Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Popeye
King’s hand tightened on Grace’s shoulder. “Jesus Christ, will this shit never end?”
“Yeah.” I looked at Grace, saw the shock and betrayal warring in her eyes. “Your mother told you about her?”
“No.” Grace’s voice was hollow. “When James was here last summer before...” King squeezed her shoulders.
“Before the attack, the night you showed up. Donna told Grace about Caroline and Vain.”
“James Dougal,” I confirmed. “President of the Black Vultures.” I looked up at King; this conversation was only going to get harder for Grace.
“Baby girl, your mother contacted Caroline knowing you would be gone for the weekend. And when your mother asked her to take the baby—” I stopped, the words catching in my throat.
“What?” Grace demanded. “What did Caroline do?”
I looked down at the journal, at Christina’s desperate handwriting. “She took him. Christina never knew what she did with him until years later when you were living in New Orleans. Then she found out the baby was living with a man named Matrix in California.”
King went very still. “Matrix?”
“You know him?” I asked.
“Know of him,” King said carefully. “He’s a Golden Skull.”
“There is no explanation as to how he ended up with Matrix,” I continued. “Christina didn’t know where he was until Caroline called and threatened his life.” I paused, steeling myself for what came next. “And yours Grace.”
Grace’s face had gone pale. “What did she do?”
“She kidnapped him.” The words came out flat, emotionless, because if I let myself feel what I was saying, I’d lose it completely. “Held him captive at a plantation in Louisiana. Used him as leverage against your mother.”
“Leverage for what?” King’s voice was hard, dangerous.
I met his eyes. “She needed someone distracted, and she used her sister to do it.”
Grace’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God. How?”
I couldn’t say it. Couldn’t tell my daughter that her mother had sold her body one more time to keep her children alive. So I just shook my head.
“Dad.” Grace’s voice was stronger now, demanding. “How?”
King’s expression had gone cold, calculating. “When was this?”
I shared the same story with Grace and King that Christina had shared with me in her journal.
Grace broke then, a sob tearing from her throat. King pulled her up and into his arms, holding her as she cried against his chest. I sat there, feeling useless, feeling like I’d just shattered whatever good memories Grace had left of her mother.
But she needed to know. Needed to understand.
After a few minutes, Grace pulled back from King, wiping her eyes. “This boy,” she said, her voice thick. “My... my brother. What’s his name?”
I looked down at the journal. “Christina said she never gave him a name, but later she called him Samuel. I’m not sure if he even knows the truth about who he is.”
King’s phone was already in his hand. “I know how to find out.”
Grace sank back into her chair, her hand on her belly, her face pale. I wanted to reach out for her, wanted to comfort her, but I didn’t know how. Didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make it worse.
King put the phone on speaker as it rang.
“King.” The voice that answered was rough, tired. “This better be important.”
“It is,” King said. “Need to ask you about what happened when your mother died.”
There was a long pause. “What about it?”
“I need to know what happened,” King replied.
Reaper was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was heavy. “The bitch had a kid held captive at a plantation compound in Louisiana. Armed guards, snipers, the whole nine yards. Place was a fucking fortress.”
“How’d you find out?” I asked.
“He was Matrix’s kid,” Reaper said. “Caroline kidnapped him so she could force Matrix to siphon money to her.”
Grace’s hand tightened on her belly.
“We went after the kid,” Reaper continued.
“But it wasn’t just the kid we were looking for.
” We waited silently, giving Reaper time to answer.
“We were looking for Sandman too. Sandman had a twin sister—Kitty. They’d been separated at birth, and she’d finally gotten a lead on him. That was actually how we found Samuel.
“The Florida Chapter was closer. They were supposed to be there to back up Kitty. But when the time came—” He paused. “Toxic and his chapter never showed. We never knew why, and now the fucker is dead.”
“Who went in?” King asked.
“Everyone,” Reaper said, and something in his voice made my stomach drop.
“What happened?” Grace whispered.
Reaper’s breath was ragged. “We breached the compound. Found Samuel and got him out, then Bullseye found Caroline in the master bedroom. She pulled a weapon. Bullseye shot her—killed her. But not before she got a shot off first.”
The silence stretched.
“Bullseye took a bullet to the chest,” Reaper said, his voice breaking. “Shattered on impact. Fragments lodged in his heart. He needed an emergency transplant, or he was going to die on that operating table.”
“And Kitty?” I asked, though I already knew the answer from the weight in his voice.
“Shot in the head,” Reaper said flatly. “Brain dead. They had her on life support, but there was no brain activity. She was gone.”
Grace made a small, wounded sound.
“Kitty was an organ donor,” Reaper continued. “So I made the call. Harvested her heart for Bullseye. It was the only way to save him. The only way to make sure she didn’t die for nothing.”
“Jesus Christ,” King breathed.
“Samuel was rescued,” Reaper said. “Physically unharmed. But the psychological damage...” He trailed off. “Matrix got him out of there, got him help, but that kind of trauma doesn’t just go away.”
I looked down at Christina’s journal, at the words she’d written about making deals, about sacrificing herself to keep both children alive.
“There’s something you need to know,” I said carefully. “About why Toxic didn’t show.”
“What about him?” Reaper’s voice went hard.
“Christina was the reason he never showed,” I said.
“How the fuck was she involved?”
“Because Caroline contacted her,” I said. “She forced Christina to distract Toxic.”
“Why the hell would she do that?” Reaper demanded.
“Because she was terrified,” I said, my voice rough. “Caroline gave her a sob story about how you’d gone off the rails and were trying to kill her. She convinced Christina she was innocent and needed time to get away. Christina had two children, Reaper. Caroline threatened them both.”
The silence on the other end was absolute.
“Fuck,” Reaper breathed, cutting through the silence.
“So when you asked why Toxic didn’t show,” I said, “that’s why. Because Christina Dougal sacrificed herself to save her children. And she carried that guilt with her until she died.”
Grace was sobbing now, her whole body shaking. King pulled her close, his jaw tight.
“There’s more, Reaper,” King said, his eyes on me.
“Of course there is. There’s always fucking more.”
“Christina gave her son away when he was born. She didn’t raise him,” I offered. “When it came time to have the baby, she called her sister, who took the baby away. Then Caroline used that child years later.”
“What child?” Reaper growled.
“Samuel,” I answered.
“MATRIX, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!” Reaper bellowed on the other end of the phone.
“He ain’t here, boss.” Massacre’s voice was unmistakable.
“As soon as he gets back, I want him in my office,” Reaper demanded.
King and I stared at each other; Grace had her face buried in King’s chest. None of us moved or said a word as we waited.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Reaper’s frustration was palpable. “This is... Matrix loves that kid. If he doesn’t know the truth...”
“Then maybe he doesn’t need to,” King said quietly.
“The hell he doesn’t,” Reaper shot back. “You’re talking about a kid who was kidnapped and tortured by his own biological aunt. Who has a half-sister he doesn’t know exists. Who has a biological mother who’s dead and a biological father who—” He stopped. “Who the fuck is the father?”
“Unknown,” I said. “Christina didn’t name him in the journal. Just said it was someone in the club.”
“Which club?” Reaper demanded.
“Silver Shadows, Arkansas Chapter,” I said.
“Jesus.” Reaper was quiet for a moment. “And you’re sure about all this? This isn’t just speculation?”
“It’s in her journal,” I confirmed. “In her own handwriting. Dated entries. Details that match what you just told us about Louisiana.”
“I need to see that journal,” Reaper said.
“No.” Grace’s voice was firm despite the tears. “That’s my mother’s private thoughts. Her confessions. I’m not handing it over to a stranger.”
“Grace—” Reaper started.
“No,” she repeated. “You’ve told us what happened in Louisiana. We’ve told you about Samuel. That’s enough.”
“It’s not enough,” Reaper argued. “I’m not a stranger, Grace. Christina was my aunt.”
“An aunt you didn’t know,” she snapped back.
“Still, if Christina wrote about Caroline, about what she did, there might be other victims. Other people Caroline hurt. Other secrets she kept.”
“Then you’ll have to trust that if there’s anything in here that affects your club, we’ll tell you,” Grace said. “But I’m not giving you my mother’s journal.”
King’s hand squeezed her shoulder in support.
Reaper was silent for a long moment. “Fine. But I want to know everything Christina wrote about Caroline. Everything.”
“We’ll go through it,” King said. “Anything relevant to the Golden Skulls, you’ll hear about it.”
“And Samuel?” Reaper asked. “What are you going to do about him?”
Grace looked at me, her eyes red and swollen. “I don’t know. I just found out I have a brother. A brother who’s been through hell. A brother who doesn’t know I exist.”
“He deserves to know the truth,” Reaper said. “Deserves to know he has family.”
“He has family,” I said firmly. “He has Matrix. Christina was clear she didn’t want his life uprooted, but...”
“But what?” Reaper asked.
“There’s a chance his father was Titan or one of his sons. If one of them was the kid’s father, he’s a legacy to the Silver Shadows.”
“And what about you, Grace?” Reaper challenged. “Do you want to know your brother?”
“Yes,” Grace said softly. “But not like this. Not by showing up and destroying everything he knows about his life. Not by telling him his mother gave him away and his aunt kidnapped him.”
“So what then?” Reaper asked. “You just... do nothing?”
“I don’t know,” Grace admitted, her voice breaking again. “I don’t know what to do.”
King pulled her closer. “We’ll figure it out. But not today. Today you process. Today you grieve. Today you let yourself feel whatever you need to feel.”
“King’s right,” I said. “This is a lot. Too much. You don’t have to make any decisions right now.”
“But eventually—” Reaper started.
“Eventually we’ll figure it out,” King cut him off. “But right now, my old lady just found out her mother had another child, that her aunt was a psychopath, and that she has a brother who’s been through hell. So back the fuck off and give her space to breathe.”
Reaper was quiet for a moment. “Yeah. Okay. But, King?”
“What?”
“When you’re ready to talk about this again, you call me. Because that kid—he’s been through enough. He doesn’t need any more surprises. Doesn’t need his world turned upside down again. So whatever you decide to do, you run it by me first. Understood?”
“Understood,” King said.
“And, Popeye?” Reaper added.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry. About Christina. My bitch mother—all of it. And I’m sorry about Toxic. If he made a deal with her, if he kept his chapter from going in—” He paused. “That’s on me. I should have known.”
Then the line went dead.