Page 83 of Stone

“Okay,” she breathed. “I understand, John, I just didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t heard from you, and it’s not like you to not write for so long. It worried me, and I guess I began to overthink.”

“Where was Mom?” I asked. “Didn’t you talk to her?”

“She’s visiting your aunt Mary in Nebraska,” Leesy murmured. “She’s not due back until next week.”

My gut clenched.

Fuck!

“I don’t know what happened, Leesy,” I bit out. “But I’ll sort it. Write me tonight, and I’ll do the same. Then tomorrow, I want you to look for flights and send me the information in a letter. I’ll pay for everything. All you need to do is get yourself to me.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “I can do that.”

My throat thickened. “I love you, Elise.”

“I love you, John. Always,” she croaked, before the line went dead.

The feeling of sweet relief that washed over me was palpable.

Elise had gotten herself so damned worked up she was at the end of her rope. I couldn’t blame her, though. If the boot was on the other foot, I’d have burned the world down looking for her.

No, the blame wasn’t for my girl to take on; it belonged to somebody else’s shoulders.

A burning sensation licked through my chest. I dug inside my pocket for more change and dialed out another number.

The line rang twice before a deep voice barked, “Yo!”

My chest jerked. “Dad? Is that you?”

“Who the fuck else would it be, ya little bastard,” he cackled. “I take it they finally let you out of sniper school. How did it go, boy? Did you kick some sniper ass like I told ya—”

“Why didn’t you tell Elise?” I demanded, cutting him off. “She’s been worried sick. What the fuck did you do?”

Dad paused for a minute before muttering, “Here we go.”

“I trusted you,” I told him accusingly. “Why couldn’t you have put her mind at ease? Why you gotta be so goddamned pig-headed when it comes to Elise?”

He signed loudly as if I was a mere irritation. “It’s not my job to mollycoddle your townie girl. You’ll be asking me to sit down and braid her hair next. She’s your ol’ lady, your problem. Don’t gotta foist her hoity-toity ass onto me when the goin’ gets tough.”

My jaw clenched tightly. “I’m sick of this, Pop. If it carries on, I won’t come back. I’ll see out my enlistment, send for Elise, and we’ll make a life somewhere else. I don’t give two fucks if you hate her, she’s mine, and I protect what’s mine, even if it’s gotta be from you.”

“Are you threatening me, boy,” he rasped quietly.

“No,” I retorted. “I’m laying it out for ya. Any more shit slinging at my girl and you won’t have to see her again, but you won’t see me again, either.”

Silence reigned for a minute as Dad took in my words, except for the sound of his breath sawing in and out, a sure sign that he was close to blowing up.

The thing was, I didn’t care. He hadn’t tried with my girl since the day I brought her around. I knew it had everything to do with her snooty dad and the way he looked down his nose at us, but Elise wasn’t Jerome Bell, the same as I wasn’t Bandit. All his bullshit had to stop, and it had to stop now.

“Have you ever known me to lie, boy?” Pop asked, his tone calmer now.

I almost laughed out loud. “You lie daily to Mom. If she knew half of what you do with the club, she’d have a fuckin’ conniption.”

“The day I opened the Demons, I made your mother a promise not to ever involve her in the club’s dealings. We’re not Boy Scouts, and she knows it, but that’s all she wants to fuckin’ know. If your mother was privy to my secrets, she’d be in danger of bein’ questioned by the law, even the Feds. I lie to protect her, and she’s okay with that. Now, boy, apart from your mother and our mutual agreement to not involve her in the club’s illegal activities, when have you ever known me to lie.”

My eyebrows drew together in thought. “Never,” I muttered begrudgingly.

“Right,” he continued. “So why on God’s green Earth do you think for one minute I’ll lie for your lily-white ass?”

---