Page 177 of Maddox
When Pops and I stop beside him, he backs away, shaking his head and muttering, “Sick shit.”
Following his gaze, I zero in on the bones amongst the ashes and Pops says, “Human.”
It takes a moment for my brain to catch up with his words and my stomach rolls while I stand before the remnants of who I presume to be the man that died for my sister and Delaney.
What a fucking waste.
When Reaper enters the building, I follow, scanning the faded benches and Formica tables before crouching beside a bag resting on the floor.
After reading the patch on the fabric, I turn back to the door. Did Kidd die in that fire? Fuck, I hope he was dead before they did it but that’s not Ice’s style.
Who was Kidd? I don’t know but he’s a fucking hero if you ask me.
Pushing back the ache pressing at my lungs, I step out the back door and approach Wolf standing over something hidden in the grass. It turns out to be a dead fucker on his back with his pants down to his knees and his shriveled dick flopping over his belly.
It’s impossible to make out his features because his head was crushed into nothing more than bone and brain.
“Jesus, what did they have to do to get out of this?” I mutter, but Wolf merely grunts and walks away.
Inexplicably, my chest swells with pride for those two young women who fought to survive despite the odds against them.
When a shadow forms over my shoulder, I glance back, to find Jersey analyzing the body. His brows flicker before he looks up and meets my stare.
With a nod, he surveys the area, and I leave him to it. Sometimes I think he’s more animal than human and if he needs to commune with nature or some shit, more power to him.
“Pops,” I say when I stop beside him, back at the remnants of the fire. “What the hell started this shit?”
My whole life I’ve assumed based on stories that this was about greed and territory but how could one man be so inhuman over fucking land?
It doesn’t make sense.
As if sensing my unease, Pops rubs the back of his neck and says, “Bobby was born with a screw loose. It was only a matter of time before he lost his mind altogether.”
“Bobby?”
“Ice,” he says. “A long time ago, his father, Slash, was part of our MC. He was a loyal brother too, but some people weren’t meant to be, ya know and when Slash Hope started doing shit that went against our honor, we had to put him down.”
Jesus, it must have been hard fucking core for my pops to kill a brother.
With a sigh, he smacks me on the shoulder and says, “Ice was born bad, just like his daddy and that’s a stone-cold fact. Guess he couldn’t get past his pops’ disappearance and that’s when it all went to hell.”
Chapter 41
Delaney
I’m sitting on the couch with the Abernathy girls and a tough-as-nails chick named Toni when Draven appears beside me and grumbles, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“Where?” I ask, pushing to my feet.
“Who cares,” she says.
Lilli smiles from her spot on the couch as I follow Draven out of the room. Although they’ve been nothing but kind, it was super surreal to be hanging out with the reverend’s daughters at an MC compound while we waited, presumably for their men to return.
The main area is empty save for a man standing behind the counter. He glances up, his eyes wide when he spots Draven and the cigarette dangling from his mouth drops to the floor.
After grabbing two bottles of liquor, he steps on the butt before rushing outside.
“Idiot,” she mumbles, stopping at the pool table.
