Page 8 of Havoc's Fox

“Hey! Where are you going?” Havoc called out as Brandt and Maverik walked toward Brandt’s truck.

“Just going for a ride,” Maverik said far too happily to be real.

“You’re going to confront Marie-Claire,” Havoc said, standing on the porch, his hands resting in the pockets of his jeans.

Brandt and Maverik shared a look.

“You can’t,” Havoc said.

“The hell we can’t! You don’t terrify a child, any child, and her ass needs to understand that,” Maverik snapped.

“She’s in police custody. Or the hospital,” Havoc said.

“How?” Brandt asked.

“Well, after Analise knocked her ass out, I might have dropped her on the ground or maybe bumped her head on the bricks outside a time or two, by accident when I took her outside. I’m pretty sure she was wasted and fell outside — after she spilled her hot coffee all over herself inside the coffee shop.”

Brandt grinned.

Maverik grumbled.

“I don’t know if they arrested her for public intoxication, or if they took her to the hospital. Either way, you can’t get to her without witnesses tonight. Not to mention, you’re supposed to be celebrating with your families tonight. Not out delivering your own brand of justice.”

“Some people need killing,” Maverik said plainly.

Havoc nodded slowly. “You ever heard that somethings are worse than death, Daddy?”

Maverik nodded. “Absolutely. But ain’t nothing better than delivering revenge personally. Sometimes Karma gets backed up.”

“She’s living a fallacious life. Ain't got nobody to blame but herself. Let it go,” Havoc said.

“She caused this family a lot of pain, son,” Maverik said.

“Yeah, but without it, I wouldn’t have Harley. Give her what she never did us. Give her some grace, and let her take herself out. It won’t be long.”

Brandt and Maverik looked at each other.

“I’m going back in to visit with my family, and show my daughter how unforgettable a Christmas here can be. Y’all come on in and be a part of it,” Havoc said. He left them standing in the yard and went back inside.

Maverik and Brandt were still looking at each other.

“What do you think?” Maverik asked.

“I think we let it lie for now, in a couple of days we’ll take a ride into town and see what we can find out.”

“All I want for Christmas is that bitch out of our lives,” Maverik said.

“Same,” Brandt agreed.

“You see them talking in there? It was tense, but they’re talking. Could be a new beginning if the shit of the past could be forgotten. She ain’t gonna let them forget it, though,” Maverik said.

“I don’t know if they’ll ever move past everything that happened, but they can at least be in the same room together. It’s better than before.”

“Sure is,” Maverik agreed, as they started for the stairs.

“I’d sure have liked to see Analise get her chance to knock that piece of trash on her ass,” Brandt said.

“I’m a tell you what… I been saying for years don’t underestimate that girl. I mean, Bam’s her daddy, and her momma’s Everly. I ever tell you the story of Everly standing over Bam firing two guns at anything that moved when she went in single-handedly to save his ass?”

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