Halligan To My Axe (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 2) (24 page)

My arms tightened around Adeline, minutely, before I told her what was on my mind. “I don’t think I did before. Now, though, well I don’t want to be half a man for the rest of my life. I’ve lost too much, and I don’t want to lose anything else. I want to have babies with you. Grow old with you. Watch my grandkids jump off our dock and swim. To be honest, I’ve lost too much
not
to try. I have to have hope that life won’t keep taking from me. It’s time to live again.”

A Halligan Bar is one of the most versatile tools used in the fire service industry. If you can’t get in with a Halligan, you’re fucked.

-Kettle

Adeline

Two days later we had a full list of things we needed to do.

The morning went surprisingly well, even though both of us had no clothes or food due to the fire. Still. We’d been living on the bare minimum for the past couple of days. Wearing what clothes Sebastian had at his place. Most of them were summer clothes, which worked out well since it was unseasonably warm for this time of the year.

Kettle had gotten a call that morning saying Shannon’s remains were released to us, and we could plan her funeral accordingly. Most of it had already been arranged as we were just waiting on her remains to be released before we scheduled a final time.

Not having any food had made us venture out earlier than we’d intended to the local diner for breakfast. After stopping by the church to settle on a time for Shannon’s funeral, we’d stopped at a store on the way home. We had to take his truck seeing as he had nothing in his house. And by nothing, I mean absolutely nothing.

Pots, pans, dishes, food, silverware, bathroom supplies, cleaners, towels. The list went on and on. The total that Kettle had to pay at the end of the excursion was close to a grand, and made me cringe when I thought about it.

Luckily, it was a nice day to carry bag after bag of groceries and supplies into the house. It was nearly seventy degrees out, and the perfect day in my opinion.

We’d just gotten the last bag out of the truck and in to the house when the doorbell rang, causing me to turn and regard it with trepidation.

Kettle didn’t show the least bit of reluctance, though. Instead, he dropped his bag with the others, and walked to the door sedately before opening it for his mother.

I made it to the door to lean into his back just in time to see the tears start to shimmer in her blue eyes. The same color as her son’s.

Kettle’s mother was beautiful. Her hair was brown, and hung in a trendy bob just underneath her chin. Pale silver strands were interspersed throughout her locks. She was wearing jeans and a fitted shirt, showing off her curvy, slim body, despite her age. I could only hope to look that good after two kids and thirty years on me.

“Oh, Tiago. I’ve missed you so.” She wept.

Kettle’s back tensed slightly before tapping my thigh and moving forward, taking his mother into a hug for the first time in sixteen years.

Her weeping turned to sobs as her son enfolded her into his big arms, and I backed away, letting them have the moment that they so desperately deserved.

Needing something to do, I grabbed my cell phone off the table and walked outside. I went out onto Kettle’s deck that had seen better days, and walked down to the dock. The chair that I’d stolen from Sebastian was gone, and I sighed as I dropped down to my haunches before taking a seat on the deck, letting my feet dangle over the sides.

Luckily, the deck was far enough off the water; otherwise, my feet would be dipped into the freezing lake below.

My eyes trailed over the water, watching the beauty of it sway and roll gently in the wind before turning to my phone and punching in my sister’s number.

“Hello?” She answered.

“Hey, Vid. Merry Christmas.” I replied snidely.

I could hear the TV in the background as Viddy listened to the morning news, as she always did.

“Hey, sister. How was your Christmas?” She asked distractedly.

My jaw clenched, and my anger started to rise.

I’d called my sister the night of the fire, knowing I needed to talk to someone; she’d always been my first choice. But she hadn’t answered, and I’d needed her desperately.

I’d called four more times in the past two days, and this was the first time she’d answered in all those times. She’d replied with a text message each of those times.
‘Busy, I’ll call you when I can.’

“What’s going on with you? Why didn’t you call me back?” I asked in exasperation.

“What?” She asked sharply. “What are you talking about?”

My eyes narrowed at a point across the lake where a deer had walked out through the trees and started drinking from water’s edge.

“I’ve called you a bazillion times in the past couple of days. You never called me back and always replied with the same message. I needed to talk to you.” I sniffled.

“Adeline, I never got any of your calls. I didn’t even have my phone. It died as soon as I got to Paul’s parents’ house, and I gave it to him to charge in his car. Every time I’d ask for it, he said to leave it. Said that it was rude to talk on my phone when I was visiting with someone. So I left it there.” She replied, sounding very confused.

I refrained from telling her that her boyfriend was a massive dick, and most likely had her phone the whole time. He’d had to have been screening her calls. Why else would he have replied with anything? I’d let her draw her own conclusions, though.

“You didn’t even call me for Christmas. What the hell was that?” I asked, as my anger evaporated. Knowing my sister would never do anything to hurt me willingly.

“I did call you. I called Kettle’s house phone. I didn’t know your cell phone number off the top of my head, and that was the only one I remembered since it was so easy. I would’ve left a message but the answering machine never picked up.” She explained, worry starting to rise in her voice.

That’s when I clarified what had happened in the last couple of days. What she’d missed with the fire. And then further with what happened at the funeral home, and what our brother had done.

“Your apartment burned down...again?” She gasped. “What the fuck? Do they know who did it?”

I was shaking my head, even though she couldn’t see it. “No. They had a video of it. That’s it though.”

“What about Monty?” She asked hesitantly.

My throat closed again, agitated with all the life that was lost in the fire.

From what I’d learned from Kettle and the news, over ten pets, Monty included, had been lost in that fire, along with Shannon. Luckily there were no other human losses, but the one was enough.

“He didn’t make it. By the time everyone arrived, the whole place was fully engulfed in flames. That’s why Shannon wasn’t able to be saved, either. It just burned too hot. The person
that set the fire used what they think was jet fuel. It caught fire and burned so hot that nothing was left.”

“Jet fuel? Where the hell would you get jet fuel?” She asked, mirroring my own question I’d had when I’d heard Sebastian and Kettle talking about it that morning when I’d walked outside to find them on the dock together.

“I don’t know.” I replied truthfully.

“And what is all this with Jefferson? He hit you over the head, Adeline. Did you press charges against him?” She asked sharply.

Again, she was mirroring my own worries. “I don’t really know anything, Vid. I’m just as in the dark as you are. In fact, more so. I have all of this swirling around me, and I haven’t the faintest fucking clue what the hell is going on.”

“I don’t know what to say.” She said after a while.

I didn’t either. In fact, I was utterly flabbergasted that any of this had touched my life. I was a teacher for God’s sake. What did I ever do to warrant this? The worst thing I’d ever done was steal a couple of animals from a testing facility.

“Me neither.” I replied.

Looking for a change of subject after the silence ensued for too long, drew circles in the air with my foot and asked, “What did he get you for Christmas?”

I heard her murmur something in the background, but it was so low and garbled that I had to have her repeat it three more times before I actually understood.

“What was that?” I asked for the last time.

“He got me a picture of him.” She snarled.

I couldn’t help it. The laugh that burst free from my gut had me falling backwards in glee. I was wheezing and tears were streaming from my eyes. I could hear my sister snarling at me, and then the click of the phone as she hung up, but I still didn’t stop laughing.

“A picture!” I wheezed. “What the fuck is she gonna do with a picture of him?”

A large pair of boots stopped where they were straddling my head, and I looked up. Past a pair of blue jeans, past the most glorious package on earth, and then up further until I could see Kettle’s face. He looked happy. Smiling widely at my laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” He asked from above me.

I snorted. “Paul got Viddy a picture of himself for Christmas.”

Kettle rolled his eyes and held his hand out for me. “Dumbass. What’d your sister have to say about it?”

I reached for his hand and he yanked me up, making my body crash into his.

Breathlessly, I said, “She hung up on me. I wouldn’t know.”

“I like seeing you laugh like that.” He rumbled, eyes zeroing in on my lips.

“I like laughing like that.” I replied, moving up on my tiptoes until my lips collided with his.

Both of us were breathless by the time we pulled apart. His smile was soft as he disentangled our bodies until he had a hold on my hand and pulled me towards his back door.

His mother was in the kitchen putting away the copious amount of groceries when we finally made it inside. She had a delighted smile on her face when she saw the both of us together, and I couldn’t help but feel the same way. I was glad that she was here, and that Kettle had her back in his life again. I just wished it wasn’t under such horrid circumstances.

“Alright, I have to get ready for work. We had three call in’s and I’m next on the list. Mom’s going to hang out with you and run to the church later on to help you with the final details. Is that okay?” He asked me with a raised eyebrow.

My eyes turned from his mother to him, and I nodded in affirmation. “Yep, that sucks that you have to go to work though. Do you have to stay the full 24 hours, or is it just until one of the others can get there?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’ll call when I find out, okay? The funeral is still on for tomorrow afternoon, though. I’ll be done in plenty of time.”

I nodded in understanding. “Wait, what about uniforms? You don’t have anything to wear!”

“Jeans and a t-shirt. They’ve ordered me some more this morning. They should be here by the time I have to go back on shift Saturday morning.” He explained before walking out of the kitchen.

Not before he gave me a kiss on the cheek, followed by one for his mother.

I watched her as she watched him walk out of the room. She looked broken. Torn.

“You okay?” I asked in worry.

She nodded. “Yes. I’ve made some huge mistakes in my life. That boy wasn’t one of them, though.”

“And for that, Mrs. Spada, I will thank you for the rest of my life.” I replied.

She smiled at me sadly. “Call me Helene.”

***

Kettle

“She thinks you’re at work?” The man sitting across from me asked.

The man was big. Not as tall as me, but his muscles could definitely compete with mine.

He also looked so much like Sebastian that it was uncanny.

Which made sense. Sebastian was his brother after all.

I nodded firmly at Sam. Sam was the head of an organization that helped women get out of abusive situations. He owned a bike shop where he customized bikes, as well as repaired them. He used his business, Free, as a front. To all intents and purposes, he was just another mechanic who’d gotten out of the military and started up a shop to make a living.

To everybody else, especially the women he helped, he was a goddamn hero.

“Yes,” I nodded. “I have until noon tomorrow before she’ll start asking questions. Did Silas fill you in?”

Sam nodded. “Jack did a little poking around to see if he could get anything else. He hit the same wall though. Amadeus was thorough if nothing else. The transfer went through earlier this month. Absolutely nothing is in his name anymore. Even his house is under a different name. He had every bit of it transferred to his woman. Everything except for the funeral home. That was transferred into Platt’s name. It was like he was tipped off somehow. Like he knew it was coming. We’ve got absolutely no legal leg to stand on.”

My hands went to my eyes and I rubbed them. Hard.

“Goddammit. This is such a fucking clusterfuck. I’m so out of my league.” I rasped forlornly.

Silas, who’d been quiet up until this point, spoke. “There’s more son.”

My hands dropped, and I looked at Silas blearily. “How much worse could it get?”

Do you know that saying... never borrow trouble? With that one statement I’d just uttered, I’d completely fucked myself. I’d opened a can of worms and they were all spilling out wiggling in opposite directions.

“The woman they transferred it to was named Rosalie Espinoza.” He said quietly.

I sat back in my chair, closing my eyes.

They all knew what happened to me when I was younger. Knew I’d lost my daughter. Knew about Rosalie. I’d never told them in detail, but they knew what had happened just by listening to the town gossip.

“That’s just perfect. Transfer everything over to her. She dies like she’s supposed to in a few months, and he gets it all back. Easy as pie.” I growled in defeat. “How the fuck did she get tangled up with him?”

Jack spoke for the first time. His deep voice resonated off the walls of the clubhouse’s conference room where we held all our meetings.