Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I’d like to say the next few days were better, but they weren’t. In fact, they were even worse. Not only had I still not heard anything from Roman, I had another run-in with Marc. I was just about to close the shop when he came barreling through the front doors. As he started towards the counter, I asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Lila Jo was cleaning the boys’ rooms yesterday, and she found Sean’s basketball uniform on the floor.” He tossed the uniform on the counter as he grumbled, “You really should teach them to take better care of their things.”
“I’ll have a talk with Sean when I get home.”
“Good.” He turned and took a few steps towards the door, but quickly stopped and whipped around to face me once again. There was a wild look in his eyes—a look I knew far too well. Knowing he was about to lay into me, I tried to brace myself as he snarled, “I always knew you were a fucking...”
He cut himself short when Sydney came strolling into the room. Looking like she’d smelled something bad, she grimaced as she grumbled, “Hey there, asshat. Wish I could say it was good to see you.”
“Hello, Sydney.”
She rolled her eyes as she came over and stood next to me. “Why have you graced us with your presence today, Marc?”
“He stopped by to drop off Sean’s uniform, but he was just leaving. Isn’t that right, Marc?”
“Yeah.” He glared at me like he wanted to strangle me, then turned and started out the door. “We’ll finish this conversation later.”
Before I could respond, he walked out and slammed the door. Sydney let out an exaggerated sigh as she said, “Well, isn’t he just a ray of sunshine.”
“That he is.”
“Is it just me or did I just interrupt something?”
“Nothing that didn’t need interrupting.” I wasn’t sure what Marc was about to blast me with, but I just didn’t care. “You know Marc. He’s always got something to be pissy about.”
“Yes, I know all too well. I’m so glad you got away from that man and all his toxic nonsense.”
“I divorced him, Syd. That doesn’t mean I’m done dealing with him and his stupid, toxic nonsense. He’s the boys’ father, and as long as he’s in their lives, I’m stuck with him.”
It was a sad reality that I hoped would improve over time. Sadly, it hadn’t, and I feared it never would.
Chapter 15
Widow
My brief visit with Frankie and the boys gave me a much-needed reprieve—something I hadn’t realized I’d needed until I had it. I might’ve stayed longer if I had known how the next few days were going to play out—maybe then, I would’ve been better prepared for what laid ahead. Unfortunately, there was no way any of us could’ve known what was coming.
By the next morning, the families had been brought in and had made themselves at home in their quarters at the clubhouse. I needed a break from all the chaos, so I followed Hawk out to the garage. He wanted to check out the damage to Badger and Danny’s bikes, hoping it might give us some indication to what had happened on the morning they disappeared. We were all three going over every inch of both bikes, studying every smudge or scratch when there was an explosion of gunfire several yards away. Hawk shot up, taking his gun from his holster as he shouted, “What the hell was that?”
“Sounded like it came from out front.”
The gunfire continued as I drew my weapon and followed Hawk towards the main gate. When we made it around the corner of the clubhouse, we found Lynch and Bear firing at the back end of a black van—the same black van that had tailed us just a few days prior. They continued to fire until it was well out of range. Pissed that they’d gotten away, Lynch shouted, “Goddammit! I hit ‘em! I know I did!”
We’d just made our way over to them when Viper stormed out of the clubhouse with Glock in hand and roared, “What the fuck is going on?”
“That black van just drove by...same one that tailed us on the way back from the run.” Lynch pointed out to the side of the road as he continued, “They were just a few feet from the gate when they opened the back doors and tossed something out the back. As soon as it fell to the ground, they took off.”
“What the fuck did they toss out?”
“Got no idea. It’s over there by the ditch.”
Lynch opened the gate, and we all rushed over to the ditch to see what had been tossed out. As Viper got closer, I heard him mutter, “No...no...no.”
Hawk’s voice was filled with anguish as he muttered, “Oh, dear God.”
I stepped between them, and my blood ran cold when I saw what had been tossed out was the body of Badger. His face had been beaten to the point he was almost unrecognizable, both his wrists looked to be broken, and his throat had been slit from ear to ear. They’d taken his prospect leather jacket and torched it with him in it, and there was no way of knowing if he was alive when they’d done it. The sight of him in such a state brought bile to the back of my throat. As we stood there looking down at Badger’s broken body, my mind wandered to all the different ways I’d like to kill the sonofabitches who’d done this, and I had no doubt that my brothers were thinking the same. Panic filled Hawk’s voice as he asked, “Where’s Danny? What the fuck did they do with Danny?”