Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Ryker
Her words were sweet but hit me like a ton of bricks. The guilt of dragging her out of school, taking over her life, and bringing her back down into the darkness. Had I thought I would bring her back down into this world, a world she obviously was trying hard to escape in Ohio, I would have never allowed myself to give in. The pull to her was so intense, I couldn’t give in. I wanted her too badly. She has been stalked, harassed, kidnapped, and shot all because she has been mixed up with me. This is all my fault. Now she has to face her father, someone she never wanted to face again. She has to face her past, which she came so far to get away from. “I am sorry, Iris.” I leaned down and whispered to her. She shook her head and shrugged, “I’m not.”
We sat in there for a few hours going over all the information Deacon and his team had come up with. Files upon files of information about the Punisher Crew, and more files on the Mad Hatter and his contacts from the MIdwest all the way to our front door. He moved throughout the system quickly when Iris left Ohio. A father subconsciously following her daughter or a crime lord following the money and power. I didn’t know. We had a day and a half to learn as much as we could, and we intended on doing just that. When Ayden called, I didn’t even know why, until I answered and he asked about Iris. She had been so strong and unbothered by her injuries at this point, I almost forgot she was still healing. I thought back to the table and instantly felt a hit to the gut. What if I would have hurt her? I was so swept up in the moment, I didn’t even think about it. Surely, she would have safe worded, or just simply said she couldn’t. I looked over at her, talking in depth with Deacon about her father’s men that she did know, and made a mental note to discuss it with her. “Let me speak with her please?” Ayden said, which offended me, almost like he didn’t believe me when I told him she seemed to be healing fine. “Iris, the doc wants to speak to you.” She looked back at me, also seeming a bit surprised. Had she been so swept up that she had forgotten her injuries as well. She took the phone and stepped away from the rest of us.
When she came back, she sighed deeply and reached me the phone. “Everything okay?” i asked, and she smiled sweetly before nodding and walking back to Deacon. She hadn’t even had her pain meds, that I could remember since she had woken this morning. “Iris, are you in pain?” I asked, worried she was sitting there in pain, unwilling to stop progress and say anything. Suddenly, she looked almost guilty. She reached in her hoodie pocket and pulled out the small bottle of pills. Deacon’s eyes got large. He knew I had wanted to keep watch over her pills since finding her nearly unconscious in Theo’s arms the night before. I reached my hand out, determined to count the remainder of the bottle. She pushed them back in the pocket of her hoodie like she didn’t see my hand outreached to her. I stood up and walked over to her. “I would like to have the bottle. I would hate for it to get lost.” I said, deeply, darkly, in my most dominate tone reaching my hand out once again. She rolled her eyes, she thought, without my seeing before reaching the pill bottle to me with angst. Every ounce of my being made me want to pick her up and bend her over my knee. I refrained. I knew it wasn’t the time for that. I made another mental note. Deacon looked up at me with worry in his eyes. I held the bottle up to the light. It didn't look like too many were missing. I nodded at him to let him know I was paying attention.
I sat down and sent Ayden a text asking him what she told him. I waited for my phone to vibrate and went back to my files on the Punisher Crew. It looked like they had a new leader. Ivy or Claud neither one told me of this. I was told they wanted me to get the men out of prison. Someone outside the prison was leading the crew now. They called him Maestro, but his name was Matteo. He is their master? Is that why they call him Maestro? Scribbled beside an old mugshot of a much younger photo of him, Deacon had written, Maestro=Master (Italian), but I already knew this. My father once had a mistress of Italian descent, she would call him that when she wanted his gold card. It made me sick to see the word again. Poor Iris thinks her father is a monster, and maybe he is, but at least he kept an eye on her. He cares for her, despite the completely psychopathic way he lives, he wants her to be safe and taken care of. My father only cares about what things I do would look like for him. Always has. Always will. He is called an upholder of all that is just and fair, but he is nothing but a liar and a cheat. Thinking of my father was making my blood boil so I pushed it aside. Nothing good comes from my confronting those demons.
I continued to read through the papers on Matteo. He got into trouble in high school, and it seems stayed in trouble until he was about 28. Something happened after that. He dropped off the planet. No more arrests. Not even a parking ticket, which is unheard of in California. We all have had parking tickets. I continued to look through his arrests. Arson. Burglary. A few assault charges. Bar fights mostly. Hell, he even got a few driving while intoxicated charges. What happened? What changed? I read the last arrest. He got in trouble for a theft. He beat a man up, took his wallet, stole his car, and ran it through the side of a convenience store. “Deac, how closely did you read this Matteo’s last known arrest paperwork?” He shrugged, said he skimmed over it. Hadn’t had time to dive into it yet since I asked him to look into Iris’s father. I read through the repot, not surprised that they had planned to throw the book at him but surprised in full by who defended him. “FUCK ME!” I yelled, slamming the files down on the table. “What?” Deacon and Iris both turned around like I had scared them. “My fucking father defended him!”