CHAPTER TWENTY
Kingston
“You know this is fucking bullshit.” I watch the deputy shoot his glare into the rearview mirror. Anger boils in my gut and quickly snowballs into rage when he simply shakes his head and blows me off.
“Com’on. How in the hell are you gonna explain this one sided bull crap? It’s not like we were fighting each other. We were defending ourselves and you know it. This is so fucked up.”
“Mercier, I’m tired of hearing your loud mouth. Shut it.” He turns into the station, followed by the two other cars escorting my brother and Fournette. They’re trying their damnedest to keep us separated. The fluorescent light attacks my pupils once we’re taken inside.
“Shit.” I drop my head and the hard metal of the cuffs rub against my skin, irritating my flesh.
Wyatt stands to my right and Fournette to my left. I glance over from my brother, who’s glaring forward with a cinched jaw, to Fournette. That’s when I notice the purple forming around one eye and the watery blood pooling in his split lip.
I round my eyes. He wrinkles his nose and pulls his shoulders up in a shrug. “No biggie. Anything from Ruby?” He whispers in a low and worried tone.
I give my head one shake. “Don’t wanna put her in their heads. Maybe they don’t know about her yet. It’s safer just to do the night’s stay. Keep your head down and stay outta trouble. Both of ya.”
“No talking,” my driver snaps from behind the booking counter.
“Sir, yes, sir.” I mumble the next sentence under my breath.
Fucking coward.
*
“Let’s go, Mercier.”
“Where’m I going?”
“I don’t give a shit. It ain’t on my watch. You made bail.”
Everything in me stalls. The air is snuffed out in my strangled wind pipe. There’s only person on the outside who would bail us out of jail. She’s here. Ruby’s in the building. If they didn’t know about her before, they do now.
I follow one deputy while two others bring up the rear. “A little much, don’t ya think? How many guard dogs did Fournette get?”
One of the cocky sons of bitches from the back shoves me in the shoulder and causes me to stumble. After regaining my balance, we enter the front hallway. An officer removes the cuffs from my wrists and another one tosses a handful of papers at me.
“Sign where ever I’ve marked an X and initial the highlighted spots. Any questions, now’s your one shot.”
“Yeah, I think I can manage.”
He throws me a bag full of my belongings and I use the hall bathroom to change my clothes. These damn shower shoes are nasty as fuck.
When I’m done, a woman hits the buzzer and the man escorts me through the secure door. My gaze falls on Ruby. Fear has invaded her beautiful eyes that are now encased with black circles. Fournette is seething in the corner and Wyatt stands two inches from the front entrance with one ankle crossed over the other.
When she spots me, Ruby rushes across the lobby and flings herself into my arms. I really wish she hadn’t done that, but only for one reason. I don’t want to give these fuckers any more ammunition. I hear her choke back a sob and the trace scent of the sweet fruit wafts off her silky hair. I hate the way all the uniforms see my weakness.
Her. Ruby. She’s my weakness through and through. I feel her deep down in my bones. I try to fight it, but I can’t help myself. I caress her smooth locks and plant my lips on the top of her perfect head. “Let’s get outta here, baby.”
She dangles the keys in the air. I snatch them and toss them to Wyatt. I don’t want to spend a single second without both hands rooted on my woman.
Mine.
She’s a spitfire, a survivor, that’s for fucking sure and if I have my way, my mate and the future matriarch of the Mercier Clan.
The four of us ride in silence. We’re driving to the cabin so the boys can drop us off before heading to the main house. They need to relax and cool off after the last twelve hours. The night was a total set up. I know it and they know it. Fournette’s going to need to run that shit off. Those bastards really did a number on him while he was in lock up. The Bellocs aren’t held in much regard around these parts and he pays for every bit of it.
I look forward to some down time with just me and Ruby. The thought makes me sit up straighter. I need this time. I need her. We navigate down the bumpy, dirt road and she presses her cheek into my chest to nestle in closer.
“What the fuck?” Wyatt leans into the steering wheel. Fournette and I scan the surroundings. We listen and try to reach far into the swamp.
“Oh my God.” Ruby tightens her grip and digs her nails into my flesh. “It’s gone. It’s all gone.”
“I smelled it some ways back, but just thought it was someone doing some brush work.” Wyatt inhales, searching for a scent.
Fournette grows silent.
I bound from the truck before it comes to a complete stop. I feel the animal well up in my chest and my temper almost wins, but there’s something else. Something foreign that I’ve never experienced before. It leaves me reeling and fighting to pull the smoky air into my lungs.
They were after Ruby.
I pick up a decent size branch and dig through the smoldering debris. “This couldn’t have happened this morning.” I pivot to lock my burning eyes on to hers. “You didn’t know?”
“Of course not.”
“Wait. I’m confused.” Wyatt twists his lips. “Where were you while we were locked up?”
“The main house. I had the keys and the bartender told me I couldn’t get you out until morning. I knew the pack hadn’t been arrested and I was too scared to stay out here by myself. I stayed on the couch and I didn’t bother anything, I swear.”
Damn, she surprises the shit out of me and I can’t get enough of her. “No, baby. It ain’t that. We’re just trying to wrap our heads around this shit. The boys and I don’t have a problem with you staying at the house. Right fellas?”
They shake their heads in unison and offer garbled strings of encouragement.
“Well, it’s a good damn thing because it looks like I’m homeless…again.”
“You ain’t never homeless as long as we got a roof over our heads. Wyatt’s sentiment is sincere and pointed. He clasps a hand on my shoulder. “As long as you can put up with this one’s bullshit, you’re one of us. As long as you wanna be.”
Her dazzling eyes fill with mist and I know she wants it. Even better, she gets it.
“Looks like the Thing is good. We’ll come back tomorrow and get another look. I gotta head home and think. Try to figure out what the hell’s going on.” I drop my gaze to her level. “Com’on, let’s go take a breather.”
She pops up to her tiptoes and threads her arms around my neck. I follow her lead and like we’re one being, my mouth is drawn to hers. No words. The kiss is the only response needed.
*
I make my rounds through the old farm house to open the windows and turn on ceiling fans. If it’s not done by the time the sun comes up, the house swelters for the rest of the day. It’s only ten in the morning and the thermostat already reads ninety-two degrees.
“Fucking muggy as hell today.”
Wyatt’s doesn’t waste any time pulling shit out of the refrigerator and Fournette is occupied raiding the snack cabinet.
“Yeah, I’m fucking starving. I didn’t eat that slop the jail served. Where’s Ruby?” Wyatt slices up a large tomato.
“She’s in the shower. Glad too, so we can have a chance to talk.” They both stop what they’re doing and stare at me. “With all that time on my hands, I kept replaying last night over in my head. I think the Laissards only showed up at the Lazy Lizard to get us outta the way. It was a setup. They were after her the whole time.”
“But how’d the cops know?”
Fournette shovels BBQ chips into his trap and snickers, sending wet crumbs flying. “Aw, hell. They were in on it, obviously. The whole thing was fucked up. That judge didn’t give a shit about us. We shoulda been outta there last night.”
I nod, relieved they’re on the same page. “Ruby said the medic guy told her they got word of the brawl when dispatch was called because she passed out.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Fournette is a big, bad, killing machine with a nasty streak of worry wart.
“I wish I had an answer. All she said was she felt sick and the stress got to her. When she came to, some woman had already called 911.”
My brother smothers his white bread in spicy mustard. “Damn, did she say anything about the pack?”
“Nope. She was scared on her own. She found the house key on my keychain and stayed here. She didn’t get much sleep though. She ain’t stupid. She knows what they’re after. And they ain’t playing around. They aim to hurt her.”
“We got your back, brother.”
“And hers.” Fournette’s hair is still drenched from his quick run. He was securing the property line. “She’s one of us now.”
“No doubt about that.” Wyatt crams the massive, triple layer sandwich into his mouth.
She’s one of us now.