I watch Spring physically shudder. I can’t tell if it’s guilt at not being beaten by John every day, or something else.
“I had friends at school, and I can’t say as I didn’t. I had fun while I was there, and that pleased John because my teachers believed I had a happy home life. Wynter made one friend, a scruffy little girl who followed Wynter around. The only time Wynter smiled was when she was with... I think her name was Cassie?”
“That’s right,” I tell Spring. “Cassie. Wynter and Cassie are still together,” Her eyes bug out and she smiles. “When Wynter was informed her mother had died, and they couldn’t find your body, she was put into the system. While in a group home, Cassie arrived because her mother was useless and couldn’t care for her correctly. They’ve looked out for each other ever since.”
I’m taken aback when Spring lets out a sob. Shit, I didn’t mean to make the girl cry.
“I’m so happy they have each other, but did Wynter ever find a family?”
I shake my head. “Not until she met and married me. Not long ago, she found John’s younger brother,”
“Jack?” She cuts me off.
“Yes. But he goes by the road name BlackJack. Before you say anything, BlackJack is nothing like John or their parents. Jack is a good man with a big family, and they love Wynter.”
Spring nods her head. “I’m so happy that she found him. Julian told me about Jack, but I never wanted to find him. I was scared that I’d see nothing but John, and that I wouldn’t be able to separate the two. Even though Julian told me that Jack had nothing to do with his family since he was seventeen, I still couldn’t force myself to believe he was the man Julian told me about. Julian also told me about your club, and that my uncle belonged there. Though he never pushed me to find Jack, Julian just wanted me to know that I had more family out there should I ever wish to know them.”
I shift on my feet and straighten my back. “If John knew you were alive, and you had visited him, it’s possible that he would have told you Wynter was still out there.”
Spring chuckles. “You really believe he would have told us that little fact?”
“Maybe not,”
“Did Wynter ever visit him?”
I nod my head. “She did, and she asked him where he’d hidden your body.” I laugh sardonically. “Sick bastard laughed in her face.”
Spring nods her head in thought. “That doesn’t surprise me. I had to face the fact that my father was a monster along time ago and put him to rest. I no longer think about that man if I can help it, and Wynter should do the same.”
“Wait,” I roll my eyes at Austin. What the fuck now? “How the hell did Wynter not know Spring and Julianne were alive? I mean, given the fact Spring has just told us someone leaked the story to the press. Surely, she would have heard something.”
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know, Austin. All I can think is the fact that Wynter avoids the news like the plague. Not to mention the fact she and Cassie spent years fighting to survive in that care home.”
For as long as I’ve known her, Wynter has never watched the news, nor read a newspaper. She always told me that life was too short to read about the bad things.
There are many reasons why its possible Wynter never found out her mother and sister were alive. Many reasons why she wouldn’t have known. But what the hell does it matter now?
“We didn’t know Wynter was alive either,” Spring interrupts. “I don’t yet understand why she was sent to a care home when the cops knew Julianne and I had survived.”
She has a point.
“The officer in charge of our case never once mentioned Wynter other than in past tense. Surely he had to know something? I guess my uncle will get to the bottom of it in time.”
I’ll get to the bottom of it if it kills me. I won’t let this go. Someone fucked up in a big way, and my wife has lives twelve years without her mother and sister because somebody didn’t do their job correctly.
There has to be a reason for it; it can’t just be an accident. Somebody out there deliberately kept this family apart, and I have to find out why.
“I’m still struggling to believe that Wynter is alive. All these years I have grieved my twin sister,”
“Twins?” I don’t know why Eagle is so shocked by this little fact. I thought it would have been obvious.
“You took me from outside my home, away from my husband and child, because you thought I was Wynter. Havoc told you that I am not Wynter, and it didn’t occur to you that she’s my identical twin?”
Eagle shakes his head. “Makes me a stupid fuck, but no, it didn’t even cross my mind. Whenever Wynter spoke about you, she never said you were her twin. Nor did you through this whole conversation until now.”
“It is what it is,” Spring shrugs. “My mother is going to have a heart attack when she finds out Wynter is alive. She’s spent the past twelve years searching for Wynter’s burial place so that we can finally put her to rest, but never finding anything.”
And Wynter has done the same with when it comes to Spring. All that pain for nothing.
“Mom will never really be free of the horrors she suffered at the hands of that man, but she moved forward as much as she could. Knowing Wynter is alive, I believe, will fix something that is still broken within Julianne. Our family will be complete as it always should have been.
“There is so much Wynter needs to know. I want to tell her about my husband and my son. Mom will want to tell Wynter about our step-father. He’s a good man who loves Julianne more than life itself.”
Spring smiles dreamily. I get the feeling the man Julianne married is a good one.
“Julianne knew Neil when they were in school. When he found out that Julianne was alive, he came to the house to see her. Of course, she was scared and nervous, and it took weeks before she agreed to see Neil. He came by every day after work, and even though Julianne was scared to be friends with him, he never gave up trying. It took three years, but Julianne realized that Neil was never going to hurt her the way John had. She was safe with the man she’d fallen in love with.” She smiles fondly.
“Mom and Neil have been married for eight years, and they have a child together. Brody is five years old, and he is everything to Mom and Dad. Brody knows all about Wynter, and every night before bed, he sends a prayer to the angels to take care of his big sister. He’s going to be so shocked to know Wynter is still here with us.”
Wynter will be shocked to know she has a little brother. She may also pass out when she realizes her sister and her mother are still alive, that they have been all these years.
John knew - he knew, and he said nothing to Wynter about it. How could he be so fucking cruel? All this time, he could have let Wynter know that she wasn’t alone. I suppose it was just one more way of punishing his imperfect daughter, another way to keep control.
“Why weren’t we told that Wynter was alive? How did we never know?” Spring repeats the same questions she’s already asked, but this time she looks to me for the answers.
“I can’t answer that,” I tell her honestly. “But we will find out, Spring. I know it’s hard to get your head around all that happened, but it will get easier. There are so many questions that may never be answered, Spring. I can’t even imagine what you and your mother went through all those years; I only know what it was like for Wynter.”
Spring nods her head. “I let go of the need to know why a long time ago. But now I know my sister is still alive, that my uncle didn’t imagine it, the questions are back. I just want to know that she’s happy. I don’t think I could believe she’s really alive until I see her. Is she happy?”
I nod my head. “I think so. Though there’s only one person who can give you that answer.” I turn to Eagle. “Untie her. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Chapter Fifteen
Wynter
“Hey.” I smile at Havoc. “Finished?” He asked me to wait outside the warehouse while he sorted something. Havoc didn’
t tell me what that was, and I didn’t ask because it wasn’t my business. However, I’ve been sitting out here for almost an hour, and I’m bored out of my mind.
“Almost,” Havoc takes my hands in his. “There’s something I need to tell you, Wynter. I need you to listen to me and try not to freak out.”
“Freak out about what?” I’m confused. To be honest, I was confused as to why he wanted me to tag along for this, whatever it is. Havoc said he didn’t want to leave me home alone, so I came. But why ask me to come along just to leave me outside for an hour?
Havoc stares at me for a moment. He looks both guilty and sad about something. Then an awful thought hits me. “Havoc, are you seeing someone else?” I swallow hard, scared of the answer my husband might give me.
Why on this earth would Havoc bring you to a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, leave you for an hour, then come out and tell you he’s having an affair?
I don’t know, and I know it sounds stupid, but it’s the first thing that came into my head. It’s a terrible thing to think about my husband because I know he’d never do that to me.
“No,” Comes his short but firm answer. “I would never cheat on you, Wynter.”
“I know that deep down. I just don’t know what to think right now, Havoc.”
Havoc’s hand comes to my cheek, and he leans in and kisses me softly. “I love you, Wynter, and there’s no chance I’d ever step out on you.”
I smile and nod my head. “I love you, too.”
“The reason we’re here is that a few days ago, Jethro came to me with some information that shocked me.” I don’t know why, but I feel my stomach turning over. I feel like he’s going to give me some bad news. “Jethro informed me that he’d seen you a couple towns over, with another man.”
My jaw literally drops. I haven’t been anywhere, but this town since Havoc brought me back here. I most certainly haven’t been with another man.
“What the fuck? I haven’t been anywhere with any other man. Why the hell would Jethro lie about me like that?” I’m not yelling, yet, but I am pissed that Jethro would say something like that about me. I thought we were friends!
“Listen to me, Wynter,” I close my mouth and nod for Havoc to continue. “Of course, I didn’t believe what Jethro was saying. How could I when I know you don’t go anywhere alone? When would you even have the time to see someone else?”
I raise my eyebrow in sarcasm. I don’t have time to run off with another man. I keep myself busy for a reason, and I don’t leave town because of the men looking for me.
“But then Jethro showed me a photograph he’d taken. The girl in the picture may have had longer hair, been dressed like a high-class businesswoman, but she looked just like you.”
Now I’m even more confused. “And you believed it was me?”
“For a moment or two, I did. I won’t lie to you, Wynter, it killed me. Then Jethro told me about the kid who came running out of the house, shouting Mommy. I all but fuckin’ died when Austin confirmed what Jethro was saying. I mean, how could I not believe for a moment when it was staring me in the face, Wynter?”
I pull my hands from Havoc’s and wrap my arms around myself. I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. Okay, he saw a picture of a woman who looks like me, and anyone would have doubts after that. However, he should have come to me and asked for the truth, not sat on the information for days!
“Baby, don’t pull away from me.”
“I don’t know what to say to you, Havoc. Whoever that woman was, she wasn’t me. I would never cheat,” It hurts that Havoc thought for a second that I would do something like that.
Did you just think the same thing about him?
I guess I did.
“I know that,” Havoc leans his ass back against his bike. “When I thought about it, I realized I was stupid, even contemplating it.”
Something clicks in my head. “That’s why you were asking me where I’d been the other day, wasn’t it?” He nods his head, and I sigh. I knew something was wrong that day, but I didn’t push for answers because he told me it was nothing.
We made love that day. Surely if he really believed I’d cheated, he wouldn’t have touched me? Not only that, but we’ve been closer than ever the past couple of days.
“I told Jethro to drop it because I knew that woman wasn’t you. Today, however, he called me because he’d done something stupid.”
My gut churns again. “What had he done?”
“He’d kidnapped whom he believed to be you.”
My eyes bug out of my head so far they sting. “What the fuck, Havoc?”
“I know,” He rubs his stubbled jaw with his fingers. “I brought you with me today to show Jethro what a massive mistake he’d made. I asked you to wait out here because I needed to calm the situation inside first. When I walked in there and found they’d tied the girl to a chair, I wasn’t pleased.”
“What the hell is going on, Havoc?” I rub the back of my neck. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “You’re telling me that your so-called friend, the man who’ll soon be my best friend’s brother-in-law, kidnapped a woman? Kidnapped her because he believes she’s me? Is he insane?”
Jethro has lost his damn mind! Who the hell told him that it’s okay to go around kidnapping women?
If he thought that woman was me, that means he planned to make me pay for cheating on Havoc. I dread to think what that entailed.
God, that poor woman in there must be so scared and confused. What if Jethro has hurt her, all the time yelling at her and accusing her of cheating on Havoc? All the while, the woman doesn’t have a clue why she’s there, nor what she’s done.
Okay, I understand Jethro was looking out for Havoc. He thought that woman was me and that I’d hurt his friend. If Jethro has hurt that woman, believing she’s me, then that means he intended to hurt me. The thought makes me shiver.
I’m going to kill the prick. How dare he do this?
Havoc takes my arms in his hands. “Calm down! I know how bad this is, Wynter, but there’s a reason for it. As wrong as it was for Jethro to do what he did, he did it for me because he thought you were cheating. I know that you weren’t, I knew it almost instantly. But, baby, you’ll soon understand why we thought the girl was you.”
I shrug Havoc off me and fold my arms around myself. “I’m waiting, and this better, be good, Havoc.”
“I don’t have time to start from the damn beginning. The girl inside the warehouse, the reason she was mistaken for you is because,” Havoc stops talking and takes a deep breath. “She’s your sister, Wynter.”
I can’t help it; I burst out laughing. It’s not that I find what he’s saying funny, it’s the fact it’s so damn ridiculous. My sister died twelve years ago. “What the fuck, Havoc?”
“This isn’t a joke, Wynter! Do you really think I’d be saying this for kicks?” I’m no longer laughing. I can see that Havoc is serious, and that leaves me even more confused. “Spring is right in there,” He points to the warehouse, and I instinctively look in that direction.
“How the hell can that be, Havoc? Spring died. John killed her, along with my mother.”
“No,” He shakes his head, and I swallow hard. “I know what you were told, and I don’t have a clue why yet, but neither of them died, Wynter. Your sister and your mother are still alive.”
There’s a blackness in front of my eyes, and I can feel myself falling. I don’t know what’s happening! How can my family still be alive when I was told they were dead?
Wouldn’t somebody have informed me that I wasn’t the only survivor?
Why weren’t my family told that I was alive?
How the fuck can someone have fucked up this massively?
Why would anybody keep from me that my mother and sister were alive?
I sat in that kid’s home for years, wondering why I was so alone in the world. All the damn time, my family was out there, alive and moving on from what they’d been through.
Wh
y weren’t they told about me?
Why couldn’t we have been together all of this time?
I won’t stop until I have the answers to all of my questions. Someone is going to pay for this, for all the years I spent wondering why. Somebody fucked up royally, and I want to know why!
“Wynter? Baby, it’s okay.”
I feel Havoc’s hand stroking my back, but I don’t turn my head to look at him. He’s close enough that I can hear him. “How did this happen, Havoc? Why was I never told they were alive? All these years, I’ve wondered why, and not once did anyone tell me!”
“I know you must have a thousand questions rushing through your mind right now,” That’s an understatement. “But we’ll find the answer to each one in time. The men who were looking for you,”
“What about them?” My heart starts banging in my chest. What if those men are in that warehouse?
“Don’t panic,” Havoc shakes his head. “Those men work for your uncle,” I narrow my eyes in confusion. “Your mother’s brother. The reason they started following you, in the first place, was because your uncle saw you working at a diner. You waited on him, and of course, he knew right away who you were. He sent those men after you only to tell you that your mother and sister were alive. He wanted you to know you had a family out there.”
My eyeballs seem to be darting everywhere. So, those men aren’t out to kidnap and kill me. My uncle sent them to find me so that I could be reunited with my mother and sister. I don’t have a clue what to think.
“I’m so confused, Havoc.”
“I know you are, but right now, there’s a young woman in that warehouse dying to see you again.”
I rub my hands over my face and sigh. I want to believe that my sister is inside that building, but something inside won’t let me. I’m terrified to the point I’m scared I’ll vomit. God, I want this to be true so badly that I can taste it. From the moment I was told Spring and Julianne had died, I prayed for it to be untrue. I prayed every night that someone out there had made a mistake.
Havoc: Snakes Henchmen MC Page 15