Page 42 of Daddy Issues

Even alone on my porch, I wasn’t afraid of Jerry Wayne or his cronies that stood near the pickup he’d driven.

Jessica, dirty-blond hair shoved behind her ears, glanced up at me and mouthed she was sorry. Yeah, she was, for a lot of reasons. But I wouldn’t blame her for bringing this piece of garbage to my doorstep. Nah, she was too beaten to tell him no.

He wanted to argue, but when the crackhead at the front of the truck reached into his pocket, I reached around behind my back.

The sound of Harleys echoed through town, one close enough to be Merc. The other coming from Archer’s place. Kenna must have called Cam. After my conversation with him last night, I had no doubt he’d answered her, tucked away in his love nest or not.

Good girl.

“I think it’s time you go, Jerry Wayne.”

He sneered again. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You sure about that?” I asked, free hand still on the butt of the pistol, but I hadn’t pulled it yet.

Merc rolled in, coasting with his legs out, right on Jerry Wayne’s flank. He cut the bike off, leaned back on his seat, and kicked the kickstand down with the ease of long practice. Never taking his eyes off the older man.

Our odds were evening and Jerry Wayne knew it.

“This isn’t over. That boy is ours too.”

“No,” I said as Cam slowed his bike near the back of Jerry Wayne’s truck, behind the two cronies. A triangle of death. They had nowhere to go if we decided they needed to die right there.

Cam lit a cigarette and smiled. He loved this shit.

“Time to go, Cantrell.” It was my turn to use his last name, to remind him I knew exactly who he was.

He caught my gaze. But unlike the other people in his life, I wasn’t afraid of men like him. If he came back, I’d kill him. This was all the warning he’d get.

***

Mom was pissed when I didn’t pick Eli up and gave her no reason. I’d rather her mad than scared, and right now, I had things under control. I drove straight to AP’s when Kenna left. Merc was in the garage, door open, working on the old Knucklehead.

Kenna had been understanding, but a little freaked when she left. Jerry Wayne Cantrell was someone she’d grown up knowing about. Most of the kids in the Bends had. Wanda Haynes and her boys were one thing, but Jerry Wayne was worse. A lot fucking worse. No moral compass, just an all-around fucked up piece of shit.

Holding in the blind rage, the anger, had been hard.

I shook by the time I put the truck in park and climbed out. Merc stood, wiping his hands on a red shop rag. He took one look at me and cursed, hollering for his dad.

“I can’t believe they let that piece of shit rapist mother fucker out of prison?” I pushed my hands through my hair, hadn’t even bothered to brush it or pull it up.

Before I’d moved to Dry Valley, Jerry Wayne Cantrell had a big dust up with the Kings. Merc had messed around with Jessica—Eli’s mom—to get dirt on Jerry Wayne. Wasn’t a surprise Camand AP had come up with this mole idea for Ghost and the peckerwoods.

But nobody had expected the rusty wrench Jerry Wayne’s presence had thrown into things.

Wanda Haynes did the things she did, to feed and protect her own. I could understand and respect that. But Jerry Wayne, power was all that mattered to him. One of those men that was barely smart enough to lead but mean enough to keep everyone in check. The Putin of the trailer park.

I hated him. Jessica was fucked, for sure, and most of it was because of him. Had it not been for the Soletsky’s, so would her little sister Whitney. The only member of that fucked up family Eli knew.

AP came around the corner. “At least he got the point today. Cam said he was as close to running scared as he’d ever seen him.”

“Nah.” I spit in the grass and inhaled a deep breath of unseasonably cool air. “He just didn’t come heavy enough, didn’t expect Cam to be here. Figured we were weak. If he’d had more than a couple of inbred meth-heads, he’d have started some shit.”

“Explains the shady shit in the Bends,” Merc added. “He’ll start there but won’t stay long. That man doesn’t play well with women, and those boys won’t cook his shit if he’s not good to Wanda.”

He was right.

“I’ll have Jester touch base with Ghost. Set up a meet.”

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