Chapter Ten
Mimic
A week had passed quietly. The Death Dogs had stayed in Wyoming; but I still snuck into Indie’s apartment every night to watch her sleep. I told myself I was protecting her.
Lies came fucking easily to me. Even when I talked to myself.
“Mimic!” Charlie came barreling at me, and I caught her just before her head took me out.
“Slow down, little sister.” She giggled as I lifted her in the air, and the sound sent a warmth I would never get used to spreading through my chest. I would kill for this little girl, and I wouldn’t think twice about it.
When I met Sam for the first time at the diner, the day Ace, Win, and I had been sent to watch over her, I didn’t trust her. The shit she pulled on Jack, sleeping with him while she was married, was a bitch move. I didn’t want to like her, let alone forgive her.
I would never say what she did was okay, but the connection I had with her now made forgiveness easy. She stepped in and became the mom I needed. The mom I lost. There was a lot of shit you could forgive a parent for.
There was a lot of shit I gave her that she forgave me for. With her came Charlie. She healed a crack in my soul that had been torn open when I lost my sister. And now there were two more little sisters that would be here soon.
I had a family. Something I never thought I would have again. I had my brothers, and they were important. But a guy needed a mom. Someone he could talk to. Someone he could confide in. Someone he could trust without question.
“You wanna see my room?”
“I’ve seen your room, Charlie.”
“No, my new room.” Charlie’s eyes rolled back in her head. She was all sass, and one day she would grow up and give some guy a run for his money. If she ever found someone good enough for her. Which I highly doubted would ever happen.
“What new room?”
“Uncle Derek is all done building our new house. That means I get a new room and a new puppy!” Her little hands clapped in front of my face.
She had been begging for a dog ever since Maureen, the sheriff’s wife, had shown up with one in tow.
And now with Aspen’s dog always around, Charlie’s desire for a dog had only grown.
“Okay, let’s go see this new room.” I set her on the floor, and she grabbed my hand and tugged. As we passed by the kitchen, she stopped and yelled to my sister.
“Kytten, come on. We’re going to see my new room!”
“New room!” Rose exclaimed. “Let’s go!” She grabbed Charlie’s hand, and the two of them took off at a run. I looked over at Cash and gave him a chin lift to let him know I had Rose.
I followed the two of them outside and up the path that had been constructed. They had a sizable lead, but inside the compound there wasn’t much of a worry. I stomped up the stairs, and Charlie hollered from inside, “Mimic, hurry!”
“I’m coming.” Charlie had a way of pulling me out of my brooding mood, until I walked in and found Derek, Sam’s ex-husband, standing a little too close to Sam. I changed my course and headed straight for where they stood.
Derek caught my eye and tilted his head toward me, letting Sam know I was coming.
“Mimic, I need to talk to you.”
“Whatever he told you, he’s fucking lying. I haven’t said shit to him.”
“I’ll give you a minute.” Derek walked outside and sat on the front porch steps. I didn’t trust the bastard. He’d beat the shit out of Sam when he found out she was pregnant. He knew immediately she’d cheated, because years before that he’d had a vasectomy but never told her.
Was she right in how she went about having a baby? Fuck no, but you didn’t fucking beat on a woman, for any fucking reason. That was why I’d shot Syrena in the head. I wouldn’t lay my hands on a woman, not like that. Ever.
“What the fuck did he say to you?”
Sam crossed her arms over her enormous belly. She was so big now. She didn’t have much longer. She was due at the end of July, but she said twins often came early. My mom never really talked about how and when she got pregnant with us, so I didn’t know if we were early, late, or right on time.
“You need to watch that tone when you speak to me.”
“I’m sorry, Momma.” I wrapped my arms around her as best I could. “I can’t let what he did to you go.”
“Then maybe you need to talk to Haizley.” I pulled back and narrowed my eyes at her. I loved this woman, but I wasn’t talking to a shrink.
“No.” I stepped back and went to turn, but Sam grabbed my arm.
“Did you know Derek got an apartment?”
“No, why should I care where he fucking sleeps?”
“Mimic,” she warned, and I looked away and muttered, “Sorry.”
“He got an apartment on the edge of town. Same building as Gunner’s employee.”
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“What are you doing, Mimic? King told you to stay away from her.”
“I’m watching over her. Why is it any of his fucking business?”
Sam grabbed my arm and dragged me to the kitchen. “Lower your voice unless you want your sisters to hear you. He told me instead of going straight to King because you aren’t showing up until three in the morning and then leaving before the sun rises. What are you doing?”
“I’m keeping her safe.”
“Does she know that?”
This woman hadn’t even known me for a year, and yet she knew more about me than I had ever told her. I looked out the glass sliding doors that led to a deck.
“Mimic, you can’t do this.”
“I have to protect her.”
“Why her?” Sam asked.
It was a question I didn’t want to answer. I didn’t understand it myself; how could I expect others to understand. So I gave her the only thing I could.
“It was my fault she got hurt. I’m responsible for her.”
“If King finds out—”
I swung around and asked, “Are you gonna tell him?”
“You know I won’t.”
“What about him?” I flicked my thumb over my shoulder, motioning to the asshole outside.
“I can’t answer that. I don’t tell Derek what to do.”
I lifted an eyebrow at her, and she grinned. “Only when it comes to the house.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You can’t break into her house and watch her sleep. It’s not the right way to begin a relationship.”
I wanted to unleash my temper and ask her what she knew about the right way to start a relationship, but I couldn’t bear the hurt I would see in her eyes. So I tamped it down and nodded.
With a heavy sigh that told me she knew I wasn’t listening, she said, “Go see Charlie’s room; she’s been dying to show it to you.”
I kissed her cheek and whispered, “I heard you.”
Her sad smile made me feel like an asshole, and her words drove the knife deeper. “I need you to do more than hear me.”
Four nights later, I was fucking glad I hadn’t listened to any of them. They were all fucking wrong.
A knock on the door had me checking my watch and then turning to see if Indie would wake up. When she didn’t, I rushed to the front door and yanked it open. Fucking Derek stood on the other side. Every time I saw him, I wanted to put my fist through his teeth.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Bikes pulled up outside. When I looked, they weren’t your brothers. But they sure are interested in yours. Wake her up; my apartment is at the end of the hall. Get her inside there and I’ll see if I can stall them coming upstairs. Lock the door; I have my keys.”
He was gone before I could ask another question. I shut the door and ran to Indie’s room. I grabbed the robe she hung on the back of the door and placed my hand over her mouth.
“Indie, wake up!”
Her eyes opened wide as she stared at me, fear engulfing her, and I felt her body trembling under my hand.
“It’s me, baby. We gotta go. Don’t scream, okay?”
Indie stared at me, her body rigid, but her eyes looked through me as though she wasn’t really here.
“Indie, baby, wake up!” I pulled my hand away, hoping she wouldn’t scream. She seemed to be in a trance. I sat her up and helped her put the robe on. When all she did was sit on the side of the bed, I picked her up and rushed through her apartment.
At the front door, I set her on her feet. She still hadn’t made a sound, and I was beginning to worry. Opening the door, I looked down the empty hall. I could hear Derek arguing with whoever was out there, but in that moment, I couldn’t worry about him getting his ass kicked.
I tugged her behind me, closing her door as quietly as I could, making sure it was locked. Then I pulled her down to the only door that was slightly open. I guided her to the couch and sat her down, while I went back to Derek’s door and locked it.
I pulled the curtain aside and looked out the window. Derek was looking up and moving toward his car. He tilted his head toward the entrance just as I heard footsteps coming down the hall.
I should have put a damn camera above her door. I heard banging on the door, but I didn’t move other than to check that Indie was still on the couch.
I pressed my forehead to the door as I heard a foot kick in her door. They were looking for her, and if I hadn’t been here, they would have gotten their hands on her.
“Where the fuck is she?”
“He probably heard the bikes and got her the fuck out of here. I told you, asshole, we should have parked down the fucking street.”
“How far could they have gotten?”
“Skinner’s gonna be pissed.”
“Yeah, well, he can kiss my ass. I was the one who found her.”
“Finding her doesn’t do any fucking good if she gets away.”
The three voices faded as they walked back the way they came. I waited until I heard the bikes roar away before I chanced a look into the hallway.
Sure enough, her door was broken. Taking a quick peek inside, everything looked the way it should, so I went back to Derek’s apartment. Now I owed this asshole.
Indie sat where I left her on the couch. Her eyes unblinking as she stared at nothing. I pulled my phone out of my cut and took a deep breath. I dialed King’s number and prayed I survived long enough to find out what was wrong with Indie.
“Why the fuck are you calling me from your room?”
“I’m not in my room, Prez.”
“Where the fuck are you?”
I turned to look at Indie again and swallowed loudly enough that King heard me.
“I swear to God, Mimic, if you are where I think you are, I’m gonna fucking kick your ass.”
“I won’t apologize for disobeying an order, not when I just saved her fucking life.” I was taking a chance that he would gloss over the ‘disobeying an order’ part and concentrate on the ‘saving her life’ part.
“We’re on our way.”
King hung up the phone, and I sat on the couch next to Indie, wrapping my arm around her. That seemed to shake something loose, because she slid to the floor and reached for my belt.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
The sound of my voice finally broke through the haze, and Indie looked up at me and then down to where her hands were. She fell back on her ass, her hands covering her mouth.
“Oh my God, Mimic. What are you doing in my apartment?”