by J Bree
Fuck. I’d forgotten about that.
We’d gotten back only to find Avery had a craving for Pizza. Ash and Blaise jumped straight back into the Cadillac to drive into the closest town, mostly because Ash and Avery were still at each other's throats over Atticus.
I try to ignore my blush and snap, “Can we just get a move on? We have to stop off in the actual slums before we head back to Hannaford and I’d rather we get it over with.”
That gets them to shut up and start moving. None of us want to go back to my old house. I don’t want to take them there and they don’t want to face the reality of where I came from. It’s easier to think of it all as some sad story, something that wasn’t so fucking desperately dangerous.
I manage to finish up my packing without falling into a complete sulk. I meet Avery at the car and when she hands me a coffee I attempt a smile at her.
“If there was any other way I wouldn’t ask you to do this.” She murmurs and I nod.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s over with now. We’ll just get in and get out.”
When the car is finally packed and we’re all strapped in, I try not to stare wistfully out of the window at the ranch. I fucking love the place and going back to the snake pits of Hannaford has never been so fucking devastating. My mood only gets worse the closer we get to the Bay. The car is silent as we drive, moving through the ‘burbs and the commercial districts until we’re driving through the very worst parts of the city.
It doesn’t matter that it’s nearly been a whole fucking decade since I was last here, the only things that have changed is everything has gotten more run-down and derelict. I hate it, I hate being here and I hate my whole damn family being here, too. The shame and embarrassment crawls over my skin until I become a snarling asshole myself.
“Stop here. This is it.” I snap, and I swallow the bile creeping up my throat as I look out the window at the tiny shed-like structure I once lived in with my mom.
No one says a word as we pile out of the car and Avery hesitates for a half second before tucking her arm in mine. “I don’t give a fuck about this place, Lips. I just need to check if there’s anything here that can tell us about your birth father.”
I nod and swallow again, trying to keep my voice civil as I say, “You guys should just stay in the car. The place isn’t exactly big enough to have us all in there at once.”
Ash eyes me and then nods, leaning back against the car casually as Blaise pulls out a blunt for them both. They’re both armed and I give them a quick nod, my eyebrows hopefully conveying the motto ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ because this is possibly the worst area to be standing next to a fucking Cadillac with diamonds in the freaking dashboard. I’m kind of expecting to come back and find them being held up by rough and tumble eleven year-olds. I’d also be tempted to put money on the Mounty kids in that situation.
Harley tucks his hand in mine, ignoring my glare, and jerks his head towards the house. “Let’s get this over with. I want to get back to school in time to talk to the coach about the swim trials.”
Avery scoffs at him and I pull away from them both to jiggle the door open. It never did lock properly.
I guess we should have been at least a little concerned about squatters or a new drug addicted family living here but honestly, I’m not sure there was anyone out there desperate enough to move in to the absolute stinking shithole.
Avery tries her best to be polite but gags anyway. Disuse and being sealed has only made the damp, moldy, death smell a million times worse.
“C’mon, I know where she used to hide her stash. I’d guess that’s the best place to start looking for clues.”
None of the rooms have doors, just curtains that are so old and moth eaten they’ve mostly fallen down and turned to dust. Harley doesn’t gag or pull faces, he just takes everything in. I hate it. I feel like something vital is being exposed right now that shouldn’t ever be fucking seen, like my kidneys have been carved out and put on display.
There’s still a few bags of cocaine in my mom’s old stash hole, and I pocket them. They’re stamped with the Jackal’s insignia and I know they’re the dirty batch he sold her. Might come in handy to have some dirty drugs, fuck knows what we’re going to need this year.
When there’s nothing out in the open, I rummage around until I find an old crowbar and start ripping up floorboards. Harley grunts at me and takes over like I’ve insulted him by doing it myself.
“Why the fuck did you have a crow bar but no fucking doors?” He grunts, but the boards all lift easily. The wood is rotting away.
“I don’t know. Well, I know we had the crowbar to use on people trying to break in for drugs. I once watched my mom break a guy’s leg with it. But the missing doors don’t make any sense. I guess they’ve been gone long before mom started squatting here.”
Avery ducks down and grabs a handful of papers from the floor cavity. “I think they’re just newspapers but we should take everything just in case. I’ll go grab a box, I told Ash to bring some.”
I nod, and start flipping through the papers anyway. Nothing I can see, nothing until I find a photo stashed amongst them. It’s of my mom, long before she had me. She looks so fucking young and healthy. It must have been before drugs, before the fire, before everything went wrong. Strangely, my heart sort of spasms in my chest and I feel the need to keep the photo. Fucking weird.
“She looks nothing like you.” Harley murmurs, and I startle. I didn’t hear him stop and come over.
I nod and clear my throat. “Yeah, we were polar opposites. This was before her life went to shit, back when she was still happy. Fuck this place, I hate it so much.”
He nods and grabs my hand again. “I know, babe, but I’d rather be here and have you face this than have your past bite us in the ass.”
I nod again, I get it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Chapter Six
We pick up one of Ash’s Ferraris, one with a tiny back seat with zero leg space, and I ride the rest of the way to Hannaford in it with the twins, and Harley rides in Blaise’s Cadillac with him. I spend the entire trip listening to them both snark each other out and doing my best at avoiding being dragged into their arguments.
“The Mounty is moving into our room this year. If you haven’t figured something out to get us a little closer to you then we’ll just have a rotation to keep someone in your room each night. It’ll be like freshman year all over again, Floss.” Ash says, changing gears and then tracing patterns into my thighs.
Avery scoffs from the backseat, extra pissy after our search of my old house came up with nothing. “Lips is as loyal as they come. She would never turn her back on the bonds of our sisterhood; she’ll move in with me and then spend the whole year being woken up by one of you climbing in to drool over her.”
I turn the page of my book without a word. Apparently that’s the wrong thing to do, on both sides of this argument, because they both hiss at me.
“Lips, tell him you love me more-”
“Mounty, you know where you’d rather be-”
I move the book to cover my face. “I’ll set up a roster and move between the two rooms. My shit is going in my room with Aves but it’s a win for everyone.”
Neither of them like that for an answer but at least it gets them to drop the subject. I can’t say I’m not relieved when we pull into the staff parking lot and I scramble out of the car to get away from the animosity. Harley raises his eyebrows at me but Avery’s snarling starts up again and he smirks.
“Picked the wrong car, babe?”
Smug dick. “Oh, I’m sure you and Blaise would have just started the same crap with me too.”
Blaise decides to be his own personal brand of helpful and jumps into the ring with Ash, snarking at Avery, “Why are you defending Atticus again? I thought you’d given up on your little crush.”
I tuck myself under Harley’s arm and drag him away from the spectacle. I know we only have to find a crowd fo
r them to quit their shit, nothing is more important in this place than a united front. When we finally get past the statues and immaculate landscaping, and into the building the looks we get from the other students… pure, unadulterated terror.
Well, That's nice.
Harley pulls me in closer to his body, kissing the crown of my head and whispering into my hair, “The sheep have finally figured out a Wolf hunts among them.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re so fucking funny, babe. So funny.”
His eyes flare when I use his pet name for me and the smirk only gets bigger. “It’s true. There’s a whole bunch of wolves here now. Best fucking tattoo I’ve got.”
I squeeze his waist and tuck my face into his chest. “Maybe we should keep that under wraps for a little longer. We don’t need to be dealing with any Hannaford snake pit drama this year.”
He chuckles under his breath. “Well, I’m not putting up with some cougar cunt trying to fuck me this year. We’re firmly a stab-first family going forward. Apparently you have the perfect farm animal disposal system.”
Ugh. Gossiping freaking boys!
Avery takes the lead and we head straight up to the boy’s dorms. I follow without question, because Avery Beaumont knows her shit, but Blaise isn’t quite so trusting.
“I want Star in with us, not you as well. I’m not getting fucking bitched out for not washing my sheets daily or making a fucking sandwich when I’m hungry.”
Avery doesn’t break her stride but the look she gives him should best be described as ball-shriveling.
“Maybe if you didn’t constantly have questionable stains on your sheets I wouldn’t have to bitch you out and 3am is not the time to be fucking around in the kitchen.” She snarks at him.
Blaise shrugs at her. “We can’t all sleep like Beaumonts. Some of us actually feel things and it keeps us up at night. Harley never fucking shut his eyes before Star, you never bitch him out for it.”
Avery stops at a door at the end of the hall in the boys dorm and pulls out a key. Her tone is icy as she says, “When your sleep issues stop being about the amount of blunts you smoke, and shift to being flashbacks to your loving father being murdered, then I’ll change my stance. Now stop whining, you petulant brat.”
She shoves open the door and we find a double room, slightly smaller than our room last year in the girls dorm but with more couches and a bigger TV.
“Dibs not sharing the fucking bed. I get we’ll be in rotation but, fuck, can’t we at least have our own bed when we are here?” Blaise grumbles, and Ash snorts at him.
“Did you pack seventy-eight boxes? This is Avery’s shit. She’s moving in here with Mounty.”
I cut Avery a look and she smiles sweetly at me. “Hannaford is having renovations this year and they’ve had to reshuffle where students are being housed. The boy’s room is next door. I hope the walls are thick enough that I won’t hear the orgies but at least I won’t have to see them.”
I blush and clear my throat, and for once it’s not in embarrassment over her use of the word orgies. I was starting to feel antsy about being away from the guys at night, too much can happen in this place, and being away from any of our family was going to be fucking hard. “Thanks.”
She shrugs. “I can’t have you turning into an insomniac either. This way we’re all in one spot if something happens. I was thinking about having a door cut into the wall between the rooms for easier access but, really, the ones in the hall should be enough.”
I kick my shoes off and sling my bag onto the bed, pulling out my safe and tapping my feet on the floorboards as I walk around the room, looking for the perfect hiding spot. Ash watches me carefully as he kisses the top of Avery’s head. He looks the most relieved about our room change. Being away from Avery is hard for him at the best of times, but with the war brewing in the Bay, it’s only made it more dangerous.
“I’ll make burgers for dinner. Did you order shit in, Floss?” Harley says, opening the fridge and grinning when he finds it full. He grabs a beer and throws one at Blaise. Ash starts rummaging around for the hard liquor and I roll my eyes at them all. Starting senior year with a hangover sounds fucking awful but I grab one of my emergency whiskey bottles out and offer it to him anyway. He grimaces.
Avery scoffs, carrying the first of many, many boxes labelled ‘bathroom’ to start unpacking, and snaps, “The bourbon is in your room, go unpack your own crap.”
Harley starts pulling out pans and says, “I’m fucking starving and Lips skipped breakfast because of our stop-off in the slums so we’re having family dinner. We’ll help you unpack, Floss.”
She scoffs at him and I continue my hunt for the perfect hiding spot. When I find it, Blaise grabs his own knife out and helps pry the floorboard up. The diamond I gave him for Christmas catches in the light and I grin at him, my stomach fluttering with happiness. Maybe this year won’t be so fucking terrible. Maybe Hannaford is the perfect place for us to get some space from the Bay.
I barely manage to get the thought out before Ash’s vicious cursing interrupts us.
“Mounty. It’s happened again.”
I glance over my shoulder to the front door, held open by Ash, to find what’s caught his ire. I hear Avery dart out of the bathroom and join Ash in cursing.
Fuck. It’s a fucking box.
“Who the fuck could be in it this time?” Harley growls from the kitchen, and I shrug, totally resigned to this bullshit following us everywhere.
“Fuck knows. Grab it and get it out of people’s sight, Ash. I’ll call Illi for a pick up.”
* * *
It’s the first head that isn’t immediately obvious why the person is dead.
I call Illi for the pick up and he doesn’t bother to comment, and then we open it to find my third-grade teacher’s head inside. When I tell the others who it is Blaise groans and slumps back on my bed.
“I fucking hate riddles! Why would anyone give a fuck about your grade school teachers? Do you? This is fucking stupid!”
Ash watches Avery as she stares at the head with a hand clamped firmly over her mouth to try to keep the smell and potential airborne germs away from herself. I mentally make note that we need to get her a face mask or, fuck it, a hazmat suit to deal with this shit in the future.
Harley watches me.
“Any ideas?” Avery says and I shrug.
“Plenty. If we’re still going on the assumption that the killer is taking out people who’ve wronged me then this woman was an absolute fucking bitch to me. She hated the entire class, hated her life, and she especially hated me. I was smart. She didn’t like the idea of one of us making it out of the Bay and my brains are my ticket out.”
Avery sighs and then startles when my phone pings. I give her a little smile and then move to let Illi in.
“Who the fuck is it this time? Tell me it’s Matteo, or Senior, I’d fucking love it if it were one of them.” He says as he gives me a quick squeeze. None of my guys bat an eyelid, completely accepting of Illi now he’s apparently paid his dues into the family.
“It’s Ms. Rickard. Did you ever have her as a teacher?” I say, and Illi frowns, rubbing his face with one of his massive scarred hands.
He steps up, giving Ash a bro nod of his head and slapping Harley on the shoulder.
“Kid. This is not a good sign. This is actually a really fucking bad one.” He says as he snaps on a pair of gloves.
I groan. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
He rolls the head around looking for some clue, some little thing that will tell us why the fuck this is happening. “You get why it’s her, right?”
I frown at him and step back up beside him to stare at the head. “She was a bitch to me. They’re all people who’ve wronged me.”
He sighs and gently lifts the head back into the box, closing it up and snapping the gloves back off. Avery immediately moves to grab a bottle of bleach and starts scrubbing.
“She put you in detention. She put you th
ere and that’s where you very first met Matteo. You probably don’t even remember him being there, you didn’t speak to each other, but that is where he first saw you and that’s where his obsession with you started.”
I blink at him.
What the fuck?
“Some kid shoved you and you stabbed him with a pair of scissors or something.”
I tip my head back and groan at the ceiling. “Seriously? My whole fucking life changed course because I stabbed Cory Ryans? Fuck, I might hunt him down and stab him again for that shit.”
Illi laughs at me and tucks the box under his arm. “Fucking weird I remember that so clearly but yeah, that’s when it started. Then he dosed your mom, got you into foster care with him, and taught you how to aim for places that kill instead of just hurting like a bitch.”
I smirk despite how fucking angry this is making me, “And you taught me how to do both. I guess I’ll let Cory live, the fucking dickhead that he is.”
Illi shrugs. “He’s dead kid. You forget how many people don’t make it to twenty-one in the Bay. He started running with the Bear’s crew and they paid him a lot of money to do some time for something he didn’t do and then he got shanked in prison. He owed me a lot of money, I’m still fucking pissed about it.”
Then he gives us one last wave and leaves to dispose of the head.
We all watch Avery as she scrubs furiously at the coffee table, the only surface we were willing to put the head on, and after a second I catch her arm.
“Let’s go over to the guys’ room for dinner and sleep there tonight. Go have a shower and we’ll get rid of the coffee table. We don’t need it, we’ll just throw the fucker out.”
She hums under her breath and then shoots a quick look at Ash, nodding when he gives her a tight smile. Well, it’s more of a grimace but he’s trying.
Harley gets rid of the coffee table and after everyone has scrubbed their skin raw in the shower we sit down in the guys room to eat. Blaise looks a little put off but after his fourth beer he mellows out enough to go for seconds.