Page 34 of Nomad
Three months later….
“What did I fucking expect to happen?”
I questioned myself for the millionth time since everything had gone down in North Carolina. Did I expect for her to run into my arms and confess her undying love for me after I killed a man in front of her without a second thought? Apparently, that was exactly what my dumbass had expected from the woman I loved, and who claimed to love me.
It had been almost three months since I finished the job for the North Carolina Chapter—Samuel Allen was dead, not a trace of him to be found—and three months since I’d heard anything from Jade.
I raked my hand down my face. Misery. Pure fucking misery.
Every local and national news network had picked up the story and word spread like wildfire that the son of Senator Rachel Allen had been the prime suspect in the kidnapping, trafficking, and murders of multiple women throughout the city of Charlotte.
Allen’s supposeddisappearance had stopped one of the country’s most prolific sex trafficking rings and saved hundreds of women, according to news reports. His disappearance also spotlighted his mother’s role in covering up his crimes with the help from some of Charlotte’s finest.
The now disgraced former United States Senator, her husband, District Attorney Wallace Allen, and several police officers involved in concealing his crimes were behind bars, awaiting trial and facing lengthy prison sentences. All thanks to the evidence gathered by Demons United and anonymously delivered to the FBI, including witness statements, financial records, and property records all linking Samuel Allen to others in his trafficking ring.
A lot of powerful people would be arrested because of the information that was now in the hands of the federal government. While local and federal authorities believed Samuel Allen was on the run with the help of his mother, only the local chapter of Demons United, me, and one other person knew the truth about his death.
Jade.
Her being there when I finished the job hadn’t been my plan, but I couldn’t avoid it. I wished I could have shielded her from everything that day, but I’d only had a few minutes to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. A decision that may have cost me the woman I loved, but one I didn’t believe I’d change if I had to do it all over again. It was kill him right in front of her or let him live one more day, allowing him to kidnap another woman or young girl and lose them to the skin trade.
I couldn’t have that on my conscience, not even for Jade. I’d already dealt with a bunch of shit I’d done in my life, and I couldn’t handle being responsible for letting a predator run free.
Allen’s involvement in this crazy shit didn’t go unnoticed, just ignored. He’d terrorized the women of Charlotte for a long time. I couldn’t let him get away with it anymore, especially when he was a threat to so many others, including Jade. Whether she knew it, what I did, I did it for her to keep her safe from him. So, I made the tough choice, praying Jade would understand in the end.
“Looks like she didn’t, Sandman.” I took another swig of cold lager, wishing it chased away the sadness.
Allen’s detailed account of how, for years, he’d used his money, looks, and his mother’s influence in North Carolina and around the country to kidnap and traffic prostitutes who worked forLeather and Lacesince high school would have made the hardest man shiver in disgust.
As we’d both listened to what he’d put those women through, he’d grinned from ear to ear and laughed like it was another day at the office. He was a true psychopath. When he ended, tears had streamed down Jade’s face, and she’d been more disgusted with him, which had only angered him more.
But the revelations didn’t end with Allen’s confession.
She finally found out what I’d done for my club when I killed him in front of her. I’d made sure I told him why he was dying. Not only for hurting one of Demons United family members which meant he went against the club, but also all the women he hurt right before I pulled the trigger killing him.
When I took the shot, Jade didn’t care she was in danger. She didn’t care he’d confessed to her because he’d planned to kill her or have her suffer the same fate as all those other women. The only thing that mattered was that I’d killed a man without flinching. With no remorse. Guilt, I would never have for a piece of shit like Samuel Allen.
I was never sorry for any kills I’d done. The United States government had trained me to kill for God and country. Now, I did it for my brothers because I wanted to, not because I had to. Things wouldn’t change. It was who I was. I was Sandman. The one you called to have someone put to sleep, and I relished in it, especially when it was men like Samuel Allen I got to dole out justice to, the one-percenter way.
The women who’d been recovered, some alive and some dead, by Demons United hadn’t been his only victims. Charlotte and other major cities across the country was reviewing cases of missing women and the mysterious deaths of others around their cities.
Despite its stellar reputation among Charlotte’s elites, it exposedLeather and Laceas a cesspool of corruption. Allowing a predator to prey on its employees, all because he was wealthy and from a prominent family, was a betrayal to many of their clients who’d desired protection and privacy. In a matter of weeks, the once-popular establishment shut down permanently. Of course, that wouldn’t last long. The rich and powerful loved their kinks. It would be only a matter of time before another business took its place.
When I got Jade safely out of the warehouse and then informed J.D. the mission was complete, it was devastating that she wouldn’t even look at me. At first, I shrugged it off as being shock; however, my belief later changed. She hadn’t been in shock. She was afraid of me. The woman I loved couldn’t look me in the eye or stand my touch because I terrified her. It was a shot to the heart to know she feared me.
Hoping after some time to come to terms with what she’d witnessed and after my return from Charlotte, I patiently waited to hear from her. I’d stuck to my plan to leave town, despite it being hard as hell to leave them again. I’d wanted them in my life for good. I’d already spent enough time away from them and didn’t want to spend any more.
I gave her a way to contact me and made it clear that despite what had transpired, I wanted a future with her and Junior. She was my soulmate. They were my family. Yet, she still hadn’t contacted me after months had passed.
When I told her I loved her, I meant every word. And when she’d told me she loved me in return, there was no reason to doubt her. But, with each passing day, the hope I held we might have a future together slowly died, breaking my heart a little more.
After a job, I never went straight home. It was almost like I didn’t want to taint my sacred space. I needed time to decompress from killing someone. So, I spent a few weeks on the road, hopping from one cheap motel to the next. One where I could rent out a room until my soul cleared. Now that I was back in Windhaven, I wasn’t so keen on the silence when I used to crave it.
I missed them.
“She’s not coming.” I rubbed my temples, trying to drive the negative thoughts from my mind. I lifted the bottle of beer to my lips, took another long swig, and enjoyed the cool amber liquid snaking its way down my throat. “What the fuck did you expect, Sandman? She knows the real you now. She doesn’t want someone who kills for fun.”
I tried raking the anger, hurt, and sleep away from my face as I stared at the muted television hanging on the wall ofShady Sadie’s Bar and Grill. A black and white Western flickered on the screen. Although tomorrow was a new day, the days had blurred together. I wanted my family with me; that was who they were to me. If she didn’t show up with Junior soon, I had her answer. She couldn’t live with what I’d done for my club and for all the women Samuel Allen had hurt, including her.
