by Jamie Begley
“That wouldn’t have been any fun.”
Drake ground his teeth together. “Where … is … she?”
“I … do … not … know.”
So help him God, he was going to strangle his cousin.
Drake shut his laptop, getting to his feet. “Which direction did she go?”
“Out of town.”
“Which direction?” Drake was almost at his car.
“Toward Jamestown.”
Drake started his car. “I’ll try to catch up.”
“Why are you going to do that?”
Drake strangled the steering wheel. “Because I want to know where she’s going, asshole.”
“There’s no need to get nasty. Dustin will call when she gets where she’s going.”
“Dustin’s following her?”
“Yes.”
“You could have told me that to begin with!”
“That wouldn’t have been any fun.”
“You know that new truck I promised you if you and your brothers kept an eye on her?”
“Yeah?” Greer’s voice became wary.
“It just got downgraded from a half-ton to a basic pickup. Fuck with me again, and you’ll be driving that old truck of yours until it’s so rusted you’ll be able to see through it.”
Chapter 15
Bliss jumped up when she saw Drake walking toward her in the waiting room. His face was pale and worried. She didn’t know how he had known where she was, and she didn’t care right then.
“Why are you here?” he asked. “Are you sick? What’s wrong?”
She grabbed his arm, frantically shoving him toward the woman behind the registration desk. “She won’t let me see Darcy. Make her let me see her.”
“You’re okay? It’s Darcy who’s sick?”
Bliss nodded frantically. “Make her let me see her. Please, Drake. I’ll make it up to you later. I promise…”
Drake came to a sudden stop. “Go sit down and let me talk to her.”
Bliss looked like she was about to argue, but she saw from his expression that it wouldn’t help. Blinking back her tears, she went to sit down, but he stopped her.
“Don’t ever think you have to bribe me like that ever again. If you want something from me, all you have to do is fucking ask. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Drake’s expression softened. “Now, go sit down and let me get you in to see her. Okay?”
“Okay.”
His confidence soothed her as no other reassurances could. She took a seat and watched as Drake talked to the woman. From her expression, Bliss could tell she wasn’t telling him shit.
Her hands gripped each other tightly to keep herself from going back to his side. Her resolve almost broke when he stepped away from the desk to take out his cell phone. He talked for several minutes before he handed his phone to the woman behind the desk.
Her attitude underwent a drastic change after whoever was on the other line spoke to her. She then handed the phone back to Drake, who returned it to his pocket.
He continued to stand there, talking to her for several seconds, before he walked away and came back to Bliss.
“Let’s go. She’s not here. They’ve airlifted her to the children’s hospital in Lexington.”
Bliss’s knees buckled but Drake caught her, steadying her.
“Why? What’s wrong with her?”
“Pneumonia.”
* * *
The drive to Lexington was three hours long. Bliss felt as if the trip were never-ending.
“You hungry?”
She felt too sick to her stomach to even think of food. “No. How did you get them to tell you?”
“I called her social worker, and because I have guardianship over Cal, they let me have the information.”
“Oh, God. Cal is going to be worried sick. Should we call?” Bliss reprimanded herself for not thinking of calling Cal. He deserved to know what was going on with his sister more than she did.
“I texted Rachel. She and Cash are driving him down. They’re not far behind us.”
“Her father?”
“I’ll call the prison that son of a bitch is in when we find out how she is.”
“She has to be bad to be airlifted out, doesn’t she?”
“Yes.”
A small sob escaped Bliss at his answer. “She was looking forward to Christmas.”
“She’s going to be all right, Bliss.”
Drake couldn’t understand, but she did. Sometimes, there just weren’t the happy endings you read about in books.
“How much longer?”
“Another thirty minutes.”
Bliss prayed for the little girl the whole way. It was only when they were entering the lobby that she thought to ask if they would be allowed to see her.
“I’ll get us in.”
Drake was as good as his word, although it took a frustrating hour before they were led to her room. Darcy was lying in a bed while a woman she didn’t recognize sat in a chair, watching the television on the wall.
She stood up when Bliss went to Darcy’s bedside.
“Who are you?”
“We’re family,” Drake answered. “You can call your supervisor. Sit outside. If we need you, we’ll let you know.”
“I can’t leave her side,” the woman argued.
“Call your supervisor.”
Bliss didn’t care if the woman stayed or left as long as they let her see Darcy.
The little girl was hooked up to an IV pump. Her face was flushed, and her cheeks were tear-streaked.
“Darcy?” Bliss whispered. She didn’t want to wake her, but she wanted the girl to know she wasn’t alone anymore.
“Miss Bliss?” Darcy’s eyes fluttered open.
“Hi, sweetie. I heard you were sick, so I want to stay with you until you feel better. Is that okay?”
She nodded. “I’m afraid. The needles hurt.”
Bliss had to bend lower to hear her whispered words.
“They’re giving you medicine to make you feel better.” God, how she was praying the life-saving drugs were working.
Her hand with the IV lifted to touch the side of Bliss’s head. “Are you sick?”
“No. I just got a haircut.”
“I don’t like it.”
“It’ll grow back.”
“It has to grow back a lot.” Darcy’s eyes were transfixed on the missing hair.
Bliss touched the little girl’s soft cheek. “I know.”
“Do you think Santa can find me here?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Bliss hid her anguish, remembering clearly what Darcy had told her what she wanted for Christmas. The girl was doomed for disappointment wherever she was going to be Christmas morning.
“I’m sure,” Bliss stated positively. “Santa wouldn’t miss stopping for you. You’ve been the best little girl in the world.” Even if Darcy couldn’t have her mother back for Christmas, Bliss promised herself she would shower the little girl with the other things she had glued down on her paper. She had already purchased the majority of them.
“Really?”
“Really. I should know, you made my Christmas wish come true.”
“How?”
Bliss wiped the tearstains away from Darcy’s flushed cheeks. “You smiled at me when you opened your eyes. Your smile is the only Christmas present I need.”
“Can you stay with me?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Bliss promised.
“I can’t find my blanket.”
Bliss turned to find Drake, already knowing it was another problem he could fix.
“I’m on it.” Drake reached out, squeezing Darcy’s toes through the blanket. “Cal’s here to see you.”
“Bubby’s here?” Hope filled the little girl’s voice.
Bliss was going to get Drake to talk to Darcy’s social worker about increasing how much time Cal could spend with his sister each week.
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“I’ll get him and bring him here.”
“Okay. Don’t forget my blanket.”
“I won’t.”
Darcy looked up at her after Drake left. “I like him.”
“I do, too.”
Darcy dozed off not long after she saw Cal, and Bliss sat by her bedside for the rest of the night, refusing to leave even when Drake told her that he and Cal would stay. He didn’t argue, having a nurse bring in a small cot for her to sleep on.
“You go to a hotel with Cal,” she told him. “I’ll be all right here with her.”
“Jace is outside. They can get a room and come back in the morning.”
“You’re staying?”
“Bliss, I keep on telling you I’m not going anywhere without you.”
The conviction in his voice tempted her to believe in him. Just once, she really wished she believed in miracles.
Chapter 16
“Are you sure she’ll be all right?” Bliss could see her breath in the cold air as they stood in the patient loading area in front of the hospital.
Darcy was going home after a week in the hospital. The little girl had been happy to hear she was leaving until Bliss had explained it would be after Christmas before she would be able to see her again.
“For the thousandth and one time, yes, I’m sure. She has to go back to the new foster home the State placed her in. We can’t stop it.”
“I know.”
It didn’t make it any easier as Bliss waved good-bye to Darcy, who was waving at her from the car window.
“It won’t be for long,” Cal vowed, also waving at his sister. “As soon as I get back to town, I’m going to try to get guardianship of her. The semester is over, so not only am I done with school but I’m eighteen now.”
“What about going into the service?” Drake’s surprise showed it was the first time Cal had mentioned the plan.
“Darcy is my sister. Family comes first.”
“You’ve been dreaming of going into the service for the last two years,” Drake replied.
“You don’t always get what you want. I was being selfish by thinking I could leave her behind. I was hoping she would be happier with the Wests, since they have more than I could ever offer her. Now she’s at a different home, and I’m not going to sit back and watch her being moved from home to home. It’s not going to happen. I won’t take the chance on anything else happening to her.”
“Have you told Jace?” Drake asked.
“I’ll tell him on the way back to Treepoint. He’ll understand.”
“Yes, he will.” Drake patted him on his shoulder. “I’ll see you back in town.” He left to get the car as Jace pulled up to pick up Cal.
He stepped forward to get in, but Bliss stopped him.
“Cal … I wish there was something I could do. I would take her, but the courts would laugh in my face if I applied to be a foster parent.”
He looked at her in shock. “You want Darcy?”
“More than anything in the world. I love her, but the State will want character references, and I can’t give many that would convince them to trust me with her.”
Cal leaned down, placing a kiss on her cheek before getting into the car. “I can think of several people who would give you a great character reference, but I won’t let her go to another foster home. The next home she goes to is going to be her forever home.”
“That takes me out.” Bliss hid her disappointment. “I haven’t even found my own.”
The house she lived in was just that: a house. Ginny had given Willa a down payment, so it was Ginny’s forever home, not hers.
Drake pulled up behind Jace’s car as Cal rolled down his window.
Bliss leaned down into it. “You two be careful driving back. It’s a long drive for your junker.”
“Don’t insult the car. It’s better than walking,” Jace jokingly boasted.
“Not much,” Bliss teased, stepping back.
“It’s beautiful.” Cal smiled, rolling the window up in starts and stops.
“We need to fix that,” she heard Jace tell Cal as they pulled away.
She got into Drake’s car, mumbling.
“What did you say?”
“That car is ugly as shit.”
“It’s a classic.”
“Who did you buy it from?”
“Crazy Bitch.”
“Doesn’t that say it all?”
* * *
Bliss tiredly turned out the daycare lights. The Christmas party had wiped her out. Anyone who didn’t believe candy affected children needed to work in a daycare during a party. They had practically been hanging from the lights when the parents had started arriving. She had already told Jessie that the following year, they were having vegetable trays, and that was all.
“Are you still going to be around next year?”
Bliss realized then what she had unconsciously said.
“I guess so, unless another parent packs in a tray of Willa’s cupcakes. Then I want that day off or double pay.”
“I’m not making any promises. Those cupcakes are worth hiring extra help for the day.”
On that note, Bliss offered to close up for her.
“I appreciate it. I’m meeting my brothers at the diner for dinner.”
“Have a Merry Christmas. I’ll see you next week.”
Jessie left, still laughing about the kids’ sugar high.
It was the day before Christmas Eve, and the daycare wouldn’t reopen until the second day of January. Bliss was going to miss the children, but she would definitely enjoy the break.
The cold wind hit her as soon as she opened the door. She hurriedly closed and locked it, dreading getting into her cold car. When was she going to remember to automatically start the car so it would be warm when she got inside?
It was in the empty side parking lot where Drake was usually parked because he had been following her home after work. However, he had called earlier to tell her he was showing Cal an apartment and would see her later that night.
She was almost to her car when she heard motorcycles coming down the street. Wondering which Last Riders were riding, she stopped to look. That was her first mistake. Her second was not running like hell when Stark rode in, accelerating his motorcycle toward her.
She simply froze, putting her hands up to cover her eyes, temporarily blinded by his headlight and the dozen others following behind him.
“You have a choice, bitch. Either get on, or the only thing going in that pussy of yours from now on will be the worms eating your dead body.”
Bliss lowered her hands to see he had a gun pointed toward her face.
“You might as well shoot. I’d rather be dead than have you touch me!” Bliss yelled, making no effort to run. She wasn’t going to try to outrun a bullet.
When Stark grabbed the scarf around her neck that was blowing in the wind, Bliss tried to yank it back. She gave a strangled scream of terror when she saw his hand disappear in a red mist of blood. It splattered both her and Stark, and she fell backward as gunfire erupted around her.
She landed on her ass as the bikers surrounding her fell off their motorcycles, one after the other.
“Get in your car!” Dustin Porter yelled, running across the parking lot toward her.
Bliss got on her knees, crawling toward her car and whimpering, expecting to feel a bullet any second.
She reached her car just as a huge biker dropped next to her, his face no longer there.
“Oh, God … Oh, God,” Bliss chanted in terror.
“Move that ass!” Greer Porter yelled, stepping in front of her, his rifle blasting a biker who had been about to shoot.
“I’m trying!” Bliss screamed back at the man who had already picked another target, shooting a large biker who was trying to escape.
Greer laughed. “Like shooting sitting ducks.”
“Oh, my God, you’re crazy!” Bliss rose up on her knees to reach her car door handle.
She froze again, watching as Tate Porter drove his pickup into the parking lot, ramming the bikers with his truck. Bliss wanted to vomit. He was running them down without mercy.
She finally had her car door open and was trying to scramble inside when she felt herself picked up and tossed in. She heard the door slam as she landed, sprawled across the front bucket seats.
“Stay down!” Drake’s harsh voice startled her into rising, her own safety forgotten as she struggled to see what was going on outside.
“Drake!” Bliss screamed as he ran toward Stark, who was shooting at him.
She saw blood blossom on his shirtsleeve before he threw himself at Stark, knocking both of them to the ground. Drake’s fists pounded Stark’s face before he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a knife.
Bliss watched in dismayed horror as Drake buried his knife in the biker’s throat then raised it again to bury it in his chest, dragging it downward in one stroke.
What he did next had her turning away, unable to watch any longer. The devil wasn’t going to be left with a choice that time. Stark was on his way to hell.
Chapter 17
“I ain’t taking credit for that.”
Drake stood, wiping his bloody knife off on his pants leg. “Don’t worry, Greer. I’ll make sure Knox knows I did it.”
“Is he dead?” he asked, bringing his rifle down to poke at the limp body.
Tate rolled his eyes at Greer.
“What in the hell do you think?” Dustin said, looking between the brothers blocking his view. “He’s sucking his own dick.”
“Drop your guns,” Tate ordered. “Here comes Knox. I don’t want to give him any excuse to shoot us.”
The four men dropped their weapons to the pavement as the sheriff parked his squad car in the middle of the street. There were too many dead bodies and broken bikes for him to pull into the parking lot.
“You think he’s going to be pissed?” Greer asked.
“Look at that face. What do you think?” Drake prepared for the blasting Knox was going to give for not calling him and letting the police handle Stark.
“Any of them alive?” Knox asked, his face a calm mask as he walked up, looking over the bodies littering the ground.
“I just shoot them if they move. None’s moved, so I’d say they’re all pretty much dead,” Tate answered, keeping his eyes on the bodies as if one would suddenly jump up.