Chapter 16
Bellamy
Sitting on my childhood bed Indian-style with an array of metal at my knees and eyes dried out from loss of tears, my mind is a rush of Granny’s last words and any other old wives’ tale she every threw at me. She told me to cherish Banshee. I want nothing more to relish in the feelings he produces in me, but right now I can’t. I can’t look him in the eyes and know that tomorrow it could be him on that diner floor taking his last breath. I need to end this, and my Remington 700 is the solution to take down the posse that decided my Granny’s untimely death.
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Granny’s voice rolls through my mind.
That’s exactly what happened today. We took two days of reprieve and let our guards down. We invited trouble into our Sunday brunch. We were sitting ducks more worried about nightclub openings than the actual hindrance of the week…thugs and their need to control the outcome of the situation.
Not anymore.
I will not sit in a wide-open field and be easy prey. I was trained and taught better than that. I have set myself up in similar situations twice in my life, and the result was the same—injury and death. I could have lost my leg or my life in the sandpit, but my Granny lost her life because of the stupid pride of a fickle man who thought a handshake and loose words could be taken as trust.
Not anymore.
I’ll plot and plan. I’ll stalk and retrieve. I’ll put an exact bullet hole into the people that took the most precious woman away from me way before her time. Retribution has nothing on the blinding need to kill every fucker like I was playing a game of Duck Hunt on Nintendo. Once they pop up out of the grass, they’re mine. When they decide to fly off, they’re mine. No more standing on the sidelines and waiting for them to come to me.
I will seek and destroy my foes and bring about the reckoning my Granny deserves.
I pick up the rag and begin polishing the smooth edges of my rifle. Sliding the cloth against the cold barrel, there’s a twinge of remorse for the ones that have crossed me and don’t understand their future fate. It doesn’t last long, and the feeling of acceptance claims the last layers.
Mitchell stands in my doorway with the same look in his eyes as I do. The need to go hunting. The need to settle your mind, aim at your target, place your finger on the trigger and exhale as the blowback settles in your limbs.
“What’s up?” I ask him as I continue to run the cloth along the rifle.
“What are the plans, sis? I know you and how your mind works.” He answers as he steps into the room and sits on the edge of the bed picking up my Glock and the extra rag.
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about. I was raised to protect what’s mine, and I didn’t protect the one person that has never judged me and has been by my side through all of my life’s trials.”
“I’m not worried. I just want in.” I shake my head because I don’t want to involve my brother into a tornado that could change course in a split second. “You can’t do this alone.” He continues. “We are blood, and above all else, we have each others back whether it’s crooked or straight.”
“If this goes in the red, I don’t want you involved. I don’t need another mental picture stuck in my head of a person I love wholeheartedly laying on the floor in a pool of their blood. I’d rather do it myself, and the only person at risk is me.”
“You might as well get that shit out of your head right fucking now.” Mitch spits angrily. “There’s no way that Travis or I will allow you to do anything alone especially something of this caliber. You have no clue what you’re going up against. Banshee would have your hide if he knew what you planned to do.”
“That’s another reason I need to do this alone. The less people that know about it, the less opportunity I have to lose anyone else—covert, single person mission with only me in the shadows if it backfires.”
“Jesus, you’re out of your mind, Bellamy.” He glares at me, but the rage he’s expelling from his body has nothing on what is escaping my pores. “Since you won’t see reason, then this is how it’s going down. Either you tell me your plans and involve me, or I involve dad, and we both know that his hotheadedness would blow this out of the water with no chance at setting it right.”
“You little fucker. I’m trying to protect you.” I snarl. “I’m trying to keep the rest of my family out of the prying eyes of danger.” I stare at him for a long while knowing he isn’t going to back down and my only option is to eat the humble pie he’s serving up and relent. “If we do this, it’s just us and possibly Travis. I don’t want the Devils, Chaotic’s or even the Pinks to be involved. This is my fight.”
“This is our fight.”
“Sure, our fight.”
He shuffles off the bed putting my Glock in its case and hauling the rifle case on the bed. I set the rifle in and slide the duffle bag full of ammo beside it. Getting up and grabbing a similar duffle, I go to my closet that contains every piece of gear I’ve owned since I started hunting with my father when I was young along with my cammies and boots.
“Pack up little brother; we don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
He nods and before he leaves his phone chimes. He pulls it out of his back pocket reading the message.
“Looks like you are being beckoned to the Devils’ Clubhouse and we might get some much-needed insight on who is behind this.” He strides out as I load my arms with bags and gun cases.
Heading downstairs, my mother and father are sitting at the dining room table. We haven’t given ourselves time to mourn over Granny yet. We’re not the type to let grief consume us. The day that she’s put in the ground we will mourn, but as soon as she’s covered, we will celebrate the magnificent and sassy woman that she was.
I set everything by the door and make my presence known. “Mitch and I are stepping out for a bit. We’re going to drive down to the cabin. Travis is going to meet us there.” My dad nods. “If anyone comes here looking for us can you please not send them after us.”
His head bobs. “I’m not a stupid man, baby girl. I can figure out what’s going on and I’m not going to tell you I don’t like it because you already know that. I, also, know y’all ain’t going to listen to me, so I’ll tell you this…keep each other safe, and if the situation calls for it, you call me, and I’ll be there.”
“Yes, sir.” I keep my eyes locked to his, and I know we are on the same page. He feels it, but he’s better suited to stay and protect momma. “We’ll be back in a few days so we can settle everything with Granny’s funeral. I’ll make sure to keep our noses clean and are ears open.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He stands and engulfs me in a tight hug. “I love you, baby girl and I want you and your brothers home safe and the threat demolished.”
“That’s the plan and Daddy; I love you too.” I let him go and lean down to hug my mother who doesn’t say a word. She’s dealt with our stubborn asses since birth, and she knows the more she tells us not to the more likely we are to do it.
Mitchell appears and receives the same gesture from Daddy and hugs Momma as we pack everything up in Mitch’s truck and head for the Devils’ Clubhouse.
***
The lot is full to the brim with motorcycles and my bright blue Charger sitting front and center. Mitchell shuts off the truck and turns.
“Not a word to anyone.” I chastise. “We go in there, we listen to what they have to say, and if it’s just more shit, then we leave. Me, you and Travis. Got it.”
“Ten-four.”
We slide out of the truck and advance on the door with determination. I have no intention of showing any of these people vulnerability because I’m not a helpless little girl who just lost her grandmother mere hours ago. Fuck that. I’m all woman who can take care of any obstacle in my way, and this is just one of many.
As we enter, the noise level ceases, and all eyes snap to Mitch and me. Banshee and Travis approach, but I stare at Travis hoping he receives my silent message. He blinks and then I glance at Banshee. His tall stature isn’t full of the strong masculine confidence that he normally exudes. His shoulders are sagging, and his steps are calculated as if he’s deciding whether I’m going to break.
He hugs me to him. “Bellamy, I’m so sorry about Granny. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” He leans back keeping his hands on my shoulders. “Reggie says he has an idea who is behind all of this and that it’s not his crew.”
“Sure,” I say with no emotion. “Can we get this meeting started? I’ve got shit to get handled.”
I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs with his harsh swallow. “Yeah, we can do that. Mostly everyone is in the meeting room down the hall. He wraps his fingers around my elbow and directs me. “How are you doing, Sweets?”
“I’m here, and that’s about as good as it gets for now.”
With my brothers at my back, I stride confidently to the available open seat at the end of the table as Banshee takes his place next to Poison. Glancing at the faces at the table and the pitying look in their eyes, I want to heft myself out of this chair and get the fuck out of here. I don’t need their pity. I need what information they have.
“So, Reggie, who do you think killed my Granny?” I don’t give a shit about the Devils church or that I’m disrespecting Brute by taking over his court because this has shit to do with him and everything to do with my family.
“Bellamy, I’m really sor…” He croaks.
I hold up my hand to stop his lies. “I don’t give a shit that you’re sorry. Who the fuck did it?” I slam my palm on the table. “You’re regret doesn’t bring my grandmother back. So, who was behind it? And don’t feed me shit in a bowl and tell me its peach cobbler.”
His head bobs several times as he bows. “The day Victor was stabbed he was meeting with the Feral Jackals. They were looking to have us distribute some of their product. The meeting was just supposed to be about discussing the money and times of delivery. We hadn’t agreed to it yet. We were just figuring out our options.”
“Are the Feral Jackals based in Georgia?” I question.
“No, they’re in Tennessee. They want to expand their territory, so I figured distributing for them would keep them out of Georgia. But it didn’t pan out like that.”
“I agree. I agree that you are a stupid fuck who put my family and me in the middle of your shit storm because you don’t know what it takes to make beneficial decisions for yourself and your crew.” I stare at my hands wringing them in my lap before I finish. “I should have let Victor die in that waiting room.” I spit. “If I’d never laid my hands on him and if you hadn’t brought me in there or stopped me as I was leaving, my Granny would probably still be alive. So, this is how it’s going to be. You’re going to take your pussy ass back to the hospital and pray that I take care of your screw up and after the dust settles that I don’t come back to finish what I started in that waiting room earlier. You best believe I will feel no remorse for putting your ass in the ground after what you’ve taken from me.”
I stand and nod to the Pinks who return the gesture as Banshee tries to follow. “Sweets, where are you going?” He grits out.
“I’m going to handle my business just like you’re going to stay here and handle yours.” Placing my hands on his shoulders, I roll up on my tiptoes and brush my lips to his. “I love you, Lawson. I’ll see ya in a few days, and then this will be all behind us.”
He takes in my somber expression and sandwiches my face in his hands bringing my forehead to his lips. “You be careful. I know I can’t stop your stubborn streak.”
“I will,” I promise.
He digs in his pocket and hands me my keys. I squeeze them in my palm tightly causing them to jab my skin. He gives me one last kiss on the cheek, and we leave the confines of the Devils’ Clubhouse for my Charger.
Travis slides in as I start my baby up and the rumble of the engine sends vibrations through my body. I take one last look at Banshee who’s standing with the door open watching us leave.