Old Lady (Iron Disciples Book 2) (23 page)

I watch Eddie’s face as Trouble’s words soak in. I have
always wondered what it is like to know that your death is imminent. To know
with finality that there is nothing you can do about it. I can’t really see his
expression change, but I swear I can literally see the light go out in his
eyes. He’s a dead man and he knows it and has just accepted that fact. I wish I
could say something to him privately. I don’t know what the hell I would say to
the enemy who just sacrificed his life for me though…

I wait till I catch Eddie’s attention before I say
anything. “I’ll make your death count Eddie, I swear it!”

“No you won’t.” He replies.

I open my mouth to respond, but close it as the two men
from the cartel move to enact their revenge on Cade’s brother. Both men
literally launch themselves at Eddie who is still helplessly bound to a chair.
Thankfully much of what they did they blocked by their own bodies. But I hear
the screams and I see the spray of bright red blood as it fountains up striking
the ceiling before showering me in its hot sticky messiness. I didn’t intend to
watch them, but they attacked so brutally fast that I couldn’t drag my eyes
away. Trouble brutally plunges his knife repeatedly like a jackhammer down onto
Eddie’s neck and chest area while Rocky stabbed his stomach in and out with
frightening force. It was probably all over so fast he didn’t feel it but I can’t
be sure. When they finally step away I get one quick glimpse into the rage both
men visited upon their victim before I begin to vomit. The spasms are so great
I end up falling to the floor in a pool of blood and my own stomach’s contents.
Just before I pass out the last thing that registers in my mind is the sour
smell of vomit mixed in with the coppery smell of Eddie’s blood.

I’m thirsty! My tongue is sticking to the inside of my
mouth and right now I’d give my left tit for a glass of water right about now.
I massage my wrists for a full thirty seconds before I realize they’re no
longer tied behind my back. I’m free! They actually let me go. Slowly I sit up
and begin to take stock of my body. I seem to have all my parts intact, but my
face feels like someone dropped a bowling ball on it; repeatedly. I look around
me. I seem to be in a field behind a couple barrack like buildings. For all I
know I could be a thousand miles away from Monterey. It’s time to stand up and
find out where the hell I am. I get about half way up when my head starts
spinning and I have to go back to my knees.

“Fuck.”

Maybe if I just sit here for a bit I can get my bearings
and stand up. The pain in my face prompts me to do a little exploring. It’s
hard to tell with just my fingers and no mirror and after a little very gentle
probing I decide something has to be broken given the amount of swelling.
Breathing through my nose is absolutely impossible. It even feels a little
difficult to breathe through my mouth and that’s a bad sign. I swallow in an
attempt to quell the panic I feel rising. This is not a good time to have a
freak out. Suddenly a picture pops into my head of Eddie’s body lying on the
ground in front of me. He is so violently mangled had I not known him I would
not have recognized him. They had forced me to stare at him telling me that I
would experience the same treatment if the club decides to retaliate.  I sit
for another ten minutes when I feel a sudden buzzing in my pocket. What the
hell? I maneuver around until I can get my hand in my pocket. There’s a phone in
my pocket and it’s ringing. I might as well answer it. I can’t get into any
worse trouble than I currently am in.

“Hello.”

“Hel…who is this?”

“Morgan,” I slur into the phone. Man I don’t even sound
like myself.

“You don’t sound like-”

“It’s me Cade. Can’t talk.”

“Oh shit! Are you okay?”

“My face…”

“Oh my god Morgan I am so sorry. Where are you?”

“Don’t know.”

I can hear the panic creeping into his voice. He knows I
am fucked up and he’s afraid he won’t be able to find me.
I’m
not even
sure he’ll find me.

“Okay…just describe everything around you. I’m putting
you on speaker phone so one of my brothers that lives here can tell us where
you are.”

I do my best to describe everything around me. I could be
anywhere so I don’t know how Cade’s going to find me. After I get finished Cade
tells me to hang on a second. I can hear them talking back and forth but I
can’t quite make out what’s being said. Then after a few minutes another voice
comes on the line. I can tell he is from Monterey. He even seems to have an
idea where I could be. He asks a few very specific questions and within minutes
he figures out almost exactly where I am. I am at the back corner of a Coast
Guard training grounds. Cade keeps me on the phone until the second he pulls up
in front of me. I know I’ve been found when a long procession of motorcycles
with a black SUV following.

I’ll never forget the look on his face the moment he
steps out of the truck and sees me for the first time. He looks stunned. His
mouth drops open as his brain struggles to wrap itself around what he’s seeing.
Then a hard steely look comes over his eyes and he’s at my side. The moment I
feel his powerful arms around me I feel safe for the first time in…in days. He
scoops me up in his arms and proceeds to carry me back to the SUV. I close my
eyes but every time I do I see his brother’s body lying in a pool of blood at
my feet. I jerk involuntarily and open my eyes again. I’m sitting in the back
of the truck with Cade next to me. The look on his face just tears me up. I
still haven’t seen myself in the mirror but I don’t have to. From the way he
looked at me I could tell I have to be really fucked up.  He would look at me
for a second then have to look away. He would clench his fists and I could see
the tightness of his jaws. His rage is building and pretty soon there’s going
to be no stopping him and the club. I have to convince him not to react.

“Where are you taking me?”

“There’s a retired doctor who lives in Carmel. He’s a
friend of the club. He’ll take care of you.”

“And you?” I mumble.

“I’m not going anywhere. Shooter finished the charity
ride and I and a couple brothers stayed behind to look for you after you
disappeared.”

“How long?”

“You’ve been missing for four days Morgan. I thought you
were dead.”

“And Eddie?”

“What about him?”

“Your brother…”

“Yes he was my brother. And he was also willing to do
just about anything to gain control of my club which he did. Now he’s gone. I
can tell by that look that you want me to say something more. Am I just
supposed to forgive and forget just because he died a horrible death? I don’t
think so…Why are you shaking your head?”

“He…saved me.”

“He saved you? Looks like he stood by while you got your
face kicked in. That’s what my loving brother would do.”

I shake my head again, but I wonder if I should just keep
my mouth shut. If I convince Cade to examine how he feels about his brother and
he changes his feelings he may just go after the Cartel after all and that’s
gonna cause a war that my just get me killed. But I can’t let him go to his
grave thinking his brother sat back while I got my ass kicked. There needs to
be a funeral fitting a patched member and president and the only way that’s
happening is if I come clean about what Eddie did.

I open my mouth to talk but Cade interrupts me.

“You shouldn’t be talking Morgan. You probably got a
busted jaw along with that broken nose of yours. Just try and relax. We’ll be
at the doctor’s house in five minutes and he’ll give you something for the pain
and to help you relax.”

We get to the doctor’s house in short order. He takes one
look at me and kicks it into high gear. I must really look like shit. They
carry me to a spare room and lie me on the bed. The doctor walks out and Cade
proceeds to undress me, and then covers me with a blanket. A few minutes later
the doctor comes back in carrying a black medical bag. The first thing he does
is produce two syringes.

“One is for the swelling, and the other is morphine for
the pain.” The doctor explains. ‘I’m going to keep you sedated for a few days
so you can rest and heal. You should be in the hospital.”

I shake my head vigorously.

“Suit yourself then.”

I feel a sharp pinch, then a delicious warm feeling
creeps over me. I’m able to stay conscious for maybe a few seconds before the
room begins to fade. I was told that I slept for seven days in a drug induced
coma. That gave me a chance to heal and the horrible pain was reduced to a dull
and tolerable ache. The next couple days are just plain boring. In fact the
better I feel the more bored I get.

One afternoon when I am sitting in the sun on the back
porch I have an idea. I call out to Doctor Smith, not his real name I am sure,
and he brings me some paper and a pen. It takes forever but I finally am able
to put to words how Eddie saved my life. I want Cade to know about his
brother’s sacrifice. It’s too late for the brothers to make up, but maybe Cade
and his father can set aside old differences and start anew.

Oddly enough, while I am writing the letter to Cade I get
a letter from my Auntie. She doesn’t say much. Apparently Cade told her I was
in a car accident and was healing fine. What is important is that in my aunt’s
letter is one final letter from my mother. I open it with shaking hands and
begin to read. I have to take several breaks to cry and then calm down before
finishing it.

My dearest daughter,

If you’re reading this letter it means you’re
about to become a mother. I can only guess what your life may be like now or
the things you may be feeling, but if fear is one of those things then you can
rest assured you’re perfectly normal. It’s a lot of responsibility, having a
child, but I know you’ll be a great mother. Few people have the capacity for
love and compassion that you do and it’ll serve you well as you parent your
child. Raising you has been the greatest honor. I couldn’t have asked for a
more perfect child.

I have made many mistakes with you and you’ll
make some with yours. No matter what happens make sure your sons or daughters
know how much you love them. If they know that, then you have succeeded as a
mother. You can give them the world but if they don’t know you love them then
it is worthless.

As your mother I have tried to instill in you
the values I feel are most important. I have done my best to teach you as much
as I could and I am sorry that many of these life lessons had to be in pen and
ink. This will probably be my last letter to you. I have to say goodbye at some
point my dear daughter and this just feels like the right time to do it.   

My shaking hands drop the letter in my lap. My tear
blurred eyes can no longer read her scrawling script. I grab a pillow and burry
my face as I let go. I feel like my mother has just died. I guess in my heart
she never really did, because of all the letters. It was like she’s been on
this trip around the world or something, but now I know in my heart she really
is gone. I scream into the pillow and cry bitterly for my dead mother.  I cry
for my daughter who’ll never meet the most amazing person I have ever known.
I’ll save the letters I do have so she can read them and get to know her
grandmother but it just won’t be the same. It takes me a few more minutes
before I can calm down enough to read the rest of the letter.

It has been my life’s greatest pleasure being
your mother. I am so grateful my sister offered to raise you in my absence. If
it wasn’t for her, losing you would have been much harder to bear. Everyone has
their crosses to bear Morgan. Mine was to die before I could see you grow up.
It would have been easy to grow bitter and angry, but I didn’t. I have learned
that you create your own happiness. You will go through your own sorrows and
it’s up to you how it shapes you. Will you be the person who lets tragedy ruin
you or build you into a stronger person; the choice is yours to make and
sometimes you have to make it over and over every day until it sticks. I hope I
have been able to be a good example to you in the short time I was given. You
certainly have been a great example of what a good daughter can be.