Gage, p.1
Gage, page 1
Gage
GRIM SINNERS REBELS
LEANN ASHERS
Copyright © 2022 by LeAnn Ashers
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Prologue
1. River
2. River
3. River
4. River
5. River
6. River
7. River
8. River
9. River
10. River
11. Gage
12. River
13. Gretchen
Epilogue
Prologue
I sigh, rubbing my face before glaring at my computer once again, the words starting to blur together after searching for hours and hours to try to find my mother.
I’m exhausted, more mentally than physically because I haven’t gotten anywhere yet after months of searching everywhere.
I’ve always had the urge to find my sister but my mother has always been at the forefront of my mind. I found a picture of my mother that was taken when she had me, the look in her eyes was one that haunted me.
I just know she didn’t want to give me up; I’m not sure why this fire inside of me wants to find her so much, but I just know I have to.
I was in foster care until I was around four or five when my crazy, doomsday prepper, Navy SEAL dad took me in. I ran away from the foster home I was in; they were not nice to me at all and at that point even at a young age, I felt like I was better off being on the streets than being there.
I took care of all the other kids that were younger than me. I wasn’t in school yet and I remember waking up all night long to take care of a baby.
The final straw though was when my foster dad walked into my room in the middle of the night. I woke up to him standing above me and another girl that was lying beside me at the time.
His eyes opened wide when he saw me awake and then he smiled and all I remember was panicking.
I threw the covers off me and ran past him out the open bedroom window because it was so hot inside the house.
I didn’t have a plan of where I was going; I ran and ran down really poor parts of town, into the woods and I didn’t dare to stop nor look behind me.
I literally was forced to stop when I smacked into the legs of this huge man. My first thought was that my foster dad found me. I fought with everything I had trying to get away.
He picked me up so I would stop fighting him and sat me down onto the chair, looking at me dead in the eyes. “I am not going to hurt you; did you lose your parents? Are you lost?”
His kind words were my undoing. I face-planted into his chest and just cried. He hugged me and I gripped his shirt with everything in me, terrified of everything in my life.
“Do I need to call someone?” he asked me a few minutes later when the sobs slowly ebbed away.
I told him everything, what I could tell him in my four-year-old terms and after that everything just became a blur. The police were called. I watched as my foster dad was arrested and I never entered that house again.
But I went somewhere else. I had a bed, clothes, and a fridge full of food and my dad. The man I smacked into in the middle of the night in the woods adopted me.
He was the best, but he was also crazy. He didn’t trust anyone, and he pounded into my brain with everything I needed to know how to protect myself. I know how to kill someone a hundred different ways; I know how to survive in the woods by myself for weeks and thrive; I can use pretty much any and all weapons and mastered most.
One might think that life would have scarred me, but I am so thankful for him and I had the best childhood even if it was skewed.
One thing though he did not teach me was computers, I learned that on my own. I failed my driver’s test when I was sixteen years old and just decided that the testing lady was an asshole and lied, so I hacked into the system changing my failure to a passing.
I got caught unfortunately because I didn't know how to cover my tracks. The police were at my door the next morning. My dad pretended to be mad at me in front of the cops, but he gave me a high five as soon as the door was closed.
I learned how to cover my tracks and not be discovered in my hacking after that.
* * *
River
Nineteen Years Old
* * *
An ear-piercing beep brings me out of my sleep. I gasp, my heart pounding and run to my computer.
A picture flashes along the screen and I almost sink to the floor in shock at what looks like the older version of me; it’s her, my sister. I know without a doubt that this is her.
I click on the picture to make it bigger and read the article of how she was attacked in the hospital after giving birth. It was dated weeks ago but I know I need to go there.
I don’t even think or hesitate as I pack my bag and I drive to the hospital, which is hours and hours away from me.
I know that she is not there, but I just need to be in the place of where she was at, it’s one step closer to her. Then I can go from there to see what to do next.
My dad texts me and lets me know that he will be without service in the woods and he will check in in a few days.
I sigh with relief not really wanting to tell him where I am just yet, not ready for that freak out.
I shut my car door and pull my bag over my shoulder; people are going about their lives while I am internally freaking out.
I can literally find anyone in the world. I had found my mother and the way she is being treated in her marriage is horrible. I only got to speak to her for a minute before her husband was pulling up. I escaped before he could see me and take his anger out on her. This was a year ago and I knew that I needed to find my sister.
The life she is living is one that curls my stomach daily. My dad doesn’t even know that I found her and she’s only a couple of hours away from where we lived. One weekend when he was gone camping, I decided to go see her.
The reasons I had such a hard time finding her is because she is a part of a cult. She doesn’t even have a birth certificate; she’s pretty much a ghost and the only records she has is when she gave birth to me and my sister in the hospital.
Not knowing what to do next, I sit down in the waiting room at the front of the lobby. Now what do I do? This was kind of stupid traveling all this way and not having a plan.
But she was here and that is something right? I am in a place where she was at and that had to mean something right?
I hear a strange cry from the emergency room breaking me out of my thoughts and without thinking, I look through the door being nosey to see what is happening.
The girl starts laughing, she was playing a joke on one of the nurses. I smile at the interaction; I wish I was that carefree at times, to not have worries of someone hurting your mom or sister.
I turn around and I almost have a heart attack on the spot. I am face to face with her...Jessica.
I know with every fiber of my being and soul that this is her, we look so much alike and that is something that no one can miss.
Honestly, we could pass as twins. The only clear distinction is she has green eyes compared to my brown.
I cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming at her, to tell her I have been searching for her for years! I can’t believe this is happening right now.
The man that is with her is looking between the two of us like a bobblehead. If I wasn’t in such shock, I would be laughing at his reaction.
I can’t fight the urge anymore as I take a step closer to her. The closer I get, the more I shake; my nerves are really getting to me.
I ask the only thing that I can muster to make sure that this is real and happening right now, “What is your name?”
Her eyes widen when she hears me speak for the first time. “Jessica.”
I close my eyes and I fall into the closest seat next to me. It is her, I found her! After years of searching for her and wondering about her, she is here, in front of me.
When I saw the state of my mother, how she is being treated, I couldn’t stop the thoughts in my brain that maybe Jessica is going through the same thing. I know that wasn’t a rational thought but Jessica has less information on her than our mother until she got to the hospital.
I look at Jessica, really look at her, my eyes filling with tears. I have worried about her; I was so scared that something could have happened to her throughout the years and I would never get this chance.
“I have looked for you for years,” I whisper to her probably sounding crazy. But no matter what, I am going to sound that way to her.
Her mouth pops open in shock and I sigh patting the seat next to me wanting her to sit down. She does and asks me, “What do you mean?”
The guy with her hovers his eyes over me, I can tell he’s protective of her and that makes me happy knowing she has that.
“I have been looking for you.” She interrupts me, “Uhm, I am not sure what you mean,” she repeats herself. She looks at me all over, I know she sees the resemblance too.
I wipe the tears off my face that managed to fall and rub my hands down my legs. “I just turned nineteen a few months ago. When I turned eighteen, I found our biological mother and that led me on my search to find you.”
Jessica’s face shows her hurt and pain at the me
ntion of her being given up too. “I found you in the news because of what happened here at the hospital. That is the only sign I had you were even alive after years of searching.”
Jessica is shocked but I can tell what I’m telling her is sinking in. I reach into my bag and pull out my birth certificate with my mother’s name on it. It’s the only proof that I have.
She gasps at seeing our mother’s name. “A sister, I never knew existed.” Her voice cracks and I smile feeling the relief roll over me that she must be accepting me or coming to an understanding that I am real.
I know this is probably too much and too soon, but I can’t fight the urge to hug her anymore. I wrap her up in my arms tightly.
She hugs me back just as hard. A few minutes later she laughs and pulls back, her eyes shining happily at me with unshed tears. “Now tell me what your name is.” She pushes my hair out of my face.
I grin happily. “River.”
She smiles. “I love that name.” She looks to the bag at my feet. “Do you have somewhere to stay?” she asks me, then glances at the guy next to her and he nods back at her.
“I was planning on getting a hotel.” I shrug.
She shakes her head. “No, no. Come stay with us. We have plenty of room and you’ll get a chance to meet your nephew.”
My heart dances at hearing that I have a nephew. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
The guy bends down and takes my bag off the ground putting it over his shoulder, carrying it out for me to their truck. I can come back for my car later. He opens the door for her and helps her inside then opens the door for me.
She gives me a look that is saying look how cute he is. I climb inside and watch both; he reaches over and buckles her in without thinking.
I’m happy for her. All my fears are gone knowing she is in a good place and happy. He starts to drive through the parking lot and she puts her hand out screaming loudly, “Oh wait, my appointment!”
He laughs and reparks the truck in the closest parking spot. “We can’t miss this shit, I want you knocked up by next week.”
She bursts out laughing, looking back at me. “River is going to think we’re crazy.” I laugh right along with her. “No, I think it’s freaking adorable, I’m happy for you.”
I am happy for her; I look at the car seat base next to me and my heart warms at the idea of seeing my nephew. However, my stomach sinks thinking of her getting attacked in the hospital. I do not like that.
I lean in front of me and hug them both around their neck. They will think I am the crazy one since I just met them, but I really don’t care.
We are sitting at a restaurant after her appointment. I place my bag next to me in the booth and they sit across from me.
“You know you guys look exactly alike,” Chase points out. I heard Jessica calling him Chase on the way here.
We laugh and I reach into my bag digging around until I find the small wallet photo album of mine. “We look exactly like our mother and I even got a picture of our sperm donor.” Just the thought of calling him dad makes me want to barf, he is horrible.
I scoot forward, leaning over the table and hand her the album. “This is you.” I show her the picture of her and mom when she was born.
She was really young; she looks like she was a kid herself. Jessica smiles at the picture, Chase is looking over her shoulder. “Hunter looks just like you.” The happiness is shown on her face at the compliment.
She moves through the album settling onto a picture of Bell, our mother. “What is the story?” she asks me.
I settle back in my seat, my stomach turning in anger at the thought of what our mother is going through. “This is part of the reason I wanted to find you. I need to get her out of there, she is in a horrible relationship. She had to sneak me out of the house to give me this because he came home.”
I look down at my lap, finding records from a backwoods doctor that overlooked abuse and he is on my shit list too. “I looked at her medical records and found that after she had given birth, she was severely beaten.” I let out a deep breath trying to control the anger I am feeling.
“It was because she was trying to protect us. At least that is what I have gathered from what little she said. I think she knew she couldn’t take care of us and protect us. She told me that he kept throwing out her birth control which is why she had us.”
Jessica sits back hard, causing the seat to crack from her rapid motion. I know she’s letting it sink in. Honestly, when I went to go look for her, I just assumed she was on drugs bad and that was the reason she gave us up. I never dreamed she did it to protect us.
“I never thought this,” Jessica shares my thoughts.
“I never thought that either. When I went to go see her, I just went to satisfy my curiosity about her. I think it’s worse than even we can fathom, the look in her eyes, she is almost lost, Jessica. I have nightmares about it. She’s terrified, and I don’t think she has ever had the chance to have a way out. She had a black eye when I went to go see her.”
Jessica rubs her chest. I know it’s bothering her. Mother or not it’s the thought of someone being abused like this that is more than enough for me to bear. It's ingrained in me to protect and I want to protect her and get her out of there.
Chase reaches over and takes her hand; he has been staring out of the window pissed off listening. “Let’s go get her,” he demands and I feel like rolling out of the seat in relief.
“Let’s go,” I agree. I’m more than ready to go now.
* * *
A Few Days Later
We’re currently sitting in front of the very run-down house that our mom is staying in. Right now, I am itching to just run inside and literally carry her out of there. Chase is rubbing Jessica’s back trying to calm her. I met my mother once, but this is huge for Jessica. This is the first time for her.
The last few days here have been a whirlwind. I got to meet my nephew, meet pretty much all of Chase’s family and the Devil Souls MC. The Club then hired me for a hacking job.
Literally across the street we watch a drug deal go down. They don’t even bother hiding it from us and go on about their day.
Jessica opens my door and I tear my eyes off the drug dealers as she takes my hand and we walk up the short driveway to her house. The others who came with us, Chase’s friends, are staying in the SUV in case we need back up.
Jessica lets out a deep breath and knocks on the door. She takes a step back and we wait listening to see if we hear any footsteps from behind the door.
A few seconds later, which feels like an eternity, we hear someone walking toward the door. Jessica tightens her grip on my hand, holding so tight like it’s the only thing grounding her.
The door opens and I hold back my reaction to seeing her after a year. Her mouth falls open when she sees me and then Jessica. She covers her mouth. “Jessica?” she asks.
Her whole entire body is shaking and I see how frail she really is through the baggy clothes. Either she has not been eating properly or the situation is worse than I imagined.
“It’s me.” Jessica swallows. “Can we talk to you?” she asks her.
Bell looks around the yard, finally nods and steps back from the door, holding it open for us.
The cool air of the house causes me to shiver, it’s almost as cold as it is outside.
She stands and stares at us like she can’t believe we are here in front of her. “Are we able to sit down?” Jessica asks.
Bell walks over to a recliner and sits down. I sit on the couch on the opposite side of her and Jessica is on the other.
Jessica pushes her hair behind her ears. “I honestly don’t know where to start. River found me and told me about your situation.”
Her eyes widen and she looks at me, grips a threadbare blanket off the back of her chair pulling it over her lap. The hand fixing the blanket is shaking. “It killed me to give you girls up, but I didn’t want you girls to have a bad life. I couldn’t give you a good one because I was trapped into this life and I was forced into this marriage when I was just fifteen. I’d rather die than let you both suffer the same fate.”
