When the three of us have calmed down a measure, I stand and help Tessa to her feet. Keeping Evan in my good arm, the boy holding onto my Cut and curling into my shoulder finally calm, face resting on the soft fabric of his Lovie. I wrap Tessa’s arm around my left, wanting to pull her close but my shoulder’s not cooperating. Tessa leans her head gently against the outside of my arm, like she needs the extra contact and I know I’ll never deny her that. I bring the two of them over to the little office and hand Evan back to his mother. As we enter the light of the office, she turns to me and gasps at the blood coating me; I had forgotten the mess in my rush.
“Your arm!” she cries, reaching out.
“I’m fine, just stay here. We need to clean this mess up before we leave. I’ll be back in just a few minutes,” I say, trying to sound as calm as possible. Tessa protests, but I cut her off.
“Believe me, Babydoll. You do not want any of this burned into your brain. Let me go help Axel deal with shit and then we’ll get outta here. Trust me,” I tag the back of her neck and give her a fierce kiss. When we are both breathless, I pull back and press a gentle kiss to Evan’s forehead before turning, closing the door behind me.
Making my way back to the other end of the warehouse I find Axel standing over Remy, the boys arms crossed respectfully over his chest, eyes closed.
“Fuck,” I grind out, staring down at the body. Remy looks so peaceful, so unburdened.
So much like Brandon at the end.
No. Fuck no. Not again. Another son that will never come home to his mother, another Brother snuffed out far too soon. All because of me. Fuck. The pain that stabs through my heart as I look down at him stabs me through the heart, stealing my breath. Remy is another name to add to the list of people I’ve failed, people who relied on me and I let down. Another sin I will never be able to atone for.
“Yeah Brother. We gotta get him outta here and clean this shit up,” Axel says, pulling me back into the moment. “Get him into the back of the truck. Then get Tessa and Evan in and be ready to hit it as soon as I’m done,” he directs. Axel pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through his contacts. Nodding my assent, I go and back the SUV up to the loading dock, out of sight of the street.
I run back into the shop and gather Remy in a fireman’s lift over my good shoulder and make my way back through the shop, trying to ignore the thick trail of blood I feel tracing over my arms as I go. I carefully lower him into the back and look down at him for a moment. He looks so much like B. He’s about the same age B was when he passed. Knowing I’m going to have to face another heartbroken mother and tell her I took her son from her, it all but breaks me. I need to keep moving, to keep busy before the darkness takes me again, I dig through the storage along the side of the trunk and find a blanket to drape over Remy, not wanting Tessa to see him like this.
Sighing, I close the rear hatch and head back into the shop. I knock on the office door and call Tessa’s name as I open the door. She is sitting in the desk chair with a sleeping Evan curled onto her shoulder, her cheek resting against his head. The sight once again warms my heart and reminds me that there is still good in this world.
“Come on, Babydoll. Let’s get you two outta here. Car is waiting outside. Do not look in the trunk.”
She shoots me a confused look, clearly wanting to ask why.
“I mean it Tess. I don’t want that on you. Take Evan and settle in the middle seat. I’ll go grab Axel and we’ll head out. Just trust me,” I say again. Comprehension dawns across her features and I can see she had known something had gone down, but until now hadn’t realized it was Remy.
“He was just a kid,” she breathes, a pained look in her eyes brimming with tears. I can’t find the words to comfort her, but only nod.
Tessa heaves a deep sigh and stands, offering me a weak smile before heading toward the door and the car beyond. I follow closely behind them and help her into the back seat, making sure they are settled and closed in before I head back to help Axel finish up.
When I get back to Axel, I find him wearing thick rubber gloves and holding an upturned five-gallon plastic bucket. He’s staring silently at the spot where Remy had lain. There’s now a slightly hissing puddle covering the bloodstain as the acid eats away at the concrete.
“Acid will take care of anything left behind. Hit the crate over there too. It’s Friday so no one should be coming in over the weekend. By Monday that acid should have done its thing on the body and they won’t be able to trace anything,” Axel says in a detached tone.
We work in silence, quickly dousing any places where we might have left evidence behind. I make my way up the catwalk, cleaning my own blood and scooping up my pistol. A few minutes later, we wrap up throwing our gloves and scraps into the acid bath as well. David’s form is floating in the roiling vat and already starting to breakdown in the most gruesome manner possible, his broken leg in two pieces at opposite sides of the vat. I stare at the body for a moment before stating, “Let’s get out of here. I need to get this town in my rear view.”
“You and me both Brother. Come on Spartan. Let’s go get your woman and get the fuck out,” Axel says, slapping me on the shoulder.
“Spartan?”
“Yeah. It fits,” he says with a halfhearted smile.
Chapter 30
Tessa
The drive back to the motel is made in eerie silence, none of us, not even Evan daring to make a sound. The weight of everything that has happened in the last hour hangs heavy over all of us. I can’t stop running my fingers through Evan’s curls as he snuggles into my shoulder, sandwiched snuggly between Sawyer and I as we drive. Sawyer has one arm around my shoulders, holding me close and the other is slowly rubbing over Evan’s back as our baby drifts off to sleep, safe in our arms again.
Our Baby.
Some little logical part of my mind keeps trying to whisper that I shouldn’t be okay with how right that feels, but I shove that voice back and lock it away. It does feel right, nothing has ever felt more right than sitting here wrapped up with my man and my son. Our son. Maybe I should feel… more… more conflicted, more upset, more anything, about the man we left to rot in that warehouse, but I just can’t. If I’m totally honest with myself all I feel is relief. Evan and I are so much better off without David in our lives, without his shadow looming over us. The man sitting here with us, the man that saved us, he has been more of a father to Evan in just the few short weeks he has known us than David ever was. He has been more of a friend, a lover, more of a man than David ever was. Sawyer is our future and I will do everything in my power to keep him in our lives and leave the past behind us.
Much sooner than I was expecting, we pull into the crumbling parking lot of the rundown motel we have been staying at and it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time. Something has changed since we left here this morning, everything seems a little more run down, a little more dingey, a little less like home. Being back in this town has been such a rollercoaster of conflicting emotions for me since I got here, but all of that has now settled into one clear thought… I can’t wait to go home.
When Evan and I ran away that night, there was still something tying me back to Seattle, something that still had me feeling like this was home. Maybe that tie was Lexi, maybe it was the fear of getting dragged back here, but regardless of the why, all of that is gone now. All I want is to put Seattle in my rear view and never look back. I want to take my men and my sister and go home to Minnesota. There is nothing left for us here and if I never see Seattle again, it will be too soon.