Page 68 of Property of Raider
Me: It was my choice.I will always protect the people I love.At the end of this, it will either be me or her.I’m done letting her win ever again.I didn’t get to say it before, but I’m saying it now.I love you.Please make sure Rusher knows how much I love him.
Just as I hit send, there is a knock on my window causing me to jump and scream.My sister is standing there.Where I would typically see a very well-polished woman and a put-together woman stands a woman with stringy hair, no make-up, and wearing workout gear.She looks like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.I push the door open, stepping out.
“I’m here.What do you want from me?”I start not in any mood to play her game.
“I want it all.Don’t you get it?Ever since the first time Relic convinced me sex with his friend would show him how much I loved him.Or the night he broke my first rib when I fought against drugging Raider that night.”Shea is hysterical, but there’s something about her that’s just not right.
“Shea, for once in your life, fucking tell the truth.We both know that you don’t do anything you don’t want to fucking do,” I scream at her.
Her eyes lose all emotion.“It was all working just as I had planned.I even had Relic set up with his special toy.But that was never enough for him, or Jose, or even the Lucier’s Knights.They couldn’t just let me do what I had perfected.No, they wanted to be in charge of everything, and they got greedy.”
“You are not making any fucking sense, Shea!”I shout at her.
“None of it matters.That is all you need to know,” she screams back.“All of this—Auntie Lynn, Rusher, and Relic were for nothing.I’ve lost it fucking all, and now there is only one thing left to do.Get rid of you, take Rusher, and all the money Auntie Lynn left you.”She pulls a handgun from the waist of her pants.
I hold my hands up trying to placate her.“Shea, please, you really don’t have to do this.We can figure it all out.”
“Are you that fucking stupid?Without backing from the Kings, the cartel, or someone like that, I’ve got nothing.No one will trust me or the girls I provide.So, I’ll just take what is owed to me.I mean, as long as I have Rusher, the Kings will do everything I need them to.”Her laugh is diabolical.“You’re the only thing standing in my way because Rusher and Raider will never let you go.”
“Why Shea?”I ask her.“After everything I did for you, just let me go.I’ll leave and never contact anyone again.”
“You see, the will doesn’t transfer to Rusher until I can prove you died.And how tragic it happened while you were here mourning the death of your dear Auntie Lynn,” Shea wipes away a fake tear.
“And why would you be mourning my death?”A voice I never thought I would hear again calls from the shadows behind Shea.
She spins around, gun raised.“No, no, this can’t be happening.”
Out of the shadows step Auntie Lynn and a group of men in suits.Shea’s eyes go even wider as she looks between everyone.
“They said you were dead.That the fire was too hot and fast for you to get out since the fire started just outside of your room,” Shea spirals with the new revelation.
Auntie Lynn lifts a delicate shoulder.“Oh my dear Shea, as smart as you think you are, you still don’t get it.What is the one thing that talks?”
Shea growls, “Money.I’ve had your accounts checked.There is no way you had that kind of money.”
I stand there completely lost, still in shock at the fact Auntie Lynn is standing there like a ghost.
“Well, we can talk in circles all day.But alas, I have people I want to see and talk to.So now you get to pick.Go with my friends here and give them the information on every high-powered man that used your services or die.”
“If I give you what you’re asking for, I’m dead either way.So, is it even a goddamn choice?”she screams.
“I guess the choice is whether you die now or in the future,” Auntie Lynn’s tone is cold in a way I never thought she could do.
The sound of motorcycles coming up the driveway just adds to the insanity of the situation.They break the tree line.
Chapter Twenty-four
Raider
We ride harder and faster than I’ve ever ridden before.Thoughts of the ways I would gladly kill Hermes for letting Anastasia off the property after shots were fired, dance in the forefront of my mind.By the time we’re close to the farm, I’ve collected most of the men.We sound like rolling thunder as we come up the driveway.We break the treeline.I come to a stop suddenly as I take in the sight before me.
Standing there is Anastasia, white as a sheet, like she’s seen a ghost.Though at this point I would say she is considering standing there surrounded not only by Giaco, his crew, and another set of large men in suits is Auntie Lynn.Shea is standing between them, a gun waving around as she rants.I kick the kickstand of my bike down, killing the engine, and make a beeline for the woman.Shea sees me coming and takes the opportunity presented to her.In a flash, she reaches out, grabbing hold of Anastasia's arm, pulling her to her side, gun firmly pressed to her ribs.
“No, no, no, it wasn’t supposed to go this way.You were supposed to be alone.It was supposed to be easy,” Shea yells.
“Shea, let go of her,” I call out to her.“You can take the Bronco there and go.We won’t stop you.Just let Anastasia go.”
“No, she dies now.I will not live in her shadow any longer.It’s not fair,” she screams.
