Page 31 of Carver
“Cyber stalking?”
“Not exactly. I haven’t taken any jobs since prospecting for the club. I might not in the future. I did one for them in the past and they liked my work. They gave me a standing invitation, should I ever want to join up. It wasn’t so much a matter as wanting versus needing. Kael and I—she’s blown her cover using her real name constantly, so we decided to let it slide in private, but we’re waiting on something. I used to think it would determine our future, but our future is in Hart whatever happens with that.”
“So, you’re hiding out?”
Dom sighs. He reaches across the bike now that it’s pretty much secured on its own, and touches my arm.
“We’d never go where we endangered others. We’re at the point where the people who would want to find her are no longermuch of a threat. They’ve taken care of themselves. You don’t live to be old in organized crime.”
Organized crime? Like the mafia? Or- or- uh- what other kind of organized crime is there? Holy freaking wow, I knew bikers were badass, and I guess I’d processed that most of them have a past that is more shade than sunlight, but that’s just crazy.
Dravin and Kael are so…nice.
“Bad things have a way of finding good people, whether they ask for them or not.”
“She did say something about her brother,” I admit, careful not to go too far or say too much. “I just didn’t realize it was that intense.”
Dravin finishes the last strap and pats the bike’s back tire. “That live fast thing—some people just have to do it. It’s something in their genetics or it gets into their head, and it becomes a matter of their cells. It takes over everything else.”
Dom lets go of the bike and we back away carefully. Dravin did a good job tying it down. He tests the straps and they’re all taut. Even if he drove that truck like a madman all the way back to Hart, I don’t think this thing would move an inch. The trailer might detach and go careening all over the place or flip, but the bike would still be tied in the exact same spot.
“My job involved finding people who didn’t want to be found. Some of it was online, some not. Kael tells me that I need to be more careful when I say that, or people get the wrong idea. I was never taking jobs for the wrong sort. Kael says that I was on the right side of justice.”
“You were finding bad people?”
“People who had done things to others that I found unjust. I thought they should answer for their actions.” He flicks off his phone’s flashlight, plunging the trailer into semi-darkness. “You can ask Atlas and Willa sometime about it. They have an adopted granny and, uh- the story is basically theirs to tell. If you let them know that I’m the one who told you to ask, you’ll get the idea.”
“An adopted granny sounds fun.”
Dravin grins. “Agatha’s a riot. She loves babies. If you’re looking for a figure like that yourself, I think she’d be pretty happy to step in.”
“I don’t have any grandparents who are still living.” It seemed to be a curse in my family. It wasn’t just my dad’s parents who died quite young. “So that would be an offer I’d be more than happy to take her up on.” I’ve cried so much lately, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just nice that these ones are happy tears. I miss my grandparents, but at the same time, the thought of this family being for all of us as we become a family of our own, hits me hard.
We exit the trailer, Dom clutching my hand. He turns to the house across the yard while Dravin looks towards the domed shop.
“I said that I’d like to light this place up, but I have a better idea. I’ll pack the bags I want- and there’s literally almost nothing I want to take except what Bronte’s given me—and then I’m going to bulldoze it. How much do you think it is to rent one of those?”
Tonight is seriously a night for surprises, because what on earth? I didn’t realize that we were packing up more than the bike.
If Dominic’s emotions are anything like mine right now, they’re all over the place, swinging back and forth. I don’t want to question him, but knocking down a house that’s stood for generations isn’t something you can just undo if you change your mind.
“Maybe we could rent something in a few weeks?” I whisper, darting my eyes between the house and Dom. “That way, we’d have time to figure out clean up. If you want to clear the land to sell it, we could probably get all of the stuff that needs to go at once.”
Dravin claps Dom on the shoulder. “Whatever you want to do, we’ve got you covered. You want an excavator or a dozer, we’ll rent it and bring it out here. Bins too for clean up. You want every inch of this place razed to the ground, you just give the word. You want it restored, you could say that too, and we’d find a way to make it happen.”
The noise Dom makes is somewhere between choking and keening. It’s wounded and animal and tears right through me. “You don’t need to do that for me.”
“Alright then.” Dravin drops his hand from Dom’s shoulder, agreeing, but it’s only to appease him.
“Is that really an alright then?”
“No.” Dravin’s one of those people who has the magical ability to laugh at the hardest things, not in a mean way or in a way that makes a person feel as though they’re being attacked or betrayed, but in a way that makes you want to laugh and feel better too, even if you’re not sure how it’s possible that you’re doing it. “We’re going to help you out.”
“Why?”
“I’ve told you why. Because some people get put in your path and you just know that they’re meant to be in your life.” His tone changes, getting deeper and far more serious. “I felt that way about Kael’s brother. He was my best friend. He saved my life over and over. Maybe that was the reason we met. Maybe it was to keep me alive. Or maybe it was because I needed to meet the love of my life. Whatever the reason, it was his dying wish that I take care of his sister. You know some of this.”
His eyes flick to me. I don’t know any of it. He continues, “It felt wrong to fall in love with her, but it wasn’t something I could keep from happening. Not when she wanted it too.” His scarred face breaks into another grin so big that the corners of his eyes crease up on the good side, and on the scarred side by his glass eye, the skin pulls taut. “When Kael wants something, she’s not afraid to go after it. Anyway. The why might not be clear in the present, but it often gets that way if we wait a while.”
