Chapter 35
C onnor
My mother’s anxious eyes appeared in a gap in the door. She swung it open and jacked her thumb at the hallway. “Quick, before someone sees.”
I’d driven into North Berwick after twenty-four hours of no sleep and a fuck-ton of fun rounding up my next set of condemned men.
Business as usual, except every fibre of my being demanded I turn the car around and go back to Deadwater. But Everly would be safe with Mick and Manny, and my plan needed to play out.
It fucking hurt to be away from her this long. The prize I’d present her with was worth it.
Ma directed me into the kitchen. “Did ye really need to come looking like that?”
I dropped into a seat and glanced at the bloodstains on my jeans. The struggle was real. “Ye called me at work. What did ye expect?”
Her lips formed a disgusted pout. “Not this.”
I heaved a sigh, already over her. Her panicked request for help had spurred me into action, bringing me here in a hurry. Despite everything, I still cared about my mother. Everly’s revelations on Friday night had me sentimental. Yet here the woman was, right as rain.
“Want to get to the point of your call?”
“I heard noises in the night. What if someone’s watching the house?”
This was why I’d come. If she was in danger, I’d protect her. “Have ye seen anyone? Did your neighbourhood group report intruders?”
“No, but after your visit, I kept imagining the worst. Your threat scared me. I don’t feel safe.”
“The threat wasn’t mine. Do ye have cameras around the house?”
“Of course not. Am I made of money?”
I scowled, the waste of time already clear. “I’ll order a couple to be delivered.”
“Great. They’ll sit in a box until someone helpful can install them.”
God forbid she’d ever learn a new skill. “Aren’t ye still with the father of your bairns?”
She popped a hip against the counter. “No. But I got to keep the house this time. And he takes the boys off my hands on weekends, so look who’s laughing now.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket with an incoming call. It cut out immediately. I hesitated in my need to check the screen so I could get this over and done with.
I centred my gaze on my mother once more. “Read the instructions, buy a screwdriver, then watch the cameras from your phone if you’re scared at night. If anything happens, call the cops.”
I moved to the door. Palmed my phone. The missed call was from Mick.
Cold slunk through my veins.
“That’s it, is it? Back to your sluts with no concern for me. After all I did for ye and you’re walking away when I’m in danger.”
For fuck’s sake. I twisted around. “I’m heading back to Everly and to my job. The life that I made with no thanks to ye.”
She stared at me. “Everly Makepeace? Tell me you’re not with her. The snooty little cow is your stepsister. That’s disgusting.”
Frustration tossed aside any lingering familial concern I might’ve had. “How is any part of it disgusting? We’re not related. Ye just had the poor judgement to shack up with her psychopath father.”
“I put a roof over your head,” she yelled back. “I spread my legs for him so we didn’t starve. How was I supposed to know he was handy with his fists?”
By exercising better control of herself. By getting to know someone before she leapt into bed with them. Saying any of this made no difference now.
“I forgive you for being a shite mother.” I hovered over Mick’s name, ready to dial back. “I can’t be sorry for your marriage because it meant I met Everly and she’s the greatest person who ever breathed.”
My mother sneered. “It amazes me that girl made it to adulthood. Rumour has it her father did away with her ma. Didn’t ye wonder why I packed a bag and was ready to run?”
My stomach dropped. “You’re full of it.”
“Only saying what I heard. It was enough to send me out the door.”
All of which she did without passing on the warning to Everly or me. That day had been the worst of my life. For weeks, I’d planned our exit, the girl I’d loved and me. Ma barely spoke to me back then, nothing had changed there, but I’d discovered her gathering her things while her husband’s back was turned. I’d assumed the energy I felt was catching, a universal urge to end the situation, but no, she’d been thinking about herself yet again.
Storming from her home, I slammed the door, leaving her with zero intention of ever coming back.
I dialled the last called number. Mick answered immediately.
“We’re in pursuit. Fuck, I’m so fucking sorry. We’ll get her back. Arran’s already on his way to intercept.”
That ice in my veins stabbed into me. “What are ye talking about?”
I knew Everly had gone to her office. Arran had given me the heads-up then Mick had kept me posted, and though I’d hated it, I’d already been close to my destination here and too far away to intervene.
I’d watched her tracker.
Before I’d gone into my mother’s house, I’d had the text from him saying they were about to leave. She’d done her thing and all was good.
Mick delivered the killing blow. “Her father took her.”
My boots drummed the path. I threw myself into my car and floored the accelerator.
It would take me a goddamned hour to drive back to Deadwater. The rest of the day had been planned out to a T. We’d intended to make the mayor sweat, wondering why his summons had failed. I’d been out for blood with choices over whose would be spilled.
But now, I was racing against the clock to save Everly.