Lyric

I was waiting for Mike and Mimi in the kitchen the next morning, hoping to lure them out of their beds with fresh homemade cinnamon rolls. After five hours of restless sleep in Swan’s old bedroom, I gave up staring at the ceiling and decided it was time for some answers. Last night…or was it early this morning…Mike and Mimi had taken me home and put me to bed. I’m pretty sure Mimi had slipped something into the hot chocolate she’d made for me, ’cause soon after drinking it, I could barely keep my eyes open.

Taking off the cow-print oven gloves, I slid them back into the drawer, then pulled out a big blue bowl for the icing. Even though Mike and Mimi lived underground in a crazy bomb shelter, the home was completely luxurious. The false skylights looked like the real thing, and there were even windows staring out into the yard three stories above us. The ultra-high definition screens were so clear that my mind was easily fooled into believing the false sunlight was real. The only thing missing was being able to actually open those fictitious windows and let some fresh air in.

That was the reason Mimi insisted on doing the cooking in the kitchen above the living quarters. They had an aboveground ranch built over the bunker house and they used it as a guest house. She said she hated having a living room that stunk like dinner. I liked the smell of cooking filling a home, it made me feel content, but I understood her reasoning. While I was a little nervous about being aboveground, I knew no one was getting near Mike’s property without him being aware the second they came near his property.

A shiver raced down my spine, and the whisk I was using to beat together the powdered sugar and condensed milk rattled against the rim of the bowl.

Right now, if I hadn’t run, I have a feeling I’d find myself being married off to Clint like they used to do in the Bible, back when women were considered possessions and not human beings.

The hiss of the pressurized door leading to the belowground floors alerted me to Mike’s and Mimi’s presence before they appeared at the top of the stairs.

Mike was in many ways the quintessential cowboy, despite having grown up in the city. Something about him reminded me of the actor Clint Eastwood, and his dark gaze could make you feel like he was reading your soul. Mimi, on the other hand, was open and affectionate with those she loved. At the sight of me standing at the counter, her face softened and she opened her arms.

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

Abandoning the frosting, I eagerly fell into her embrace, letting her hug me close. Wrapping my arms around her, I returned her affection, closing my eyes and resting my head on her shoulder. Mike came up beside us and gave me a gentle pat on the back, his version of a hug.

“Morning, sunshine.”

That was his nickname for me; sunshine. Said I was his little ray of light, spreading joy everywhere I went. It always made me feel good when he called me that, and I released Mimi to give him a quick hug.

“Morning. I made cinnamon rolls.”

Patting his still-trim stomach, he gave me a small smile. “Gonna make me fat.”

Mimi poked him gently in the belly as she walked past him to the coffee maker. “Getting a little soft in your old age.”

“I’m only ten months older than you,” Mike muttered with a good-natured glare.

I watched them interact with each other as I finished making the icing, waiting until Mimi had her morning cup of coffee and was sitting at the large pine dinner table. She smoothed her silver-streaked hair back over her shoulder and watched me closely. I tried to appear normal, whatever that was, but I had a feeling she could see through my cheery smile.

“Lyric, come sit down.”

I took the chair next to hers, folding my hands on my lap. When I was growing up I was taught that fidgeting was unseemly, and after having my hands whacked with a ruler a few dozen times, I’d learned to stay still even when I was super nervous. Like right now.

“Tell us again what happened last night,” Mike growled out.

Swallowing hard, I gave them a story about having a fight with my mom. See, I know Mike and Mimi, and I know their sense of justice and revenge tends to be on the bloody side. As much as I hated Pastor Middleton, if I told Mike and Mimi what really happened, they would freak out and probably kill him and his followers. The thought of their lives being lost on my account was unbearable, so I sugarcoated the situation.

I could tell they didn’t believe me, but thankfully, neither of them pushed hard.

“Regardless of what happened,” Mimi said in a soothing voice, “the important thing is that you’re out.”

Mike’s gaze was shrewd as he studied me and I once again fought the urge to fidget. “We called Swan and Sarah like you asked. They’re still on their honeymoon, but they’re sending one of the club members to get you and bring you to Austin like you wanted.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Do you know who it is?”

My heart beat harder, hoping it was Hustler, but Mike shook his head. “No, but I’m sure whoever it is will take care of you. Swan would never send someone she didn’t trust.”

“I wish you’d stay with us,” Mimi added. “Or let us send you somewhere other than a biker clubhouse.”

I smiled and reached out, placing my hand over hers. “I appreciate that you want to take care of me, but I’ve lived my whole life with someone else making the decisions for me. This is what I want.”

I wondered if Hustler even knew I’d left the compound, or that I was on the way to Austin. My cell phone was still in the tree at the orchard, and there was no way in heck I was going back for it. I wondered if Hustler would be happy to see me, or if he’d be annoyed. Goodness, I was a mess about that man, but I had other things to worry about right now.

“We understand.” Mimi gave my hand a squeeze. “And I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you finally on your own and away from those people.”

A sour taste filled my mouth at the thought of my mother. “Mike, I have something to ask you. It’s about my mom—my real mom.”

The glance they exchanged confirmed my worst fears. I’d been secretly hoping that all that stuff about Melody had been delusional ramblings from my grandmother. As contentious as our relationship was right now, I truly loved the woman I knew as my mother. The thought that she’d been lying to me all these years—that everyone had—was hard to stomach.

“I don’t know a lot,” Mike finally said as he rubbed his tanned chin. “Around that time, shit was going downhill with Billie. She refused to live on the compound with me, didn’t want to leave Las Vegas and the life she had there. Before we got married, she assured me that our plans for the future were perfectly in synch, but when it came time to move down here permanently, she balked.”

I darted a glance at Mimi, wondering how she felt about Mike talking about his ex-wife. Her face was smooth, but I knew her well enough to see the tension lines around her eyes deepen. And the vibe coming off of her was not happy. I couldn’t blame her. Mike’s late ex, Sarah and Swan’s mother, was a drug addict who’d pretty much ruined her daughters’ lives through her own selfish actions. She’d died last year of an overdose, and even after all she’d done to harm my best friend, I still prayed that her soul found peace.

“What I do know is that your father and Melody were childhood sweethearts. Before your church moved here, they were situated down by Corpus Christi, where your grandma’s people are from.”

I nodded. The one and only time I’d been off the compound’s land had been to attend the funeral of my great-grandfather in Corpus Christi. I’d only been six at the time, but I vividly remember what little I was allowed to see of the real world. And I remember the Gulf of Mexico and how it had moved me to see an awe-inspiring example of God’s power.

“I never met her myself, but I did see a picture of her once. You look a lot like her. Cut from the same cloth with your hair and freckles.”

Reaching up, I traced my finger over my cheek, touching the link between myself and the woman who’d given birth to me. “My grandmother said she died. What happened?”

“Melody hated being isolated out here. She begged your father to leave, to take her on a mission somewhere with people. Much like you, she was a friendly, compassionate woman who belonged out in the world, spreading her joy, not stuck here. They moved off the compound and sometime after you were born…” He took both my hands in his own, his palms rough with callouses, but gentle with me. “Sometime after you were born, she was killed in a robbery. Just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your dad was devastated, and knew he couldn’t raise you on his own, so he came back to the compound so his family could help raise you.”

“And he married Mom…I mean, Evelyn?”

Mimi ran her thumb along the edge of her coffee cup. “Evelyn always had a thing for your father, but he was in love with her best friend so she never acted on it. I don’t know the exact details, but eventually your dad fell in love with Evelyn and they agreed that she would raise you as her own daughter.”

“They were never going to tell me about my birth mother?”

“I don’t know.” Mimi pressed her lips together. “We’ve never been close with your parents, so most of what I know is secondhand.”

That was an understatement. My dad thought Mike and Mimi were sinners of the worse kind, killers with their souls blackened by their evil deeds. It was no secret that Mike was an arms dealer, and that before he left the military, he was in special-ops with an impressive kill record. And Mimi was a freaking assassin for the mafia before she hung up her knife to be a mom to her two stepdaughters.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Mike controlled the water rights for the entire compound, I might have never been able to see Swan and stay with them.

A series of three beeps sounded through the house and Mike pulled out his phone, glancing at the screen with a frown. “Looks like your ride is here. Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a little while?”

Yes, part of me did want to stay and hide at Mike and Mimi’s house, but I knew that wasn’t a good idea. One day would become two, then three, and my fear of the outside world would keep me here forever. I felt like I was two different people at once living in the same body. One Lyric, the strong one, couldn’t wait to get out there and experience everything the world had to offer. The other Lyric, the scared one, wanted to hide here in the bunker forever like a frightened bunny.

I couldn’t let fear win, not when I was so close to true freedom. “No. If I don’t go now, I might never leave.”

Another set of chimes rang out and Mike stood up, his face hard. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Mimi and I exchanged a glance and she rolled her eyes as Mike walked out of the kitchen, heading for the front door. “I apologize in advance if he finds your escort unworthy and kills them.”

My laugh came out shaky as I realized this was it, I was really leaving. “That would kind of put a damper on things.”

Standing up, Mimi went over to the small alcove on the other side of the kitchen that contained a small desk and a computer. “We have a gift for you.”

“Oh—no, you don’t—”

“Hush,” she said, as she took a large manila envelope out of one of the desk drawers. “I’ve been wanting to give this to you for a long time.”

“What is it?”

“A new life.”

“What?”

Smiling, she handed me the envelope. “Inside you’ll find a driver’s license, birth certificate, social security card, and everything you need to get established. There’s also records of you attending high school with grades good enough to get into any college if that’s what you want to do, along with a bank account and a credit history that you’ll need for getting your own place. There’s a credit card with a twenty-thousand-dollar limit on it in your name. Use it for whatever you need with our blessings.”

“I can’t take this, it’s too much. And it’s not honest pretending to be someone I’m not.”

“You can and you will. Lyric, you don’t even have a GED, sweetheart. I know you went to school at your church and got a good education, but they’re not accredited by the state. You’ve been driving since you were fourteen, but you don’t have a license, and with no credit history, you’re going to have a problem making any major purchases.” She glanced over my shoulder as the sound of male voices came from the front. “Don’t worry about the money, we have more than enough. The world you’re about to enter is very different from the one you grew up in, and we want to make sure you’re taken care of.”

Heavy boots hitting the wooden floor of the hallway had me looking to see who was coming to pick me up, and at the sight of Hustler’s smiling face, I let out a squeal that could probably be heard for miles. “Hustler!”

I leaped from my chair and ran across the room, throwing myself into his arms as he picked me up and spun me around. “Hey, Angel.”

To my delight he held me close for a long moment, letting me cuddle into him and breathe in his scent. He smelled like the wind, sunshine, and man, along with a hint of some spicy cologne. The soft cotton of his white T-shirt felt smooth against my face as I laid my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes, absorbing his strength.

Giving him a tight squeeze, I said, “You’re taking me to Austin?”

Setting me on my feet, but keeping me in his arms, he smiled down at me. His dark hair was shorter than I remembered, and he had some scruff around his goatee, but he was so handsome he took my breath away. The sparkle in his greenish-brown eyes set my heart racing and his hands squeezed my hips as he studied my face.

“Yeah, I’m taking you to Austin. That all right with you?”

“Yes,” I answered, happiness bubbling up inside of me. “Yes, that’s very all right with me.”

“Lyric,” Mimi asked in a careful voice. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” I slipped my hand into Hustler’s. “I—uh, met Hustler at Swan’s wedding. He was one of Smoke’s groomsmen.”

“I know who he is,” Mike muttered with a disgruntled look. “Trouble.”

“Mike,” Mimi said in an exasperated voice.

“What? He is.”

Hustler rubbed his thumb along the back of my hand. “That may be true, but I promise you, Lyric is safe with me.”

Mimi tapped her red-painted fingernails on the counter. “If you harm one hair on her head, I’ll be coming for you and I’ll castrate you myself.”

Embarrassed by their overprotective behavior, I said, “Mimi! Seriously?”

To my surprise, Hustler merely laughed. “I wouldn’t expect anything different. You ready to hit the road, short stuff?”

“Yes.”

He scanned me quickly. “You got something to put on besides that Little House on the Prairie dress?”

I let go of his hand and took a step back, suddenly aware of how weird I must look to him. This morning when I’d gotten dressed, I wore what I usually wore, what I’d been forced to wear for as long as I could remember. A plain long-sleeved dress that reached my ankles, hiking boots, and my hair pulled back into a tight braid. It hadn’t occurred to me to wear anything else.

Looking at the ground, I shook my head. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“No sad eyes.” His voice gentle, he tipped my head up so I had to meet his eyes. “You look beautiful. You wear whatever you want, Angel. It’s just gonna be hard for you to ride on the back of my bike in a skirt.”

“I have some clothes that you can put on,” Mimi said in an odd voice.

I looked over at her and found her watching Hustler closely, her gaze ticking between his body and mine.

Giving me a gentle push in Mimi’s direction, Hustler said, “Go with Mimi. I got a few things to talk with Mike about.”