Raiding Halloween (31 Days of Trick or Treat: Biker & Mobster #16)
Prologue
MARNIE
(roughly five years ago)
“It’s done.” The gravelly male voice says. It’s coming from the end of my hospital bed and has me looking in that direction.
Not that I can see very clearly; one eye is almost completely swollen shut while the other has a patch covering it due to the optic surgery I had to have for a detached retina.
I try to express my thanks, but as soon as I open my mouth, I remember that my jaw is wired shut, and both lips are badly split.
In fact, my lower lip had sixteen stitches in all between the inside and outside.
So, I raise my hand, the one that doesn’t have multiple IVs sticking out of it and give a thumbs up, which isn’t too difficult since that arm is in a cast up to my elbow.
In short, I’m a hot fucking mess right now and can’t even articulate how much I appreciate the fact that he and several of his companions stepped in to help me when they happened to walk by and see me being physically assaulted by my boyfriend.
Well, ex-boyfriend now, I guess. All because I told him no.
I had just turned eighteen and was planning to go to the local technical college.
I didn’t want to have sex with him and risk a pregnancy or even worse, a sexually transmitted disease because I was well-aware of his playboy reputation.
While I wasn’t sure what I was going to study, I was leaning toward a diploma in a trade of some sort so I could earn enough money to get out of this podunk town.
“You just get better, girlie. Shouldn’t be any blowback on you at all,” the man promises. I hear his footsteps echo as they walk away and realize that once again, I’m alone in my room.
“I’m sorry, Mama, but I can’t stay here,” I whisper to my mother who lies comatose on her hospital bed. “Pace’s brothers have been harassing me.”
Ever since that day, six months ago, when I woke up in a hospital room with a stranger telling me that ‘it was done’, Pace has been missing.
His brothers, Porter and Paxton, have made my life a living hell.
They’re convinced I know what happened to their brother and while I have a suspicion, I don’t know for sure.
Why? Because by the time the man and his friends found me, I was already heading toward a state of unconsciousness.
So, while I suspect that Pace is no longer on this earth, I can’t say with any certainty.
I already have my meager belongings packed, which wasn’t easy since I’m still recovering.
Thankfully, the wires came out of my jaw three months ago, and my arm, while still stiff at times, has full range of motion once again.
I chose somewhere that no one would expect me to relocate to by opening up a map of the United States, closing my eyes, and then pointing.
Hopefully, it’s far enough away from here that they’ll never find me because I have a feeling if they do, I might not survive their brand of interrogation.
Leaning down, I kiss my mom’s forehead. She’s in what the hospice nurse called a transitional phase, so I know her time is short.
Because of that, I have a cot in her room, so I can be here for her when she draws her last breath, just like she was there for me when I drew my first one in.
Our rental house has been packed up and the keys turned over to the landlord.
Everything I wasn’t able to pack in my small SUV was sold, and I closed my bank account, choosing to put the cash on a prepaid card so I didn’t have so much money on me.
“Well, this is home sweet home, at least for a little while,” I murmur as I look around the furnished apartment that’s above the bar where I’ll be working as a waitress.
I ignore my boxes that are neatly stacked against the far wall and decide to explore my new environment.
I don’t start working until tomorrow afternoon, according to the bar manager, so I have plenty of time to unpack my personal belongings and then explore my new town.
Excitement punches through the pervading sadness over losing my mom.
With her gone, I’m totally alone in this world since she was my last known living relative.
Shrugging off the melancholy, I start hanging up my clothes in the closet because I don’t have time to spiral into a pit of depression.
The ones that’ll go in my dresser will have to wait until I buy cleaning supplies and scrub each drawer thoroughly.
I don’t have to do the same with the mattress and box spring, since Ash, who’s the man that hired me, told me that they had recently replaced them with a new set.
Instead, I tear off the plastic that covers the pillow top, so that when I buy bedding and get it washed, it’ll be ready to make.
It doesn’t take long to put my things up, so I make a list of the items I’m going to need and groan out loud.
“It’s a good thing that the rent for this place is part of your employment package, Marn,” I grumble out loud.
“Because you need every stupid thing there is to set up a kitchen, a pantry, and your bedroom. Oh, and let’s not forget a shower curtain and bathmats. ”
I take one more look around before I grab my purse and keys.
Looks like it’s time to go and do a little damage to my poor prepaid card.
At least I’ll be able to explore the town a little bit and maybe even stop in at the diner for something to eat before I start spending money.
If my mom taught me nothing else, she taught me that much at least; never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.
As I head down the stairs that split in two directions, one to the back parking lot where my vehicle is parked and the other to the bar, I look back and smile. No matter what happens in the future, it’ll be my choice.