Chapter 42
Ican still feel them inside me, and the well-used feeling makes me even more relaxed and confident as I step onto the familiar street. It’s the heart of where we live, a meeting place of sorts. The car has drawn attention, and people drift over until a call goes up.
“It’s Karma!”
“Yo, Sanchez, I need information,” I say, but he glares at me, the car, and the men getting out behind me.
“You sold out, Karma?” he hisses.
My eyes narrow as a crowd gathers. People who were loyal, people who were afraid of me, are whispering. Butcher wants me to believe they have abandoned me.
He always wanted me to feel like I had nobody but him.
“You left!”
“She’s with the Sais!”
I hear questions I never would have faced before, and irritation courses through me, but so does anger when they look at me like I’m an enemy.
I’ve fought at these people’s sides, I’ve been to BBQs, Christmases, and parties galore with them, yet they look at me like I’m an outsider.
Maybe it was wrong to bring the Sais, but this is their fight as much as it’s mine, and honestly, I don’t want to do this alone anymore.
They promised to help, and I’m going to let them, and nobody, not even the people I live with, get to question that.
“I live here,” I yell, and the crowd quiets down.
“Did you forget that I watch your kids? That I protect your businesses? Who stopped the serial killer running around on our streets? Not the cops or Butcher. Me!” I roar loudly, and I see some nod, their eyes dropping in shame.
“Me! I am one of you, and right now, I’m asking for help for an enemy we all have. ”
It’s quiet, but no one makes a move, and that, more than anything, destroys me. This place is my home.
Has Butcher taken that too?
“You fucking morons!” Reacher snaps as he pushes through the crowd. “Don’t make me kick all your asses. That’s Karma, our Karma. Who cares who she’s riding with or why? She earned her name before some of you were even born, you idiots.”
Someone laughs, and the tension breaks.
Reacher stops in front of me, lowering his voice. “I don’t know what you got yourself into, girl, but you better sort it out quickly. Rumors have been spreading, turning friends against neighbors.”
“It’s him. He’s trying to make my home unsafe and cause chaos for him to hide in,” I mutter.
“Sorry, Bexley.” Sanchez offers me his fist, and I bump it. “We had to be sure. We’ve been hearing shit.”
“Shit you shouldn’t be listening to,” I scoff. “You think I’d sell out? When your mama hears, she’s going to kick your ass.”
“Ah, shit, don’t. She’s still mad at me for last month’s arrest,” he grumbles, but he’s grinning. “What do you need, chica?”
Sanchez was low on the totem pole, just a kid, when Butcher was around previously, but he’ll remember him.
“Information. Butcher is alive and hiding somewhere. He needs medical attention. Obviously, he or his people have been stirring up trouble here. Have you heard anything?”
He nods, looking at his gang members. “There are rumors of someone holed up in Dr. Willow’s place. He forced his way in, but when we checked, she said she was fine. We saw a man all burnt to hell in the background. We saw the fire. Was that you?”
“It was.” I raise my voice. “Know this—anyone who aids or gives him or his men sanctuary are dead to me and mine. Stay off the streets for the next few weeks, it’s going to get bloody.”
“You need backup?” Reacher asks, and others call out in support.
“Not this time, but if anyone hears or sees anything, let me know, okay?”
“You got it,” Sanchez says. “Stay safe, and don’t forget it’s Mama’s sixtieth at the end of the month.”
“Like I would. Her food is the best,” I tease, nudging him before I wave and walk toward the Sai brothers, Reacher following.
“What are you thinking, girl?” he asks as I reach the brothers. “Let us help.”
“Never.” I pat his shoulder. “I’d never risk my family.”
“Taylor and Lauren are safe. I checked.” My eyes widen, and he chuckles. “I have my ways, girl. Go do what you need to do, but we are here if you need us. Remember where you come from and who your friends are.” He glares at the Sais. “Are they your friends?”
“We are hers,” Kane states.
Reacher’s eyebrows rise, and he scoffs. “Always liked them crazy. Be gentle on Willow. You know she’s been struggling since her husband’s death.”
I watch him walk away with a small smile, knowing he would ride with me, even into death. Most of them would, but this isn’t their fight.
“Why do I feel like I just got quizzed by your dad?” Zayn asks.
“Reacher? Nah, he’s more like my fun drunk uncle. Auto, now, he’s more like my father. If he saw you, he’d shoot you on sight,” I say sweetly as I climb in and reel off Willow’s address.
We arrive there in ten minutes and park around the corner so we don’t spook any lookouts.
Sneaking through gardens, I observe from three houses away.
Her white three-story house is beautifully kept, if slightly old.
Her parents lived in it until they retired and moved away, then she took it over with her husband.
Lovely people, even when she got money from her career.
“I don’t see any cars,” Kane comments.
“Me either, but still.” Keeping low, I cross the road and use the side gate, then I open the cellar door and head down.
I don’t need light to see as I make my way across the basement, since I know my way well.
Taking the stairs to the top, I press my ear to the door as someone falls behind me, grunting.
When I hear nothing, I pull my gun out, crack the door, and step through.
Willow whirls around in the middle of cleaning her surgery table. “Jesus, Bexley, you scared the shit out of me.” I drop the gun, but the Sais step around me and search the house.
“Where is he?”
“Who?” She frowns, but her eyes tell me she knows. “Hey, this is my house. Stay out of there!” she yells at the brothers as they search.
“Willow,” I bark, and she looks at me as they join me again.
“No one is here,” Neo says softly.
“Bexley, what’s going on? This is my house.
You know the rules. I don’t talk about what happens here,” Willow snaps.
She’s lithe, tall, blonde, and in her late forties now.
I always wondered why she never remarried, and when I asked one day, she said there was no one else for her.
She and her husband were soul mates, the kind who meet when they are young and plan their lives together.
“There was a man here, Butcher, burnt. Where is he?” I demand, trying to stay friendly. She’s helped me a lot over the years, so I don’t want to piss her off. Also, you should never annoy a woman who has access to drugs and scalpels.
“I did. I patched him up and sent him on his way,” Willow replies, not backing down.
“Do you know who he was, Willow?” I ask, trying to be nice. She’s still fragile after her husband’s unexpected death.
“I didn’t at first, but I’m a doctor, Bexley.
” She hesitates over the word. She doesn’t practice at the hospital anymore.
She was a big surgeon there, but after what happened, she couldn’t do it.
She had no idea the man she saved one night had been the one who’d mugged and shot her husband, and she couldn’t live with it after.
Now she takes care of us. “I help people. I don’t ask what they’ve done, just like when you come here with bullet wounds. ”
Nodding, I relax. “I know that. I’m sorry, Willow. Let’s go, he isn’t here.”
“Hellion,” Kane begins.
“No. Willow is a friend. She won’t be dragged into this. If he knows she spoke, he’ll kill her. We’re leaving now,” I snap, and he nods in understanding. I won’t endanger anyone on my path to revenge. I will find Butcher. He can’t hide forever.
“Bexley.” I turn, and she licks her lips. “I didn’t know. I’m a doctor, but if I knew who he was to you . . . I’d have let him die slowly and painfully.” She smiles. “A doctor has her ways, after all.”
I know that too well.
We share a knowing look. I was the one who found the murderer after he’d been acquitted due to lack of evidence.
I was the one who brought him here, gagged and bound him, and kept watch.
I never asked what she did, but I heard his screams, and when she came out shaking and stripping off bloody gloves, I remained silent.
I got rid of the body, and we’ve all protected her since.
“I don’t know where he went, but he had five men with him. They spoke about the Sai brothers and a woman, which I’m guessing was you. Be careful. Men like him are dangerous, Bexley.”
“So am I,” I reply. “Stay safe, Willow.”
“I never thanked you for what you did for me and my husband,” she murmurs. “For protecting me after.”
“You don’t need to thank me. We have each other’s back. You know that,” I tell her.
“I do, and that’s why I’m telling you this. He has a contact here, someone he was going to. I don’t know who, but someone here has betrayed you. He’ll be coming for you. You better get ready.”
The words make my heart ache, but it makes sense. Someone is covering for him, and I have no idea who. “Then I’ll be waiting.” I kiss her cheek and take the same route out just in case they are watching.
Back in the car, Zayn looks at me. “What now?”
“We could chase rumors all over. He’s hiding, but that won’t last long. He wants us dead too much for that. She’s right. He’ll come for us, so let’s allow him to.” I smirk.
I can tell Kane is worried. He sent his father and brother away on a “vacation.” His father was angry but accepted it after a lot of bribery. The guards are all on high alert, and everyone is strapped, even the Sai brothers.
I watch them as I recline on the couch, the fire burning in front of Kane, who is leaning against the mantel, talking on his phone. Neo is pacing as he looks at his screen, and even Zayn seems cold for a moment as he stares out of the window before blinking and bringing his gaze back to me.