Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“What do ya need?” A muffled voice in the background sounded but Bogs couldn’t make out who it was or what was said.
“Are you alone?” As far as Bogs knew, they were staying at the cabin until Trent met up with Dante, which would mean there was only one woman it could be.
Trent sighed and Bogs could hear shuffling and the distant female moan. “Give me a second.”
Son of a bitch!
“Is that who I think it is?” he asked harshly. Taylor was high on his shit list after the stunt she pulled last night with Kenzie and outing them.
“Is this your favor, wanting to know who’s in my bed?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Trent? After what that bitch pulled last night?”
“Let me break it down for you, and bear with me ‘cause the sun’s still not out. Taylor, which is her name, and unless you call her by it, this conversation is over, knows she screwed up. After making it clear the magnitude of the shit storm she caused, she feels bad for what went down.” Trent paused, lowing his voice.
“Look, Kenzie means a lot to her, even you know that. She didn’t get what she was doing yesterday, she gets it now.
She tried taking my phone three times to call Kenzie.
When you give the go ahead, she’ll be wanting to make the call. She fucked up, Bogs.”
Bogs was rendered speechless. Not twenty-four hours ago, Trent was ready to kill her and now he had her back? What the fuck?
Bogs snorted. “You do know she’ll probably slice your balls off while you sleep if you ever fuck her over, right? You are a brave man, Trent.”
He ignored Bogs’ comment. “The favor?”
“Yeah, this is what I need from you guys.” He laid out his plan for Trent. It was a little risky and he’d yet come up with a plan B, but if they were on board, along with his brothers, it would work. He didn’t doubt T and Stone would be willing to do whatever was necessary.
“And I’m still working on Plan B if it doesn’t go the way I think it will.”
Trent sighed. “Yeah, I mean, we’ll do whatever you need us to but I gotta ask, why not just tell her no? This seems awfully elaborate. Tell her no and it ends.”
“Does it end? Look, you don’t know her, man, but I do.
I don’t know how much Taylor has told you about it but before last night, the thoughts running through her head now were non-existent.
She wasn’t looking for revenge or finding Harris.
Then Taylor outs us and puts the idea in her head.
It was Taylor demanding we help her, not Kenzie.
If I had to guess, had Taylor not pushed so hard, it wouldn’t have even been a thought for Kenzie when I finally laid it out for her.
You saw her, Trent. Kenzie was scared. If I tell her no, then I’m making the decision for her.
She’ll always wonder what she would have done.
And right now, her head’s in a place that only she can get out of.
She’s questioning her own loyalty to her mother. ”
“And what if she goes through with it?”
“She won’t.”
“Bogs…”
“Trent, I know her. She won’t, because deep down she doesn’t want to. We give the families the option, Kenzie feels as though she doesn’t have one.”
“What do you need?”
“Just need you to be there, in the room. Declan, too. Tonight.”
“Yeah, I’ll get Kellen up here to stay with Taylor.”
“Thanks, man.”
He could hear a soft murmur in the background. Trent must have covered the receiver making it hard to understand. He heard the faint sound of a plea before Trent got back on the phone and sighed. “Taylor wants to talk to you.”
Bogs sat back in his chair. Trent may have forgiven her but Bogs had not. Her comment about Kenzie being good enough to bang but not help still lingered in his mind. This fucking girl knew nothing about him and Kenzie.
“I’d consider it a favor,” Trent said when he didn’t answer.
“Fuck.” How could he say no now? “If she pisses me off, I’m hanging up.”
“Fair enough.” Trent voice trailed. “Don’t piss him off.”
Highly doubtful. Her existence alone pissed him off. How Kenzie put up with Taylor was beyond him.
“Hi.”
“What?” Bogs was usually cordial to everyone but this woman deserved nothing from him and he wasn’t giving anything.
“Just don’t hang up, please.”
“Taylor, just say whatever it is you gotta say.”
“Okay, look, Bogs, I was…um, how do I say it?”
“An asshole?”
“I deserve that. So, yeah, I was an asshole, but seriously, it was coming from a good place.” She inhaled as if trying to calm herself.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about anything when I told her, I was just thinking you could help her, and when you wouldn’t I just lost it.
I love Kenzie.” Bogs could hear the onset of a stifled cry.
She trembled on the last words. “If I could just talk to her…”
“No.”
“I did this, just let me undo it.”
“You can’t.”
“But I’m sorry,” she cried.
“I know you are, Taylor, and I get why you did it, I do. But where she’s at now, it has to be her choice. I don’t want her to go through with it, but it’s not my place to stop her, and it’s not yours. That’s on her.”
The line was silent but he could hear her muffled cries. He considered hanging up until he heard Trent’s voice.
“Thanks. And uh…let me handle Plan B.”
“Whatcha got in mind?”
“Nothing I can say over the phone but I’ll handle it. You worry about Plan A and I’ll cover the rest. See you tonight.” He hung up before Bogs could push further to hear what Trent was thinking.
He texted his brothers to come over. His conversation would be full disclosure, and he didn’t want to do it over the phone.
He recapped for Trent, which was risky, but left out the detailed version.
He needed T and Stone to have that and not over the phone.
He heard back from them an hour later. They were on their way.
He just needed Kenzie to stay asleep for the next hour at least.
****
She stayed in bed long after she woke.
So much to think about and she needed the quiet. This was like a thousand-pound weight she was struggling to hold together. She said yes. She lied--she couldn’t do this. Kill someone? The thought had her stomach churning.
She made her way downstairs to the kitchen following the muffled voices.
Yesterday had been a complete shit show and emotional rollercoaster.
She knew she looked like death with her puffy eyes and smeared makeup caked on her face.
She rounded the corner stopping in the doorway.
T and Stone were leaning against the counter while Bogs sat in one of the chairs.
The room immediately drowned in silence.
“Hey,” Bogs said with a small smile, lifting his chin.
“Morning.” She drew in a breath, not looking over at his brothers. She could feel their stares sending a chill over her skin.
“So, tonight?” T asked and she whipped her head up. He was talking to Bogs, who nodded.
“Yeah, already talked to Trent. He and Dec will pick him up and we’ll meet up around seven. You guys ride up with us.”
“What?”
Bogs turned to her. “Did what I promised, pretty girl. Got James Harris’s location. Trent will pick him up. We got a spot we’ve used before, he knows where to meet us.”
“No, you said you’d look into him, see what you could do.”
“I did, last night into this morning. Got everything I need. We’ll do it tonight.”
Stone pushed off the counter and walked to the door followed by T and waved bye. She didn’t look them in the eye but looked over her shoulder as they passed. This was happening too fast.
“You change your mind?”
She jerked back to Bogs, who had gotten up from the table and was approaching her.
“You can always change your mind, pretty girl. But this is a one-time offer, you change your mind. Don’t wanna go through with it, that’s fine, but then it’s over.
We don’t talk about it again. Can’t have this chasing us for the rest of our lives, ya know? ”
She knew exactly what he meant. Either this would happen or it wouldn’t.
I can’t do this. She stared up at Bogs, noticing him search her face with a slight inkling of hope.
He would do it but he didn’t want to. Think about your mom.
Look at his face and think about your mom, you marry Bogs, she won’t be there.
You have his babies, she’ll never hold them, they’ll never know her.
Her eyes welled and she shook her head. “I didn’t change my mind.” The corner of his mouth dropped but he nodded.
“Okay,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around her and she clung deep into his chest. “I got some stuff to do so we’ll hang here until we leave.” He kissed her head and pulled back. “You sure?”
She nodded not trusting herself to answer. She wasn’t sure, not even close. He had to run out for something, leaving her alone in the condo.
She stared at the TV, same as she had done for the last hour. She had no idea what the characters were saying, she was clueless to the plot, or if one even existed. She might as well have been looking at a blank screen.
She checked her phone every few minutes, the day was dragging yet flying by in an odd way.
It was her decision, one she had to make on her own.
Bogs stood strong to what he said, never once trying to sway her in one direction or another.
There was a small part of her that resented him for it.
Why couldn’t this be an easy choice? When Taylor had spilled about the possibility, she was so set on it. It was an impulse without thought.
She did the one thing she swore she wouldn’t. She picked up her phone and hit send.
The phone rang twice before the graveled voice answered. “You okay. What’s wrong?”
She chuckled, sinking into the couch and rearing her feet on the couch and her knees to her chest. “Nothing’s wrong. Can’t a girl just call her dad?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, of course, my girl can call anytime. You don’t call enough or visit.”
She smiled. “I know I’m due for a visit.”
“We miss you, kid.”
“Yeah.” Until he said it, she didn’t realize how much she was missing them. “How’s it going?”
“Same day, different story.” He laughed and went on about work.
He’d been promoted a few years back to manager of his department.
With it came stories beyond compare. He gave her the stories usually preceded by “Don’t do this if you wanna keep your job” speeches.
She heard him speak but she wasn’t listening.
This decision was weighing heavily on her.
This would be for him, too. She had lost her mom that day, and her dad had lost his world.
All the plans they had were stolen from him.
He put up a good front but he never truly recovered or moved on after her death.
“And your brother just got accepted into UT.”
She clapped her hands and bounced a little on the couch. For the first time all day, she felt happy. “I knew he would. Where is he? I wanna say congrats.”
“Where do ya think?”
She giggled. “On a date?”
“Where else? I swear that boy’s got ‘em lined up with a waiting list.” Her dad chuckled then the line went silent. “What’s going on, kid?”
She rested her head back on the couch and smiled. “Been thinking about Mom. I miss her.”
“Me too.” He paused. “She would have been so proud of you just like your old man.” He was constantly reminding them after her death how proud she’d be or that she was watching over them.
Every event that happened and ever moment when she missed her the most, her dad made a point of telling her and her brother, “you can’t see her but she’s here. ”
“You ever wonder what happened to James Harris, dad?”
“Hey sweetheart, come home. Take some days off and come see us.”
“I’m okay, Dad, I promise. I’ve just been thinking about him, wondering if he’s still alive.”
Her dad whispered. “By the grace of God, I hope not.”
“So, you hope he’s dead?” She was grasping for any signs that she was doing the right thing.
“No, oh, I don’t know, Mackenzie. People like Harris have to answer for what they’ve done, and he will. But spending your time thinking of him isn’t going to change that. God sees true redemption.”
“He doesn’t deserve to live,” she whispered.
“That’s not our choice to make.”
“But what if it was?”
“It’s not.” He sighed. “That man held so much power over this family for so long. He forced us to hold onto our past, struggle to keep our memories because there wouldn’t be any new ones.
When he took your mom from us, the present was unbearable for all of us.
I remember begging God to get us through it.
During the trial, he became an uninvited guest in our lives.
Then I let go, we all did. He’s already taken so much. Don’t give him your future, Mackenzie.”
The tears streamed down her face and she clamped her lips together tightly. If she went through with this, that was exactly what she’d give him.
“Tell me something good that’s happening,” he whispered. It made her smile. Anytime she was having a rough day, he’d made her tell him something good that happened, even as small as it was sunny out, just something. He did it a lot right after her mom died.
She sniffled, wiping her face with her sleeve. “I met a guy.”
“Yeah? Is he a good guy?”
“Yeah, he’s great. Really funny and handsome.”
“Does he have a job?” She could almost picture her dad narrowing his brows as he asked.
She laughed. “Yes, he has a job. He owns a security company with his brothers. He’s a technical genius.”
“Smart and works in security so I know he can protect my little girl. I like him already.”
“You would, Dad.”
“Well bring him home, let me see if he’s worthy of my little girl.” Her dad snorted. “Nobody is worthy, but let me meet him anyway.”
“Okay.” She sniffled. “Well, I gotta go.” She needed to get off the phone before she completely lost her shit. Her dad was worried, and this conversation would probably have him more worried. “I’ll check my schedule and come home soon.”
“You do that, I miss that pretty face.” He paused. “Do me a favor, kiddo, remember what I said, about your future. You got a family that loves you, good friends, and life, now a great guy. That’s your future. Love you.”
“Love you too, Dad.” She hung up quickly and tossed her phone. Then she completely lost her shit.