Page 24 of Forgiving Fate

“Mom never shied away from answering our questions. And as I got older, I asked her why she does what she does. She told me about times where her father would keep her up for days with his screaming. She told me some days he would be so drunk that he was shouting absolute bullshit just for the sake of trying to prove his place as the head of the house. But then the stories turned to when he started laying his hands on her and that’s when things changed for me.”

I pause and take a deep breath. My hands shift to grip the base of the steering wheel and I glance at Allie before I continue. She is more relaxed in her seat, but her hand is still hovering near the door handle.

She nods and I continue. “At first she glossed over the days where he got physical, but as I got older, she stopped censoring herself. I asked her to. I made a promise to myself the minute I graduated high school I would find him and make him suffer the same way he did my mom and grandma. But I never got the chance because the bastard died of a heart attack a few weeks before I graduated.

“I was pissed. I wanted revenge but wasn’t given the chance. Then, a few years later, Mom brought a girl home. Her name was Eliza, and she became best friends with Noah and Gray. But there was a different level between Gray and Eliza. They formeda deep friendship in a short amount of time. Eliza’s story is not one that I want to go into right now. Not because I don’t want to tell you, but it’s not my story to tell. And it is a boundary that I refuse to cross, even if my brothers aren’t here to listen.”

This time, instead of nodding for me to continue, she stares out at the rain and taps her finger on her leg. She isn’t telling me to stop, so I take the tap as a sign to continue.

“One day while I was coming home from work, I got a phone call Eliza had died. My brothers were a mess. Grayson wanted revenge, and he came to me begging me to find a way to do it. And I did. We all helped him get revenge, but I didn’t do it for Eliza. I did it to feel an ounce of the revenge I desperately wanted with my mom’s father. And from there, we realized that there was a bigger purpose staring us right in the face.

“Eliza and Mom are not the only ones that are affected every single day by a madman taking out his sick and twisted agenda on them. There are hundreds that disappear every day. And most fall through the cracks of the system that is put in place to find and protect them. What we do is not ethical. It’s not morally correct, but the family members that hire us don’t want what is correct. They want revenge. And that’s a common ground we all stand on.”

Silence fills the car and I wait for her to take off running. I wouldn’t blame her. It’s a lot to take in. So much so that sometimes I can’t even wrap my mind around it some days.

Moments tick by and I wonder why I made the stupid decision to open my damn mouth. But then her voice fills the car.

“I have a million questions, but I need a moment to wrap my mind around everything you just said. But Idoknow one thing. Your mom is a badass.” Her eyes lock with mine for a split second, then she turns to look back out at the rain.

I can’t help the laugh that escapes me as I stare at her for a second longer. All of that, and Mom’s story, is the piece that stuck out to her the most.

I look down to notice my hands are no longer holding the wheel in a death grip.

And that’s when I notice the rain has stopped. And so have the voices.

I’m not sure how she did it, but Allie calmed the storm wreaking havoc inside me. I have never had a panic attack or whatever the hell just happened, but this girl that I barely know silenced it all in a matter of minutes.

I take in the moment of utter silence and smile.

Shifting the car into drive and turning off the hazards, we make our way back onto the road. And just as the sun hits the car, I mutter, “She is. She really is.”

Chapter Eleven

Landon

“What do you meanyou only have one room?”

The clerk looks down at his computer once more and I can tell I’m getting on her nerves already. Any other day I would feel bad, but I am exhausted and just spent the last four hours in standstill traffic in Denver.

I know Allie was seconds from jumping out and walking by the way she started moving around and opening and closing the window. I can imagine being stuck in tight, immobile spaces is not the best place for her right now. And if I would have seen it coming, I would have taken a detour, but of course technology fails ninety percent of the time and we were stuck.

I wasn’t far behind her. My skin felt like I had jumped into a burning pit. I was out of water and my last stick of gum ran out of flavor around hour one. I guess I should have paid closer attention and realized that driving through the heart of Denver during a home football game wasn’t the best idea. Now here we are. I just want to get Allie into a room safely and find the closest open convenience store and sit in silence for a few hours. Butthat idea is fleeting, knowing that the only place left in Denver has only one room.

Glancing over my shoulder, Allie is standing silently against the counter.

“Sir, would you like the room? My apologies for rushing you. I just don’t want you to miss out in case someone books online before you can decide.”

Nodding, I don’t think and just hand over my card. Allie can have the room. I’ll sleep in the car or on a curb at this point. I just need to get to the store and try to relieve my now pounding headache.

The clerk hands over the key and directions to the room. Wordlessly, Allie and I walk out the front doors in search of the room.

Wading our way through the crowd of people still celebrating the win in the parking lot, we are steps from the door when some drunken dumbass carrying a bucket of beer…a literal fucking bucket of beer, trips and spills the contents of his bucket all over an unsuspecting Allie who was paying attention to a set of men running shirtless with fake guns through the lot.

Fucking Chaos.

Anger hits me like a ton of bricks and I drop the bag and step in front of a now soaked Allie. My hands grip the drunken asshole’s shirt and I lift him to balance on his toes. His head bobs to the side and a laugh escapes him.

Shaking him, I yell, “Hey! Earth to Professor Bucket.”

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