Page 55 of Wild Card
TWENTY-SIX
Ash
“Holy fuck!” I stand up and start pacing the floor once Hack’s finished explaining. “I knew it! Iknewthere was something odd about Brett killin’ that boy.” I shake my head.
“Ash, being right doesn't eliminate the problem. We have to take this information to Jameson; we don’t know who else is involved in this.”
“Son of a bitch! All this time, Byron was behind it. No wonder he was so pissed off that Jameson sent me here. You think the mayor’s in on this, too?”
“I got no idea, probably. But you have to come with me to Louisiana, I’ve never met Jameson before, and I don’t know how he’s gonna take this. You think we should take the boy, too? Right now, he’s the only evidence we got.” Hawk looks nervous as hell.
“How the hell did you find me?” It suddenly dawns on me that I never told this guy where I was; he just showed up here ten minutes ago, landing all this shit on me.
“I’ve known where ya are since ya left town, and I’ll leave it for another day for you to explain why you're only three milesoutta town.” He looks around the dingy motel room I’ve made my home these past few weeks.
“Not that it needs much explaining.” He rolls his eyes, judgingly.
“I was gonna move on after the wedding. I just wanted to be close in case she needed me.” I shrug, trying not to show how much it hurts that she hasn’t. I should be miles from here by now. I chose the nomad life for a reason. After coming outta jail, I wanted freedom. I wanted to see the world. Yet I seem to have invisible fuckin’ chains keeping me here, bound to her.
“Well, it seems to me your girl needs you now, more than ever. You gotta stop that wedding, Wild Card.”
“She ain’t my girl, and I can’t stop that wedding. She doesn't want me to, Hack. I practically begged her to come with me, but she told me herself, she wants all the shit Brett can give her. I can’t offer her that.”
“You really believe that? Come on, I thought you were smart.” Hack laughs at me, and it pisses me off. How dare he come here and start acting like he knows me?
“Brett is gonna be ruined when this comes out; he’s not gonna have much to offer her either.” He makes a valid point, but it changes nothing. I put myself on the line, and she made it clear I wasn’t what she wanted.
“Listen, Ash, I’ve known Ruby a lot longer than you have. We arrived in this town at around the same time, and in all those years, I ain’t ever seen her look as happy as she is when she’s around you. The fact you're still here, just hanging out and waiting for her to need you, proves everything. You need to go back and get your girl, stick around at the club your father used to run, and put down some roots.”
“Yeah, because everyone at the club would want that.” I hit back at him sarcastically.
“Isure as hell do.” He stands up from the vanity stool he’s been sitting on. “What we’ve learned is gonna rock the club. Split it right down the fuckin’ middle. I don’t know who Byron’s got in on this. But I do know your dad wouldn't have stood for it. Come back with me and show the brothers, who he cared about, that you wanna be one of ’em.”
“And what if I don’t wanna be one of ’em?” I stare back at him.
“Don’t kid ya self. I’ll bet you’ve wanted to come back here since you got outta jail; you just couldn’t face up to your dad. You felt like you let him down, and you left it too late…Don’t make that same mistake again cause of your fuckin’ pride.”
I could punch the guy in his pretty-boy face for being so damn accurate.
“You seem to think you know a lot.” I curl my lip at him, and he laughs at me.
“I can read people, Ash. I know you like it here. Whether you're ready to admit it or not, you were meant to end up in this town.”
“Is this supposed to be some kinda fuckin’ pep talk? Cause if it is, it’s a lame one.” I show him how unimpressed I am.
“You don’t need a pep talk, you know what the right thing to do is; the fact you're still here proves that. Now, are you gonna let that girl you're in love with marry that prick or ya gonna do somethin’ to stop her?” he asks.
“Everyone in town is gonna be at the vigil tonight, Prez too, right?” I check.
“Seems that way.” Hack nods back at me.
“Come on. We’re heading to the club; we’re gonna raid Byron’s office and look for some evidence to take to Jameson.”
“I like that plan.” Hack shakes his finger at me, looking excited.
“We need to find that kid, make sure he’s clear on what he saw; we’re gonna need all the information we can get. You weren’t wrong when you said this was big.”
“And the weddin’?” Hack folds his arms and waits for me to respond to what I’m trying my best to avoid.
