36. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cole
Istare at Jackson like he has two heads. “Who did you say I was sharing a room with?”
“Carver and Carson.”
Carver groans. “Oh, my god, all they’re going to do is fight.”
“That’s why I put you in there with them. Keep their asses out of trouble.”
We’ve come up North to enjoy the hospitality of the NorCal Chapter. I thought a little road time would do me good, but all I keep thinking about is the journal Luna accidentally left in my room today.
I tried not to read it. Really, I did, but I just had to know what was inside.
It was a journal of their travels to Ireland, but it was more than that.
Luna wrote her love story.
My brother’s love story.
God, I’ve been such a gigantic dick.
I stopped reading when I got to the part where things started to go wrong for them. I look over at my brother. He’s checked his phone a hundred times since we got here.
Elijah comes over and whispers something in Jackson’s ear.
Jackson nods. “Well, I’ll leave you boys to it.”
“Wait,” Carver yells, jumping up from his seat. “About Nyx.”
“I still don’t know anything. My guess is they’ve left town.”
Jackson is trying desperately to get away, but Carver is literally hanging onto his arm.
“Hey, we hear the twins got a new woman …” One of the guys from the NorCal Chapter yells across the parking lot.
My head snaps in his direction. “What the fuck did he just say?” I ask Elijah.
His eyes light up. “Well, I think he just accused you and your brother of sharing.”
I’m up and out of my seat so goddamn fast, I don’t even process what I’m doing.
“What the fuck did you say?” I ask the guy who was spouting his shit.
He laughs, holding his hands up in the air. “Hey, no offense.”
“Luna is my brother’s old lady. Get your fucking facts straight.”
“That’s not word on the street. Word is, Luna pays special visits to your room.”
“Hey, wasn’t there a stripper named Luna down in Stockton?” another asshole asks.
The guy looks back at me. “Your girl ain’t the stripper from Stockton, is she? If so, that would make sense. She’s probably used to a little tag-teaming.”
Next thing I know, I’m beating the fuck out of him. Elijah dances around. “Fuck yeah. Kick his ass, Cole!”
I look over and my brother is throwing punches beside me. Carver next to him.
Eventually, the two clubs pull us apart.
“I hear you say anything about my brother’s old lady again and I’ll fucking kill you,” I yell at the asshole who started it all.
Jackson starts clapping, stepping between us. “Aw, you fuckers are still on the same team.”
He looks at Elijah. “Pay the men.”
Elijah walks over and begins handing the group of assholes who started shit hundred-dollar bills.
“Fuck, if I would have known he had a punch like that, I wouldn’t have accepted your offer,” the man I pummeled says, spitting blood and a tooth out onto the parking lot.
My brother looks at the guy, then at me, before coming over and hugging me.
“All right, all right, everybody move it over to the lounge. We’ve got some beer to drink!” Jackson cheers. And that’s all it takes to clear the parking lot.
I hug Carson back, holding onto him.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he says.
“I’m sorry,” I choke out, adrenaline still coursing through my veins. “I wanted to kill that fucker,” I tell him.
“I know. I was going to let you.” He laughs, pulling away from me.
Carver drops an arm around each of us. “Thank fuck. Now, listen, I need you guys to back me up on this.” He doesn’t tell us what this is until we’re sitting across from Jackson.
“Are you telling me two women that look like Nyx and her sister just vanished off the fucking planet?”
Jackson leans back in his chair. “I don’t know what you want me to do. Nobody’s talking.”
Carson sits forward. “There’s got to be something we can do. I feel bad they helped me and then fucking disappeared.”
“They helped you?”
Carson goes on to tell us about his drunkenness the night we found out about our mother’s condition. Thinking about it now, it doesn’t seem all that scary as it once was.
Thanks to Luna.
“Fuck, I do remember bumping into that one guy that worked with Luna at the Pizza Hut in Cheyenne. I forgot to tell her.” He looks down at his phone. He sighs in disappointment before pocketing it.
“You saw him in Trap?” I ask. That’s weird.
“Yeah. He said he got fired from Pizza Hut.”
“And he ended up in Trap?”
Elijah walks up to our table. He whispers in Jackson’s ear.
“Yeah, that’s a little odd, don’t you think?” I ask, ignoring them.
Carver sits forward. “Maybe this dude knows something about Nyx.”
Jackson looks at my brother and then me as Elijah finishes his message.
Carson’s face pales, and I reach for him. “What is it?”
“The day we found Luna at the campground, he was fishing …” his words trail off and he stands. “I’ve got to get home.”
Jackson snaps his fingers and orders Carver to follow my brother. I’m going too.
But when I pass Jackson, he grabs my arm. “We’re all leaving. We’ve got a little trouble back home. Stay close to your brother.”
“Is it Luna?”
“The old fuckers say they have it under control. But we need to go. The club will be right behind you guys, but let’s keep it on the down-low for now. We don’t need your brother losing his shit on the road.”
Jackson whistles to get everyone’s attention.
Something’s happened to Luna.
I run my hand through my hair, fuck. There have been times over the past few weeks I’ve wished for her to disappear. Fuck!
Carver and Carson are already on their bikes by the time I get outside.
“Wait!” I yell.
Carson looks up, and my heart breaks for him. He’s scared.
I jog over to them. “I’m going with you.”
He hits himself in the helmet a few times, angry at himself. “I had a bad feeling. I shouldn’t have left her alone.”
I don’t have time to tell him whether his fears are valid or not.
“Let’s just keep our heads about us, yeah?” I put my helmet on and then bump it against his, looking him in the eye. I want him to know that I have his back. “We’ll be home soon enough, brother.”
The three of us ride hard. The rest of the club at our backs … somewhere. I know Jackson is keeping everyone a little farther down the road so as not to alert Carson of the trouble back home.
But he already senses it …