Chapter 30
We All Fall Down
Thunder
I closed the door to the bedroom, leaning against it for a second. I needed to head to the main room with everyone else, but I didn’t have the energy to sit there, watching them watch me. Instead, I turned the other way, heading out the back door to sit near the fire pit.
I had meant to give her the earrings and walk her out to the car, but I’d taken one look at that folder, and the words I’d been holding in spilled out. Not wanting her feelings for me to be tied to a lie, I’d bumbled through.
Sitting in one of the chairs surrounding the pit, I leaned back, closing my eyes. I didn’t want to imagine what her response was going to be. I figured she’d hand me divorce papers, and that would be that.
Elizabeth Burkhardt. Real estate heiress.
I’d known from the beginning, and I hadn’t given a fuck.
When we’d first gotten married, I’d had Cyph help me with my military retirement.
They still paid me once a month for my service, and it was the one thing I could give my wife.
She didn’t need it, but it had made me feel better.
However, when she’d told me about calling her family attorney, I’d sweated even though my body was cold, and I’d had a hard time breathing.
What a clusterfuck.
The back door opened. Boots approached, and when they sounded like they were directly behind me, I said, “You were right. The betrayal hit the worst.”
“Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Slate. My eyes shot open, and I had to blink a few times to focus in the dark. “What are you doing out here?” I asked him.
“Sabre grabbed Grizz. They were going to come out here after the caravan left, but I beat them to it.” Slate sat in the chair next to me, passing over a beer.
“We all heard the yelling coming from Sabre’s office, and I didn’t think you needed another round of that bullshit.
Op was right, but I wouldn’t have stuck my neck out like he did. ”
“They mean well. They were just trying to hold everyone together.”
“Like fuck they do. We’ve been doing the dating thing longer than they’ve been alive.” He took a gulp of his beer, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “I’ve got skills those boys wish they had.”
“What? How to burp and fart at the same time?”
“Yeah, I’m not allowed to do that anymore at Bear’s house.”
He was waiting for me to tease him. I didn’t. “It must be serious. She cleaned you up.”
Slate was one of those men who barely showered.
He never stunk, so he didn’t see the need.
It had gotten better over the years, but he still only managed three days a week.
His gray beard normally hung past his waist, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to grow his hair out, equally long.
The man I was looking at clearly maintained his appearance.
“Fucking Bookie. If I could dig him up, I would.” He shook his head, drinking from his beer again. “The money was flowing so we never questioned him, but he wasn’t a great Old Man to Bear. She’s not willing to accept scraps, and if I want to play house, I have to follow her rules.”
“You know she sees the other women getting what none of us were capable of years ago. How many times did Bear go back to Bookie? I remember the one time she tried to leave and he raised the roof of her car, grabbed a handful of wires, and just ripped them out. He ended up dropping them at her feet without another word.” I tipped my beer back without taking a drink as I contemplated the past. “It’s not a big surprise. Bear paid her dues.”
“Yeah, so what the fuck did you say to Liz?”
“No lube?”
“I can go get the twins if you’d rather they lose their shit again.”
“I would have never pushed for more until she was ready, but Gerry had offered Alex an arranged marriage. My pride kicked in, and if she was going to marry anyone, it was going to be me. I should have told her the truth when I offered, but I didn’t, hoping that over time, it would become real.”
“So, you didn’t lie, but you didn’t tell her the truth.”
“Something like that. You know she comes from money, right?” I asked him, not sure how much I was going to have to reveal.
“You don’t have to be blind to know that.” He chuckled, taking a slug from his beer.
“She called her family attorney and updated her will.” I stared off into the distance.
“I don’t give a fuck what she does with her money.
She’s probably given it to the girls and their kids.
” I ran a hand through my hair. “From the beginning, she’s always talked about sacrificing herself.
Honestly, I thought we’d gotten past that, but when she said she’d updated her will, that’s all I could hear—even if it wasn’t true.
I panicked, and everything came spilling out in a jumbled mess. ”
I didn’t finish my thought, closing my eyes again. Slate gave me the space, but when I took too long, he pushed me to continue.
“What did she say to that?”
“I didn’t give her a chance. Told her not to sign the legal papers and walked out of the room.”
“You’re a fucking idiot.” Slate set his empty beer bottle on the ground. “Did you ever think she might have trauma from her first experience?”
No, I hadn’t. I’d assumed she didn’t want me as anything more than a friend.
“You know me. I don’t give a shit about most people, but Bear—she’s got trauma.
I walk into her house, pull out the list of shit that’s got to be done.
She doesn’t talk to me for at least an hour until something’s finished.
That’s because fucking Bookie didn’t do a goddamn thing. So now she’s overcompensating.”
“Aww, fuck.”
“Yeah. Titan never disrespected Mary Beth. That’s the example Sabre grew up with, and Grizz to some extent. Their Old Ladies had Liz.”
I should have asked her what she wanted, listened, and then made a plan to win her over. I’d fucking jumped the gun, talking out of my ass before I even knew what I was saying.
Neither of us said much as we sat after that.
The kitchen door opened, and Grizz stuck his head out. “D clocked a cop car cresting the hill. It doesn’t have its lights on.”
I instantly stood, and Slate followed me through the clubhouse and out the front door. No one would have told us, dealing with it themselves, but I was afraid this was news about my wife. She hadn’t returned.
The girls stood on the porch, holding onto the railing until their knuckles turned white.
Buster saw me first. “This can’t be about Aunt E.”
I pulled her in for a quick hug. “We don’t know what’s going on.”
She nodded at me before pulling away.
Taking the steps two at a time, I hit the lot and jogged to where the rest of the men were standing at the fence, waiting.
We had a double-gate system, and the officer turned into the driveway, pulling up to the first one. C could have let the officer pass through, trapping him between the two gates, but he didn’t. He left him outside.
The officer got out of his car and walked towards the first gate, shoving his fingers through the links in the fence. “I’m looking for Elizabeth Burkhardt,” he yelled, but when we didn’t move, he placed his hands on his hips. He stared at us as we watched him, not bothering to respond.
My heart sank, fear flooding my chest until my stomach twisted. Sabre would know if something had happened with Alex, right? He had said nothing, and as far as I knew, the brothers with her hadn’t called.
“Elizabeth Burkhardt?” the officer tried again, but none of us responded, and the women wouldn’t have been able to hear him.
The ground trembled. The sound of loud pipes cut through the air.
All our heads shifted to the right at the same time as the first two brothers crested the top of the hill.
I held my breath until I saw the car, silently making a promise that if my wife was alright, I’d never take our marriage for granted again.
The policeman traced our line of sight, and when the first two bikes approached, he walked to the back of his squad car, blocking them from entering the driveway. Zook and How turned off their bikes, removed their helmets, and waited for everyone else behind them to catch up.
“I’m looking for Elizabeth Burkhardt,” the officer tried again.
Neither one of them said anything, shooting each other a look.
Dead parked the car on the side of the road before walking around the front and opening the passenger door. He held his hand out to Liz, and I could see the top of her head as she swung her feet out to stand.
“Go through the shed,” Sabre said to me through gritted teeth. I didn’t hesitate as I ran to the shed, crossed over, and exited on the other side. The brothers who had ridden behind the car dismounted before coming around the back.
“What’s…going on?” Liz muttered.
I leaned forward, swiping a piece of her hair behind her ear. “He’s asking for you,” I whispered. It was the closest I was going to come to keeping my volume down.
“Why me?”
I shrugged.
She wrapped her arm around mine, shuffling towards the officer.
“Are you Elizabeth Burkhardt?” he asked her when we got close enough.
“Yes.”
“Ma’am, I’m really sorry to tell you they found Gerry Whitmore dead this evening.”
Liz went still, and I tightened my grip on her. She stared at the officer as if he had two heads. Her eyes were wide in disbelief, and I didn’t blame her when she dug her nails into my arm.
“How?” she asked the officer.
“I’m not at liberty to say, ma’am. I was told to notify his next of kin.” The officer jumped back into the squad car, peeling off as quickly as he could.
“Gerry…dead,” she whispered. The gates opened, swallowing her words.
I helped her walk into the yard. Her shuffle was more pronounced without her brace, but I wouldn’t let her fall.
***
Elizabeth
Gerry was dead.
I stumbled, but Thunder made sure I didn’t fall as we continued through the lot, toward where my nieces stood on the porch. Grace was the first to move. She walked down the stairs, dragging her feet as if she knew what was coming and was prolonging the inevitable.
Meredith didn’t move. She’d already detached herself from the situation.
I stopped, tightening my hold on Thunder, but the black veil came down quickly. My body wobbled, and all I could do was grip his arm, hoping I didn’t crash into the dirt.
“Auntie.” I could still remember the tremble in Grace’s voice as I tried to explain. “I don’t understand.”
“Jesus Christ, Grace. Your mother is gone. She’s not coming back,” Gerry bellowed as he paced the length of the living room. He was mourning his wife, but Grace was smart. She curled up in the corner of the couch, making herself as small as possible.
“She’s not coming home, Auntie?” I told her no, but that we’d do our best to honor her memory.
No one was ever going to replace Madalyn.
She hugged me as tightly as she could, but over her head, I saw Meredith standing in the doorway.
She held her blanket tight to her chest, and I couldn’t remember hearing her little voice.
I passed Grace over to Gerry, dropping to my knees in front of Meredith. She was only five, and I tried to soften the blow. I told her Madalyn was gone. She still said nothing, and when I went to hug her, she ran to her bedroom.
As the veil lifted, their faces morphed into the women they’d become, but their expressions remained the same as when they were little.
Grace’s cheeks were wet with tears as she wrapped her arms around herself. “He’s gone?”
All I could do was nod. I didn’t hesitate to believe the policeman. Gerry was dead.
Meredith stood next to Grace. “I told you he was going to die.” Those were the last words I heard from her for the next few days.