Page 110 of Girth (Marked Skulls MC 1)
“They would tell you that?” Hawk asked.
“Yeah. I saw trucks with names on them and faces of the drivers. I saw crates they would haul into different establishments they owned around the city. People they scared. Streets they owned. I didn’t even realize what I’d seen until the DEA came reigning down on their family compound.”
“Compound?” Hawk asked.
“Yeah. All the Iron Souls members live in this trailer park they call ‘the compound.’ All permanent members live there, that’s just how it rolls with them.”
“And the DEA found the compound.”
“Yeah. I was there when they busted it up.”
“Fuck me, Syd,” he said.
“There were gunshots from all around. I-... I crawled behind trailers and just ran. I ran until I couldn’t breathe, then one of the members came around the corner and gave me a lift home. I went back to my Mom’s, threw all Emery and I’s shit into bags, went to pick her up from school, and I just drove. I drove and raced and weaved in and out of cars, trying my best to get us the fuck out of town before…”
Tears were streaming down my face as Hawk reached out to me, but I stumbled back from his touch. I didn’t want to feel his skin against mine. I didn’t want to drink up his warmth.
I wanted to get out.
I needed to get out.
“I couldn’t snitch on the club that took me in. Pregnant. Alone. Running and confused. They took me in without a second thought, especially with my ties to The Road Rebels.”
“They know about your fucking history with us?” Hawk asked.
“We just ran, and I couldn’t think of anywhere else to come but here,” I said breathlessly. “They’re coming after me to build a case, aren’t they? They know I was there. I bet they know I know shit. Fuck. Holy shit. Emery. What’s this going to do to Emery?”
I felt my blood pressure skyrocketing. I felt my hands shaking. My vision was blurred with tears, and I felt like I was going to be sick. I rushed out of the room and slammed into the downstairs bathroom, with Hawk following me close. The stomach bile and coffee rising up in my throat as I vomited into the sink.
Hawk tried to hold my hair back, but all I did was push him away.
“The DEA’s followed you here,” he said.
I could hear the anger in his voice.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t think-”
“That’s your problem, Syd. You don’t think. You don’t think about your actions and the consequences they could have. You just bounce around with your freeform lifestyle, and you leave behind anyone in your path that might give a shit about you.”
“The fuck are you talking about?” I asked.
“It was a knee-jerk reaction to leave us in the first fucking place,” he said as his face reddened. “Then it was a knee-jerk reaction to not tell me about Emery.”
“You know what would’ve happened if-”
“Shut up!” he roared.
My eyes widened, and I stumbled back against the toilet.
“It was a knee-jerk reaction to hang out with the Iron Souls. It was a knee-jerk reaction to run, and it was a knee-jerk reaction to run here. And now, you’ve put the only fucking family you ever had in danger with your bullshit because you claim you had nowhere else to go. You wouldn’t have even had this problem had you just fucking stayed, Syd!”
Tears were pouring down my face as I finally felt my strength rush back to my legs. I pushed past Hawk, almost knocking him off his feet as I ran out to the guesthouse.
Good thing I hadn’t unpacked our bags yet.
“The Road Rebels don’t need the DEA hanging around here, especially with the shipments we’ve got coming in,” he said.
“Read you loud and clear,” I said as I gathered up Emery and I’s laundry.
“We’ve worked too fucking hard to keep this shit under wraps for someone running from their past to just show the fuck up after six years.”
“Got it, Hawk!” I exclaimed.
I shoved our shit into bags, and that got his attention.
“What’re you doing?” he asked.
“Another one of my knee-jerk reactions, I suppose.”
“No, no, no. You can’t just leave. You’re not taking my daughter away from me again. Syd, do you hear me!?”
He grabbed down onto my arm so hard I knew it’d leave a mark later. He whipped me around in the backyard, almost taking me to my knees as I shrieked. My heel came down onto his foot before my knee came up into his stomach. I was in survival mode. Whatever I had to do to protect my daughter is what I would do now.
And I sure as hell wasn’t leaving her here.
I ran into the house and grabbed my keys. I ripped open the door to the garage and tossed our shit in. I ran upstairs as Hawk finally peeled himself from the ground, stumbling towards the house as he tried to catch his breath.
I was coming down the stairs with a very tired Emery as he stumbled in through the back sliding door.
“Please. Don’t take my daughter from me,” he said.
“Should’ve thought about that before you unloaded on me,” I said, tears streaming down my face.
“Syd. Please. Don’t go. I can protect you.”
“You can’t even protect me from yourself,” I said as I buckled Emery in. “You said it yourself: The Road Rebels don’t need the DEA around. And if they followed me, they’ll follow me right out of town.”
“Please don’t go,” he said.
I felt his hand come down to me and I looked up into his green eyes. They were dark. Stormy. Aching with regret as they shone with unshed tears. My heart ached for him as my arm throbbed. I wanted to stay. I wanted to believe he could take care of us. But he was right. My decision to run from the only family I’d ever known resulted in everything I was battling now.
And the least I could do was protect them now. Especially when they didn’t realize they needed protecting.
“I’ll call you when we’re safe,” I said as I opened the garage door.
“Syd. Syd! No. Please don’t do this. Come on. You’ve got my daughter!”
He was banging on the window as Emery yawned in her seat. I had to get out of here before he said anything else. Before he said something to her.
Before he said something, he would regret for the rest of his life.
“Sydney! Please!”
I peeled out of the garage as Emery fell back asleep. I watched Hawk run after us in my rearview mirror. Tears streamed down my face as the light sounds of Emery’s snores wafted into my ear from the back seat of my van.
She looked just like her father, even when she slept.
Chapter 11
Hawk
I watched Sydney drive off with Emery like it was nothing. And even though I wanted to hop on my bike and go after them, I couldn’t. The DEA was fucking snooping around here because of her, and I had to make sure I notified the group. This could fuck everything up with the shipment, and I had bigger fish to fry right now.
But I couldn’t shake the idea that someone might follow them.
I hopped onto my bike and followed the path I knew Syd would take. I saw her van racing down the road, dodging in and out of traffic as she swerved around corners. I watched the van wobble on its chassis, worry plaguing my gut as I thought about Emery dodging around in the backseat. She must be petrified, not understanding what was going on at all.
I followed them all the way out to the highway, looking around for any signs of a black sedan before I reluctantly turned around and headed back.
I had no idea if I was ever going to get my daughter back, but I had to cast that to the back of my mind. At that very moment, I had to be a Road Rebel. Not a father. While I was infuriated with Syd, and while I was pissed off, she put all of us in danger because of the shit choices she made with her life. I knew her mindset was to protect Emery, but she screwed her family in the process.
I cranked it into gear and started for the bar. I kept my eyes peeled on the road, look
ing for any black sedan that might crop up and try to follow me. I knew where Syd’s mind was. She felt that if she actually brought the DEA into the area, then by leaving she would take them with her. And it was a solid guess. A solid move, I had to admit. I still felt it was a knee-jerk reaction because of the way we’d yelled at one another.
The way I’d yelled at her.
The way I’d grabbed her and tried to get her to stay.
Fuck, I shouldn’t have grabbed her like that. But she was taking Emery from me. She was leaving me again. I didn’t know what else to do.
I shook the entire fight from my mind as I took all the back roads. I wanted to make sure absolutely no one would stay on my tail. I wanted to make certain I wasn’t being followed. This was serious. All the DEA had to do was have reasonable doubt that some bullshit was going down and they’d flood this entire fucking town with black sedans. We had people riding on this deal. Debts that had to be paid. Trips that were going to be taken. Bank accounts that were drying up. We had to lay low after our last shipment almost got caught, which meant we were already hanging on by a thread.
Already on someone else’s radar.
I parked my bike and busted into the bar. Mac and Fox were in the corner, sitting there just nursing a couple of beers. I strode through the bar, commanding attention as I hooked my eyes onto them. Mac looked at me and immediately saw the sternness of my gaze, and he stood, with Fox following not too far behind.
“We got a problem,” I said.
“Church,” Mac said. “Now.”
