“What’s the plan?” Badger asked.
Phoenix rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “We’ve got a couple of things to deal with. First and foremost is Reese’s safety and health, as well as that of her son.” I cleared my throat. “Which is also Duke’s son, but I believe all of you already knew that.” He shot me a sideways glance. “Then, we’ve got the issue of someone intentionally pushing Reese’s car off the side of a mountain and the threatening messages she’s been receiving. Last but not least, regardless of who’s behind those things, Omen still beat the hell out of her two years ago. I don’t give a fuck if it was two days, two years, or 10 years ago, he will answer for that, feel me?”
Everyone at the table readily agreed. Not a one of us were okay with a man hitting a woman, not like that anyway. Sparring in the ring or slapping an ass in the bedroom was a different story.
“For now, Reese is safe at the farm. That place has top-notch security and there’s at least one brother on the premises at all times. Still, I’m going to send Coal to stay out there and keep an eye on things. He’s familiar with the place since he grew up there. Containing Reese shouldn’t be a problem while her mobility is severely limited. I’m going to get in touch with the police officers in Devil Springs and see if they have any new information for us regarding Reese’s wreck. Also, I’m going to ask Copper if his boys can keep an ear to the ground and an eye out for anything to do with the Manglers. Byte, see what you can dig up on the Manglers, particularly Boar and Omen. Oh, and see what you can get on yellow Nissan Xterras with Arizona plates driven by a woman. There can’t be that many. Anything else?”
I shifted in my chair. I should say something. I needed to tell them. It could be affecting my son’s safety. Fuck! “I’ve got something.”
All eyes shot to me. I looked around and thanked my lucky stars that Carbon hadn’t returned to the room.
“Spit it out,” Phoenix ordered.
“Uh, I’m not sure if you guys were aware, but before Harper and I moved to Devil Springs, we lived in Arizona, and I know a crazy bitch with dark, curly hair who lives there. It could be a coincidence, but I think it’s worth checking out,” I uttered. My mouth was so dry I could hardly swallow.
“Go on,” Phoenix urged.
I cleared my throat and wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. Shit, there was no going back now. “Her name is Shannon Jackson. She’s my wife.”
The door burst open. “You motherfucker!” was bellowed behind me before my ass was handed to me by none other than Carbon.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Reese
I hated that fucking wheelchair. Hated. It. After Carbon unceremoniously placed me in it and left, I made the decision to stay in my room for the next few weeks. The staples had been removed from my head, as well as the stitches in my leg, so I had no need to leave my room until my next appointment. I felt like an idiot rolling around in the motorized contraption. It sounded very much like a golf cart every time I pressed the little joystick to make it move. People could hear me coming for miles.
Ember walked into my room and interrupted my internal tirade. “Guess what?” she squealed, way too chipper for me to handle.
“Fair warning, you should tone it down a bit if you’re going to be spending the day with me,” I sniped.
“Oh good, you’re pissy. I have just the thing to turn your frown upside down.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Did you just say pissy?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, I did. If you can pull the stick out of your ass, I might say something else, too.”
“Like ass?” I giggled.
“No, like fuck!” she shouted.
I threw my head back and laughed so hard I almost peed in my chair. My stupid fucking chair.
“Good, you’re laughing. Let’s go.” After issuing her command, she picked up James and walked out of the room.
“Where are we going?” I shouted after her. “In case you didn’t know, this fancy piece of equipment can’t go down stairs.”
She yelled from down the hall, “If you hurry it up, you can get on the elevator with us.”
Elevator? Hell yeah. I had been going stir crazy in that room. Despite my previous vow to stay in my room, I really needed a change of scenery. I was not one to sit around cooped up and enjoy it. I jammed my little joystick forward as far as it would go hoping to catch up with them.
I made it to the elevator to find Ember grinning at me like a loon. “Oh, hello, Reese. Would you like to join us? I was going to take young James here to the stables to see the horses and then give him a tour of the organics farm.”
“Why, yes, I would. Please make way for a very bad driver to enter your domain.” I wasn’t kidding. I was not doing a bang-up job driving the chair, or maybe I was doing a bang-up job. I hit the wall four times before I made it to the elevator.
“Whoa! Stop, stop!!” Ember screamed, causing James to giggle. The little turd. “Doesn’t that thing have brakes?” I had Ember pinned against the back wall of the elevator, holding James high in the air out of harm’s way.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not like anyone gave me driving lessons. My big bastard of a brother plopped me in it and left. Hell, I don’t even know how to make it go in reverse.”
