Vice pulled over but kept the engine running as I gestured up. “That was her window I crawled through so many nights.”
I envisioned Lacey’s long hair and knowing smile, remembering when I crawled through. Our lips would mash together as our bodies fought to be closer and closer…
From the back of the SUV, a lick swiped my cheek. I leaned my head toward this special dog. “You will love her, Charlie,” I whispered as I stared at the window, imagining the bed where we held each other, found comfort in each other…
Sitting next to me, Lynx said, “Son, you ready to go see your other home?”
I understood Lynx was attempting to confirm I owned these homes, to offer any glimpse of this power that was mine, but the coldness surrounding me made it impossible for his wisdom to reach me. That house wasn’t mine. In my heart, it never would be.
Nodding, I said, “Two blocks over.”
The neighborhood was barren since many were at work. Not many witnesses, but I still stayed in my hoody, wanting to be unseen. After the robot on Lynx’s phone announced something, Vice pulled over again.
Along with the hoody, the SUV’s darkly tinted windows kept me shielded as I stared at my childhood home. We were parked across the street, all staring at the spot where my life had been a true living hell. I held my cellphone tightly, glancing down to see Lacey sitting at her desk when I felt anxiety building.
“She’s safe,” Lynx kept reminding me.
Exhaling against the glass, I nodded, simply unable to speak.
It was almost like an out-of-body experience to study the house from a different view.
Different view…
Perception.
A fickle beast? Or a powerful gift.
The driveway was empty. My loud car that always made Lacey laugh was gone.
No lights were on inside the one-story block home with grey chipping paint. Two of the decorative shutters were half-hanging off the side of the house, and I couldn’t remember if they had always been like that. I was looking through eyes that could now see. Until now, I was always in survival mode, only paying attention to the necessities.
The browning grass was tall. I hadn’t been there to be yelled at and told to mow, so I guess no one was tending to it. Like at Lacey’s, the mailbox was overflowing with mail, and the front door was blocked by a collection of newspapers.
“Abandoned,” quietly mentioned Vice.
Dagger nodded. “Both homes. Where has everyone gone?”
Vice grumbled, “We were hoping to follow them to the location Lacey spoke about.”
Lynx’s voice sounded deep and deadly. “I know how to get those bastards back here.”
Dagger smirked over his shoulder. “For Sale signs.”
“That’s right. Get on the phone and get me a realtor who don’t mind cash sales.”
“Aw fuck, Prez,” chuckled Vice. “You going dark means it’s almost time to play.”
When he readjusted in his seat, Dagger eyed him. “Tell me you’re not getting a chub.”
Vice stared at my childhood home, his voice going deep. “Oh, it’s happenin’. I’ve been craving this revenge.”
I stared at the dark house, the one that housed my nightmares, and thought to myself… Maybe this time, the nightmares created won’t be mine. They will be… theirs.
“Pup, how close was your household to the neighbors?” asked Vice.
“Never shared a word with them.”
Dagger peered at Lynx. “Change of plans? Take advantage of no one here?”
Leaning into me to see better, Prez studied the house. “I do like to take advantage of perfect circumstances.”
Due to a hide-a-key, I had us inside with no delay, except for my stuttering heart. It was beating so hard, so fast, I was sure it was missing beats. The house smelled musty and felt haunted. The front living room looked as if it hadn’t seen a duster in years. Had it always looked like this? I was unaware of the home’s former condition because I was usually rushing through to get to my room without being noticed.
Through the living room window, I saw Charlie staring at the house through the SUV window. He was still being quiet like I had told him to be.
The three men with me were studying everything, slowly moving from the living room to the small dining room that was part of the eat-in kitchen. The round table had four chairs that weren’t properly pushed in, so we stepped around them. There was an odor coming from a trashcan that had never been emptied. Dirty dishes were piled in the sink. The dishwasher was open, half-full of clean dishes that no one had bothered to put away. Another duty that had been mine.
In the back living room, which had once been used as a den, a TV hung on the wall covered in dust. The couches had an array of items sprawled about as if no one ever bothered to clean up after themselves. There was even an open bag of chips on the coffee table. I hissed as a roach ran from the bag looking for cover. I hated roaches. I sometimes had woken with one on me in my bed. At the time, I thought I deserved the nasty bugs. Now, I was realizing my fake-family had been disgusting pigs.
Lynx, Dagger, and Vice kept moving about, touching things like the lampshades and picture frames on the walls.
Dagger reached into the fireplace and up into the shaft, then quietly said, “Nothin’.”
Lynx asked, “Kid, where was your room?”
To the left of the back living room was a hallway that led to bedrooms. The hallway sat behind the kitchen, which was toward the side of the house and continued all the way back to the front living room. My bedroom was the one at the back of the house.
On the floor in the corner of the room sat my mattress. I had one dingy pillow and two sheets, a minimal amount of folded clothes in my closet, and some hanging—
“Where the fuck is your furniture?” growled a highly agitated Lynx.
I pointed to my lamp next to my mattress.
While leaving us in the room, Lynx lit a cigarette.
Hostility in his grey eyes, I wasn’t about to mention there was to be no smoking in the house.
Vice’s eyes were locked on my toothbrush, next to my lamp. The bristles were all bent and worn. I could see he was now understanding my issue with such a simple item. But he had been kind and taught me my new reality.
“Hey,” I told him, “now I can have a hundred new ones, right?”
His jaw dislocated as he looked at me.
Smiling, Dagger shook his head while leaving the room. “They just don’t make them like you no more, Saint.”
In my brother’s rooms, there was an abundance of everything a teenage boy would want. Flat-screen TVs on the walls. Clothes not being taken care of, all over the floor.
My fake mom’s room was the same. Many pillows adorned her fancy bed. Wall to wall furniture. Purses, shoes… littered about.
Lynx lit another cigarette as he left her room.
In the living room, he slowly turned in a circle, puffing his smoke. “In plain sight. Talk to me, boys.”
Arms crossed over his chest, Vice asked me, “Where was your dad the most, that you can remember?”
“Pool and garage.”
The three men faced the back window and stared at the backyard I had told them had, years ago, been full of holes. That area had been thoroughly searched.
Then they looked at each other. Dagger shrugged. “A man’s domain is his castle.”
After Lynx put out his cigarette, sticking the bud in his pocket along with the other one, we headed to the garage.
I stayed in the doorway, staring, as Dagger and Vice started searching toolboxes and shelves. Again, the Prez circled in place. “In plain sight. Plain sight.”
Plain sight. Plain sight. Had I missed something? Was it right under my nose—
I suddenly remembered being so small, in the garage with my dad. He tapped my nose. “Always look up to see the light. It will lead the way.”
Still in the doorway, I peered up to the ceiling. In the center, hung a shop light fr
om small chains on each end.
Noticing me, Lynx leaned his head back to look straight up. “Pup, you said he was tall, right?”
My jaw felt like Jell-O. “Like you.”
Moving slightly to his left, he then faced me and stared at me as he got on his tippy toes and reached high, over the light. Then he froze. “In fucking plain sight.” Coming down flat on his feet again, he held a small journal and a VHS tape.
Of their own accord, my feet stepped forward and my hands reached out. I wanted to hold something that, besides Lynx, my father touched last. I wanted to open the little book because I was hoping my father’s handwriting would be in there. Suddenly, knowing what his penmanship looked like was dire to my heart. Was there a note in there for me? Would my dad speak from his grave?
“Uh, Prez?” uttered Vice, causing my feet to falter.
It seemed there was something else I was to hold first.
“Ah, shit,” mumbled Dagger.
As if already knowing what I was about to see would cause utter shock to quake my heart, I slowly and timidly looked at what Vice was holding.
It was an urn. With my father’s name engraved on it.
Everything went so quiet I could hear the blood rushing through my veins. Veins that my father had created. Veins that were the only ones left to carry on the Young blood. My father’s blood no longer existed. Everything his body once was, was now ashes.
Lynx growled, “They fucking stored that in the garage?”
As if handing me a dirty urn was disrespectful, Dagger found a rag and properly wiped it down, taking a gentle hold of the green marbled jar with a lid. With much care, he brought it to me. “Tate Young,” he handed me the urn, “it would be an honor if you would bring your pops home with us.”
No longer in control of my upper limbs, my broken heart took over and I held my dad… to my chest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Weaving Full Circles
In the garage, I stood there, holding what was left of my father. I couldn’t swallow. I could barely breathe. It was spooky to be cradling the large, formidable man I had idolized, now contained in an impossibly small jar.
Trying not to slip into shock, I looked up at Lynx. He stared at me while pulling his vibrating cellphone to his ear. “Talk.” After listening for a few seconds, his jaw locked. “Repeat.” More silence hung before his nostrils flared. Lynx seemed to be fighting to rein in a building rage. “Yeah, we’ll be there soon.” Slipping his cell in his pocket, he told Dagger, “Text your brother. We need an escort to the local chapter.” His jaw ticked. “The Stallion is dead. Poisoning confirmed.”
Dagger was already typing. “Fuck. He was supposed to make it.”
Vice growled, “Someone fucking got to him in the hospital.”
Lynx gave a nod. “Shit’s getting deep, boys.”
Blood rushed through my veins, all of it carrying adrenaline and guilt. This was my fault. I entered these people’s lives. Now, one was dead. I looked around the garage, expecting to see the fake-brothers.
Vice’s voice broke through my thoughts. “Prez, I’d like to move you out now.” He peered out one of the windows on the garage door. “Not wait for Diesel. I’m not liking the sitting duck sensation.”
I didn’t even see Dagger retrieve his gun, but he was palming it. “I second that. The people who killed him most likely know of these houses.”
My new family, in danger, because of me.
Being told I was nothing better than a pile of shit my whole life, I definitely didn’t feel worthy of all the sacrifices that were presently being made because of me. “Lynx, maybe if you leave me here—”
That man wasn’t interested in me being willing to sacrifice myself to save them and Lacey. With tense arms, he had a gun pointed toward the ground and the other pushing my shoulder to spin me around. Then, his firm grip took hold of the back of my neck.
Guiding me through the door and back into the house, he snarled, “This is no longer only about you and Lacey.” Vice was ahead of us, Dagger behind, both on high alert as we crossed the front living room. “These fuckers just made a huge mistake. They may worship the devil, but what they don’t know is, the devil bows down to me.”
At the front door, Vice held the doorknob while scanning the yard and street. “Prez, you’re giving me another chub.”
“Kid, let go of any guilt you got kickin’.” In military style, Dagger positioned himself at the front window, inspecting our surroundings. “The stampede that’s about to take place ain’t on you.” He nodded to Vice. “Clear.”
Vice opened the door.
Refusing to let me go, Lynx guided me forward. Guns were held by their thighs to be not quite so noticeable as we crossed the front yard. It was no longer raining, but the ground sloshed under my shoes as Lynx spoke near my ear. “Fuck with one Stallion, you fuck with the herd. Remember how you heard dragons?”
Holding the urn tight, I nodded.
“Well, dragons breathe fucking fire. Time for our new enemies to burn.”
I guess Lynx was already breathing fire because the heat from his rage was radiating like my back was too close to the sun.
I guess Charlie could feel the heat coming toward him, too, because he started to bark. Not wanting to gain attention from any neighbors that may have been home, I held a finger to my lips. Shockingly, that smart dog stopped barking. He was anxious; I could tell by his body language and the way he was moving his head left to right, wanting out of the vehicle and by my side, but he took my order without vocal complaints.
Still walking briskly, Lynx quietly said from behind me, “Get in and slide over.”
Crossing the street, I pointed to Charlie, then motioned for him to jump into the back.
Without delay, he hopped over the back of the seat, only to speedily turn and put me in his line of sight again.
As soon as I was to the SUV, I quickly opened the door and slid across the seat. Lynx followed me in and shut his door. Two other doors shut right after his. Vice had the engine running and the vehicle moving in no time.
Dagger calmly, but very focused, said, “Diesel isn’t far from us.”
Diesel must have been waiting somewhere close by. It had barely been a minute.
When I went to look behind us, to make sure no one was following, Lynx backhanded the side of my thigh. “Never let them see you sweat.”
That’s when I finally noticed Vice heavily using his rearview and side mirrors. Dagger was studying his side mirror but also scanning all that lay in front of us. Lynx’s head wasn’t moving much, but his eyes were traveling about swiftly as we raced down roads.
I couldn’t help it. I tapped on my phone to see Lacey in her room, still at her desk.
Turning onto a four-lane highway, Dagger looked to his phone. “Huh, Diesel said he found some friends.”
“Motherfuckers,” rumbled Vice as he stared into his rearview mirror. His words may have been aggressive, but his huge smile and body showed nothing of the sort.
Also glancing at the rearview mirror, Lynx smirked. “Speaking of the herd.”
That’s when I finally heard dragons roaring. Getting louder and louder…
Lynx never looked over his shoulder. He just sat there, grinning.
Dagger beamed as he gazed over at Lynx. “She has a snout as strong as yours. I swear it.”
Lynx exhaled, looking out his passenger window, saying, “Thank fuck,” as bikes started catching up. One of the leading ones on our left had jet black hair blowing in the wind.
A black leather glove held up a peace sign to Lynx as the bike rolled past us.
He held up a peace sign in return, even though the biker was no longer there, and quietly said, “Hey, sis.”
No way! I quickly moved to read the backs of the leather vests that were riding by on my side. There they were—bold letters around the Stallion logo; Steel Stallions. TEXAS.
“I wonder what she figured out. What made her think by your side was whe
re she belonged?” Dagger watched them get in front of us.
Their presence was making a powerful statement: Do not approach. This SUV is under heavy guard.
Tightly gripping the steering wheel, Vice groaned, “Damn, they’ve never looked so good.”
With Texas Stallions in front of us and Redemption Ryders behind us, there was a camaraderie that was so thick I could feel it. It blanketed us, filling the whole SUV. Even Charlie settled behind me. Lynx’s own chapter being added to this assembly melted away any anxiousness that may have been lingering.
I had thought Lynx was intimidating.
Now, seeing him surrounded by all his closest, he was godly.
An eerie calm came over me as I stared at him, my head leaning back against the headrest.
Maybe he felt me staring because he looked at me. Then his brows bunched. “You good, kid?”
My eyes felt droopy. “Suddenly tired.”
A proud smirk appeared. “You felt that, too, huh?” He ruffled my hair. “Being able to let your guard down is a magical thing. Get some shut-eye. We got a little ride ahead of us. I’m sure that growing body of yours is probably still trying to fix that swiss cheese shit you had kickin’ and would appreciate a nap.”
He was right. Every single day, it felt like there was something major happening. The physical stress of it all had my body in constant overdrive. The mental stress? That was beyond exhausting. No wonder I hit walls every now and then when in desperate need of some rest. On top of it all, I was still a growing boy and trying to take full advantage of all the food I was fed every day, something my body had never been accustomed to until meeting these fine people.
My tired fingers tapped the urn I refused to let go. “Don’t let me drop him, ‘kay?”
“Never.”
Confident I was in the absolute best hands possible, I let the wonderful safety net of the baddest motherfuckers ever wash over me as my eyes slid shut.
My ears started taking in noises before my body began to wake. My brain was sluggish and my eyelids still heavy, but I slowly started computing voices around me. They were somewhat muted, as if not in the same room with me.
Hostile Saint (Steel Stallions MC Book 1) Page 26