Black Horse (Breaking Black) (16 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Masks

From the Perspective of Colton McClain:

It’s always been just me and her. Black Horse took away both our families. Yeah, he’s my father, but he was never much of one to me. Her parents did more for me than Black Horse ever did. He killed my mother. He scared my grandmother to death and then he killed Averi’s family. My loyalty belongs to someone else. Her. Only her. Now that he’s out of jail, Averi and I are fighting together, back to back. No one can take us down. And when the old man is dead, we can finally, safely have a family of our own. Could you sleep at night knowing that your children’s grandfather was a murderer? I sure as hell couldn’t.

Since the beginning, it has always been Averi and I, and so it will be til the end. She is my greatest constant, my right hand “man” and the reason my heart continues to pump. We’ve held each others hearts in our hands, and when my father made a jigsaw out of my life, she helped me put the pieces back together, cementing the cracks with crazy glue. My love for her is a madness, an incurable insanity. I’d do anything for her; I’d break down the gates of hell just to avenge her. God help the man who takes her from me. All my goodness will be gone, and the darkness would swallow me whole.

She is the only girl I ever loved and the only one who cared enough to make sure that underneath this tough exterior that I was okay. If you think that makes me a pussy, you better go check on your own reflection.

No one is unbreakable.

If you look close enough, you can see your weaknesses in your own reflection. The hollow look in your eye. The questionable moments spent alone with your self-doubt. Your fickle mind telling you that there is no point in fighting fate.

We all wear masks.

It’s what’s left after we take off our disguises and let down our shields that really matter. What secrets do you conceal? Lying just under the surface, an earthquake is forming, ripping apart your foundation and ready to shake you to your core.

Once you know my story, it’s not hard to see what I’m hiding. Fury. Pure unrelenting, unbridled hatred. The thirst to kill the man that nearly broke my love and I. The three women who I called mother were all taken down in some way by him. Black Horse. The man who I’m ashamed to say is my father. And now he wants to take Averi, too.

He’s got another thing coming, though. The McClain men aren’t the only ones who hide behind their masks. Averi Ford has a mask all of her own. Behind her sweet smile and warm eyes lies a darkness, a rage… a wild white stallion aching to break out of the gate. From the day her parents were torn from her, and she watched the light in her brother’s eyes fade, Averi Ford has wanted to murder my father. Now she has her chance.

While Randy’s attitude is on full display and Tim got his aggression out during his military campaign and short stint as a MMA fighter, Averi’s has remained pent up. Locked tightly
inside her, just waiting for the moment when he would cross the line… and finally he crossed it.

No wonder she refuses to be hidden.

She wants him to come for her. She wants to see his shadow come crawling in the night.

Averi Ford has a bullet with Black Horse’s name on it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Insanity

“This is insanity, Averi!” pleaded Shelly as she chased her friend down the hallway with a concerned look on her face.

Averi ignored her as she made her way into the living room. She reached into a porcelain vase that sat on the end table and dropped the artificial flowers on the rug. When Averi pulled out a black hand gun, Shelly’s jaw dropped.

“Averi Corinne Ford! You cannot be serious!”

Averi didn’t say a word, but instead loaded the cartridge into the gun.

“We need to go, Averi!”

“I’m not runnin’!”

“We have to!” Shelly yelled. “He’s comin’ for you!” Tears streamed down her face as she begged her friend to think clearly.

Tim co-signed his girlfriend’s plea.

“Shelly is right… We need to get you out of here…” said Tim with a worried look on his face.

Colton and Randy stood at the wall and watched for Averi’s reaction. Averi looked at them all with impassioned eyes.

“What good will running do?!”

“We can keep you safe up there… He won’t look there.”

“He knows we own the land up there. He’s not stupid. Don’t you think Black Horse wants us runnin’ scared? Its part of his twisted game.”

“Ave!” Tim yelled as Randy’s disgust intensified.

“No! Colton’s Momma ran! Look at what happened to her! I’m not running.”

Colton’s eyes met Averi’s. He knew she was right, as much as it pained him to admit it. The thought of Black Horse doing to Averi what he had done to his mother… Daggers ran down his spine.

Push that thought away.

Averi continued, “We live our lives. You all are welcome to stay here til this is over. It’s better if we stick together. But we have to go on with our lives. Shelly and I both have work tomorrow. We have to show him that his presence doesn’t scare us. And I’m dead serious, if you see him, you better shoot him dead.”

“Averi, forget it! You’re not leaving this house!” Colton yelled looking furious that she would even think of leaving his sight with his father on the loose.

“Colton, you are more than welcome to join me at the bar. I’m not falling into his games. Our lives aren’t being put on hold for that son of a bitch for another goddamn second! Now help me lock up this house before I decide to go look for him myself!”

Colton, Randy and Tim stared at her in shock, while Shelly bawled her eyes out.

“Averi!” Shelly cried.

“Shelly, I know you’re scared… I am, too, but I refuse to let him own another second of my life.”

“Please just let the guys handle it.”

“It’s not their fight. It’s mine.”

“You know that’s not true, Ave…” Shelly pleaded.

“Oh, no?” Averi said with a raised eyebrow. She crossed the room and lifted the lid to her grandmother’s cedar chest. “Have you all received death threats every day for the last twenty years?” Averi asked.

Averi pulled stacks upon stacks of letters from the chest, tossing them onto the glass coffee table. Colton did not know what to say. He had no idea. No one did. As Colton, Randy, Tim and Shelly skimmed through the letters that were all addressed to Averi, their mouths gaped and their eyes widened. The dates on the letters ranged from 1993 all the way up to just last week. They each read a part aloud, cementing the seriousness of the situation.

Shelly read aloud, “You’re the reason I’m in here. Better hope I don’t get out… January 1994.”

Tim read, “The knife that gutted your mother is just waiting to taste your blood… June 1996.”

Tim continued reading, “I don’t sleep. I never sleep. But I know you see me in your dreams. Sweet dreams, sweet girl. Soon, your nightmares will come to life… December 2000.” His blood boiled with every word he spoke.

Shelly read another, “You better pray they kill me, because I won’t give you the mercy of a quick death… March 2004.”

Tim read, “My son cannot protect you. I am like a ghost in the night. The devil in the darkness. Black Horse is coming, and I’ll take you straight to hell…. June 2013.”

Averi watched as her family’s reactions flooded the room. The two she expected to be loudest were silent. Randy and Colt stood in the corner of the room with blood thirsty looks in their eyes. Without another word, Colt followed Randy out of the room. Averi heard the back door slam shut and the roar of Colton’s truck come to life. As they screeched out of the driveway, Averi closed her eyes praying that they would live the night.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Atop Red Rock

“I thought you said that they would move her?” Black Horse said sounding agitated as he peered down on the house from the Red Rock plateau.

“I overheard Shelly talking to her mother on the phone. That was definitely the plan.”

“Clearly, it’s not now,” said Black Horse sounding disappointed. He
so
loved a hunt.

Black Horse scratched his face as a perplexed look crossed his eyes. He continued to watch the house… He could see Averi move through the house from window to window. She looked
serious. Her friend followed behind her, with a serious look on her face.

“Is that Shelly?”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“Looks like Averi isn’t budging.”

“She’s stupid…”

Black Horse shook his head.

“No boy… She’s anything but. She knows I love the thrill of the hunt. She knows me too well.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“Wait it out. She’ll be on the move eventually.”

Suddenly a truck ripped out of the drive and
barreled up the dirt road to the plateau.

“We’ve got company.”

A sneaky grin emerged across Black Horse’s aged face. With a sickness permeating from his eyes, he said, “Oh, good.”

***

Randy slammed the car door shut and followed Colt to the summit of the plateau. Kicking up dirt as he sent a rock flying in the distance, Colt glared at Randy with angry eyes.

“Did you know about this?!”

“No, did you?!”

Colt shook his head.

“What’s our plan?”

“She’s right, you know…”

“What?”

“Running will only make this worse, and half those letters were addressed to your grandparent’s ranch.”

“I noticed. I had no clue. Again… what’s the mother fuckin’ game plan…” asked Randy with his teeth on edge.

“Kill the son of a bitch!”

“Any ideas where he might be?”

“A few,” said Colton as he eyed the brush that stood just feet from them. The leaves shook just slightly.

Bringing a finger to his mouth, Colton indicated the need for silence. Randy gave Colt a perplexed look.

“You serious?”

Colt nodded.

The men stalked towards the brush, quietly, carefully. They both had their guns drawn. They were just inches away now and their presence
was undetected. Pulling a body out of the brush, Colt pointed a gun in his face.

“You?!” Randy yelled.

It was Jimmy Hearns with a smug look on his face.

“What the fuck are you doing up here?!” Colt yelled. “Where is my father?!”

“You mean our father? He was here just a minute ago.”

“What are you talking about, Hearns?” Colton demanded to know.

“Black Horse is my father, too.”

“And you’re helping him!”

“I’m the good son.”

“I couldn’t give two shits about being a good son to that psycho! Now where’d he go?!”

Jimmy grinned broadly and spit in Colt’s face. Before Colt could strike, Randy had taken him down releasing an atomic blow of an uppercut to Jimmy’s jaw with his good arm. When he came to, Jimmy asked, “When the fuck did you two become buddy buddy?”

“When he became my brother.”

“But we’re brothers, not you and him… You confused?” Jimmy said facetiously.

“You’re no brother of mine.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Colt could see something moving… and fast. A figure cutting through the darkness. But before Colton could act, he had a gun to his head. It wasn’t who he expected it to be. It was a few of Jimmy’s friends from the bar, Tony and Fred. Tony held a gun to Colt’s head while Fred had one pointed at Randy’s gut. Colt didn’t move. He knew Tony was a crazy son of a bitch and would pull the trigger just to get off. Colt met Randy’s gaze. They were both in situations like this, and came away unscathed… though, they had never been on the same side before.

Colt’s eyes followed a shadow in the distance. Someone was climbing down the mountain road. Someone was running towards the back perimeter of his property.

Black Horse.

Colt’s eyes met Randy’s again and he gave a non-verbal signal to get ready. Colt’s eyes tightened just slightly. Randy exchanged the look and Colt knew he understood.

In a split second, both men whipped around. Colt elbowed Tony in the gut and took his gun from him. Randy knocked Fred over with the force of his body. He kicked Fred’s gun away and picked it up. How easily the upper hand could be obtained from a couple of back woods rejects with a hard-on for a notorious criminal. Randy and Colt doubled up on the guns and told Fred and Tony to get up.

“Now walk!” Colt said.

“Fifty steps… Keep going. Don’t look back.”

“Don’t shoot!”

“Keep walking and shut your mouth!” Colt yelled.

“Please! Don’t shoot!”

“This is your only warning. Run. Now. If I catch you helping Black Horse again, you’re going to have a bullet in your head,” Randy spat.