Chapter 31
Ricochet
Thank fuck I’d already been on my way back to Gwen’s place. Church had ended early and instead of waiting in town for Jordan, I’d decided to go to her.
I was only ten minutes away when Sean had called me on Jordan’s phone.
As soon as I’d heard his voice I knew something was wrong.
Hearing him tell me that Trent was there and had hurt his mom and that Jordan was protecting her had made my blood freeze in my veins.
After the threats that Trent had made yesterday, my imagination was set to run wild.
It was the longest drive of my life despite the fact that I was pushing my bike to its max speed. The fact that I didn’t pass a cop was pure luck. As soon as I pulled up to the house, I dumped my bike, letting it fall to the side. There wasn’t time to park it. All I could think about was my family.
The gunshot rang out through the night. My mind fought to pull me back into the past, when the sound of gunfire had altered my life so irreparably.
I ran to the door, images of Afghanistan merging with what was in front of me.
Gwen's house faded into an adobe hut. I shook it off as I ran. I had to stay in the here and now.
Shaking off the memories, I rushed into the house, weapon drawn. I always carried my pistol, but it was usually my last resort. The sound of a gun being fired had prompted me to draw my weapon without hesitation.
As I made my way into the dining room my heart was beating a mile a minute, but what I saw had fear clawing at my chest.
Jordan was sitting in the doorway to the kitchen, her face pale, blood dripping down her neck.
My eyes searched her for more injuries, but it looked like the blood was coming from split skin on her jaw.
Otherwise she looked okay. Her eyes landed on me and as much as I wanted to comfort her, I took in the rest of the situation.
Sean was on one side of the dining room table, a gun in his hand, while his father was on the other side, a few feet away from Jordan.
Trent was completely focused on his son and was taunting him, the same way he’d been railing at me yesterday.
I looked back to Sean and was hit with another barrage of the past. Jack taking up a position in front of me, a young boy holding a rifle.
My past was replaying in the present, only this time it was through my family.
Gritting my teeth, I re-holstered my weapon. The only one with a gun right now, that I could see, was Sean. Jordan had a small knife in her hand, which she was holding out in front of her. Trent was unarmed, but clearly deranged.
As much as I wanted to kill Trent, I knew I couldn’t.
Lockout had outlined that one clearly today in church.
His connection with the DA would land me in jail.
Not that it mattered if he was threatening my family.
But right here and right now, it was so much simpler and so much worse.
If Sean killed his father it would ruin his life.
Forget any other reason, I had to save Sean from a life of horror.
Save him from my life. I hated the man who was standing there, who’d hurt my family, but the last thing I could do right now was kill him.
He didn’t matter at the moment. Only Sean did. Only Jordan did. Gwen and Grace. My family was what was important. Trent would be dealt with later.
“Sean.”
His eyes flashed over to me and I saw the panic there, then he focused back on Trent. His jaw tensed. I knew the signs. I’d seen that look before. Right before Jack was killed. He was willing to pull the trigger. He was going to end Trent’s life.
I couldn’t allow that. “Give me the gun, Sean.” Inching toward him, I took my eyes off Trent. The only one I could focus on now was Sean.
“He hurt Mom.” His voice wavered, but his hand didn’t. It was steady as he held the gun aloft. “He always hurts her. He’s not going to stop.” More images were flashing in and out now. One of them stayed. Lodged firmly in the present.
I could see Jack now. He was standing behind Sean. He was watching me with a desperate plea in his eyes. It was saying save him. I stepped forward in front of Sean, between him and his father.
“He’ll pay for that. I promise you.” I knelt down, my hand outstretched. “But not like this.”
“He…he wanted to kill her. Kill me!” Tears dripped down his cheeks.
“I know. But you stopped him. You protected your mom, and Jordan, and now you need to give me the gun.” I was within reach, but I didn’t dare yank the weapon from his hands.
Not with Jordan here. I didn’t know where Gwen was, but if I had to guess, I’d say the kitchen because my sunshine was guarding the door fiercely with her little pig sticker.
“Give me the gun. I’m here now, and I’m never leaving.
He’s never going to hurt you again. He’ll never hurt anyone. ”
My tone was soft. This wasn’t the time to bark at the poor kid.
He’d been through enough. His life was already changed forever.
But it didn’t have to be ruined. I knew how he felt at that moment.
Only I’d been a trained member of the military with a choice to make.
“You’re just a kid, Sean. This isn’t for you to fix. ”
That got his attention. He looked over at me, taking his eyes off Trent. The gun lowered a few inches.
From my peripheral I saw motion. Trent had wizened up and was bolting out of the dining room, toward the front door. There was nowhere the rat could hide that I wouldn’t find him. I let him leave.
Sean was focused on me now, his gun hanging limply from his hands, pointing toward the floor. When I flexed my fingers, he handed it over.
Sighing in relief, I stuffed it in the waistband of my jeans, then pulled him in for a hug. Jack was still there behind him, a smile on his face. Slowly he faded away, and a weight fell off of me. “Where’s your sister?”
“Upstairs. Hiding.”
“Go sit with Grace until the police get here,” I told him. Before I let him go, I squeezed him tighter. “You were incredibly brave tonight. You did your family proud. Thank you for protecting them.”
He gave me a small smile and that was when I knew he was going to be alright. I waited until I heard his shoes slapping on the wooden stairs before I turned.
“Jesus, Sunshine,” I murmured, moving over to her.
She shook her head. “I’m okay, but Gwen. Oh God, Ricochet, Gwen.” She backed up from my reach and scrambled into the kitchen on her hands and knees. She was in pain, if the way she was moving was any indication.
“What did he do to you?” I asked, following her.
As soon as I saw my sister crumpled in the corner I swore.
My knees hit the tile as I knelt by her side.
I rolled her over, holding her in my arms. My heart froze as I watched her chest for movement.
She took a breath and I let out a long breath of relief.
My hands skimmed over her lightly, looking for broken bones. Her face was a mess. I was betting she had a few broken ribs, but otherwise she seemed to be okay.
“Holy shit.”
My head jerked to the side at the new voice, but I relaxed when I saw Smokehouse standing in the doorway.
“Get the fuck out of the way, Smoke,” Lock barked, charging in through the door. His eyes flashed in fury when he saw the three of us lying there in Gwen’s blood. “Is that fucker still in the house?”
“He ran as soon as Ricochet took the gun from Sean,” Jordan told him.
I swiped a hand over my sister’s hair, being as gentle as I could. “Rip. Could you come hold onto her?”
They were all here. I’d called Lock as soon as I’d hung up with Sean.
Told them to call the cops and get here when they could.
They’d beaten law enforcement. No shock there.
It felt like hours had passed when, in reality, from the time I stepped through the door until now it had been just a few minutes.
Riptide sat down on Gwen’s other side and rested her head in his lap. “I got her, Brother.”
“Go search the house anyway,” Lock ordered Hush, Butcher, and Toxic. “Find the kids. Don’t…don’t fucking scare them.”
“I’ll go with them,” Hell offered. “They know me.”
I gave my brothers a grateful look as I moved over to inspect Jordan. She had a nasty cut on her chin and her whole jaw was turning black and blue. “Did that fucker hit you?” It was clear he’d beaten on Gwen. I was just tallying up the injuries that he’d have to atone for.
“Grabbed my leg when I was going for the knife. I smacked my face on the counter,” she told me with a wan smile.
Gently, I grabbed her face in both hands, tilting her head toward the light above. Her pupils weren’t responding correctly. I was pretty sure she had a concussion.
“Priest. Go wait outside for the cops and the ambulances, and everyone put your fucking guns away. Last thing we need is a miscommunication with the police.” Lockout told him.
He squatted down next to me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“Speaking of guns, are there any weapons I should take care of?”
“Trent’s is over there,” Jordan pointed to a corner. “It slid there when I tackled him.”
“When you…tackled him.” Lockout’s lips twitched. “Thatta girl. We’ll leave it there,” he said. “It’ll make it that much worse on him when the cops get here.”
“Fuck the cops,” I snarled, pissed off that this had happened. I’d had the guys watch over the houses last night, but I thought Trent’s fixation landed solely with me. I hadn’t really thought he’d go after my sister and his own damn kids.
Lockout’s hand squeezed my shoulder hard. “No. Not fuck the cops,” he said. He gave Jordan a considering look before he decided to speak in front of her. She was one of us now, and he made that determination in the moment. “You can’t go after him.”
“There’s no fucking way I’m letting him get away with this.”
“And he won’t,” Lockout said, “but you can’t go after him. You’ll kill him and after yesterday’s brawl with him in the street, if anything happens to him you’ll be the number one suspect. Think about it, Ricochet. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life behind bars?”
The look of fury was the only answer I needed before Lockout continued.
“You just stopped Sean from making the biggest mistake of his life. If you kill Trent, you go to jail. We won’t be able to hide this one or protect you.
Sean grows up not just with a scumbag father, he grows up without you.
What do you think happens to him? What is his future after tonight without you there? ”
That hit me like a knife to the gut. I knew he was right.
Jack wouldn’t see me through something like this just to blow it at the end.
Gwen’s injuries were bad, and Sean had a long road ahead to recover from this, but it was the end of the bad days.
It was the beginning of a better life. I just needed not to fuck this last part up.
I growled out a frustrated breath, but the anger from all of this was fading away.
It’d never left me so quickly before. The red was trailing away like the glow of tail lights disappearing into the night.
It left me clear headed, mostly. “Fine.”
Lockout’s brows shot up. “Good. We’ll get these girls to the hospital, give the cops our statements, then figure out what to do about Trent.”
Nodding, I shuffled around until my back was against the oven.
It had a massive crack in the glass, making me wonder who had hit it.
Pulling Jordan half onto my lap, I cradled her to me while her eyes fluttered closed.
“Fine. But if those fucking ambulances take much longer, we’re bringing them to the hospital ourselves. ”
Right about that time EMTs and cops flooded into the house. It wasn’t easy for me to give my girl or my sister over to them, but I took that opportunity to scoop both Sean and Grace up into my arms. We watched as they loaded the women into the ambulance.
Lockout somehow got the cops to agree to interview us at the hospital, so I buckled the kids into Gwen’s car. Hush got into the passenger seat next to me.
“Mind if I catch a ride?”
I shook my head and started the car. “Who’s watching the club?”
“Dash, Bear, and George. They’ve got it under control,” Hush replied. He gave me a long look. “You okay?”
Sucking in a deep, shuddering breath, I nodded.
“Surprisingly, yeah.” We sat in silence for a few moments before I looked in the rearview.
Both kids were passed out in the back seat.
“I almost lost them all, Hush.” My voice cracked as I thought about what I’d nearly lost. “That would have been the final straw. I wouldn’t have come back. ”
“But you didn’t,” he insisted, turning his head and staring straight at me. “They’re here, alive, if not a little banged up. We’ll get that fuckin’ little prick and we’ll make sure he never does this again.”
“That’s why I want to kill him. It’s such a strong urge I’m fucking shaking from denying it.” I held out one hand to show him. “I want to tear him apart.”
“We all do. But if you do that, Ricochet, you’ll lose your family anyway.”
“I know that,” I finally relented. “I knew it when Lockout told me. I know it now. I just don’t fucking like it.”
Hush chuckled. “You and me both, Kid.”
We rode in silence for the rest of the trip to the hospital. All I wanted was to make sure my old lady and my sister were going to be okay. Then we’d deal with Trent. A plan began to form in my mind.