Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Maisie
What the hell was all that banging?
"Make it stop . . ." I dragged the pillow over my head and squished the sides into my ears to try and drown out the awful noise that was cutting into my precious sleeping time.
"Sweetheart, get up and get dressed. Your brother’s outside."
"What?" It was like someone shot a bolt of adrenaline straight to my heart, I jumped up so fast. "How do you know?"
Hendrix handed me his phone. "I can see him on the camera. Now get dressed so we can see why he's waking up the whole neighborhood."
I scrambled out of bed in search of my panties. I couldn't be sure if they were on the right way or inside out. I tagged the first pair of pants I found and quickly realized they were Hendrix's, not mine. Oh well. I rolled them a couple times, and voila, they fit. I was scrambling to find a shirt when Hendrix tossed one at me. "Here, put this on."
I worked my arms through the holes while making my way out the door. Thankfully I didn't run into a wall or piece of furniture in my attempt to pull the garment over my head therefore leaving me blind for a few seconds. I also thanked the god I didn’t necessarily believe in that Hendrix kept a clean bedroom floor except for a few pieces of clothing next to the bed. Otherwise I would’ve tripped and fell in my haste to get out of the room.
It wasn't until we were close to the front door that I realized Hendrix was carrying a gun. "Why the hell do you have that?"
"Because, I'm sorry to say, sweetheart, but nobody comes banging on a door in the middle of the night with good news. Now stay behind me."
I couldn't argue with that logic. I also figured for once I would listen to Hendrix's demand rather than fighting with him. I doubted my brother was here to cause harm, but I could see how a middle-of-the-night visit would be bad.
The second Hendrix had the door open, Matty was pushing his way through it and yelling at us.
"I thought I told you to stop digging! Now you've gone and fucked everything up!"
"I'm only going to say this once." Hendrix's voice was the opposite of my brother's. It was low and deadly and kinda scared me a bit. "If you don't want me to shoot your ass, I suggest you check your attitude when talking to your sister."
Matty must've realized the threat was real because the next time words came out of his mouth, they weren't nearly as loud but they were accusatory. "You had to keep looking, didn't you? You couldn't just leave it well enough alone."
"Why don't you come to the kitchen and tell me what you're talking about?"
I didn't understand why he was so upset.
Matty pushed past Hendrix with a bump to the shoulder and stormed straight to the back of the house where the kitchen was located. I merely shrugged my shoulders at Hendrix since I didn't understand what my brother’s problem was.
As soon as we entered the kitchen, Matty started on Hendrix. "Are you going to put that away?" He nodded to where Hendrix kept the gun down at his side.
"That depends on your attitude. I don't need it to do some damage but it's a hell of a lot quicker."
I tried to bring the tension down in the room. "There will be no shooting anyone tonight. I've seen enough blood spilling from a person to last me a lifetime."
"I warned you to stop looking and you didn't. Now everything is going to shit," my brother repeated for the umpteenth time.
"You keep saying that but you're not making any sense," I argued back. "What's gone to shit?"
"Everything I've worked toward the last twelve years."
I stumbled back like he physically slapped me and that was exactly how hearing him say that felt. "You mean your position within The New Beginning? I didn't want to believe it. I refused to believe it. Hell, I argued in your defense!"
"It's not what you think," he was quick to reply.
"Oh really, Matthew? Then tell me what it is because from what I've been told, you took over for Atlas after he died."
"Yes, I did."
Hearing his confession was so much worse than hearing it from Hendrix or Nolen. At least with them I could bury my head in the sand. Now I had to face the truth.
"Unbelievable. I thought you were better than that, Matthew."
This time, when I turned away from my brother, it wasn't because I was being forced to. This time I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
"Marmar, wait!"
"No!" I swung back around and stomped over to him, jabbing my finger in his chest. "We talked repeatedly about how bad Atlas and his followers were. We talked about stopping them for what they were doing to women and now I find out you spent the last twelve years being one of them? Excuse me if I’m having a hard time grasping things despite what I’ve learned the past few days."
I once again spun away to leave. I was over this conversation and didn't care if I never saw my brother again. He wasn't the man I thought he was.
"I didn't have a choice but to take over for Atlas after you killed him."
I skidded to a stop. I couldn't turn around to face him and my voice shook when I asked, "So this is my fault?"
"No." I could hear the desperation in his voice. "Please just let me explain. I promise you it's not what you think."
"Maisie, I think you should hear him out."
I was so used to Hendrix calling me “sweetheart” that it jarred me when he used my real name. Or at least, the name I assumed when I came to Willow Creek.
"Fine." I turned on my heel, my arms crossed over my chest because I needed the added protection. "I'm listening but only because Hendrix asked me to."
"Thank you." Matthew took a deep breath. "Do you remember when I got arrested the week before you left?"
I nodded by head. Words escaped me. I remember how scared I was thinking he was going away to prison and I wouldn't get to see him every day. Little did I know, a worse fate would happen instead.
"I should've gone to jail that day. I thought for sure I was going to, but while I was sitting in the interrogation room, an FBI agent came in to speak to me. He offered me a deal. No jail time if I agreed to help the FBI to bring down Atlas and his silent partner. At first I wasn't going to agree but then Sarah confessed she was pregnant and practically begged me to take the deal."
"Wait." I uncrossed my arms and held up my hand. "Sarah was pregnant? What happened to the baby? Are you telling me I've had a niece or nephew this whole time and you never told me?"
"I couldn't tell you. Part of the deal was Sarah would go into witness protection. I've never met my daughter, but I get the occasional picture and update from the agent assigned to them."
My head was spinning. I had so many questions but I couldn't get my voice to work to ask them.
Thank God for Hendrix.
"Then Maisie murdered Atlas and everything changed, right?"
"Yeah. I thought for sure everything was blown and I was headed to jail, but the FBI said this was better in the end. With me being the leader, I could find out who the silent partner was."
"And did you?" Hendrix had taken over the questioning while I stood there stunned.
"No," Matthew sighed. "I was getting close but then you guys started to dig into Atlas's death and he or she got spooked. The FBI was pissed and told me to fix it. That's why I came here. I was hoping to convince you to leave it be."
"And we didn't." I finally found my voice even if it was just a whisper.
"No, and I was notified tonight that Sarah and Olivia are missing."
Olivia. Such a beautiful name.
"That's why you came banging on our door." Hendrix wasn't asking a question. He was stating a fact and now I felt terrible. I had given the go-ahead for Nolen to keep digging.
"This is all our fault."
Hendrix was by my side in a heartbeat.
"We didn't know."
He was right. We had no idea, and if I had known about my niece, I would've made sure Nolen stopped all investigations.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
Matty ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Because I wasn't allowed to. I wasn't even supposed to be getting updates on Olivia but the agent assigned to her felt bad for me. Sarah cleaned herself up when she found out she was pregnant. She's a good mother and makes sure Olivia knows about me. It's a really shitty situation but I did it so they would be safe. Now they're in danger."
"You need to let me bring my team in on this. We can help you find Sarah and Olivia. The FBI isn't going to care about them. They will prioritize the assignment over everything else."
"I know. That's why I came here tonight. I need your help."
I looked at Hendrix and my eyes said it all. We needed to help in any way we could. I refused to have my niece in danger, even if I’d never met her. She was my family.