Page 12 of Broken Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #7)

Chapter Eleven

JD

E lizabeth thinks I’m delusional for seeing her as beautiful today.

I loved every minute of watching her break over and over again as she beat the fuck out of that old Dodge.

I tap my finger over my mouth as I play tonight back in my mind. She screamed at whomever this Mr. Baxter is over a dozen times as she lost herself in the throes of her anger and hurt.

Mr. Baxter.

Someone of authority … a teacher maybe.

I glance at the clock before getting up to grab my laptop. A quick Google search and there he is. He’s a science teacher, and it looks like he also offered art classes after school. Looks like he retired early too; bet he’s enjoying that. I almost feel sorry for the poor sucker that he’s still above ground. That’s unfortunate for him.

Rolling out of bed, I pick up my phone. Brody answers first ring. “Hey, you back from the fucking beach yet?”

“Fuck no.”

“I need a hand with something.”

He groans.

“You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“I take it this is on a need-to-know basis with the club again?”

“I didn’t take it to the table, did I?”

“Fine, but it’s going to have to wait until I get back this weekend.”

“Ah, there’s a lady involved. I knew you weren’t a beach lover.”

“Fuck you.”

He hangs up. I chuckle to myself, going back to stalking dear old Mr. Baxter. I don’t need to know what he did to know he needs to die. Slowly and painfully. I think I’ll take the bat to him.

Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

The next call I make is to Tank’s contact, Anthony. His wife used to be friends with Elizabeth. They went to school together.

“JD, it’s good to hear from you,” he answers.

“Is it?”

“Not really, but you know, politeness and all that.”

“Is your wife there?”

His silence tells me he’s considering his words carefully. I admire him for it, because if someone wanted to talk to Elizabeth, I’d make damn sure it was in her best interest before I allowed it.

“Danielle, it’s JD,” he says. I hear a shuffle and some whispering before he speaks again. “You’re on speaker.”

“Thank you. I know you guys are busy, so I’ll make this quick and to the point. What can you tell me about a Mr. Baxter?”

The sharp intake of breath from Danielle is a good indicator that I’m on to something here.

“Why do you ask?” There’s a slight tremble to her voice.

“I think he’s the reason Lizzie kept quiet about Dr. Williams.” I’m not going to beat around the bush with these people. I know how they feel about Elizabeth, and I get it. But I also know that there is a little part of them that has always wondered why she did what she did.

They were too close to the situation, and I get that they had to protect their peace. Elizabeth wasn’t willing to help herself and by being uncooperative it made her look the villain. And maybe she is a villain in some way, but aren’t we all?

No one could understand why she continued her silence, especially after Dr. Williams went to prison. Fear was the only logical conclusion one could make for her part in it all. That or she herself was evil.

I don’t think Danielle has truly ever believed that.

“He was our teacher,” she says after composing herself.

“I figured that much, but what was Lizzie’s relationship with him? Did she take his after-school art classes?”

Danielle laughs lightly. “No. Lizzie had no interest in art. I signed up for them but,” she pauses and sighs, “life got in the way.”

“JD, the woman is crazy, loud, boisterous, and an overall pain in the ass. If you’ve found her, my advice is to stay as far away as possible,” Anthony tells me.

“Hmm.” That’s not the personality I’m picking up on at all.

His wife huffs a little. “She – she wasn’t always that way.”

“When did it change?”

Danielle’s quiet as she thinks about it. “I guess when …”

“When ..?” I push for her to finish her sentence.

Anthony starts to shut the conversation down. “I think that’s enough for today.”

“No. No,” she argues, and I can tell that she’s not really upset, she’s trying to figure out this puzzle with me. “You know, when we were kids, she was actually very quiet, but in high school that changed. I thought she was just gaining confidence. She started to get more and more outspoken, but I thought it was her angry teenager stage. She pushed everyone away, but she always remained sweet to me. Oh, JD, I don’t know. I thought I knew her, but I have no idea who she really is.”

“Do you think Lizzie and Mr. Baxter were ..?”

She stops me with a squeal. “No! God no.”

Her words trail off, and I detect there is a “but” in there somewhere. “But?”

I make my way out to the kitchen to pour a glass of water.

“We did write a dirty story about him. It was …”

Anthony stops her. “You don’t have to tell him any of this. You don’t owe him, or her, anything.”

“I know, but what if …”

“We gave her plenty of opportunity to come clean,” he says. “I think I’m going to have to end this call JD.”

The dragonfly on my refrigerator taunts me. Why is it important to her? Other than a change of clothes, this was all Elizabeth had in the car with her when I took her.

“Wait, one last question. Did Lizzie have a special relationship with a kid? Like a cousin or maybe a child she babysat for?”

“No. Not that I remember.”

I glance out the window when I hear a bike pull in. Great, it’s Dan.

“I’ll let you guys go for now. Thanks for your help.”

“JD?”

“Yeah?”

“Good luck.”

From the look on Dan’s face as he marches up to the house, I’m going to need more than luck. Jesus. I hang up the phone, setting the glass on the counter. I try to cut him off at the front porch, but the man is on a mission and is at my door before I reach it.

“Mornin’,” I say, keeping the screen closed between us.

His gaze roams over the yard before coming to a stop on me. “Some folks in town said they heard a bunch of screaming coming from this direction last evening.”

“Hmm. Probably a bunch of teenagers hanging out up in the hills.”

He stares at me through the screen. “You didn’t hear anything?”

“No.”

“But you were home?”

“Yeah.”

He sighs. “Jesse wanted me to check it out.”

I open the door, stepping outside with him. “Yeah, I guess we better check it out. Better to be safe than sorry.”

He narrows his eyes at me when I close the door to the house behind me, but he lets me lead the way out back.

“So. Did you find her?” he asks as we’re walking through the junkyard.

“Who?”

“Tank’s ex.”

“She has a name, you know.”

The fucker laughs. “Touchy.”

“Well, I wouldn’t appreciate it if everyone referred to me as an ex.”

“So?”

No use lying to him. “Yeah, Brody and I found her. She was fine, so he stayed to enjoy his beach vacation, and I headed back. I had shit to do.”

He slows his steps, running his hand over his beard. “What happened here?”

I look at the beat-up Dodge.

“It’s a junkyard. What do you fucking mean what happened here?”

Dan squats, picking up a large shard of broken glass. His gaze roams over the evidence of my woman’s pain.

“JD, I’m going to say this once. I allow you to be friends with Lily because she loves you, and you both see parts of this world the same. But if I, for one minute, think you’ve got something shady going on, I’ll put a stop to it.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a goddamn promise.”

“Good. I hope you’d protect her at all costs.”

He nods, giving my yard another look. “I guess I’ll report back to the boss that nothing is amiss.”

I take my hat off, running my hand over my brow. “I don’t know why she’s up my ass all of a sudden.”

“She didn’t like your joke the other night,” he says, like it should be obvious.

“My joke?”

“The one about having a woman in your basement.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have Tank’s ex in your basement, do you?” he asks as he climbs up in the cab of his truck.

“Again, she has a name.” I wave to him and head toward the house, hoping he doesn’t remember he asked me a question.

He chuckles, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I hear his door close. I’m going to have to be more careful. When I’m with her, I forget the rest of the world exists.

I deliver her breakfast uninterrupted. She doesn’t speak to me nor do I to her. I’m sure she has a lot of thoughts running through her mind. And I have one thing on mine.

How to get Mr. Baxter here.

I saw her rage last night, but I saw a lot of other things too.

I’m going to have to put it on hold for the time being because I’m meeting up with Lily at the warehouse. I’m helping her with the last bit of electrical work on the lamps for the auction. I hope fucking Jesse isn’t there.

“Hey,” Lily says when I join her on the patio.

I give her a quick peck on the cheek before sitting down beside her. “Shit, you made quite a few of these.”

“Yeah, well they go so fast.”

“I’m not complaining. I love that my junk helps.”

She smiles at me. “It’s been fun doing this with you for so many years.”

We get to work. It gives me time to think about Mr. Baxter.

Mr. Baxter.

Mr. Baxter.

Mr. Baxter.

Lily pauses what she’s doing to look at me.

“What?” I ask, finally meeting her gaze.

“You growled.”

“I did not.”

She laughs a little. “You absolutely did.”

“I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“Do you think victims feel better after they receive justice? Real justice, not that bullshit the courts order as punishment. Which is usually nothing more than a slap on the fucking wrist.”

She goes back to work, assuming I’m just upset because of the need for this charity run. It never ends … there will always be evil men in the world.

“I don’t know. I’ve never personally experienced vigilante justice.”

I’m not only curious for Elizabeth’s behalf, but I’m also partly curious about it for myself.

“Why don’t you ask Jesse?” she says at the same time Jesse steps outside.

“Ask me what?”

Great. What shitty timing.

“When you killed those men, and Crow, did it make you feel better?”

“Fuck yeah.” She sits down, lighting up a cigarette. “Why do you ask?”

“We were just wondering if the court system brings enough peace to victims.”

“Unless the fuckers are fryin’ in the chair, the answer is no. There is no amount of time in jail that makes up for what those sick fucks steal from their victims.”

Lily cringes a little. She was raised different from most of the club, and sometimes our harsh use of the English language still bothers her.

Jesse continues her rant. “Do you think jail makes them feel sorry for what they’ve done? Fuck no. Fuckers like that don’t have the remorse gene. If they do feel regretful, it’s because they got caught. Period.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Lily agrees.

I try to change the subject because one, I can’t stand to see Lily upset by anything, and two, I’ve got my answer. I definitely need to get Mr. Baxter to the junkyard.

“So, how is Ray settling in?” I change the subject.

“Oh, I’ve got some tea,” she whispers.

Jesse and I both lean in. Don’t judge. Everyone loves a little tea.

“He’s been going to Grandma Maggie’s almost every night for dinner.”

Jesse and I both groan, falling back in our seats.

“What? Isn’t that exciting?”

“Are you sure he isn’t just enjoying her food? You know Dan’s mom was an excellent cook,” I say.

Jesse slaps me in the arm before I realize how that may have sounded.

Lily huffs, blowing hair out of her eyes. She places her hands on her hips. Oh shit.

“What do you mean?”

I hold my hands up in the air. “Nothing.” I decide to agree with her rather than insulting her cooking. “I bet you’re right, because I saw them driving up to lookout point just the other night.”

Jesse slaps me again. “Oh, you did not. Don’t start rumors.”

I laugh. “I’m sorry, honey. Jesse’s right, I didn’t see them together. But Grandma Maggie’s food does slap. Nothing against yours.”

Lily is one of those people who doesn’t stay mad. She’s one of the few in the club who doesn’t hold a grudge.

“Jesse’s right. We shouldn’t start rumors. And her food does slap.” She sighs. “I’m just happy Ray’s getting out of the house. Not that I don’t love having him there, it’s just that he’s put his life on hold for a long time to care for Dan’s mom. I want to see him get out and live a little.”

Jesse raises an eyebrow in my direction. “Just like you shouldn’t joke about keeping a woman in your basement. That’s exactly how rumors get started.”

Lily drops the tool in her hand. “What?”

“That’s what JD was joking about the other night. He said he was keeping a woman in his basement.”

“You both know I’ve never been very funny,” I say, avoiding Lily’s gaze.

Jesse rolls her eyes, but Lily continues to stare at me, concern pulling at her brow.

“I’ll help carry these in, but I better get back to the junkyard. I’ve got a load of cars being delivered.”