Savage Lies: Savage Angels MC #7

by Kathleen Kelly

  My head is spinning, and I’m not sure if it’s from this new-found information, my injuries, or the fact that Kade still looks uncomfortable which means there’s more to come.

  “What else? I ask, staring at him.

  Kade stands and frowns. “Sit,” he orders.

  Not wanting to prolong this any longer than I have to, I do as he says.

  “Dane and I went to visit your dad.” Kade looks at me. His face is a mask of tension, the kind you have when you’re delivering bad news. “He basically said he killed your mom.”

  “No, no. She died in a car accident. There wasn’t even a police investigation. It was an accident.”

  “He said ‘he got her’ and he also said,” Kade winces and purses his lips, “that he wasn’t your biological father.”

  “That’s a fucking lie. I’ve told you what a bastard he was to me over the years.”

  “And doesn’t this explain why? Why he loved the girls and not you. You’ve told me time and again he was never a father to you.”

  I swallow hard and look into Kade’s eyes. One thing is for sure, he believes what he’s telling me. The Russian mob I can understand, the murder of my mother and him not being my father, no.

  Dane fills a glass with water and puts it in front of me. One problem at a time, that’s all I can deal with. I take a sip of water, grateful not to have to speak for a moment.

  “He owes 500K to the Russians, including interest. You think he has that much, Zeke?” asks Dirt.

  “No way. Even if he sold his new house, there’s no way in a town like this that someone would pay that much for it.”

  Kade places a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll cover it.”

  Kade has a trust fund that his mother left him. I’ve never asked how much is in it, but to the best of my knowledge, he’s never touched it. For him to do this for me is huge, but I know he wouldn’t do it otherwise.

  “Can’t ask you to do that, brother.”

  “You didn’t. I’m offering.”

  “Fuck me! Where did you get that kind of cash?” asks Rebel incredulously.

  “Trust fund,” replies Kade with no trace of emotion on his face or in his voice.

  “I should have charged you more in rent,” says Dirt, grinning.

  “He’s never touched it,” I state.

  Kade rubs the back of his neck and looks at the floor. “Not exactly true. I bought Destiny a ring. I dipped into it for that, and I’m thinking of buying a house in Tourmaline.”

  I’m shocked. For as long as I’ve known him, the money has always been tainted. The guys continue ragging on Kade as I try to process all this information. It’s Dane who notices I’m not joining in.

  “Zeke, what do you want to do?”

  “I need to talk to my father.”

  “I’ll drive you,” states Dane.

  “I need a shower and clean clothes.” I stand and ignore my ribs as they throb.

  No one says anything as I walk from the room.

  Doc strapped my ribs for me and was unusually quiet as I got ready to leave. Dane and Kade said they were coming with me and neither would back down. No one speaks on the way out to my father’s house.

  As we pull up, Kade says, “No matter what you find out, we’re still your family. That doesn’t change. You get that, right?”

  “I know.”

  Kade nods and opens the door as do Dane and I. Slowly, I get out of the car and walk toward the front door and knock. Debbie answers, and her mouth drops open at the sight of me.

  “Your face,” Debbie whispers.

  “Courtesy of Dad.”

  “He would never,” Debbie loud whispers.

  Kade explodes behind me and pushes the door open. “Seriously? You think he did this to himself? Were you all on crack when he was growing up? How many kids have that many accidents? Your father is a sadistic son of a bitch! Where is he?” yells Kade moving into her space.

  Debbie backs up to a wall, face pale. “Dad is in his office. He called the sheriff the minute he heard the car. You should leave now.”

  I place a hand on Kade’s chest and push him back to give her some space. “Kade’s right, Deb, it’s time the monster paid.”

  Debbie scowls at me. “You were never one of us. Always in trouble. It was much better after you left.”

  Kade reacts by punching a hole in the wall beside Debbie’s head.

  “So, he deserved to be beaten? Is that what you’re saying?”

  Dane drags Kade back as Debbie stares at him with wide eyes.

  “Take us to him, Deb,” I demand.

  She walks down a long hallway and into my father’s office. It has bookshelves on two sides, is decorated in dark reds with a brown leather sofa, and on one wall is a large wrought-iron cross. I wonder if he knows who or what God is, having twisted the good word for so long.

  Michael Russo stands as we walk into the room, placing his pen in the holder on his desk.

  “The sheriff is on his way. I have nothing to say to you.”

  “Do you like the sheriff’s handiwork?” He sneers at me and says nothing, so I continue, “Is it true? Did you kill my mother? Are you my father?”

  Debbie makes a scoffing noise. “God, Zeke! Anyone can tell you aren’t one of us! We girls all have daddy’s dimple in his chin, but not you. Of course, you’re not!”

  “Debbie!” yells my father, and she goes quiet and moves to stand with him.

  It’s true. I don’t have the dimple they all have. I thought it had just skipped me. Kade places a hand on my shoulder.

  “I knew the minute you were born that you weren’t mine.”

  I nod as I finally understand his hatred toward me. Seeing me every day must have festered in his mind, knowing his wife had cheated on him.

  “And Mom?”

  “Your mother was a whore! I gave her my name, I gave her a roof over her head, and how did she repay me? By trying to divorce me! I wasn’t going to be made a mockery of in my hometown.”

  “So, you killed her?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! Of course, I didn’t kill her. The police report says it was an accident.” There’s something in his tone and eyes. He appears smug, all-knowing.

  “Why did you tell my friends you did?”

  Dad smiles as does Debbie. It’s then I realize she’s known all along.

  “You know, don’t you?” I ask her.

  Debbie gives the smallest of nods, and if I weren’t facing her, I would’ve missed it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replies sweetly.

  “Jesus, Deb! Why are you still here? If you knew he killed Mom, why?”

  “Maybe he’s fucking his daughter,” says Kade in a steely voice.

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” yells my father.

  “Why else would she stay quiet? What’s in it for her?” asks Kade.

  I look at my family with new eyes. I always wondered about the chin, but it never crossed my mind that my mother would have strayed. Eleanora Russo was a good woman, a God-fearing woman. It makes no sense.

  “Why did she do it?”

  “Fuck someone else?” asks my father as he sits down and crosses his arms over his chest. The vernacular he’s using seems foreign to my ears. He always said people who swear are of low intelligence and have a poor grasp of the English language. “It was the first time I hit her. Eleanora left and fell into the arms of someone else. Of course, she came back. Where was she going to go without Leonie and Elizabeth? I wasn’t going to let her have them, and the sheriff is a lifelong friend. Together we would have ensured that she never saw them again. I made that clear.”

  All I can do is stare at him and wonder who the hell he is.

  Dad clears his voice and says, “After you were born, it became easier. For everything she did to annoy me, I took it out on you. It kept her in line. She wouldn’t have marital relations with me anymore, though. So, one day I discovered that I could slip something into her coffee, and she’d forget everything
I’d done. It’s how we got Debbie.” He places a hand on the small of her back lovingly.

  “You raped her?” I whisper.

  “No, I did what I had to do to ensure my bloodline, and she still didn’t give me a son. You ruined her for me.”

  I knew he was a sick son of a bitch, but I had no idea he was capable of this.

  “She found out, didn’t she?” asked Dane.

  He’d been so quiet I’d forgotten he was in the room. As I look up at him, I see a nerve ticking in his jaw. Knowing him for as long as I have, this indicates he’s barely controlling his rage.

  “Yes, it’s why she went and saw that lawyer, Rushard.”

  “You staged the car accident, didn’t you?” Dane’s voice has gone deadly.

  “Pfft!” replies my father waving a hand at us. “She died in an accident!”

  There’s something in the way Debbie is looking at him, and I snap. I walk toward her and grab her by the arm, throwing her into the bookcases. The pain in my side is nothing compared to the rage I feel.

  “You fucking know, don’t you?” I yell at her.

  “Daddy!”

  Dane and Kade move toward my father, but he makes no move to get up. “Calm down, Debbie. He won’t hurt you.”

  “Like fuck I won’t.” I shove Debbie into the bookcase, and books topple off the shelves onto both of us and the floor. “Tell me!”

  “I heard them arguing in their bedroom. Mom was screaming at him over something you’d made him do. She always favored you. Daddy hit her, and she fell backward over the ottoman at the end of their bed and broke her neck,” says Debbie quickly with fear in her eyes.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask through gritted teeth.

  “Did you ever notice, Zeke, that she couldn’t even look at me? Daddy was the only one who showed me any affection. I had to protect him.”

  “You were six. Can’t you see he manipulated you?”

  “No, Daddy has taken care of me. We have the church and this house and each other. It’s always been him and me.”

  I take a step back and give her a look of disgust. “How did she end up in the car?”

  “Daddy put her there and drove out to the bluff and pushed the car off. No one suspected anything. You can’t prove any of this, Zeke! I won’t testify against him in court.”

  Dane begins to laugh, but it’s the scariest thing I’ve ever heard. He grabs my father by the throat and picks him up, smashing him against the bookcase. Dad is making a strange high-pitched noise as Dane, with one hand, squeezes his neck harder and blocks his airway. Dad claws at Dane’s hand, but it’s like swatting a fly, he isn’t letting go.

  “Freeze!” yells the sheriff with his gun drawn as he barrels into the room.

  Dane continues to hold onto my father until I say, “Let him go, Prez.”

  The man falls to his knees, taking in large gulps of air and clutches his throat. There are already red marks forming on his neck from Dane’s hand. Dane kicks him and takes two steps away, hands raised. I cast a glance at Kade who’s grinning.

  “What the fuck are you smiling about?” demands the sheriff.

  “Can’t you hear it, Sheriff Sharp?”

  “Hear what?” he asks, looking around the room.

  “The sound of your death coming.”

  It’s then I hear it, Harleys, lots of them. The sheriff blanches as he realizes what’s coming.

  “Did you bring backup?” asks Kade, smiling.

  “What the fuck have you gotten me into, Russo!” yells the sheriff, staring at the man I thought was my father.

  Michael Russo pulls himself up by clawing at his desk.

  “Shoot them,” he rasps.

  “What!”

  Russo stands to his full height. “I said, shoot them!”

  “Are you out of your ever-loving mind? If they have more of them outside, you and I don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell!” The sheriff holsters his weapon. “Get out! Get outside so your brethren can see you’re all right!”

  Dane and Kade both grin and head for the door. I wait until they have gone.

  “Did you know what he did to my mother, Sheriff?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He killed her.”

  “The boy is delusional! You know that, Don!” replies my father loudly.

  “Did you know?” my voice is steely with an icy edge to it. I almost don’t recognize the sound.

  “No, son. I didn’t know.” The sheriff eyes the preacher. “Did you do it?”

  “Of course, Daddy didn’t do it! You know how Zeke is! He’s been getting into trouble from the day he was born. Bad apple.”

  “They say the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree…” replies the sheriff.

  I turn my back on them as Debbie and my father begin to talk to the sheriff at the same time. I’m about to walk outside when the sheriff’s hand tries to wrap around my bicep.

  “Son, I swear to God, I didn’t know about your ma. She was a good woman, everyone thought so.” He drops his hand. “I believed your dad about a lot of things, maybe I shouldn’t have.”

  “Day late and a dollar short,” I respond as I walk outside to my brothers and the Kings of Death MC.

  Zeke

  I walked out and got into the car. Dane and Kade were waiting for me. The drive back to Doc’s house is done at high speed. When Dane loses his temper, he takes it out on the road. His Harley normally bears the brunt of his rage, but today, it’s the Fiesta that’s not really equipped to handle high speed. Nonetheless, we get back to Doc’s in no time at all.

  When we arrive, we all stay in the car. The Kings of Death MC swarm around us and eventually, their engines go silent.

  “I want him to spend the rest of his days in hell,” I say quietly looking straight ahead.

  “Done,” replies Dane.

  Turning my head to Kade, I say, “Don’t pay the debt.”

  “Your sisters?”

  “Will the Russians go after them?”

  “Yeah, man, they will. They’ll go through them to get to him.”

  “Pay the debt,” I say with a sigh. “Dane, how were you going to make him pay?”

  “That’s the easy part. We’ll talk on that later. How are you feeling?”

  “Sore, but I’m okay.”

  “Wanna get drunk?”

  Kade and I both say, “Yeah.”

  “Let’s party with the Kings, then.”

  “I need to eat first. I’ll be sick as a dog if I don’t.”

  “Agreed. He pukes like a girl if he hasn’t eaten.”

  I give Kade a scathing look and climb out of the car.

  “I need to talk to Doc.”

  With that, I stride away from them, nodding at the Kings of Death on my way past.

  I find Doc sitting at his kitchen table, worry etched into his face. Dirt and Rebel are there too, but they take one look at me and head outside.

  “You okay, son?”

  “Debbie knew everything. He killed Mom, and she kept quiet about it all these years.” I flop down in a chair next to him.

  “Never liked that one. Always thinking she was better than the rest of us.” Doc pauses and smacks his lips together. “Did he say anything else?” asks Doc hesitantly.

  I can tell by the question that Doc knows something. I nod. “He’s not my father.”

  Doc nods and places an arm across my shoulders. “We can thank the Lord for that. You were always too good to have come from his loins.”

  “You knew?”

  “Only found out today.”

  “Do you know who my father is?”

  “Yes… probably. I took a swab from your mouth while you slept and from the man I suspect and sent it to the labs. We should know for sure, soon enough. But don’t ask me to name him. He wants to talk to you himself.”

  Not knowing how to take on board all this new information, I say nothing and think about my mother. Even at nine, I knew she wasn’t in love
with my Dad. There was little affection for him compared to what she lathered on her children. In my mind, she was as close to a saint as you could get, but I was looking at her through a child’s eyes.

  Cassia would make a good mother, and if anything ever happens to me, I know her father, asshole that he is, would take care of her. My mother had no one. Surely, she confided in the man she had the affair with? He must have known how unhappy she was? Did she confide in him? How long did it go on? All these questions and more swim around in my head.

  Doc places a cup of coffee in front of me, and I hadn’t even realized he’d moved. “To soothe your soul.” Then he pats me on the back and leaves.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Cassia, she answers immediately.

  “Zeke?”

  I say nothing.

  “Zeke are you there?” Cassia asks.

  “Yeah, love.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Visiting family.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “No. I’ll be home soon. Do-do you miss me?”

  I hear her intake of breath. “Of course, I miss you,” she whispers. “But it doesn’t forgive what you did.”

  “I only hit him the once. It was stupid. But I figured if I were going to be blamed for it, I’d do it. You should ask your father how he started the store, who he borrowed the money from, and then you should ask him if he keeps in touch with them.”

  “Zeke, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying your daddy never liked me and had the connections to destroy us.” I scoff at myself. “But in the end, it was me that killed us, wasn’t it?”

  I wait for her response, and she says nothing. Cassia’s silence speaks volumes.

  “Goodbye, love. Take care.”

  I hang up, push away from the table, and head out the front door away from the men in the backyard and head for The Countryside Diner.

  There’s hardly anyone on the walk to the diner. The streets feel empty, or maybe that’s just how I’m feeling. I know that I have my brothers in the MC, and they’d never let me down, but I knew my place in the universe. I knew who my family was, such as they are, and where I belonged in their world. Now I have no idea who I am.