“You go right ahead, Daniel and I will watch the girls for you,” Gage’s mother offered as Makynlee unexpectedly lunged for Gage. Thankfully her uncle caught her seconds before the tiny girl tumbled to the ground.
Brooklyn was only too happy to run and hide from Gage’s menacing gaze. Only slowing down enough to snag the diaper bag, she made a fast getaway.
****
“Pick Owwie up,” Makynlee demanded as she pointed her chubby index finger toward her sister.
“Do you want me to pick up Ollie?” Gage asked the toddler in his arms just to verify that’s what she’d said. When she nodded her head, he followed her directions and lifted the preschooler with his other arm.
“She can’t say my name, so when she tries, it comes out like that. Mommy says I should get used to it because Makynlee will probably always call me Owwie. She said that Daddy couldn’t say your name either when he was little. Mommy said he called you Dage. She told me that Makynlee is lucky to have an older sister like Daddy was lucky to have you. It’s my job to protect Makynlee and Sadie, right Uncle Gage?”
The large, usually in control at all times soldier was intimidated by the two little girls.
“Owwie, tive Daddy tiss. He tome bat home to us.”
“Are you going to come live with us like Makynlee said? Maybe if you help Mommy fix all the broken things then we won’t have to go live with Grammy and Papaw. I think Mommy needs to be loved because she cries a lot. Maybe you could love her as much as she loves us? Then she wouldn’t be sad no more.”
Gage looked at his parents for help, but they weren’t offering any. They seemed to be enjoying his discomfort. “Papaw and Grammy are excited for you to come live with us. We’d be so sad if you didn’t move in,” Marie said with a smile. “Here, let us hold the girls so you can catch up with some of your old school mates. I think most of the town showed up to pay their respects,” Gage’s mother suggested as she and Daniel held their arms out for their granddaughters.
Gage wasn’t interested in talking to anyone but Brook. What he had to say wasn’t pleasant but by damn, he was going to let the woman have it for kicking his brother out of the house which, in his mind, ultimately led to his death. Once he was through saying what he came so many miles to say to his former sister in-law, he’d be able to get to work. Ten years in the military and the last seven spent as a soldier for hire had trained Gage how to track his prey. The bastards that killed his brother didn’t have much time left on this earth because once he discovered their location, he’d eliminate every last one.
First things first, he needed to give Brook Hennessey a piece of his mind. The third door Gage opened was where he located mother and baby. He was ready to blast her with a litany of choice words. What he wasn’t prepared for was to find his niece attached to Brook’s uncovered breast. It only took a couple of seconds for him to realize she was bare. Although she immediately flipped a blanket over her chest, it still made for an awkward interaction. He quickly stepped back and closed the door. He’d give her a few minutes to finish while he went back into the showing to say goodbye to his brother and then he’d get Brook alone so he could unleash his fury.
As he re-entered the showing, he quickly noticed his brother’s casket. “Dad, why is Garret’s casket closed?”
“His body wasn’t fit for people to see. The mortician suggested we keep the top down so no one gets upset.” Daniel’s voice shook as if it took all his strength to keep his emotions under control.
“Why is his body so messed up? What haven’t you told me because I thought he passed away from a forced drug overdose?” Gage’s calm voice masked the level of irritation he was experiencing due to his own father attempting to shield him from the truth.
“Let’s step outside so we don’t have to censor our conversation due to all of the visitors,” Daniel exited the room knowing his son would follow.
“What the hell happened to my brother? From what little you’ve told me, I gather his death was quite brutal,” Gage bellowed as he paced back and forth.
“This time Garret’s addiction destroyed his appearance. The other times, he’d gone in for treatment before the drugs permanently ravaged his body. The last time we saw him was a little over a month ago and he was barely recognizable. He was stick thin with deep, dark circles under his eyes and open sores covering his face and arms.”
Gage stopped in front of Daniel. “When you called and asked me to come home for a visit, why didn’t you tell me Garret’s drug use was out of control? If I’d known he was in trouble, I’d have come immediately.” He wasn’t about to admit he hadn’t come home because Daniel had suggested Garret and Brook were separated. Gage worried if he’d come home, he’d have lost control of his desire and made an attempt to make Brook his. Some brother he was. Not only had he failed to save Garret in fear he’d make a fool of himself, he was still lusting over his brother’s wife. He was the lowest of the low.
“I didn’t want you to worry. Besides, you couldn’t have gotten through to him. Our Garret was already long gone otherwise he wouldn’t have walked away from his family.” Daniel lowered his head in defeat.
“I fully intend to walk in there and open his casket. I need to see him for myself,” Gage announced as he slung the door open and marched into the funeral home never hearing his father’s plea to wait.
Gage quickly removed the blanket of flowers sitting on top of the casket and lifted the lid. “What the…”
****
Two more minutes and they would finally be home. She’d seen the look on Gage’s face when he barged in on her feeding the baby. There was no mistake about it, Gage had a fierce temper. Garret had relayed stories about his brother’s infamous, explosive temper and even though Brooklyn had never witnessed it first hand, she’d certainly got a glimpse of it tonight. If looks could kill, she’d have been dead and buried already. As soon as the baby was full, she’d packed up her daughters and hightailed it out of there before he got a second chance to tear her to shreds with his caustic words. Deep down Brooklyn was certain Gage would never physically hurt her but as emotionally fragile as she currently felt, his berating might be enough to cause her to lose what little dignity she had left.
In the last nine months, Brooklyn had discovered it was easier to be insanely busy caring for three young children than being alone with her thoughts. In solitude was when the doubts materialized. She still believed she’d done what she had to do to protect her children but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a mountain of regrets. Lord did she feel the unbearable weight of her guilt pushing down on her every minute of every day.
Before she tumbled down the well of despair that held her captive so often, she needed to get her babies tucked snuggly in bed. A couple of minutes later, Brooklyn guided the van up the pot holed riddled drive. It might not be their house much longer, but tonight she was thankful to be home. Brooklyn woke and unstrapped each girl. “All we have to do is get in the house and then we’ll change into our jammies and climb into bed,” she explained as she coaxed everyone through the front door.
Before she had a chance to engage the lock, Ollie tugged on her pants. “Mommy, you’re gonna be mad at the person who made this mess.”
It looked like a tornado had blown through the center of the house. Everything was smashed, cut open and torn apart. The furniture cushions had been sliced with the stuffing removed. There were papers and broken picture frames all over the floor. It only took a short few seconds before two thoughts occurred to Brooklyn. Were Garret’s killers involved and were they still here?
Frantically she herded her family out of the house. “Hurry girls. We have to get back in the car,” she ordered as she unlocked the vehicle with her remote. In her haste, she practically ripped the door off the hinges. “Climb in your car seats and try to buckle up yourself while I get Sadie strapped in.”
“But I thought we were too little to mess with the buckles,” Olivia questioned as she climbed into her seat.
> “I know that’s what I always say but this is a special occasion. I’m going to let you buckle up all by yourself, just this once.” Brooklyn quickly strapped the baby in, completed a visual check to make sure the other girls were secured, and jumped behind the wheel all in under a minute.
She frantically turned the key. The engine whined but didn’t initially start. “Come on you piece of shit!” Brooklyn cried. She tried one more time and thankfully the engine engaged. She dropped it into reverse and stepped on the gas. The first thing she had to do was get the girls to safety, then she’d find a phone and call the police.
When they were a mile down the road, a small voice from the back seat piped up. “Mommy said a bad word.”
Chapter Two
The front yard was littered with emergency vehicles. It had only taken six minutes from the time Brooklyn made the call from the closest neighbor’s house until the first responder appeared. There were times when it was beneficial to live in a small town.
It was nearing ten o’clock and not only were the girls beyond exhausted, so was Brooklyn. The mental and emotional stress from the last three days had drained her spirit and currently her ability to think clearly.
“Where are they?” It wasn’t difficult to recognize Gage’s booming voice. As if he was King of the World, Gage broke through the perimeter barricade and was managing to push through the mosh pit of people. Following in his wake was his fragile looking parents, their personalities in such contrast to their oldest son’s. Her in-laws were reserved and nonjudgmental most of the time. Garret had thrived on attention. He always wanted to stand out. Gage always took control of everything and everyone. If he pissed people off with his bossiness and boldness, he didn’t care in the least.
“Here, let us take the babies while you talk to the sheriff, honey.” Daniel and Marie reached out to pry the girl’s death grip from their mother.
“How did you find out about the house? I only called a short time ago. The sheriff’s department hasn’t been here for more than ten minutes.”
“We were still at the funeral home when little Dougie got the call. He’s a volunteer fireman now and the dispatcher called him. We jumped into the van and followed Gage. If the entire sheriff’s department hadn’t been here, we’d for sure have gotten a ticket. Gage drove like a maniac to get here,” Marie chattered as she swayed attempting to get Makynlee to calm down.
“I don’t think he likes to be called little Dougie anymore since he’s a full grown man,” Daniel corrected his wife.
“Where the hell is the sheriff? Brook, have you given a statement yet?” The man never was one to engage in small talk. On a good day, he was abrasive. When he was in a bad mood, he crossed over to downright offensive.
“No. Sam wanted to check out the house before he spoke with me. He was very adamant about everyone staying out of the way.”
“Sam’s the sheriff? How the hell did that happen? It should be criminal that anyone actually voted for the spineless, bumbling buffoon. The case will never get solved if he’s in charge,” Gage announced so everyone within a fifty foot radius could hear. “Hand Sadie to dad so we can hunt down Sam the sheriff,” he said with a grimace.
Brooklyn had barely released her grasp on Sadie before Gage latched onto her wrist and pulled her behind him. “Hey, slow down. My legs aren’t as long as yours.” He didn’t even bother to acknowledge her request, let alone actually do what she asked. “Sam made it very clear no one was to enter the house except his men. I think we should wait out here until he’s finished. We wouldn’t want to disturb any clues.”
With barely one full step inside the entry way, Gage started bellowing. “Sam, where the hell are you?”
The small town sheriff stepped around the corner. “Well I guess some people never change. You always were obnoxiously loud and arrogant, believing the rules don’t apply to you.”
“Enough of the bullshit. What are you going to do to catch the bastards that broke in and created this mess?”
“Considering I’ve had less than fifteen minutes to inspect the crime scene, I’d say I haven’t formed and implemented a plan to catch the criminals yet. Now get the hell out of the house. You’re contaminating my crime scene.” It was obvious to Brooklyn this wasn’t going to end well.
“Stop blowing smoke up my ass. This Podunk town doesn’t have the funds to purchase the equipment necessary to process any testing. You need to start interviewing the neighbors to see if anyone noticed strangers lurking around. From standing here for less than a minute, even I can draw the conclusion whoever did this was looking for something, otherwise they wouldn’t have pulled the stuffing out of the furniture or dumped the contents out of all the drawers.”
“Don’t roll back into town and think you’re going to take over this investigation. I’m the only one with the authority to make decisions on any crime in this town. I have more…”
“You’ve only been sheriff for a short time and already you’ve started believing your own horseshit? Obviously you don’t have any leads or you’d be bragging about what a great job you’re doing. It stands to reason Garret’s death and this break-in are related. It’s too much of a coincidence this happened the same night as Garret’s showing. It’s a small town. The perpetrators knew Brook and most of the town would be at the funeral home. It gave them enough time to search the house at their leisure.”
Brooklyn wished a crack would open up in the ground beneath her feet so she could fall in. She was fully cognizant of Gage’s temper but she’d never seen him this worked up. It was a definite possibility he’d either rupture a blood vessel or have a heart attack in the next couple of minutes if he didn’t calm down. Instinctively, she started rubbing his back. It always had a calming effect on the girls, so maybe it would do the same for her overly agitated brother in-law. Who was she kidding? Nothing short of a miracle would calm Gage down. The more she watched the adversaries argue, the funnier they got. They resembled two roosters posturing around trying to prove who had the prettiest tail feather. She used her hand to cover her mouth so the men wouldn’t know she found their exchange comical.
“Brooklyn, do you have any idea what they were searching for?” The sheriff looked around Gage so he could see her.
Attempting to muster some courage, Brooklyn stepped to Gage’s side so she could speak with Sam. “I don’t have a clue. There isn’t much left that’s worth anything. I have some costume jewelry my grandmother willed to me but it’s in plain sight on my dresser. Anything with any value was pawned months ago.”
Gage turned toward her with a peculiar look on his face right before he assumed control of the questioning. “Did Garret recently give you anything to hide or keep for him?”
“No. The last time Garret came to visit was about six weeks after Sadie was born. He claimed all he wanted was to see her and spend some time with the older girls.”
“Before then when was the last time Garret made contact?” The sheriff asked as he pulled out a small pad of paper and began writing.
Feeling extremely uncomfortable openly discussing the evening her life fell apart, she lowered her head and peeked out of the corner of her eye at her brother in-law standing in her peripheral. “Garret hadn’t contacted me since the night I called nine one one.”
The sheriff lowered his arms and looked in astonishment at her. “Are you saying he never called or came by to make sure you and the girls were alright?”
Brooklyn started fidgeting, once again feeling guilty for that God awful night.
“Brooklyn, that was almost a year ago. I find it hard to believe he never called or visited after you were released from the hospital to at least ensure you hadn’t miscarried.”
“Sam, I have no reason to lie. The only time he was here was six weeks ago,” she softly admitted as she restlessly twitched under Gage’s scrutiny.
“Did he give you any money recently?”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” It was apparent Gage
was becoming more agitated with the sheriff’s questions.
“No. He hasn’t given us a dime since he left,” Brooklyn answered boldly.
“Garret always was a screw-up but I never took him for a jackass,” the sheriff commented with disgust.
“Watch what you say about my brother,” Gage cautioned as he took a step toward the official.
With a wave of his hand, Sam dismissed Gage’s warning. “I need to speak to your daughters to find out if he gave them anything?” The sheriff abruptly announced.
“You’ll have to go through me before you involve my innocent nieces. They’re off limits to you and any of your deputies! You got that?”
“I wouldn’t scare them if that’s what you’re thinking. This is the last time I’ll warn you not to interfere with this investigation. If I think it’s necessary to ask the girls some questions then you’re not going to keep me from it.”
“Watch me,” Gage threatened as he wrapped his arm around Brooklyn’s waist and pushed her behind him.
Brooklyn was stunned. There wasn’t a single soul in town who’d ever stood up to Sam. Gage had always been so cold toward her she couldn’t believe he’d protect her and her daughters like this. She wasn’t sure how to react to the situation.
“I have the law on my side. You’re input isn’t needed or wanted. I know how to do my job so let…”
“Then do it but don’t forget I’m watching you. If you make one wrong move, you’ll answer to me!” Gage turned around and in a less threatening voice spoke to her. “Come on, Brook. We need to start cleaning this mess up, the sheriff’s department is done here.” He encircled her wrist with his beefy, long fingers and lightly pulled to ensure she followed. They walked around the sheriff and headed for the garage.
Abandon: The Unloveable Series Book One Page 2