by Lee Wardlow
“Merci,” Mom shouted for her. “God knows where that girl is. She and Seth have been sniffing around each other.”
I wanted to laugh but it wasn’t funny. Disa looked at me with troubled eyes. “Should we still get married in two weeks?” She asked.
“Yes,” mom informed her.
“That answers that,” I told her. Then I kissed her forehead.
Merci entered with Seth right behind her. “I called for Merci not you,” she informed my brother glaring at him. He stuttered like the young pup he was when Mom was angry, not like the rest of us who were used to her blustering. “Go back to the living room.”
He exchanged looks with Merci then she nodded at him.
“How do you not know about Ron Parson’s criminal activities?” Mom asked. She was suspicious of her now. I could tell. “You were his wife.”
Merci glanced around the room. She was nervous. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she declared.
“I’ll bet you do.” Mom took a few steps towards her. “You aren’t so innocent, I bet. You were in on it, weren’t you?” Colombo couldn’t have done better but Mom was questioning the wrong suspect.
Merci was wide-eyed and afraid. She was twenty-three and lived a sheltered life on the compound. She was innocent.
Mom poked her shoulder. I cleared my throat and handed Asia to Disa. I stepped over to my mother. “What are you doing?”
“She knows more than she’s telling,” Mom insisted.
“Mom she doesn’t. He isolated her from everyone and everything at the compound.”
“That’s true,” Lilah spoke up. “Merci was lonely.”
Her lower lip trembled. She had tears staining her cheeks when she gazed at my mother and snapped. I mean literally, she snapped. She shoved my mother back. “I was his prisoner,” she shouted. “I’m not spy or whatever you think of me.”
I stepped between them. Mom was shocked right now. It wouldn’t take her long to recover. I didn’t want her to retaliate.
“He came to me whenever he felt like it. It was my duty,” she spat the word at Mom like it disgusted her, “to please him. I just wanted to die, Mrs. Hatfield. I hated his touch. I hated his body rutting in mine like a dog. I was nothing to him but a body. A blonde who served his needs. We,” she pointed to Disa and then herself, “look like someone he lost a long time ago.” Then the tears really started rolling down her face. “He’s crazy. Sometimes he would call me by her name.”
“What’s her name?” Dad asked.
“Bella Michaels,” Merci said the name and Disa’s knees buckled. Dad caught her. We turned to her. I went to her and took Asia from her.
“What?”
Her head was shaking back and forth.
“What Disa?”
“It can’t be,” she said.
“Disa, baby, what is it?”
“Bella Michaels is my aunt. Jasmine’s mother.”
I turned and faced Merci. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “How did you not know her name?”
“I didn’t,” she cried.
Disa grabbed my arm and held it tight. I gave Asia to Mom. “What baby, what is it?” I asked her.
“Merci wouldn’t know her. I didn’t know Jasmine or my aunt’s name until Jasmine showed up on my doorstep when she was eighteen.”
“Is he Jasmine’s father?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she cried. “I don’t know much about my aunt other than I look like her and so does Merci.”
“Heath,” Matt called to him.
He sauntered into the kitchen which was becoming crowded and filled with complication. I just wanted to go home and hide from this ever, growing mess.
Mom explained what we knew. He looked around me at Disa and then at Merci. “Now this is getting interesting,” he said.
He had a few questions. Things I had never thought of. “How do you and Jasmine have the same last name?” He asked. “I thought from the letter to Ben that I read her mother never married her father.”
“She did marry. She was married to my Dad’s brother, Davy Riley for a short period. He left the compound before Jasmine was born when he realized that the child she carried couldn’t possibly be his.”
Now things were starting to make sense. “How do you know this and not know you had an aunt or a cousin until Jasmine showed up at your doorstep?” Mom asked.
“Mom explained it.” She hung her head. “When she went grocery shopping every Wednesday at four, we secretly met for coffee. I could never tell anyone. If anyone at the compound found out, my mother would have been punished. I told her about Jasmine. She told me everything she knew about my aunt Bella, her mother.”
“Did she know Jasmine’s father?” Heath asked.
“No,” Disa replied. “They all thought my father’s brother was Bella’s baby’s father. It sent him into a tailspin.” She took my hand.
“My mother didn’t like Ron Parson from the beginning. She didn’t like the unnatural attention he paid to me and Merci. She encouraged me to leave when he asked my father for my hand in marriage.” She looked at me. “My mother knew how I felt about Ben. She always knew my secrets when I had no one else but her and Danni to tell them to.” I squeezed her hand.
“Is this helpful?” I asked.
“Could be,” Heath replied. “My friend, Jace is coming to Sherwood. Should be here tomorrow or the next. We’ll start investigating Ron Parson. See if we can find a connection between him and Bella Michaels.” He looked at Lilah. “Until then we go back into hiding. Let’s go ladies. Back to my cabin.”
Disa stepped away from me and hugged Merci. “I’ll see you soon.”
“No, you won’t. It’s too dangerous.” She glared at Heath. Then she chewed on her lip.
“What about my wedding to Ben?” She asked.
He rolled his eyes at her. “I’ll facetime her, so she can see it.”
She stepped over to my rather large brother. “You’re heartless, Heath. Do you know that?” Then she left the kitchen.
Heath turned his head and watched her go then he turned back to us. “Yeah, I am. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen. Let’s go, Lilah.”
Matt got up from the floor. He extended a hand to her. Her eyes traveled up to his face. “Get up,” he said. “Take my hand and get up.”
She slipped her hand in his and he lifted her from the kitchen floor. Matt guided her out the back door. I watched from the hallway. Heath followed behind with Merci bringing up the rear. She looked back at me and mouthed the words, “Take care of my sister.”
“I will,” I mouthed back to her.
Then she disappeared into Heath’s truck. He had them lying low where no one could see them. I saw Matt look around then he came back into the house shutting and locking the back door behind him.
He walked by me without saying a word. He got Justin and went home without saying goodbye to me, Mom or Dad. “What is with him?” I asked when I heard the front door slam shut.
AJ walked into the kitchen preventing Mom or Dad from responding. “I’m heading home. I have plans.”
He kissed Mom’s cheek and hugged Dad who stood for him. “Later kids,” he said then walked out. Again, the front door slammed shut.
While we were outside, the kitchen had been cleaned. The bullets were gone. Fragments or wood and drywall had disappeared as well.
“I’ll take Disa to pick out a dress this week,” Mom told me as if her home had not been shot up. She was burying it. I sighed.
“That would be nice, Mom.”
“We’ll have reception at the pub, if you want,” Dad offered.
“Sure Dad. That would be great. Thank you. I think we’ll head home now too.”
I wanted to spend time with my baby and Disa alone in my home. I wanted to put this crazy day behind us and pretend for a second that we were normal. The Hatfield’s were never normal. I was beginning to realize this and the crazy started with Rachel and Simon Hatfield.
I had a quiet night with Disa which we needed after the day that had turned into a nightmare. It felt good to be back at work on Monday and back into a normal routine where I knew what to expect.
Work was my haven where things weren’t disrupted by gunfire and a stalker named Ron Parson. For a brief time, I could put it out of my mind and pretend I had uncomplicated again if only from nine in the morning until I managed to leave at night.
Every morning I dropped Asia and Disa off with Mom. Dad was there until the pub opened at three. Then Seth came to their house and stayed until another brother could get there to stay with them and the kids.
We had it all planned. We crossed every T and dotted every I to protect our women and children. Times were tough for the Hatfield’s right now.
On Friday, I was heading into the break room for lunch. Everyone was gathered around the television mounted on the wall. I saw a fire out of the corner of my eye and ignored it. I had too much work to focus on trouble around the city someplace.
“An explosion…” I heard the word as I popped my chicken and broccoli into the microwave. Disa wanted me to eat healthier so she was making lunches for me that were healthy to take to work. “Two workers feared dead, inside the hall where the explosion occurred.”
I still wasn’t paying attention.
The microwave dinged, and I took my boring but healthy meal to a table and sat down to eat. At least she gave me two pieces of grilled chicken. In one week, we were going to be married. In three weeks, my daughter was legally in my sole custody. Things were looking brighter if we could get the Ron Parson’s issue under control my life would be perfect.
Then it happened. The guys surrounding the television called my name. I glanced over. “What?”
“Isn’t this your hometown of Sherwood?” Donny Hamilton asked me. A nice guy although a little slow. I thought he had it wrong. An explosion in Sherwood, deliberately set. A hate crime. Those were the words I had been subconsciously hearing.
Then I saw him on the screen. I slowly rose from my chair and walked to watch the interview with the guys. Ron Parson’s was aggrieved because of such a heinous act had terrorized his people. His face was grimy from soot from the fire as if he had fought the blaze himself.
“I’m weary,” he said. “Our hall where we celebrate birthdays, weddings and other events is gone.” He rubbed his hand across his nose like he was trying not cry. I shook my head. He was an actor. “We’re lucky no women or children were injured.”
I rubbed my hand over my face. My brother had orchestrated this attack somehow in retaliation for his man shooting up our parent’s house with us inside. Our babies lying on the floor where they could have gotten injured.
“We are peaceful, loving people who live here and never bother anyone.” I snorted at that comment and the guys looked at me.
“You know him?” John Miles, a floor foreman asked me.
“I do. He isn’t quite as innocent as he seems. More than likely this was retaliation for one of his criminal activities.”
“Wow, seriously,” Donny replied. He whistled between his teeth. “He’s a man of God, isn’t he? I forget what they called him.”
“An elder,” I supplied the answer. “They hide behind that title. The entire council is dirty but he’s the worst one.”
My other co-workers nodded.
Questions about insurance and rebuilding. “Luckily it wasn’t our church. This was our meeting hall. They must have thought they were bombing our church.”
“There was no mistake,” I said out loud then realized I needed to be quiet.
The guys looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and walked away. I sat back in my seat and finished my meal then I rinsed my bowl and told the guys I would see them later.
They were still engrossed in the massive explosion at Babylon First Church of God and Elder Ron Parson, an engaging man. He was. He was handsome and charming. He invoked sympathy for the people of his compound but people watching him didn’t know the real Ron. The ruthless man. The criminal.
I walked outside into the sunshine. It was a cool day in Winter now. We could no longer pretend that we didn’t need coats. I left mine at my desk. I just needed to make a quick phone call.
“Hey little brother, what’s up? Need a babysitter? Jace would love to watch Asia,” Heath declared when he answered. He was happy. Was it because he and Jace had blown up the Babylon First Church of God or because Jace was in town.
“Do you know anything about the explosion at the Babylon First Church of God?” I asked.
“Nope, I don’t.”
“Liar,” I said.
His laughter roared in my ear. I held the phone away until he was done. “Elder Ron wants to play games. I brought in the big guns. I’ll play with him.”
“You’re going to get us killed,” I warned him.
“Nope. I’ll finish him before that happens.” I shook my head. Heath truly loved this shit. I sighed. “Can Jace and I come over tonight for dinner?”
“Sure,” I replied.
“I’d like you to meet one of my best friends when I was in the military.” His voice had gone soft when he said that.
“I’d like to meet him,” I replied. Maybe it would give me perspective on how my brother had changed.
He chuckled. “We will pick up your girls and be there at seven when you get home.”
“Thanks. See you then.”
**
I was running a little late and didn’t get home until seven-thirty. When I arrived, there were more voices than I expected.
I went straight to the kitchen where my woman was cooking a feast. Heath got off work early so he had picked her and Asia up then. He had brought Merci and Lilah with him. For some reason, Matt and Justin were here too and AJ.
Jace was a woman named Jacey but the men in her platoon had called her Jace. Maybe it was so they wouldn’t notice the long, blonde hair or the big brown eyes that appeared almost too big for her face. She was stunning.
I shook her hand when Heath introduced me. Disa shot me a look over her shoulder that showed me she was as surprised as I was that Jace was a woman. A woman that was interested in Heath if I wasn’t mistaken.
She looked at my brother like he was the moon and the stars. She at the least idolized him. I hugged Merci and told I was happy to see her. I was sure that Disa was to. They were doing most of the cooking.
What I noticed next was Lilah was sitting on the floor play with Justin. AJ was engrossed in the television mounted on the wall. Matt, my stoic brother who swore off women after Layla broke him was pretending to watch the big TV too, but his eyes kept wandering to the woman entertaining his child.
I went to Disa and kissed her cheek. “I’m going to shower and change quickly.”
She nodded. She was glowing. This is when she was the happiest when my entire family surrounded her. I liked that about her. Jenny was like this too. Layla could only stand us in small doses.
I went through the living room and saw my daughter in the swing. I walked over to side of the swing and lifted her out. I snuggled her close and kissed her tiny forehead. I swear she smiled at me. I started to put her back when Matt said he wanted to hold her. He was sitting in my favorite chair, the recliner so I took a few steps and I passed my daughter to him.
When I turned, Lilah was gazing at my brother. Her eyes dropped quickly back to Justin as I passed by them.
In the bathroom, I turned on the water to let it warm up then I stripped and stepped beneath the steaming water. I liked it as hot as it could be, turning my skin pink. When I was clean I flipped the lever to off and opened the curtain. There stood my girl waiting on me. She handed me a towel. I dried my hair and wrapped the towel around my waist.
“A shame to cover any part of that body,” she teased me.
I tugged her to me and gazed down at her. “Really?”
She nodded.
I grinned at her. “What are you doing in her
e?”
“I just wanted to be held in your arms,” she responded. The huskiness of her voice told me there was more to her visit.
I brushed my lips across hers. “What else baby?” I asked. I knew there was more.
“Heath has started a war with Ron. He can’t possibly understand the depth of destruction he will go to get even and to get Lilah and think nothing of hurting whoever stands in his way,” she said.
I nodded and held her close. “I think he does,” I tried reassuring Disa. My brother wasn’t stupid. He knew what Ron Parson was capable of.
“Has he found out anything about his connection to my aunt?” She asked.
“I haven’t asked him.” I had taken the stance that the less I knew the better off my little family was.
She peeked up at me. Her shirt was damp from my body. I grinned at her again. She rolled her eyes at me. “I’m going to have to change my shirt.”
“Was it worth it?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” she declared and laid her head against my chest. “Ben are you afraid?”
Terrified. My brother was leading us into a battle I wasn’t prepared for. He might have killed people in the name of war, but I had not. I kissed Disa’s head. “Of course, I’m afraid. I don’t want anything to happen to you or Asia. My other family members either but I have to trust Heath.”
She glanced up at me. “So, you think this was a good idea for him to retaliate?” She asked.
Not in the least little bit. “I trust Heath.” I tap danced around my answer to her.
“Liar,” she said. She pulled away. “Get dressed. Dinner will be ready soon. I need to change my shirt.”
I tugged her back and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I won’t let anything happen to you or Asia,” I told her.
Disa nodded then started for the bathroom door. I tugged her back again. I wrapped my arms around her. “Believe in me?”
“Oh, I do but what I’m concerned about is that you won’t be able to protect us from the fallout of your brother’s craziness. He loves this,” she declared.
She wasn’t far off on that assessment.
**
What I discovered at my dining room table surrounded by my family was that Matt was trying hard to ignore Lilah while she focused on Justin.