21. King
Sparrow and the kids have been staying with me for a week, and the entire place is almost transformed. Sparrow came back the other day from shopping with Skye and she ended up buying picture frames, throw pillows, and blankets. We now have candles in every room, and the schoolhouse is finally starting to feel like a home.
But I’m not going to lie, I don’t get the purpose of decorative towels.
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t fucking love seeing her and the kids stuff start to accumulate around the house. Yesterday, I tripped over one of Telle’s shoes that was left in the middle of the hall. All I could do was laugh, because, shit, I never thought this life was possible.
Cleaning the counter after making the kids lunch, my phone rings next to me. Setting waters in front of the kids, I pick up my phone and see that Cam is calling me.
“Hey, man,” I answer.
“Got a problem,” Cam barks out.
Fuck. I knew things were going too good.
“What is it?” I whisper to not draw attention to myself.
“I drove to the rental to check on it, because I have a thought. And the front door was wide open.”
Looking at the kids to make sure they are sidetracked by their lunch, I step outside so they don’t hear me.
“What the fuck?” I bark out.
“The whole place is trashed, man.”
“Fuck. Alright, well Bird is with Skye. Once River or Ace comes home, I’ll head over there.”
“Alright, just let me know and I’ll meet you there.”
Cam hangs up, and I start pacing, trying to sort through my thoughts. Sparrow’s been tight-lipped about who this guy is, but her time for keeping secrets is running out.
My head shoots up when I hear multiple cars pulling down the driveway. I’m shocked when I see Sparrow’s truck, followed by Ace. Ace has been waiting on Sparrow, hand and foot, to make up for his actions.
He’s still on a short leash with me.
Sparrow walks up to me, tears in her eyes. Dammit, Cam called her before I could talk to her. She steps into my arms, fisting the back of my shirt.
“I’m scared, King.” I have to strain to hear her shaky voice.
Grabbing hold of her chin, I bring her eyes up so she can see the sincerity on my face. “Nothing. I mean nothing is going to happen to you or our kids.” Her bottom lips is trembling as she tries to keep her tears at bay.
She hates showing weakness in front of others. She would rather cry alone in a dark room, than let on that something has hurt her. But she should know by now that I don’t count, I want her to let her emotions out.
“But I do need to know who I’m hunting, Bird,” I say slowly. I’ve been patient, and I haven’t pushed her.
Because I will be hunting this guy, and no one will find him.
Sparrow looks around before looking back up at me. “I know you do. But I don’t want the kids to overhear.” As soon as the words escape her mouth, the back door bangs open, and the kids come running out.
“I’ll text my dad and see if we can drop the kids off there for the night.” Sparrow nods her head, so I walk over to Ace, who has been waiting by his truck.
“Cam called me to follow her home, what happened?” Ace slowly asks me.
“The rental was broken into, place is trashed. I’m going to see if Dad can keep the kids tonight, and I’m going to go over there to pick it up. They won’t be going back there.”
“You think it’s him?”
“Yeah, and I think that’s what Cam is thinking. Think about it, Ace. No one up here would run her off the road. Now someone broke into the rental.” Pausing, I start pacing in front of my brother. “We’ve never had a break-in. Hell, until Sparrow and the kids came here, we didn’t even lock the doors. Nah, this isn’t adding up to me. It has to be him.”
“Alright, well what do you want me to do: stay here with Sparrow, or come with you?” Ace asks from next to me, hands fisted at his side.
Ace has been an asshole lately, but this is my brother. Always available when you need him. My brothers and I have always been like this; we needed to be one unit for survival. I’m not condoning how we were raised, not by a long shot, but it made us resilient, and the people you call in crisis.
“Call River while I call Dad. I want one of you here with Bird, and one with me. Cam said he’ll meet me there.”
Ace nods his head as he pulls out his cellphone. Sparrow and the kids will always need one of us with them until I catch this guy. That’s fine, if I had it my way, they would always be with me. When this asshole is caught, and the kids go to school, I know I’ll have to loosen the reins, but until then, they’re with me.
Pulling up to the rental, I find that Cam beat us here. I couldn’t convince Sparrow to stay at home with River, stating that she wanted to tell me and my brothers at once what we are up against. I really didn’t want her to have to see what we found inside, but she wouldn’t budge.
She never liked to be left out. I see that hasn’t changed.
Grabbing a hold of her hand before she moves to climb out of the truck, I pull her towards me. Bringing my hand up to cup her face, I assure her, “Whatever is in there, we will figure it out, Bird. You and the kids are safe with me.”
Swallowing thickly, Sparrow clears her throat before speaking. “Me and the kids won’t be safe until he’s caught. But he’ll just get out and do it again. He isn’t going to stop until I’m dead.”
He won’t be leaving Chapel Falls, but now isn’t the time to tell Sparrow that bit of information.
Ace and River pull in behind us, so I quickly get out and round the truck and open the passenger door. She looks down at me with so much uncertainty, it sends a pang to my chest. Does she not trust that I can keep her safe? If it came down to it, I would gladly die to protect her, no second thoughts needed.
Grabbing hold of her waist, I lower her down from the truck. Letting go, I whisper in her ear, “You’re mine, Bird. The devil himself would have to go to battle with me to get you. There is no me without you, I love you.”
Grabbing her hand, we slowly walk up to the front door. Sparrow stops before reaching the front porch. “Umm…can I talk to you guys out here?”
Once we all nod our heads, Sparrow moves closer to me, squeezing my hand. “I hadn’t dated since King. I had the kids and was trying to keep my head above water. I was working nights at a restaurant as the bartender when the twins were four, Skye stayed with them. That’s where I met Chad.”
Of course, his name is Chad.
“He started coming in a couple of nights a week and finally asked me out. I figured I needed to put myself out there eventually, so I agreed. Things were great for the first few months. He was attentive, funny, and he took pride in being a cop.”
I’m trying to keep my anger in check, and Cam knows it. He is staring at me the whole time Sparrow is talking. I won’t lose my cool in front of her, but once she is asleep tonight, the punching bag is mine.
“I finally let Chad meet the kids after seven months of dating. He had been asking more and more, saying that I wasn’t letting him in. I never opened up to him about King, I didn’t know if we were ever going to be that serious. A week before our year anniversary, he stopped over after his shift. The twins were already asleep, and he kept asking me to go out with him.”
Sparrow lets go of my hand and starts twisting her fingers, so I know I’m not going to like what she has to say next.
“I kept telling him no, that Skye was working, the kids are sleeping, and I was ready to go to bed. He was getting agitated, so I was trying to get him out of the apartment. He had never acted like this before, but I thought maybe it was just a bad shift.”
Cam shuffles closer to me which has red flags going off in my head. I know I barely graduated High School, but I’m far from stupid.
“He shoved me against the wall, punched me in my face, and stormed out of the apartment. I blocked his number, but he kept showing up at the apartment and the restaurant. He was showing up so often that I ended up getting fired. I would leave the store, and there he was. I would pick up the kids from school, and he would follow us home. I kept filing restraining orders, but the precinct kept saying that it was lost.”
Sparrow steps off the porch, pacing in front of us. Ace and River are gripping the porch railing so hard, their knuckles are completely white. My feet feel like lead, I can’t move from this spot.
“Skye had been up here with Cam for two days when he broke in. We were in Skye’s room watching a movie when the front door banged open. I called nine-one-one, but Chad barged into the bedroom before I could lock us in. He dragged me into the living room, and I’m relieved he did, because at least the kids didn’t have to see.”
Sparrow pauses and looks at Cam. I try to not let that bother me, but dammit, it does. My woman is what, finding strength from my cousin?
“I don’t know how much time passed, but he was able to stab me over twenty times before one of the neighbors ran in and hit him in the head with a bat.”
The person I need in this world the most was stabbed over twenty times while my kids were in the other room, most likely listening to their mother scream. What was I doing when they went through hell? Drinking myself into a blackout? Getting into a bar fight?
Was I balls deep in another woman, wishing that it was Sparrow? I’m not proud of the women I was with while I was trying to forget Sparrow’s memory. I feel sick to my stomach, but now isn’t the time to break down. That isn’t what Sparrow needs; she needs me to be strong, unmovable. She needs me to slay her demons, something I’m thoroughly going to enjoy.
Staring at my woman while she filets herself open so I can catch the devil hell bent on taking her from me, I'm led down the porch by an invisible string, leading me to pull her in my arms. I know she has more to say, but she can do that by my side. How it’s going to be from now on.
Her and I, walking hand in hand, until the very end.