Secrets in Battle: Secrets of Savannah Series Book 3

by S. M. Donaldson

  I go in the bathroom and clean up my face. I’m sick and tired of this shit and it’s time for a change.

  I make my way back down to the dining room, taking the seat in between Judd and Scarlet. Judd eyes me suspiciously. “Hey, are you okay?”

  I nod. “I’m good, I’m happy to see you.”

  He smiles. “I’m happy to see you, too.”

  We settle in to start supper. I’m introduced to Sarah and she seems very nice. She works in an accounting firm in Atlanta. Her husband died ten years ago and she has two children that are in college.

  Ryder looks up to Nana. “So what is this meeting about, Nana?”

  She looks at him. “Ryder, we are eating first and then we’ll talk.”

  He nods. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I have to say I’m kind of curious myself. I love Nana, but I don’t know why she wants me here.

  I’ve really bonded with her over the past year. She knows how I feel about Judd, my family, everything really. She hates my mother, I know that. She’s the only person besides Scar that knows how my family can really be.

  I love Nana, she’s the coolest old lady I know.

  Chapter 13

  After we finish the banana pudding my momma made for dessert, we go in the den and sit down. I’m really worried. Nana never calls meetings like this that often. I also noticed my dad didn’t eat much tonight.

  Nana draws our attention. “Alright y’all, sit down. You look like I’m gonna shoot ya or something.”

  Ryder glares at Nana. “Well, Nana, you kinda have us all worried.”

  “Good, you know I mean business.”

  We all sit down. She takes out a cigarette and lights it. “Alright boys, some things are going to change around here. I’m still the major shareholder in this farm and I’ve decided to make some changes.”

  We all look at Nana confused. Greer looks at her. “Momma, what are you talking about? Also, what did I tell you about smoking in the house?”

  She stabs her cigarette out in the ashtray. “Fine, Debbie downer. First off, Greer, I know you want to move to Atlanta, why don’t you let Ryder take over things here full time? He’s doing a good job as it is and I don’t like having you running up and down the road so much. It would give you and Sarah more time to spend together.”

  “Momma, how did you know that I wanted to move?”

  She brushes him off. “I’m your momma, I know everything. Plus, you cramp my style with all of your rules.”

  She looks over toward Ryder and me. “Now Ryder, you are going to need some more help around here and I’m going to say you need to hire Judd to be your right hand. You need someone you can trust like your daddy has trusted Nelson all these years.”

  “Why can’t I just keep Nelson? Not that I don’t want Judd, but he may not want to be my right hand. We can’t just assume that he wants to do this.”

  Nana glares at Nelson. “Well Nelson, do you want to talk about why Judd needs to take over or do I need to try and share that, too?”

  My dad looks at me and Ryder. “My doctor says I’m diabetic and I’ve got some blood pressure issues. I need to start taking it a little slower. I was going to talk to all of you soon enough about me retiring. How did you know, Nana?”

  “I didn’t know exactly what was going on. Naomi has been worried, I can tell. Plus, these two boys aren’t dumb. You’ve been to the doctor more in the past couple of months than in your whole life.”

  My dad shakes his head. “I should’ve known better than to try and keep secrets. I just wanted to find out what I was dealing with myself first.”

  She turns to look at me. “So Judd, how would you feel about working on the farm with Ryder? He’d make sure you could still go to school, if you want to.”

  I shrug. “I think I’d like working here. It’s all I’ve ever known except the military. I do want to do my classes, but I know I’ll need a job.”

  Nana huffs. “Now that I have all of you boys using your words and communicating, maybe people will start working around here again.”

  As she starts to walk out of the room, she looks back. “Scarlet and Annabelle, come help me with something, please.”

  The both jump up and follow her out. Ryder, Greer and Sarah go to his dad’s study and close the door.

  I look over at my mom and dad. “So when were you guys planning to tell me? Nana is right, I was getting suspicious. I’m kinda pissed. My imagination was running wild, you know.”

  My momma pats my leg. “Sorry, honey. We just thought that you had enough on your plate right now. We didn’t want you to worry. I guess it worked in reverse, though. I’m sorry, we really didn’t want you to worry.”

  My dad looks at me. “I have a lot of changes coming my way, like the banana pudding I couldn’t have tonight. I don’t want you to feel like you have to work on this farm like I have. I know it’s no dream job.”

  I put my hands up to stop him. “Dad, I love the idea of working here. Ryder and I have always done things together. Going in the military is the only thing we didn’t do that way. But my plan was always to come home, it was just earlier than I’d thought about.”

  He nods. “Okay, as long as you’re sure.”

  “Hey, we’ve always had a nice life with you working for this company. How many other employers would have thrown you two on a plane to Germany so you could get to me as soon as possible? Not many, I can tell you that.”

  My dad nods his head. “It’s good that you see those things, son, and can appreciate them.”

  I see tears in my mom’s eyes. I look at both of them. “When you see the places and things I’ve seen, you learn to appreciate everything.”

  I stand up, walking into the kitchen to find Nana, Scarlet and Princess in a heated discussion. I can see Princess has been crying.

  “Hey ladies, what’s going on?”

  Nana glares at me. “Well, I may need bail money. I’m going over to Annabelle’s house to kick her daddy’s worthless ass.”

  I put my hands on Annabelle’s shoulders. “Whoa, what’s going on? Wait, what happened to your lip?”

  Annabelle shakes her head. “A little heated discussion before I left home. I’m staying here for a little while.”

  Nana is still raising hell with Scarlet on the other side of the kitchen. “Winston Garrett isn’t above the law, I don’t care if he thinks he is or not!”

  I look at them. “Nana, calm down, please. Scar, why don’t you take Nana on home?”

  Scarlet nods and Nana looks at me. “Judd Hughes, you make sure this doesn’t happen to her again. I’m a good mind to take a bull whip over there and whip his ass with it.” She turns around to look at Annabelle. “Sweetie, you think about what I said. If you want it, the job is yours.”

  With that said, Scarlet walks Nana out to the ranger to take her home.

  “Princess, what in the hell is going on? Why did I just notice your lip?”

  “Please just calm down. I hope Nana’s calmed down. I don’t need her going over to my parents’ house.”

  I chuckle. “Well you are safe from Nana right now. She’s not allowed to drive after dark. Now, let’s go to my place and you can catch me up to speed.”

  I lead her out the back door to walk over to my apartment.

  Chapter 14

  Once we get to Judd’s apartment, he turns to me. “So, now I want to know about the lip.”

  I sit on the futon. “My dad and Chris were arguing and I got in between them. This isn’t really anything new. I’m taking steps to change my life right now.” He sits down beside me.

  He nods, trying to stay calm even though I can see a storm behind his eyes. “What are you doing to change things?”

  “Well, I brought some things and I’m staying with Scarlet for a little bit. I have money, I could go get my own place right now, but it’s really their money. I don’t want it. I even left my car there. I need to start making my own way in life.”

  “Sounds like a good plan. Wha
t did you mean by this isn’t anything new?”

  I shrug. “We may have money, but that doesn’t mean that our house didn’t look like some of the episodes on cops when I was growing up. We just lived in a two story colonial in a gated community versus a trashed apartment complex with a shitty security gate. It was all kept hush hush and we never went to the hospital to get checked out. If anything ever got out of control, my dad had a friend that was a doctor that came to check on us.”

  He shakes his head and looks off somewhere else. “How bad did it get, Annabelle?”

  I shrug. “The boys took the most of it. Greg and Shane pretty much always did what Dad said so they avoided most conflict and kinda became his thugs. Vic, Chris and I all wanted something different in life, so we were kind of targets. Vic and Chris were bigger targets because they didn’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps. I could sort of hide the fact that I didn’t want to follow in my mother’s. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a huge disappointment to them.”

  “Is that what your text this morning was about?”

  “Yeah, as soon as I got home, I was in an argument with my parents about leaving the club. So by the time Chris got there tonight to tell he planned on going back to med-school, they were ready to pounce.”

  “So let me get this straight. Your brother is a disappointment for wanting to be a doctor?”

  I chuckle at how ridiculous it sounds. “Yeah. In my parent’s world, it’s money or nothing. Doctors are considered blue collar to them. Like the Abbott’s would just be simple farmers to them, except Greer has money invested in other places so that makes them “worthy”. Seriously, they are horrible people.”

  “So I’m guessing your nursing isn’t something they appreciate.”

  I bark out a laugh. “As creepy Patrick’s dad said, it’s a ‘noble profession’. I might as well have said I was shoveling shit out here in the barns for Ryder.”

  He looks up at me with an eerie calmness in his eyes. “A nurse is who saved my life. Your father is a piece of shit. I’m almost on board with driving Nana over there.”

  “Look, I’ve dealt with it most of my life. Thank God I met Scarlet or I might be like one of them. I just want to find a new path and Nana has given me some options to do that.”

  He relaxes a little. “I heard Nana saying something about a job.”

  I nod. “She wants me to come help her with her memoirs. She started them years ago, she just needs to organize them. She wants to add the last few years, but other than that, she’s pretty much done the work and it’s something I can do in my spare time around school and clinicals. That way I can make some money and I can stay with Scarlet and Ryder as long as I want to.”

  He laughs. “You might want to be careful around there at night. They are somewhat exhibitionists about sex. That’s one of the reasons I moved out here.”

  I laugh. “Oh, so what do you suggest then?”

  He runs his hand down my shoulder. “Well, you could stay with me some.” He looks panicked for a minute. “Not like move in. I know we aren’t there yet and hell, I’m not even sure I’m safe to sleep in the same bed with. I’d like to experiment some with you, though. If you want to.”

  I nod as I lean up to nibble his neck. “I like experimentation.” I straddle his lap. “I’m always up for it.”

  He dips his head down to my neck. “Sounds like a plan.” He starts kissing my neck. I tug his shirt off over his head, running my hands down his chest muscles. He has some scars on his chest from his wounds and the US Army insignia over his heart.

  He kisses down my collar bone as he tugs my tank top down under my bra, running his tongue along the swell of my breasts.

  Suddenly, there is a beating at the door startling us both. He jumps up and I fall to the ground. I can’t help but start laughing, tugging my tank back up. I lean back, holding my ass.

  He grabs the door, swinging it open. “Fuck, Ryder, what do you want? You scared the shit out of us.”

  Ryder laughs, motioning to the obviously uncomfortable state Judd’s crotch is in. “Oh okay, so Annabelle is here. We were just wondering. Scarlet was worried when she got back from Nana’s.”

  I stand up and walk over to the door. “Hey, we were just talking for a few minutes before I take a nap. Tell her I said to stop being a mother hen.”

  He nods. “Okay, well, Scar was worried. I’ll let her know. You gonna take your nap here or are you coming back to the house to get ready? I know that’ll be her next question.”

  “I’m gonna come back there to take a nap.” I look over at Judd. “I doubt I’d get a nap here. Plus, I need to get her car.”

  Ryder laughs and turns around. “Okay, I’ll see you in a few.”

  We shut the door to Judd’s apartment and start laughing. “I’m not sure if Ryder was asking me about coming to the house because he was curious or if he wanted to know so they could have crazy sex or something. Thanks for putting those thoughts in my head, asshat.”

  He flops back on the futon. “Hey, I was just warning you. I wish someone had warned me.”

  I lean over and kiss him. “I’m gonna go take that nap. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  He nods. “Yep. Why don’t you come here and sleep in the morning when you get off? I’ll be out all day so it’ll be quiet.”

  I nod. “I just might take you up on that.”

  I walk back over to the door and blow him a kiss before I leave.

  Chapter 15

  “Hey Hughes, you see that?”

  “Where?”

  “Over a just a bit.”

  “The kid. He can’t be more than thirteen.”

  “Yeah. Doesn’t he seem a little strange?”

  I shake my head. “Yeah. Fuck.” I grab my radio. “Walton, there is a kid at the door of the market.”

  “Roger.”

  “Check him out. It’s a little sketchy, looks a little nervous…”

  “Roger.”

  Watching him make his way to the kid up the side street, everything happens in slow motion. The kid opens his vest. “ALLAH!!”

  I fumble with the radio. “Pull back! Get the fuck back!”

  The explosion, the screams, the smell.

  I sit up in the bed with a jolt, sweating and panting. The smell, it’s in my nose. I can’t get rid of it.

  Running to the bathroom, I empty the contents of my stomach in the toilet. I try to rinse my nose out with salt water to get the smell out but it’s still there.

  I rip open the shower curtain and step in. Turning the water on scalding hot and scrubbing my body with soap, I try to wash the inside of my nose so I can’t smell it anymore. Burning hair and flesh, I can’t forget it.

  I heave again in the shower. Finally, I sit down, shaking, and cry. I let the scalding water run over me, hoping it washes away my sins.

  That kid was fourteen, he was a suicide bomber. Walton was a twenty-two year old soldier from Ohio, with a wife and a six month old baby. There were countless people in that market. What was it all for?

  Finally, after the water runs cold, I get out of the shower and wrap myself in a towel. Walking over to my kitchen, I grab my bottle of Jack and sit on the futon.

  Taking the cap off, I turn up the bottle.

  ~*~*~

  “What the fuck?”

  “Shut up, Ryder, my head is killing me damn it.”

  “Judd, get up. You are naked in a pile of puke in the god damn barn.”

  I slowly sit up and look around. “I don’t remember coming out here.”

  He helps me up off the ground. “What do you remember?”

  I shake my head slightly. “I don’t know.”

  Ryder shakes his head. “Fuck. Go over to the mudroom and get a shower. I’m sure there is something in there of mine you can put on.”

  I try to walk, but it’s hard for me to stand. Ryder takes my hand and walks me over to the mudroom that’s in the barn. He sits me down in a chair and turns on the water. He pulls me up and
takes me to the shower.

  “Man, try to sober up a little. You smell like a damn distillery. If Nana or your momma see you, we are in deep shit.”

  “Fuck, man. I think I had a bad dream, but I’m not sure.”

  I see him through the clear shower curtain grabbing some stuff out of the cabinet. “Here’s some shit to put on. I’ll wait for you outside.”

  I shake my head while I’m washing up. I really fucked up this time. Shit, Princess is going to come to my apartment this morning. I have no clue what kind of shape I left it in. Damn it.

  I jump out of the shower, throwing on some clothes and running out the door.

  “Fuck, Ryder, I need to get back to the apartment. Annabelle is supposed to be coming there this morning, she can’t see it like that.”

  He hangs his head a little. “Too late. It’s almost ten. She came in saw the place ransacked, then she ran up to the main house to get me. She didn’t say anything to anyone else. We both figured it was something like this. I didn’t exactly expect to find you butt ass naked in my barn, but drunk, yes.”

  I punch the barn door. “Fuck!”

  “Sorry, man. She’s up there cleaning right now.”

  I run to my apartment and once I’m inside, I see exactly how bad it got last night.

  My lamp is shattered, my furniture is turned over and upside down, and I see broken liquor bottles on the floor. Sadly, I don’t know how much of that I actually drank and how much I busted. Considering I don’t remember shit, I’m guessing I drank a good bit.

  I’m startled when Princess comes out of the bathroom from cleaning. She runs to me and hugs me. “You scared me. I thought something happened to you.”

  I stroke her hair. “It’s okay, Princess. Go on up to the main house and sleep. You don’t need to clean this up. I’ll get it.”

  She looks up at me and I can tell she’s dead on her feet. “Why don’t you come lay down with me and we’ll tackle this after we get up?”

  I shake my head. “No, you go get some rest. I can’t sleep, and you just got off. I’ll be here when you get up. I promise.”