Chapter Five.
Myka
Dawson was furious. That man, whoever he was, had set him off.
There was nothing worse than Dawson feeling disrespected in his own home.
He’d phoned his brother, who was now on his way around.
My night was going to be terrible. Dawson had that look in his eye.
Damn that guy. I’d needed one more week, and I’d have been free and clear.
Instead, I’d get a beating as punishment.
Lawson arrived, and not alone. I cringed when I saw Rawson, too. Yeah, their mother was white trash. How stupid do you have to be to name your kids Lawson, Dawson and Rawson?
I swallowed hard. Rawson was a lunatic. Jayes couldn’t stay tonight; Dawson was in a mood.
“Dawson, I’m going to take Jayes next door to Mrs Hannigan to sleep. That means you can enjoy this night,” I murmured.
“Get us a beer, bitch,” Dawson snarled, and I hurried away. I gave them two beers each, grabbed Jayes, and got him out.
“Not again, Myka?” Mrs Hannigan asked as I knocked.
“Just tonight, please. Rawson’s here,” I murmured.
Mrs Hannigan pursed her lips, but nodded. “Myka, I’m off on a cruise tomorrow, Myka. I won’t be back for a month.”
“Okay, Mrs Hannigan. Honest. I need tonight.”
“Fine,” she said and took Jayes.
“Be good, angel,” I whispered.
“Jayes always is,” Mrs Hannigan replied and shut the door. Scared, I rushed back to the house to ensure the chilli wasn’t burning.
“Get in here,” Dawson yelled two hours later.
I hurried in immediately; I recognised that tone. On my way, I grabbed three more beers; they’d already run through a crate of twenty-four. If Dawson got drunk enough, I might escape a beating.
“Here,” I whispered, handing them a bottle each.
“Rawson reckons you can dance,” Dawson drawled. I froze. What was this? Rawson eyed me with a nasty glint as he looked me up and down.
“No, I’ve no rhythm,” I denied.
“Liar,” Dawson crowed. “I’ve danced with you.”
“Dawson, I was younger then,” I murmured. “Want me to get some snacks?” I attempted to leave, but Lawson stopped me.
“Don’t fuckin’ move.” Like a terrified lamb, I halted in the middle of the room. My hands shook as I held them against my dress.
“Dance,” Rawson ordered.
“Rawson, I can’t…”
Rawson leaned forward and slapped me so hard I tasted blood. My heart was pounding. This was bad. Very bad.
“Fuckin’ dance,” Dawson said, leaning forward in his chair and smirking. Terrified, I looked at my husband and wondered how the hell we’d come to this.
I began jerking back and forth stiffly, and Lawson roared with laughter as Rawson threw a bottle at me.
“Call that dancing?” he yelled.
“I…” I fell hard to the ground as Rawson didn’t slap but punched me instead. I saw stars and held my jaw.
“Dawson,” I whispered, terrified. Rawson leaned over me, grabbing a handful of my hair and yanking me up.
“Dance like we’re at a titty club. Strip, bitch,” Rawson ordered. Lawson stopped laughing and sat up, his eyes suddenly alert. Dawson didn’t even bother coming to my defence.
“No.”
Three punches later, I was too dazed to defend myself when Rawson ripped my dress clean off. I held my hands up, trying to cover up, and glanced blearily over at Dawson.
Oh God, Dawson was staring at me with hunger. He’d not touched me for five years, and now he was hard. The violence his brother was committing was turning him on.
“Dawson, stop this,” I begged. Rawson laughed and bent down and grabbed my breast, squeezing until I screamed, bringing tears to my eyes. Lawson licked his lips as he looked me up and down.
“Unlock that basement of yours,” Rawson ordered Dawson.
Dawson chuckled as Rawson fisted his hand in my hair. I began screaming and kicking as he started dragging me backwards. Lawson turned the TV up and followed us.
No. No. No. Not this. Please God. Not this.
Falcon
I acknowledged Sheriff Cates as Calamity, and I headed into Aurora-Victoria’s psychic shop. Klutz said she’d had a doozy of a vision and I was needed.
“Calamity!” Cates called, and we stopped.
“Can I help, Sheriff?” Calamity asked.
“I wondered how things were ?” she inquired, looking slightly unsure.
“Fine, thanks for asking,” Calamity replied, letting it drop.
“Calamity, look, I had to pull you in, but I didn’t believe you were connected to it,” Cates said. She grabbed his arm, and Calamity looked down at her hand, and she removed it.
“Cates, I’m not angry you pulled me in,” Calamity responded.
“Then what’s with the cold shoulder?”
“I’m fuckin’ pissed you came straight for us. See, De Janeiro updated me on Smith’s extra-curricular activities. Despite numerous other suspects, you came for Rage first. That’s what I didn’t like.”
“I did that to rule the club out immediately,” Cates stated.
“Yeah? That backfired, didn’t it? You hear what was said to my old lady and several others in the Bath and Body Shop.
How our old ladies got kicked out because of their criminal husbands, and that bitch tried to embarrass them?
Well, that went wrong because Natalie at Moon Showers made a killing.
Seven thousand, wasn’t it our women spent? ”
“Yeah, Natalie was telling everyone in the bar that night.” Cates smiled. “Jess was furious at losing that much money.”
“Then Jess shouldn’t have been such a judgemental cunt.”
“I don’t disagree, and I’ve spoken to Jess and made it very clear how wrong she was,” Cates stated.
“Ain’t no skin off my nose, Sheriff, nor my old lady’s. Bitch showed her true colours to our faces; now she’s paying for that disrespect. If you don’t mind, we’ve got a meeting,” Calamity said.
Cates looked conflicted, but nodded and stepped away.
I smirked at the nosy onlookers who’d been watching closely. Calamity had just used Cates to send a message. Shit on us and there’d be repercussions.
We entered Aurora-Victoria’s shop and caught the eye of her assistant.
“Aurora-Victoria and Klutz are in the rear,” she said, nodding to a curtain that covered the back rooms. One functioned as an office, another served as a reading room, and the third held stock.
A basement featured stairs and a small elevator used for moving goods.
We headed for the reading room, but Klutz stepped out of the office.
“In here.”
I changed direction and followed Calamity through the door. Aurora-Victoria sat in her chair, looking pale.
“You okay?” I inquired, concerned.
“Yes, it was a big vision,” Aurora-Victoria replied as she sipped a cup of tea.
“Did you catch it?” Calamity asked.
“Jenna did,” Klutz referred to Aurora-Victoria’s assistant.
“Wanna tell us?” I demanded, and Aurora-Victoria nodded.
“A fire’s coming. It’s huge and will happen in town. This is imminent, Calamity,” Aurora-Victoria said, worried.
“How soon?” Calamity inquired.
“Two to three days.”
“Shit, any idea where?”
“I saw flames in the sky, several buildings burning, chaos, people running scared and screaming for loved ones. But I couldn’t tell you what was alight, but if you guys don’t answer, it’s going to be awful, and there’ll be deaths.” Aurora-Victoria looked guilty as if it were her fault.
“Okay. Put the club on alert, Falcon,” Calamity said.
“Will do.” I moved aside and sent out a text to the group chat all brothers were in, and did the same in the second one, which included prospects.
I began receiving affirmatives almost immediately.
Those of us from the National Chapter had received search-and-rescue training.
Calamity had insisted those who joined us were also the same.
We were then available to help the county and state if we were ever needed.
We wouldn’t sit by and wring our hands during a disaster; no, we got in and got messy.
A twinge made me wince, and Klutz looked toward me.
“Pain?”
“Shoulder’s throbbing. I carried a young boy home two days ago. He was injured. I think it’s put pressure on the wound.”
Suddenly, three pairs of interested eyes gazed at me.
“You never said anything,” Calamity accused.
“Just an injured kid. Took him back to his house,” I replied, guessing where their minds had gone.
“Two parents?” Aurora-Victoria asked.
“Yes, Mom and Dad.”
She looked disappointed and shrugged. I thought of Myka, making my disappointment greater. Nope, she had a ring on it and was clearly under that asshole Dawson’s spell. Shame.
“There’s one more thing,” Aurora-Victoria said, holding Calamity’s eyes. “There’s more dead.”
“Fuck. On the peninsula?” Calamity demanded.
“I’m not sure. But they’re coming,” she assured us.
We exchanged worried looks. If Aurora-Victoria was picking up bodies, there was a reason. Something big was going to happen.
“What’s up?” I inquired the following day. I planned to drop by and check on Jayes, but I’d got caught up with a couple of things, and I’d had an appointment with that bitch therapist. Christ, I swore she hated me.
Calamity was crouched over a box, cooing, and I smiled. “You bought Rosie another puppy?”
“No. Some asshole dumped this lot here. Could you take them to Rosie?” he asked. I peered at the box and frowned.
“Those are German Shepherds, what the hell?”
“I sent Rosie a picture; she thinks they’re purebred. God knows why they’ve been dropped off here.” I judged the pups to be about four weeks old.
“Where’s Mama?” I demanded, concerned.
Calamity tipped his chin, and I turned and saw a stunning silver sable German Shepherd lying on a sofa. She lifted her head slightly and stared; it was clear how weak she was. I approached slowly and held out my hand.
“Hello, darlin’. Ain’t you a beautiful girl?” I murmured as I checked her over. She appeared young, only two or three. She licked me once and struggled to get up as a puppy snorted.
Calamity moved the box over, and she stuck her head in and weakly licked the pups.
“Prez, I’ll get the SUV. Can you carry the pups?” I asked, picking her up. Panic welled in her eyes, but she didn’t have the strength to fight. Shit. I hated humanity sometimes.