“This way. I decided to clean up. Fiona wouldn't want to walk into a messy house. You know how she is.”
“I do.” He sighed. “Show me what you've found. No reason to panic until we figure everything out. That's a girl. Christ, you're shivering. We need to get you warmed up or Danny will have my ass.”
“I stripped the beds. I was going to throw the linens in and...” Amelia stomach churned as they approached the door. “And there were towels, maybe other things. I don't know. I didn't look too far inside because there was blood. So much blood.”
“You can stay out here,” Royal replied. “I will go in.”
“No, I don't need to stay out here. I need to know.” Amelia steeled herself for whatever else might be contained within the washing machine. One thing was for certain, she would never wash another load of clothes in that machine without reliving this moment.
Together they walked into the basement, but Amelia let Royal go over to the machine himself. He opened it began to dig through, towels falling to the floor, followed by sheets patterned with an array of princesses. Taylor had never quite grown out of the princess thing. Amelia heard Royal roar, but it sounded like she was underwater. There was a pounding in her head, eventually she realized that it was the sound of her own blood pumping as she stared down at the blood-soaked sheets.
Amelia went with Royal when he grabbed her by the arm; she didn't complain that his grip was too tight because even if it was she barely felt it. The cold fresh air washed over them, the slightest whiff of smoke wrapped up in it. Somewhere something was burning, and automatically she scanned the sky looking for smoke.
Really she was looking at anything to focus on besides the cold hard truth that things were bad. Really bad. Bad enough that she wasn't sure she could handle them. Fiona and Taylor were the only family she had left, the only people who loved her without hesitation or judgment no matter what she'd done or was going to do. Royal tried to hug her, but she pushed away.
There had to be some trace of who had taken them if there was this trace of what had happened. The idea that she might have destroyed anything in the kitchen and bathrooms with her frenzied cleaning spree made her want to throw up or cry or maybe just do both at once.
The sound of bikes approaching filled the air, and Amelia headed for the front yard. She watched as Danny came to a stop, with Train directly behind him. She remained where she was, waited for him to come over to her. “Talk to me, Amelia.”
“Taylor's sheets. Taylor's bloody sheets.” She looked down at the ground. “I think it was a set I got her for her birthday.”
“Jesus Christ. Come on, let's get you out of here.”
“Where else am I going to go, Danny? This is it. This is my home. No, I have to stay. I have to stay and find whatever there is to be found.” Amelia drew in a deep steadying breath. “I'm okay.” She met his eyes. “I think that ride is going to have to wait, though.”
“I'm not going anywhere,” he replied. Amelia was pretty sure that he didn't believe she was fine, but it looked like he wasn't going to call her on it and she was glad for it.
<#<#<#
They found blood in the area by the front door, between tiles that weren't perfectly aligned. Someone had cleaned up after themselves to a level that suggested experience with doing so, which suggested that this was a professional job. A professional job pointed in only one direction for Amelia. The only reason for Fiona and Taylor to be targeted was Royal, but it was impossible if no one knew about the connection. Except if someone knew. Royal had sworn he'd only told Danny, and no one could ask Fiona if she'd told anyone else besides Amelia. And now everyone knew; they'd had an impromptu church session in the basement. She'd had to stay upstairs.
She was outside now, smoking a cigarette that she'd grabbed out of one of the packs the guys had thrown on the kitchen table. She'd quit years earlier but even just sitting there with it in her hand calmed her some.
Amelia didn't look up as the door opened and closed. She assumed the footsteps that approached her were Danny's, but instead it was Train who sat down next to her. “Got a light?”
“What do you want?”
“A light, like I just said.” She handed him the matches she'd found and got to her feet. “Where are you running off to? You didn't even finish your smoke.”
His borderline friendliness didn't sit right with her. They didn't do civil conversations past greeting one another and only did that out of respect. “You want to sit out here and chitchat? Have you had a recent head injury?”
He laughed, and the sound sent cold fingers up and down Amelia's spine. “Few weeks ago this girl was using way too much teeth on me. Does that count?”
“You're a pig.”
“Been called worse.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I might not be your biggest fan, but I liked your sister and the kid. I'm all for finding out what happened to them and breaking some necks in the process.”
“I appreciate that,” and she did.
“Also, if you're just going to cut and run, not give Danny what he wants, then maybe you should think about leaving town sooner than later.”
“What I do is none of your business, Train.” Amelia flicked her cigarette as far as she could into the yard. “Danny will tell you the same.”
“Whatever.” Train exhaled a long stream of smoke.
“Asshole.” Amelia pushed the door open and stepped into the kitchen. Ace was making a pot of coffee, no huge surprise, and Earl had his head stuck in the fridge. “Hey. Where are Royal and Danny?”
“They're taking another look through the upstairs. You want a cup of coffee?”
“Please.”
“Still lots of cream and sugar?” Of all the guys, Ace was the most easygoing. He was likely mellow from all the weed he smoked through the course of a day, which he balanced out with a shit ton of caffeine. “I can make you a sandwich or something if you're hungry.”
Amelia wasn't hungry, but she'd eat. It would save her an argument with Danny about it. “That would be great. Thanks.”
“You got any of that salsa stuff?” Earl questioned.
“I don't think so. Look in the cabinet, though, you never know with Fiona.” Amelia sat down at the table. “How's Jackie doing?”
“She's good.” He smiled at the mention of his wife. “Pregnant again. It'll be our second. She said to tell you hi when she heard you were back. Said call her if you need anything. And score. One jar of salsa. Shit. Are there chips?”
“Check the pantry.” Amelia couldn't help but smile. The food bill at Earl's house had to be massive, because he never seemed to stop eating. “See if there are any toaster pastry things. I want one of those.”
In minutes Ace was frying bacon for BLT sandwiches, Earl was microwaving makeshift nachos and she was eating a fake cherry-flavored pastry. It felt comfortable. It felt like home. Amelia was surprised how much she'd missed this, interacting with people who she actually cared about. In Pennsylvania the most contact she had was with store clerks. Even her job had allowed her to work pretty much on her own.
It was nice to have people around, to talk and laugh and for her not to feel completely awkward while doing it. Even Train coming in from outside didn't make her feel nervous or out of place. Paco joined them as well, and he was always good with comic relief. By the time that Danny came back into the kitchen she was eating her BLT and drinking coffee with enough sugar to rot her teeth straight out of her head.
He didn't waste any time picking up the other half of her sandwich and started to eat. Danny followed the bite with a sip of coffee. “Is there anything but sugar in here?”
“Yes, there's coffee and cream. And if you don't like it, you can always make your own.” Amelia replied.
“I'll just have yours, I can deal with it.” To prove his point he took another large sip and then a bite of the sandwich. Amelia waited for him to say something, anything really, about Fiona and Taylor and what they'd found so far, but he didn't. “You get en
ough to eat? Ace, fire up another sandwich for her.”
Before she could tell Ace she didn't need another sandwich, Royal walked into the kitchen and all conversation stopped. The easy good mood was gone. Everyone was serious and waiting for him to speak. “There was more blood in Taylor's room, enough blood that we know that something bad happened here. I want to know what. I want to know who.” Royal's eyes went to Amelia. “I will end whoever did this and anyone who had a part in it, but we cannot give up hope. There is still a chance that...”
Amelia cut him off, something that he wasn't used to. “What chance is there left, Royal? If something happened to Taylor, something happened to Fiona. There's no way in hell that Fiona would let something happen to her, so what does that tell you?”
“It tells me that she would have fought. Don't give up on her so easily.”
“You think I'm saying there's no chance easily? Really?” Amelia got to her feet, moved around Danny. “Don't even go there Royal. I'm just looking at the facts and every second that goes by only makes those facts seem stronger. They've been gone for six days, maybe seven. And all the blood on Taylor's sheets....” The sight of those damn sheets would be burned in her brain for the rest of her days.
Amelia fell silent and listened as Royal began to outline the new and improved plan for finding Fiona and Taylor. It was essentially just the old plan repeated much more forcefully. Once again they'd talk to the neighbors, to Fiona's friends and coworkers and even check out the kids at Taylor's school. After a few minutes it was just too hard to listen to, so she got to her feet.
No one seemed to notice when she left the kitchen, and that was fine by her. She made her way up the stairs, checked out Taylor's room and saw that the blood was underneath the mattress pad Fiona kept on the mattress in case Taylor had an accident. The floor by the door creaked and she turned to see Danny standing there.
“I really hope you didn't come up here to tell me to think positive or some other bullshit.” Amelia crossed her arms over her chest and kept her distance from him, though all she really wanted to do was go to him and wrap herself around him.
“No. I didn't.” He replied. “I came up to see if you wanted to take that ride now.”
There was nothing that he could have said which would have surprised her more. She nearly refused but thought better of it. A ride sounded like a really great idea. Amelia nodded her head and he smiled. He had a really great smile and it seemed to always make everything better.
“Dress warm. It's not that cold out but once we start riding, I don't want you to freeze. I'll let you get ready. I'll meet you downstairs.”
Amelia hadn't brought a jacket with her when she'd left Pennsylvania; she'd been lucky she was dressed when she'd taken off. So she walked to her room, their room, and checked the closet. The heavy leather jacket she'd always worn with Danny, even on the hottest days, so she'd always be protected, was still there in a plastic dry cleaners bag.
It was almost like Fiona had been expecting her to come home. Like everything would just go back to normal if she did. There were still some of Danny's clothes in the closet as well. Maybe Amelia had been wrong to stay away, maybe she should have returned and faced things years before, but she couldn't.
<#<#<#
It had been years since Amelia had been on the back of a bike, but that time melted away the minute that Danny turned over the engine. The familiar vibration rolled through her body, and she held on as he pulled away from the house with a burst of speed. Time hadn't changed the way that he rode or the path that he was taking through town. Amelia knew the route that they were taking; once the streets had been bright and filled with people, but now they were dark and desolate.
Amelia tightened her grip on Danny, pressed her face against his back for some relief from the biting cold wind. She inhaled the scent of his cut. Some of the jumble of thoughts and feelings coursing through her began to fade away. There was nothing like a ride, be it on a bike or in a car, to clear her mind. The clearer that she got the more she was able to focus on one thing. She was the last Mason left. She was alone. Again.
At first it seemed that they were just riding aimlessly, but after a series of turns Amelia realized they were heading to the waterfront of the Detroit River. It shouldn't have surprised her; they'd spent a great deal of time there together. It was their place, even if she hadn't thought about it in years.
“It's changed some.” Danny spoke once he'd cut the engine.
“Yeah, I can see that.” Amelia slipped off of the bike, walked over to get a better view of the water. “It's darker than I remembered.”
“Do you remember the first time that we came here?” He rested his hands on her hips.
“What?” Amelia twisted her head to look over her shoulder at him.
“Do you remember the first time that we came here?” He repeated with a smile. “I bet that you don't.”
“Of course I do,” Amelia huffed out the words. “It was right after we started seeing one another. You stole that station wagon, and we went joy riding, ended up here.” If she shut her eyes she might as well have been right back there on that night. They'd smoked a little, ended up getting an obscene amount of fast food and eating it all picnic style on the hood. “It was a pretty good date until the cops showed up.”
“Yeah, I didn't think about how often they used to patrol through here. We don't have to worry about that now. Bet they never come through here anymore.”
“You were so pissed we had to run, totally ruined your chance of getting into my pants that night.” Amelia chuckled because she knew for sure that he'd gone home with a raging case of blue balls.
“I wasn't trying to get in your pants that night. Not that I would have said no if you'd offered, because you were seriously hot. For the record, you're even hotter now. I don't know how you manage that.” He reached out and ran his fingers over her hair. “I knew that you weren't like other girls right from the start.
Amelia felt herself blush. Danny had never been shy with compliments or telling her that she was beautiful. “You've always been a flatterer.”
“It's not flattery. It's the truth.”
“Shit was simpler back then. All I had to worry about was my parents figuring out I'd come home after curfew. Or that Fiona would tell them I had if they didn't already hear me. She was such a little snitch back then. I probably shouldn't say that now with everything that's going on.”
“Nah, you're right. She was a real pain in the ass back then. I don't think that she liked you seeing me. I won her over eventually, though.” Danny rested his head against hers.
“Yeah, you won her over alright, by bribing her.” Amelia laughed at the memory. Danny must have spent hundreds of dollars on CDs that Fiona absolutely just had to have. They might have gotten off to a rocky start, but once Fiona had finally accepted Danny, she'd loved him. “I don't want her to be gone. I don't want Taylor to be gone.”
“I know.”
“I just have to prepare myself for it so that I can deal with it.” Amelia felt her chest tightening just talking about it, but she needed him to understand. She didn't care who else didn't if Danny did. “I have to deal with it.”
“I know.” He repeated. “I get it. I get you. I always have. You deal with this however you need to and I'm right here. I've got your back. I love you.”
“I love you.” Amelia shut her eyes and leaned her head back against him. “In spite of every reason why I shouldn't, I do love you.” She felt his arms slide around her; he was holding her tight and she realized it was just what she needed. “I don't want to be alone tonight, Danny.”
“You're not going to be. And we don't have to stay at the house unless you want to. If you'd rather, we can stay at my place. It isn't much, but it's clean.”
Amelia turned her head to look at him. “I just assumed that you'd be living at the bar for the free rent, booze and proximity to pussy.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but we could go and stay
there if you wanted to. I can call and have them get a room ready.”
“No. That's okay.” Amelia shook her head. If there was a choice besides the bar, she'd take it. “I'd like to see your place.”
“We can drop by the house, grab you a change of clothes.”
“You don't have an extra shirt I can borrow? I don't want to go back there right now.” Or maybe ever but Amelia didn't say that out loud. She wasn't sure that she'd ever be able to step foot inside her childhood home now, when every sign pointed to it being the place the last of her family had died.
“I'm sure that we can find something.” He kissed the top of her head.
It was a short ride to his place. Amelia was surprised to find them in front of a house, not some sort of apartment like she'd imagined. “It's not much, but it's home.” He helped her off the bike, grabbed her hand and held it as they walked to the front door. It was bigger than the outside suggested, nicer than she'd imagined inside.
“I'm impressed, Danny. This is actually an adult apartment. I expected something more along the lines of college dorm but with motorcycle pictures and half naked women.” Amelia continued to look around.
“Those are in the bedroom,” he told her with a laugh. “Go on and make yourself comfortable.” Danny removed his cut, hung it neatly on a hook on the wall. “Want a beer?”
“Only if you don't have tequila.”
“Oh, hell no.” He shook his head. “No tequila for you, not now and not ever again.”
Amelia glared over at him. “Fine, I'll take a beer.”
“You should check out the bathroom.”
“Why?”
“I think that you'd like it. I'll grab the beers. It's right through that door there. I'll see if I've got any menus to order off of.”
Amelia wondered what was in the bathroom that he thought she'd like. The wondering was over the second she opened the door and saw the old fashioned claw foot tub. She gasped and then laughed. “You know that I'm taking a bath now, right?”
Make It Right (Nightshade MC Book 1) Page 4