Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
LUKE
I close the door and fall apart, sliding down the door till I'm sitting on my ass and silently counting to ten in my head, while I breathe in slow, steady breaths. Earlier on, when I found those tests, I was a hundred percent sure that the baby she was carrying would be mine. I couldn’t tell her that I’d found them.
If I did, she would know what else I’d found hiding under that floorboard, and I wish I could tell her that she’ll never have to worry about that secret ever again, but I can’t do that either.
I wipe the tears from my eyes because I have to go back out there and put on a brave face.
Nothing I just told Erin in the kitchen was a lie.
I’m not going anywhere. I will put everything into loving her and the kid she’s having, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed that we didn’t make it together.
I already know it’s gonna be easy. It would be impossible not to love something that’s a part of her.
I had a vision in my head all afternoon of how things were gonna be for us.
I just have to adjust it a little. I get up off my ass and get dressed, heading back out to her, and just seeing how happy she’s looking makes me a hundred percent certain that I’m gonna love our kid just fine.
“What d’ya want me to bring ya back?” I ask, picking up my keys and noticing the picture on the table. I pick it up and take a proper look; it’s hard to believe that she’s got a little person growing inside her. A little person that I’m gonna help her raise.
I’ll be there when it comes into the world. When it makes its first steps and speaks its first word. I’m gonna be this kid’s father, while the evil piece of shit who created it rots in the ground, and that gives me a little sense of ease.
“It took me a while to figure it out, but that's the head, those are its legs and?—”
“I can see it just fine. It’s beautiful,” I tell her. Smiling, when I think about how good a mom she’s gonna be.
“I still haven’t figured out what we’re gonna tell your parents, but?—”
“That’s not for you to worry about tonight; all I want you to worry about is what you're gonna eat.” I grab my wallet.
“Surprise me.” She smiles before I kiss her and head out the door, and when I get inside my truck, instead of heading in the direction of town, I take a left toward Copper Ridge and head for the Carson Ranch.
I knock on the door, and when Garrett answers, I hear the chaos coming from inside as he steps out onto his porch.
“I’d invite ya in, but it’s carnage in there.
It’s bathtime, and the boys are going through this phase where they hate it.
” He looks back through the window, and I see his wife chasing two toddlers.
“What can I do for you, Luke?” he asks, taking a seat on his porch swing and lighting himself a cigarette.
“I’ve heard some rumors over the years,” I confess, feeling nervous as hell about approaching this with him, but I'm way over my head.
“No guessing where those rumors came from.” He looks up and sniggers at me.
“Not Dolores kinda rumors; the kind you wouldn’t want spreading,” I explain, watching his whole demeanour change.
“You here to make some kinda threat?” He looks up at me with dark brown eyes that shudder my bones.
“No, Sir. I’m here to ask for your help,” I admit.
“And what can I do for you?” He draws back on his cigarette, then raises his head to release the smoke into the air.
“I have something I need to get rid of…discreetly,” I add, watching his brows knit together with curiosity.
“What are we talkin’ here, Luke? I’m gonna need you to be a little clearer.”
“We’re talkin’ a body.” I take off my hat and run my fingers through my hair. “A dead one,” I confess.
“Can we make this quick? I was only supposed to be heading into town to pick up some food,” I tell Noah Wylde when he eventually shows up at the abandoned cabin where I’ve been waiting for over half an hour.
“Luke Edwards?” he checks, looking me up and down like he’s surprised.
“Yeah.”
“Your brother got shot a couple months back, right?” He still looks unsure.
“He did,” I confirm.
“Trouble does follow you around, don’t it? Show me what ya got.” He gestures his hand toward the door, and when I open it, I'm surprised by the amount of flies and the stench the body’s given off already.
“Ohhh, weeee! You sure made a mess outta him.” He looks down at the overweight man lying on the floor and actually seems impressed.
“Baseball bat?” He kneels down to assess the injuries, and I shake my head.
“Brass knuckles?”
“No… Nothing like that.” I raise my hands so he can see ‘em, and his eyebrows lift up to his forehead.
“Bare hands? Holy shit, boy, he must have really pissed you off.” He huffs a laugh.
“I’ve never killed anyone before,” I admit. “But he hurt someone I care about. I needed to ensure he didn’t do it again.”
“Hey, I ain’t lookin’ to hear your rap sheet; I’m here to make this…” He waves his hand over the mess I’ve made, “... go away.”
“And you can do that?” I check, feeling the heavy weight in my stomach lift.
“I’m a fuckin’ magician, I can make anything happen.” He laughs, taking the phone outta his pocket and quickly typing out a message.
“This the guy who killed your brother?” he asks once he’s slipped it back in his pocket.
“No. I don’t think so.” I can’t rule him out; it is a coincidence that he’s here in town, but I don’t think he was here for Matthew. My suspicions are much more sinister, which is why I had to end him.
I jump when Noah’s phone rings, and he smirks at me darkly before stepping outside to answer it.
I look down at the scum who thought it was okay to assault his own little girl.
I read the letters he’d been sending her over the past year, all of them begging her to visit him here so he can make amends; telling her he’s a reformed man.
There is no redemption for what this sick fucker did, and there was nothing reformed about the shit I found on his phone.
“Didn’t you say you had food to pick up? Doloris closes in half an hour,” Noah informs me when he returns to the room.
“Yeah, but aren’t ya gonna need?—”
“Help’s on the way, get outta here.” He gestures with his head to the door.
“And what about payment?” I ask, having no idea what it’s gonna cost to get rid of something like this.
“Garrett says this one's on him. He had Zayne look up this guy's history while I was on my way over; figures you did his town a favour.”
“Ya serious?” I stare at him in shock.
“Boss has kids of his own; pieces of shit like this don’t get a warm welcome in Fork River.” He heads back out to his truck, and I follow him.
“So this is a no-strings kinda thing?” I check because the last thing I want is to be in Carson's pocket.
“Jesus Christ, will you just go eat? I got this.” He lifts a chainsaw from the truck bed and rolls his eyes, heading back into the cabin and shaking his head impatiently.
“Thanks,” I call out, not knowing what else to say, and when I hear him start the thing up and see the blood splatter against the window, I quickly jump back in my truck and bail.