CHAPTER 26 - GRIZZ
The Gallows looms in the distance. Thankfully, the back roads are mostly empty as I take several sharp corners. No one answered when I stopped by Victoria's house. It sat in a pool of darkness when every other house on the street was covered in Christmas spirit.
It felt off.
Empty.
I didn't waste too long there. Walking the perimeter, nothing seemed out of place, and all of the doors were locked. That's not to say I won't circle back. If Brynn isn’t at any of the places I’m checking, then I’ll start all over again, however, a rock will be finding its way through the window so I can search inside.
Skidding into the loading bay car park, I immediately notice several lights are on that shouldn't be. The upstairs apartment, the stock room, the loading bay roller door. All open with lights on. We agreed to close early with both Kevin and Axel walking in the Krampus parade.
Easing out of the driver's seat, I take a second to listen for any clue of where they might be.
Racing up the stairs, I push the apartment door open.
All of the furniture had been tossed from smoke damage, the walls a sterile white after being repainted.
The faint taint of smoke still lingers, but there's not much we can do, short of living in the space again. But that won't be happening anytime soon, unless one of the guys wants to use it. Brynn and Jovie will be staying with me indefinitely and after I find her, I’m going to take her down to the courthouse to make it official. Jovie too. We won’t be leaving until I've adopted her and both my girls have my name.
Running down the stairs, I burst through the staff door, stumbling over something near the doorway.
“Fuck.” I call out, barely catching my footing and almost going headfirst into a table. The streetlights outside cast a dim light through the room and I scan the area as soon as my footing allows.
No movement.
The hum of the refrigerators in the kitchen is the only sign of life. Needing to be sure the space is empty, I back up to the front door to where the light switch is located. Swiping my hand in one quick motion down the wall, turning all five switches on.
There is a brief flicker of light. A nanosecond where my brain registers a scene before me that simply shouldn't be. Illuminated in all its horror.
Blood. So much blood.
On the floor, it pools. The wall, it's sprayed. All followed with my footprints, where I stumbled forward, tripping on the lifeless body of Victoria.
What the fuck happened here… and where’s Brynn?
My chest constricts. A tightness so fierce I'm worried how I'll keep searching for her if this is a heart attack.
Her lifeless eyes stare back at me, searching my soul for answers to why she's no longer among us.
I see the exit wound from the bullet in her back.
Jagged flesh and material, still damp from the blood.
This is not the first dead body I’ve seen, and I'm sure, it won't be the last. The first life I took caused a numbness in me that never went away.
The second only added to it, until there were so many they all merged into a blur.
I had accepted that life would be like this.
That I was to be branded the bad guy for ending the lives of people who took from others.
I would kill over and over again if the victims of those men got some sort of peace in the end.
Knowing their attacker could never find them again.
That was worth it for me. All of the women I've helped would be worth it every time.
Would I have killed Victoria? No. Not unless she was going to hurt Brynn or Jovie.
But right now, standing over her lifeless body.
I have no sympathy to give her either. She was only kind to those she deemed worthy, and the rest of us were treated like shit.
Not to mention the weird love hate relationship she had with the club.
After her body is taken away and the floor is cleaned, I will most likely never think of her again.
She was nothing to me, unlike Brynn, who is my everything.
I'm about to pull out my phone, update Hades of the situation, when I notice a small piece of paper fluttering on the bar top.
The overhead fans having turned on at the same time as the lights, causing its movement.
I would have walked right past it otherwise.
Avoiding the pooling blood, I reach for the torn piece of paper.
The handwriting seems rushed. Hurriedly scribbled as she raced out the door.
But why?
Did she do this?
Kill Victoria?
No.
Something else happened here. Brynn's not a killer, not like that. What happened to Victoria was cold and calculated. It was done without hesitation or remorse. So if she didn't shoot Victoria, then who did? And will they do the same to her?
“Hades? We've got a problem.” He answers on the first ring and I don't give him time to respond, rattling off everything that's happened in the past hour. “I’m going to check my cabin.”
“We’ll send some of the guys on guard.”
“Don’t you fucking dare. If they haven't heard anything, it might be nothing. I’m not putting Brynn's life in the hands of a prospect,” I grit out, crumbling the note in my fist as I race out to the truck, turning the engine over.
“They just messaged saying it's been quiet all night. The fireworks from the parade got noisy but otherwise nothing. Lights are on in your cabin, though. It could be her?”
It could be… or?
Or nothing. It's going to be her and I'm going to spank her ass raw for putting this fear into me. She's going to be on a tight leash after tonight.
“I’m leaving the Gallows now, sort what you need to with Victoria's body and talk with the fire chief in case he left something out. Tell them to open the gate, Hades, or I’ll kill whoever gets in my way.”
I squeeze my phone so tight the screen cracks underneath the pressure.
Fuck. I can't damage it any further in case Brynn calls me.
Throwing it on the passenger seat, speeding away from The Gallows, I check the rearview mirror when I spot two familiar eyes, peering back at me, quickly ducking out of sight, pulling some sort of cloth until she's camouflaged.
I’m definitely going to have a heart attack tonight because why the fuck is Jovie in the back of the truck and not with my fucking brothers at the parade. Not slowing as I enter the clubhouse, the gates wide open as I squeal to a stop, narrowly missing several bikes parked up under the carport.
Less than a second later I'm out of the truck and ripping back the cloth. Jovie’s wide eyes staring back at me.
“Where’s my mom, Grizz?” Her voice trembles as she sits up. “You can't find her, right? I heard what you said.”
Fuck.
Deep breath in.
Count to four.
“She's fine, Jovie, I promise she's alright.” I try to soothe her, helping her out of the truck, rubbing her arms to warm her.
“I’ve had those promises before. With my Grandma, but she still broke them,” she whispers.
Patting my jeans, I retrieve the crumpled note from my pocket showing her. “See, she's fine. She's at the cabin waiting for us.”
Jovie looks up at me, then back at the note.
I can practically see her brain ticking the new information over.
A loud screech of the gate closing distracts me, metal grinding against metal and I half expect Brynn to be walking through it, apologizing for getting lost or her phone not being charged.
But it's empty. The guard giving me a small nod of his head in acknowledgement.
“How about we—”
Where the fuck. Her footsteps are light as she sprints from me, halfway to the small door off the garage which leads to the cabin.
Please be locked. Our standing rule is it remains unlocked until the last member is safe inside but I desperately need someone to fuck up today.
Without hesitation, she opens it with ease, yelling back over her shoulder as she runs out of sight.
“That’s not her writing!”
My boots slam against the gravel as I race in the same direction. Darting through the same doors until snow is crunching underfoot. One of my strides is almost three of hers, and I can see her silhouette sprinting through the trees as she nears the cabin.
“Jovie,” I whisper yell. Not wanting to get the attention of anyone who shouldn't be here.
My breathing is ragged. Not because I'm winded, but because my little girl is fearlessly running toward the unknown.
That a part of my heart is missing while the other fights to find it.
“Jovie!” I try again, reaching out, my fingers barely snagging the back of her jacket.
It's enough, though, for her steps to slow, and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her back to my front.
“You can't go running off like that, kid. It's dangerous,” I pant.
“But mom,” she sobs. “She said she was in the cabin. She said she was at home.” Her breathing stilted as she tries to catch her breath. “It’s just a mistake. The writing. She has to be at home.”
“I don’t know what's happening but I promise I'll keep her safe, Jon Bon. I'll find her and keep her safe.”
A figure moves past the window.
Brynn, it has to be.
We both stare as the person walks out of sight. Surely it's her and she heard us. It felt like we were a stampede running to get here.
“Promise me you won't run off if I let you come and check with me. You have to stay behind me at all times and if I tell you to run, you run. Go to the clubhouse and find someone.”
I turn her to face me, dropping to one knee so we’re similar heights. She wipes her tears, sniffling before her brow dips and determination spreads across her face.
“I promise.”
Pulling her into a hug, her arms wrap around my neck so tightly you would think she would never let go.
And maybe somewhere deep down, she doesn't want to.
I don't know much about what life was like before they arrived but to have a kid as independent as Jovie, she must have seen and experienced a few things that no kid should.
Right now, she knows her mom's missing and she's still keeping it together.
I really hope this is just some big misunderstanding.
One that we can all laugh about in a few months time.
Remember that time we thought you'd been kidnapped but you just went home early? That was so funny. Ha. Ha. I can't believe we got so worked up over nothing.
For Jovie's sake I pray that it’s a false alarm but as we step closer to the glow of flickering candles, the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Everything looks in place but it feels completely wrong.
Deep breath in.
Count to four.
Jovie holds on to the back of my cut, keeping me grounded as I step onto the front porch.
Wasting no time, I open the door. My handgun is locked away in the bedroom, but I have access to several other weapons depending on what waits on the other side.
Slowly pushing down the handle, the sharp click of the catch being retracted has Jovie flinching behind me.
A lone woman stands facing away from us.
She's making something on the kitchen bench.
Her shoulders hunch forward, meticulously chopping.
Doing her best to act normal. Her clothes hang loose in all the wrong places.
Baggy around her hips, loose around her back.
If I didn't know my woman like the back of my hand I would almost think they were Brynn.
It even looks like the jeans and top she had on yesterday but Brynn would have told me if someone was coming.
The guards at the gate would have said if they let someone in.
Subtly, I pat my pocket looking for my phone, cursing under my breath when I remember I left it in the truck.
“You going to stand there all day or you gonna come in and warm up.
I'll have this apple pie in the oven in no time.” The sweet melody of the unexpected, but familiar voice sings out.
Her head jerking at an odd angle, turning around to look at me.
A disheveled Sarah looking back. She blinks rapidly, plastering a too wide smile on her face.
“Come on, Grizz, you'll catch a death of cold if you stand out there too long.” Twisting her body, she plants a hand on her hip.
A pairing knife held tightly in her other hand and a bloody smear across her left cheek.
“Coming,” I grunt.
Keeping one eye on her, she turns back to the bench, humming and swaying her hips to a song only she can hear.
Reaching behind me, I unclasp Jovie's hand, giving it a quick squeeze, turning and mouthing the words, “Run. Get help. Run.” I wish I could scream them.
To storm across the room and demand Sarah tell me where Brynn is but I might never find out what happened if I do.
Jovie steps back. Eyes wide, her hands fidgeting in front of her as she flicks her gaze between me and Sarah in the background.
“Grizz, the cold. You're letting it in.” Her tone, a little more irritated than before.
Mouthing “Run,” one more time. I slowly close the door, regretting that my little girl has to do this part without me.