Chapter Eleven
L acey took the seat Tabitha vacated. She had already taken care of the room, giving it a good clean, and plumping up the bed. Sitting back, she finally forced herself to look at her daughter. She took a deep breath and promised herself she wouldn’t cry. One look at Daisy, and those tears were not staying in.
“Sweetheart,” Lacey said. “I thought this would get easier. I fucking hate hospitals, and I didn’t want to have to deal with you being in one.” She gritted her teeth. “I am trying to be strong here, because I know deep down, this is what you need. You need love and you need strength.”
She took hold of her daughter’s hand.
“You have always been a special girl. You mean the world to me, Daisy. I know I didn’t give birth to you, and I’m not your real mother, but being your mother has been a real blessing.” Lacey held onto Daisy’s hand. “You made me a better person.” She swiped at the tears, not wanting them to fall on her. “Do you remember that first Christmas we shared? You me, Sally, and Whizz. How we went and got the Christmas tree and all the works.” Lacey laughed. “You were so young and so excited. Your parents had never put up any decorations. You never got a visit from Santa.”
Lacey stopped to take a breath. “You told me and Whizz that Santa only visited really good girls, and that you were a bad girl. Your parents had told you that. Nothing you did was ever good enough and you were this bad, horrible child.” She pressed her lips together. This memory of Daisy was so hard. “You asked me what you had to do to be good, and I had you for several months at this point and you were an angel. You were so good. So brave, and so ... good.” She stopped. “It broke my heart to know those bastards had tried to darken your mind. Tried to make you believe something that wasn’t true.”
Whizz had to hold her back because she had grabbed his gun and had every intention of fucking killing them.
“Whizz told me their time would come, but I wanted to end them, there and then. I didn’t want to wait. I was so angry at him. He told me to turn, to look at you, and all I needed to think about was how much I loved you.” Lacey sniffled. “And I do love you, Daisy. I love you so damn much. I know you didn’t come from my body, but you have no idea how much I wished you did.” Lacey kissed her hand.
Lacey couldn’t stand this. It would have been a lot easier if she herself were in the hospital bed as she would have been able to figure out what to do. It was crazy.
“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?” Lacey asked. “I could have helped. Whizz could have helped.” She shook her head. “We’d have done anything for you. We still will. We just need you to wake up, baby.”
Lacey took a deep breath and hoped that like in the movies, Daisy would listen to the sound of her voice, the desperation, and simply respond to it and come back to all of them.
Nothing. No change.
Just the horrible mechanical sounds of the beeping machines.
“That’s all right. I’ll just keep thinking about that first Christmas. How your eyes would light up, especially when we got the Christmas tree and decorated the whole house. You looked like you had gotten lost in a fairy tale. There were a few times I would hear you sneaking around at night. I wondered what you were up to, and I’d find you in the sitting room, legs crossed, just staring up at that tree. You loved it that much. I know you didn’t have great parents, Daisy, but Whizz and I did try.”
She sighed, then laughed. “That Christmas morning, do you remember how you avoided going into the sitting room? You wanted to eat breakfast and not go near the sitting room. Whizz and I didn’t get it, and then Sally told us what your problem was. You were terrified to go in there and see no presents from Santa, just in case he decided you were naughty. Sally also told us you were afraid we would no longer want you.”
Lacey felt those tears spring to her eyes. “We wanted you, Daisy. Always. You were so precious.” She couldn’t help but add another laugh. “I saw the anger in Whizz’s eyes. That made him so angry, and he went into the sitting room and came out with two presents. One for Sally and one for you. You looked so shocked. You couldn’t believe it, and for the longest time you held that present in your arms without tearing it open.” Lacey stroked her thumb across Daisy’s hand. “And then, when you did open it, inside was a teddy bear, the same one that even now you keep. You never forgot that teddy bear. You held that bear in your arms, and I just knew you were going to love it forever and ever. Whizz told you there were a lot more presents in the sitting room. You didn’t believe him, but then he’d start to come to the kitchen and lure you away from there, as he showed you different boxes, different wrapping paper, the works, until eventually we got you in that sitting room. You loved opening presents, and I remember after every single one was opened, you turned to me and said, ‘I have been a good girl.’”
And she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “I vowed that day, Daisy, that no matter what, I would do everything in my power to keep you safe, and seeing you like this, in this hospital bed, I have failed, and I am so sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry,” Whizz said, making her spin around in her chair.
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to get taken down a single memory.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why? It’s a good memory. Sad, but good.” Whizz moved toward her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and massaged them gently. It felt so good to have his hands on her.
“That feels good.”
He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “She’s going to be okay, baby. You know this. Daisy is a strong cookie. She just needs this rest right now, and you know she needs it, especially being married to Anthony. I doubt that is an easy thing to do.”
Lacey laughed and wiped her eyes.
“I feel so helpless with her.”
“It will be okay.” He wrapped his arms around her. “That I can promise you.” And he kissed her cheek again.
Lacey sunk against him, but she didn’t let go of Daisy’s hand. That was something she was going to struggle to do again.
She had vowed to take care of her daughter and she was not going to stop. She would never stop.
Daisy, please come back to us.
****
A nthony wanted to get back to the hospital. This was the longest time he had gone without seeing Daisy. It was certainly making his idea of joining the Nomads a fucking waste of space. Being on the road twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, was not going to work for him. Even if he and Daisy never fought, it would not work being apart from her.
He stood in his father’s office with Luke. The other guy looked a little worse for wear, but he didn’t look at Lash with fear, so that was a plus. It did tell Anthony that Luke had been through a whole lot more than either of them could have imagined.
“You burned it down?” Luke asked.
“There was nothing there.”
“Did you kill my dad?” Luke turned to look at Anthony.
Anthony glanced over toward his father, who simply raised a brow. “We killed a lot of men, but I don’t think your dad was one of them.”
“Fuck!” Luke started to pace the office. “He will know where they are.”
“Look at me,” Lash said. “He may know where they are, but his club’s trust in him would have taken one hell of a hit. From what you told me, Daniella must have alerted them, which means he intended for all of you to die.”
“If my dad wanted me dead, trust me, I would be dead.”
“But I was there,” Anthony said. “I dealt with the few guys that tried to take you out when your back was turned.”
Luke nodded. “There’s a chance my old man doesn’t have the first fucking clue that I am alive.”
“And we also know he has no way of taking care of those girls.”
“He doesn’t need a lot of men. When he is taking care of the girls, all he requires is just a few of the men that don’t mind what he does.” Luke looked down at his paperwork. “Have you tried to go to these locations?”
“No,” Anthony said. “As soon as I found your safe, I came to my dad. It’s why he let you go.”
Lash shrugged. “He would have done the same if it was me.”
Luke didn’t say anything but looked down at the file. “A shipment of girls that needs to be distributed.”
“And we have no way of knowing when they first arrived, but long enough to possibly have one visit where they were handled,” Lash said.
Anthony waited as Luke began to go through his file.
“There are three possible locations.” Luke started to point them out. One was not far from Fort Wills, about three miles. “My dad holds a lot of land, forests, and there are a few containers, along with a lot of scrap metal, busted-up cars and bikes. He says it keeps people from lurking. The next one is in the city, but this makes it harder for him to keep the law off his back. They’ve been under investigation lately, and they feel someone is trying to bring them down.”
Anthony looked toward his dad. “That would be the Billionaires,” he said.
“Billionaires?” Luke asked.
“Consider it a group of very wealthy men with one big fucking grudge against the kind of assholes that kidnap and sell women. They consider it a personal vendetta, and they have the money, power, and desire to make life hard for anyone who steps out of line.”
“Oh,” Luke said.
“Never heard of them?” Anthony asked.
“No, not really.”
“They kind of fly under the radar. That’s their MO,” Lash said. “Trust me, they may be rich and wear suits by day, but they have what it takes to completely annihilate your club. Not only do they have the strength, but like I said, money, and we all know money can buy a lot of things. I do not want them as my enemies, so right now we need to find these girls. If not, then you, my son, and the Skulls will be on their shit list.” Lash didn’t look too worried about it.
Anthony knew his father was always one step ahead of the game, but glancing at Luke, he pointed to a third location. It was remote, looked like a farm, nearly a three-hour ride from Fort Wills. The more Luke spoke, Anthony watched as his father got to his feet. “This is it,” Lash said.
“How do you know? It could be all three locations.”
“Because it’s remote, and I didn’t fucking know he owned it. There is a lot of land, and there is nothing to be seen for miles. If a girl escapes, he’s got plenty of time to locate her and drag her back with no one ever knowing. There is too high a risk for everyone else. If he uses any of the others, it’s a stopgap for a few hours, nothing more.” Lash clicked his fingers. “I’m rounding up the guys, we ride tonight.”
There was no time to argue. Anthony wanted to get back to the hospital, but he knew to even mention it now would be pointless.
“You ride at his back,” Lash said.
“What?” Anthony asked.
“Do I ever repeat myself?”
There were a few times growing up, but Anthony didn’t think this was the time or the place to bring that up.
“Dad, what about Daisy?” Anthony asked, hating that he looked weak in front of Luke.
“She will be here when you get back and you’d think you would want to fix this mess, seeing as you and she were the ones who helped ruin it in the first place. I’m not going to argue with you. Get on your bike and help me fix this.”
There was no sense in arguing. His father had spoken. What his father said was law, at least within the Skulls.
Anthony was going to have no choice but to have Luke riding at his back. “Don’t say a fucking word,” Anthony said, warning him.
“Why would I say a word? You want to go and see your woman,” Luke said. “I get it. I’m sorry, man. I ... I didn’t see Daniella until it was too late. In all honesty, when I saw what happened, I figured she had already taken off to be with my dad.”
“That is so fucked up.” He didn’t want to talk about it, though.
Making his way outside toward his bike, he saw several of the men—Hardy, Tiny, Stink, Steven, Gash, Killer, Alex, Zero, Murphy, Nash, and Blaine—arrive at their bikes. They were going to go in thick and fast.
Anthony hadn’t been given a gun.
Climbing onto his bike, he waited for Luke to straddle the machine behind him, and as he did and Luke held onto his waist, he was pissed. The only person he wanted at his back was Daisy.
Taking off, he followed out of the clubhouse and it wasn’t lost on him that he and Luke were not wearing leather cuts. All the guys were, and he knew, without Lash saying anything, that this was part of his punishment. He didn’t think it would ever matter to him, riding with the guys and not getting the chance to wear a leather cut, but it fucking hurt. Anthony was not used to this level of insult.
By going off on his own, half-cocked, he had put the lives of many women and girls in danger. He’d also put the club’s reputation at risk with the Billionaire Bikers MC, and above all else, he had put Daisy in the hospital. He hadn’t been the one to sink the knife into her, but he had led her to that night, and Daniella had been there.
He rode hard, trying to keep up with his father and the men he hoped to earn back trust from one day. This was all his fault and he had no choice but to take responsibility, because that was what a leader did. They led, took control, and made sure no one was left behind.
He got it now. It wasn’t about being silent, listening to everything, and making people afraid. His father could have done that, but he didn’t. He led by people believing in him, trusting him, and in an odd way, loving him. That was the point of the Skulls. They were one big family. Always had been and always would be.
That was Lash’s key to keeping them all together. They were not just a bunch of people in a club. It might have started out that way, but it certainly wasn’t how they had ended. They had all grown together, and it didn’t matter who it was, they had a bed, a shoulder, or whatever they needed with everyone. That was what made the Skulls powerful. You messed with one, and you messed with them all.
No one argued with his dad. They rounded up to follow him, and in that moment, Anthony realized he’d been going about this all wrong. Yes, he was different, and he didn’t feel things like other men and women did, but that had to also be a lie, because when it came to Daisy, his family, and the club, he felt a whole fucking lot. It was why he was pissed at Tabitha for leaving and waiting to come visit.
He got it now in ways he never had before and it made so much sense to him. Luke tightened his hold around him. It was going to be a long fucking ride.
****
T abitha knocked on the hospital door and stepped into the room to find Miles sitting beside Daisy. He wasn’t holding her hand, and he wasn’t even talking to her.
“Hey,” she said, offering him a smile, but her twin brother just glanced at her.
“What do you want?” Miles asked.
“Wow, okay, I guess you are pissed at me.”
“I’m not pissed. I just ... the nurses come in and check on her, and there is no change. They do that sympathy look, which is fucking useless, and they still leave, and it is pissing me off. We also know you have a family back in Piston County, so what are you doing here?”
Tabitha’s mouth dropped open and then closed. “So, I guess my brother wants nothing to do with me either.”
“Look, Tabs, I get it, you think nothing has to change, but a lot of shit has changed, okay? Look at your best friend. She is in a hospital bed. I’m not wearing a leather cut. I know for a fact Anthony, fucking Luke, and a bunch of the club have just taken off on their bikes. I didn’t get invited. My dad is pissed at me, and you want me to, what, stroke your ego? Tell you that whatever Anthony said wasn’t right. One of our own is in a hospital bed, and it has been a few days now. There is no change. For all we know, she could be dying, and you want to make this all about you.”
“I don’t.”
Miles laughed. “For the longest time that is all it has been about. Simon and Tabitha, Tabitha and Simon.” He shook his head. “What do you want?”
Tabitha stared at her brother, and she knew he was hurting. Grabbing one of the other chairs, she slowly pulled it toward him and sat beside him.
“I want to sit with you, as we watch over our friend and hope she makes it out of this.” Tabitha was not going to let the tears fall. They had done this because of what happened to her, she knew it. Miles was hurting, and she was not going to hold it against him. They were all hurting.
“She shouldn’t be in this coma,” Tabitha said.
“For fuck’s sake, Tabs.”
“I mean, it’s not right. This is Daisy, and she should be the one telling all of us that we’re going to get in trouble. How we shouldn’t be doing this or that, remember? When it was just all of us in high school, sneaking out, going to party.”
Miles sighed. “You’re right. There were times I was so irritated by her, you know? She’d always be the voice of reason. I once asked Anthony why he would find a stick in the mud attractive.”
Tabitha winced. “I doubt that went good for you.”
“Fuck, no, it didn’t. It was ... well, put it this way. I am lucky to be able to use my dick and also consume food. I figured Daisy was pretty damn special to him. A sucker punch to the gut, and I did throw up Mom’s lasagna, and he might have damaged my dick permanently. If I never have kids, that is the reason why.”
She laughed. “I love how you blame Anthony, and not your bullshit question.”
“I’m sorry about that shit I said,” he said after a few seconds.
“It’s fine.”
“Is it, really? I was mean.”
“But ... I wear the Chaos Bleeds patch. Life is fucked up, and for a long time, not that I meant it to be, it was all about me and Simon, or Simon and me. Daisy is in that bed because of what happened with the Monster Dogs MC. You ever feel like life just seems to be a bit strange for a short time? Where right is wrong and wrong is right?” Tabitha asked with a frown.
“Yeah, it’s called a fucked-up world.”
She laughed. “I hate that Daisy is in that bed. I didn’t realize how often I have come to rely on her telling me it is all going to be okay. That we’re all going to make it work, and that somehow, some way, we’re all going to come out of this fine.”
Miles reached for her hand. “It will be fine. I know Daisy, and she is going to wake up, ask what day it is, and then probably make sure we’ve all done our chores and what we need to do to make it up to the club.”
Tabitha laughed. “Yes, she is always one step ahead of the game, which is why she and Anthony work so well. They always have plans. They don’t always see eye to eye, or work, but they at least have plans.”
She sighed and leaned over to rest her head on her brother’s shoulder.
“How is Simon and life in Piston County?”
“It’s good, and I’m happy. We’re all happy.”
“That’s good. I think I’m going to have to pay a visit and teach those kids how to piss you off.”
Tabitha chuckled. “I’d like that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I think they would love to see their Uncle Miles. Nathan misses you all. It has been hard for him to settle into Piston County, but it is working.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
She turned toward Daisy. “I wish I knew what would wake her up. I’d do it, you know. For Anthony, for the club.” She knew everyone was hurting with Daisy being gone.
They all wanted her back. She was never going to take for granted any chance she got to hug her friend. That was how much she missed Daisy.
****
T he light was growing stronger.
Daisy held onto the railing, and just kept staring.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Daisy turned and expected to see her father. It would be the price she deserved if he was there to take her to hell for what she did to him. Instead, this was an old man, someone she didn’t recognize.
“Hello,” she said.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
She frowned. This was crazy. “I’m not.”
“No, you’re not. This is not your time. You have a whole life ahead of you, and you’re not supposed to be here. Trust me, I know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, I do. I’m always here to come and take the Skulls where they need to go.”
Daisy was not liking this. She felt her arms flood with goose bumps. “Do I know you?”
“Unfortunately not, you were too young to have known me, but you might have heard of me. The name’s Mikey.”
He held out his hand, and Daisy kept hold of the railing with one hand, then reached out to his hand and shook it.
“Hello, Mikey.”
“The Skulls have come a long way, haven’t they?”
“Yeah, they have.”
Mikey sighed and looked toward the sunset. The light seemed to have dimmed just a little.
Mikey? She remembered the tales of a Mikey, one of the original members, and his death had hurt so many. Even now, he was still remembered, and that was why she recognized him. There were pictures of fallen members all around the clubhouse. She had stared at Mikey’s picture several times.
“Have you ever thought of letting go?”
“When I do ... I fall into memories and I-I just want to get home.”
“Then you need to stop being afraid and make your way down that road.”
He pointed behind her.
“But it’s dark.”
The path he pointed at was dark, and she couldn’t quite see it clearly.
“Because that is life, and life is uncertain. There is no telling what life will bring. Going there, life is done, it is over, when you head into the light. You need to be ready to wake up. Ready to go back to the club.”
“Is that what you have come to tell me? To go back to the club?”
“I’ve come to tell you that you are running out of time, Daisy. You need to make a choice, and you need to be strong. You need to be capable, and I know for a fact Anthony needs you more than he realizes. Lash needs you to help him with Anthony. That boy is going to be a great leader, but without you, he is going to be a problem. Tabitha needs you. The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds need the two of you to keep your friendship going. Rachel needs you, because Adam is not going to be quite so ... willing with a younger woman. Miles needs you, because that boy is lost. Angel needs you because she wants to help you. They all, in one way or another, need you, Daisy. You are part of the club. You are there because they all need you and they all love you and want you there. Nothing is ever going to change for anyone.”
Daisy looked behind her, to where the road was so uncertain. Her heart pounded. She felt so afraid. But she really wanted to get home. She wanted to hold Anthony, kiss him, and tell him she loved him. She wanted to tell Lash they fucked up. She wanted to call Tabitha. She no longer wanted to be delving into one memory after another. What she wanted above all was to finally live.
Gritting her teeth, she let go of the railing, took that step, then another step forward. She didn’t fall into any memory, and with each step she took, she felt a little stronger.
When the pull of the darkness drew her closer, she couldn’t help but turn back, and there was Mikey, giving her a wave. He was already making his way into the light, and she moved into the darkness, felt something spin, and suddenly opened her eyes.