CHAPTER SIX
Early the next morning, Clancy Marshak, otherwise known to his MC as Calico sat at the small table staring at the girl sleeping on the sofa in front of him. Her sleep was a restless one. He’d been here for a few hours already and he could see she was in a lot of pain.
He still couldn’t believe she was here. He hadn’t seen her since she was a little girl. He stared at her face. She looked a lot like her mother. Jolene was a beautiful woman, but he could see signs of his own mother in her face. Her hair however, was all his.
All the shades of gold to dark brown blended together. On him, it was crazy coloring, hence his club name Calico, but on her it was truly beautiful. She wore it long and the natural curl gave her hair a bouncy look his lacked. It looked soft and shiny and seemed to suit her well.
Shaking his head, he continued to stare at her. When he left Rochester all those years ago, he feared he would never see her again. He hadn’t wanted to leave Jolene and his child behind but back then, he didn’t have a choice. Then he heard Jolene had settled down with a new man and a new life. So then, he no longer had the right to come back. He’d left it too long.
Now his daughter was here and she needed his help. Sam told him when he arrived that she didn’t want him here and she didn’t need his help but that didn’t matter. He was here and he was going to help her. For once in her life, she was going to know her father. His fingers fisted when he saw the bruise on her jaw. He’d been told she hit the steering wheel when some bastard forced her into a ditch along the side of the road. Calico’s lips tightened.
Sam told him the story when he got here hours ago. This Micah Johnston sounded like a bad dude. Sounded like…Calico couldn’t wait to meet the man and show him what bad really was. He turned his head and gazed at the faces of the six men he brought with him. They were all good men, men he could count on when things went south. They’d been at the bar with him when Sam called. When he got up to leave, so did they.
They’d all seen the picture on the phone of his kid having her ribs strapped up. When they found out she’d been run of the road on purpose, he hadn’t had to ask them to ride with him, they just followed him.
That was the best thing about an MC, you had brothers ready and willing to protect you and yours. Knowing they would stand with you when you needed them, same as you would stand with them.
Calico saw the young boy set down a cup of coffee in front of him. Sam said his name was Jordan. He could see Jolene in this kid too. When he sat down across the table, he stared at the boy. He could see the mistrust in his eyes.
“So you’re Sawyer’s dad, the one they call Calico?” Jordan asked.
Calico nodded.
“Why are you here?” Jordan demanded.
“She’s my kid and she’s in trouble.” Calico shrugged.
“Where have you been all her life?” the boy sneered. “We could have used you a long time ago. Why show up now?”
Calico narrowed his eyes and continued to stare at the boy. “Your mother sent me away and asked that I stay away or I would have been there.”
The boy shook his head. “You’re a damn fool.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Calico demanded. “Your mother told me to leave.”
“Of course she did, asshole,” Sawyer grumbled from the couch. Her eyes were still closed and she winced in pain as she tried to breathe.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Calico ranted. “I don’t stay where I’m not wanted. What the hell do you know about it anyway?”
Sawyer opened her eyes and stared at the man who her mother had loved for so many years. The man who donated his essence to create her. The same man who abandoned them three years later. “It doesn’t matter now.” She struggled to sit up. When she sat up, she took a moment to settle her pain. Then she opened her eyes and glared at him sitting at the table with her brother. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“When Sam sent me a photo of your injuries what the hell did you expect me to do?” He growled. “I came to help you find the bastard that did this. He needs to be taught a lesson and I need to be there when he learns.”
“Why?” she asked. “You left me and mom a long time ago.”
“What happened back then was between me and your mom. It didn’t mean I didn’t love you. You’re my kid,” Calico stated. “I want to know what this is all about.” He motioned toward her. “What does this bastard want with you?”
Sawyer sneered. “What every man wants with a woman. He wants in my pants and I told him no.” She shrugged. “He didn’t take the rejection very well.”
“How long has this been going on?” Calico frowned.
“Four months,” Sawyer hatefully replied. “He’s put us through hell for four very long months.” Then she closed her eyes and laid her head on the back of the sofa. “He cost us so much already and he isn’t finished yet. He took great pains to make our lives miserable. He and his men beat our mother so bad, she died a few days later from her injuries.”
Calico’s lips thinned as his scowl deepened. “What’s the bastard’s name?” He knew the prick’s name but he needed them to confirm it.
“Micah Johnston,” Jordan spat. “He and his boys are looking for us right now.”
Calico stared at the boy. “How many boys does he have?”
“There are always five,” Jordan told him. “They do all his dirty work, so his hands don’t get bloody. And they enjoy it a tad too much.”
“Which one beat hell out of your mother?”
“That would be Gunner.” Sawyer’s eyes began to tear. “Homer and Richy held us while Gunner hit her over and over again.”
Calico cocked his head to one side. “The bastard made you watch?” he asked softly.
Sawyer nodded as her mind went back to the night in question. “He found us having supper. He and his men broke in and Micah demanded that I come away with him. When I said no, Gunner grabbed my mother. Homer grabbed me and Richy grabbed Jordan. They held us so tight, we couldn’t move. I heard Mom crying but Micah wouldn’t let me look anywhere but at him.”
Calico waited for her to continue and when she didn’t, he urged her, “Go on.”
Sawyer closed her eyes against the pain of this memory. “When he asked me the first time and I said no, Gunner hit Mom in the stomach. The hit was so hard it took her breath away. When Micah asked again and I said no, Gunner threw her to the floor and began kicking her.” She raised her eyes to him. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “He was wearing steel toed boots and he was more than happy to share that news. Jordan was struggling with Richy until Richy hit him and knocked him out. I couldn’t move. Homer was holding me so tight, he almost broke my arm. When Micah asked me a third time I couldn’t answer him, all I could do was shake my head. Gunner gave Mom one last kick. He kicked her in the head and laughed when her skin split open and she bled all over the floor.”
“What happened then?” Calico asked as his body filled with rage.
“He leaned toward me and ground his mouth over mine. When he finished, he slapped my cheeks and told me the next time he asked, I better have another answer for him or he was going to shoot Jordan and his blood would be on my hands as well.”
“We got Mom to the hospital but the damage was already done,” Jordan added. “She died of a slow bleed in her brain. When Gunner kicked her in the head, one of the small vessels in her brain ruptured. She bled to death, but it took her three days to die.”
“We couldn’t even bury h-her,” Sawyer whispered brokenly. “We had to leave town before he knew she was dead. That was a month ago and we’ve been running ever since.”
Calico could hardly breathe. For Jolene to end up like that? His heart was broken all over again. “And last night?”
“Last night, we barely saw him coming.” Jordan sighed. “I was sleeping in the passenger seat when I heard Sawyer scream and the next thing I knew, we were in the ditch. We flipped the truck three times and when we finally stopped, we could barely move. I got her out of the truck and we ran. We ran as far as we could and then I found this place. We had to break in but Sawyer couldn’t go any farther.”
Calico turned to his daughter and asked, “Did you see him?”
Sawyer nodded. “Yeah, I saw the bastard. He gave me the finger just before he hit the truck. Then I heard his laugh as we went into the ditch. It was Micah.”
“What a bastard.” Jordan growled.
“No he isn’t a bastard, he’s a dead man walking…for now,” Calico vowed. “But he won’t be walking long. As soon as we find him, he’s just gonna be dead.”
~* * * *~
By the time Cricket and Raine got to Lake Placid, the sun was up high enough in the sky to warm the day.
The bike pulled up to the cabin.
When Cricket got off, she made her way to the front door. She pushed the door open and walked inside. Memories assaulted her at every turn. Memories she didn’t even know she would have.
She stood in the middle of the living room. Everything around her held a memory of her childhood. Most were good ones.
“So okay,” Raine finally spoke. “What are we looking for?”
She turned to look at him. “Frankly, I have no idea.”
Raine frowned. “Then how the hell are we going to find it?”
“I have no clue.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “All my mom told me was that it was here.
“Did she happen to mention what it was we should be looking for?”
“I think it—well its like a cup?” She shook her. “No, not a cup.” Then she remembered. “Yes! She said was that it was a jar of some kind.”
Looking frustrated, Raine ran his fingers through his hair as he gazed around. “Okay, let’s get started.”
“Started where?” Cricket threw her hands up in the air. “How the hell do we find something we don’t know anything about? It could be here or anywhere.”
Raine grabbed her by the arms and forced her to look at him. “Settle down. I need you to think. Think about when you were a little girl.”
Cricket closed her eyes and tried. “What am I thinking about?”
“Try to think about the one constant in your life back then,” Raine whispered. “If your parents had something to hide, they would have done it by hiding it in the open. What’s the one thing that followed you everywhere you went? What was the one thing they took no matter where they went?”
Cricket opened her eyes and began looking around the cabin. The furniture had been here when they moved in. Her mind went back to the time they had come here. There hadn’t been much time to do more than pack their clothes. Grace drove the car with her and Cordy in it while Orrin had driven his bike behind them the whole way. They hadn’t stopped for hours and when they did, they were at the cabin.
She walked through the entire cabin without finding anything she recognized from other places they had lived. Then she went out to the patio and looked around the yard.
She still had no idea what she was looking for. Was it bigger than a breadbox? Or the size of a box of cereal? Her mother said it was a jar. Did that mean the jar was glass? If so, how had they protected it all these years?
She wanted to scream with frustration. Then out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something. For a moment, all she could do was stare at it. Flipping back in time, she saw this thing in every place they had lived. Sometimes, it was inside the apartment and sometimes, it was outside in the yard.
She turned to Raine standing behind her.
When he saw the look in her eyes he asked, “What is it?”
Cricket turned and pointed at the small birdhouse. It stood at about five feet high, made of wood. She could remember her mother painting it every year. “The birdhouse. I remember it being there, every place we lived at.”
Raine stepped off the deck and walked over to the birdhouse. It was free standing, a metal pole embedded in a small wheel filled with concrete. The house itself was small and made from wood. The colors had faded from being exposed to the elements and the paint not refreshed since Grace died.
He bent over slightly to grab hold of the pole. When he picked it up, he noted the heavy weight of the tire. Lifting it, he carried the whole thing over to the deck and set it down hard. His hand slid up the pole to the bottom of the birdhouse. The birdhouse crumbled into several pieces but the pole and wheel were still intact. He gazed up at Cricket. “Well, it wasn’t in the house.”
“Could it be in the cement?” she asked.
He shrugged. “It could be. We’ll have to break it apart.”
Cricket shrugged. “Then break it apart. We have to find it.”
Raine squatted down and examined the wheel. The cement was pitted and worn. He determined it wouldn’t take a whole lot to break it apart. The years of neglect had taken its toll. He threw the busted birdhouse off to one side and then noticed the pole came apart. Wrestling the pole into two pieces, he used the top piece to hit the cement.
After about ten minutes, the cement finally gave way and broke in half.
Raine looked up at Cricket and nodded. Pulling out a knife, he cut the tire in half. Pulling the hunks of tire and cement apart, they found a small wooden box hidden inside. The dark wood had faded in spots after being buried in the cement for so long but the wood remained in tack.
Cricket knelt beside him and pulled the box out. Sitting down on the deck, she brushed the cement dust and debris off the top of the box. Without looking at Raine, she opened the box. Inside, nestled carefully she saw the small glass jar carefully wrapped in bubblewrap. She lifted it out and set it on the deck. Underneath the jar was an envelope with her name on it. The handwriting was her mother’s. Cricket’s hand shook as she lifted the envelope out of the box. Staring at it for a moment, she turned it over and broke the seal. Bringing the letter out, she began to read aloud,
“My darling Cricket,
I’m sorry this task has fallen to you. I know you will do the right thing. Hopefully, Bane has not found you yet but if he has, time will no doubt be very short.
You must return the jar to its place in his den. Enclosed are directions to his house and instructions as to how to get in and out of the house. Please be careful, if you are caught, he will have no mercy. I pray you will never have to know his rage for it is truly terrifying. It is why I want you to sneak it back into his house. He will most likely kill you if he finds you.
I love you as I loved your father all these years. While I love Cordelia, it was never easy to care for her. She was too much like the bastard I married. You will hear things from Bane about our life together, just remember they are his memories not mine. I would like to forget everything about that part of my life. I only ever loved one man in my lifetime and that was your father.
Forgive me for not being strong enough to return this. I hope someday, you can overlook my faults and remember me with love.
Mom
Cricket turned the page and found directions to another town on a sheet of paper. She looked over at Raine. “Are you ready for another trip?”
“Where are we going this time?”
“Geneva, New York.”
“Why can’t you just call the man and—”
She grabbed his hand. “My mom asked me to do this. She’s dead now. I have to do this for her. It’s about honor, Raine.”
Raine sighed and nodded without a word for a moment. “It’s about a five hour trip from here. We’d better get on the road.” He shook his head. “Deke isn’t going to like this.”
It was midafternoon by the time they reached Geneva. Using the map Grace had left for her, they found Bane’s house. Staring at the imposing structure from a distance, Cricket couldn’t help the shudder of distaste that went through her. Even his house seemed to be surrounded by an aura of evil.
The house itself was built like a fortress. All steel, concrete and glass. It butted up tight against a small hill in the back and if she could believe her mother’s letter part of the house was dug out of the hill. That was where she needed to go to return the jar to Bane’s den.
According to the letter, the hill behind the house was manmade. It looked real but it wasn’t. Her mother had given her a way into the house. It was through a tunnel long forgotten. It went all the way through the hillside and came out in the back. Cricket wasn’t sure if the shaft was still a viable means of getting in and out of the house but there was only one way to find out.
As the afternoon sun shone, she and Raine went to the other side of the hill and began looking for the opening her mother and father had used so long ago. After an hour or so of looking for it, they finally they found it, hidden under a ton of overgrown weeds and debris. The hill may have started out man made but nature had taken its hold and now, it was very real.
As Raine uncovered the hidden door, Cricket took a moment to reread her mother’s letter. The words sounded off in her head as if she could hear her mother reading them to her. Her soft voice carried by the wind blowing softly. For a moment, Cricket felt tears forming but she wouldn’t let them fall. She had a job to do and no time left to chicken out. If she were going to return the jar, she needed to do it now before she lost her nerve.
Raine opened the door enough to let her pass through it.
The rusty hinges squealed loudly and she looked around to see if anyone had heard them.
Raine chuckled. “There’s no one around for miles, you know that right?”
Cricket nodded. “I’ve never done this sort of thing before, and I don’t really want to do it now.”
Raine laid his hand on her arm. “Then why do it? Why do you have to take it back? Can’t you just call him and tell him you have it and let him come and get the damn thing?”
Cricket shook her head. “Mom asked me to return it to its rightful place. I told you before. Right or wrong, I have to do this for her.” Shrugging, she told him, “I have to do it alone too. You have to stay here.”
“And if he catches you inside his house?”
“Let’s hope he doesn’t.” Cricket quickly pulled him into an embrace and kissed him wildly for a moment then stepped away.
Raine touched his lips with his fingertips reverently as if he were praying. His eyes look troubled.
“I mean it Raine, you gotta stay here,” Cricket pleaded.
He sighed as he shook his head with disgust and moved over to a stand of trees nearby, then sat down to wait.
With tears in her eyes, she nodded her thanks to him and disappeared into the tunnel.