Page 50 of Cougar

“Why are you covered in blood? Mom? Mom, you need to breathe and tell me what’s going on. Who’s hurt? Are you hurt? Why aren’t you with the girls at the big house?” Jonny is firing off questions at me. I need to compose myself. I start breathing and pull myself away from everyone, and start pacing. Trying to calm everything in me and compartmentalize.

You are a badass boss bitch. You are the head of this family, and you need to get your shit together and tell them what you saw—what happened—so they can help you find and bring the son of a bitch who did this to justice.

A switch flips and gone are all emotions. I am numb. It’s like a cold, hard fury washed over me, and now, I feel nothing.

“This isn’t my blood,” I start, and I almost don’t recognize my own voice. It’s rough, hard, and broken. “I went to your house to hide the baby shower decorations from Aletta. When I walked in, I found your dad and Theo on the kitchen floor. There was,” I feel the bile of what’s left in my stomach start to creep up my throat, but choke it down as best I can. “There was so much blood. The ambulance took them to the hospital. They’re both barely alive. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know who did this. But I need you and our family to find them. Find them, and let me get my revenge.”

“Mom,” Jonny starts, but his voice gets caught in his throat. “I know you know more about what goes on than everyone thinks. You were never one to just sit back. You had to know.” He turns and looks at the cellar door, then back to me. I can see the turmoil in his eyes about going forward.

“If you know something, you tell me,” I say as I point my finger at him. He may be over six feet tall and giant compared to me, but I can and will kick his ass. “Because I am not going to let anyone involved in hurting them breathe another breath. Do you hear me? I want their life to be gone. I want to see it fade from their eyes myself. You’re not getting away with claiming club business with this Jonathan Jackson.”

“The Company,” I can see the emotions in his eyes, “they know that we cracked a big part of their operation. They’re the ones cleaning house. St—” he stops himself and clears his throat. “Theo found something and got Dad to meet him at the house. If that’s the case, we have the person who ordered the hit in the cellar.”

That’s all it took for me to find every bit of my strength and push past them. I shove them aside and barrel my way down the steps. I hear voices, one of which is a woman cackling about something. I reach the bottom of the steps and see a few brothers gathered around a blonde, dangling by her arms in the middle of the room. Hank is off to the side with his table full of knives. I walk over and grab one. He grunts at me, alerting the others someone new is in the room. They all look at me, watching me with caution. I am sure I have a feral look, my hair a mess, makeup smeared down my face, and I am caked in drying blood.

“Well, well. It looks like you found a present. You know, you really should keep better track of the men around you.” I hear Bonnie say in her sickly sweet voice.

These are the last words she will ever speak.

The rage in me bubbles to the surface, and I start stabbing. She screams out for help, but no one will help her now. The sound of the first stab and the feel of the sharp knife cutting through her skin and muscle should make me sick. I am not a killer. But this bitch has been fucking with my family for too long. I can’t stop myself after one. I pull back and stab her again and again—the blood splatters from every removal of the knife, splashing on my face.

No one makes a move to stop me. It sounds like someone is screaming out in anguish. At first, I think it’s Bonnie, but I realize it’s coming from me. I embrace it as I keep screaming, stabbing, and slashing at this woman who’s broken me. She’s destroyed families and hurt countless children. I allow all my anger to funnel out until I am hoarse and my arm is throbbing.

I drop the knife, and all my emotions come back to me. I start to sob and break down. I hear another grunt as arms wrap around me, stopping me from hitting the floor when my legs give out. I turn my head and see Hank, but he isn’t Hank in here. This is Butcher. I don’t see any human in his eyes. Regardless, he holds me. He tries to get me back from where Bonnie’s limp and lifeless body hangs. I feel another set of arms take me from Butcher.

It’s my son.

As JJ takes me from Butcher, I hear Butcher pouting. “God dammit. Why is no one saving anyone for me?”

I swear I hear Jonathan chuckle before he speaks, “Come on, Mom. Let’s get you cleaned up and back to Dad and Theo.” I hear him say before I have nothing left, and I fade into a calm darkness.

Twenty Two

Cougar

Walking out of the cellar, I’m not sure how I feel about what I witnessed from the mothers of the Nameless Order, not once but twice. These women are truly queens and will defend their own. To the death. The cool night air bites at my skin, bringing me out of the daze and making me aware Prez is barking orders at us.

“Cougar, I am going to need you to track down Knuckles. He isn’t answering his phone, and with everything we uncovered…” he looks down at his mom still in his arms, “I need to get her cleaned up at the house.” No sooner did he say that, flashing lights were at his house. “Fuck.”

We make our way to the house. Our story is simple. We were in the field getting a few stray cattle when Elvira came running up to us covered in blood. I wasn’t going to get out of here until we spoke to the cops. If I get out of here. They tend to bring us in, even when we have alibis.

“Connard!” We hear an authoritative voice call out to the corrupt sheriff. A man I’ve never seen before steps forward. He doesn’t show a badge to anyone, and nothing he’s wearing indicates who he is or who he works for. “I told you and your men to stay back! We have jurisdiction here, as none of you can keep your personal issues to the side. With the amount of blood in that house, you are more of a suspect than any of these men.” I’ve never heard a reason for a jurisdiction like that, but I’ll take it. Anything to get Connard away from us.

The man in the suit, who continues to berate Connard, is a good foot shorter than the rotund officer. His authoritative tone and his body language make Connard shrink back. After watching them for a few minutes, it clicks. This man, and all the others who have shown up, must be the feds. We know they’re here to watch the cops and get to the bottom of all the issues they’ve caused. Unfortunately, their being here is a huge risk for us. We could tell them what we discovered, but all we’d do is end up implicating ourselves into something we wouldn’t be able to get out of. For fuck’s sake, we have Bonnie’s dead body in the cellar as we speak.

“Sir?” Cowboy approaches the man while still holding his mother.

“Jonathan May?” The small man in the suit asks him.

“Kelley. I changed it when my,” there’s a break in his voice. I can see how it’s hitting him. The truth of what his mom screamed at him. “I changed it when my mom married my dad. Do you have any word on who did this to him? To his best friend?”

“We just arrived at the scene. It seems the local police thought a distraught woman calling in an attempted double homicide isn’t something that warranted an immediate response.” He explains while cutting his eyes to Connard, who is still hovering and looking bored with the whole thing.

“This is my town. You don’t know how things work around here.” Connard explains. “These,” his lips curl up in a sneer, “gentlemen always seem to want to handle it in-house. They rarely want police interference. This is no different.”

“Be that as it may, you are required to show the fuck up when a call like this comes in! When any call comes in.”

“Why exactly are you here? Do you think you can flash your fancy badge and claim you have jurisdiction? Get the fuck out of my crime scene.”

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