Chapter 29 Boone #2
“They were getting away with it, Boone. They were harming people. They were horrible. They had to go or all these advancements we’ve seen in the decades since?
” Her voice is distant, but strong. Certain.
“We wouldn’t have any of this. The Bashes broke the backs of the oligarchs all those years ago, and they’ve been continuing the mission ever since.
They need new blood. They need people of purpose, people who have a strong sense of right and wrong.
I know this is fucked up. I know Hopper probably did something really disturbing with the bodies. ”
Hopper sends me an apologetic grimace.
“He went with The Last Supper,” I say, sagging.
“Of course,” she says, and I can almost see her shaking her head. “Hopper…”
“I ashed them, okay?”
He seems pretty disgruntled about the fact.
I ask what I feel is a pretty obvious question. “Why didn’t you ash the others?”
Hopper wrinkles his nose. “I dunno. Why don’t you throw away your paintings when you’re done with them?”
“Because none of my paintings would get me arrested.”
Hopper…pouts.
I must be going insane because I feel sorry for the guy.
I look to Maverick, and he’s a little less shaky. Still slack-jawed.
“Look,” Joni continues, “my buddy Hedy works with these guys out in Wimberley. She’s awesome. She’s who you need to talk to. She’ll answer all your questions, and she’ll make sure you get home safe, regardless of what you decide.”
“I take it I do have to decide.”
“Yes, you do. And this wasn’t the timeline we had agreed on. I never wanted it to be like this for you. But Whitaker’s guys were gonna kill you, and we had to intervene.”
I let out a breath from deep within my soul, exhausted. Our four-hour nap a distant memory. I turn to Maverick. “And you didn’t know about any of this?”
“I knew they were vigilantes, but I didn’t realize what that actually looked like.” He grips his hair by the roots. “I didn’t know Hopper is John the Baptist.”
Hopper sends him a hopeful smile, and Maverick tilts his head to the side.
“Y’all have got to get out of there,” Joni insists. “We were able to turn the officers around, but we don’t know what else Whitaker has in store for you.”
I end the call, and Hopper sends Silas a look. They have an entire conversation full of eyebrows, intense stares, and finally, a decisive shrug.
“Okay, let’s get the show on the road,” Silas says, walking out the door.
“Where are you two going?” Maverick asks.
Hopper sends him an enigmatic look. “You don’t wanna know.”
They make their way down to Hopper’s car before any of us can react. As they take off, Maverick’s hand goes to his chest, and he looks over at his twin.
“That’s not good, is it?”
Holmes’s jaw tightens. “I think he’s going to kill Whitaker, and that is very, very bad.”
“Why? If Whitaker’s responsible for the death of his own son, why do we care if they go out and kill him?”
I clear my throat. “Officer of the law right here.”
“But didn’t Joni just say that’s what my family does?” Maverick asks, suddenly over his concerns with murder.
That should really bother me, right?
Right.
Honoré walks over to Holmes and whispers in his ear. Maverick looks like he’s about to lose his head.
“Hey!” he yells. “You two!”
They snap to attention.
“Maybe don’t have secret conversations about the shit we’re already discussing,” he says, body strung tight. “This? Is what makes me think you don’t trust me. That you think I’m too stupid or weak to handle the truth.”
Holmes shakes his head. “It’s not that. It’s just that you’ve never handled something like this before, and we might actually be in an emergency situation.”
“And whose fault is that?” Maverick asks. “Why have I never handled something like this before? What about all those years of self-defense training and the martial arts we learned as kids? Doesn’t that count? Doesn’t the training I’ve continued to do count at all?”
“Of course it does. But there’s a difference between a dojo and a firefight.”
“Based on your reactions, I’m guessing Hopper and Silas are about to do something that’s going to be a big, big problem for everyone.”
“You’re not wrong,” Honoré responds. “We need to drop you at a secure location, and then we need to go after them.”
“If they’re racing into a bad situation, you don’t need to waste time running carpool,” Maverick insists. He gestures between him and me. “We know what we’re doing, and if you need to stop them, we can run back up.”
I tug Maverick to the side. “Who’s this we you’re talking about here?”
“Didn’t you hear what Joni said? This is the work you’re supposed to be doing,” he says with a rolling gesture. “So, let’s get to it.”
“Look, I know you’ve been left out of something really big and important, but you have to understand that up until about thirty seconds ago, I didn’t realize this is what Joni has been mentoring me for, you feel me?”
He steps back. “Wait. Are you afraid?”
Is this thing on?
“The fact that you’re willing to go off and chase down Hopper and Silas with whatever they’re gonna do to Whitaker… Yeah, that’s a little frightening.”
Maverick put his hands on his hips. “Do you feel bad about killing the four men who broke into your apartment?”
I roll a shoulder, uncomfortable with my answer.
“Boone?”
“No,” I spit out.
“Why not?”
“Because they were gonna kill you, and maybe me, and I was not about to let that happen,” I half-yell.
“Excellent. I wasn’t about to let it happen either. My uncle, your birth father, is about to do something really dumb that might get him killed. Can we go save his life now?”
Holmes turns to me, his eyes like saucers. “Hopper is your birth father?”
“What? That wasn’t in your briefing?” Maverick asks, a nasty edge to his voice. “Sucks to be left out of things, doesn’t it?”
Holmes looks like he’s been struck in the face.
Maverick lets out an annoyed huff. “Yes. Hopper is Boone’s birth father.
One of Luca’s girls got pregnant, went back home, and raised him with a very good man,” he rattles off.
“As for me, I have a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and am very good at hurting people who try to hurt my man. And yes, he is my man. Are we all caught up? Do you need anything else from me?”
As unreal as this entire situation is, not gonna lie… It’s kinda fun to watch Maverick stand up for himself.
Honoré looks at his phone. “Guys, they’ve already hit Mopac and Hopper’s driving like a bat out of hell.”
Maverick stares at me, expectant.
“Okay, well…I guess we’re getting in the car and following those two into whatever nightmare scenario they’re racing into,” I say, wondering what my father would do in this situation.
I probably don’t wanna know.
“Thank you,” Maverick says. “Let’s take Uncle Anders’ car. I’m driving.”