Chapter 55
***Boone***
“She’s okay. Braddock came by and checked her over.
They’re both safe and healthy, but he said she needs to rest and take it easy.
No more stress. When I laughed in his face, he thought maybe I’d hit my head, too.
” I cracked my neck and considered the benefits of getting hammered right then and there.
“They’re going to keep her overnight for observation.
I called Jake and asked him to call in a guard to sit outside her room, just in case, but he’s going to do it himself. ”
Remy nodded. “Figures.”
I looked Wells over and saw that he’d at least cleaned the blood off his face.
His knuckles were fucked, but he didn’t seem to care.
He saw me looking and shook his head. “I’m fine.
I don’t want to talk about my knuckles or anything else that could lead to talking about feelings.
I found a rehab center for Jackson. They’ll pick him up within the hour.
Someone needs to be there to sign off of it. ”
It wasn’t a great time to be impressed with Wells’ ability to find a bed in the city on such short notice, but I was. Rehabs filled up fast and sometimes people were just left to die on the streets without help because there just wasn’t enough space for them. “Private, I’m assuming.”
He nodded. “It’s only the price of a small country, but who cares when you’re supporting your surrogate’s druggie brother, right?
Do you think that’s the con? It was brilliant, if so, because that rehab just bent me over and didn’t say please.
What the fuck is rush pricing? This isn’t a couch.
Jesus, this night is never going to end.
I’ll go. I set it up and I’ll know all the details. ”
I winced at the word con. I wasn’t ready. “One of us should stay here until Jake’s here to take watch.”
Remy patted his pockets and then swore at the mass of phone pieces on the ground. “We have to call her other brother.”
I shrugged. “That’s fine. Should we wait until morning, in case he’s sleeping like a normal person?”
“Well. Considering that he’s currently in prison and I’m going to have to piss a prison warden off to do this, maybe he’ll enjoy it.
” Meeting both of our confused expressions, Remy laughed bitterly.
“Yeah, Jake started looking through some stuff. Memphis calls her little brother in prison once a week. He’s in for theft, in case you were curious. So, just a great family all around.”
I felt myself start to defend Memphis and turned away as grief hit me. I didn’t know who she was. The person Charlie was talking about wasn’t anyone I knew. How could she lie so easily?
“You two figure that out. I ordered a car. I’ll get home to take care of Jackson and send Jake here.” Wells rubbed his eyes and looked up as a car pulled in. “At least something’s going right. Let me know if anything changes.”
Remy and I took up a private waiting room and I paced the hallway in front of Memphis’s door while he woke people up and got contact information for the warden.
I didn’t think to doubt him because there was never a time when Remy didn’t pull through.
That night wasn’t any different. In no time, I was sitting across from him at a small table with my phone between us and a surprisingly alert voice shouting at us.
“What’s wrong? Where’s Memphis? If anything happened to Memphis, I swear to God, I’ll find my way out of here and break your—”
I cut him off. “She’s okay. Do you know Charlie Brennan?”
“Why are you asking about Charlie? Memphis cut that piece of shit out a while back. What happened? I don’t need to be finessed right now, man, just let me have it.” His southern accent was somehow thicker than Memphis’s, but it felt familiar.
“He showed up at our place tonight. He broke in and was waiting on Memphis. Your brother was in our house, trying to steal our dead mother’s jewelry, but that’s neither here nor there.” I blew out a sharp breath. “There was—”
“No, Jack is in rehab down here, buddy. Not to say that he wouldn’t rob your dead mother and every grave your family has ever filled, but Memphis paid for him to go to rehab before she left.
He’s...” He swore viciously and I heard a couple of loud bangs before he was back.
“You’re not shitting me, are you? Jackson is in Chicago? ”
“Yeah, he is. On his way to another rehab, thanks to our brother. One that he won’t be able to walk out of.
He was out of his mind tonight. He shoved Memphis and she fell and hit her head.
” I looked down at my hands and watched in horror as they shook.
I was a surgeon. My hands didn’t shake. Seeing Memphis hit her head had fucked with me.
“We got her to the hospital and the doctors checked her out. She’s okay, but they’re keeping her overnight for observation. ”
“Which one are you? The doctor or the fancy businessman? Or the artist?”
I shoved my hands under my thighs. “Doctor.”
“Boone, then.” He lowered his voice. “Give it to me straight, Boone. On a scale of one to FUBAR, where are we at with all of this?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know my big sister. That girl raised me when she was still a baby herself and I probably know her better than I know myself. I know the situation with y’all.
I’m guessing by the tone in your voice that you’re not just stressed because she hit her head.
” He blew out a breath. “I know she wasn’t completely open about our upbringing, but if you knew the whole sordid story, you wouldn’t be either. ”
Remy snorted. “She wasn’t just not completely open. She lied.”
Knox made a sound of aggravation. “I don’t even have to guess. Remington, or Remy as Memphis calls you as she’s waxing on and on about you. You sound just as fucking cranky as she described you. Though she said you had this sexy voice thing and I’m just not hearing it.”
“Whatever you’re trying to do, kid, save it. We just needed to let you know she was hurt but she’s okay.” Remy stood up and started to leave but came right back. “Are you all thieves? Is it a fucking genetic thing?”
Knox was silent for so long that I thought he’d hung up.
It was clear when he started talking, he was biting back anger.
“I’m going to let that one slide. I’m assuming that you had your shit rocked tonight.
You thought Memphis was a perfect little rich girl with blue blood running through her veins and now you know that she’s as country as a hound dog barking at a tractor.
You thought she was going to pop out kids who came readymade to play in symphonies and shit like that.
Instead, you knocked up a kid from the trailer park whose big dream in life is to become a librarian because a librarian was nice to her once.
You knocked up a girl who has more heart than you’ve probably ever known or seen.
The shit she’s been through, you’d piss your rich boy pants and run home crying.
I get that you’re upset, Remy, but that’s my fucking sister you’re talking about and you’d do best to watch how you talk about her. ”
Remy was quiet for a while before he sat back down. “Tell us about her.”
“Let’s make one thing clear first. I may be in prison, but I’m really good at holding a grudge.
If you hurt my sister, I’ll break your faces.
Considering how fond Memphis seems to be of them, I’d really rather not have to.
” He grunted. “And that ain’t an idle threat, boys.
We have lots of places to bury the bodies down here and you should know that any jury in the south would hear my sister’s story and let me go free for killing the assholes who made her cry. Do you get me?”
I sighed. “We get it. You big and country, we weak and city. Can we move on now?”
He laughed. “No wonder she likes you best, doctor man.”
Remy’s head shot up with a glare. It looked like he barely resisted the urge to hit something.
“Kidding. I knew it would set Remy off, though. That’s how much she talks about y’all. I’m honestly sick of you three already.”
Remy growled. “Just tell us about your sister, asshole.”