Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“She called and told me to do what my parole officer demanded. She said that sacrifices sometimes had to be made in life, and wouldn’t I do anything for my child the way she had done? Then she hung up.”
Tyra yanked her hand away from Reese as if she’d been burned. “Oh my God. Oh my God. She threatened our baby.” She leapt up and turned to face him, shock and horror in her eyes, tears filling them, accusation and censure in every line of her face. “She threatened Sandree, and you were going to get drunk and leave me to face these horrible people without even knowing they were going to hurt or even kill my baby. How could you, Reese?”
“I didn’t, Tyra. That’s why I called Ink and Master. I know them. I’m a fighter. Fighters have to observe everything about an opponent. When Master came to me and offered us this house and Ink told me about the program, I knew if I accepted, I accepted on their terms. Master had very specific terms. You think, because I’m a trained fighter, that I can’t be beat, but honey, that isn’t so. Look at him. Really look at him. They came here armed. They came here with the idea they might have to take me down, and they intended to do it if necessary. I counted on them. I knew they’d come. I didn’t open that bottle because I knew they’d come.”
Tyra wrapped her arms around her middle and began to cry. “I don’t even know what to think. This is the worst night. The worst.”
“Come here, baby. Please. We’re going to get through it,” Reese promised. “We’ll do whatever they say, and we’ll get through it.”
Tyra looked to Ink. “Are we going to have to hide Sandree? Run? I wouldn’t know where. I don’t have relatives.”
Master answered her. “You won’t have to run or hide. You’ll be safe here. Our club will look into the colonel and his wife, but Reese, I’m telling you, you’re a grown man. You had better be willing to accept whatever happens without question. You’ve got a family right here, Tyra and Sandree. You’ve got good friends willing to stick their necks out for you. Whatever childhood fantasy you’ve got going, you just might have to let go of it, and you’re going to have to come to terms with it. If you can’t, you need to say so, right now, because I can’t guarantee things are going to turn out like in the good fairy tales.”
Reese nodded his head slowly. “I get you, Master. Tell me what you want us to do.”
“I want you to go about your business as if nothing has happened. You go to work and do your job the best that you can. Tyra, you do your work just the way you have been from home. Someone from the club will be watching out for you both. We might be calling on another chapter for help, but we’ll introduce them to you first, so you know who’s watching over you. Other than that, if anyone calls, listen to them and record the conversation so you can send it to Ink or me. Don’t respond no matter what they threaten you with. That’s important. Don’t respond.”
Reese and Tyra nodded.
“Reese, this is important. After you were out of prison, did you ever have contact with your birth mother? Did you call her? Did she call you?”
“No.” Reese looked grateful when Tyra sank back into the sofa beside him. He wrapped his arm around her. “Tyra stuck with me, and I wanted to build a life with her. I struggled, not really knowing how or what to do because all I knew was fighting, but I didn’t want to get back into that world of uncertainty with Sherry and the colonel. That makes me look so bad, but I already was overwhelmed with trying to get my life back together.”
Master was certain Reese knew, deep down, that Sherry wasn’t being held hostage by her husband so much as she was part of what the colonel was doing to her son. He didn’t want to recognize that his mother was dirty as sin, so he hadn’t tried to contact her.
“She initiated the contact out of the blue. Your cell number was brand-new. Not anything you had before, correct? And it is a private number, unlisted and unpublished?”
Reese nodded. “Yes. Because we haven’t been able to get the charges off my record, we thought it best not to have the number where anyone can get it.”
“But Sherry was able to,” Ink said. “Did you give your private number to one of the managers you were considering?”
Reese nodded. “I had an appointment with Harold Baker. He’s been around for years, and his reputation is impeccable. That’s one of the reasons I went to him. I told him everything about the charges against me and that I’m trying to get them dismissed. I hoped he was considering taking me on.” Defeat crept into his voice again.