“And?” I pushed.
“And now I’m packing all of my shit, and moving the hell away from here without giving two weeks notice on my job because my parents want me to do their bidding, and I don’t want to.”
Audrey wasn’t moving with her parents. She was moving away from them.
I was sure she didn’t even realize that her parents were moving, too, or she might not be bothering.
But I wanted her here. Tunnel wanted her here.
So that was what I did.
“I have a suggestion” I said, diverting from the plan. “How about I send out some help, and you come here?”
I heard her inhale. “That’s where I was going anyway, but I’m glad to officially have an invite.”
I started to chuckle. “I’ll send some muscle. You pack the small stuff, and leave the big shit for him.”
“Him?”
Now she sounded nervous.
“Him,” I confirmed. “He’s a sweetie.”
And he was. Fender was great and he was very personable. He had that good ol’ boy demeanor that made him come off like a man who would do just about anything to make you comfortable. And hopefully that continued to hold true with Audrey.
“Okay,” she said. “But just make sure he’s not cute.”
I snorted. “I’ll see what I can do. But the men down here aren’t ugly, that’s for sure.”
Tommy snorted at my side.
I rolled my eyes at him.
“Don’t you have anything else to do?” I suggested.
He shook his head. “Nope. This place is q…”
“Don’t you dare.”
You don’t say ‘quiet’ in a hospital. It’s just not done. And Tommy damn well knew it.
He held up his hands. “I gotta go, girl. If you need anything, let me know. Otherwise,” I paused, and covered the phone.
“What’s Fender’s real name?” I asked.
If Audrey knew that Fender was a biker, she might very well freak out.
She could handle professional looking men—men like Josh – had he not had that undercurrent of assholeishness to him. He at least looked normal.
A man like Fender, well, he just looked rough. Like a biker.
He had tattoos. He wore a motorcycle cut. He was just a typical biker in all ways.
And Audrey couldn’t control them, which made her nervous around them.
Hence the reason for the lie.
Tommy Tom looked at me. “Tobias.”
I uncovered the phone. “…Tobias will be there tomorrow.”
If not tonight, I thought.
However, Audrey didn’t need to know that part. She just needed to think this was me helping her out, not Tunnel protecting her.
Plus, I thought it would be better for Tunnel to explain to his sister himself why he had to die. That wasn’t something that you allowed someone else to share for you.
And Tunnel knew it.
He just didn’t want to deal with his sister’s anger, which he wholly deserved.
He got off lucky with me.
When I’d made those promises late at night, it was a vow between me and the universe. Something I wouldn’t break.
Audrey hadn’t made those vows. She needed to yell and scream at him for the both of us.
My smile grew.
My husband was in for it, that was for sure.
Chapter 21
My momma didn’t raise no fool. A psycho, yes, but not a fool.
-Ghost’s secret thoughts
Ghost
It took my sister and Fender two and a half days to get to Mooresville, and the entire time, I was waiting for the next shoe to drop.
My parents would realize rather quickly that Audrey was no longer there.
Fender had taken his time getting Audrey here due to the massive amount of shit she needed to pack, and I’d spent the last two days worrying.
How the hell was I going to tell my sister that I was alive? That, all this time, I’d just been in hiding because our parents were assholes.
Audrey had been through too much. She’d experienced way more than what was fair. She was all sunshine and happiness before my parents used her so viciously for their own sick purposes.
Should I tell her that they were the ones behind her rape? Because they were. Agonizingly so.
I didn’t have the guy that did it. But I knew that the guy was a part of my parents’ organization. I’d never been able to nail down his identity, and it wasn’t for my lack of trying.
“You’re wearing a hole in the carpet,” Mina sighed from the couch.
“There isn’t carpet in here,” I pointed out. “It’s concrete.”
She gave me a solid glare, and my lips twitched in reaction to her fierceness.
“Ghost, can you help me with my math homework?”
“I thought school was out for the summer?” I asked, walking to the kitchen table where Sienna was sitting.
She had math papers surrounding her, and there was a bunch of what looked like gibberish scribbled on the pages.
I frowned.
“I have a tutor,” Sienna said by way of explanation. “I’m not very good at it, and my teachers thought it was best if I continued to study over the summer to help me next year.”
I looked at Mina, who was watching the two of us with a small smile.
“Sienna was barely passing her math classes before she finished second grade,” Mina answered my silent question. “Her teacher suggested that she continue through summer school, despite having passed the class. But since we moved, I thought taking her to a tutor might be better. She started tonight.”
“What kind of tutor?” I asked, somewhat alarmed that she would trust just anybody with our daughter.
“The kind of tutor that’s a licensed, reputable business,” Mina said reading my worry and moving to soothe it before it got out of control. “She goes to that place in the Heritage Shopping Center. I had Silas check them out.”
My lips quirked.
“That’s good to know,” I rumbled, then pulled out a chair. “Tell me where you need help.”
Sienna pointed to a problem.
“That’s easy,” I said. “What did the teachers tell you to do for this?”
It was a simple addition problem. The problem was that it had four numbers that she needed to add instead of just two.
“I just get flustered when I have to add up this many numbers,” Sienna said.
I took the pencil from her hand, and then split the problem in half.
“Add these two, and then add these two,” I instructed, pointing at each problem with the pencil. “Then, once you have the answer, take the answers and add those two up.”
I saw the moment it clicked, and her excited eyes turned to me.
“You are so smart!” she declared jubilantly.
I grinned.
“No, not smart. Just practiced. You’ll get there, baby,” I said, cupping her cheek with my hand. “Do those, and then call me back over here so I can check your work, okay?”
She nodded enthusiastically, and then dropped her head and started writing, adding numbers furiously.
“I’m fairly sure she needs glasses,” Mina said. “I’m going to have to take her to the eye doctor in the next couple of weeks, just to make sure.”
“Aunt Audrey!” Sienna cried, throwing her pencil down and running for the door.
The pencil rolled off the table, and then into my lap, as I watched Sienna hit Audrey with such force that it rocked my sister back on her heels.