Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Spencer
Aguttural scream pierces through my thoughts and I jolt awake on high alert.
“I need to make a call.” There’s a faint tremble in Parker’s voice from just outside the bedroom, as though she’s trying to contain every emotion, and my heart leaps into my chest because Grinder isn’t here.
He hasn’t come home from the club’s job.
That scream of anger or terror or both was definitely Parker.
I can put two and two together.
Jumping up and out of bed, I pull the door all the way open to find Sledge frowning at his sister. Her eyes are wide and red-rimmed but full of more anger than I’ve ever seen. Like this, I swear she could be a contender for Psycho’s name. She’s holding her phone in front of her and it’s ringing.
“What’s going on?” Every word feels like an effort to get out because I really don’t want the answer.
Sledge gives me pity eyes, but his fists are clenched in what I can only assume is anger.
“We don’t know where Grinder and Kincaid are. Found the van outside the hospital with the windows smashed in.”
I’m sure he’s still talking but the ringing in my ears is blocking everything out. Grinder and Kincaid.
One of my best friends, and the man I finally allowed myself to be with. If anything happens to him I…I’ve wasted so much time. And Kincaid, she’s going through so much already but…
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and try to center myself. Think logically, here. Sledge didn’t say they were dead. They’re just MIA for now. That’s all it is. Grinder and Kincaid are two of the most fearless people I’ve ever known.
Okay.
Another deep breath before I open my eyes.
“It’s okay, Spencer. We’ve got this.” Sledge holds my shoulder and squeezes. “Mac is over at the cottage with the ladies and Gryffin if you need her.”
“Robson, if you don’t get The Butcher on the phone to me in the next five minutes, I’m gonna rip your motherfucking entrails out through your nutsack and shove them up your arse.”
Both Sledge and I turn our heads in an almost comical fashion to face Parker, who is glaring at her phone screen as if the person on the other side is her worst enemy.
“Ugh, fine. Gimme a few minutes.” Whoever Robson is sighs and the phone goes silent.
“Er, Sis?” Sledge rubs the back of his neck and he’s frowning again.
“Yes, brother dear?” Looking up at him through her lashes, she grins, but it doesn’t come anywhere near to reaching her eyes.
“The club have this handled. We’ll find them and bring them home.” I don’t doubt him. I know what this club does for each other, but Parker hasn’t even been here for a month.
“That’s cool. What’s the plan?” She tilts her head and crosses her arms. That was too easy…she’s not that pliable and her brother clearly hasn’t figured it out yet.
“We’ve reached out to The Reapers, they work for M—”
“Marco Mancini. Yup. One of his sister’s husbands is my dad’s boss. The Butcher.” Her grin widens. “Looks like we’re on the same page.”
“They’re getting intel on the O’Malley’s.
Seems they’re bigger than we thought and they’ve been infiltrating in and around town for well over a year.
We have brothers out looking for Grinder and Kincaid as we speak.
The plan now is for you to wait. We’ll let you know as soon as we have anything.
Okay?” It’s strange to see Sledge so somber and serious.
“Sure.” Parker’s response is an outright lie but Sledge seems to ignore it as his sister wraps her arms around his waist. “Thanks for being an awesome big bro. I know you’ll find Grinder.
Me and Spence will just wait here. Might try and get a bit more sleep.
Ya know.” She hiccups a little, sniffing upward before wiping at her eyes.
Sledge can’t see her face as he awkwardly pats her back, but I can. And she is not crying. But she does glance up at me from where she’s hugging her brother and winks.
“I’m just so tired.” She sniffles again and squeezes him before letting go, keeping her head down.
The brief narrowing of Sledge’s eyes tells me that he’s probably suspicious of his sister’s attitude, as well he should be, but he chooses to ignore it as he begins walking away.
“Keep an eye on my sister, Spence.” He throws his voice over his shoulder without turning back.
I don’t have the opportunity to ask Parker what is going through her mind because her phone rings and she answers, holding it in front of her. I can’t see the image of the video call, but I can hear as I lean against the doorframe and rub at my forehead.
“Little Easton.”
“Butcher.”
“Robson practically offered me his first born just to make this call, thought he was gonna shit his pants.” The man on the call chuckles. “What can I do ya for?”
“I’m in the U.S. Rockford Beach in North Carolina.
Found my brother, found the love of my life, and now some motherfucking wankstains have taken him because one of them has a super cunty daughter that should have been fucking swallowed by her mother.
Only name I have is O’Malley, and one location that the Sons of Khaos already obliterated.
I need to call in my final favor and get as much info on these people as possible.
I can’t sit on my arse and wait around. I need some guns, some grenades would be fun, and a location nearby where someone could imprison two psychos.
” She barely takes a breath and I can’t help the way my eyes widen and my heart thumps.
I don’t know what it is, but her sheer determination gives me so much more hope and almost erases the sadness that had begun to creep in.
“Woah. First, well done. Never doubted you’d find him. As for the rest, send me the location you have and give me an hour.” The man she’s talking to is British, too, and I shake my head at the absurdity of it all.
What even is my life?
British gangsters with connections to the New York mafia, who have a connection to this motorcycle club, who have a beef with the Irish, murders, whatever illegal activities they have on the side…it’s a never ending cycle of thing after thing after thing…
Finishing the call, Parker types into her phone before dropping her arms to her sides and finally looking up at me.
A small piece of my heart breaks for her as the energy she was holding on to just drops, almost in relief that she is one step closer to Grinder.
I can see it in the way her face changes, her eyes holding mine, her chin wobbling. She’s fighting it.
I open my arms wide and she doesn’t hesitate to take up my offer, immediately hugging me.
Neither of us speaks, we just hold each other.
Me in my boxers, her in one of Grinder’s T-shirts, like this is all normal.
It’s anything but normal, though, because I can feel a light dampness against my chest and I’m positive it isn’t snot.
Bringing one hand up, I hold my palm against her head, carefully stroking her hair in comfort.
The problem is, the more I stroke, the wetter my chest gets. I won’t stop because she needs this…and so do I. A few tears slide down my cheeks as I try, unsuccessfully, to blink them away.
This is the shit that leads to me making bad decisions. The kind that I know, without a doubt, are going to mess with my perfect little plan of being an upstanding citizen.
After a few short minutes, Parker pulls away and begins furiously wiping the tears from her cheeks, and when she lifts the hem of Grinder’s T-shirt, I immediately close my eyes. It’s not that I can’t appreciate the female form; more like I’m giving her some privacy.
She huffs, but it’s the kind of huff you make when you’re steadying yourself, steeling your spine to do shit you really don’t want to do, and I open my eyes again to find a very determined Parker.
“Okay, I’ve had my moment. Now time to plan. C’mon.” She attempts to shoo me back into the bedroom, and of course she succeeds, but this is not me agreeing to be on board.
“The Sons have a plan, or are you choosing to ignore your brother?” I know the answer, but if I’m honest, her rapid switch in emotions is a little unsettling.
The enthusiasm is great, but I don’t know her as well as I know Mac, so going along with whatever she’s concocting is going to be a huge stretch for me.
I guess I have some growth, after all.
“They can do their plan. But mine will be better and faster.” She sits on the bed and leans against the headboard, bringing her knees up and reading something on her phone. Then she grins. It still doesn’t reach her eyes, but it’s real. The kind of real that promises pain and destruction.
“It sounds like you’re about to cause some trouble and I’m not entirely on board here.” I gesture to myself as I say, “Doctor in training. Paramedic. Upstanding citizen. Not a criminal.”
“Not yet, you’re not. But you wouldn’t let me save our man all by myself, would ya?” She blinks up at me and pouts, as if that’s going to change my mind. It doesn’t, but she’s cute.
I sit beside her, one foot tucked beneath my thigh, and huff a little as I ready myself for whatever craziness is about to ensue.
I guess the thing with Mac was a trial run; making her sandwiches while she tortured her brother after first helping her fake her own death and whisking her away in an ambulance I ‘borrowed’…
yeah, I feel like that’s child’s play compared to Parker’s mind.
Before I can give her any more resistance, she pins her big blue eyes on me and I swear, she’s the reincarnation of Athena and Ares all wrapped up in one small package. Love and war swirls in her blue depths, promising vengeance and the return of our man.
“Pleeeeeease, help me, Spenny. I can’t do this without you.”
The thing is…I’m already in. Whatever it is, I’m here for it, because I’m not going to let Grinder get away from me that easily.
Not now that I can finally see a future for myself.
For us. Never in a million years did I think that would be possible but it is, and I’m not giving up on what we could have together at the first sign of trouble.
This isn’t the way I would have chosen to do things, but at this point, we’re out of options. The law isn’t on our side and as much as I’d like to keep my hands clean, I’m ready to do whatever it takes.
“You filling me in or do I have to make some threat that you know damn well I won’t follow through with?” Leaning one hand on the bed, I give her a very judgy half-grin, my brows raised in expectation.
“Well…” She drags the word out and holds up a finger when her phone buzzes, effectively telling me to wait before she finishes reading whatever it is and lifts her head.
“The Butcher has delivered.” She throws her phone onto the bed and claps her hands together.
She should look joyful, but with the big puffy eyes full of revenge, I just want to hug her again.
“Fancy driving me just outside of town to see a man about a dog? And by that, I mean…” She raises her eyebrows a few times, nodding her head in a way that tells me I know what she means—I don’t.
“I got some toys to pick up so I’m not empty handed…
” She trails off, waiting for me to get it. And I do…now.
Great.
Our first illegal thing together. Picking up weapons from a backstreet dealer. We’ll be best friends before we know it.
“And then…” I tilt my head, curious as I resist the urge to dramatically roll my eyes.
“I haven’t got any further than that yet. Waiting on The Butcher for more. C’mon, Spenny, it’s been what? Five minutes? He’s already sorted one thing. I have no doubt the rest of what we need is on the way.” She’s up and rooting through the drawers as soon as she finishes talking.
“You are aware my main skillset is to fix people. I’m good for driving, but anything else and I’ll just be a liability.
” My mood shifts as I realize what’s about to happen.
I’m down this rabbit hole so far and I should feel wrong about everything.
Planning criminal activities should make me feel bad.
But as it stands, I know this is the way it’s supposed to be.
Doing bad shit for good reasons is apparently becoming my thing.
“Fuck off with that shit.” She pops her head up and glares at me before continuing her search for I don’t know what.
“It’s not shit. I’m just being honest. You need to know what you’re working with.
I’m down for whatever your plan is, yes, but I feel like a spare part.
” I sigh and shake my head, my eyes beginning to water as the truth really comes out.
The painful emotions that have been rampant since discovering Grinder and Kincaid are missing are all pushing to the surface at once and now I’m unable to keep pushing them down.
“I think I’m a bad omen. My last boyfriend was murdered in front of me and…
” I don’t think I can say it, but Parker’s looking at me now, kneeling on the bed in front of me.
“If anything happens to them, Parker, I…it’s gonna break me. ”
Quicker than the tears really begin falling, she hugs me, comforting me the same way I did for her, pulling my head into her chest and stroking her hand through my hair.
“You and me, Spenny. We’re a team. And you are just as fucking important as the air we breathe, d’ya hear me?
Without you, the calm, steady, funny-as-fuck man that you are, I would be a fuckin’ mess rockin’ in the corner.
No way I’d be able to get my ADHD superpower on and get shit done.
We’re yin and yang. Totally opposite, but each with a little of the other inside them and both needed.
” She speaks into my hair and the warmth is comforting.
It’s strange, though, because she’s right. It’s like we synched our breakdowns so the other can comfort them. Each of us with our own strengths boosting the other’s weaknesses.
I allow myself a few minutes to feel what I’m feeling, hugging her back but not speaking before we pull apart.
She palms the sides of my face and looks into my eyes, then she slaps my cheeks.
“He’s coming home. We got this, yeah?”
Her fearlessness is catching and I find myself smiling as I huff a deep breath and nod.
“Yeah. But if you slap my cheeks again, I’m doing it back.” I smirk and wipe away my tears.
Parker’s eyes widen with mock-surprise as she cups her own cheeks and feigns innocence.
“Ooh, I didn’t think we were there yet.” She winks. “But I love a good spanking.”