by Jamie Begley
His mouth dropped open. “You’re carrying a gun? If you’d tried to pull it out, they’d have shot you dead.” The hand in hers itched to paddle her bottom at her recklessness.
Ginny made a face at him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see it clearly with the sun beginning to rise. “I didn’t bring a gun.”
“Then what protection are you talking about?”
Ginny gave a shrill whistle. The sound had Suki running toward him out of nowhere.
“She likes you.”
“The feeling isn’t mutual.”
“Come on, admit it; you like her too.”
“Maybe a little,” he conceded.
Ginny started walking, tugging at his hand to get him moving. Suki fell in step at his side.
Staring down at their linked hands when they naturally began swinging between them, Gavin raised his eyes to the rising sun, blaming the sudden wetness in his eyes at the blinding light and not at the regret of a future that was never going to be.
Chapter Forty-Two
“Your ride is here.”
“I’m coming.” Turning from the window, Reaper went to the bed to pick up his suitcase.
“I wish you weren’t going.”
Steeling himself against Ginny’s wistful voice, he carried his suitcase to the doorway where she was standing. “I don’t need to be here. I’ve tested negative four times, and it’s been over nine days; if I had any symptoms, they would have shown by now. I’m good to go.”
Ginny didn’t move to let him pass. “Aren’t you worried about Silas? I think he put something in my coffee this morning.”
“He put Funfetti creamer in your coffee.”
“I could have choked on one of the sprinkles.”
“Don’t do this, Ginny. You’re going to be fine. Knox has the whole town locked down with the infection spreading to other counties. Your stalker couldn’t get in town if he wanted to.”
“I don’t want you to leave because I’m afraid of my stalker. I don’t want you to leave because I’m afraid Suki will miss you.”
“She has you to keep her company.” Tightening his grip on the handle of his suitcase, he shut out the pleading he could see in her eyes. “My ride is waiting.”
Nodding, Ginny moved, letting him through the doorway.
Walking down the hallway, he felt as if he were walking his last mile. The eerie feeling persisted even as he reached the front door and opened it.
There was barely enough room to close the door when he and Ginny walked through. All her brothers were waiting outside.
“They all wanted to say good-bye,” Silas told him, going down the steps to make more room on the porch.
“Bye.” The youngest waved at him, remaining by Isaac’s side.
“Bye,” Reaper told him, taking the hand Isaac held out to him.
“Take care.”
“I will.” Reaper moved the side to take Matthew’s hand.
“Stop by whenever you want to visit. I’ll teach you how to work the forge.”
“It’s too hot in there for me.” He wouldn’t be coming back. Reaper planned to stay away from the Colemans as much as he could.
“You get used to the heat,” Matthew said, as he moved to talk to Jody and Jacob.
That’s good to know, Reaper thought, since he would be spending an eternity there.
“Don’t be a stranger. Ginny is going to miss you.” Jacob’s gaze caught his. “Jody and I could use an extra hand to set up fences, if you want to try something new, or even if you get bored for a day.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Reaper moved away from them, going to the end of the porch where Moses and Ezra were standing. I just have to get past four more and I can go, Reaper told himself.
Moses gave him a nod. “I didn’t bring Suki to say good-bye to you. I didn’t want her running after the car.”
Reaper nodded back, locking his heart at the emotions at not being able to see the dog for the last time.
“Stop by and see her sometime,” Moses encouraged.
“Will you be keeping her?” Reaper asked, despite telling himself not to.
“No, she’ll be going to a new home once I finish training her.”
“Will she be going to a good home?”
“She wouldn’t be going if it weren’t. Don’t worry, Suki will be in good hands.”
Reaper turned toward Ezra.
“Don’t know if Ginny told you or not, but I have a bike. Anytime you want company to ride, give me a call.”
Acknowledging the offer with a brief smile, Reaper went down the steps.
“You have my number; use it sometime. I’m up to lend an ear or just to shoot the breeze.” Silas’s expression went from friendly to serious. “You need anything, just let us know. We’re pretty well stocked, and we don’t mind lending a helping hand. All you have to do is ask.”
Reaper had to add another lock to his heart at saying good-bye to Silas. Ginny’s brother was like Viper, yet there were differences between the two men. Both inspired confidence and had experience. The differences were harder to explain. Even as a boy his brother was closed-off because of their military upbringing. They were supposed to take hard hits and not whine when things didn’t go their way. Viper wasn’t as strict as their father, but it was difficult to talk to him, especially after their mother left. Viper’s way of making himself feel better about the situation was to keep busy.
Silas was more down to earth. He had a feeling, with such a large family, that Silas had seen and heard it all. In the days of his long stay with them, Silas had made time for all of them. He had breakfast most mornings with Moses. Then he did the chores around the mountain before going to help Fynn with his online schoolwork. After eating lunch with both Fynn and Ezra, Silas helped Jody and Jacob load their truck with what they needed for the next day’s jobs. Before dinner, he stopped to see Matthew and Isaac and see what they had done for the day or what they were working on.
Ginny had said Silas wasn’t her stalker, and Reaper freely admitted that she was right. The mountain wasn’t what was important to him; his family was. They were his whole world.
Stepping to the side to say good-bye to Ginny was one of the most difficult things he had to do in his lifetime. Unable to look into her eyes, he kept his on the SUV that Viper was in. “I asked Matthew to switch out that back door in the room I slept in. It’s too flimsy.” Reaper felt as if he was talking through glass—each shred cutting him to the quick.
“Matt told me. He and Isaac are putting it in after dinner.”
“Good. Make sure you check in with Viper if you see anything suspicious or someone contacts you.”
“Why call Viper when I can call you?”
“I don’t plan to stay in Treepoint.”
He didn’t turn his head at the small sound Ginny made.
“Viper’s waiting. Good-bye.”
“Gavin ….”
Walking away, he pretended not to have heard her, slamming another lock on his heart.
“Don’t forget your promise about my mirror. I’ll be waiting ….” Ginny’s voice broke.
Opening the back door of the vehicle, he put his suitcase inside before going to the front. When his hand went to the door handle, Ginny moved closer. “And don’t you ever forget … I love you.”
Opening the door so fast, Reaper was surprised it didn’t come off in his hand.
Inside, he turned toward Viper. “Let’s go.” Keeping his gaze on Viper, he refused to look toward Ginny or the men watching him leave. “And don’t say a fucking word.”
When Viper started backing down the driveway, he couldn’t prevent himself from taking another glance.
Any idea of his heart just being an organ that only provided oxygen to the cold blood pumping through it was a lie. Ginny was standing in front of the vehicle with tears streaming down her cheeks, heartache and longing visible to Viper, her brothers, and him. Hope shone on her face that he would get out of the car and hold her; it was pla
inly written across her expression. As the SUV moved farther away, she began walking down the hill.
Taking all his willpower not to shout to Viper to go faster, Reaper memorized every facet of her face, the dress she was wearing, and the fact that Silas was behind her each step of the way.
When Viper made the turn onto the road and he saw the last glimpse of her and her hopeful expression die, he almost reached for the door handle but didn’t. He couldn’t go back. To renew her hope would be cruel.
The future before him didn’t involve Ginny. It couldn’t. All the things that had been done to him, what he had done, what he planned to do, plus every fucking videotape of him, he needed to put more distance between them than it took to drive to the club.
Some distances were insurmountable ….
“You can’t keep doing this.” Viper put his foot down on the barbell Reaper was about to lift. “Your body can’t take this abuse.”
Reaper moved to the leg press machine, refraining from telling Viper that his body had tolerated far more abuse than lifting weights.
He added ten more pounds to the weights than Shade had pressed. “Fuck off.”
Viper moved to stand in front of him. “Don’t talk to me that way.”
“Then leave me the fuck alone!” he snapped.
“You only come out of your room to work out. It isn’t healthy.”
“I don’t look healthy to you?” Reaper turned his head toward Jewell. “Do I look healthy to you, Jewell?”
Jewell picked up her laundry basket. “I’m going to fold my clothes upstairs.”
“Don’t drag Jewell into our discussion.”
“Then don’t discuss my personal shit in front of her!”
“You’re right.” Viper strode toward the basement stairs. “By the way, I came down here to tell you that Lucky’s been calling you for the last hour. He wants to meet at the church.”
“Who else will be there?”
“He didn’t say. I was just relaying the message.” Viper left the bottom step to come back. “Talk to me, Gavin. Please.”
As Viper walked back, Reaper got a good look at his face. He had undergone a drastic change in just the amount of time he had been back. Viper’s haggard appearance placed another leaden weight of responsibility on Reaper’s back. His brother had been better off when he believed him dead.
“I would beg you to tell me what’s going on, if I thought it would do any good. Ton said that when he came here yesterday, you left after five minutes. He was only trying to talk to you.”
“Because he’s saying the same shit you are.” Getting off the machine, Reaper picked up a clean towel that Jewel had put out and started wiping the machines down. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m fine and dandy.”
“No, you’re not. Reaper, you’ve been in a dark place since your escape. I understand your need for revenge, but it’s eating you alive.”
“I’m not the one who looks like he’s lost ten pounds. Quit worrying about me. If you hadn’t been worried about me, I wouldn’t have been kidnapped in the first place!”
Viper staggered back as if he had been struck.
Reaper wanted to shoot himself for causing the pain he witnessed at Viper’s reaction. Unable to repair the damage, though, he went to the stairs, going up two at time, practically running to his room to lock himself inside.
Going to his nightstand, he grabbed his phone, seeing the missed calls from Lucky. Texting him that he would be there in an hour, he went to his bathroom to take a shower.
Taking off his shorts, he threw them in a hamper before getting in the shower. Turning the water on, he stood under the cold water, fighting back the torment of emotions that were driving him insane because they couldn’t get free.
He slid down the shower wall to sit under the cold spray of water. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he rocked back and forth. Letting hatred overrule the other emotions of love, regret, and sorrow, he focused on the motivation he needed to make himself keep breathing.
Slate.
Vamp.
The Count.
They had to die … die … die ….
“You wanted to talk to me?” Closing Lucky’s office door, Reaper strode to take one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“Give me a minute. Now that you’re here, Knox is bringing some pictures to show you.”
“Of whom?”
“Arin has developed a new DNA test. It enhances the one that law enforcement departments are using—phenotypes—to create a picture of suspects from their DNA. Her program cross-matches with pictures for the new IDs that States are requiring everyone to have.”
Lucky stopped as the door to his office opened and Knox came in wearing his sheriff’s uniform and laid a folder on Lucky’s desk.
Lucky stared at the folder, his face a mixture of emotions. The pastor could possibly be battling his faith against the fate of the person in that folder who Reaper had been searching for.
Reaper wanted to rip the folder off the desk, but he let Lucky take his time.
“Using the DNA samples … that Hammer swabbed off the mattress as well as areas in the house before you torched it”—Lucky sucked in a deep breath—“Arin thinks she has found a possible match.”
Feeling detached, Reaper realized Lucky hadn’t been battling his faith; it was the hesitation of telling him that the person in the file had been one of his rapists.
“Actually, there are two possible matches in there,” Knox informed him. The brother to the side of Lucky’s desk opened the folder. “I watched the first video that Slate made of you. The couple matches the pictures that Arin sent. Fuckin’ unreal what Arin managed to do, I faxed the pictures to Hammer and Jonas, and they agreed.”
Reaper kept his gaze pinned to Knox’s face and not the pictures that were within eyesight. “I was so drugged that I wouldn’t recognize them,” he said numbly, leaning forward until the back of his blue jean barely hit the chair. He didn’t touch the pictures. He wouldn’t be able to if a gun were pointed at his head.
“You won’t have to.” Knox reached over, closing the folder. “This morning, Shade broke into their home while they were out and made a copy of their hard drive. Without a doubt, Arin found Vamp and The Count for you.”
Leaning back in the chair, Reaper pushed his feet down hard in his boots. “Shade broke into their home this morning?” Reaper didn’t feel his lips moving as he talked. He must have spoken, though, because Knox answered his question.
“Yes.”
Pressing his fingers on the side of his jaw, he felt the muscles contracting as he said, “Shade was at the clubhouse while I was working out.”
Lucky and Knox shared a glance before Knox responded. If his fingers weren’t on his jaw, he would haven’t believe he had spoken.
“They live nearby.”
“How close?”
Chapter Forty-Three
“May I help you?” The saleswoman’s frightened eyes darted around the jewelry store as if she were the one who needed help.
“I’m looking for a new watch.” Reaper answered, sweeping his hair back like the temperature machine had as it ran across his forward before he had even entered the door.
The saleswoman circled behind a horseshoe-shaped counter. “Is there a particular brand you’re looking for?”
“A Rolex Daytona.”
Her eyes widened with greed. “My name is Charline. Those pieces are in the safe. I’ll have to get the owner to get it for me. I’ll be right back.”
Observing the saleswoman going inside a glass office, Reaper saw the owner glance at him, then give a start of shock, as fear crossed his features.
Reaching for a pamphlet on the counter, he continued to watch as the owner said something to the clerk, before she returned.
“The owner won’t be but a moment. Is there anything else you would like to look at while we’re waiting?”
“Do you have any charms for a woman’s bracelet?”
“We do. Just step over here.” Charline moved to the counter section closer to the office. With a key on an elastic band on her wrist, she slid open the back of the case. “Gold or silver?”
“Gold.”
With French manicured nails, she took out of tray of charms, placing the black velvet tray on the glass counter. “Are there any in particular she collects?”
“I don’t believe so.” Staring down at the charms, he searched for any that resembled the ones on Ginny’s bracelet.
“Is this the watch you wanted to see?”
At the sound of the male voice, Reaper looked up from the charms and placed his focus on the display of watches on a velvet-lined tray.
“We have two. Charline will be happy to explain the differences in them. If neither are what you were looking for, she can find it from another one of our stores. I’ll leave her to take care of your needs.”
“Do you mind helping me?” Forcing the words out, Reaper lifted his eyes from the watches. “Another man’s opinion would be helpful, Mr. ….” He deliberately trailed off.
“Dalt West. And certainly, I look forward to helping you.”
Dalt lifted the first watch. “This a Cosmograph Daytona Black dial watch with diamonds.”
Tuning out the rest of the details of the watch, Reaper raised his hand toward Dalt, shoving his Last Rider jacket sleeve up to his elbow, exposing his scarred wrist. “Do you mind? Because of the virus, I prefer to touch as little as possible.”
“Of course not.” Dalt West had gone as pale as the white walls, and his fingers were shaking as he closed the fastening.
“Don’t worry.”
Dalt lifted his frightened face to Reaper’s.
“I don’t bite.” Reaper’s humor had the owner looking more worried. “How much is this one?”
“Twenty-three, nine ninety-nine.”
Holding his wrist out, Reaper twisted it back and forth, studying the watch before putting his wrist out again. “I’m ready to see the other watch,” Reaper prompted when Dalt didn’t immediately unfasten the watch.
“Certainly.” Unfastening the watch, Dalt placed it back down on the tray before lifting the other one. “This one is a Cosmograph Daytona White dial stainless-steel oyster watch with sapphires. The price is twenty-four, nine ninety-nine.” Dalt’s hands weren’t shaking this time as he fastened the watch around his wrist.