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Ghost – 1 st December 2020

“B abe, I gotta ride, a sink hole has opened in town, and they’re calling for help. It’s collapsed a bridge at the Keystone Wye Interchange,” Ghost called.

Carmelle looked up as Ghost yanked his leather jacket from the cupboard and stamped his feet into his boots.

“What?” Carmelle asked, surprised.

“They’ve got heavy casualties. I need to head out,” Ghost replied.

“What about us?” Carmelle demanded, and Ghost paused.

“I’ll be back. I promise,” Ghost promised reassuringly.

“No! They’ve got plenty of people there, we have only you. You can’t go and leave us!” Carmelle said, and Ghost detected a slight hysteria to her tone.

“I’ll stay, babe, it’s okay, I won’t leave. You’re correct, there’ll be a ton of search and rescue there,” Ghost reassured her, shrugging his jacket off.

If Carmelle needed him to stay, he would. Ghost’s phone rang, and he saw a call from Anderson. On answering, Ghost began frowning as he pulled Carmelle in for a hug.

Carmelle wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his chest.

“Thanks, brother, keep me updated,” Ghost said and cut the line. Ghost held Carmelle tightly as he rubbed her back and soothed her.

The next day

“Why can’t you inform them?” Ghost asked Anderson irately.

“Because they know you,” Anderson retorted.

“They don’t fuckin’ trust me. Did Volcano get you the information?”

“Yes, and the tip-off was good. He sent it through the new guy,” Anderson replied.

“The man whose family was murdered by Fury?”

“Yeah. Grunt is gunning for Fury and is working with someone else as well. Shit is heating up over there. But you need to get this info to Drake,” Anderson pushed.

“Fine,” Ghost snapped .

Ghost hung up, and Carmelle ducked her head. She’d heard everything.

“There and back, please,” Carmelle ordered, and Ghost smiled.

“I promise.”

“Ghost, you don’t owe them nothing,” Carmelle whispered.

“Babe, I understand that, but they’re my club,” Ghost said. He hoped Carmelle would understand one day what that actually meant.

“Okay,” Carmelle muttered. Ghost kissed the top of her head and headed out. It was already late, but the quicker he finished this, the better.

◆◆◆

Ghost should have fuckin’ called Drake and given him the info. He regretted wasting his time on the face-to-face encounter.

Yeah, sure, Drake was coming off of the search and rescue. Ghost could tell it had taken its toll, but Drake was an ass. Ghost was seriously re-considering his loyalty to Rage. While he’d not been as hostile as their last meeting, there were still negative emotions in Drake.

Drake’s warning about Ghost attending church seemed dire. Was Rage going to take his patch? Blacken his ink? Somehow, Ghost couldn’t muster the energy to care. Rage wasn’t acting as he had expected, and maybe he’d given them too much credit. Ghost thought they’d have matured and grown, but petty shit still bogged them down. So be it. Hell, it was three a.m., and Ghost should have been home hours ago.

But no, Drake had made him wait while he showered and did some stuff and then threatened him with church. Like Ghost didn’t have somewhere to be or someone to protect. Ghost’s promise to Carmelle had been broken. This hadn’t been a quick trip. Carmelle would be frantic. Ghost couldn’t even text her because she didn’t have a phone.

His gut clenched as he considered how worried and frightened she’d be.

Ghost saw headlights in his mirror. Three in the morning, and somebody headed in the same direction as him? Too coincidental. Ghost killed his lights and throttled his bike. Dangerous at the best of times. In the pure darkness with only the moon to guide him, sheer suicide.

Ghost had intimate knowledge of the roads, just for this reason, and there was a turning coming up. He’d take it and see what happened. Moments later, Ghost slowed, took the exit, and kept a steady pace, looking for those lights. When they reappeared, he cursed. There were now two of them.

Shit, there had to be a tracker on his Harley Fat Boy. The safe house was not an option. They’d follow him right there. Anderson was also off limits, as he’d be watching Carmelle and the children.

Ghost had been expecting this ever since he stepped foot onto Rage. He long suspected Fury had permanent eyes on them. How, he wasn’t sure, but Ghost was certain it wasn’t family or an old lady. Ghost throttled his bike, putting his lights on. There was no point in breaking his neck because he was being tracked.

Ghost ran through his options; the other clubs were out. By the time they opened their gates, the unwanted guest would be on top of him. He took an exit heading to the interstate; Ghost chose to ride right up to RCPD’s doorstep instead.

The hunt continued as Ghost hurtled towards his target. As he flew through the streets of Rapid City, the two cars kept pace with him. Suddenly, he heard a shot and then a blinding pain raced through his back. Ghost jolted and hit the brakes, but too late. His motorbike shook, and Ghost went down underneath it.

Man and machine skidded along the rough surface of the road until they stopped. Ghost lay unconscious under the bike as the vehicles slowed briefly and then sped off.

Carmelle

Ghost wasn’t home, and dawn had broken. I headed for the bedroom. Ghost had drummed the plan into me. Should he disappear, I was to take the girls and head for a back-up safe house. I hurried upstairs and hauled bags out of the closet. My hands were shaking as I opened the small safe, shoved one gun into a bag, and put the other in my waistband. I was just about to start packing when I heard bike pipes.

My shoulders slumped in relief, and I rushed down the stairs and through the front door. I skidded to a stop as panic rushed through me. That was not Ghost. Two hulking men climbed off Harleys and held their hands up as I pulled the gun from my waistband.

“Go away.”

“Carmelle, I am—”

“Leave or I’ll kill you. I’m not going back to that shithole,” I yelled.

Realisation crossed over their faces. “We’re not Fangs,” the first announced.

“You ain’t welcome…”

“I’m Chance Michaelson,” the slightly shorter of the two said, holding my gaze.

“Michaelson?”

“Arrow, your dad, was my uncle. You and I are cousins, honey,” Chance explained.

“We’re here to help. Anderson phoned us,” the second guy added. “I’m Bear, his VP.” Bear tilted his head towards Chance.

“What do you want? Where’s Ghost? Don’t move! I don’t trust you!” I yelled as Chance stepped forward.

Chance looked worried, and then his face softened. He opened his mouth to speak, but a car sped into view and skidded to a halt.

“Inside now, all of you!” Anderson snapped as he jumped out.

Anderson was dishevelled.

I didn’t obey but kept my gun aimed at them. “Where is Ghost?” I gritted out .

“Ghost was shot last night. He’s alive, Carmelle, but having surgery. We need to get you inside,” Anderson replied harshly.

“Who shot him?” I cried as my arm relaxed. I didn’t mean to stop aiming at them, it just happened.

“You know who. I don’t think you’ve been compromised here as Ghost headed away from you. Intel suggests that he was being observed at Rage.”

“Anderson, you sent Ghost there!” I accused angrily.

I was trying not to react and break down sobbing. Ghost couldn’t die; we needed him. I couldn’t lose another man to the Venomous Fangs and Fury.

“Yeah. Carmelle, I didn’t realise Rage was being watched. We missed something,” Anderson admitted. “Honey, Ghost would want you inside, come on, please, just go in where it’s safe. Chance wants to meet you and the girls. You’re cousins, which is why I called him.”

Finally, I sighed and stepped back. “Fine. Tell me exactly how Ghost is.”

“I will,” Anderson promised.

◆◆◆

Chance puzzled me. On his behalf, there was no awkwardness. But Chance was a bossy fucker. He seemed to think he could order me about, and he was in for a rude awakening. Chance treated me like a younger sibling, and yet we barely knew each other. As Chance played on the floor with Sadie, Shannon watched carefully, and Bear approached me.

I tensed as this huge mountain of a man held his hands up. “Ain’t gonna harm ya, Carmelle, but I can see you’re puzzled.”

“Why is Chance so open?” I asked.

“Why is Chance acting like he’s been around all your life?”

“Yeah.”

“Because you’re blood. That’s all we need. You’re his cousin, you share blood, and you’re family. Simple as that,” Bear replied.

“Shame Drake doesn’t think so,” I retorted.

“Drake’s got his head up his ass. He’ll calm down eventually,” Bear said, and I thought he was trying to reassure me.

Bitterly, I laughed, and Bear was the one looking puzzled now.

“I don’t give a fuck if Drake calms down or not. Bear, I’m not seeking Drake’s approval or anything. He’s my brother, so fucking what? The girls and I don’t know him from Adam. If Drake and I never meet, that’s his loss, not mine. He misses out on those two babies,” I stated.

Chance pursed his lips from where he overheard and tickled Sadie as she bonked him on the head with her teddy bear.

“Drake is dealing with too much,” Chance interrupted.

I checked where Shannon was and narrowed my eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t realise that Drake’s wife was shot in front of him. Or that Drake was abused and assaulted before a load of strangers. I didn’t know that Drake was on the run for his fucking life with his kids. How damn selfish of me,” I spat and left the room.

Anderson caught my eye and squeezed my shoulder as I passed by him. He was the only reason I could leave the girls with Chance and Bear, because Ghost trusted him, which meant I did. If Anderson hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t leave them alone with them.

“Drake’s an ass. But he does care,” Chance said as I peered out of the kitchen window.

“Don’t.”

“Carmelle, Drake’s dealing with a lot and trying to keep everyone safe,” Chance continued.

“Do not make excuses for Drake. Don’t do yourself a disservice. Drake could come and meet me, but he hasn’t even asked about me. In fact, I had to supply DNA for him to test because he suspected Ghost manufactured the original results. Who thinks like that?”

“Drake does.”

“Yeah, but you’re here.”

“Oh, I had doubts, Carmelle, but I knew our fathers weren’t angels nor virgins. Drake has Arrow on a pedestal and now he has discovered Arrow wasn’t perfect. Drake takes a lot longer than me to think shit through. He’s bit of a dunderhead for that.” Chance chuckled.

“And as for you, you’ve accepted me? Just like that?” I demanded.

“Yeah, because you’re the fuckin’ image of your brother and Arrow. You may not have been brought up by them, but you have a Michaelson’s mannerisms,” Chance said.

“Bleh,” I replied eloquently.

Chance properly laughed. “You sound like my wife when she doesn’t have an answer. Please tell me you don’t think of the ideal retort later and will inform me of it. Clio does that. Several hours after an argument, she spits something at me, even though it’s incredibly late.”

“Your wife sounds fun.”

Chance’s eyes softened, and I liked that for this unknown Clio.

“She’s fuckin’ perfect. And I tell Clio all the time,” Chance admitted.

“Am I interrupting?” Anderson asked.

“No,” I replied.

“The hospital called. Ghost is stable but critical. The bullet nicked Ghost’s heart, it’s been removed, and doctors fixed the artery. Ghost’s brain began swelling. They inserted a shunt to remove fluid, but his brain kept expanding since the operation. The shunt isn’t doing its job, so they’ve taken Ghost to open his skull to release pressure. Carmelle, nobodies allowed to see him because of Covid and infection. As soon as the swelling resides, they’ll reinsert the shunt,” Anderson explained.

I sat down heavily at the table, and my hands began to shake.

“What if it doesn’t stop?” I asked.

“The docs say there are other measures. They said Ghost has a seventy per cent chance at survival. That’s good news, Carmelle, it’s just my brother making shit awkward and taking the longest path to heal,” Anderson teased, but I saw his underlying worry.

“Thirteen, nearly fourteen years undercover and not a scratch and two seconds back with Rage, and he’s been shot again,” I hissed. “Does anyone else see the irony?”

“Yeah,” Anderson replied.

◆◆◆

It killed me I wasn’t allowed to go and visit Ghost. When he woke, I wasn’t there by his side, and I should have been. Anderson face-timed me from Ghost’s room, but it wasn’t enough. Bear and Chance had been sworn to secrecy about my whereabouts, and they’d agreed not to tell anyone, including their own club brothers or Drake, where I was hiding. Anderson had reinforced that, by threatening to make me and the girls disappear. Chance hadn’t liked that.

My older cousin… was interesting, albeit that was a mild word for Chance. He certainly didn’t want to lose access to me or the kids, so for now, Chance was playing ball. But I could tell he was used to giving orders and not taking them. Which, all in all, was rather amusing.

Ghost was released from hospital ten days later and I’d had Chance fetch me all his favourite foods. I intended to spoil Ghost when he came home.

The girls and I had missed him terribly. We were all waiting on the porch when Anderson arrived and helped him out of the car.

Ghost’s eyes opened wide as he took in the Christmas decorations I’d had Bear, Chance, and Anderson put up. His gaze softened as his eyes landed on me, and he checked me over. Seemingly happy with what he saw, Ghost then examined the girls.

Sadie was jumping in a circle and screaming his name, while Shannon had a huge grin on her face. Ghost slowly moved forward, and I could see suffering etched in his face, but he bent to hug the kids, and the breath caught in my throat.

I fell completely in love with Ghost right at that moment. Or maybe I acknowledged the feelings I’d been having. I didn’t know and didn’t care.

But as Ghost bent, despite his pain, to comfort my babies, I knew I loved him. Once he’d fussed the girls, Ghost hugged me tightly.

“Babe, I need to sit down before I fall on my ass and embarrass myself,” he murmured. Together, Anderson and I helped him into the living room, and Anderson gave him some pills and a glass of water, which Ghost swallowed.

Ghost looked around the room in approval. I’d had them decorate inside as well, and the tree twinkled, welcoming him home. On the stove, I had a chicken stew and dumplings cooking, and his favourite sticky toffee pudding was baking. Ghost sniffed as I went into the kitchen and made him a hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream.

“Christmas is planned, all we needed was you back,” I said to Ghost later that evening as I cuddled into him. “We were lost without you.”

“I fuckin’ missed you, babe. Was going out of my mind wondering if you were safe, what you were doing, and if the kids were okay,” Ghost admitted in a rumble. I tucked my head into his shoulder as his arms wrapped around me.

“I hated the fact you had to wake up alone,” I replied.

“Anderson’s ugly mug was the first thing I saw. Believe me, you’d have been a huge improvement on him,” Ghost teased.

“Fuck you, asshole,” Anderson interrupted. “I got that shit you wanted. I left it in the bedroom in your closet. See you all after Christmas. You get a reprieve this year, bro, but next year, we’re going to have to let the parents know you’re alive.”

Anderson disappeared as Ghost scowled. “And they’ll still bitch about my lifestyle.”

“Let them. If they can’t see you for who you really are, who the hell cares?” I retorted, and we lapsed into a comfortable silence.

That shit in the cupboard ended up being a load of presents for me and the girls. Ghost had made Anderson do his Christmas shopping!

Ghost - Feb 2021

Shit was heating up all round. Fury was making multiple attacks and causing mayhem across Rage and its allies. Ghost had heard rumours about a big meeting between them but didn’t know the details. And relations were still strained between Rage and him—although not as much as they had been.

There had been some inroads made. The church Drake had threatened had been postponed due to Ghost being shot.

Between him and Carmelle, there’d been a definite shift. Carmelle was being openly caring and demonstrative. She held his hand on walks and curled into him when watching TV. Nothing sexual had happened between them, but Ghost had caught her checking him out. Hell, he didn’t care because he constantly watched her. Carmelle was sexy as fuck, even though she wasn’t aware of it.

Carmelle had yet to say the words, yet Ghost thought she loved him. Whether it was as a friend or something else remained to be seen. However, friends wouldn’t watch his ass or biceps and lick their lips. Well, not in his experience.

He was watching the girls play in the snow while he sat on the porch swing and watched.

Carmelle was sitting next to him, and they were wrapped in blankets.

“I didn’t expect to be a widow at twenty-nine,” Carmelle said out of the blue.

Ghost blinked and looked down at her. Carmelle’s nose was red from the cold, but she wore a woolly hat and had gloves and a scarf around her neck.

“No, I can imagine you didn’t,” Ghost replied .

“Took me ages to understand Beau was dead and not coming back. Then I had the guilt that if he hadn’t met me, he’d still be alive. I didn’t think I’d rid myself of that feeling. And honestly, a little bit remains. But I accept that what happened wasn’t my fault.

“Fury didn’t have to come after me, he chose too. That isn’t my fault. Hell, I didn’t ask him to be my grandfather and talk about shitty luck having him as one. Seriously, I won’t ever go to Vegas, that is for sure. My luck is shit. What’s that line from the film with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock?”

“Relationships that start under intense circumstances never last?” Ghost replied, knowing exactly what Carmelle meant.

“That’s not us. We had to build a relationship. I’m not ready to rush ahead or jump into bed with you. That little bit of guilt lingers, but I have fallen in love with you, Ghost. I’m just asking for some time to see my future in a different light,” Carmelle said.

Ghost snorted. “Babe, my right hand is way stronger than my left… I wonder why.”

Ghost watched Carmelle consider his words and then blush. “Oh!” she exclaimed.

“There’s no rush to bed you. Because when I do, I want it to be me and you. I don’t want a ghost, no pun intended, there with us. But I meant what I said. We need pictures and other shit belonging to Beau around for you and the girls. And for me, to remind me daily, his sacrifice allowed you all to live.

“Beau will be remembered, Carmelle, and I’ll never try to take his place. How could I? Beau was your first love and the father of your kids. His death is a tragedy and undeserved, but it happened. And I’ll get justice for him. But baby, trust me, I’ll wait for you until hell freezes over and my balls fall off!”

Carmelle began laughing, and Ghost grinned as he hugged her tightly. For now, at this moment, they were safe and in tune with one another. It was a perfect memory.