Broken Wings

by Sweet, Izzy

  Looking over at Grem, I smirk. He still has a scar on his ass from the last time Rain was here.

  “Nah, it won’t be that bad, least it won’t be for the Bastards,” I say then yell, “Hammy, let’s fucking move it!”

  “Alright!” Hammy yells back and starts the truck up.

  The fucker chained behind the pickup starts screaming and squealing so loud you can hear it over the thunderous rumble of the mufflers before the truck even starts moving. His eyes wide, he tries to wiggle and thrash his way out of the chains.

  Won’t work, but I give him a B for effort.

  The chain holding him pulls tight and he’s instantly yanked down the gravel road.

  He’s wailing so loud, I can hear it over the BDSM ball gag we stuffed in his mouth. I can even hear it over the mufflers and distance.

  Hammy’s not going fast enough to kill him right off the bat, thankfully. I want this bitch to fucking suffer. Castrating him with a knife and then cauterizing the wound wasn’t enough to send the message I want to send.

  I want this fucker’s death to stand out.

  When they get far enough away that I can no longer hear the wailing, I take my eyes off the bouncing soon-to-be corpse. “I want him dropped at one of their hangouts or something. I want them all to see with their own fuckin’ eyes what happens when you come to our town and sling shit.”

  “Got it. I’ll send Poster Boy,” Grem says, mentioning one of our trusted enforcers.

  “Good, he likes to do all this dirty shit,” I laugh.

  Grim shakes his head. “One day that fucker’s gonna snap and we’ll all be caught in the fallout if we ain’t careful.”

  Hammy turns the truck around after about a quarter of a mile and starts to head back toward us.

  The trail of blood that started near us is faint, but by the time Hammy gets back to us, I’m pretty sure all the blood has bled out of the corpse.

  It looks like roadkill and a meat grinder got in a fight.

  I wince at the mess. “Fuck, maybe we should have had Hammy turn around sooner. I don’t want them strugglin’ to figure out what the fuck we left on their doorstep.”

  Laughing at my reaction, Grem slaps me on the back. “Brother, I’m sure they’ll get the idea. Especially with all the drugs I’m going to shove in his body.”

  Fucker’s always touching me. He knows I hate that shit, but I don’t call him on it because it’s a fucking weakness.

  I think about and nod my head. “Good, call Poster Boy and have him head over here to get the body. We need to get to Church. Any voting on his part always swings my way, anyways.”

  “That it does,” Grem agrees as he pulls a burner cell from his kutte.

  “You owe me fifty,” I smirk at him.

  “Goddammit,” Grem grumbles.

  * * *

  “Let’s get this shit started,” I say as I slam my fist down hard enough on the table to be heard over the laughter and voices.

  Silence quickly follows and the brothers turn their heads toward me, waiting for me to start.

  “Got a call from Rain up in Anchorage last night,” I say, starting off.

  Moans come from a few of the guys around the table and I can’t help but smile. “Nothin’ bad, brothers.”

  My VP, Whitey, turns to me. He’s Hound’s best friend, and thankfully he agreed to stay on with me. Fuck, if Whitey would have revolted against me taking over, I wouldn’t be in this seat. But he’s here because he knows I need his advice and his influence as much as I need Grem’s. I plan on keepin’ us going for a long time into the future.

  Having them at my side ensures that happens.

  “You say his name like it ain’t a fuckin’ jinx,” Whitey says with a laugh.

  “Not this time. He got us a good shipment of M-4s and Glocks,” I say and look around at the smiles starting to form around the table.

  We have guns, each and every one of us is strapped. But having extra firepower is always good.

  “Alright, what’s he gonna charge us?” Tazer, our treasurer asks. He’s the one who knows where our finances sit.

  “Twenty thousand.” I smirk.

  There’s a few low whistles, and I’m just waitin’ for someone to ask why we’re gettin’ charged that much.

  After a minute of me smirking, Grem speaks up. “What’s with the grin, asshole?”

  I shrug. “He also got us an almost-full container of ammo.

  “Wait, does that include the hardware or not?” Whitey asks.

  “Twenty-thousand for both,” I say.

  “Fuck me,” Grem says before he starts pounding his knuckles on the table.

  More of the guys start it up as well before I wave for them to stop.

  “The only issue is he’s gonna ship it down to their contacts in Seattle, and now that Rancid’s in jail, we gotta get it from there to here,” I say with a frown.

  “Fuckin’ Seattle,” Grem growls and rolls his eyes. “So, I’m guessin’ we’ll need a road guard the whole way?”

  “Nah,” I say and shake my head. “I worked that out, too. I was about to call down to Jameson in Louisiana when he called me. Looks like they’re gonna be taking over Rancid’s old supply chains, and they’re willing to do some runnin’ for us.”

  I watch the men around me start to digest this information, and I know some of these older guys don’t like change. Fuck, the walkouts when I took over are proof of it.

  But we fucking need this.

  I lean forward and look at all the men around me. “This change is good for us, brothers. With the fucking Scorpions trying to step on our toes, we need these guns. This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for.”

  “All in favor?” Whitey asks.

  Everyone raises their hands in short order. I didn’t doubt they would, but it’s good to see my decisions are supported.

  After a few more minutes of going through the things we need to talk about, Whitey asks if there’s any other club business.

  “Yeah,” Pappy chimes in. “The renters in the Stack’s house have moved out.”

  My stomach fucking sours at the mention of that last name, but I make sure to keep my face calm as I nod my head at him to continue.

  “Any chance the place is going up for sale?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “Nope, not that I can tell.”

  “Well, with the trash they had livin’ there this time, it’s gonna take a contractor to get that house back up to spec, anyways,” Grem says.

  “Yeah, maybe the next renters will be…” I say, trailing off, and don’t bother to finish.

  The guys around me know the story with her house and her falling off the face of the earth. No need to drag my fucking brain through it again.

  “Anything else for the table?” Whitey asks.

  Shaking my head, I say, “Church is done, let’s get a drink.”

  I need a strong fucking bottle of whiskey and a piece of ass to get my damn head straight.

  Chapter Six

  Allie

  I’ve made good time on our drive, cutting down what should have taken us over thirteen hours down to twelve.

  But ever since we crossed the Kentucky state line, my head has been fucking with me.

  I don’t know if it’s because of a lack of sleep, or because of how hard I’ve been pushing my body, but as I take in the rolling green hills, there’s this strong sense of déjà vu I just can’t shake.

  I’d almost swear I’ve been here before...

  But when? And how?

  The answer eludes me. For the past couple of hours, I’ve been racking my brain, going through everything my parents told me, trying to figure it out.

  Probing at the big blank space in my mind.

  I know, even though I don’t remember it, that I was in a serious car accident five years ago. The injuries I sustained put me in a coma for over a month, and because of the bruising on my brain, everyone was afraid I wasn’t going to wake up.

  I did wake up thoug
h.

  I also made a full recovery, minus two years of my memory going up in smoke.

  The doctors call it retrograde amnesia and wanted me to go through some occupational therapy to help me recover the missing memories. But once we found out I was pregnant with Levi that option went off the table. Fearing the whole process would cause me too much stress and harm Levi, my parents and I decided to let things play out how they will.

  The memories may or may not come back to me one day, and honestly, up to this point, I never really cared. Once Levi was born and my parents started filling in the blanks for me, I decided I didn’t want to remember.

  I didn’t want to remember because according to them I lost Levi’s father in that accident. Also according to them, he was my first real love, and there seemed no point in causing myself needless pain.

  Forgetting him was a blessing.

  At least, it was.

  Now, as my hand hits the blinker for our exit before the GPS tells me this is where we get off the highway, I’m not so sure.

  Have I been here before?

  I can’t stop asking myself that question as we pass the sign announcing we’re entering Oldham County.

  The sense of familiarity is so damn strong, I’d bet money that I have.

  But I can’t fucking remember. And I honestly can’t remember my parents ever mentioning Kentucky before.

  Maybe they did but I forgot that too?

  Fuck.

  Not only is this whole thing giving me a headache, it’s also starting to piss me off.

  I need to talk to Robert. Surely, he’d remember. But if he did, wouldn’t he have mentioned it to me by now? Before we left would have been a great time to tell me…

  “Look, Mommy! Horses!” Levi exclaims excitedly and points out the window as we drive past a sprawling green pasture.

  Everywhere in Kentucky seems to be green. The ground, the hills, the trees. And it’s not your normal, everyday green. It’s bright, vivid, and full of life. Fertile.

  Off the highway and away from the city, I feel like I’m driving through a scenic painting.

  Wait...

  Maybe that’s why this place seems so familiar… Maybe I’ve seen it in a painting before…

  I let that possibility roll around in my brain.

  It would make complete and total sense if this damn déjà vu that’s been plaguing me didn’t continue to grow.

  It’s so strong now, I’m starting to freak out and I’m barely paying attention to where we’re going.

  I don’t know what the hell is going on.

  But my hands and feet seem to know where to go.

  As I seriously begin to doubt my sanity, my foot eases on the brake to slow down and my hands turn the steering wheel, taking us up a gravel driveway that leads to a picturesque white house.

  “You have arrived at your destination,” the GPS announces as we reach the end of the driveway.

  I put the minivan in park then stare at the house through the windshield.

  It’s both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

  Like the face of a person I should know…

  “Are we here?” Levi asks.

  “I think so, sweetheart,” I say as I continue to stare at the house.

  It’s an older two-story house, probably built in the 1800s. The outside looks as if it’s been well taken care of, but I don’t like the look of the sheets hanging inside over the windows.

  “Can we get out now?” Levi asks, his little voice hopeful.

  It’s been a long, grueling drive, and Levi has behaved like an angel. He hasn’t complained once, and only asked to stop if he was hungry or needed the bathroom.

  I need to let him out of the minivan to stretch his legs, but I also need to see what we’re walking into first.

  “In a minute, let me check on a couple of things,” I say, and see his shoulders slump in the rearview mirror.

  “Okay,” he says, so dejected it hurts my heart.

  Hoping for the best but expecting the worst, I leave the minivan running and the doors unlocked.

  Walking the short distance from the driveway to the front porch, my ears strain as I listen for any sign of life. Robert said the previous tenants have already vacated, but better safe than sorry.

  “Hello?” I call out as I reach the front door.

  I wait a moment, hoping that if someone is inside they’ll respond, then I punch in the code on the lockbox and grab the key.

  Unlocking the door, I push it open and I’m immediately hit by an awful smell.

  It smells like garbage and animals.

  Fuck.

  “Hello?” I call out again into the dark house, feeling a little like the stupid damsel in a horror movie.

  When no one responds, I find the switch on the wall and flip on the light.

  Then I get a glimpse of the true horror show.

  Trash… there’s trash everywhere…

  “Oh my god,” I gasp and cover my mouth with the back of my hand.

  The place is completely wrecked. The interior looks more like a landfill than someone’s home. And you can tell someone lived here at one point because there’s these clean spots on the floor where furniture used to be.

  Shit. Shit.

  Shit.

  I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.

  Robert warned me he couldn’t get a cleaning crew here yet, but I didn’t expect to find the house like this…

  Even animals are cleaner than this.

  Levi and I are so screwed.

  Forcing myself to walk through the first floor, I pick my way carefully over the trash, inspecting the place.

  Even if I wasn’t sore and exhausted after getting beat by my husband and driving all night, it would take me days to clean the place up on my own.

  But there’s nowhere else we can go.

  This place, as disgusting as it is, is our only hope.

  Local hotels are too risky. Too many people going in and out. I’d have to pick a direction, drive a few more hours to find one for the night, and hope there’s no Bratva nearby.

  And dammit, I’m too tired to do more driving today.

  We have no family I’m willing to put at risk, and none of them live nearby anyway.

  Besides Robert, I literally have no one else I can rely on to help.

  I can’t even talk to Robert until our designated time which isn’t until later tonight.

  Despair threatens to overwhelm me, but I shove it away and make my way up the stairs. The only bright lining in this whole situation is that the upstairs isn’t nearly bad as the downstairs. Yes, there’s dirty clothing on the floors and more garbage, but not as much as the first floor.

  Once I’ve seen as much as I can stomach, I rush out of the house and lock the front door. Levi’s hopeful face peers at me through the window as I walk up to the minivan, and the sight nearly crushes my soul.

  “Can we go in now?” he asks as I slide back behind the wheel and shut my door.

  Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and hold it.

  If it was just me, this would probably be the point where I’d give up and throw in the towel.

  “Mommy?”

  But it’s not just me, I can’t give up now. We’ve already come this far, and I can’t let Levi down. I swore I’d give him a better life, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

  Even if it kills me.

  “I’m sorry, we can’t go in yet. The last people that lived here… they forgot to clean before they left. We have to go buy some cleaning stuff then we can go in,” I explain and brace myself for his reaction.

  I know he’s tired and probably going stir crazy from being cooped up in the van all night. It would be completely normal for him to have an emotional meltdown and throw a tantrum.

  Hell, I want to throw a tantrum. I want to scream at the heavens. I want to ask why they keep fucking with me. I want to ask what I did to deserve all of this.

  “Okay,” Levi says
, accepting my explanation so easily I don’t know if I should be grateful he’s being so good or even more worried.

  He’s too young to be used to disappointment.

  * * *

  It’s only a fifteen-minute drive to the closest Walmart, but after all the driving I’ve already done, it feels like it takes us twice as long.

  I park as close to the doors as I can get, help Levi out of the van, and try my best to ignore the exhaustion settling into my bones.

  My energy tank is so empty I’m running on fumes.

  And I still have so much to do…

  After grabbing a cart, I walk as fast as Levi’s little legs can keep up with, completely ignoring the middle-aged woman smiling at us and trying to greet us as we walk in.

  I just want to get in and out of here as quickly as possible.

  I feel that woman’s eyes burning into my back though the entire walk to the cleaning supplies aisle. Glancing over my shoulder, I catch her glaring at me like I’m the lowest scum of earth.

  Whatever.

  Mentally shrugging my shoulders, I head down the aisle, straight for the brooms. I grab one then briefly consider putting it back. Given the amount of trash in the house, I might be better off with a shovel…

  Crap.

  I’ll probably need both.

  Beyond caring about the cost at this point, I load up the cart with bottles of cleaners, a mop, and boxes of garbage bags.

  Then I start the long trek across the entire store to get to the hardware aisle. I need that shovel and a vacuum.

  With each exhausted step I take though, I curse the store for the way it’s set up. They’ve purposely shoved all the crap you don’t need in the middle.

  Levi sticks close to my side, nearly hugging me, as we roll past the rows and rows of cheap, disposable clothing and shoes. By the time we make it past the electronic section and reach the toy section, I’m so tired I’m seriously considering giving up on the shovel and vacuum.

  I can always come back for them later…

  My tired brain deciding that’s the best course of action at this point, I make a sharp left and head for the registers.

  “Mommy,” Levi says and tugs on my sleeve as we make it halfway through the men’s clothing section.