That evil asshole, Hatch, he'd taken my son. But he'd taken my man, too, and I'd fucking let him without so much as a protest hidden in a tender kiss.
“Summer – stop.” Meg dug her fingernails into my arms, the only thing that stopped me from trashing so hard I banged my head against the hard counter. “Hurting yourself won't bring him back. Just let the pain out. Fucking all of it.”
Something brushed against my leg. Looking down through the tears, I saw Bingo, his head tilted in human-like concern.
“You're right,” I said, sniffing, and sliding off the stool. “I need to feed him. Take him for a walk around the building. It's the least I can do when Joker isn't here to do it himself.”
I left the two women with their understanding nods, tugging gently on his collar until we were halfway down the hall. Then he moved on his own.
The big dog didn't need any urging to walk with me.
He'd been like Joker's shadow, the only true companion he'd had in all those wicked years before I'd shown up on his doorstep.
Now, he was mine. All I had left, with both my man and the son he'd given me gone.
Gone.
Outside, on the patio overlooking the shooting range, another burly prospect watched me the entire time. He told me not to leave the concrete, or he'd carry me back inside himself with the dog in tow.
Standing there, overlooking the Smoky Mountain night was good enough. A high moon hung overhead, yellow and otherworldly. I crouched down next to Bingo, scratching his muzzle, touching his thick, gray forehead to mine.
“You miss him, boy. Well, so do I. I'm not afraid to tell anyone the truth. I've told too many lies for too long.”
Wagging his tail, he pulled me up, with my fingers still tucked underneath his collar. We walked the perimeter together.
The big dog followed my lead as I cried, ignoring the prospect, who stared out into the humming forest like a sentinel. I prayed, hoping that maybe this gentle giant would help send them a little higher.
Dear Lord, please bring them home safe. Please.
Bring me my little boy. Bring me my man.
I promise, on my life, on my soul, they'll never leave me again.
I'll never push them away.
I'll never lie to them, to myself, to you.
Amen.
If He willed it, I'd have my family, and nothing would ever take them away from me again.
12
Last Cut (Joker)
My sight came back after the third beating.
Shit must've knocked something loose in my head, or maybe they'd just laid off my face long enough to make my eyes work again. Their punches and kicks sure as shit focused on other parts, slamming into my joints, my ribs, my spine every time I rolled.
They beat me fuckin' stupid, and then some.
My throat tasted like rust from coughing blood. Every time some new pain jolted me awake, I saw their faces every time.
Summer. Alex. Freddy.
Fuck, that last one, I knew I was hallucinating. I knew I was dying.
My brother's dead, eyeless face peeled back in a nasty grin. “Welcome home, brother. Didn't think you'd see me so fuckin' soon, did ya?”
Freddy's dead face became somebody else. It wasn't his ghost tormenting me. I looked, let my eyes adjust, and the real bastard slowly materialized.
“Piece of shit's silent as a stump. Nothin'.,” Hatch said, brandishing something that took my eyes another minute to see.
His bastards were all around me in a circle. Must've been half his fuckin' crew, maybe more. Never seen a gang of such dirty, rotten, drugged out bastards. The wiry motherfucker he called Skelly couldn't stop snorting crystal up his nose long enough to give me a proper beating, thank fuck.
“I'm guessing you ain't gonna talk, rat fuck. We've been at this for hours, and I'm getting fuckin' tired. Mama Peacemaker here, she's getting hungry. So's Betty G. Too bad her big, mean bitch of a cousin's got a hunger ten times worse.” He ran his finger along the edge of a big, sharp machete.
Shit, I could see it now, gleaming in the dull light. Damned thing was rusted, stained, maybe from blood he'd never bothered to wipe away.
“Get fucked,” I growled, my tongue so swollen it slurred my damned words worse than being plastered drunk.
Fuck it. Didn't care how hard it was to talk.
I'd keep cursing his evil ass 'til the end, all of them, even if it came out like mush.
Hatch paused, hovering over me for a moment, brandishing the blade. He shook his head, the rough lines on his face catching the light.
“You know that shit they say about the more things change, the more they stay the same? I'm looking at it. Right fuckin' now.” Slowly, he crouched down, balancing on his knees. “This is fuckin' funny. Familiar. I've seen this face before. Joker, you realize you're giving me the same broken look your bro did before my boys held him down and ripped his eyes out? He screamed like a stuck pig. Betty G and Mama Peacemaker drank deep that night.”