Page 136 of Timeless

“Yes.” He nodded.

I looked back at the bottle, which had Amber’s name on them. “You sure, buddy? They look like your mom’s?”

He shook his head. I looked back at the medication box and started to look through it. I didn’t know the trade names but I knew the drug name. Antibiotics. Valium. I started to pull more boxes out and I started to see a regular pattern. They were all benzodiazepines.

I started throwing them back. Clearly, Will had a fucking problem and Amber had been feeding it. How could she have been letting Will take this shit, near Jack? She had been getting Will drugs!

“Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah, Jack?” I was busy glaring at the medication box. I couldn’t believe Amber could be so fucking stupid! She said she always put Jack first. How was giving Will drugs putting Jack first? I’m sure Will had been left alone with Jack. I’m sure had he been behind a wheel with Jack in the car.

And he was on all this crap. How could Amber let that happen?

“Can we look up so more names?” Jack asked, while my mind was running trying to come up with one logical reason why Amber would be getting Will drugs.

“I don’t think your mom has any more.”

“No. I have names.” Jack’s face lit up. “I want look up the Rat. Does he have a record likes yours?”

Seeing that grin on his face… Well, he had me. I don’t think I’d ever say no to him. “You want to see my real record? You know the version on your wall doesn’t list the stuff I got away with.” I didn’t know if it was bad parenting, showing your kid your full record.

Jack’s face lit up. “I want to see it!” He put his arms out for me to pick him up.

I picked Jack up and headed back to Amber’s study. “Now, remember, Jack. We don’t tell Mom that we can look her up.”

Jack nodded and then started listing other bikers he wanted to look up.

* * *

“So, this man was a bad man?”Jack was looking at a mugshot of a guy I killed in prison.

When we started to look at my record, and he saw the list of shit I hadn’t been charged with, and I had gotten off with. And these murders were on the list. In fact, the list of men I had gotten off killing was a hell of a lot. Jack wasn’t even halfway through the list.

I pulled the packet of cigarettes from my jean pocket. Fuck, I needed a cigarette. “Yeah, bud, he was.” I pulled out a cigarette and then stopped.

Amber had some rule about not smoking in the house. Was that because of Jack? Did she not smoke in front of him? I ran a hand through my hair. I guess I’d have to ask her.

“Mom smokes.” Jack looked at me tapping my cigarette packet on the desk.

“Yeah, but not inside.”

“Yeah, because Will wouldn’t let her.” Jack looked back at the screen. “Can we look at the next bad guy?”

“Yes, bud.” I leaned forward and skipped to the next criminal I killed. “And that one I didn’t like sharing a cell with.” I saw one of the first cell mates who thought he could try and kill me in my sleep. “So, your mom only didn’t smoke in the house because of Will?”

“Yep and he is gone now.” Jack’s attention was on the laptop. “What does that mean?”

I look around him and he was pointing at the tattoo on the man’s forehead. “That he was in a certain group of people.”

“Like a club?”

“No more like a gang.” I grabbed a cigarette out and put in my mouth, bringing the lighter to my mouth.

“What is going on?”

My eyes snapped to Amber, who was standing in the doorway. She was wearing my shirt, her hair was all over the place, and her eyes were bouncing off Jack, then me, and then the cigarette in my mouth.

I lowered the lighter, taking the cigarette from my mouth.

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