Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Hudson
The pounding on the door echoed throughout my house, and growling, I stomped my way towards the front. When I swung open my front door, Flynn pushed his way inside.
“Well hello to you. I didn’t realize you were in town this late. What the fuck’s going on?” Alarm shot through me, and I pulled at his arm. “Are you okay? Is something wrong? Is it Blakely and the baby?”
I was already emotionally drained from my day, and hell, all I wanted to do was lay near Scarlett and get through the rest of the day, telling myself everything was okay, I had to remember.
.. I couldn’t help but think of the fact that my family was growing leaps and bounds day by day.
How the hell was I supposed to even function when there were so many around me that cared.
They wanted me in their lives, and worried about me just as I worried about them.
For somebody who had done their best to be a hermit and not be on the minds of everybody around them, I certainly failed at actually succeeding in that.
“What? No. She’s fine. I’m here because I’m pissed off about something, but it has nothing to do with Blakely.” He glared at me. “Should I be worried about Blakely and the baby? Let’s call Aston now. Because what the fuck?”
“No, no.” I ran my hands over my face, trying to catch my breath and frankly, trying to just catch the fuck up.
“I don’t know why the hell you’re here, storming in like that. I thought something was wrong with somebody. And since Blakely’s pregnant, she’s the first person that came to mind.”
“I think she’s fine. I haven’t heard otherwise. But now I’m worried, so let’s call.”
I held up my hand and tried to focus.
“No, we’re good. You’re good. I’m just losing my fucking mind. Why are you here?”
“I was at the restaurant, dropping off a few things for Theo because apparently I’m now an errand boy for the family.”
“Only now?” I teased, trying to feel lighter than I did.
My heart ached, and I knew I just needed to get over to Scarlett’s.
Letting her go to sleep alone was a damn mistake.
So what if I needed to focus and maybe just paint?
I could do that near her. I didn’t have to leave her alone when we were both emotionally bruised from our talk.
But I could still see Michelle’s brother’s face as he laid into me, screaming at me.
It didn’t matter that I hadn’t been the one to kill her, I hadn’t been the one to save her.
And yet I hadn’t been able to lean on Scarlett the way that she’d needed me to.
“Anyway, Luna was there, and she got a weird call from Scarlett, saying that she needed to talk to her tomorrow, for sister time or some shit, so Luna got worried, yelled at me, so now I’m here to yell at you.”
I blinked. “Scarlett called Luna? Fuck.”
“Damn straight. What did you do? I thought things were going great between the two of you. Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“It’s not that. We’re fine. I think. Hell.”
“Talk to me. Are you guys okay or not? Because when Scarlett goes to talk with Luna tomorrow, what the hell’s she going to say?”
“Nothing. We’re fine. We’re fucking fine. I think.”
“Then what? What the hell is going on?”
“Fine. When we got back from dinner, fuck.”
“Talk to me.”
“Michelle’s brother and mom were at the house. Here. Because it’s her birthday and I had forgotten that today Michelle would’ve turned a year older, but she didn’t. Because I wasn’t there.”
“Don’t, don’t put that on your fucking shoulders. You didn’t kill her. Jefferson did.”
“I know that. I know he beat her. She cheated on me, left me for him, and I would’ve found a way to be fine.
If that’s who they needed to be together, then fine.
But he was a worthless piece of shit and didn’t deserve her.
And he killed her. He killed her and I wasn’t there to save her.
By the time I got back, there was nothing I could do. ”
“It wasn’t your fault. You were overseas.”
“And she was alone. Alone and screaming and in pain, and I wasn’t there. And when I got home, I couldn’t even go to the funeral. Couldn’t go to her grave without her mother and brother shouting at me.”
“So they thought it was okay to come here on her birthday and take it out on you? They’re in pain, God knows they have a right to be, but they don’t get to blame you for it.”
“Maybe I should take some of the blame.”
“Is that what you told Scarlett? Because she was here, right? For all of it? Did you push her away because you’re afraid she’s going to get hurt? Because that’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”
I staggered back at the venom in Flynn’s tone. “No. I don’t know. She’s sleeping next door. But we’re fine. I promise. We kissed and said we were going to see each other in the morning. I just need to fucking paint or breathe or do something.”
“Then why is Scarlett trying to talk with Luna?”
“Because it was a lot to deal with? I don’t know. We’re not over.” Panic settled in my chest. “We better not be fucking over.”
“So you’re going to fight for her?”
“Damn straight. I didn’t fight for Michelle because I thought that’s what she wanted. And she’s dead. I might not have been the one to kill her, but I didn’t see Jefferson for who he was.”
“No one did. I was here, remember? Left behind. I was friends with her too. We’re twins, Hudson. Everything we had together we did together. I didn’t see the man for who he was, and he killed her. But Jefferson’s dead too. You didn’t kill that man.”
“I wish I would have.”
I said it out loud again, knowing it was the truth. I wish I could have had Jefferson’s blood on my hands, rather than Michelle’s or Josh’s or anyone else I had lost along the way.
“I wish I would’ve killed him too. I might not have loved Michelle the way you did, but she was yours therefore she was mine too. The twin thing.”
“Scarlett’s not yours,” I tried to tease, and Flynn just smiled softly.
“In case you ever can’t step up to the plate I will do my manly twin duty.”
“I should punch you, but I’m exhausted.”
“I can see why. Family drama in all ends. But us Cages are going to be okay. And you and Scarlett better be okay. You should go to her tonight, make sure she’s not alone.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and nodded. “You’re right. Fuck.”
“Good. Now you can tell Scarlett to tell Luna to stop yelling at me.”
“I have nothing to do with it. It’s their twin thing.”
“I guess,” Flynn said dryly. “Come on, let me go walk you to Scarlett’s place because I parked down the street.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“With the storm last night, some of the rain washed out part of the edge of the street. I’m surprised you didn’t see it on your way here.”
“It wasn’t like that before. What do you mean part of the street?”
“There’s a bunch of branches, and a downed tree.” Flynn paused and tilted his head. “That’s weird, right?”
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and I nodded. “Let’s go down to Scarlett together. You can show me the street on the way there.”
“Let’s do that.”
Alarmed, I grabbed my keys and phone and headed down the path to Scarlett’s house. Hopefully she’d see me on the security soon and come out to us. But when she didn’t, I kept frowning.
Then my legs nearly went out from under me as ice slid up my spine, a steely resolve taking over as I tried not to panic. Only clear thinking would get us out of this even as I knew there would be no clarity in this moment. “Call the cops.”
“What?”
“The door is open, Flynn. And that window is broken. Fuck.”
“Do you think it’s her dad? Or hell, Michelle’s brother?”
Bile coated my tongue as Flynn pulled out his phone. I immediately went down the deck stairs and tried to see if there were any tracks.
“It’s got to be Ronin. He’s the only one left. I knew he was being too fucking quiet.”
“Hudson.”
The ice in my twin’s tone nearly broke me, and I finally followed his gaze to the smoke slithering through the tops of the trees.
“Fuck. That’s the Ackerson place.”
“I’m already on the phone with the cops. Then I’ll call Sheriff Macon. Fuck.”
“I’m going.”
“I’m right behind you. Can’t be a coincidence.”
I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me, as we ran through the trees, and I had to pray that I wasn’t too late.
It wasn’t that far down the path. Branches slammed into us, little twigs slicing into our skin, but we kept moving, and I was damn glad that I had worn my boots. Flynn wore nicer shoes than me, since we had been at dinner, but he didn’t slow down, and I would forever be grateful for that.
As we broke through the side of the property, I cursed under my breath. The entire original structure, at least what was left of it, was on fire.
“Holy fuck. If we don’t take care of this, it’s going to take a shit ton of forest too,” Flynn whispered, and I pulled out my phone. “I need to tell the authorities that they’re going to need to send everybody.”
A scream echoed through the clearing, and ice froze my blood.
Scarlett. That was Scarlett.
And then I was moving, phone in hand, as I ran towards the burning building.
Flynn was right on my tail, but before I could do anything, a body shot out of the side of the building and slammed into me.
Ronin’s fist connected with my jaw, and I twisted, kicking at the man.
“She’s mine. You asshole. Don’t you see? You Cages think you know everything, but now you’re not going to get anything. You have nothing.”
Scarlett screamed again, and fear etched its way onto my soul as I elbowed Ronin in the gut and continued to try to get through him. Flynn was there, pulling Ronin off me, but then my twin froze, hands raised.
“You don’t need to do that, Ronin.”
That’s when Ronin staggered forward, gun in hand.
“But I really do. She ruined everything. She got me fired. My family hates me. Nobody will have me. So now nobody gets to have her.”
I stood up, as Ronin swayed, gun in hand, but I knew if I wasn’t quick enough, we were going to be too late to save Scarlett. And I’d be damned if I lost someone else.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Flynn move. I wanted to tell him to stop where he was, that I could handle this, but Ronin lifted his gun towards me and fired.
Everything moved so quickly, but as the body slammed into me once again, and I rammed into the ground, Flynn let out a shout.
Scrambling, I stood up and slammed my fist into Ronin’s jaw.
The other man staggered back and fell, the gun dangerously swaying from his hands. I took the gun, tossed it away, and continued to ram my fist into Ronin’s face.
When Ronin finally stopped moving, though his chest rose and fell, telling me he was at least alive, I forced myself to stand up and look towards my brother, hoping to hell I hadn’t just lost the other half of me.
Flynn lay on the ground, clutching his leg. “I’m fine. I swear.” He gasped, his face deathly pale.
I reached out, knowing Flynn needed me, as Scarlett’s scream echoed through the air once again, and I turned towards the burning building. As Flynn gave me a nod, I pushed my way through the door, into the smoke, knowing I would be too late. For us both.