The fear.
The pain.
She’s pleading with me silently to take away her pain.
I can’t.
I’m only twelve.
I can’t do a damn thing but watch this man humiliate and defile my sister in front of me.
The walls are closing in on me in the small space of the exam room.
Dia’s hurting and I can’t take away the pain. I can’t even pray to ease her hurt and protect her pup because God is the last one willing to help someone like me. I’ve done unspeakable things. I’m the last person Dia Crews should want in her corner.
The vet comes in from the door on the back side of the room. He’s a short man that is balding with a beard and glasses. He’s wearing purple scrubs with his name embroidered on them and a patient folder in his hand.
“I’ve reviewed Sheba’s x-rays. There seems to be a bunching of sorts in her intestines. I can’t clearly see an object in there, but it’s a common occurrence for dogs to swallow something they shouldn’t.”
“So what do we do?” Dia asks still laying on the floor with her dog, petting her. Then she looks back to Sheba. “What did you eat?”
Dia turns back to the vet. “It has to be a fur ball from her hair. You know we used to do the lion’s cut in the summer for her. Maybe I need to go back to that since I let her grow out everywhere.”
“It could be anything, a toy, a plastic wrapper from a food she shouldn’t have. I had a dog this morning that ingested forty-eight snack size beef jerky’s that were individually wrapped. We had to induce vomiting to get them up. Since this, whatever it is, has made it past the stomach into the intestine we can’t just make her throw up.”
“Oh Sheba isn’t like that,” Dia defends. “Even when she was a puppy she never chewed on furniture. She only likes certain toys and never eats the fuzzy stuff or the squeakers. Instead it’s all left around my house like a crime scene. She can’t get in the pantry to get people food. She is a well behaved dog. She just doesn’t like other dogs. The biting only happens then.” Dia cries as she no doubt thinks of how much Sheba fits her life.
“Well, we need to do an exploratory surgery to remove the section of intestine that is bunching up and not allowing her food to pass. We’ll figure out what’s in there and what’s going on.”
“Okay after this, she’ll be alright? Back to eating, no more throwing up?” The desperation in her voice has me reaching out to grip her hand.
The doctor nods. “There isn’t any reason to think otherwise at this time. I will be up front, there are some risks. And to be completely honest, we aren’t one-hundred percent sure what is going on, so we need to do the surgery to really see her intestines and find out the problem If it’s a tumor and we’re looking at cancer, well, there are options there too, but I don’t want to leave you unaware of all the possibilities.”
Dia sits up and looks Sheba in the eye. “In your opinion though, she’s swallowed something and the surgery will remove that and she’s be back to normal? That’s what you feel it is most likely?”
The vet again nods. “Yes, now I’ll need to keep her overnight. If you’ll sign these papers, we can take her back. We’ll pump her with extra fluids to prepare for surgery in the morning. The surgery will begin around eight and I will call you when she’s waking up and ready to come home.”
When Dia’s eyes meet mine, I see hope in them and I find myself believing in the vet as well. She sighs like this is the hardest decision she’s had to make. Reaching out, she takes the folder from the vet and signs on the appropriate lines that she acknowledges the cost, the risk, and is giving permission for the exploratory surgery.
I put myself in her shoes and even though I haven’t had Cleo nearly as long, I would struggle with what to do for her.
“Pretty girl, you be good for them tonight. No biting. Momma will be back for you tomorrow and I promise you all the snuggles when I get you home.” She rests her head on the dog’s before letting a tear fall to her fur. “I love you my Queen Sheba.”
It’s a touching moment where I feel tears well up in my own eyes.
Dia’s face is red and her eyes are puffy from her own crying. She stands as the vet takes Sheba’s leash. When the dog doesn’t make an effort to move, Dia steps towards the back door to get her to go. When she starts to follow the vet is able to easily get her to go back. At the door, Sheba turns one last time and her golden eyes meet Dia’s as if she’s saying goodbye.
I feel the wetness of my tears hit my cheeks as Dia turns and falls into me sobbing. Oh I hope the look in that dog’s face isn’t an omen of what’s to come. This really can’t be goodbye. They have to fix her.
They close the door and I hold Dia close while the overwhelming emotions flood a woman who has been nothing but happy and kind since the day I met her.
“This is killing me inside seeing her sick and now leaving her here. They have to fix her.”
The paperwork Dia has copies of is a blur for both of us as neither of us seem to be able to control our emotions to stop crying and read the shit. All I can think is, what if it was Cleo?
That’s when I know without a doubt, I’m going to keep Cleo. I will make it work somehow.
“Can you give me a ride home?” Dia asks as we step outside. “I called my brother, but they’re on a run, him and my dad. My mom is in Catawba visiting a friend. I could have called Sass or one of the other ol’ ladies, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. Blaine said he would handle it. I appreciate him calling you and you coming. He’ll make arrangements for someone to get my car tomorrow.”
I nod and give her hand a squeeze. I may not be good at being a friend or even providing comfort, but I can at least give her a ride home so she isn’t alone.
Funny, I’ve never thought about how much I am truly alone until this second. It didn’t bother me … until now.
When this assignment is over, I’ll be all alone, except for Cleo.
Chapter Ten
Blaine
Be wary of the prowling lion who seeks to devour for he will always destroy his prey.
My sister’s text about Sheba puts me on edge. While I know how much my sister loves her dog, I’m uncomfortable because Fox is staying with her. There is a reason I cut off communication and it’s not a good one. I should have gone to my dad with what I learned. Instead, I kept everyone out of the loop, including Swift, even when he asks me questions almost daily. The threat is real and I let it in.
I just have to figure out what to do with it now before she strikes.
We are an hour from home when I last got a response from Dia. Deciding to follow my gut, I ride to my sister’s condo.
Walking up to the building nothing seems out of the ordinary. Using my key, I open the front door and freeze at the sight in front of me.
“What the fuck are you thinking?” I roar before charging her.
The knife held to my sister’s neck swipes as Fox pushes away putting space between them. Dia immediately grabs at her neck while I press the broad I’ve been fucking to the living room wall. Reaching out, I yank the knife from her hand, throwing it to the ground behind us as I wrap my hand around her throat.
I don’t cut off her air supply … not yet.
“Who the fuck are you? I know Amanda Horton is a bullshit alias. Who the fuck are you really? Who sent you?”
Dia rushes to me. “BW,” she whines and I ignore her keeping my eyes locked on the woman who has betrayed me in the worst of ways. My focus is on the sly fox in front of me.
“Fox, who the fuck are you because Amanda Horton is who you’re not!”
Her eyes blink rapidly, busted. She swallows hard.
“Yeah, I know. I did a little digging and Amanda Horton’s background only goes so far. Her parents don’t exist in a single database other than a doctored death certificate for your dear mom. And your sister, yeah that was some bullshit too since Amanda Horton didn’t have a sister. You shou
ld really be more careful, Fox. Titus Blackwell, what’s that name mean to you?”
Her eyes grow wide at the mention of his name. Yet, she doesn’t speak. Well, I’ll hand it to her, at least she’s loyal to someone even if it’s not the cock filling her.
“Blaine,” Dia says beside me, grabbing at my forearm that holds Fox in place. “Blaine Ward Crews listen to me!”
I turn to my sister where I see a trickle of blood on her neck.
I see red. There is nothing to talk about. Fox hurt my sister and she’s going to pay.
Grabbing Fox by the arms I swing her around and toss her like a ragdoll to the couch. “You were gonna fuckin’ kill my sister. For this, you die and by my hands it will be. I’m going to end you, bitch.”
I have never been so full of hatred, disgust, and anger. The rage is all consuming. I want to watch the life go out of her body. All the ways I made her scream in ecstasy I now want to see her pain. I want to hurt her, destroy her, and make her suffer.
“I deserve that,” Fox mutters while Dia rushes over.
She smacks me on the back of the head and I look to her ready to throttle my little sister. Doesn’t she see, this woman is not her friend.
“Dipshit, we were staging it until you came in. Now we gotta start over,” she tells me calmly.
I blink and look down at Fox under me.
“Dia, don’t believe her. She’s a lying piece of shit whose name is not Amanda Horton.”
Dia props a hand on her hip. “No, it’s not. And if you’d stop manhandling her long enough to have an adult conversation I could tell you that she isn’t going to kill me.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I ask again ignoring my sister.
“My name is Karsci Jo Sheridan.”
Fury.
Rage.
Unbridled vexation and fixation on punishing her fill me. Why did she lie to me? Why the elaborate hidden identity? Why did she go to such lengths?
“Dia, go call dad. Tell him to send the boys. Pack a fuckin’ bag.” I turn my eyes back on her. “I have never wanted to watch someone die as much as I want to watch the life drain from your body. You don’t know who the fuck you crossed. That woman you held a knife to, she’s more than my sister, she’s got Hellion blood in her veins. You spilled Hellions blood and for that you will pay.”
“Good,” she challenges me and I see it in her face. She’s ready to die.
Something inside of me snaps. A piece of me dies seeing her ready to end it all and allow me to do it. It shouldn’t be this way. This is all wrong. But every time I blink I picture her with the knife to my sister’s throat. The only thing I know to do is kill her for it.
“Oh darlin’, I’m not about to make this easy on you or quick. I want to know who the fuck you are and why the fuck you came here.”
She swallows and looks me dead in the eyes. “I am Karsci “Fox” Sheridan. I’m a killer. I work for Titus Blackwell. Do your very best, Blaine Ward Crews, but know nothing you can do to me will ever match what he has already done.”
She’s checked out. She’s ready to meet her fate. It shakes me.
I’m so angry. I don’t know what to do or think. I just know I want her to die. If I hadn’t walked in when I did what would have happened to my sister?
I can hear Dia on the phone in the background before walking back out to the living room with the phone to her ear.
“Dad, BW won’t listen. It’s not what he thinks. She wasn’t trying to kill me. We were making it look that way to protect all of us.”
“Are you fucking kidding me Dia Nicole Crews?” I hear my dad’s voice come through the phone. “If she held a knife to your throat then she deserves whatever the fuck your brother’s gonna do to her.”
“She’s told me everything and you should really listen, but I need you to tell BW not to kill her first.” Dia is calm while I’m a raging storm inside.
She turns the phone to me and puts it on speaker.
“You got the bitch?”
“Yes sir,” I reply.
“Bring her to the clubhouse. I don’t care if you gotta tie her to your fuckin’ bike. She comes in and we all get a turn.”
I feel Karsci tense under me.
What has she endured? What does she think is going to happen? She should be scared. She tried to hurt one of our own, she won’t get off easily. If I have my way, she won’t get off at all.
Lifting up off the couch, I grab her wrists holding them together and push her to the kitchen.
“I’ll go with you, Blaine. I’m not going to fight you. ”
I laugh maniacally. “Yeah, I’ll believe that as hard as I’ll believe your name is Amanda Horton, daughter to Clyde and Mary Horton who died of cancer last year. Yeah, dollface, I looked into you long before you told me your name. The registration on your car was doctored, but that isn’t what tipped me off. The tracker in your tail light. Why would some every day, average broad need a tracker? Got me looking into shit. Your man, he didn’t fill you in on the reach of the Hellions MC obviously. If he did, you’d have never taken this job because darlin’ there was no way you could get away with it.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” she croaks out but doesn’t crack. She’s keeping her shit together, I’ll give her that.
Sliding open the junk drawer in my sister’s kitchen, I pull out the zip-ties. Quickly, I bind her wrists. There was a time where I could have made tying her up fun … not now.
“Blaine, I told you I’d go freely. My life is over either way I look at it.”
“Your life is shit to me. I want the information on who sent you because I personally plan to eliminate every single one of you who ever set out to hurt my family, starting with you. I’m gonna be the one to end you, Fox.”
“Understood,” she replies resigned to her fate.
It doesn’t faze me. Nothing will.
She put a knife to my sister’s throat. I watched the red of her blood trickle down her neck and no one fucks with what’s mine, and Dia Nicole Crews has been mine to protect since the day she was born when I was six years old. I still remember it.
“You’re a big brother now, BW,” my father explains as he holds this bundle of blanket.
He places her in my arms. I look down and she looks like a pink alien. She opens her mouth and the first sound I hear is a scream.
A blood curling, stop your breath, scream.
“She needs your security, son. We gotta be men who treasure our women, your momma, your sister, and one day your own ol’ lady. Hold her close and tell her it’s alright. Talk to her like you did in mommy’s tummy.”
“Sissy, it’s me BW. You gotta know I’ll always hold your hand. Dad says I’m gonna have an ol’ lady one day, but once you get to know our mom, you’ll realize ain’t no one better than Momma, so I ain’t goin’ nowhere and neither will you. Red is my best friend. He has a new brother. I’m not gonna drop my toys on your head like he does. I’m gonna keep you safe and read you stories.”
The more I talk the more she quiets down like she really understands me so I pour out all the promises my six-year-old brain can think of.
“Momma said people like to do pink for girls, but we’re Hellions baby, her words not mine, so you have black and red lady bugs like everywhere in your room. When you get bigger, she’ll let you take ‘em down and we can get you some action figures on the wall or monster trucks or something better than lady bugs. I mean they don’t even bite or sting. Not that I’m gonna let anything bite you. Nope, sissy, I’m your protector because I’m your big brother.”
The memory hits me like a punch to the gut.
“Dia, you okay, sissy?” I ask as Karsci studies us both. The memory shifts my focus to my sister and her well being.
Tears fill her eyes. “You only call me sissy when you’re scared. I promise I’m okay Blaine and this isn’t what you think it is. She really wasn’t going to hurt me just make it look like it.”
“You.”
“Did you call me? Knowing this broad was hired to kill you and needed to provide proof, you two made a plan and didn’t tell anyone. How can you trust her? How can you know she wouldn’t really do it?”
She shakes her head as the tears fall down her face. “I was trying to protect you. Karsci really likes you.”
I laugh sinisterly. “Yeah, she likes me enough to befriend my sister and put a knife to her throat. That sounds like true love.”
Karsci jerks back at my harsh words.
“Oh, what don’t like the truth staring you in the face? Don’t act like fucking me wasn’t some part of your plan. I might’ve been born at night but it wasn’t last night. Let’s be clear on that, Fox.”
“I get you’re pissed. I get you’re fired up. I get you can’t believe me. But dammit, Blaine, I didn’t know you were her brother the night I met you. I also didn’t seek you out. You took my car and I told you I would handle it myself.”
“I’m a good guy. Sure, I fuck around because I’m not tied to someone but loyalty is thick in my veins. The woman I give myself to she gets all of me and my family. It’s an honor. An honor that could have been yours except nothing about you was real. You’re a good actress, darlin’. Prostitution is the oldest job in history and you do it well because fucking me was just part of your job, so how about you shut the fuck up with all your bullshit so I can get you to the clubhouse, get my sister seen by our doctor, and I can fucking end you with my entire club watching.”
Dia steps up to me. “Your word, Blaine.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “NO!”
“I want your word, Blaine. She walks away unharmed. You will listen and so will Dad.”
“Fuck no.”
“I’m calling mom. You will give her the opportunity to speak and be heard. You will listen, and on my blood which is the same that pumps through your heart, you will not hurt her.”
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