Page 13 of Madison
Anna leans forward and puts her hand on my knee and gives it a little squeeze. “Tell them what you just told me. Get it out. Don’t let it fester. They both love you unconditionally and are hurtin’ too, sweetheart. Just think about it.”
I nod. “I will.”
Mary comes out and Christy follows, tripping over the threshold but catching herself before she falls. I swear, she’s the definition of a person having two left feet. She stands up straight and smiles as she shrugs her shoulders at all of us. “Let’s go shopping!”
***********
We’ve been shopping for a couple of hours and we’re taking a break at Sooner or Later so I can introduce them to the deliciousness that is a blended double mocha. We just put in our order and found a table. I’ve had a blast with Christy and Mary and can see them both becoming good friends. We sit down and I can’t keep from bringing up what’s been on my mind since we left Anna’s.
“Are you two really okay with the guys planning and goin’ to take care of the pieces of shit up on the mountain without you? You’re okay with them just getting information from you and then not including any of us who were held up there?” They look at each other then back to me, both shrugging their shoulders.
Mary speaks up as soon as our drinks are dropped off at our table with the cookies I ordered. “We just kinda figured that’s how things are done. With them bringing us both out of that hell and helping us get a life we both want, we don’t want to rockthe boat or anything. Were we wrong? Is this not how things are handled with the club, the family?”
I take a couple sips of the deliciousness of my drink before I answer. “You’re not wrong, but I’m tired of being left in the dark. They don’t even know which ones are the worst ones up there. I feel like we are three strong women and can fucking get revenge ourselves. Wouldn’t it be so much more satisfying?”
Christy gets what can only be described as an evil grin and answers me. “Yeah, it would. I’d love to give a couple of them some karma back for all the shit they did over the years. What about you, Mary?”
She has her head down, and I start thinking maybe this idea is too much for her. I honestly don’t know what all she went through up there on that mountain and for how long she had to deal with things. She shocks the shit out of me when she lifts her head and there’s a fire in her eyes that is slightly scary. “I want to hurt them. Hurt them in a way that they can’t ever hurt anyone else ever again. No man should ever be allowed to do what they…” She pauses and I realize she’s had some horrific, unspeakable things done to her in her life. Mary brings up a good point. “I’m all for us going, but what about..” She looks around the coffee place before she continues, “What about getting sometoolsto help us?”
This is where my working for the club and my brothers is gonna come in handy. “I’ve got the key to the clubhouse and I have a feeling we can find some things there. If not, I think Anna would be willing to lend us some.”
We enjoy the rest of our drinks and cookies and decide to forgo any more shopping today. It’s time to take matters into our ownhands and deal with our own shit. I get that my family wants to deal with things, but, again, they’re leaving me out of shit. I don’t think this totally falls under club business, at least the part that involvesmeand what happened tome. Time to be an adult and take care of shit on my own.
We get to the clubhouse and it’s a good couple of hours till church, so the parking lot is empty. I know for a fact there’s almost no one here since they’re all still working. The only prospect they have right now is Leif, so most of the time when I’ve come to clean, I’ve had the place to myself. Just as I’m unlocking the door to the clubhouse so we can search, my phone pings with an incoming text.
Mick: I forgot to tell ya that I’ve got church tonight, but it shouldn’t go late. We still on for dinner? My place or yours? What do you want for dinner? Pizza, Mexican, burgers?
Me: Yeah, we’re on for dinner. I can whip up some pasta if that sounds okay. You alright with my place?
Mick: Baby, my place ain’t nothin’ special, you know that. It’s just a basic apartment. You’ve turned your place into a home. Wherever you are is where I wanna be.
Me: See you then. I was thinking we might want to get in some more practice like we did this morning. I think practice is always a good idea.
Mick: Woman, you’re killing me. Gotta get back to work. Client just finished their break. Love you.
Me: Love you. See you soon.
As focused as I am on us handling this shit, it still warms my heart to read him saying I love you and know he means it. I haven’t had a jam-packed day like this in years—losing my virginity and sending some fuckers to meet Hel all in one day. I’m gonna need a bottle of wine tonight. Some chocolate too.
We all get inside and Christy of course trips over a chair. Mary must be used to it ’cause she doesn’t bat an eye and asks me, “Where do we start looking?”
I walk through the main room as I answer her. “We start with the closet down here. I think some might be in there. I know a lot of the guys keep most of their stuff at their homes so we might not find a lot, but I figured we’d start here. I have a gun at home, but one gun for the three of us isn’t enough.” We get to the end of the hallway and before I open the closet, I realize I need to ask an important question. “Have either of you ever shot or even held a gun?” Immediately, they both nod.
Mary shares, “Oh yeah, we were required from the time we were little to learn how to shoot. They focused more on that than on giving us any other skills really. We both can cook and clean, but that’s about it. Mom was going to teach me to knit but she passed before she could start showing me.”
Well, shit, looks like I might be the least trained. I mean, I know how to shoot and all, but I have a feeling these two could outshoot most of the brothers—maybe not Shane and Saxon since they both were in the military, but the rest of the guys. I can’t wait till they find out.Focus, Madison.Looking throughthe closet, I find a safe, but fuck if I know the combination. I try a few I can think of if Pa or Jon did the combination with no luck.
“If all the guns are at the guys' places, in that safe, or behind a locked door, we’re losing daylight. We might as well go see if Anna will help us. If we keep looking, someone’s gonna show up at some point since they have that meeting, right?” Christy makes a good point.
“Alright, let’s go see Anna. If she can’t or won’t, we’ll go get mine and figure out a plan on our way up the mountain. I just know the three of us need to make them pay.”
We all head back out to my car. Just as I’m walking through the door to leave, I almost run into Grant. “Oomph”. I push my glasses up and look at him. “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be walking in and I wasn’t paying attention.” He’s looking at the three of us with suspicion.
“No worries, sweetheart. I finished my last client of the day and decided to come here since we’ve got church later. You cleaning today?”
Shit. I’m a shit liar, but here it goes. “Nah, we were out shopping and I thought I left my kindle here when I was cleaning last and wanted to grab it. It doesn’t look like it’s here. We’re off to one more store. See ya later!” I give him a half-hug and we all hurry to my car before he can ask any questions.
As soon as we’re on the road, Mary finds her voice again. “Are you usually that bad of a liar? I don’t know him, but even I could tell he didn’t believe a word you just said.”
