Page 38 of Scythe's Salvation
As I search in vain for any signs of my family, I vaguely hear Banshee on the phone. He’s either calling Brick to inform him of the situation or Hawg, since I can see the cameras on the building. “Let’s go back, brothers, she’s not here,” I say. “We need to get her vehicle towed back to the clubhouse, though, because I don’t want it sitting here.”
Banshee must hear me because he nods then finishes up his call. “Hawg’s pulling up the CCTV, Scythe. Brick’s calling church. We’ll find them.”
My mind comes back to the present when I hear Rael ask, “Why can’t you just grab the ex? He’s the key from what was on the video your guy pulled.”
Brick is already shaking his head. “While that would be the easiest thing to do, he’s insinuated himself into the community by joining the police force and running for sheriff.Everyoneknows who he is, and if he up and disappears, it puts us in the line of fire, even though we’re not that kind of club. Because unfortunately for us, his history with Tamara is known thanks to small-town minds. Not only that, but Scythe and Tamara have been seen out and about as well. It wouldn’t take anyone long to put two and two together.”
“Fucking hell,” Rael snarls. “I want a piece of that fucker for whatever he’s putting Chance through.”
That makes two of us, brother, that makes two of us. We may not go around killing our enemies, but when it comes to either my woman or boy being hurt? Then all bets are off.
“Since we’re relatively sure that he’s been pulled into that fucking fundamentalist world, and Chance is his son, he’s likely just fine,” Hawg states.
My head hits my hands as multiple scenarios, each one worse than the last, run through my head. Albertson had to ask for a continuance of the court case since Tamara and Chance were taken which has my head shooting up. “Why, when they had court the following week, did that bastard snatch them?” I speculate. “I mean, there’s a good chance, even though he’s virtually been an absentee parent, that he could’ve been awarded visitation of some sort. What changed?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Jingles muses, tapping his fingers against the wooden table. “Maybe he decided to take matters into his own hands, but that doesn’t make sense either.”
I’m nearly at my wit’s end since Tamara and Chance came up missing. Amara and her family have been relentlessly driving me crazy as well, and Amara’s been calling for updates every day. Then, when I have to tell her we have nothing new, she breaks down crying. I hate it when a woman cries, especially when it’s my ol’ lady’s best friend.
“Okay, let’s keep pounding the pavement,” Brick decrees. “We’ll find them and bring them back to their family.”
Chance
“I want to see my Mommy,” I state, my hands clenched into fists as I glare at the man who keeps telling me I’m his son. “And I don’t belong to you. Not now, not ever.”
“YourMommyis a little bit indisposed,” the mean man replies. “Come along, son, you have a lot to learn about the cause.”
I cross my hands over my chest. I’ve heard my mommy say that I’m stubborn when I don’t want to do something, and I donotwant to go with him. I want my mom, I want Scythe, I want RiffRaff, I want my memaw. I do not want him.
“How cute to think you really have a choice,”Timsneers as he grabs me by my shoulder. It hurts, a lot, but I don’t say anything at all. I also don’t make it easy, making him have to practically carry me out of the fancy bedroom I’ve been staying in since he made us come with him.
I hear a whisper of a voice and look around because I recognize who it is and wonder if Scythe and his brothers found us. Only… I don’t see anyone as Tim continues to drag me through the house we’re at. Weird, why would I hear Hannah and Faith? Was it in my head? Shaking it off, I close my eyes because I don’t want to see where he’s taking me.
“Open your eyes, Chance, and let us see,” Hannah says. “That way we can send everyone to rescue you.”
“We want to help, Chance,” Faith adds. “Let us see what you do. Please?”
They’re some of my new friends I’ve made since Mommy and Scythe started dating. There are a lot of kids at the clubhouse, which makes me happy because I always have someone to play with when we’re there. Even though Hannah and Faith are little girls, I still like them because they’re not scared to bait theirhooks when RiffRaff takes all of us fishing. So, I open my eyes. My head tickles a little bit, which I don’t understand, but I keep listening to their voices and look around at everything.
When I see we’re near some windows, I look outside, happy that it’s daylight so I can show them what I’m seeing. I don’t really understand what it is that they’re doing, but I obey when I hear Hannah tell me to try and find something like a bill to look at. As we enter an office, I do what they say and hear a gasp inside my head.
“We’re going to tell our mommy,” Hannah says. “Just be strong, Chance. Do you know where your mommy’s at?”
Tears well up in my eyes as I slowly shake my head. Even though me and Callum are becoming best friends, and lately Nitro has been joining us, my very best friend is my mommy.
“Don’t worry, they’ll find her, we promise,” Faith states.
I wake up slowly, sitting up on the couch that Tim told me to sit on. Another voice whispers in my head which scares me.
“Don’t be scared, little man, we’re coming to get you and your mom. In fact, we’re on our way.”
I don’t know who’s talking to me. It doesn’t sound like Scythe or RiffRaff, but I’m not scared. Maybe I should be, but I know I’m supposed to be brave, so instead, I just nod. I don’t know if the voice can see me or not, but I hear someone laughing now, so maybe whoever it is can see what I can too, just like Hannah and Faith.
As I look around the office and realize I’m by myself, I quietly ask, “Can you see what I do?”
The voice says,“Yes, I can. You just stay where you are, Chance. Scythe is on the way.”
“Okay. I miss my mommy,” I confess. “And I miss Memaw, RiffRaff, Auntie Amara, Callum, Nitro, and the kitties.”
