Chapter Fifty-Five
Allie
“Allie! Let me see your new ink!” Leo calls as we all walk into The Handle.
I make my way to the bar to show Leo my newest edition as everyone settles into one of the high top tables.
“Damn girl. That is beautiful. I’m jealous that you can get ink. I can’t wait to be out of school so I can have extra funds to add to my leg piece.”
“Soon right?” I ask, as Leo makes drinks for Lainey, Lo, Harper, Harrison, and I. I am just about to stop him when Lo walks up next to me. “Hey Leo. I am nursing the end of a nasty migraine. Can I just have a Dr. Pepper please?”
“Water for me, please. I just sat through a six-hour tattoo and feel like I need to jump in a pool of water to rehydrate myself.”
“Of course. If you want anything stronger, let me know. Al, I set out some cards on the high top in case karaoke wasn’t on the docket tonight.”
“It’s not. I’m fucking exhausted,” Harper says, leaning against the bar. “I will take whatever you want to make me, but make it a double. It was a rough night.”
Leo nods and takes out a large margarita glass and dips it in salt as I turn my attention to Harper. “Are you okay?”
Harper sighs and mouths thank you to Leo as he slides her a margarita before moving to Lainey and Harrison on the other side of Logan. “Yeah. Awful car accident with multiple fatalities. I pumped chests for hours and we were only able to move one up to ICU. It was just…you know how it can be.”
Logan and I both nod. “Yeah, but I’m sorry. You should have just met us here and not The Needle. If anyone would have understood, it’s Lo, Leo, and I.”
Harper shakes her head as she takes a sip of her drink. “It’s okay. I needed the distraction.”
Harrison and Lainey move to stand next to us and we all hold our glasses up, even Leo, as Harrison says, “To a night full of distraction!”
“Cheers!” we all exclaim.
Harrison spins around and yells to the empty bar, “What do you say, Cliff Haven? Who wants to get shitfaced and forget this shitty ass town filled with shitty ass people! WOOOHOO!”
Harper, Lainey, Leo, Logan, and I all look at each other, then to Harrison, completely confused.
Lainey shrugs, “I guess he is also having a bad day?”
“Sounds like it.” I say, watching him for a moment before turning my attention back to Harper.
I’m washing my hands in the bathroom when a text comes from Landon.
Landon : Mission went well. See you in fifteen. Are you still at the Handle?
Allie : Yep. See you soon.
I hit send as I walk out of the bathroom and back into the main bar. But as soon as my eyes lock on the scene in front of me, I freeze.
Harrison is standing in the middle of the bar with a gun pointed at Lainey’s head. Harper and Leo are sitting at a table, staring at him with fear in their eyes.
Harper’s eyes lock with mine and she shakes her head subtly, but Harrison notices and turns his head toward me.
“Perfect timing. Get over here Al. You aren’t exactly the woman I need to speak to, but you will do.”
Slowly, I walk toward him and stop when I get in front of Lainey, whose eyes shine with tears.
Harrison’s eyes are bloodshot as they lock with mine, and I stare at him in disbelief. What is he doing? Why?
“I want you to promise me you will tell me where he is or I will kill everyone in here. Starting with this one,” Harrison says, pushing the barrel of his gun into the back of Lainey’s head, eliciting a startled cry from her.
“What are you talking about, Harrison? Tell you where who is?”
“Oh, don’t act stupid Allie. It’s not a good look on you.”
Annoyance rises in my chest, but I keep my voice calm. “I swear, I have no idea who you are talking about, Harrison. If I did, do you think I would be standing here shocked and confused?”
His head tilts back in frustration and I see Logan peek her head around the corner, but I quickly tap my finger against my thigh, signaling Logan to wait.
“Ugh! Why do I have to explain everything to you idiots? Where is Mike?”
My heart stops. What did he just say? Clearly, I am hearing him wrong because there is no way that he just said the name of the man who ruined my life, took my two favorite people away, and was a demon haunting Logan’s every waking moment. Surely, this must be a dream.
Harrison morphs into a face I’ve only seen on one person and I know for certain I’m not dreaming. “STOP LYING!” His words echo off the walls of the bar and everyone jumps as he waves the gun in the air like a madman. “I should kill you right now. Don’t act like you didn't know!”
Stepping closer to him and signalling Lainey to move slightly to the right, I say, “I have no idea what you are talking about, Harrison. I really don’t.”
“You’re lying! I was there! I watched him beat your stupid ass for months! Now tell me where he is or I swear to god I will put a bullet in your head right now!”
The world goes silent. He was there? He was with Mike? The man I thought was my best friend was an accomplice in my downfall?
Words fail me.
Think Allie. Do not let this man take you down when you are just starting to live. Don’t let them win. Don’t let them take the lives of the people who have brought you into their hearts and protected you as if you have been there the entire time.
Fight.
Overleve.
The two most important men in my life voices echo in my head and I let everything fade away.
I can do this.
“Harrison. I had no idea. I–”
“Shut up, you stupid bitch. Ya know what? I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Logan can finally have the blood of your stupid self on your hands. Nice knowing ya.” Harrison raises the gun and points it directly at my face. I hear scooting of chairs behind me and I am about to push Lainey away when Logan’s voice echos behind Harrison.
“I KILLED HIM!”
Harrison spins around so fast he stumbles and in a flash, I pull the knife from my waistband and stab him right in the back of the neck. Blood sprays everywhere as I sever his spinal cord. Lainey, Harper, Leo, and I fall on top of him. The gun falls from his hands and goes off as it hits the ground.
Harper jumps up immediately and starts looking around the room. “Logan! Are you okay?”
“Yeah!” My head pops up to see her walking from around the bar, limping.
“N, you’re not! You’re limping!” Lainey exclaims as she pops up, but not before punching Harrison in the face. A painful groan escapes him as he lays there, unable to move.
Logan hops on one leg over to us. “I’m fine. I tripped on a crate as I jumped behind the bar when the gun dropped. It’s probably just a sprain, but it beats a bullet so, I’m fine.”
Her attention turns to me. “What the hell did he say?”
I move off Harrison as my entire body starts to shake when the doors fly open and Grayson, Landon, and Noah all rush in.
Landon’s eyes find mine, and he runs over and picks me up. His hands move over my body, his eyes going wide as he sees blood on my shirt, hands, and face.
“It’s not my blood,” I say, my voice shaking, but he doesn’t hear me. I grab his face and make him look at me. “It’s not mine.”
His shoulders deflate, and he crushes me to his chest. We stand there for a moment, locked in each other’s embrace, until the shaking and panic start to subside.
“I thought—”
“I know. I’m here.”
“You better start talking mother fucker before I kill your ass right here, right now for even thinking about taking someone away from me,” Noah yells, somewhere behind us, breaking us out of our own little bubble.
When we turn around, we see Harrison slumped against the bar, looking seconds from death.
Grayson sits with Logan’s foot in his lap, holding an ice pack on top of it. While Lainey and Leo are on both sides of Noah trying to hold him back from kicking Harrison in the face.
Landon jumps from around me and I know he is about to deck Harrison in the face, either killing him or knocking him out before we can get answers, but I stop him.
“Storm. Don’t.”
I watch his shoulders rise and his face turns a slight hint of red, and I know he is pissed because so I am too.
“Lan. Can you please go get me a washcloth so I can wipe this blood off me? I feel disgusting,” I plead, trying to distract him.
Harper walks out from the bathroom and hands me a wet cloth. “Here Al. I figured you wouldn’t want that asshole’s blood on you for long.”
“Thanks Harper.”
Taking the washcloth, I hand it to Landon and he takes it wordlessly. Slowly he works his way over my face, neck and hands, ridding all the blood of my so-called best friend from my body.
Once he’s done, he pulls a chair close to Logan, sits down, and brings me to sit in his lap, his arms wrapping around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder.
I know he is pissed, so am I.
Letting the anger fuel me, I turn my focus to Harrison, who looks like he is seconds from passing out. “What did you do, Harrison, and why are you involved with Mike?”
“I don’t have to tell you shit. You already killed him and are going to kill me, so why does it matter?” Harrison spits.
Anger rises inside of me and I stand. I am tired of men thinking that they can just do and say whatever they hell they want, even when they are looking death straight in the face.
“I can sit here all day until you tell me the truth. You’re already paralyzed from the neck down so you wouldn’t feel me breaking anything else, but I have a few men that would have fun making you watch as they break every single bone in your pathetic body.”
“Do it. I don’t care.” Harrison says and I look at Noah, who is fighting every urge in his body not to run over and punch him square in the face.
“No—” I am about to give him the go ahead when the doors to the bar fly open and my heart stops.
I blink a few times because surely this is some twisted dream, but when I open my eyes, the dream is still playing and I collapse to the floor.
Landon is by my side instantly, and I hear the sounds of cries and gasps in the background somewhere.
“Bluebird, open your eyes.”
“No. Please don’t make me.”
“Allie. I promise you are safe, but please open your eyes.”
Slowly, they open and right in front of me, sitting in a wheelchair, is my mother. Wes, standing right behind her.
“Hi honey. I missed you.” Reaching out, her hand touches mine and sobs overtake me as I realize this isn’t a dream, it’s real life.
“H-How?” I ask, my voice cracking.
“It’s a long story. One that I promise to tell you, but right now, I think it’s time you get some answers and maybe some revenge.” She looks over my shoulder at Landon. “Dear, will you help my daughter up so I can give her a hug, please?”
Landon nods and stands me up on shaky legs, and I practically collapse forward. Mom’s arms wrap around me and sobs overtake both of us.
“I missed you Mom.”
“I missed you too, honey. So so much.”
I have no idea how long I stay locked in her embrace, but eventually, I stand and look around the room. There isn’t a dry eye in the house, except for Wes, who is moving a chair near Harper and guiding her to sit down.
Mom taps my arm and I look down to see her pointing to Logan, who is sobbing in Grayson’s arm. “Bring me to my other daughter, please.”
Landon steps around me and wheels Mom over to Logan, and I stand back, allowing them to have a moment as Landon hugs me to his chest.
Mom places a kiss on Logan’s cheek and sits back in her wheelchair, turning her focus to Harrison. “I think it’s time you told them the truth before the big scary man back there does.”
Harrison stares at her as if he is seeing a ghost, a lone tear streaming down his face. “How-How are you alive?”
Mom giggles. “Oh dear. You really haven’t mastered the art of acting. All you had to do was check my pulse to see I was still alive when you dumped me and my husband in the middle of the woods.”
“But–But.”
“Spill. Before I let my daughters take the revenge they rightfully deserve.”
Harrison bows his head before looking at me and Logan. “Mike was my father. He left my mom and me when I was younger, but returned when I was fourteen right after my mother died from a drug overdose. He told me he was trapped in an unsafe marriage with a stepdaughter who was trying to kill him. I didn’t want to lose both parents, so we came up with a plan to kill her before she killed him, but first I needed to train. Years later, the time finally came, but Logan had run away and we couldn’t find her. It took a while but when we did, we were both pissed so I offered to go undercover. Then Logan moved away, and I lost her again, so I agreed to stick around until Allie gave up the information, since rumors were still circulating that Logan was out there plotting to kill my dad.
“Eventually, we got tired of the chase and decided to take matters into our own hands. We kidnapped Allie and her parents. Dad didn’t want to deal with Stella or Shepard, so I volunteered. Eventually Allie let Dad see her phone, giving Dad the location of where Logan was.”
My head snaps to Logan, and she shakes her head. “Not your fault. Don’t even think about it.”
I nod and turn my attention back to Harrison, waiting for him to continue.
“Allie was so out of it, she never saw me coming and going, which worked in our favor. After Dad killed Stella and Shepard, I dumped their bodies in the woods. I knew Dad was letting Allie go, but he said she needed to be punished for making him wait so long, so I went onto my next task. It took a while to sneak into Canada, but eventually I got in and captured our next target, Allie’s big sister, Sutton.”
All the air is sucked out of the room and I immediately look to Mom, who has tears in her eyes. “I promise I will explain later.”
Desperately, I want to beg her to explain, but instead I look to Landon, who is just as shocked as I am. Then it hits me. “Wait, isn’t that the case Wes, Lachlan, and Aries have been working on for a while?”
“Yes,” Landon says, through gritted teeth.
“She is alive. I think,” Harrison says, pulling our attention back to him as he continues, “I got bored and left her in Calgary. Canada is boring as shit and I missed my dad, so I came back. Only to find out that Logan was not dead and Allie was with her. And as it always was, no one could get through the secret twins, so I had to play the long game. I went back and forth between Washington and Calgary, making sure Sutton was still stuck in hell until Allie and Logan finally let me know where they were. You should be happy I didn’t kill you the moment I saw you, but I didn’t think either of you had it in you to kill someone. Guess I was wrong. Oh, well.”
My control snaps and so does Logan’s because she stands up, hops on one leg, her ankle clearly broken and punches Harrison square in the face. “You are a sorry excuse for a human being, just like your father. Just because women don’t give you what you want doesn’t mean you can do whatever the hell you want. I would say rest in peace, but there is no peace for scum bags like you. Have fun being shark bait.” Her shoulders shake as she turns around and sits back down, Grayson automatically propping her foot back up and inspecting her hand.
Mom taps me on the side, and I look down at her. “End this for all of us, please, and make it good. He aided in killing my best friend and now is hurting all of my children. It’s time for this scum to leave.”
Steeling my spine, I walk over to him, my knife in hand. “You and your father took everything from me. I almost gave up, but I didn’t and that’s because this was waiting for me. A chance to get revenge and retribution for those that can no longer look evil in the eye and spit in their face. Have a nice day in hell, you sorry excuse for a human being.” Taking a step back, I smile and with the small flick of my wrist, I send the knife flying, landing it straight in his jugular. The life slowly drains from his eyes and I don’t bother to stick around waiting for him to take his last breath.
Instead, I turn on my heel, “Let’s go Mom. We have a lot to discuss.”
Not giving her the chance to respond, I turn her around and push her wheelchair towards the doors of the Handle when Landon gently taps my arm and I pause.
“I’m so proud of you.” His words bring tears to my eyes and I lean into him.
“Get me out of here, please.”
With a simple nod, he loops my arm around his as he grabs the handles of Mom’s chair and together we all walk out, leaving my revenge to suffocate on his own consequences.