Boys will be boys, you know?”

  “Oh my, yes! They bleed like stuck pigs, and it terrifies and makes us angry all at once! I’ve got four boys and one girl. She’s never been an ounce of trouble but the boys? Wait till he breaks his first bone.” The woman nods at me sympathetically and goes on her way.

  I buy everything Vince told me to buy plus Gummi Bears, some protein bars, and a small can of deodorant that hopefully, I can use as a weapon. I put this in my pocket after I’ve paid for everything. When I get back to the car, Jack is all smiles.

  “Momma! Did you get me some Gummi Bears?”

  “Yes, baby, I did.”

  Vince takes the bag off me and goes through it. He holds up the Gummi Bears.

  “Look what I found!”

  Jack laughs and claps his hands. I look at Vince, and he’s scanning the parking lot.

  “I did what you said. In and out, no one knows anything.”

  Without looking at me or acknowledging me, he says, “Let’s go. There’s a Super Eight not ten minutes from here.”

  Vince points in the direction he wants me to drive, and I do as he says.

  WRAITH

  Suzannah is so stressed out about her kid that she doesn’t realize she’d told me his name. All I had on her was her name. Calling him ‘little man’ was just sheer goddamn luck. I can’t figure her out. In the bar, she looked like any other club whore, but looking at her now, worried about her son and all covered up, she could be a soccer mom.

  We pull into the hotel, and she doesn’t ask any questions. Suzannah glares at me, smiles at her kid, and goes into the office. When she comes back, she moves the car so it’s nearer the room. And she’s picked one at the end. Smart.

  As we get out of the car, I say, “You’ve been in trouble before.”

  Suzannah has her son clutched to her chest. “What do you mean?”

  “Are we in trouble, Momma?”

  “No, baby. Vince is being silly! Let’s get inside,” Suzannah says, giving me a hard look.

  I ruffle his hair, and she sidesteps me into the room. Once inside, I shut the door and check the bathroom. No one is in here, but it pays to be careful.

  “Now, little man, Momma needs you to eat this before you have any Gummi Bears, okay?”

  “Do I have to?”

  “Yes, Jack, you do, and I want you to drink a glass of water as well.”

  Suzannah pushes past me and fills up a plastic cup for the kid, then turns on the television and looks at me.

  “Now what?” Suzannah asks with her hands on her hips.

  “Jack, your momma and I are just going to be in the bathroom. You stay out here and watch TV, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Jack’s eyes are already fastened to the television, so he largely ignores me. I point at the plastic bag full of supplies and go into the bathroom. Suzannah follows moments later.

  I peel off my shirt, but the t-shirt underneath is stuck to me, so it’s going to hurt like a bitch. I sit on the toilet seat and psych myself up for the pain that’s coming.

  “Let me help you.”

  Suzannah reaches down and pulls it over my head. I suck in a breath and grit my teeth at the searing pain.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I shake my head and look down. The blood that was staunched with my t-shirt is now flowing again.

  “Need you to apply disinfectant to the wound with clean bandages, then I need you to stitch me up.”

  Suzannah pales, and I think she's going to decline, but she nods.

  I’m lying on the bed. Suzannah is beside me, and Jack is asleep on the other side of her. My side aches, but she did a good job of repairing me.

  “Tell me about Darius and Hammer.”

  Suzannah looks at me. “They are mean, they are connected, and they are deadly.”

  “So am I.”

  Suzannah scoffs. “Yeah, that’s why you were bleeding all over the bathroom floor, and they weren’t.”

  “One of their men took me by surprise. It won’t happen again.”

  “Rat. He was sent to follow you. If he hasn’t already reported back, you’re as good as dead.”

  “He hasn’t reported back.” Suzannah quirks an eyebrow at me. “Why do you think I torched the car?”

  “Why would you tell me that? I didn’t know a fucking thing, and now I know that!”

  “I’m not after you,” I state calmly. “You know anything about their business dealings?”

  “Only the bar. I know they’re into some shady shit, but I’ve got nothing to do with that.”

  “So you just serve the animals and turn a blind eye?”

  Pointing to her son, she says, “You see this right here? He’s my reason. I’d do anything to keep him fed and safe.”

  “How come you’ve got your car all packed up then? You leaving?”

  “Hammer fucking happened. I’m not a whore. He told me that I could run the bar, and I’ve been doing a dammed fine job for the last three months, turning a profit.”

  “You skimming?”

  “Not too much so they’d notice. Just enough for a nest egg for Jack and me.”

  “You think he noticed?”

  Suzannah shakes her head. “No fucking way.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “Hammer just wanted to dip his dick, and I don’t roll that way.”

  “Lesbian?”

  “Do I look like a lesbian?” Suzannah asks, rolling her eyes.

  I shrug. “No, but I’ve been wrong before.”

  “Then you have lousy taste in women.”

  “Now, that I can agree with you. So why’d you refuse?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Suzannah loud whispers. “I’m a proud female, and if I choose to take you into my bed, you better treat me right and show me respect! Not push me down on a table and just go at it!”

  She’s got balls. I nod at her. “Fair enough. Can you tell me anything about either of them or the MC?”

  “Darius has an ‘ole lady. For a biker, he’s loyal to her. Hammer is only loyal to the greenback and his MC.” Suzannah strokes her son’s hair and asks, “Why do you want them so bad?”

  “I had a daughter. They took her fr
om me.”

  “How?”

  “I worked overseas a lot. My wife started banging the guy next door. Ann started skipping school. I should have come home, but I didn’t want to deal with it. My wife sent me a message telling me Ann had run away. I came home as soon as I could, but it took a month. By then, all the leads were cold.”

  “What makes you think the Harbingers have her?”

  “I went through her life. It’s what I do. Their fingerprints were everywhere. They used her and threw her away.”

  Suzannah’s face softens. “Is she dead?”

  “I think so. Her trail went stone cold, a sign that they got rid of her. All I want now is revenge and to find out where they left her body.” I sit up on the side of the bed, feet firmly on the floor. “Closure, I need closure and a good old dose of revenge.”

  “You don’t need us for that.”

  I look down at Jack’s sleeping form. Guilt washes over me.

  “No, I don’t. Tell me where Darius’ woman is, and you’re free to go.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “I was going to mace your ass.”

  “What?” I ask, stunned.

  “Well, not really mace,” Suzannah reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small can of deodorant. “But it would have stung like a mofo.”

  I take it off her. “Pine scent? Yep, this would have crippled me,” I say with a wink.

  “I knew it,” Suzannah says with a smirk.

  “Why’d you change your mind?” I ask.

  “I would do anything for Jack, and I have. So I get it. We want a better world for our kids. How old is Ann?”

  “She’s just turned sixteen.”

  Suzannah slides off the bed, trying hard to keep Jack from waking. “That’s a rough age. You have to watch them.”

  “I wasn’t there for Ann or her mother. I let them both down, but she had one job, and that was to keep our girl safe. Not sure I could ever forgive her.”

  Suzannah nods and stretches. I look from her to her kid.

  “Where’s the father?”

  “Jack’s dad isn’t in the picture. Never really was. A two-time loser.” Suzannah frowns and looks down at her son. “It’s just him and me. It’s all we need.”