“Brody did it because Oliver was after him.” Zeke says.
“No, Brody has always wanted Kennedy dead.” Caine argues.
“Actually, I think Kennedy also wanted Brody dead.” I cut in and they all fall silent to look at me. “He tried to make my papa do it and when he failed he called in his Terminator son.”
When they don’t say anything else, I continue.
“Look, he was never going to stop trying to kill Brody. So, the only way to make it stop was to kill him first.” I shrug. “Makes sense.”
“What happened to our sweet as all heck girl?” Cooper teases.
“She grew a fucking backbone.” I shrug again and head into the kitchen.
I look out the back door towards the gazebo and wonder if Brody is still collecting petals even though I have his box. Has he been by here the last few days? Does he miss me?
The wind blows the vines and a few of the petals break off and catch on the breeze. Tomorrow, I am calling in a landscaper to finally clean that tree up. I’ll do it for Mama but I’ll also do it for Brody.
But mostly for me as a reminder to live vibrant and free.
Something is different about Kailey.
Am I stupid for making such an observation when the reason is so clearly screaming at me? Yeah. I want to say she’s different because Brody tortured her and held her captive but I feel like that’s not it. She’s acting heartbroken not soul broken.
Brody somehow made her fall in love with him, or she just never really stopped. She’s not really moping around the house but I can see she gets wistful when she looks at certain things. I want to ask her what’s going on but I feel like I’m intruding on her trying to mend her heart.
The others haven’t noticed although Cooper has voiced that she hasn’t really wanted to touch them since she’s been back. All I can hope for is that time helps her heal or Brody gets his shit together and works it out with us.
I’m sitting on my bike outside of Oliver’s at five a.m. because I found something interesting about his family. I walk up to his front door and ring the bell. A few moments later, I hear the door unlock but the door doesn’t open. Okay then. I open the door and look inside.
Oliver is standing across from the door, leaning against the wall, and his arms crossed over his chest.
“It’s early as fuck.” He growls and I notice the dark bags under his eyes.
“You sleeping, man?”
“What do you want?” He rolls his eyes.
“Why haven't you been by to see Kailey?”
“Probably because I doubt she’d want to see me after I tried to hunt down her newest boyfriend and kill him.” He snarls.
“Brody wasn’t…”
“You don’t know shit.” He cuts me off and heads further into the house.
I close the door and follow behind him.
“So, tell me.” I say to his back.
“When I went to see him, he was smug.” His eyes are hard and filled with rage. “She wants him, even after all he did to her these last few years.”
“I told you they had history. It’s not our place to judge what they have.” I try to defend both of them.
“Isn’t it?” He asks. “Aren’t we all in this together?”
“We respect each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. Not anywhere in there should we judge each other.”
“I got her text messages, begging me not to kill him even after everything he did to her, what his brother did to her.” He spits out.
I get what he’s saying, I honestly do, it’s a hard pill to swallow but it’s not for us to swallow.
“Her decision.” I shrug. “She’d do the same for any one of us. Stop avoiding her and talk to her.”
He looks down to his feet and I can feel he’s hurt, I think maybe he saw what I'm seeing the aftermath of. Kailey loving Brody.
“I found something last night.” I tell him as I pull my bag off my shoulder. “Your brother Cameron has been up to some shit.”
“Like what?” He pushes off the counter and pulls out a chair at the table.
I sit down and pull out my laptop. “He’s put a hit out on Brody, not to kill, but to bring in for questioning.”
“Fuck.” He groans and I know I was right.
“He’s going to be hitting your weak spots, maybe this one was a little more like your father than you originally thought.”
I figured he’d want to grab Brody for information on his father’s death and then information pertaining to Oliver. We all know Brody was the information gatherer in our group and that was never a secret. If they get Brody I am confident he wouldn’t spill anything he didn't want to, but I can’t guarantee one of those things is Kailey.
I don’t know how important she is to him, I thought I had an idea, but fuck… I was wrong.
“You’re worried if they get him, he’ll spill about Kailey.” He reads me like an open book.
“Yeah.”
“Then clearly my staying away isn’t such a bad idea.” He retorts.
I slide a burner phone over to him and give him a pointed look.
“Call her. Talk it out because she loves you.”
“I love her, too.” He exhales with a huff.
“I know. It’s the only reason why I’m here.” I grin at him. “Now, what’s your plan?”
After my talk with Oliver, I'm more worried about Brody's safety and figuring out his whereabouts is now priority. According to Oliver, his family will try to exploit him further to acquire his skills for the long run. That means they would grab Brody with the intention of torturing him for the information he possesses and Brody is notorious for his information gathering, especially through torturous methods.
That's exactly how he has acquired most of his information about the Ballons. He's grabbed some of their higher level grunts and tortured them with pleasure. Now the Ballons want to return the favor. The bounty on Brody's head has doubled overnight and I fear someone else will find him before we do.
The house is quiet when I get in, they are all probably still sleeping while I do the legwork to keep us all safe and sound. I roll my eyes and head for the kitchen, I need coffee and a lot of it. I make a beeline straight to the coffee machine and begin to prep it.
"Where did you go?" Caine's voice startles me from behind.
I turn and find him sitting at the table, watching me closely, and with his signature frown on his face.
"I went to see Oliver."
"Why would you do that alone? We don't know what kind of mindset he's in." Caine scolds.
"He's hurt about Kailey seemingly deserting y'all, her many attempts to call and text him to save Brody's life, and he's worried she's choosing him over us." I explain.
"Us?" Caine's smile transforms his usually granite face.