by Vivian Ward
“Whatever you say, boss,” Lee said. “Let me know if you need help with anything.”
“I’ll probably need your help bringing some of their things back over. Clothes, high chair, shit like that.”
“You got it.”
We headed to pick up Bentley before swinging by the house to pack up some things to take back to Shawn’s. I had a feeling that things were gonna go downhill from here, but I hoped that whatever happened, Julie and the baby would be safe.
Chapter 13
Julie
I wasn’t sure how I felt about moving back into my parent’s place, but part of me felt relieved while the other part was on high alert.
Home is where I always wanted to be, but Damon had said it was too dangerous and things would be better if we had some privacy to work on our relationship. He had a point, but now I wasn’t so sure that being home was the best plan of action.
Part of me wanted to be selfish and stay at home with the baby, far away from all of this mess, but I knew why he wanted us close to him. He wanted us right under his nose so he could protect us and know that we were safe. I didn’t see the problem with us being at home; Bentley and I. It’s not like whoever was here knew where we lived.
It seemed like whoever was behind all of this was out for my family’s property, our land. But I couldn’t imagine why. There wasn’t anything special about the woods surrounding the car dealership; it was a closed, remote area that just backed to heavily wooded areas. If it were terrorists and they were trying to plan an attack on the military base, they were too far away to do that.
“You almost done?” he snapped as he poked his head into the bedroom.
The duffel bag lay opened on the bed, all of our clothes spilling out of it.
This is an eerily familiar sight.
“I don’t know how I’m ever going to get this thing closed up,” I sighed looking at the mess I’d made. “I need more bags.”
“If you need, I can bring you the box of trash bags. Come on, babe. Let’s get a move on. I want to get back to your dad’s place before dark and try to head up to the hospital before he wakes up.”
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my old gym bag out of the closet and began stuffing baby blankets in it for Bentley.
He sure seemed to have a wild hair up his ass to get to the hospital to talk to my dad as soon as he woke up. I didn’t know why, and I honestly didn’t care. All I wanted was for this mess to be over.
Damon came back into the bedroom with a few trash bags in hand.
“Here, come on. Shove everything in and let’s go.”
His huge hands smooshed the bags of clothes together before he pried the zipper shut and tossed the bags over his shoulder.
“I’ll be right back to grab the others,” he promised.
Pulling into my parent’s driveway, I asked Damon where the accident happened.
“Over there,” he pointed. “That’s where Lee found him anyway. He was already gone by the time I got here.”
Driving past the site, I saw the burned area. You could still smell it; sulfur and burnt flesh. I shivered thinking about my dad lying there, his leg beside him.
Lee was already in place, waiting on the front porch like an obedient lap dog, and came walking down the stairwell.
“I’ll grab the bags,” he said, heading towards the rear of the vehicle.
“Let me grab the kid and I’ll give you a hand. She packs like she’s moving from one house to the next and those bags are pretty fuckin’ heavy.”
I picked up my purse, ignoring the remarks about my packing, and reached for Bentley’s diaper bag. Walking up the stairs, I started to grab the doorknob, but Damon jumped in front of me.
“Wait! Let me go in first and sweep the place. We don’t know what these assholes have been up to while we were gone.”
Slowly, he turned the doorknob and walked into the house, checking it room by room to make sure whoever had hurt my dad wasn’t waiting inside the house while Bentley and I waited on the porch. Poor Lee was bogged down by bags upon bags of clothes while he stayed with us.
It was a little awkward being around him, but it’s not like we had much of a choice. He was here to work with Damon and had to stay until they finished the job they were on.
It made me wonder what Damon was going to do once they found their boss’s daughter; would he want to go back to California? Try to make us move with him? Or would he stay here?
We had signed a one-year lease on the house so I would think that we’d be staying here, but I’ve seen the man do stranger shit.
He was, and always has been, completely unpredictable. There was no telling what life was going to be like from day to day with Damon, but I loved that about him. There were no boring ruts, but sometimes I wished there was.
It wouldn’t be so bad to be stuck in a boring little rut with him where we worked, came home to each other at the end of the day and made love every night. It had been working out for us thus far, and I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.
“It’s safe,” he called out to us. “Go ahead and come on in.”
Stepping inside the house, I inhaled deeply. Home; it smelled good, and felt good too. Just as long as I didn’t think about my dad’s leg getting blown off on the edge of the property.
I sat Bentley’s diaper bag and my purse on the kitchen table.
“You can just set those things right over there,” I said to Lee, pointing near the end of the couch. “I’ll have to figure out where I’m going to put them until we can figure something out.”
We had moved all of mine and Bentley’s bedroom furniture to the house, so there was nowhere to put our things now.
As things were, we could sleep in dad’s room on his bed, and I’d have to settle for shoving our clothes in my old closet. I could stack all of our socks and undergarments on the shelf in my closet.
Damon walked into my old, empty room to check on me.
“Are you getting hungry?” I asked him, looking at my watch. It was just a little after 4.
“I could eat.”
I walked up close to him and whispered so that only he could hear me. “Is Lee going to eat with us?”
“How do you feel about that?” he asked, keeping his voice hushed.
“I feel bad for what happened—the kiss—but I also feel bad that we keep tossing him to the side like an old rag doll like he doesn’t mean anything. I promise, there are no feelings between us and—”
He put his finger up to my lip.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. Lee’s already apologized enough for the both of you and I know there’s nothing there between the two of you.”
“Okay,” I leaned up and kissed him. “I’ll get dinner started then.”
“While you’re doing that, I’m going to send him up to the hospital to sit with your mom and watch over your dad, and I’ve got some stuff to do in the woods.”
“You be careful. I don’t know what I’d do if we lost you.”
He kissed my forehead, “Don’t worry, babe.”
The next couple of days in the house were boring and isolated. We’d shut down the car lot—something that had never been done in our entire family history, and stayed inside.
Every once in a while, I’d take Bentley out on the back porch, but only if one of them were watching over us like prisoners to make sure nothing happened to us. Prisoners are what it felt like instead of feeling like we were at home.
“Damon?” I walked into the living room, interrupting him and Lee while they were on the computer. “We’re going to need some more groceries. I’ve cooked almost everything dad had here, and we’re starting to run low on diapers, too.”
He sighed. “Make a list and I’ll run to the store to pick up whatever you need.”
I was a bit disappointed that he wasn’t allowing me to go because I could use a trip out of the house but I knew there was no point in arguing with him.
There wasn’t a chance in hell that h
e was going to let me roam freely across town while we didn’t know who was behind the attack on my dad. I was surprised that he was letting my mom stay with him at the hospital, but I guess he couldn’t tell her what to do.
Taking inventory of the pantry and the refrigerator, I made a list of items that I’d need to cook for the next few days, careful not to leave anything out. He didn’t seem happy about doing the grocery shopping, and I didn’t want to ask him to go out for something I might have forgotten.
“Here,” I shoved the list at him; still bitter that I wasn’t getting to leave.
“Thanks,” he took it from me and looked it over. “Shit, I can’t wait until you can do all this again. It won’t be long. I promise.”
Then why don’t you let me go to the store? I didn’t dare ask that question, but I wanted to.
“You watch over her and the kid. I shouldn’t be gone long,” he glanced at the list again. “Or maybe I will. Shouldn’t take me longer than an hour.”
After he had left, I took Bentley into my dad’s room and laid him down for his afternoon nap. As I was lying with him, lightly scratching his back to put him down for the count, I thought about the woods and how I was tired of being cooped up in the house like a caged rat.
When we came home, I didn’t get that good of a look at where the accident happened. I’d taken to calling it an accident because it sounded nicer than the alternative.
Obviously, there was no accident, and I wanted to get a better look at it—up close. Sneaking down the hallway after Bentley was fast asleep, I saw Lee was still busy on the computer.
The old wooden boards creaked beneath me, threatening to betray me, as I tiptoed across them. Just a few more steps and I’ll be at the back door. Don’t mess this up, Julie. Lee was so consumed with the computer that he didn’t notice me and continued staring at the screen.
A couple of more sidesteps, a jiggle of the handle and I was inhaling the sweet smell of freshly clipped grass and blooming flowers as the afternoon breeze swept across my face, blowing my hair back a little. The warm sun spilled across my face, and it felt so good to be outside—until I remembered why I’d snuck out of the house in the first place.
Looking around, I spotted the area that was dull and lifeless, ashed over and burnt to a crisp. The area where there was a bomb, where dad had lost his leg and almost his life.
If it weren’t for Lee finding him early that morning, he might have bled to death because my mom had left to take one of her church friends a few baked goods since she’d been feeling under the weather.
Approaching the wooded area, chills ran down my spine as my stomach did somersaults. Something didn’t feel right; things felt off. My Spidey senses were on high alert as I neared the edge of the woods where it all happened.
I brushed it off, telling myself that I was creeped out because of what had happened out here. Whoever done it wouldn’t be around during broad daylight, especially while the guys were guarding the house.
I’d imagine the person or people, responsible for all of this would have to have an eye on the house and car lot. It would only make sense that they did since they had such a great interest in the land. They were using it as if they owned it and planting all of these things on the property.
I stared down at the ground and saw where a hole was; it was about two feet wide and three feet deep. It must have been where the bomb blew up.
The dirt was displaced, and everything around it looked like it was burned a few shades darker than the rest of the nearby ground. Squatting down, I reached out and touched the soil with my fingers. It was hard to the touch, but as I picked it up, it crumbled in my fingers.
To my right, there was a deep crimson stain on the ground in the shape of a circle; I’d imagine where dad lost a lot of blood. As I neared it, a foul taste and smell of pennies filled my senses; it was blood all right. Flies hovered inches above it and the closer I got, the stronger the smell became.
Walking away from it before I vomited, I thought I heard someone. Looking around for Lee, I didn’t see him or Damon. I thought I imagined things until I heard the noise again.
“Who’s there?” I called out. “Show me where you are; I have a gun!”
I was lying through my teeth, but I didn’t want these people to think they could harm me.
Suddenly, I heard a whooshing sound and was grabbed by a man wearing all black. The only thing I could see were his fierce, unforgiving eyes that burned a hole straight through me and I felt as though he could read every scared thought running through my head.
I fought hard to get my wrist away from him but he was much larger than I, and before I knew it, he had me in a choke hold with his forearm straining against my throat, cutting off my airway as he hissed in my ear.
“Look bitch,” his foul breath reeked of booze, “you’re going to do as I say, or your little boy? He’ll grow up without a mother.” I gulped, trying to choke back the tears that were spilling down my cheeks. “Got it, bitch?”
Nodding, I tried to answer him, but his forearm was crushed against my voice box, rendering me unable to speak.
“Good,” his rancid breath assaulted my nostrils. “Now we’re—”
I heard a car pulling up to the house, and my eyes widened in fear and relief when I saw that it was Damon. He’d returned from the store.
The only problem was that I couldn’t scream for help. As a last ditch effort to save my life, I bit the hell out of his arm, hoping he’d let up.
Chapter 14
Damon
As I flung the door open on the car, still cursing about the coupon woman in front of me at the grocery store who’d been holding up the line, I heard a scream. It wasn’t just any scream; it was Julie.
But that would be impossible because she was inside with Lee. There wouldn’t be any way that I could—
“Damon!” she screamed again.
Looking over to the area where her dad had been blown up, I saw her standing with a man who was dressed all in black. The two of them began fighting as she tried to run away from him, but before she could break loose, the guy grabbed her and hooked his arm around her waist.
I dropped the bags that were on my arm and rushed over to where they were.
“Put her down!” I said, slowly reaching for my 9MM in the back of my waistband. “Just let her go.”
A sinister laughter filled the air, and I recognized it right away. All this time I had assumed that it was terrorists who’d planted all of these things on her family property, but this man had no accent. He was very American.
“Don’t you fucking wish, Damon!”
He pulled the dark covering off of his head, and I saw that it was Mask. The same fucker we’d been trying to track for weeks. The same fucker who’d eluded us at every turn, and the same asshole who was into human and drug trafficking. And now he had his hands on my woman, threatening her very life, the same as he did her old man.
“What do you want?” I asked, steadily placing my hand around my gun, securing my grip on it.
I was a damned good shot; I’d practiced nearly every day when I was in California. The problem I was going to have was Julie. He was using her body as a shield to protect himself. I’d never shoot in a million years if it meant harming her.
“I want this land, all of it. It’s the perfect place for me; it’s everything I need. Had I known that your bitch owned it, I would have come after you first and took what I wanted. I didn’t realize you had ties here,” he laughed, tightening his grip on Julie as she struggled to get away.
The tears were rolling down her cheeks, and I swore I could read her damned mind. Call it telepathic, clairvoyant or whatever that shit’s called, but I knew every damned thought that was going through her mind.
I could see and feel her fear, and her pain. I never believed in it before, but she was pleading for help, begging for her life and praying for all of us.
“The perfect place? For what? You’re a city boy, Mask; through and th
rough. There’s nothing for you in the middle of Podunk U. S. A. so tell me why you’d want land in St. Louis, Missouri of all places.”
Hopefully, I could distract him, and Julie would seize the first opportunity she had to get away and run for her life. Just as he was about to answer me, Lee came outside, calling Julie’s name but stopped when he saw my car and then spotted the three of us near the edge of the woods. He quickly ran to my side.
“What the hell? What’s going on?” he asked.
While Lee was running toward us, Mask grabbed his gun and pointed it at Julie’s head. Every moment that we’d ever kissed made love, laughed together and played with our son all flashed right before my eyes.
“Get back! Stay the fuck back or I’ll blow her brains out all over the side of this fucking tree!”
He jerked her head, wrapping his arm tighter around her neck as he cocked the hammer back on his gun.
“Okay, okay,” we both put our hands up in the air as a sign of surrendering. “No problem.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Bethany walking towards us. I snatched her up before she had a choice in which side she was going to be on.
She gasped as I jumped in mid-air and took her down like a football player tackling his opponent and pinned her to the ground.
“Let go of her,” I said to Mask, yanking Bethany up off the ground. “Or I’ll kill her; she doesn’t mean shit to me.”
I cocked the hammer back on my gun and lodged it against her temple.
Mask laughed, temporarily taking his gun away from Julie’s head.
“You must think I give a shit about her. She’s just another wet pussy someone can fuck so I can make some bank off of it. Do it,” he bellowed as he nodded his head with a wicked grin spreading across his face.
He trained his gun back on Julie. I knew she was fucking scared, and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. He’d called my bluff. I couldn’t kill Bethany; it was my boss’s daughter, and even if I did, it wouldn’t mean anything to Mask at all.