Chapter 16 – Kendall
Dear Kaleb Paul,
Every now and then, I think about what those motherfuckers planned to do to my daughter and I can’t believe them. Fuck them all.
Stay safe, little brother,
Joe
Dear Joe,
You would’ve signed Meggie’s death warrant.
You were too fucked up to comprehend the gravity of your actions.
I’d planned to ream your ass out when you came down from your bender.
I never expected you not to be here. Gone forever.
To me, you were invincible, big brother.
The hole in my heart is deep. For you. For Joey. For Christopher.
Maybe if I would’ve walked away all the many times I threatened, I could’ve gotten you away, too.
I cannot believe just days after your beloved Meggie’s birthday, you were taken.
I understand the reasons but damn if it doesn’t hurt.
My hope now is for reconciliation between the boys.
If Christopher and Joey can get past their differences, they will make a formidable team.
I will try but Rack has already poisoned Joey.
It might be a lost cause. The only thing I can do in that case is help Christopher through his grief and find a way to keep Meggie safe for you.
She doesn’t know I exist and it will take a miracle to heal that boy.
I love you and I miss you. I’ll keep your letter safe until Meggie’s 18th birthday. If Cee Cee, Logan, and Sharper have somehow joined you in the afterlife in the next twelve months, I will honor your wishes. If note, the last will you wrote and left with Reverend Marion will stand.
Fly, brother. You’re free.
Kaleb
Following Johnnie off the elevator and onto the floor with the Death Dweller unit, Kendall tightened her hold on Mattie’s hand.
From the moment they exited Johnnie’s Navigator, Kendall and Mattie held hands.
Kendall couldn’t remember who reached for who, but it didn’t matter. They comforted one another.
On her other side, JJ stuck close to her, while Rory kept in time with his father. Blade was too young for a hospital, so Kendall left Ella teaching him lines from Shakespeare and listening to Kendall’s favorite Opera playlist.
The buzz of conversation reached her before the bikers came into sight. If Mattie hadn’t wanted to see Rebel and Kendall didn’t want her daughter subjected to Johnnie, she would’ve stayed home, locked in her office to search for more letters between Big Joe and K-P.
She’d found a letter, maybe a smoking gun, that threatened everything. But Mattie begged to see Rebel and Johnnie was a motherfucker.
Kendall stalled until nearly 4PM and finally gave in when Johnnie warned her that he was heading to the hospital with or without her. She hadn’t found anything else to help her in her quest, so she gave into the inevitable.
Now, she zeroed in on Bash, and blinked, then remembered that that bitch was dead. He’d probably come because of that. Outlaw stood next to him, a much handsomer version of Bash. Cleaner lounged nearby and glared at her. But it was Tio and his fixation on Mattie that made Kendall stiffen.
“Gorgeous!” Bash crowed at the same time Tio called, “Matilda.”
A tremble traveled from her daughter’s hand into Kendall and she glanced at Mattie. She was pale and wide-eyed.
“Motherfucker, if you enjoy being out of your cast, leave Mattie the fuck alone,” Diesel barked, scowling.
Tio smirked. “I thought it was only Rebel you were so protective of.”
“Shut it, boy,” Bash warned, not taking his pale green gaze off Kendall. “Before I fucking throw you out the window.”
The threat reminded Kendall of her job and she rolled her eyes. “No one’s throwing anyone out of the fucking window. Please don’t force me to deal with security.”
Bash nodded, oddly subdued. “Thanks for the reminder, Kendall.”
The door that granted access to the private unit opened and CJ walked out, along with Ryan and Grant.
“Hey, Matt,” CJ greeted, walking to them. He hugged Mattie, then kissed Kendall’s cheek. “Aunt Kendall.”
“My God, CJ, you’re a little taller than me,” Kendall said in shock, not realizing how her nephew had sprouted up.
CJ grinned.
“Hey, CJ,” Rory said hesitantly. “I’m sorry we took so long. Mom held us up.”
“She would’ve done me a great favor if she would’ve fucking left you and Uncle Johnnie,” CJ said, still smiling. He nodded to Mattie. “C’mon—”
“Excuse you, CJ,” Johnnie started, forever the asshole.
CJ glowered at him.
“I am your uncle and a fucking officer. We have visitors and you will respect me!”
“CJ, I didn’t text you to get Matt to enrage with this motherfucker,” Axel grumped from where he stood next to Diesel.
“Engage, boy,” Outlaw corrected.
“C’mon, Matt,” CJ started again, not giving Axel a chance to respond.
Kendall released Mattie’s hand, her head pounding too much to understand the fine nuances of the situation.
Mattie started forward but Johnnie clamped his hand on Mattie’s shoulder so fast, she stumbled.
“You aren’t going any fucking where with that arrogant asshole, Matilda—”
“Motherfucker, I’m tired of warning you about my daughter,” Kendall gritted. “Get your fucking hands off her before I break the fucking fingers you have left.”
“I’m her father too and I’m not hurting her!”
Not physically, but he was terrorizing her in a completely different manner.
After they got home from the hospital yesterday, Kendall put in a call to Anne Phillips.
She wanted to know her options. Since the attorney hadn’t called her back, she’d planned to drive to Boise tomorrow and use Charlotte as an excuse.
God! Charlotte was dead.
No wonder Kendall hadn’t heard from Brooks. Concerned about his state, she’d tried calling him, but he didn’t pick up or respond to any of her voice or text messages.
“I want to see Rebel, Daddy.”
Kendall’s grief and misery burst at Mattie’s small tone.
“Johnnie, get your fuckin’ hand off your girl. Let CJ take her back to see Rebel,” Outlaw said coldly. “Kendall, you gotta know—”
“Stay out of it. This is a fucking matter between my wife and children,” Johnnie barked, focusing on Axel. “Why the fuck did you think CJ needed to get Matilda, you interfering little asshole?”
“Johnnie—” Outlaw started.
“I got this, Dad.” Axel threw Johnnie the evil eye, then thrust his chin toward Tio. “Mattie’s afraid of that motherfucker, you blind fucking rat bat dog.”
“Rabid,” Diesel said around a cough.
“Mattie’s afraid of Tio?” Johnnie asked incredulously, releasing her shoulder. She didn’t move out of her father’s reach.
Tio laughed, a hollow sound that chilled Kendall. “You’re stretching it, chino. If you really think she’s afraid of me and you’re so big and bad, you should’ve handled me yourself, instead of calling your pussy ass brother to step in.”
“Excuse you, motherfucker,” CJ snapped. “Why don’t we take this outside? I’ll show you what a pussy ass I am.”
“Ignore him, CJ,” Diesel said, the hate in his eyes as he looked at Tio telling Kendall she was missing something. “He’s baiting you. Don’t risk the peace agreement for a motherfucker who has less sense than Johnnie.”
“I resent you comparing my kid to Johnnie, Dee Dee,” Bash said with a shake of his head.
“That’s your fucking take?” Johnnie asked. “Not that he’s threatening your son?”
“Didn’t Uncle Bash just threaten his son, Uncle Johnnie?” Axel asked in exasperation. “Who do I got to call to buy you ears and a fucking brain? Two plus four equals six, so it should be obvious.”
“Two plus two equals four, Ax,” Grant Harrington said with a smile.
“And two plus four equals six, Grant,” Axel said. “I got it right.”
“Yeah, boy, you got the math right but not the sayin’,” Outlaw told him.
“I already said how I feel about sayings, Dad. Most of them are stupid. Do I got to keep repeating myself?”
“If you wanna,” Outlaw said. “Don’t mean my ass got to engage.”
“A motherfucker who ignore me is asking for fucking trouble,” Axel huffed.
“Really, Axel?” Tio said, reengaging with the little boy and refusing to let the situation calm down.
If Kendall felt strong enough to grab Mattie and walk past Johnnie, she would.
But she was in a freefall, in a waiting area filled with bikers, most of them Diesel’s contemporaries.
Cleaner and Tio were there and the last thing she wanted was Johnnie or Rory to humiliate her any more than they already had in front of them.
It didn’t matter who defended her, the words would still be out there.
“Dad told me to behave,” Axel said, his stiffening shoulders revealing how he felt about that. “So fuck you, Tio.”
“He told you to behave, Ax,” Ryder said with deceptive calm.
Underneath his bland facade lurked the same anarchy that Axel was known for. His blue eyes looked paler and colder than his mother’s, her golden hair a much warmer tone than his flaxen shade. “Not Ransom and me.”
Ransom eyed Tio with dislike, black-haired and green eyed like Axel and their father. “Keep fucking with Axel. Ry and I will get our baseball bat and bow and arrow.”
Bash shifted. Rory shuddered.
“You don’t got to fight for me, men,” Axel said.
“Oh yeah, chino?” Tio challenged. “What can you do?”
“Kendall—” Outlaw started again.
Axel’s grin interrupted him. “I can do this.”
He moved so quickly that Kendall didn’t realize he’d armed his slingshot and flung the rock until Tio dropped to the floor.
Bash gaped at him, then blinked when Ryder and Ransom screamed with laughter and congratulated Axel.
“That can be grounds for war,” Cleaner said coldly, kneeling next to Tio’s prone body.
“So can what that motherfucker said to my boy,” Outlaw said flatly, “so fuck you and shut the fuck up.” He turned to Diesel. “Find Griffin.” He nodded to Narci, Torrin, Kenny, and a newer prospect that Kendall thought was named Seven. “Go with him. Protect my boy with your fuckin’ life.”
Kendall squinted and pursed her lips. Was there another threat or did Outlaw expect trouble from the American Scorpions?