Beard Up(50)

Big Papa, our pseudo president who refused to take the mantle, had asked Fender what his biggest sin was.

He hadn't hesitated in stating it.

My best friend, since I was four, raped my sister over and over again for nearly two years, whenever he came over to my house. I didn't know what was going on, and Amy, my sister, hadn't told anybody what was going on, because my ex-best friend had threatened her with killing me in my sleep. It was one night, when I woke up to find my room empty, and Jay nowhere in sight.

I'd gotten up to search for him when I heard weird noises coming from my fifteen-year-old sister's room.

I pushed the door open, thinking she was having a nightmare, when I found Jay on her bed raping her. He'd had her face covered with a pillow, and she was being forced down with the comforter off of her bed holding her upper body immobile.

I snapped. Killed him in a fit of rage.

I couldn't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing if that had been me.

I'd have killed to have the closure that Fender did.

When I hung up, I dropped my hand to my face and rubbed it vigorously.

Now I needed to call my wife and ask her to call my sister and tell her not to freak out when some strange man showed up at her door.

A smile lit my face.

I hadn't gotten to call her in a really, really long time. And I couldn't fucking wait to hear her voice.





***


Mina

I picked up the phone and answered it while also charting what I'd just administered to a patient in room three

"Mooresville ER, this is Mina."

"Hey," came the growly reply.

My eyes closed, and a knot formed in my throat, as a shiver stole over my body.

I hadn't heard that voice over a phone line in such a long time that it was nearly debilitating to finally have that again.

"Hey," I said, my voice coming out husky and choked with emotion.

"Baby," came his whispered, gruff reply. "Are you okay?"

The computer screen in front of my face swam.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I said softly, dashing away a tear with the back of my hand when it spilled out of my eye. "Are you okay?"

"Yes and no," he answered hesitantly. "I need you to call Audrey and tell her that one of the boys over here is going to come get her."

My brows rose. 

"Is she in trouble?" I asked worriedly.

Audrey and I had turned into each other's go-to person.

After Tunnel had died, we'd had no one left but each other, and we'd used that to our advantage and strengthened the bond we already had.

Sure, I'd had the club, but none of them felt the supreme feeling of loss that Audrey and I felt, making us closer than anyone else could ever be.

And I suddenly felt like shit, because I now had Tunnel back, and she didn't.

"No, she's not in trouble," Ghost said. "Not yet, anyway. Not if we can get her back with us in time."

I frowned.

"What's going on?" I pushed.

"From what I hear, my parents have somehow cajoled her into moving with them."

My heart started to pound.

Audrey had nothing to do with her parents. She hated them almost as much as Tunnel did.

There was no love lost between them, and Audrey would never, ever voluntarily put herself into the same breathing space as them, let alone move with them. Speaking of moving …

"Why are they moving?" I asked in alarm.

"Exactly," Tunnel agreed. "Why the fuck are they moving?"

I bit my lip.

"What do I say to her to get her to go with some strange man that she doesn't know?" I asked. "You know her just as well as I do. She won't do it willingly."

He cleared his throat. "Fender already has the permission to share that I'm alive. You, well you just tell her the truth about Josh. I know you've given her the runaround about it, but if she knows the full story, then she'll willingly come up here. Just tell her it is for her protection and that it's so she's not followed to you."

All of that was true. I wouldn't be lying to her.

"Okay," I finally agreed. "I'll call her now. Is there anything else you want me to tell her?"

"No," he said. "I'll talk to her myself once she gets here."

A smile took over my face. "That makes me happy, Tun."

I hated the thought of having this knowledge about Tunnel being here, and her not aware.

We'd both made many drunken promises, over the last six years, and I hated the thought of keeping something of this magnitude from her.

"All right, baby," Tunnel said. "I gotta go. I have to figure out what in the hell is going on to make my parents bolt right when we have the best lead yet."

"What lead?" I whispered, staring blankly at the screen in front of me.

"Josh," Tunnel said, confirming my fears. "He thought he could play ball with the big boys, but he's about to find out how wrong he was."