Page 5 of Crucified By the Dark
“Hey, how are the passengers?”
“Morry wants to know how they are,” Judd yelled, and she jabbed at the volume button to turn it down as his baritone voice blared through the speakers.
“Fuck, man, could you yell a little louder,” Jeremy yelled, then grumbled something she didn’t get before he closed his eyes again.
“The doc says they are both in need of shit done, but they will make it to the clinic,” Judd said, and she could hear Dr. Henry’s annoyed voice in the background.
“Pretty sure that wasn’t the exact message, but it will do. See you in thirty.”
They had hideouts and smaller clubhouses all over the southern and western parts of the country, and that was where she was steering the group to. It was a twelve-hour drive in good traffic to get back to home base in the Arizona desert. It was fitting that she spent so much time in the desert deployed and then weeks running for her life across it, only to come home and take up residence smack in the middle of another one. Her father always said she was a sucker for punishment.
The thought of her father had her stomach tightening into knots. He hated Andrew from the first time he met him. Maybe that was part of the reason she married him in the first place. Anything that got under the Corporal’s skin was refreshing. Yet, here she was divorced from Andrew and her father not speaking to her. Not exactly a good record to date.
“Can’t wait,” Judd said, his voice suggestive.
“One track mind,” she said and hung up the phone.
They were in Texas for business when the S.O.S. came in and was only an hour away. She thanked the stars that she’d decided to go on this trip last minute. She sent a quick message to Trev to let him know that she had the package and was safe. It was strange how she still felt she needed to report to him even though he was no longer in charge. Like so many habits, they died hard or didn’t die at all.
Wolf wasn’t the only one giving her fucking heartburn. She still hadn’t heard from Maeve since the guys broke her out of the transport truck. It wasn’t like her not to check in, and she hadn’t returned to base either. There had been no chatter about her being arrested again. That was six weeks ago, and even though she had the habit of flitting from spot to spot erratically, she never went this long without communicating. It wasn’t that Morry didn’t trust Maeve to take care of herself, but there’d been a pit in her stomach from the moment all this shit with her being arrested happened, and now she had no idea where Maeve was.
“You plan on fucking him tonight,” Jeremy suddenly asked.
Glaring, Morry swung her eyes in his direction. “What business is it of yours who I fuck or spend my time with?”
“It’s not. Just need to figure out where I’m going to sleep then. Listening to you and Judd all night is not exactly my idea of a good night’s sleep.”
She hadn’t been with Judd in weeks if not months. It was hard to remember, everything seemed to blend lately. What did it matter to him if she fucked her second? Anger simmered in her gut.
“Would you just say what you really want to say already rather than bitching at me for no reason? I already get enough of that from Andrew. I don’t need you starting it, too.”
“Shit, I’m just…Fuck, what’s going on with Kyle,” he asked. His whole demeanor changed as his eyes softened and shifted to concern.
Morry’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “He’s getting worse every day, needs a liver transplant, and Andrew is being a piece of shit and won’t let me see him.” She looked over at Jeremy. “He’s my son, too. He can’t do this. It’s just not right, I don’t a fuck if he won sole custody the first time around. He’s only doing this cause I’m fighting him for joint custody again, you’d think he’d learn that I’m never going to stop no matter how many times we have to go back to court.” She hit her hand on the steering wheel. “Does Kyle think I don’t care? Is he laying in that hospital bed wondering where I am and if I’m every coming to visit? I mean…Shit.”
Jeremy put his hand on her shoulder, and she hated that it felt comforting to have him touch her.
“That’s not right. I still don’t know how Andrew won full custody. Such bullshit. It’s as clear as day how much you love your son, and Kyle fucking told the social worker he wanted to live with you.” He sat his seat up, and the tension evaporated.
“Yeah, well, I guess it’s easy when you’re a sniveling liar. Did I tell you that Andrew took pictures of me arriving at the house on my motorcycle and then said someone from my crew threatened him at his place of work? You know, none of my guys would do something that stupid. It was all bullshit, but the judge believed it because he got someone from work to get up on the stand and say a load of crap.” Morry groaned and rubbed at her face. It didn’t help that she’d been arrested twice for assault, but those fuckers deserved what they got.
She needed to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Jeremy, but right now, she just wanted to feel like the entire world wasn’t pissed at her. Or out to get her.
“Thanks,” she said, looking over at Jeremy, then his hand. He quickly moved it and crossed his arms over his chest.
“For what?”
“Taking my side. Just, you know, being there for me, I guess.” Morry gave a little shrug and looked away from those blue eyes that were so dangerous to her heart.
Lately, she’d found herself wanting to stare into them, and that would lead nowhere good. Jeremy was young, in his prime, and she…was a washed-up vet with a vicious scar on her face and a bigger one down the middle of her soul. The last thing she needed was to get emotionally involved with him when it would only lead to another scar on her heart. A physical relationship was bad enough, but Morry knew herself. There was something between them, a spark or chemistry. She couldn’t nurture that. If she did, she would crash headfirst down a ravine as surely as the Hummer they just left behind.
“You don’t ever have to thank me for having your back. That goes without saying,” Jeremy said, and for just a moment, their eyes locked before she forced herself to look away. Her heart beat a little faster. It always did lately when he was near.
Why the world kept sending her men that she couldn’t love or would end up leaving she didn’t understand. Then again, maybe it wasn’t the world. It was just her bad taste, timing, and judgment that kept landing her in this position. Whatever it was, she clamped down on it hard and pushed it aside as she focused on the vehicle in front of her. There were more important things to worry about than the stupidity of her heart.
Five Years Ago
Jeremy’s eyes searched the room for any way out. He was a rat with its tail trapped in this place of fucking crazy. They were all nuts. They brought him food that tasted like poisoned garbage. Meds were forced down his throat, and he threw up as soon as they left. The cameras in all the corners managed to capture it, and they returned to force more down his throat. He was convinced they were trying to kill him or worse.
