“With me,” I said before I had a chance to think about it.
“Okay, I’ll stop in regularly to make sure that she’s doing okay. You can always call me with any questions and Hunter is also aware of what she needs.”
“Thank you. When can I take her home?”
“Why don’t you let her rest for a little longer and then you can take her.”
“Thank you, Kate.”
“You’re welcome.”
Kate went back toward the exam room and I sank down in a chair, finally able to breathe again.
“What do you want to do?” Cap asked as he sat down next to me.
“Aren’t you supposed to tell me that?” I asked, shooting him a look.
“Look, I don’t know what the hell this girl means to you now and how far you want to get involved. You know I don’t like to see innocents wrapped up in shit, especially with scum like the Blood Devils. But you don’t know what’s happened over the last seventeen years. You don’t know if she’s innocent or if she got involved in something too deep and couldn’t find a way out. So, I’m asking what you want to do.”
I leaned forward, resting my head in my hands. I ground the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to figure out what the hell I should do. He was right, I had no fucking clue what Ali had gotten herself into and I needed to find out before I got everyone at Reed Security involved.
“They can come home with me. I’ll find out what’s going on when she’s better and we’ll take it from there.”
“Take Ice and Jules with you. They stay with you until we know more. If they found her in Pittsburgh, then they probably know that she was headed for you.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t had anything to do with her in almost twenty years. They wouldn’t assume she would come to me.”
“No, but they’re going to want to know why she ran to Pittsburgh and it won’t take them long to connect the dots. Be smart about this, Chris.”
“You’re right. It’s been a long night. Let’s just get everyone settled and figure shit out.”
“You’ve got one hell of a source of information in that kid. I suggest you have a chat with him before Alison wakes up.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Once we got Ali settled at my house, I took Axel aside to have a chat. Jules and Ice were keeping watch outside.
“So, what can you tell me about what your mom has been up to the last seventeen years?” He looked at me warily, like he wasn’t sure if he could trust me. “I was your mom’s boyfriend a long time ago. I would never do anything to hurt her. I can understand that you don’t know who to trust right now, but I’m trying to help and the more information I have, the more prepared I can be.”
“As far as I know, she’s always been with Slasher. I don’t know why. He beats the shit out of her on a regular basis. He treats her like shit.”
“Does he ever beat on you?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal. “Not as much as my mom.”
There was a huge ache in my chest from hearing that she had been dealing with this shit for so long. Why hadn’t she run sooner? Why hadn’t I bothered to go back and check on her over the years?
“Is Slasher your dad?” He nodded. “Are you a part of the Blood Devils?”
“No, but Mom said that he was getting ready to initiate me. That’s why we ran.”
“Why didn’t she run sooner?”
“She tried,” he said, staring me down. The ache in my chest grew to a painful stabbing feeling. If she had tried to run before, that meant that this was a last ditch effort.
“Is the initiation still the same?”
“Killing someone? Yeah. How did you know?” he asked me warily.
“My brother was a Blood Devil. He didn’t want to join, but he didn’t think he had a choice.”
“I didn’t want to join either. I just didn’t think I had a choice. It’d be pretty disappointing if the leader’s son couldn’t pass the initiation.”
“So, Slasher’s in charge now?”
“Yeah, he killed Bullet five years ago and took over.”
I studied him for a moment, not believing that he turned out so normal. This kid didn’t look like a killer. He didn’t have gang tattoos and he didn’t talk like a thug.
“How did you turn out so normal? You don’t look like a gang member’s son.”
“Around Slasher, I had to talk like he wanted me to, but Mom always made sure that I knew how I was supposed to behave. I just don’t get it. I’ve never understood why she was with him. She seems to despise his life.”
The kid looked exhausted and I didn’t think I was going to get too much more information out of him tonight. Well, I wasn’t going to get the answers I needed, which seemed to be aligned with Axel’s questions. He was right, nothing about this made sense.
“Come on. I’ll show you to your room.”
He stood and followed me upstairs, taking his bag with him. I showed him his room and the bathroom and then told him where his mom was staying, which was in my room. I only had two bedrooms and I wanted to keep an eye on her. Or, at least, that’s what I told myself.
When he was settled, I went into my bedroom and checked on Ali’s breathing. She seemed to be doing okay, so I grabbed my Jack Daniels and a glass and sat down in a chair that I had brought up earlier from the living room to watch her sleep. I couldn’t help but think about all the things I had wanted for her and all the ways I had let her down.
“What do you want to do when we graduate?” I asked Ali as we laid out under the stars near my trailer.
“I think I want to be a doctor. What do you want to do?”
“I just want to get out of here. I don’t want to live in this town near my mom anymore. I want a life for myself.” I rolled onto my side and looked at Ali. “I want you to come with me. I know that’ll make it harder for you to get your degree and if you decide you don’t want to, I’ll understand. But you’re it for me, Ali. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life making you happy. I’ll work three jobs to get us by, whatever it takes.”
“Chris, it doesn’t matter if I become a doctor, as long as I have you. I can work my way through college. We could live in a crappy apartment and I would be happy as long as you were with me.”
“What about your parents? You know if you left with me, they would never speak to you again. They don’t like me.”
“They don’t like anyone that isn’t like them. But I don’t want to be like them, Chris. Ever since I met you, I feel like I’ve found someone that I really connected with. Someone that really understood me and cared to listen to me. Maybe my parents care enough to feed and clothe me, but they’re just as bad as your mom because they don’t really care about me.”
“I’ll always love you, Ali. I’ll always be there for you.”
Her life could have been totally different if I had taken her with me. But after my brother was murdered in front of me, the only thing I thought about was getting out. I had done that, but I had left her behind and it looked like that was almost a fatal mistake.
CHAPTER FOUR
Slasher
“I WANT HER and my kid back,” I shouted at my second, T-Bone. “I don’t care what the fuck you have to do to get them back here. No one walks away without my permission. When was the last time you heard from Crusher?”
“They were in Pittsburgh, but that was two fucking days ago and they ain’t pickin’ up now.”
“Fuck!” I roared, flipping over the table in front of me. I started pacing around the house, running my fingers through my hair. I needed something to take the edge off. I tried not to dip too much into our supplies, but when things got too intense, I did what I had to. If I started losing my shit in front of my guys, nobody would think I could still do the job. That was how I took out Bullet five years ago. He was weak and I saw my opening. I couldn’t afford to be weak now. I had to show everyone that the Blood Devils didn’t let anyone walk all over them.
“I�
�ll call Ruger. I’ll have him send out some scouts, find out where they are and who’s protecting them.”
“You want to involve the Night Kings?” T-Bone asked incredulously.
“We don’t have a fucking choice. You know as well as I do that if we go walking around on their turf, they’ll fucking kill us. It was one thing to just go grab Alison and Axel, but it’s another to start hanging around for days. We don’t need a war right now with them.”
“They’re gonna want at least fifty grand.”
I moved fast, wrapping my hand around his throat and shoving him up against the wall. “And I’ll fucking pay every last penny of it. My kid isn’t walking out of here with his bitch mother. That kid needs to learn his place and that’s here or in the fucking ground.”
T-Bone gave a slight nod and I released the pressure around his throat, taking a step back as he choked and gasped for air. “I’m making the call. Start getting the guys ready because as soon as we have some intel, we’re moving in and we’re getting them back.”
“Dead or alive?” he asked.
“The kid comes back alive. The bitch can be in a fucking body bag.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Alison
I GLANCED AROUND the unfamiliar room and tried to remember what had happened. The last thing I recalled was sitting at the bus station with Axel, waiting for Chris to arrive. This was a nice room, so chances were that Slasher hadn’t found me. I tried to sit up, but pain shot through my side and I had to ease back down onto the bed.
“Don’t try to move right now. You have a chest tube in.”
Chris’s deep voice rumbled across the room. I glanced to where he was sitting and saw him lounging in a chair and staring at me, holding a glass in his hand. There wasn’t much light in the room, so I couldn’t make out his features. I wanted desperately to see his face, to know what he looked like after all these years, but he just continued to sit in that chair and lazily sip his drink.
“What happened?” I asked.
“We got you and Axel out, but Slasher’s men came after you. Do you want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing with Slasher?”
His voice was low and menacing. I wasn’t expecting this level of hostility from him. He was the one that left me. He was the one that walked away and left me to deal with the fallout of his decisions.
“I didn’t choose to be with him,” I croaked out. My throat felt dry and rough. I coughed slightly, but cringed when pain shot through my side. What was wrong with me? I thought back and remembered the beating I had taken from Slasher. Broken ribs. That’s what the problem was.
Chris walked over to me and handed me a bottle of water, removing the cap first. I could see now that he had a cowboy hat on, but it hid the rest of his features. “Take small sips.”
I did as he said and felt the roughness ease in my throat.
“What do you mean that you didn’t choose to be with him? You have a son with him.”
“He’s not Slasher’s son.”
“Then why the fuck did you stay with him? Raise him with him?”
“I didn’t exactly have a choice,” I said, trying not to let the hostility into my voice. “He would have killed him if he knew who Axel’s father was.”
“Yeah? Who’s his father?” he sneered.
“You are,” I said quietly.
Chris stared at me, the rage on his face growing by the second. He shook his head slightly. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. I found out that I was pregnant the day you left. I wanted to tell you, but you were so insistent on joining the Blood Devils to save your brother. I figured the baby was safer if you didn’t know. You told me never to contact you again.”
He stumbled back a step and then turned toward the window, staring out at the darkness. “How did you end up with Slasher?”
“He came for me the day after you left. I figured that you joined and he was bringing me to you. He wasn’t. He took me and made me his. He said it was payment for you not joining.”
He turned to me stone faced, his jaw clenched with uncontrollable rage. “What the fuck do you mean ‘he made you his’?”
I just stared at him. I wasn’t going to spell it out for him. I had lived through it. I didn’t need to repeat it. “Exactly how it sounds.” I shook my head, refusing to think of those days anymore. It was in the past and that’s where it was going to stay. “I made him think that I was pregnant with his child,” I said softly. Every word I said hurt. My breaths were short and painful, but I had to tell him. “It was the only way that he was safe. He was actually happy when he found out. I thought that maybe everything would be okay. That my life wasn’t over.”
“If you knew I hadn’t joined, why didn’t you try to find me? I would have taken care of you.”
“I did try, but you were gone. I had no idea where you went.” I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself, but it hurt too much and tears slipped down my face. Every breath hurt more and more and I tried to hold in the whimper of pain, but it slipped out and Chris was immediately by my side.
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
I couldn’t answer, so I nodded slightly and closed my eyes, trying to focus on every breath. I felt the bed shift and then he was gone. I laid there for what seemed like forever, just trying to breathe through the pain, until finally a woman walked in with a kind smile.
“Hi, Alison. I’m Kate. I’m a doctor and I took care of you when Jack brought you in.”
I looked at her strangely, not sure who Jack was. I shook my head in confusion.
“Sorry,” she smiled kindly. “Chris. The guys call him Jack sometimes.”
I looked over at Chris, not understanding why they would call him that. He held up his glass with the amber liquid inside and shook it slightly. “Jack Daniels. It’s my drink of choice,” he said roughly.
“The guys all have these nicknames for one another and I never know who to call what. It gets very confusing.”
I gave a tentative smile as she sat on the edge of the bed and began examining me. Chris turned on the bedside lamp for her and I closed my eyes at the intruding light. She lifted my shirt and examined my side, where I saw a tube coming out. I glanced away, not wanting to see it, and met Chris’s concerned eyes. He was staring at me with an intensity I had never seen before. Now that I could see him better, I took in his handsome face. He was harder than before and his eyes were so dark and terrifying, but he was just as striking as I remembered. Only now he was all grown up and filled out very nicely.
He glanced away when he saw that I was watching him also. Kate finished examining me and then gave me some pain meds.
“You’ll need to start doing breathing exercises. It’ll help your lungs expand and heal. I’ll show you before I leave. You need to take it easy for a few days. Give your body a chance to heal. I’ll check back on you every day and when you’re doing better, we’ll see about getting you up and moving around.”
“Thank you.”
I already knew how to do the breathing exercises, having worked in a hospital, but it was different when I was the patient. She showed me how to do the breathing exercises, which hurt like a bitch, but she assured me would get easier every time I did them. When she left, I felt completely drained, but I didn’t want to go to sleep now that Chris was here. I felt safe for the first time in seventeen years and I was afraid if I went to sleep, I would wake up to find it had all been a dream.
Chris came to sit next to me and took my hand in his. He looked up at me from under his low riding cowboy hat, his dark eyes intense and full of questions. “Go to sleep. I’ll stay here with you.”
“I need to use the bathroom. Could you help me up?”
He pulled back the covers and slid his hands under my body, lifting me gently against him. The heat from his body warmed me instantly as he carried me into the bathroom and set me down on my feet. He held onto me for a minute, making sure that I could steady myself before walking to the do
or to give me privacy. When I was finished, I washed my hands and then slowly walked to the door, grimacing with every step. When he heard me, he turned around and glared at me.
“You should have told me you were done.”
I ignored him as he picked me up and put me back in the bed, pulling the covers back over me.
“Promise me something.” He nodded. “Don’t let Slasher get his hands on my son.”
His jaw hardened, but he nodded and went back to sit in his chair, picking up his glass and sipping from it as he watched me. I eventually slipped off to sleep, dreaming of dark, menacing eyes that used to bring me comfort. In my dreams, they were absolutely terrifying.
✯✯✯✯✯
The next few days were a blur to me. I was so doped up on pain meds that I didn’t really remember anything that was happening. The days seemed to fade into each other, but Chris was always there, sipping his drink in his chair as his eyes watched me. I vaguely recalled Axel stopping in, but I was too tired to talk. By the fourth day, I was awake enough to refuse the pain meds. Kate stopped by to check on me and deemed that it was now safe to remove the chest tube.
I still wasn’t able to shower for another forty-eight hours and I was really beginning to stink. I sat up a little in bed after she left, refusing the high dose of pain meds she offered and settled for some over the counter pain meds instead. I was tired of feeling doped up all the time.
Chris walked in the room after she left and for the first time in days, I studied him with a clear head. He was a lot bigger than I remembered. He had a lean, muscular frame, but he was taller. His hair was slightly shaggy. His dirty blonde locks hanging slightly around his ears, sticking out from under his cowboy hat. He had always worn it shorter when we were younger.
“You look different,” I said as I studied him. “You look huge.”
“Yeah, well, some good meals and the military will do that to you.”
Whiskey: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 7) Page 4