Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
MELODY
To my dismay, Traeger stays in The Cove for three more days. He inventories our stores, has meetings with the Council, mingles with the townsfolk. Shakes hands, kisses babies, the whole freaking deal.
Now most of the town is gathered around the small community park.
Unfortunately, this part of the neighborhood hadn’t been finished before the Bloodies started trying to snack on everyone, so what would have been a playground and covered picnic area was mostly just an open grassy space with a small collection of children’s toys that we’ve scavenged over the years—a few balls and jump ropes, a seesaw that’s seen better days, and a handful of bikes—and the half-finished pavilion.
There was a swing set at one point but it broke during a storm about a year ago.
But that’s all changing today. Apparently, one of the main reasons for Traeger’s visit was to bring one of those huge wooden playsets for the kids.
His group had come across it in a broken-down delivery truck and decided that The Cove should have it.
Why, I have no fucking clue. Maybe Traeger has multiple personalities and one of them is a philanthropic saint who truly just wants the world to be a better place.
I have to admit that the playset is pretty sweet.
It has swings, three slides, and even a tunnel running between the two separate playhouse areas.
This would have cost a pretty penny back in the day, that’s for damn sure.
The Cove has about twenty kids and they’re all chomping at the bit with excitement.
It’s so strange to think that so many of them have no idea what life was like without Bloodies, that this is just how the world is for them.
But despite never seeing one before, they all instinctively seem to know that the giant structure in front of them equals big fun.
As much as I might dislike the man, I’m grateful that he’s here giving them this gift. They deserve a chance to just be kids.
To my utter surprise, Traeger had even helped put the thing together.
And not just a ceremonial hammering of the first nail either—he’d put in real manual labor, sweating and gritting along with the others.
What is his game? I wonder, not for the first time.
Sure, he uses violence to keep people in line, but he also uses his charisma, playing the role of friend-to-all savior when it suits him.
Is that what this is about? Playing up that side of the coin?
Trying to make even more people fawn over him and happy to fall in line?
Well, it seems to be working.
I watch from a distance behind the crowd as Traeger twists the last screw, dusts his hands off, and shoots the crowd a winning smile. He throws his arms out wide in invitation.
“Well, go on. Give it a good test drive!”
The kids squeal and scream and sprint for it like rabid ferrets.
Traeger…plays with them. My brows rise in surprise as I watch him chase them around, lift them up, and let them crawl all over him.
And all the while, he has the most genuine smile on his face.
I cock my head as I study him, trying to read beneath the smile and adding even more to my mental profile.
Sure, sociopaths are skilled at hiding the monster beneath charisma and “normal” social behavior, but I’m pretty damn good at spotting it.
But with Traeger, I…can’t. I blink in surprise as I realize that he isn’t pretending to enjoy playing with the kids, delighting in their squeals and laughs. He genuinely enjoys it.
A shrieking giggle pulls my attention away from Traeger lifting a little boy up to the monkey bars while three others climb all over him for their turn.
I watch as a little girl in pigtails shoots out of the bottom of the slide with a look of pure joy on her adorable face.
My heart gives a swift, painful twist as memories assault me: Black hair sticking on end as she came down the tube slide; huge grin as she laughed like a hyena; Leo clutched in her arms; her little voice calling, “Mommy! Watch!”
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to swallow around the sudden knot in my throat.
I force the memories away, and after a minute, they fade into the darkness again where they belong.
Or really that’s not quite right. They don’t belong there, but that’s where I have to force them to stay.
When I open my eyes again, I scan the crowd.
Half out of habit and half to have something else to focus on as I wait for the pain to ease.
Jonah is up front with the rest of the Council, talking animatedly as they watch the kids play.
Almost everyone is smiling, enjoying this moment of levity and joy that’s letting all of us forget about the state of the world for a little while.
Some people rush forward to shake Traeger’s hand and smother him in thanks as he disentangles himself from a gang of six-year-olds.
But there’s one person who isn’t happy or full of gratitude.
No, Kevin Abercrombie is staring at Traeger with absolute murder in his eyes.
It’s a look I’ve seen too many times, one that I know means that we only have a few seconds before everything goes to hell.
His body is tense, sweat dotting his forehead, and I immediately go on alert, reaching for weapons that I don’t have.
Fuck! Kevin begins to move through the crowd towards Traeger, cold determination in his eyes.
“Oh shit,” I whisper when realization sinks in.
Traeger had killed Kevin’s oldest son just before our group had arrived at The Cove.
Story was that it had been an example killing, a Traeger Special to scare the rest of The Cove into compliance, and now apparently Kevin planned to take his revenge.
I search for Jonah as I make my way towards Kevin, desperate for some backup to intervene and stop this from turning into a very, very bad day, but he’s not where I saw him a minute ago and I don’t have time to find him.
Kevin’s one of the teachers at the school and an overall decent guy who has a sick wife to take care of.
He doesn’t need to do this. Traeger’s punishment would be death or, if Kevin is lucky, forced imprisonment at FOS—either option left Sandy without her husband and caregiver.
Hell, the punishment could be to kill half the settlement if Traeger really wanted it to be. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I grit my teeth as I press forward, trying to make my way through the thick crowd and cut him off.
If I can reach him before he reaches Traeger, I can get him out of here with no one knowing what had almost happened.
There’ll be no punishment, no retribution, no one the wiser.
But I have to stop him quietly and not cause a scene.
“Fuck,” I grate under my breath as I try to move faster, but there’s so many damn people.
I cut my eyes from Kevin to Traeger and the guards he has stationed around the playground.
My pulse races and dread settles in my stomach when one of them seems to sense something off.
Before he can do anything and before I can get there, Kevin pushes through the last line of people standing between him and Traeger.
He raises a tiny pistol, the kind you saw women pull out of their purses in movies.
I don’t know where in the hell he got the thing, but I know damn well that things are about to go very, very badly.
“This is for my son!” he yells as he squeezes the trigger. A shot rings out and Traeger jerks backwards, spinning to the side as he falls. His men are on Kevin in an instant and have the gun out of his grasp before he can get off another shot.
Absolute chaos erupts. Screams ring out, children start crying and frantically running for their parents.
Traeger’s men begin barking orders, keeping everyone in the area but pushing them back from Traeger and Kevin, guns raised and trigger fingers at the ready.
Kevin is slammed to the ground and his arms are yanked roughly behind his back.
Oh God, did Kevin kill him? Though I have no love for Traeger, I hope that Kevin failed.
Not only would his men retaliate even if he’s gone, word has it that his second in command, a big brawler looking fucker named Jett, is even worse than Traeger.
He’s too afraid to try to take Traeger’s command by force, but if the seat was open for the taking?
Oh yeah, he’d grab it and the result would be bad for everyone.
As loathe as I am to admit it, Traeger’s evil seems to serve a purpose at least. From the rumors I’ve heard about Jett, his is just for evil’s sake.
The familiar man from before rushes to Traeger’s side, but before he can do anything, Traeger sits up on his own.
His bicep’s pouring blood and will definitely need a few stitches, but it doesn’t actually look that bad, at least from where I’m standing.
Kevin had only winged him. That’s good news, but this situation is far from good.
The atmosphere is tense, feeling like a powder keg about to blow.
All it would take would be one small spark, one act of aggression or one wrong word, and this park could become a shooting gallery.
No. No, no, no. There are children here. Please. Don’t do this.
As if reading my mind, Jonah presses to the front of the crowd, hands raised.
I keep my eyes trained on the various guns pointed our direction, not daring to move, but the need to go to Jonah claws inside my chest. I hear his calm, quiet voice in between the cries and soft comforting words from parents to their kids.
“Please. Let the children go. Whatever you’re going to do next, don’t let the children see it.”
Traeger studies Jonah for a long moment, and then nods to one of his men.