Dark Secret

by Avelyn Paige

  I watch, my entire body trembling as the group splits up, all of them crouched low to the ground, guns clutched in their hands.

  God, if you’re listening, I know you and me aren’t real good friends, but I need a favor. I don’t have much family, and what I do have is in danger right now. Please, can you take care of them?

  I stand frozen until I can’t see them anymore. I try using the binoculars, but the area they’re in is dark, and they’re staying low. They’re going to make this work.

  A crash rips through the quiet, and I swing the binoculars around to see Kevin’s uncle barging out the door. My heart drops to my feet. There are two young girls in front of him, along with Kevin.

  But it’s the girl he has clutched to his chest, a gun jammed into her temple, that causes my knees to go weak. Hayden.

  I gaze in horror as he barks something at the three children out front. They’re too far away for me to see their expressions, but from the way they’re moving, I can tell they’re afraid.

  Desperate, I look in the direction the Black Hoods had gone, and see a flash of something midway between the van and the house, and then the outline of a few of them. They’ve stayed together. They’re not close enough.

  The children climb into the man’s rusted-out van, as he follows behind them with Hayden. When he gets to it, he grabs her by the hair and shoves her inside, causing her to cry out in pain, the sound echoing through the night. And that’s when I make my decision. It’s going to be me who kills Randall. I don’t give a fuck what Judge wants, or what Wyatt says. His blood will be on my hands, and I’m so full of rage right now, I’ll gladly bathe myself in it.

  He rounds the vehicle at lightning speed, and before I can blink, the van’s speeding down the long dirt road.

  I look back to Wyatt and the others who are still so far away. He’s going to get away. He’s going to make it across the border, and then we’ll never find her.

  Without another thought, I run back to the van and jump inside, sliding the side door closed behind me. The key is in the ignition when I jump into the driver’s seat, and I bring the engine to life. I don’t allow the doubts I feel to gather in my head. I can’t wait for Wyatt and the guys. There’s no time.

  I don’t try to go incognito, seeing as Randall already knows we’re here.

  Even at top speed, it feels like I’m not gaining enough ground. The area around us is open and flat, and so fucking dark. I press the pedal to the floor, willing this jalopy to morph into the Batmobile, or an Indy 500 race car, but it doesn’t happen. My speed is already maxed out.

  Approaching the interstate, Randall turns onto it. He’s heading right by me, but on a different road. Fuck that, asshole.

  Making a decision that could either save my daughter or end all our lives, I yank the wheel to the right, and without dropping speed, I zoom across the plain between the two roads. The chances of making it across this landscape without hitting a pothole, or obliterating the front end of this vehicle on a rock are slim, but I chance it anyway, knowing that God and I now have an understanding. He’s going to make sure I get my kiddo back. A roar rips from my throat as I move, rivaling the scream of any fun-seeker riding their favorite roller coaster. Except mine is a scream of fear, not thrill.

  Finally, I’m on the interstate and spin the wheel, righting the vehicle in the direction of the Mexican border, and now just a few feet behind them. “Come on, asshole,” I mutter, speeding up and getting even closer.

  At this time of night, there’s not another soul on the road. My heart gallops in my chest when I see a sign appear that makes it stutter before going even faster: Mexico - 2 miles.

  He’s going to make it. He’s going to find a place to cross illegally, and I’m going to lose Hayden forever.

  A hole appears in the windshield just above my head, and I stare at it in shock, realizing that Randall’s shooting at me through his window. Another hole appears right beside it, and I scream, ducking low.

  A road appears on the left, and Randall cranks the wheel, his van going off the ground on one side before righting itself.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck! What am I going to do?

  A corner appears up ahead, and when Randall slows to take it, I decide my next move. I don’t slow. I press the pedal down harder, praying to God that he takes care of the children.

  Hitting it is like a dream. It all happens both in slow motion and hyperspeed. I don’t have time to react, but I feel every vibration and hear every sound. The front bumper of my van collides with the ass end of Randall’s, and then I’m spinning.

  I scream as the walls around me cave in as I roll, losing track of where Randall and the kids should be. By the time I come to a stop, my head is pounding, the glass around me is shattered, and my vision is blurred.

  “Hayden,” I croak. “Hayden.”

  My last thought before the darkness takes over is: I think I just killed my own daughter.

  Hashtag

  “Come on, man, hit the fucking gas. Shelby’s out there on her own!” I scream at GP from the passenger seat.

  “I’ve got it down to the floor. I can’t make this thing go any faster.” I know he’s trying to catch up with them, but every second counts right now. I don’t care if we end up in a high-speed chase with the police tailing us. I have to get to Shelby and Hayden before it’s too late.

  “See anything?” Judge asks from the back.

  “Nothing.”

  “She’s out there, son. Both of them are.”

  “You mean the three of them are. Lindsey put her ass on the line for the two of you, and she’s stuck now,” Karma interjects. I turn and look at him, finding his large frame plastered against one side of the van, his eyes dark. Empty almost, just like mine. He’s got more skin in this game than he wants to admit.

  “I’m very aware of the situation my niece is in. That shit isn’t lost on me.”

  “If I—I mean, we, lose her to this bullshit...” Shaking his head, he looks away.

  “We won’t,” Judge assures him.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  My leg bounces like a fucking druggy itching for his next fix, while GP drives in the direction that she and Randall went. What the fuck was she thinking? We could’ve made it back to the van in time, but she took off like a bat out of hell without us.

  We’re only miles now from the border. If they make it that far, I’ll lose Hayden, probably Shelby too. I can’t have that.

  “You see that? Look there.” Judge points between the front seats toward a plume of smoke visible in the sky a few miles ahead of us.

  “Right there!” I bellow. “GP, follow that smoke!”

  He makes a quick right turn onto a side road before veering the van off-road. We bounce hard across the dusty earth underneath us.

  My mind goes into overdrive, assessing what we could find under the smoke.

  Are we too late? Is Hayden gone and Shelby collateral damage? My hands grip the dashboard as I do the only thing I can. I pray to a God who’s never given me any hope before to not take them away from me. Not before I have the chance to tell them both how much I love them.

  The van coasts in the air when GP hits a hill too fast, but he keeps it under control. The van, and everyone else inside of it, lands with a thud when we make contact with the ground again.

  “Fuck, man,” someone groans from the back. “I think you gave me a concussion.”

  “Ain’t my fault you don’t wear your seatbelt.”

  “There aren’t any seatbelts back here, asshole.”

  Twat Knot’s head pops up from between the two seats with his finger extended. “Look.”

  In the distance, two large objects come into view, smoke pouring out of them both. My eyes don’t move. The two objects turn into two different vans lying on their sides. Fuck. We found them.

  GP comes to a skidding stop, and I’m out of the van before anyone else. My feet pound the pavement beneath me when I come up on the first van. I jump up on
the passenger side and rip open the door. There, in the driver’s seat, sits Shelby. She’s alive.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “I’m trapped.” Her voice is calm, but hoarse. “I tried to stop him, but wrecked us instead.”

  “I’m going to get you out of here, baby.” I turn back to look at my brothers rushing up behind me. “Stone! GP! Give me a hand. We gotta flip this van. Shelby’s trapped.”

  “No,” Shelby croaks. “Hayden first. Go check on Hayden.”

  “Not until I get you out, baby. I’m not leaving you,” I argue back.

  Stone shoves in next to me and takes in the scene. “We’re going to need a winch to get this pulled over. I think we can rig something up.”

  “Do it!” I holler.

  “We’re going to get you out. Hang in there, Shel.”

  “You need to go check on Hayden, please!”

  My mind and my heart go to war with each other. I want to be here with Shelby, but I need to be with Hayden too. I glance over at the other van. No one’s stirring inside or outside of it. Karma’s screaming and yanking at the van door as smoke begins to pour more heavily out of it.

  “Go,” GP mutters, shoving me aside, while Stone drags a chain from our van. “We got your girl. Go get your daughter and Lindsey.”

  “Go, Wyatt,” she pleads. “She needs you.”

  I look at her one more time before leaping from the side of the toppled van and toward the other one. Karma pulls hard on the door, but it doesn’t budge. I grab hold of it, and together, we pull and yank, and finally force it open partway, smoke pouring out from the opening. Karma squeezes his large body into the space and disappears from view. Within seconds, a girl is shoved toward me from inside. I catch her, dragging her out onto the ground, but it’s not Hayden or Lindsey.

  Come on, Hayden. Please be okay.

  A second form pushes out of the van. This time it’s Lindsey, coughing and choking on the smoke as she comes through. Reaching out for her, I help steady her down to the ground and lead her over to the grassy side of the road, far away from the smoke.

  “My daughter?” I ask. “Is she...?”

  Lindsey coughs hard and shakes her head, but Karma’s voice calls out over the commotion.

  “Hash! I got her!”

  I bolt back to the van just as Karma emerges through the hole. He reaches down, tugging and pulling until the last girl is hoisted out. Her head is turned away from me, but I hear her gasping for air as Karma tends to her. When she finally turns, our eyes connect, and my heart flutters back to life.

  It’s Hayden. My daughter is alive.

  “Come on, kiddo. Let’s get you down,” Karma offers. She leans over the edge on her butt, sliding down into my open arms. Her eyes instantly lock onto mine as I hold her small little body in my arms. Of all the moments I’ve imagined holding my own child for the first time, I’d imagined them as an infant, not a teenager. But holding her now takes all those regrets and firsts I’d missed far from my mind. This moment—our first moment—is the single best moment of my life. So many things could have gone wrong today, but here she is.

  “Hayden?” She’s really here—my daughter. “You okay? Any broken bones? Cuts?”

  “No,” she gasps. “I’m okay.” She stares up at my face, reaching her hand weakly to press it against my sweaty cheek. “You’re my dad, aren’t you?”

  “I am,” I tell her. “You’re going to be okay now, honey. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

  “Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s trapped in the other van, but we’re getting her out. I need to put you down now, honey, but this man’s going to take good care of you. I need to go help her.” I gently place her next to Lindsey, with Karma buzzing around her like an old mother hen.

  “Watch Hayden,” I demand before returning to Shelby. A loud crash comes from behind us as her van returns to its wheels. Shelby’s eyes connect with mine before looking over at the ditch, spying Hayden. A smile forms on her lips.

  “Hash! Over here!” Judge yells out from the other side of Randall’s van. I switch directions, and come to a skidding halt when I see the body on the ground, unmoving.

  “Is it the kid?” I ask on my approach.

  “No, it’s the uncle. He was thrown from the van.”

  “He dead?”

  “Yeah. Neck looks snapped. Probably died on impact.”

  I wish I could say that his death gave me a sense of relief, but it was too quick for someone like him. He deserved to suffer for his transgressions. For all the girls he ripped away from their families and sold into sexual slavery. His ending did not match the one I’d had planned for him, but all best-laid plans tend to go to shit anyway. He’s no longer my problem, but it does leave the kid.

  “You see the kid?”

  “No. He wasn’t with the girls?”

  Shit. He’s still in there. I climb back up on the side and yank open the passenger door. Inside, lying against the center console between the front seats is Kevin, motionless. Pushing myself inside, I reach out for him and grip his arm tightly. He’s like lead weight as I pull, but with a few tugs, I get him free and halfway out of the van. His chest moves up and down slowly. Thank fuck, he’s still alive.

  Burnt appears next to me and helps get him out the rest of the way. With him on one side and me on the other, we carry him by his arms to the side of the road with Lindsey and Hayden.

  Hayden cries out when she sees him. Leaning her thin frame over his, she hugs him on the ground, sobbing against his chest. “Kevin!”

  The other girl comes forward, her face pale as a ghost. She stares down at him with horror and fear. I watch with pride as Hayden takes her tiny hand and pulls her down beside her. “Kevin,” she sobs. “Kevin, please don’t leave me.”

  I hate leaving them, but I have no choice. “You stay here with him. I’ll be right back.”

  I pivot on my heels, just as the van Shelby’s in catches fire. Flames and smoke shoot from beneath the hood, and my heart sinks. The gas line’s been severed. We need to move, fast.

  Shelby

  My gaze meets Wyatt’s through the shattered windshield, behind plumes of flame and smoke. Oh, God.

  Reaching beside me for the hundredth time, I yank on the door handle, but it’s not even attached to the door anymore. Even though the guys had gotten the van flipped right-side up, the roof is caved in so badly, I could never fit through the window.

  Thick black smoke rolls through the opening from under the hood, and I struggle to breathe. I cover my face with my T-shirt, but it’s no help.

  “Hurry!” I cry out. GP, Priest, and Wyatt all yank on my door, while the others work at different ends of the van, trying anything they can to get it to open somewhere.

  “We’re coming, baby,” Wyatt hollers.

  I watch in horror as the flickering flames lick out from beneath the hood, growing higher and hotter. “We gotta hurry, boys!” someone yells.

  Metal pings, and the sound is deafening as I sit helpless, waiting for a miracle. Acrid smoke invades my nostrils and mouth, winding its way into my lungs, choking the breath out of me.

  “Fucking Christ!”

  “It’s too hot.”

  “Don’t you fucking stop!” Wyatt screams. “None of you stop, not until she’s out.”

  The flames are coming in through the window now, and I know it’s too late. I look over to where Hayden sits, cradling Kevin in her arms.

  I’m going to die, but I’m going to die knowing that my baby girl is safe. She’s with her father. She loves me, Wyatt loves me, and they both know that I love them. At least, I hope…

  “Wyatt!” Tears stream down my cheeks, but there are no sobs. My fate is sealed in that moment, and I’m okay with it. “I love you!”

  “No!” Wyatt shouts, his face flashing with anger. He kicks at the edge of the door, and it moves just a little, but we’re out of time.

  “Wyatt,” I try again. “I never stopped loving you.”

&n
bsp; “Stop it,” he snarls at me, kicking at the widening gap in the door. “Stop fucking saying goodbye to me.”

  I can barely breathe now. There’s more smoke than air, and my head’s bobbing as I cling to consciousness. I can hear Hayden screaming from across the road, but the smoke is too thick to see her now.

  “Take care of her,” I whisper, but the fire is roaring louder, so I’m not sure he hears me.

  “Priest! Grab that crowbar!”

  The darkness closes in. “I love you.”

  “I smell gas!”

  “I know! Move your ass!”

  “Goodbye, handsome.”

  The world fades away, taking my weightless body into the abyss.

  Hashtag

  The last twenty-four hours have been a whirlwind. Everything had happened so fast. And now Hayden is here, and I can’t help but find my heart torn between happiness and guilt. I’d wanted a family so bad, and here I have one. But obtaining it hadn’t been easy. I might have my family, but people were hurt in the process.

  “She awake yet?” Priest asks when he stops by with some food. Sitting it down on my desk, he walks over to us.

  “Not yet.”

  Priest stares down at her sleeping form, stating matter-of-factly, “She will be. How are you holding up?”

  “You running a confessional now?” Smirking at him, he scowls back. “I’m as good as I can be.”

  “Let me know if you need anything.”

  He slips out of the room, and I return to watching her sleep. My poor girl had been through so much. The second I held her small frame in my lap as we drove from the scene of the crash, she fell asleep. Even as we moved her inside of the clubhouse, she didn’t stir, exhaustion setting in once she knew she was safe.

  The doctor had looked her over, and I’d been relieved to know we’d gotten to her in time. Whatever that bastard had planned for Hayden, he hadn’t been able to carry it out.

  She was lucky, and if GP’s most recent rundown of everyone’s status still holds true, she’s not the only one.