Page 69 of Claymore
Everyone had a good look around the place, pulling up couch cushions, tapping floorboards looking for any sign that Ray could’ve been stashing drugs. I strolled into the bedroom behind Ella, watching her study every inch of it from the water-stained walls to the mattress tucked up into the wooden bed frame.
“What is it, Ella?”
I saw her face light up like she recognized something, her lips pressed together like she was searching the far corners of her memory.
“This is his stuff. His old sheets from our parents’ room, the stupid Saturn pillow he had as a kid, the one Mom could never get rid of. This is their bed,” she said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. The night that Ray killed my parents, he packed up everything they had. Their cash, Mom’s jewelry, everything Dad kept in the safe. It was all gone. I was so angry, so young, and unable to understand what was… going on. When I saw how empty their room was, I assumed the police took all of that stuff. I never imagined Ray was the one that came back for it,” she explained.
I rushed over to her, running my hands through the curls on the top of her head while she hugged me tightly.
“I’m so sorry, Ella.”
“It’s okay. I can’t lie, I’ve always been curious about where he’d been staying or what his life looked like. I guess this is it. Let’s keep looking, maybe there’s something here that can help us,” she said, and I nodded.
I opened up the drawers of the nightstand to find a bank ledger stuffed in there. It looked old, with the pages slightly wet and dried, but I noticed there was something sticking out of it. I ran my fingers along the leather exterior, opening it up to find a picture of two children.
“Ella?”
She walked over to me, and I handed her the photograph. Her eyes widened, her mouth agape with awe as she stared at it.
“That’s us. Ray and I. We were just kids here,” she said.
“He held onto it, huh?”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to. He destroyed our family. He hurt me more times than I can count. This? This doesn’t mean anything.”
Ella’s voice cracked and I couldn’t even imagine how much this overwhelmed her. She stood her ground, folding the photograph and slipping into her pocket. I wondered what Ray must’ve been like then and how he came to be the man that destroyed everything in his wake.
“Ella, we’ve got this. I think that’s enough to start hitting Ray where it hurts. It’s time he understands what it feels like to lose something dear to him. I promise you, when this is all over, he’ll never hurt you again,” I said, planting a kiss on her forehead.
“Thank you, Claymore.”
We made our way back out to the main room when I heard the revving of bike engines approach. They sputtered and spit like they were coming to a screeching halt outside. Archer peeked through the cracks in the boarded-up windows and when he turned around to face us, I knew shit was about to go down.
“Ella, I need you to go back in the bedroom, lock the door, and don’t come out, okay?”
“Claymore, what’s going on?”
“We’ve got company!” Ink shouted.
“Ella, inside. Now!”
She rushed off, shutting the door behind her, and I didn’t move a muscle until I heard the lockclick.I grabbed my gun from its holster, wrapping my fingers firmly around it while I braced for those fuckers to breach. We all took cover in the small cabin space as best we could, guns at the ready.Three. Two. One.The door swung open and bullets flew in, slipping so close to my ears I thought I’d been hit. I hid, popping my head up to shoot the two that tried to barrel right in. Their eyes were locked on the bedroom door right as I got the shot in and I knew they were after that fucking ledger.
That damn ledger was everything to Ray. It had every contact, every ally he had to his name. It was the backbone of his club and without it he was nothing.That pretty leather-bound book is in his sister’s hands now.
“Ink! Vegas! We need to move out! There’s too many of them!” Tank shouted.
“How the fuck do you expect us to do that? They’ve got us surrounded.”
“Down who you can. Get on your bikes and get the fuck out. I’ll cover you.”
Tank and I moved up front, peering out from behind the door, just as their shots knocked it off its hinges. The thing nearly toppled on me before I pushed it off.
“Tank. Ella’s got Ray’s ledger. He ain’t here, but I’m sure that’s what this whole show is about. We need to get her and that damn thing out of here. It’s all we need,” I shouted over the gunfire.
