Chapter 24
Ace
Fuck, I didn't like what was going on. I didn't trust the Hellraisers, but right now we had to play it safe if we wanted to get our three brothers back.
"I don't like leaving without my brothers, man," Joker snarled as we were crossing the road to head back to the bar.
"Right there with ya, brother," I said, meeting his frown.
"Then why are we leaving?" Coffee inquired. "We have all their fucking weapons."
Tanner didn't miss a beat. "And they have Jiggers, Dawson, and Hock." He shot a look at Joker. "And we don't have a fucking clue where they are."
"Should have torn the fucking campground apart looking for them," Joker grumbled, spitting a mouthful of tobacco on the ground.
"Wouldn't have found them, brother," Charlie said, a few steps behind us. "Saw Maniac and a few of his men toss them in the back of a van and peel out of there a few minutes before you brothers showed up."
I stopped and spun around to face him. "You see anyone who didn't belong there?" I snarled. "Because someone sure as fuck got word to Maniac that we had brothers inside."
"Thought the same fucking thing, man," Rod spoke up, "when I saw our three being tossed into that van."
"Why the fuck didn't you stop them?" Coffee exploded, taking an angry step toward Rod.
Tanner put a hand on his arm to hold him back. "Think of the big picture, brother. We'll get them back."
All of a sudden a thought occurred to me, a flashback of a vehicle that we'd passed on the road coming there. "Were they driving an old orange van?" I asked on a hunch. Both Rod and Charlie nodded. I looked at Tanner. "Fuck, one passed us on the way here."
"I remember it, too," Mike said. Others began to nod. "It reminded me of a truck my uncle used to have for his business back in the sixties. Same fucking color and everything."
"Did it have windows?" Gabe inquired, lighting a smoke. "Like the hippie vans?" He'd obviously not seen it.
Mike laughed. "No, man, it wasn't a VW. This one was used more for commercial shit."
"Well, at least we know we're not looking for the usual black van or SUV." Tanner stopped before entering the bar. "Ace, I want you and a couple brothers to ride around and look for it. The rest of you, gather up their weapons and head back to my bar."
"I want to ride along with Ace and the others," Joker said.
"That's up to my enforcer," Tanner responded putting it back on me.
"I have no problem with it." I gave Heath and Sully a chin lift, and the four of us walked off to our bikes.
First we would hit the rundown hotel that the Hellraisers had been staying at when they’d first come into town. Next, we'd start checking out biker bars and other known biker hangouts. An old, orange van would stand out. I was sure that once we'd left the campground Maniac had been notified about what had gone down. He'd figure out that we knew what kind of fucking vehicle he'd taken and want to get it out of sight. Yeah, good luck with that, asshole.
The four of us sped down Tomoka Farms Road with grim determination to get our brothers back, and in one piece. And if we had the opportunity to take out Maniac, Boomer, and a few of their MC, we'd do that, too. We could always send their bodies back to their MC.
Or their heads.
Yeah, that would send a fucking message.
Emerson
Once Bonnie and I had left the restaurant I tried to put thoughts of my dad out of my mind, but it hadn't been easy. As we’d meandered through the shops I’d thought I’d seen him everywhere. Each time that I’d imagined seeing him I’d done a double take, but of course by the second time I’d looked back he was gone. The idea of him being around made me more than uneasy. It damn near scared the hell out of me. He'd been in prison for a long time, hopefully long enough to forgive me for putting him there.
But somehow I doubted the he would ever forgive me.
I would never forgive him, either. I didn't want anything to do with the man. As far as I was concerned, he was a monster and had deserved to spend the rest of his life locked away. It didn’t matter that he'd chosen chemical castration, the damage had been done. Sophie and Gracie's lives had been changed forever. They'd severed contact with me after the trial, and that had hurt for a long time, almost as much as the physical and mental abuse I'd suffered at the hands of my dad.
"Are you okay?"
I blinked out of my thoughts, realizing that I was staring down at some cheap souvenir that I'd picked up. I set it back down and turned to Bonnie with a smile. "Yeah, why?"
She walked over to me. "I don't know, you just seem kind of different since lunch." She picked up the souvenir that I'd just set down and made a face. "This is the ugliest mermaid I've ever seen."
"So ugly it's cute," I countered.
"Where would you put it?"
"In your house." We both laughed and moved on. "I'm good," I said as we found ourselves at a bin of discounted tees. I began to go through them, always on the lookout for a cheap sleep tee.
"Look." I glanced over at Bonnie to see her holding up a shirt three sizes too big for her and hanging to her knees. "I'll be able to fit into this in a few months."
"Are you planning on having quintuplets?" I teased, and then I recalled something she'd told me once. "Hey, don't twins run in your family?"
"Oh God, don't say that!" she dropped the shirt as if it had burned her fingers. "One at a time, thank you."
I giggled. "I'd like to have kids some day." I held up a white shirt with a picture on it of the same ugly mermaid souvenir that I'd been looking at earlier. Somehow it wasn't as ugly on the shirt.
"Well, now that you and Ace are together—"
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" I interrupted quickly. "We just had sex. And can you picture Ace as a family man?"
When she grew quiet I glanced up.
"Yeah, I actually can. I think families are exactly what all the Sentinels need. You have to admit that since some of the men have found their soul mates and started having babies it's changed them for the better."
"They certainly seem happier," I commented, going back to searching through the shirts. I tried to picture Ace married with children. He was almost fifty, and seemed content with his solitary life. Maybe the time had come and gone for him. Maybe he was happy fucking his life away with random women.
I couldn't help wondering now that we'd had sex if things would be exclusive between us. I didn't think I could share him with other women. I didn't want to.
"This is cute." Bonnie held up a green tee with a pretty magnolia on the front.
"Pretty, but it’s more you than me."
"I think I'll get it. Can't beat a four dollar sleep shirt."
"That's for sure. I like this one." I held up a white tee with the words "Only good vibes" in black lettering on the front."
"Yeah, that's definitely you," Bonnie said.
We continued checking out what the shop had to offer before settling on the shirts and paying for them. I stepped out of the store into the crowd to wait for Bonnie while she used a nearby public restroom. The boardwalk was busy, as usual. It was a popular tourist spot, but a lot of the locals liked to go there, too. The food was good, and the gift shops offered a lot in the way of beach items and souvenirs.
I was looking down through the window of a nearby shop at a snow globe of the ocean and palm trees when a prickling at the back of my neck alerted me to something that I couldn't name. I was aware of the numbers of people walking behind me, their distorted images reflected in the window. Someone brushed against me from behind, and I glanced up to see my dad smiling back at me over my shoulder. It couldn't be! I instantly froze and held my breath, sure that if I turned around he would be gone.
In fact, I prayed that he would be.
But I was too afraid to move.
I felt a wave of fear blanket me as I stared into the eyes that had given me nightmares for so many years. I could tell that he was smiling, yet there was nothing but pure evil looking back at me in the window. That was how my father tricked you, pretending that he was friendly and nice. It had taken me years to realize that he really felt nothing inside, and that if you looked into his eyes, really looked, you'd see the darkness that gripped him. What was worse was that he'd used me to lure his victims in until I'd become one, too.
They should never have let him out.
I shivered, fighting to keep it together. I couldn't fall apart here in front of all these people, though the desire to crumble and curl into myself for protection was strong. I had to remind myself that he couldn't touch me with all these witnesses around. That it was okay. As his image lingered, I closed my eyes and willed him to be gone, and when I opened my eyes again, he was. I released a breath of relief and spun around, my heart pounding erratically.
Had I just imagined him then? My gaze scanned the sea of people. I felt as if I were in a horror film, looking for the killer. I had to get out of there, but I was still too afraid to move. God, it had been years since I'd felt this kind of terror, years since I'd had a reason to. Maybe it had all been my imagination, and the recent notice that I'd received about his imminent release was playing with my mind. That was possible, right?
That notice had put him in my mind and I couldn't get him out. There was no way he could have found me.
"Sorry it took me so long."
I managed not to cry out when Bonnie came up behind me and took my arm. I saw her face fall when I turned to face her.
"My, God, honey, you look like you've seen a ghost! Are you okay? Did something happen?"
I took several deep breaths to calm my racing heart. No one knew about my dad or much about me either, for that matter. Telling people that your dad was a sexual predator wasn't exactly a friend-maker, and I certainly didn't want anyone to know what he'd done to me. Years of therapy had eased my feelings of guilt and shame, but it had been the knowledge that he was locked away in prison that had alleviated my fears and allowed me to live a normal life.
"Emerson?" The concern in Bonnie's voice touched me.
I forced a smile. "I think I'm coming down with something."
"Well, you are pale. You're not pregnant too, are you?" she joked.
I groaned and rolled my eyes. "That would be a miracle." As we talked, my eyes moved around us, still searching for signs of my dad. "I should probably head home, though."
She released a loud sigh. "Good. I've been ready for a while, but I didn't want to be a party pooper. Let's go."
I couldn’t keep from looking for my dad wherever we went. I didn't see him, but I could feel him, watching, following me. At least that's how I felt. I made sure to drive the long way home, keeping watch behind me to make sure that I wasn't being followed. When I felt safe that I wasn't, I finally headed to my apartment.
It occurred to me that if he’d managed to find me at the boardwalk then he probably knew where I lived, too.
As soon as I got inside I was going to call the prison to see if my father had been released. At least then I'd know if my fears were grounded or if I was imagining things.