Chapter 24 Brigid
TWENTY-FOUR
brIGID
As I stood at the kitchen window watching Ruby hug her mother, a smile crossed my face. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I crossed my arms over my chest, allowing myself to steep in the mixed moment of Ruby’s happiness.
Even if Puck looked damn near miserable.
“Did you know?”
Stone’s voice popped up behind me and I closed my eyes.
“No,” I said with the shake of my head. “I honestly didn’t know.”
He walked up beside me. “Did you have an inkling of any sort?”
I peeked over at him. “There was a moment where she mentioned her daughter ‘Roo,’ and I wondered for half a millisecond. But outside of that, no.”
He looked over at me. “And that’s the only time she ever mentioned her children’s names?”
I tilted my head. “What are you accusing me of?”
He snickered. “Pretty sure it’s obvious.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek and walked away from the man. The last thing I needed was to be harassed and accused of something I didn’t do. I marched out of the kitchen just as the patio door opened, Lori’s voice flooding the house as she and her daughter chatted up a storm.
I didn’t hear Puck’s voice, though.
“Brigid?” he asked.
I turned around in the living room. “Yes?”
He walked up to me with a somber look on his face. He parted his lips to say something, but the second his eyes locked with mine he closed them. I wondered what he was about to ask. Possibly the same question that Stone had asked?
And as I stood there, staring into the face of the most confusing man on this planet, a familiar hand slipped into my own.
“Hey there, Lori,” I said as a smile crossed my face.
Her eyes darted between me and Puck. “Everything okay over here?”
I snickered. “I should be asking you that question. You good?”
She nodded proudly. “I’m very good. Puck?”
I looked back up into his stone-cold face. “Are you okay, Puck?”
And after he swallowed down whatever he had been thinking, he shook his head. “Not completely, but I’m working on it.”
Stone walked into the room. “Glad you guys are here. We all need to talk.”
Lori peered in his general direction. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”
I squeezed her hand. “Nothing serious, okay? He probably just wants you to tell him what you know about the cartel.”
Stone nodded. “That’s exactly what I want. All I’ve had is secondhand information from the start. I’d like to hear it from the source, if you’re up for it.”
Lori stood with confidence. “Can we do it over food? I’m starving.”
I giggled. “I’ll go whip us up something.”
“Us?” Puck asked.
I shot him a look. “Yes, us. All of us.”
We all piled back into the kitchen, and I pulled out things to cook.
There were a couple of steaks marinating and multiple eggs that needed to be used up.
There were sodas scattered throughout the fridge along with a door full of beer that Puck automatically reached for.
I tried to stay out of his way as everyone else sat at the table, Stone included.
As I worked on our meal in the background, I listened to what Lori had to say.
“So, start from the beginning and take me through what happened,” Stone said.
I girded my emotions and froze my heart over a bit so I wouldn’t get emotional, because whenever Lori teared up, I always did the same.
I listened to the story of her diagnosis with postpartum depression and how she self-medicated.
I swallowed my tears back as she talked about dipping into her husband’s stash to get high.
I put our plates together as she talked about how her husband took the fall for her when drugs were discovered, landing him in jail instead of her.
I even listened with a broken heart and passed out plates of food while she talked about fleeing the country in order to protect her children.
She was a strong woman who somehow hadn’t been hardened by the life she’d led.
Honestly, it was inspiring to hear.
“Jared?” Stone asked with a chuckle.
I set Puck’s plate down in front of him. “Did you guys not know his real name?”
“No, they didn’t,” Puck grumbled.
Lori gasped. “What? Jared’s a strong name! Your father insisted on naming you that.”
Puck’s voice fell flat. “Hence why I changed it.”
Lori reached for his hand. “Your father isn’t to blame for this. All he was trying to do was provide for his family the best way he knew how. Kind of like what you and Ruby are doing right now.”
He wrenched his hand away from her touch. “What my sister and I are doing is different.”
“Jared, respect your mother,” Stone said in a mockingly deep tone.
Which caused everyone to fall apart at the table.
Except Puck.
“So,” Stone said after toning down his laughter, “why is the cartel still after you after all these years?”
Lori shrugged. “I guess because I know the names of their suppliers. Their dealers. When I say that my husband was far up in the chain of command, I wasn’t joking. I know a hell of a lot more than any one person should.”
“Do you know names and locations, Mom?” Ruby asked.
Puck scoffed as he tossed a piece of cut steak into his mouth.
Lori sighed before she continued. “I do, yes. I know their names, some of their locations, and how they all bring that shit into the States.”
Stone chuckled. “Wow. Then if you’re telling the truth, we can really hit them where it hurts. You know, cut their funding for all of the weapons they want to buy.”
Puck growled. “It is true. It did happen. Ruby and I lived the torture. You can stop questioning her now.”
Lori’s eyes fell to her lap. “I’m so sorry for what I put you two through. Honestly, I am.”
Ruby reached out for her mother. “We know, Mom.”
But Puck looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, you’ve told us.”
“Puck,” Ruby hissed.
Then, he stood to his feet. “Sorry, I know you want the flowery and happy reunion, but I just can’t. So much has happened and we lost too much to—”
“Help! I need some help!”
My ears perked up at the sound of my father screaming at the top of his lungs. He barreled through the front door and came to a stop in the kitchen, and I gasped.
“Daddy! What the hell happened to you?” I exclaimed.
I rushed to his side as he nursed a bloody nose. Both of his eyes had been blackened and he held his stomach as if one of his ribs was hurt, too. Puck pulled his chair out from the table and placed it in front of my father before I sat him down, ready to clean him up in an instant.
But Ruby placed her hand on my shoulder. “I’ve got this. I’m studying to be a paramedic.”
And after looking over at Puck, he nodded his head. “She’s good. Let her tend to him.”
So, I moved, and she took my place. “Daddy, what happened? Where’s Rowan? Where are my brothers?”
He drew in a deep breath before he coughed up blood. “We were ambushed. Kieran, he’s—”
He coughed relentlessly and worry pooled in my gut. It wasn’t until Rowan stumbled through the front door that I got my answer.
“Kiean’s been shot by the cartel,” he choked out.
Before he collapsed onto the hallway floor with blood dripping from his lips.