Page 76 of Lost Soul

“Move, or I’ll fucking kill the pair of you, brothers or not,” Skid threatens. I take a breath and step aside.

“Let him through,” I tell Troj, who’s still struggling to hold Skid, looking at me like I’ve gone crazy. I nod solemnly and he backs down.

Skid races past us, and when Troj goes to follow him I block him with my arm and shake my head. The cabin won’t be a safe place for anyone when Skid sees what’s happened.

Pain stabs at my chest when I hear his cries, sad ones at first, that gradually build into angry roars. I’ve been there, felt it all when I lost Hayley, and I’m feeling every step of it over again alongside him. We all wait it out, no one outside speaking a word. Not even making a glance at each other. There’s no concept of time. It wouldn’t make any difference anyway, it could be minutes, hours, or days. We would all still be here for him when he walks back out that door.

Squealer and Screwy roll up, and Tac quietly fills them in, their identical eyes stretching open with both shock and sadness at the same time.

Tommy pulls up, and when he hears what’s happened the kid’s devastated. So much that he gets back on his bike and rides off. Guess the kid has feelings after all. I don’t know how close he was to Carly, but she was his auntie, and probably the only female he’s ever really known in a motherly way.

I feel terrible for him that he’s lost her.

I feel terrible for all of us.

When Prez finally gets here he manages to talk Skid out of his cabin, and Tac uses Skid’s truck to drive them down to the club. I need Maddy close and I’m torn between comforting her and being there for Skid. So, I come up with only one option. Maddy will just have to come to the club with me. I’d spoken to Prez about us this morning, before she warned us about the feds. She’s a part of this fucked up little family too now, and now’s the chance for her to see that at times like this, family sticks together.

I don’t know what the fuck’s gone down while we’ve been panicking about the feds, but Carly’s death has proved that I’m gonna have to step up my game when it comes to protecting Maddy.

I relieve Nyx of his duties when I get back to my cabin, and drive Maddy down to the club in my truck still wrapped up in a blanket. She doesn’t speak a word, but then neither do I. What is there to be said? There ain’t no words for what’s happened these last couple of weeks.

Everyone sits in shock in the lounge bar. Skid slouched in the armchair that’s usually occupied by Prez, pale, and his eyes drained red raw. Prez seems to have kicked back into leader mode, pacing the room while speaking down the phone to Roswell. There’s no discussion to be had over what will happen to Carly, she’ll be treated the same as Hayley. Ain't no way she’s gonna be hidden and lost all trace of.

But we still have to be smart about it.

Maddy sits curled in a ball on my lap while we wait for Roswell to get here, hoping it’ll be before the feds do or we’re fucked. She’s still shaking, and I worry she might never pick herself back up from this. I’ve seen how close her and Carly have become in the short time she’s been here. Losing two people so close together is going to shatter her.

“This is your fault,” an angry voice snaps from across the room, and when I lift my head I see Skid’s finger pointing directly at Maddy.

“We should have let the Bastards fuckin’ take you. Then this wouldn’t have… She’d still be…” his words become less and less understandable as he breaks down. Maddy crumples in my arms, and I hold her tight, trying to protect her from Skid’s outbreak. At the same time wanting to strike him for even thinking this could be her fault.

“Hey come on, let's get you a drink.” Prez takes Skid by his shoulder and drags him towards the bar. Skid’s eyes still burn anger at Maddy, and if the guy hadn’t just lost his wife I’d scoop them out with a spoon and force them down his fucking throat for daring to look at her like it.

Maddy hides her face in my chest and sobs. I feel helpless. There’s nothing I can say to take her pain away. I still don’t know what’s happened. If she saw anything. All I do know, is that shit’s about to get real fucking serious around here.

“Roswell's here,” Thorne, who’s been keeping a look out for the feds, pokes his head around the door. The tired looking cop enters the room not long after. I’ve noticed his wrinkles deepening lately, and I hope he ain’t losing his sharpness ‘coz he’s a real handy person to have on side.

“What's happened now…?” He heads straight for the bar, then as soon as he sees the seriousness in all our faces, his expression changes.

“Bastards came onto the fucking compound. Killed Carly,” Tac explains, and the look on Roswell's face catches up with the rest of the room.

“Fuck.” He sinks his ass onto one of the barstools. “They came here?” he checks, in disbelief.

“I've just checked the CCTV, they didn’t use the gate, doubt they’d know about our trail through the woods so they must have been on foot and come through the trees,” Thorne informs us.

“But why? why would they risk coming here, especially on foot, it makes no sense.” Roswell knocks back the shot that Nyx pours him, and I try to ignore the way Skid’s eyes hatefully glare at Maddy before he empties the contents of his own glass down his throat, slamming it on the bar.

“Come on I’ll take you up to the cabin,” Troj says, prompting Roswell to stand up and follow him out with a sympathetic look to Skid as he leaves. I need to get Maddy out of here too. The atmosphere in the room must be unbearable for her. Gently I shift her off my lap, take her hand into mine, and head out after them.

“That’s right, you take her the fuck out of here. Your new fuck toy’s caused enough trouble for this club, Jessie.” Skid’s harsh voice hits on every one of my nerves. Releasing Maddy's hand, I launch across the room at him, and luckily for him Screwy is there, his humungous arm slamming across my chest and blocking me from getting to him, his brother comes next, wrapping himself around my shoulders.

“Skid, I get you’re hurting man, but you speak about my bitch like that again, and I swear you’ll be hurting a whole lot more,” I growl through my teeth, my jaw too tight with rage to unwind.

“Just take her home, Jess.” Prez pats my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down. I reconnect with her, my anger calming slightly when I feel her fingers slide between mine. She manages to hold off until we get outside to the yard before she falls to pieces. Loud sobs and wet tears hitting my chest as her hands grip my T-shirt, she clings at me like I’m all she has left.

It dawns on me that right now I probably am, and that makes me tense my arms and hold her tighter.

I drive us up to the cabins, and when we get there Roswell’s cop car is parked outside Skid’s. Troj is leaning against a pillar on the cabin porch, and I give him a nod as I pass him taking Maddy inside and straight to my bedroom.

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