Page 7 of Echoes From Within
Venom
“I honestly don’t think this is the best idea,”Miles says.“Maybe we should reconsider.”
“Everything will be fine, Miles,”Xander assures him.
“You’re going to have to remove your cross necklace,” Jacobs tells me as we head towards his car.
It’s been a few days since he came to us asking for help. Pops has been on the phone with his buddies from the Phantoms MC. Unfortunately, they’re in the middle of a turf war with some other club and can’t risk sending anyone for at least a week.
My brother, Viper, is over there helping out the best that he can.
“I don’t think so,” Pops says. “The boys never remove their necklaces.”
“It’s most likely going to get ripped from his neck and tossed away,” Jacobs warns as I remove the cross from around my neck. “If it’s of any importance, leaving it behind is the best bet.”
I don’t say anything as I hand my cross to Pops. Pops gave all of us kids these cross necklaces when we were younger. Each one is equipped with a tracking device so that our parents would always be able to find us if something had happened.
For years they were never needed in that way until last year when Viper was taken. Luckily, because of that old tracking chip in his necklace, we were able to find him.
“I don’t like this,” Ma says, tears forming in her eyes. “What if they beat you, my love? What if they force you to force yourself upon one of those women?”
I pull Ma into my arms and hold her tightly. I may not be born of this woman’s blood, but she has never once treated me as if I wasn’t fully hers.
“I can make you this promise, Ma,” I say against her head. “I will never force myself on any woman. No matter what they do to me. I will protect them at all costs.”
“What about you, Travis?” she sniffles, using my real name. “Who is going to protect you?”
“I can’t promise my safety, Ma,” I tell her. “But I can promise my dignity. I won’t let them use me to harm anyone else. Think about all those people who need to be saved, Ma. Think about all those babies.”
“I am, son,” she says. “I know your heart, my love. I know what you will do to save all those people. But promise me one thing. Do everything you can to ensure your safety. Promise me that you’ll be smart and not draw any attention to yourself.”
Oh, how I want to make those promises. I want to assure Ma that everything will be alright. But memories of my birth mother being raped smashes back into my head and it takes everything I can not to pull back and let someone else take over until the flashback is gone.
Xander is right at the front, ready to pull me away if need be. But I internally nod letting him know that I’ll be alright.
I wasn’t able to save my mother all those years ago, but I sure as hell will do everything in my power to save as many of the men and women as I can inside of those walls.
“Protect him, boys,” Ma whispers against my chest. “Protect all of you.”
Xander, Doc, and Miles all nod even though they know Ma can’t see them.
“Pops,” I say, silently asking him to come and take Ma away. I don’t want her here for this next part.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Pops tells her, pulling her from my arms and into his. “Let’s head inside and call Bitsy. She’s worried about everything and needs an update.”
I watch as my parents turn and walk away. There’s a good possibility that I’ll never see them again, but I won’t tell them that.
“Alright,” I say once Ma is inside. “Let’s get this over with.”
“I need you to punch me first,” Jacobs says. “You’re a big dude, so it needs to look like we struggled. Don’t be afraid to really go all…”
Pulling my fist back, I punch the detective in the jaw.
“MOTHER FUCKER,” he yells, his hand clutching his jaw. “A warning would have been nice. You didn’t even hesitate.”
I shrug and smile. That punch was full of built-up tension from what we are about to do.
“Well, that makes my part a bit easier,” he smiles.