by K. J. Dahlen
“But he did in the end, didn’t he?” Michael stated softly.
“Yes, he did.” Cricket nodded. “For as much good as it did her.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Michael frowned.
“I think she was hoping without his influence, your life would come to mean something.”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
Cricket snorted. “I’m not surprised. One look in your eyes told me the whole story.”
Michael’s frown deepened.
Cricket shifted in her seat. “You know damn well what I’m talking about. You’re just like him, aren’t you? Just like Cordy. Your eyes tell me. You have no empathy, no compassion for your fellow man. You are a true son of Bane Jessin.”
Michael finally understood. All his life he never felt connected with the rest of his family. He always felt like the outsider. “And this lack of feeling is something you feel is wrong? I finally found someone like me, someone that doesn’t make me feel like I’m a freak of nature.”
Cricket shook her head. “But that’s the whole point…you are a freak of nature. Most people have a spark of compassion, somewhere in their soul. They are capable of love. You, Cordy and Bane were born without that and I feel sorry for you.”
“I don’t want your pity,” Michael spat. “All I came here for was answers about the woman who gave me birth, something you refuse to tell me.”
Cricket shook her head. “I have told you, you just refuse to listen. My mother was everything you are not. Everything you and Cordy would never understand. She was someone Bane never took the time to understand either. Did you know that when he first saw her, he just took her? Never gave her the choice? For all he said, he loved her, but he never once took the time to understand the woman she was. I feel he just wanted to own her. Maybe he truly did not have it in him to understand her…I don’t know. Maybe Bane doesn’t have it in him to really know what love is.” She got to her feet. “If so, that’s truly sad because she was a hell of a woman. She was warm and funny, her smile could light up a room. She smelled like sunshine and flowers. She didn’t deserve to die in pain like she did. I would like to think that she could have made you a better person if she had raised you.”
Michael watched as she walked away and the rage inside him grew. He finally felt connected to someone with the same blood running through their veins as he had and this stupid girl felt nothing but contempt for him. He hadn’t come here to receive her pity. His eyes narrowed as he watched her. He could show her real pain if that’s what she wanted.
Then he thought of Bane. He couldn’t help but feel that he was partly to blame for everything Michael had gone through. All the pain and uncertainty of his childhood. All those years he lived through while feeling like he didn’t belong.
He glanced up when he heard Cricket laugh and found his half-sister laughing at something Reva said in the kitchen.
Michael’s fury grew hotter inside him, like red hot lava flowing through him. Then his eyes narrowed as a plan of sorts began forming in his mind. As the pieces fell into place, his lips curled into a half smile. This plan would work toward his advantage as well. He could do it too.
Since meeting his father, he’d been watching and learning all he could. He had plans to someday take his father’s place in the world, now he had decided that his first victim would be his half-sister. But not before he got the daggers from her. He would need those to get closer to Bane. He needed to his father to train him to be an assassin and he would finally have a place in the world. To kill, like he was born to do. Those daggers would give him an edge by getting Bane to lower his walls and let Michael into his inner circle.
CHAPTER TEN
Randolph, Massachusetts…
Sam rolled up to the house on Prescott Street and turned off his engine. The house itself was just like the one next door. A low one story building painted yellow. With a two car garage attached currently filled with two cars. One car he recognized as belonging to Carla. He’d watched her drive off in it this morning. The other car he could only imagine belonged to Nick Tory.
The front lawn looked well cared for and there were flowers near the front of the house. Sam studied the windows but the blinds were drawn and he couldn’t see inside. The front door stood open but the screen door didn’t allow him to see inside. He sat there staring for quite a while. Then he made up his mind. He swung his leg over his bike and walked up to the house. When he rapped on the door her heard footsteps coming his way.
Carla answered the knock and when she saw him standing there she gasped. Without saying a word, she pushed the screen door open and moved aside to let him in.
Sam stepped past her and looked around. The house had an open floorplan and from where he stood, he could see a kitchen and the living room to his left. To his right, he could see a hall leading to what he assumed were the bedrooms.
Turning to his left, he saw them.
Nick, Shawnee and Caitlyn. All of them were sitting in the living room staring at him.
Carla laid her hand on his arm and Sam flinched. She snatched it back but motioned for him to go into the living room.
Sam came to stand in front of Nick. “I have one question for you and I expect the truth, was Benny sick?”
Nick’s eyes glittered with tears. “Yes, he had some sort of blood cancer. He got it from his mother’s use of drugs while she was pregnant with him.” When Sam didn’t say anything else for a long time, Nick asked, “Is that all you have to say? After all this time?”
Sam frowned. “What do you want me to say? Too much has happened and too much time has passed for any words to make a difference now.”
“It’s never too late, if you really try,” Carla whispered.
Sam turned to glare at her. “Maybe he was a father to you but he never was one to me or Benny. Our lives were shit growing up because he didn’t care about us. Do not tell me how to treat him. He made his bed a long time ago, now he has to sleep in it.”
“And there is no room in your heart to forgive him?” Shawnee asked.
“This jerk would have to have a heart to do that.” Caitlyn scoffed.
Sam snapped his head around to glare at her. “You don’t know shit about my life little girl. I’ve made my share of mistakes, same as Nick but I never let my kids go hungry, so I could have beer in the house. At least, I supported my kids. I may not have been in their lives much but I gave their mothers money every month to keep them happy and whole.”
Carla looked as if she would argue the point but Nick held up his hand to silence her. “No, he’s right. I didn’t give them the support they needed. I should have kicked Estelle out of our lives right after Benny was born but she would have taken him with her. I couldn’t let the boy go with her. She would have killed him sooner.” Nick got to his feet and glared at Sam. “But I did try. I did try to be a good father to you boys. I made mistakes but from the sounds of it, you have too. We all make mistakes and mine was getting hooked up with Estelle in the first damn place. She was sucking me dry and I was so far in, I couldn’t get out. Before I knew it, I had you and Benny to watch out for and after a while, I just got so tired of all the bullshit with her I wanted out. I found Shawnee and she saved my soul. I thought I lost my soul the night Benny died and you walked out of my life. I didn’t give a shit about Estelle but I did care about you boys. When I heard the door slam behind you on your way out that night, my world went black. I felt like I would die. Shawnee came over and brought me home. She made the plans to bury your brother. She emptied the house we lived in and sold it. She threw all your mothers things in the trash. She healed me.”
“You weren’t the only one broken by that bitch.” Carla stared at Sam. “Your dad might not have been there for you like you tried to be for your own kid, but he tried. He loved you and Benny. You didn’t ever know his side of it. He couldn’t tell you because your mom was a controlling psycho bitch…I am sorry t
o say.”
Sam hung his head. His childhood was nothing but misery for him and he didn’t really want to relive it now. He understood his father about feeling empty when he left. The day Deke walked out of his life, he too had felt broken. He’d been so happy to know he had a son but he also made his share of mistakes. He’d gotten his second chance with Deke, maybe he should think about giving his father one. “Benny hoped one day, I could forgive you. I know the woman who gave me life was not a good person. She had no feelings for anyone else but herself. I know about the mistakes a man can make. I’m just beginning to know my kids for the first time in my life.”
Shawnee frowned. “How many kids do you have?”
“I have four. Deke is my oldest and I have a baby boy less than a year old. I have two girls in between. Plus, I have three grandkids under the age of two.” He turned to Nick. “I was given another chance with Deke, so I will try to give you the same offer. Benny left me a letter and told me why he went after Tobar that night, that reason alone might be the one thing that makes a difference here. That and the fact he wanted me to give you a second chance. For Benny, I’ll try to forget the past.”
“I’ll take whatever chance I have,” Nick replied his eyes full of tears. “I know I have a lot to make up to you. All I wanted was the chance to do that.”
Sam nodded. “I can’t stay here but you can come to Troy. You can meet the rest of my kids. We can build it back up from there.”
Nick nodded as he swallowed hard. “I can do that.”
“What about us?” Carla asked.
Sam turned to her. “You are welcome to come along.”
“Me and Shawnee are a package deal. Where I go, she goes,” Nick stated.
Sam rolled his eyes. “Kinda figured that much, old man. I’m going to head back but Carla can show you the way.” He turned to leave but his father’s hand on his arm stopped him. Sam stared at the hand then raised his eyes to look at his father.
“Thank you,” Nick stated softly.
Sam nodded then turned to leave. When he got to the door, he turned back. He wanted to say something, then changed his mind. He didn’t trust his thoughts just now. Instead, he went through the door and out to his bike. He headed back to Tory and his family. Soon, the family would be bigger. He also knew Melora would be happy with what he’d done and for that alone, it would be worth it.
~* * * *~
Utica, New York
Bastian watched the monitor on his desk and frowned. He’d left off the ties as he’d felt concerned about her wrists.
Sawyer had been awake for over an hour now. The first thing she did was tear off the blindfold. She had gone into the restroom then had come out and eaten the sandwich he left for her. She went over to the corner of the room and sat down with her back to the wall.
She’d been crying for a while but now she was quiet.
With her head down, Bastian thought she might be sleeping except for one thing. She was tapping her fingers. He watched for a moment then noticed a pattern in her taps.
He smiled as he realized what she was doing. She was tapping an SOS in Morse code. How did she ever learn that? What she was doing was very old school and there was no one but him watching, so he didn’t understand why she was doing it.
Bastian’s gaze moved to the reports he’d downloaded from the internet. He read them again for the fourth time. Shaking his head, he reached for his phone and dialed a number. When Leon Vincinti answered, he said, “I think you should know some things I found out this afternoon.”
“What things?”
“Did you know for instance that Max Bordeaux is one of a pair of identical twins? That his brother looks enough like him to fool most people?”
“And this is supposed to impress me how?”
“Did you also know that there are secret rooms in Max’s mansion? Rooms that a person can hide in for days if necessary? Rooms that hid Malvin Bordeaux’s existence from the rest of the world?”
“Malvin?”
“Max’s twin brother.”
“How did you discover him?”
“Sawyer mentioned a second Max, an evil Max. A Max that came to her in the middle of the night and threatened her mother’s life if she told anyone about him. She’d seen him the day she and her mother were at Max’s mansion. He didn’t want anyone to know about him. She said he was covered in blood and drew a symbol on her sheet.”
“Interesting but what does this have to do with our situation?”
“Whose blood was on him that night? Why was he hidden in secret rooms inside the mansion? Where is he now? Is he still there watching your men? Knowing there was another man living there, are you still sure Jolene took the Hand?”
“Did you have any luck finding any answers as to where she might have hidden it?”
“I’m still working on it but I have a good idea where it could be.”
“So, she did know something.” Leon sighed.
“I’m not certain of anything yet, but if I were you, I would check out to see if Malvin is still living at the mansion. He could be considered dangerous. He might be waiting for Max to return. Your men could be in trouble and never realize it until it’s too late.”
“I’ll let them know and see if they can find the hidden rooms,” Leon assured him. “Thank you for letting us know about this. I wasn’t aware of Max’s brother at all.”
“This is what I do. Also, I found an old newspaper clipping. It came out a day or so after Jolene and Sawyer were taken to the mansion.”
Leon frowned. “And what does this have to do with anything?”
“A day after the trip they found a priest brutally beaten. He didn’t die from his beating but was in the hospital for a long time. His name was Father Riley. Sawyer told me Father Riley was her mother’s priest. She spoke to him right after they visited Max’s place.”
“I really hate to say this but find out whatever you can.” Leon sighed again, sounding very unhappy about the prospect. “I’m holding Calico back for now, but you’re running out of time. He may have given you three days but he will not let this go one minute beyond the seventy two hours.”
“He gave me three days and this is only day one,” Bastian reminded him. “If I can find out what I need to know before the three days are up I will return her to you sooner, but he has to give me the three days.”
“Yes, I know but the man is upset and holding on to his sanity by his fingertips.” Leon growled. “He just found his family again and you take his daughter? Now, he’s hearing the details about the struggle Max put Jolene through and he’s not happy, even though he took Max and his friends out.”
Bastian scoffed. “Yeah, about now, I’m sure Calico wishes he hadn’t killed Max so quickly.”
“Yeah and I have a feeling if you hurt one hair on this girl’s head, he’ll hunt you down and make you pay,” Leon warned him. “He may not know who you are right now but as a father, I can tell you if this were my family, I would do whatever it took to find you.”
“I won’t hurt her.” Bastian swore to him. “But if he comes after me. I will take him out. It won’t matter if its four days from now or four years. I’ll tell you one thing, if he comes after me before the three days are up I will take her away with me and they will never see her again. They won’t know if she’s dead or alive somewhere. They will have lost her forever.”
Bastian hung up the phone before Leon could respond. He watched the monitor and saw Sawyer lay her head on her knees. Closing her eyes, he could see her lips moving as she mumbled under her breath. He couldn’t hear what she was saying but he knew she was still awake.
He picked up the dark blue robe draped across the chair next to the door. Wrapping it around his shoulders, he pulled the hood over his head, hiding his face within its folds.
He went in to the room next door and walked over to where Sawyer was sitting.
He could see she was almost asleep. He’d slipped a
light sedative into the juice she drank earlier and he could see she was under its influence. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down carefully.
Brushing the hair away from her face Bastian studied her carefully. Reaching inside his pocket, he withdrew a syringe filled with truth serum, the lightest dose he could give her. Injecting it into her, he rubbed the injection site. He watched when she wrinkled her face in pain but otherwise, made no other indication she knew he was with her.
Bastian began calling her name softly about ten minutes later. He whispered for her not to open her eyes but began asking questions he knew she would answer. “Tell me more about your trip to the church and seeing Father Riley.”
She immediately answered, “After our visit with Max, we walked for a long time, cutting through backyards and alleys. Mama didn’t want Max’s men to know where we were going. She held my hand tight, so she wouldn’t lose me. It was almost dark by the time we got there. She went in the back door and we made our way to the confessional. At first, Father Riley forbade her confession because I was in there with her but she told him she wouldn’t turn me out because she couldn’t trust that someone might come along and take me while she was talking to him. She spoke in whispers and had me plug my ears. She was crying as she whispered her sins to Father Riley. They spoke for only a few minutes then Father told us to leave….” Sawyer voice faded away.
“Tell me what happened next,” Bastian urged.
“…We went out into the church and sat there for the longest time. She prayed and prayed. I slept for a while and when we left the church, the sun was just rising. We’d been inside all night.”
“What else?” Bastian asked.
“I thought I heard her talking to someone but I was trying to sleep, so I didn’t pay attention. I did wake up at some point but she told me to go back to sleep.” Sawyer had tears running down her cheeks. “When we got home that morning, she held me close and whispered in my ear, ‘Remember prayer is always the answer. Third row outside isle is the best place to pray.’ ”