Page 9 of Brave as It

Colt laughs, “Fucker, I have it all. I know the feel of a good woman coming alive just for me and not because of money or status. I know what it is to be free. I know what it is to give as good as I get. I know what it is to have family, real family. Yeah, I’m fucking bold from it all. I’m also bold enough, brash enough, and brave enough to tell you, Thomas Reigns, I’ll see you in fuckin’ hell.”

Without a moment of hesitation, he pulls the trigger firing the kill shot into Thomas Reigns.

Threats eliminated, I make my way to my van and off to the hospital. I’m not leaving her.

Not now. Not ever.

I finally have something good for myself and I’m not about to be away from her.

THREE

EMMALEE

Life lessons with Emma: Even the best laid plans fall apart. I can’t expect this one to succeed.

Driveuntil the gas light pops on the car.

That’s what I did one week ago.

Sort of.

The plan seemed simple enough to give me a new start. Not that I wanted this new start. I just can’t find another solution. There weren’t options given, cut and dry instructions. When will life calm down?

After getting shot in Wesson and Colton’s second home, I spent weeks in the hospital and then more time in a rehabilitation facility. When I first woke up, I was overwhelmed with my injury and trying to heal. The bullet hit my brain but didn’t ricochet around like most do. At least that’s what the doctors told me. Short term impacts of a traumatic brain injury were learning to talk again. Coming to, I couldn’t piece much together. In fact, nothing made sense, even the biker in the wheelchair that wouldn’t leave my room. With the patience of a saint, he calmly explained things to me. It took me some timefor the memories to come back. When they did, my emotions overwhelmed me more than the physical healing I was doing.

I had no idea it was Thomas Reigns outside the house when my father was shot and killed in front of me. He fired from outside. The window shattered and in an instant my dad was gone. In the chaos, I tried to do what Diem asked and hide in the closet. But I love her like a sister and even knowing now what would happen, I would have still stood beside her in those moments. She didn’t need to be alone.

Sure, I assumed it was O’Leary since that is who my dad and Thomas crossed. In the end, though, I was wrong. I went to the closet as Diem asked of me and called Colton. I put the video on just before being found and yanked around. I had all intentions of coming out as soon as I got my phone ready. Fate had a different plan. Getting me out in the open in front of my friend, the man held me firmly as Thomas took a knife to Diem. I watched helplessly as her own father (that’s what we thought our whole lives and now knew to be wrong) caused her physical pain.

It didn’t end there, Thomas Reigns shot me. I got lucky that it didn’t kill me. A bullet to the brain. Thankfully, the damaged parts have healed mostly. I had to learn to do things again but endured. To this day, I struggle with short term memory problems and a little delay in my speech, but otherwise no stranger could recognize I have a traumatic brain injury. I know what I live with. I know the struggles I’ll never bother to share with anyone. They remain inside my head and my heart and will forever be mine alone.

Some things never change though.

Brain rattled or not, when my mom called and begged me to help, I listened. I had two months of life with Wesson after I healed before my mother reached out. She was very specific with her instructions. I didn’t have time to think or weigh my options. Family matters, right? How can I turn my back on her?

I did exactly what she wanted. I lied to Wesson. I lied to Diem. I have lived the last year playing the part. I call Diem and tell her another lie. I can’t let them find me. I can’t go home until I help my mom.

I’m stuck. From the moment I took my mother’s call until now I’m stuck. She was clear that I couldn’t tell anyone, and I had to make them think I was all over the place. Even now, she still pulls the strings.

It all started when I hung up the phone and I got in my Mustang and drove inland. Avoiding the major roads, I took the backroads. I was putting Haywood’s Landing and my shattered dreams behind me. The less scenery the less reminders. It’s North Carolina, these open highways should be mostly pine trees. That was my headspace. Leave everything in the rearview. At least for the short term. It wasn’t supposed to last this long, either. I should have asked more questions. I should have demanded more of an explanation. Or I should have hung up the damn phone.

Hindsight is always clearer. Now, though, there isn’t anything I can change or escape. My mindset is find a way to have a new life for myself.

It’s hard to do that, though, when everywhere I turned from the moment I left to now, I find myself face-to-face with a reminder.

My first stop was a bus station. I followed the instructions provided and left my car, getting into the silver Chevy Cruze that was in the exact spot they told me it would be. It made my first lie to Diem easy. I was on a bus trip across the country to see and explore. Knowing the trauma we both endured, she didn’t even question my abrupt need to escape life on the coast.

How is this real? I had hoped I would arrive at the bus depot and the car wouldn’t be there. This would all be some weirddream and I would wake up. Only at every step it all stares me vividly in the face.

I left my life behind. I am doing exactly as instructed. How long until the next step? I don’t know.

What I do know is I can’t escape the Hellions. They seem to be everywhere.

The first time it was blaring me right in the face happened in Salemburg, North Carolina. I wasn’t low on gas, therefore stopping here wasn’t a big deal. Minding my business, driving along, I finally got the tears to stop, I was pulling myself together in that moment. This was it; I began my next phase in life.Drive until the gas runs out and begin there until I knew what was expected next.That was the plan until I passed a garage and a reality hit me.

Honey’s Hot Rods.

The shop isn’t the problem. Well, not exactly. The set-up is similar to the Haywood’s Landing garage where Wesson works as far as appearance. Red metal building with black accents. There was a half of a truck attached to the deck at the entrance. That is different than Haywood’s Landing. They even put a skeleton wearing a beanie in the driver’s seat. It’s definitely eye catching and memorable. What got me though, was the sign. It was just like Haywood’s Landing, font, colors, logo, all of it, including the Hellions insignia on the sign in the bottom right-hand corner.

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