33. Duke
DUKE
Fuck. She knows about Michael.
Nobody really knows what we did to him, not even Eden—or so I thought.
My brother Sterling’s wife was pregnant when he met her outside of a truck stop. She had bruises around her neck and was being harassed by a truck driver, so Sterling convinced her to let him give her a ride.
Several months later, after they’d been living together platonically and gotten married so she could use his military insurance, her ex-boyfriend showed up, looking for her. He kidnapped her right off the sidewalk and took her to a shady motel room.
When Sterling and I found them, he was beating up his pregnant ex-girlfriend, and neither of us wanted to let him have the chance to ever do it again or fight her for custody.
I did what I had to do.
“What did she tell you?” I keep my eyes on the road.
When she doesn’t answer for a few seconds, I turn and look at her. She’s frowning and shaking her head.
“Why don’t you tell me your side, and I’ll see if they match?”
Fuck. I have no idea how much Sterling has told Eden. He’s been overseas on a top-secret mission with the Marine Raiders, and we haven’t spoken about that night since it happened.
“I’m never going to lie to you. I also don’t want to scare you.”
My phone starts ringing, interrupting us. I swipe to answer Jensen’s call and put it on speaker.
“What?” I bark.
“He stopped at a gas station and left the kids in the car. He’s been inside for ten minutes.”
“What?” Dallas screeches.
“Uh, yeah, I can see the boys inside the truck though.”
“What rest stop are you at?”
“The Texaco right off the highway. Exit 54.”
“We’re three miles away. Stay with them.”
“All right, boss.”
He hangs up the phone. Jensen has been our ranch hand for years, and he’s fully trustworthy. He’s not the brightest crayon in the box though.
“Sterling beat the shit out of Michael before I strangled him with the bedsheets from his motel room. I bought some meth off a crackhead and stuck him with a lethal dose of it and left his body there. It was ruled a drug overdose, and nobody bothered to do an autopsy. Local authorities don’t have the budget or the manpower to identify every drug overdose, so unless the body is found in suspicious circumstances, they won’t. ”
“Being beat up isn’t suspicious?”
I shrug. “Not in a place like that. It’s the norm actually.”
I glance over at her to gauge her reaction. Her eyes are on the road ahead of us, and her expression is … pensive. Her brows are pushed together, lips pursed.
“You gotta say something.”
“I’m thinking.”
“Fuck, baby, you gotta believe me when I say I would never hurt you or anyone who didn’t deserve it. None of us would. The men we’ve killed, they’ve all been really shitty motherfuckers. They’re better off as worm food, I promise you.”
I’m taking the exit now, looking for the Texaco. It’s on the other side of the highway, so I turn left and go under the overpass. She doesn’t say anything before we pull in. I go slow, looking for Matt’s red truck.
I see it parked over near the air filling stations. Jensen is at a gas pump, still sitting in his truck. I park on the other side of the parking lot, where I can still see Matt’s truck, but he won’t immediately see mine.
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to get them out of there,” she says, wringing her hands.
“I know you do, and we will. But let’s think about how to go about it. We could have Jensen go in and see what he’s doing, maybe distract him while we get the boys. You think his hidden key is still there?”
She shrugs. The panic is building in her eyes. I reach over, grabbing her hand.
“I’m going to go talk to Jensen. And then we’ll get the boys. It’s not too hot out here right now, okay? I just don’t understand what he’s doing here. Why are we all the way in fucking Oklahoma?”
She shakes her head, tears starting to fall. “I don’t get it either. What’s his plan? Is he kidnapping them?”
I look at the digital clock on the dashboard.
“In twenty minutes, his time is up, and he’s supposed to be meeting up with you, so, yeah, I’d say that he thinks he is.”
She sucks in a sob.
“I’ll do whatever you want here. Just tell me what you—” My words are cut off when Matt exits the gas station, a grocery bag in his hand.
“Stay in the truck,” I tell her, stepping out.
I button my shirt as I’m walking toward him. Jensen sees me, eyes widening. I shake my head when he starts opening his door. My fists are clenched by my sides as I attempt to rein in the anger rising like a tidal wave.
The things he did to Dallas are enough for me to justify killing him right now, even if I do go to prison for it.
I make it to the truck a few seconds after he does.
“You going somewhere, Hayes?”
Matt stops in his tracks, his shoulders going rigid. He slowly turns toward me, his face blanching when he meets my eyes. He quickly searches the area around me, wondering if I’m alone.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” He shifts his feet.
“I asked you a question. Where are you going?”
He feigns confusion, frowning. “I’m headed to visit my family in Oklahoma. What are you doing here?”
“You taking the kids with you?”
I can see the boys behind him, pressing their faces to the window.
“Yeah, I am. And?”
“Dallas said she’s supposed to get them back today at noon. And it’s noon right now.”
He rolls his eyes. “Man, you’d better run as far as you can from that bitch while you still can. She’s a fucking lying slut. It’s my time for another two days.”
“You’re also not supposed to leave Kowata County. And you crossed a state line.”
He’s getting angrier now. The mask is slipping.
“According to who? Her? Are you sure about that? Seems like maybe she’s using those tits of hers to confuse and blind you too. Why would I be dumb enough to do that if I was court ordered not to, huh?”
I take a small step back, a sliver of doubt slicing through me. Dallas wouldn’t lie to me about this …
He sees the look on my face and presses further.
“Man, I don’t even blame you for following me all this way.
I was fooled by her too. She’s got a way …
a way of digging her claws into you and confusing you, making you think you’re showing up as the hero or something.
When, really, she’s pulling strings and playing a twisted game.
A game just to see how far she can push you to do her bidding. ”
I look at the boys in the window, wondering how long he’s going to sit here and talk shit about his ex-wife and let them sit in the truck with the sun rising higher every minute.
“She’s a liar, man. And you want to believe her because she’s so good at playing the victim.
She uses her pretty face and those crocodile tears to sell the story.
She probably told you that I hit her and threw her around.
The reality is, she abused me. She was always drinking way too much wine.
She threw shit and yelled at me all the time while she was drunk.
Used to scare the kids. I begged her not to leave me—not because I was still in love with her, but because I didn’t think she should be alone with them. They need a stable parent, you know?”
My stomach is tight. I don’t believe that she would do all those things. Dallas does drink wine, but she’s a good mother. I’ve never seen her drunk around her kids. She’d never hurt them.
But none of this makes sense when it comes to why Matt would drive all this way to go visit his family with the boys if it was Dallas’s time. Is he really just that stupid and reckless? Or is he fucking with me and trying to kidnap them?
Maybe she got the dates confused. Maybe he—
I hear footsteps behind me. I turn and see Dallas approaching, her eyes wide.
“What’s going on?”
The boys start banging on the window when they see her.
“Did you leave them in the truck while you went inside?” she asks, her voice shaky.
Matt’s demeanor shifts to focus on her. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to him. He’s a good guy. He doesn’t deserve this.”
“Doing what to him? We’re here to stop you from taking my children out of state. You know you’re not legally allowed to—”
“Wow. The delusion is still there, isn’t it?
Did you tell him I said I was going to kill you too?
Did you tell him about the part where you were drunk and you made it all up?
He’s got his whole life ahead of him, Dallas.
Why would you do this to him? Is it not enough that you fucked my life up, left me, and took my boys? My pride and joy?”
Her mouth falls open. I see all the emotions cross her face—shock, fear, disbelief, and hurt. The last one is directed at me when her wide green eyes land on my face and she sees that I was listening to him, that I was starting to doubt her.
And I hate myself for ever giving him a shred of my attention, for letting him get under my skin, even for a split second.
I turn to Matt, taking a threatening step closer.
“Open the truck—now. We’re taking them with us.” I walk over to the door, placing my hand on the handle.
“Or what? You can’t take my kids. They’re my flesh and blood. They belong with me.”
“Matt, they’re scared. Open the door!” Dallas cries.
I move over to the front tire, where the hidden key was, and search for it. Thankfully, it’s still there. I grab the box and slide it open, relief coursing through me when I see the key inside.
I push it into the lock on the driver’s door and twist it. As soon as I pull the door open, I hear the boys crying. They both jump into my arms.
When I turn back, my heart sinks into my boots.
Matt’s forearm is crushing Dallas’s throat.
“Mommy!” Dawson cries, tears streaming down his dirty face.
I hold them both close, one in each arm. I don’t even know how to stop him when I’m holding both the boys in a parking lot. I can’t set them down, knowing they might run toward them and get hurt. Or worse, run past them, where a car could run them right over.
“Matt, let her go.”
“You’d like to just take my family—is that it? They’re my fucking family. Not yours,” he spits out.
My heart is pounding so hard that it feels like it’s about to explode out of my chest. The boys start crying harder, begging for their mom.
Matt leans his mouth up to her ear. “Maybe I’ll just crush your windpipe, right here, right now, and then you won’t be able to spew all those hateful lies about me anymore.”
I look behind them when I see Jensen stepping closer.
Finally, motherfucker. Get your ass over here!
“If you want to maintain any amount of custody, you’d be better off not strangling your wife in broad daylight when the man behind you is calling the cops. Just my two cents.”
Matt blinks at me, fear flashing over his wide eyes. Dallas struggles against him.
“Let her go, and I won’t hurt you today. I’ll give you a full twenty-four hours head start to get as far away from my wrath as you can.”
Tears are streaming down Dallas’s face now. Dawson is starting to fight me to get to his mom, kicking and punching me as hard as he can.
“Shit, do you hear sirens? I think I do.”
Jensen is finally close enough for me to let the boys go, and he’ll be able to get them. I slowly set the boys down.
They bolt toward their parents, but Jensen jumps in the way. At the same time, Matt drops Dallas.
I lunge toward him, expecting him to go for the boys or even me.
But he doesn’t. Instead, he uses them as human shields to jump into his truck, start the engine, and peel out of the parking lot. He narrowly misses running over Dutton and Dawson, who are trying to get to Dallas.
I watch him head toward Oklahoma, turning back to Jensen.
“You want me to follow him, boss?”
“Nope. Just track my phone that’s in his back seat.”