Our Sins

by Kimberly Blalock

  Until oblivion, it is girls…

  A pin could be heard in this silence. Alison’s not registering what I’ve just told her. Shock maybe. I don’t blame her. For fuck sake how many times is this family going to have to endure the wrath of Hell?

  Alfred comforts his silent wife. Her mouth drapes open, eyes wide and blank. She hasn’t taken a breath for more than three minutes. I want to say something, but I’ve done enough. Telling them that their daughter, my wife, and babies have been taken to who fucking knows where was more than enough.

  When I can’t watch this heart gripping display in front of me another second, I stand from the sofa kneeling in front of my mother in law. Taking the hand that Alfred isn’t holding, I whisper, “I will find her, Alison.” Her eyes are blank looking through me. She’s completely lost. Glancing up to my father-in-law, I vow my soul. “Fire from the depths of Hell will not stand in my way. I will find her and our girls. I will never let anyone hurt her. She’s all I have. She’s my life, my world.”

  Alfred speaks taking my eyes from Alison’s once again. “What will you do?”

  I answer with the truth. “I’ll kill anyone responsible, Alfred. With my bare hands, I’ll end their lives.”

  His eyes lock tight with mine. “Alright, son, we’ll be waiting for you when you’ve found our baby girl.” He offers an approving nod. We have a silent moment. He knows what I’m planning even if specific details haven’t been said he knows what my words mean. I know he’s given me his approval to leave and do what I need to. He wants a war just as badly as I do. Standing he takes my hand. When I stand, he meets my height. His arms reach out taking me into a hug. “Kill them all, son. Bring our baby girl home,” he whispers not wanting Alison to hear his request.

  “Every. Last. One.” There’s only one to my knowledge, but that doesn’t mean someone hasn’t helped him, and if they did I’ll end them too.

  We need to drive to Vegas and find Becky. I don’t know who she is or what the hell she knows, but it better be something. My patience are running thin as fuck.

  “Hey. Not go well?” Nat asks taking in the anger.

  “Yeah, went great, they’re fucking thrilled.” She nods at the sarcasm.

  “E, we’re only trying to help. I want to kill him just as badly as you do, Bro.” Michael chimes in.

  Does he? No.

  Anger. Hate. More anger, more hate, rush through my veins in a heated painful rush taking any and all sanity from me. I rush him gripping my hands around his throat. I see Hollister’s face, I’ll choke him out. I’ll fucking snap his neck.

  “Evan, what are you doing? Evan? Evan!” Someone screams in the muffled distance.

  “You will never hurt my angel. I’m going to fucking kill you.” He struggles against my hold. Fight me bastard. I’ll enjoy this.

  “Evan!”

  My head throbs in my ears. FUCK! I open my eyes seeing Nat sitting on the ground next to me. Ground? What the hell? My body moves forward as I attempt balancing myself with my hands.

  “Hey.” Nat smiles.

  “He’s alive.” Michael laughs. “I think I’d take you on any day. Her, not so much.” He leans into my face holding his thumb in Nat’s direction. “This girl’s brutal, Bro.”

  My eyes bounce between the two. “What the hell happened?” Why the hell am I on the ground?

  “Should you tell him or should I?” Michael laughs. “Okay, I’ll tell him.” He rubs his hands together. “You lost your fucking mind, Bro, and sexy saved the love of her life from being killed.” He uses both index fingers to point at himself. “I knew you loved me.” He grins at Natalia.

  “You wish asshole.” She sneers.

  “Just face it. You’ll have to admit it one day. Might as well be today.” I see he’s pissing her off. I let a chuckle slip. I don’t know what their private relationship is like, hell I pretty much thought it was nonexistent after Brazil so who the hell knows.

  “E. You flipped. You thought Michael was Hollister and you tried to kill him. Maybe I should’ve let you.” Her eyes turn to him. “I pistol whipped your ass.” She shrugs then stands. “Come on, while you were sleeping I got a call. Turns out Becky is a real person. She said there was one place she’d overheard Hollister talking about buying over the phone.”

  “How fucking long was I out?” I freak. “I could’ve been looking for Abby and instead I’m sleeping?”

  “Bro, technically you were knocked the fuck out. That shit couldn’t be helped.”

  I roll my eyes. “My little sister can kick my ass. Hilarious.”

  “Mad skills, E.” She smiles “We need to meet George at the helicopter on the tarmac in an hour.”

  Nat and Michael fill me in on the details on the way to the helicopter. Nat says Becky spilled like a glass of water. Apparently Hollister told her to get lost. She was ready for some revenge. My lucky day. Becky told Nat that he bought some property in Nevada. Being the amazing sister that she is, she made some calls and put on the charm finding out exactly where he’d purchased a house near the desert. I was actually a little surprised we found it so easily, but I’m not complaining. It’s that much sooner I’ll hold my angel in my arms. And that much sooner I’ll snap his mother fucking neck.

  Of course we need Baldwin, Adam, and Skits’ help, so their following us to the airport. George’s helicopter will easily fit our group of six.

  I drive around the tar mac seeing George doing pre- flight checks. “How the hell are you, George?” I say extending my hand as I approach.

  “Apparently, better than your bunch, eh?” He offers a half smile.

  “I appreciate you fitting us in on such short notice.”

  “Anything you need. I hate to hear that your wife was taken.” We both nod.

  “Let’s get her back,” I say matter-of-factly. Doubt doesn’t hold space in the air I breathe. Never fucking did.

  “Hoorah,” George says

  “Hoorah,” Michael and I both say in unison.

  The helicopter’s up in the sky hovering above the city within the next thirty minutes. Michael’s scared to death of helicopters, like the way some are scared of spiders. But he didn’t say anything when he got on board. Brother for life. His teeth clamp tight and his eyes close, but he’s hanging in there. Nat shakes her head smiling when she looks at him. I know she likes him. Definitely want them to be happy. I just wish they’d get on with it.

  My eyes follow the beautiful sky out of the helicopter window remembering Abby’s plan to get them together. I’ll have to help with that after I hold her for a while. That girl isn’t getting out of my arms for a minimum of three months. By then our girls will be here and we’ll both need our arms to hold them. The sun’s going down in the horizon. I’ve got to get her back before she spends another night away from me.

  “When we land there’s gonna be an SUV waiting to take us to Hollister’s house. I thought maybe we could land there, but there’s too many houses. I also don’t want to alert him that we’re there,” George says over the mic.

  “Good lookin’ out.” I fist bump George.

  Our flight continues for another thirty minutes then we land in a field of nothing, and as George promised, there is a Suburban waiting for us.

  Nat grabs Michael’s hand then reaches out for mine. We’ve all got our Kevlar and are packed down with enough shit to blow up a small town. I nod for Baldwin, Adam, and Skits to follow suit. When everyone’s standing in a circle, we begin our before takedown ritual. We bow our heads as Michael begins.

  “Lord, we come to you in the search for our family. We pray that you protect them, surround them with your angels and keep them safe. We ask that you give us courage when we have none and strength when we’re weak. In Jesus name, Amen.” We release hands and gather into the suburban.

  “I didn’t mean to almost kill you.” I bring my fist up for Michael to bump.

  “I got you, Bro.” We pound it out.

  The GPS brings us around a large stone wall
leading into a small quiet subdivision. The houses are small and spaced out. We open the doors with guns in hand ready to bale as the brakes bring the suburban to a stop. I’m the lead man. Baldwin stays with me, Michael and Nat run to the right side. Adam and Skits circle around to the back of the house. No cars in the driveway. No noise, no signs of life at all.

  I signal my countdown till ‘break down the door’ time commences. In the one second before I do, I close my eyes taking a deep breath in, blowing it out I raise my booted foot to the wood door and push with all my weight. It splinters with the first kick. I stand aside as Baldwin rushes in, I follow. The house is empty. There’s nothing inside.

  “Clear.” I hear from all parts of the house.

  “Evan?” I hear Adam from the front of the house. I rush towards his voice.

  “What? You find something?” We all gather around him. A table with a lonely answering machine and a flickering red light is the only thing in this run down house.

  Adam reaches down towards the button. “Wait!” Baldwin yells in my fucking ear.

  “Don’t touch it,” Nat responds after Baldwin. “Why the hell would this be here? There’s nothing else.” She leans down resting her hands on her thighs.

  “Holy fuck!” Michael hisses from my right. “Oh shit.”

  My eyes follow his and I know then and there we’ve been set up. Evan if you want her back push the button is written on the wall.

  “Get out!” I yell. It’s a no brainer. If it’s a bomb I won’t let them go down with me. But I have to push the button. Because I do want her back. When no one moves I yell again, this time with a harshness of an Alpha I know they’ll respond too. My eyes lock with the black box.

  “Big brother, I’ve got you,” Nat’s crazy ass says.

  “Fuckin’ Ay. I’ve got you too, Bro,” Michael says standing firm.

  “I’ve got you, boss.” Adam follows.

  “Same here.” Skits tucks his gun into his holster.

  “Hoorah!” Baldwin growls.

  I raise my head looking at each one of these people. Everyday each of them serve an amazing purpose in mine and Abby’s lives. Friends come and go. But now, I call every one of these people family. New and old. For life. “Alright then, too late to turn back.” I lean down pressing the button that could end every one of us at any second.

  “Evan, I wanted to be there when you arrived, but I’m busy here with Abby. Oh, what a sweet thing she is, too. Softer than a babies bottom. And she smells just like vanilla. Damn! I guess I’ll get on with it then. Meet me at the water tower at midnight tomorrow. Come alone. Don’t bother bringing those apes you pay to watch her.” A sinister laugh echoes from the machine. “Did you find the surprise I left for you? What a shame…” The message ends.

  “What the fuck was that?” Michael asks.

  I’m confused. What does he want to meet me for? What’s the real motive?

  “You’re not going alone.” Everyone agrees.

  We walk outside and I quickly search the area. How did he know we were going to be here? “He said he wanted to be here himself. How did he know we were going to be here?” My eyes are on Nat’s as I speak to everyone. “Who knew we were going to be here?”

  “Umm…” Nat pulls her hat off letting the thick hair fall. “Us, that’s all.”

  “No, that’s not all. Becky. She’s the one that gave us the info.” Michael realizes.

  “And it took us all of an hour to get the address?” I thought this shit was a little too easy. “Vegas anyone?” Turning around snapping the clip into its position she says, “Evan. Now’s the time we get what the fuck we came for. Now we get our revenge. They take our family, we take theirs.”

  I hear “Hell yeah” from all around. Definitely time to throw some fire into the pit.

  When we arrive back at the tarmac to meet George, I immediately tell him what’s happened and how Becky, our informant had set us up and how we fell right into that fucking trap.

  “I gotta say, E, the guy’s smarter than I gave him credit for.” Michael admits, disappointment ringing in his words.

  The flight doesn’t take long and where’re on the ground in less than an hour. It’s a good time to find her working. She’s not going to be expecting us, and when we find her I’ll decide if taking her will help our cause. Or if she’ll end up dead in the streets like Remy Lovato’s girl.

  Vegas…

  This place holds all kinds of shit in its grip. Prostitution, gambling, the beautiful, and the ugly. Tempting and evil. For me, it’s ugly and evil. Tried to take my head away. Pull me in. It tried to bury me, but it failed. Many blurry memories swirl when I’m here. That was another time. A time that had me wishing I was dead.

  The helicopter lands exactly where we need to be. This chick’s gonna answer for this shit, and she’ll do it with either my hands around her throat or my gun in her mouth. Regardless, she will answer.

  The six of us walk from the helipad ready to do what needs to be done. Whatever that might be.

  “I’d like to get my hands on that whore.” Nat Velcro’s her gloves.

  “You’ll get your chance,” I offer flatly.

  My body’s tense. My muscles bursting at the seams. My head’s traveling to a bad place. Keeping myself in the game means pushing the bad shit out and staying focused. There’ll come a time when the bad mother fucker inside me will be absolute and present. But now’s the time to get what info I can so I’m that much closer to killing that piece of shit. This’ll be a leap of faith in my own sanity. That faith will be short lived, I’m afraid.

  The six of us walk in a spread out expansion of muscle and metal. We’re ready to take this shit to war if needed. And it is needed. So war it is. Looking up from my boots we walk in side-by-side. I see him. My father. And a shit ton of other dudes dressed in their own war garb.

  “What the fuck?” I ask only to myself.

  Without a word to anyone, I gear my direction toward Thomas’. He’s standing in an erect domineering stance with hands in front of him, doing what he always does when he makes his alpha known. Fucking with his cuffs. Nervous tick. My eyes move from him to the ten other people I count, nonchalantly. Behind them are several black SUV’s and one black van.

  “Son,” he says as I approach, leaving just a few feet between me and him.

  “Thomas? What the fuck?”

  “Is it honestly too much for you to call me Dad?”

  “It is.” I nod. “What’s going on?”

  “My daughter-in-law and grandchildren in her precious womb have been taken. You thought I’d sit idly by and watch that go on? No. I’m here with the Calvary, Son.” His eyes leave mine and find Natalia. Fuck. She’ll cut his throat right here. I don’t have time for that shit. “Natalia.” For the first time since we’ve approached Thomas, his stance shifts. “You are a remarkable woman.” He moves towards her. I turn to gage her reaction as Thomas walks passed me, my hand reaching out for his arm.

  “Don’t, not today,” I warn.

  Her eyes are dark but without fear. Shit. Thomas huffs and returns on his mission to approach her. Michael shoves her behind his body shielding her with himself hand on the metal grip of his gun.

  “It’s okay.” She steps around him. “I’m okay.”

  “You are so beautiful. You look just like your mother.” His hand reaches for her cheek. She surprises me with the lack of reaction. “You have many questions. Yes?” The two are quiet for a long beat then Thomas turns to the group. “You all have questions and it’s time that they’re answered. No games.” Holy shit what the fuck?

  “That would be great, but I don’t think this is the best time. My wife being taken and all.”

  “That’s why this is exactly the time.” His hand gestures to the army he’s brought. They all begin moving around completing some task that we aren’t privy to. “Step into my limo. You’ll need to hear this moving forward.” Following his instructions, I step into the car. I don’t have time for this,
but if it’ll help, then that’s what I’ll do. “All of you,” he says to Nat, Michael, Skits, Adam, and Baldwin. They all move forward entering the car.

  “You can sit here, sexy.” Michael teases Nat.

  “You touch me and I’ll kill you,” she growls.

  “Afraid you’ll like it, huh?”

  “Not a chance.”

  “While this isn’t the most ideal time to have this conversation it is warranted.” Thomas sits next to the door we’d entered from.

  “Get on with it then,” I demand

  “Hollister Carter, the man you’re in search of.” He pauses, my patience running a razor sharp edge of cutting his throat myself. “He’s angry.”

  “We got that part, old man,” Nat barks. “Tell us something we don’t know.” His eyes are soft in response, blowing my fucking mind. He’s a cold son of a bitch not easily spoken to like this. I should know, I’ve been doing it my whole adulthood.

  “Yes, well. He has good reason.”

  “And what might that be?” My curiosity just hit an all-time high.

  “Five years ago, I handed you a file and within that file held information on his father. That information led you to end his life.” I’ve ended many lives.

  “You killed his father?” Nat’s the only one to speak. My heart thuds in my chest.

  “He’s gonna fucking kill her.” Urgency I’ve never felt before pushes through my body exploding through my chest. “I’ve got to find her,” I growl reaching for the door.

  “Son. You need to hear what I’m trying to tell you, now. If never again, listen to me now.” I nod

  “I’ve been watching him for a long time. Since he was a child.”

  “What the fuck?” I respond.

  “When you were just a few years old, your mother was raped by a friend of the family. I wanted to kill him then. I’ve never been so angry in my life. But she wouldn’t allow it. He held a knife to her throat while he performed vile acts.” His head falls into his hands as he recalls. “He threatened that if she ever told of what happened, he’d turn my campaign into a joke.” My hands clench in my lap. What he’s confessing blows my fucking mind. When his head raises, I see something I’ve never seen. Ever. Tears. “I… I let him get away with it. But then a few months later she found out she was pregnant. We were afraid the baby could be his. I wanted to raise him. I offered to, but after the paternity test revealed that he belonged to that bastard your mother couldn’t raise him. She couldn’t look at that face every day and relive what he did to her. I couldn’t blame her. So, she gave him to his father. Only because he again had threatened her.”