I fall to my knees when I reach the parking lot and sob hysterically. My hands shake as I hold the gun, terrified I’ll do something wrong and it’ll go off by mistake. Breaking someone’s jaw with a pair of brass knuckles is one thing, shooting someone by accident is a whole different ball game.
Expecting the door to open and for Lee to emerge like some cloak and dagger hero, I glance over my shoulder but it never happens. I should have taken the gun and shot Brantley but I was too scared I’d miss. Too scared I’d shoot Lee by accident or myself for that matter. I’ve got kids who need me, kids I thought about the entire time I had a gun pointed to my head.
Remembering Lee’s parting words, I scramble to my feet and wipe my eyes in an attempt to compose myself. I jet through the parking lot as fast as my legs will carry me and round the building, spotting Lee’s truck.
A sigh of relief pours from my mouth as I fight to control myself and I pull open the driver’s door with the gun still in my hand. Tommy looks absolutely petrified as he lunges forward. I shake my head and hold out my hand.
“I don’t know if the safety is on,” I cry, laying it gently on the seat. Tommy’s eyes widen as he stares at the gun and I quickly remove my jacket. Like I’ve seen in a million movies, I use my jacket to wipe the gun clean of fingerprints and toss it in the dumpster behind the bar. As soon as it’s out of my hands I feel calmer and I get back in the truck. Locking the doors, I grip the steering wheel and stare out the windshield, taking deep breaths.
In and out.
In and out.
“Mom?”
“Everything is going to be okay,” I say automatically.
“Where is Lee?”
Everything is going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
He will be okay.
“Oh God,” I cry, lifting a hand to my mouth as the severity of what’s going on hits me like a ton of bricks. I don’t know what to do. How do I leave him in there with a deranged man holding a gun to his head? Am I supposed to sit here and wait? What if there is a gunshot? Do I stay here and let my kids listen to that?
Putting the key in the ignition, I start the engine and throw the truck into reverse. In the rearview mirror, I check on the girls who are both sound asleep before diverting my eyes to Tommy. Not sure what might wait for us in front of the bar, I brake before we round the building. It’s one thing for me to witness horror but it’s another for my son to.
“Close your eyes,” I demand.
“What?”
“Just close your eyes,” I snap as I watch him finally oblige. I throw the truck into drive and turn the corner. Slamming on the brakes, I watch as Brantley drags Lee’s body out of the bar. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from screaming as I watch him struggling to push Lee into the back seat of his car. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth as my teeth dig deeper and Brantley slams the door shut. As he hurries to the driver side of the car, my eyes dart to the license plate.
EKK 5889
I repeat the number over and over until the car peels out of the lot and out of my sight.
“Mom, you’re freaking me out! Lee said to use his phone to call Jack if he didn’t come back. Should we call him?”
Out of all the things he says, only one thing registers with me.
“Jack,” I repeat, turning my attention to him. “Give me the phone.”
Opening his eyes, he hands me the phone. I see that Tommy had already pulled the contact up and was planning on calling him himself just like Lee told him to do. Leaning over the console I kiss his cheek and press send.
“I love you,” I rasp. “And I’m so fucking proud of you,” I add, feeling emotional as I lift the phone to my ear and listen to it ring.
“Pipe, man, where the fuck are you?”
“It’s Layla,” I cry.
He pauses for a moment and I think I’ve lost him.
“Hello? Jack?”
“What happened?” he replies.
“The cop took him. He took Lee,” I whimper. My nerves get the best of me and I close my eyes as I begin to ramble all the things I think he might need to know.
“He came to the bar just as I was closing it down. He wasn’t making any sense. He told me I needed to go with him. He said as long as Pipe thought Blackie took me then everything would go according to his plan. I don’t know what any of that means but that’s when Lee showed up. He distracted him, gave me his gun and told me to run. Jack, I just watched Brantley drag Lee out of the bar,” I sob the final sentence.
I don’t tell Jack I’m not sure if Lee is dead or alive because I don’t want to scare Tommy any more than he already is.
“Okay, listen to me, sweetheart. Where are you now?” he asks calmly.
“I’m still in front of the bar.”
“Where are the kids?”
“With me.”
“Jesus, fuck.”
“Tell me what to do, Jack,” I plead. “Tell me it’s going to be okay.”
“It’s going to be okay, darlin’. I swear to you everything is going to be okay,” he assures.
I don’t know why I felt I needed those words to come from him, especially since I barely knew him. However, I believed him wholeheartedly.
Everything would be okay.
“You there?” he asks.
“I’m here,” I respond.
“I know this is your first rodeo but I need you to pull yourself together. Can you do that for me? Can you do that for Pipe?”
Yes.
The way I rise up for my kids, I will rise up for him because he’s part of that same circle of love. There are four chambers of the heart and one of them belongs to the man who sacrificed himself for me and my children. The man who takes care of us. The man who loves us. It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t actually said the words.
I feel it.
I feel his love.
So yes, I can do that for Pipe.
I can do that for Lee.
“Yes,” I whisper, wiping my eyes.
“Are you good to drive?”
“Yes,” I answer, paying close attention as Jack instructs me on what to do. Once the plan is in motion, I end the call and hand the phone back to Tommy. Ordering him to put his seat belt on I notice the baseball bat between his legs. He tells me Lee gave it to him, demanding he takes his best shot at anyone who might fuck with him or the girls. As he recites Lee’s words, I can picture him saying them and it’s all the courage I need to follow Jack’s instructions.
The entire ride back to the city I pray for Lee. I ask God to do right by him and keep him safe. I plead with the man upstairs not to take away the man who has restored my faith in love and loyalty.
Jack meets me on the BQE just as he promised and I follow his motorcycle through the streets of New York to a quaint two-story house in Brooklyn. Tommy and I stare in awe at all the bikes lining the lawn and the men standing in the driveway waiting for us.
All dressed in leather, they rush toward the truck. I barely have a chance to kill the engine before they’re opening the doors for us. A man with mostly gray hair holds out his hand for me to take and my eyes drift down to the patch on his vest.
“You’re Wolf?”
“Yes,” he says, helping me climb out of the truck. “And you’re Layla,” he adds with a smile. “You’re in good hands,” he swears. “We’ve got you.”
I nod, blinking through the tears as I look over my shoulder at my children. The man wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night lifts Lexi into his arms and carries her effortlessly. The one with a shaved head helps a sleepy Jenna to her feet and a tall one with blue eyes wraps his arms around Tommy’s shoulder.
“You won’t be needing this anymore,” he says, prying the bat from my son’s hand.
“That there is Cobra,” Wolf says. “The one carrying your little one is Riggs and the one with your older daughter is Stryker.”
I think I nod, I’m not sure.
Jack pulls his helmet from his head and steps in front of me.
“You did good, Layla,” he says.
“What happens now?” I ask him.
“Now we take you inside and introduce you to the rest of the family,” he replies nonchalantly. Like it’s no big deal that Lee is missing or the man who took him is not only a maniac with a gun but a man who has killed others.
“Oh good,” I grind out. “Should we sing songs around the fire while we’re at it?” I ask incredulously, watching the three men bring my children inside the house. Once I’m sure they can’t see me, I snap and turn to Jack like a mad woman.
“Did you not hear me when I said that crazy fuck dragged Lee out of the bar and shoved him into a car? He could be dead!”
Wolf and Jack stare at me like I’ve got a third eye.
Like I’m fucking crazy.
“Are you listening to me? The cop who killed the other cop has Lee!”
“I like her,” Wolf comments.
“Yeah, me too,” Jack agrees, rolling a toothpick between his lips as he crosses his arms against his chest. “Now, simmer down, sweetheart. I told you everything would be fine, didn’t I?”
Fine.
Nothing is fine.
“Go inside, get yourself and your kids settled. Riggs’ mother-in-law made some of her famous baked ziti. Grab yourself a plate and hunker down.”
“Did you know she used the tomatoes from the garage?” Wolf asks him. “It’s fucking amazing.”
Feeling as if I’ve entered the twilight zone, I stand there with my mouth open. They’re all manic or whatever it’s called.
“Darlin’, quit looking at us like that,” Jack says finally. “I’m a man of my word and I swear I’ll make it right.”
I want to believe him.
“You and yours are property of Parrish now,” he adds, throwing his arm over my shoulders. “You know what that means?”
“No,” I reply as he leads me into the house.
“It’s okay,” he assures. “By the time this is all over you’ll know. I’ll make you a believer too.”
A believer?
Oh, I’m a believer.
I believe Jack Parrish is fucking crazy.